Tag Archives: lightyears

How Big is the Universe?

Posted on February 5, 2018 by evanjmiranda

Studies of the cosmic microwave background by the European Space Agency (Planck space mission) have revealed what we know as the observable universe, a sphere 28 billion light-years in diameter. Although scientists have placed the Earth in an observable sphere with a radius of 13.8 billion light-years, it is believed that this radius has expanded … Continue reading How Big is the Universe? → Continue reading →

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Proxima b

Posted on January 22, 2018 by evanjmiranda

We’ve alluded to exoplanets and habitable zones in class, but you may be wondering just how similar these planets are to Earth – and if we can even get there. Proxima b is a rocky mass larger than Earth that orbits our Sun’s closest neighbor, Proxima Centauri. Astronomers have determined that Proxima b lies in … Continue reading Proxima b → Continue reading →

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The Universal Speed Limit

Posted on January 26, 2016 by solarsystemjoe

According to the Special Theory of Relativity, the speed at which light travels is the same in all reference frames.  In other words, you will always observe that light will travel at 2.99*10^8 m/s, regardless of how fast you’re going.  At first, one might think that this number is so high that it would make little […] Continue reading →

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