Tag Archives: relativity

Blog 4: Explaining Relativistic time dilation

Posted on March 2, 2024 by matthewastro

Time seems to be one of the only immutable aspects of the universe, besides death and taxes. Many people believe that the passage of time is altogether unstoppable and unyielding. And for most intensive purposes, they are right. Indeed, time is our most precious resource and one that many of believe we have an extremely […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Light, Physics, Universe | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Blog 4: Explaining Relativistic time dilation

blog 2: Gravity over time

Posted on February 1, 2024 by matthewastro

Isaac Newton originally conceptualized gravity as a mutually attractive force between all objects with mass. Those who came before him, such as Galileo, had performed experiments and attempted to establish increasingly robust understandings of this force, but none quite unified the idea like Newton. The story goes that Newton saw an apple fall from a […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Historical, Physics | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on blog 2: Gravity over time

The Speed of Light

Posted on January 23, 2024 by Tejas Mahesh

In 1905, Albert Einstein took the first crack at the Newtonian foundational physics. In his paper on special relativity, Albert Einstein postulated that the speed of light, c, is constant in all inertial reference frames. Assume that a person on a bicycle is holding a flashlight and moving at a constant speed relative to someone […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Physics, Science, Universe | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The Speed of Light

Black Holes and White Holes and Wormholes, Oh My!

Posted on April 12, 2021 by rightascensionanddeclinolan

They’re some of the most formidable entities in the universe: their strength is unmatched, they make their own rules, and if you get into a serious tussle with one, you’re almost guaranteed to lose.  No, I’m not talking about moms.  I’m talking about black holes, of course!  Duh… If you’ve ever learned about astronomy, chancesContinue reading “Black Holes and White Holes and Wormholes, Oh My!” Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Physics, Universe | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Black Holes and White Holes and Wormholes, Oh My!

Muons and Time Dilation

Posted on February 6, 2021 by rightascensionanddeclinolan

In my opinion, one of the coolest parts of astronomy is relativity, the theory describing the warping of spacetime.  If you’ve ever seen Interstellar, you’ve been exposed to one part of the theory: time dilation.  In short, time dilation is a phenomenon that causes time to pass more slowly in one place than another (relativeContinue reading “Muons and Time Dilation” Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Physics | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Muons and Time Dilation

The Speed of Light and Gravity

Posted on January 21, 2020 by gabezharovtothemoon

We all know that light travels fast – 299,792,458 meters per second, to be precise. Still, if the sun were to suddenly disappear into a mysterious void, you and I on Earth would not notice for about 8 minutes and 20 seconds. Or would we? Would we not immediately feel the sudden jolt of ourContinue reading “The Speed of Light and Gravity” Continue reading →

Posted in Light, Science | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The Speed of Light and Gravity

What’s in a Black Hole?

Posted on April 27, 2019 by Aaron Molotsky

There are few things in the entire Universe that are as terrifyingly awesome as a black hole. To have a region of space exist that contains gravitational forces so strong that literally nothing can escape it (whether it’s a particle, light, or any electromagnetic radiation for that matter) seems like a concept straight out of … Continue reading What’s in a Black Hole? → Continue reading →

Posted in Light, Physics, Stars | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on What’s in a Black Hole?

Blog #2: Special Relativity

Posted on February 10, 2019 by Katie

Albert Einstein was one of the most influential thinkers regarding the fabric of the universe. Einstein’s major contribution to modern physics was his theory of relativity. The first part of this revolutionary idea was his special theory of relativity. Published in 1905, it established two major points: the laws of physics are the same in … Continue reading Blog #2: Special Relativity → Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Physics | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Blog #2: Special Relativity

Can we travel at the speed of light?

Posted on January 20, 2019 by alfredprah

How fast is light? Nothing on earth is known to move faster, and in my opinion, we are actually very fortunate to be able to measure it. Aside the fact that light enables us to see, I am appreciative of it even more because if it were to get any faster by any stretch, astronomers … Continue reading Can we travel at the speed of light? → Continue reading →

Posted in Light, Physics, Space Travel | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Can we travel at the speed of light?

Traveling at the Speed of Light

Posted on January 20, 2019 by Aaron Molotsky

Have you ever imagined what it would be like moving at the speed of light? To have the ability to travel that quickly (think ~300,000,000 m/s) would be incomprehensible — you’d experience a host of different effects, including time dilation (how more rapidly moving objects experience time more slowly), relativistic aberration (how your field of … Continue reading Traveling at the Speed of Light → Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Light, Space Travel | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Traveling at the Speed of Light