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Tag Archives: Solar System
Blog 1 – Solstices/Equinoxes
There are 2 solstices: the June and December Solstice. The June Solstice is the point on the celestial sphere where the ecliptic is farthest north of the celestial equator. Similarly, the December solstice is the point on the celestial sphere where the ecliptic is farthest south of the celestial equator. The June and December Solstice […] Continue reading
Identifying Jupiter and Mars
Last night, I was looking up at the night sky while walking to dinner. I noticed a few constellations, as well as two brighter points of light that I was pretty sure were Mars and Jupiter. Normally, I can identify them, but for some reason Mars didn’t look as red to me as it normally […] Continue reading
Posted in Class, Jovians, Observables, Sun, Terrestrials
Tagged astro2110, blog1, jupiter, Mars, motion, Solar System
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Blog #1 – Observing the moon
As a part of one of the courses I took last semester, we observed the phenomenon of the phases of the moon. We were instructed to record what the moon looked like for one month, noting which area of the moon was illuminated at what time. When the data collection process was completed and we […] Continue reading
Blog 8 – Evidence for a Europan Ocean
Europa, Jupiter’s 4th largest and 2nd closest Galilean moon, is thought to have a large saltwater ocean covered by a layer of ice. An article from Nasa details the evidence for the existence of this ocean. The first piece of evidence is the matching zig-zagging cracks on the surface that indicate that the surface was […] Continue reading
When the Sun Dies
All good things must come to an end, including the ancient (at least relative to humanity), life-giving star we see each day. Even though the sun is considered a young star, it still has a finite lifetime, and it will eventually “die” in about 5 billion years. The image above shows a rough timeline of […] Continue reading
Blog 7:Fermi Paradox
The Fermi paradox is the conflict between the lack of evidence for extraterrestrials and the high estimates for their existence . The name came from the Italian-American Physicist Enrico Fermi. He was roughly quoted as saying “Where is everybody?” This paradox has been explained by saying that the number of intelligent civilizations is very low. […] Continue reading
Posted in Class, General
Tagged astro2110, blog 7, Solar System
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Astrobiology – Indicators of Life on Other Worlds
Astrobiology studies the past, present, and future of life in the universe. One facet of this interdisciplinary field is considering the possibility of life on other planets or worlds. Scientists utilize research in biology, chemistry, astronomy, and cosmology to help determine if life could exist elsewhere in the universe, and if so, how we can […] Continue reading
Posted in Aliens, Class, Exoplanets
Tagged astro2110, astrobiology, blog7, life, oxygen, Solar System, water
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What I’ve learned
Walking into astronomy class in late January, I was not even sure if I would be able to name the eight planets in our solar system. It is safe to say that I’ve learned a lot. I think the most important thing I learned is how big our universe really is and how everything explains […] Continue reading
Posted in Class, Jovians, Terrestrials
Tagged astro2110, blog8, Solar System
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The Future of Space Travel – The Skyhook
Infrastructure is everywhere. Most every way of transport that we consider using regularly has immense infrastructure. Cars have roads, trains have rails and stations, and airplanes have airports and runways. But with space travel, we take the brute force method, spending immense amounts of money and forcing a rocket to defy gravity and get itself …
Posted in Space Travel
Tagged astro2110, blog8, skyhook, Solar System, Space Travel, spacetravel, technology
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The Fermi Paradox : Are We Alone?
The Fermi Paradox Picture The universe is magnificently huge, and hence should have countless opportunities for life to develop, but that then begs the question, where are all the aliens? Due to the expansion of the universe being faster than the speed of life, there may be life throughout many galaxies, or even most of …
Posted in Class, Galaxies, Space Travel
Tagged astro2110, blog7, Class, Galaxies, life, milkyway, Solar System, Space Travel
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