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Tag Archives: space
Han Solo Is Working Too Hard
While science-fiction flicks like Star Wars produce some exhilarating and high-stakes chase scenes with the help of treacherous asteroid fields/belts, in reality, you could probably navigate these asteroid belts blind-folded. With all due respect to Han Solo’s piloting skills and his less than twelve parsecs Kessel run, he would not actually have needed to utilizeContinue reading “Han Solo Is Working Too Hard” Continue reading
Posted in Class, Small SS Objects
Tagged asteroids, astro2110, blog6, sci-fi, Solar System, space, starwars
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Which Exoplanet Could Be Planet B?
The transit method has already been used to discover a few thousand exoplanets and continues to discover more through both old observations and current missions. With this method, the brightness levels of stars in other solar systems are measured. When the brightness dims, this is a sign that an extrasolar planet may have passed inContinue reading “Which Exoplanet Could Be Planet B?” Continue reading
Posted in Class, Exoplanets, Light, Universe
Tagged astro2110, blog6, exoplanet, extrasolar, planets, space
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Becoming One with Saturn
On September 17, 2017, NASA’s Cassini’s spacecraft exhausted its fuel supply. This marked the end of a 20 yearlong space exploration and 13 yearlong orbit around The planet Saturn. The Cassini Mission was monumental in more ways than one. It was the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn, first to land in the outer solar system, […] Continue reading
Posted in Class, Historical
Tagged astro2110, blog5, cassini, exploration, NASA, saturn, space
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Space Travel
In 1961, Alan shepherd became the first american astronaut in space who was trained and sent to space by NASA. 2 years ago marked the 60th anniversary of NASA and their endeavors into space. During those years, they have sent over 350 people into space and the number will only keep going up. I thinkContinue reading “Space Travel” Continue reading
Martian Lakes
With the intimate connection between water and life, the discovery and understanding of water on Mars has been a crucial point of research that is continuing to be updated. Although there is no liquid water on the surface of Mars, there is water in the form of ice in polar caps and glaciers. If allContinue reading “Martian Lakes” Continue reading
Posted in Aliens, Class, SolarSystem
Tagged astro2110, blog4, Mars, Rover, Solar System, space, water
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Is the Moon actually made of cheese?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. However, the story of why the Moon’s surface looks the way it does it still an interesting one and one that helps us understand the solar system as a whole. The surface of the Moon most closely resembles that of Mercury (due to the lack of geological activity that comesContinue reading “Is the Moon actually made of cheese?” Continue reading
Posted in Class, Moons, SolarSystem, Universe
Tagged astro2110, blog3, Moon, Solar System, space, Time
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Tidal Friction: a 5 hour long day to a month long day
Due to the Universal law of gravitation, we know that objects of equal mass have a larger gravitation force between them when they are closer together. Because the near side of the Earth is closer to the Moon than the far side of the Earth, the force between the Moon and the near side ofContinue reading “Tidal Friction: a 5 hour long day to a month long day” Continue reading
Hello!
My name is Nolan Siegel, and I am looking forward to blogging this semester! I’m a student at Vanderbilt University studying political science and economics (with minors in astronomy and scientific computing), and I like asking big questions about the universe and my place within it. ASTR 2110 is my fourth astronomy course, and IContinue reading “Hello!” Continue reading
Extremophiles, and What They Mean For Life in Space
Extremophiles are organisms on Earth that thrive in extreme environment that most other organisms wouldn’t be able to survive in. They are found in places that at a glance, seem unlivable, places like inside volcanoes, or deep in the ocean under extreme pressures. So why do these extremophiles matter when thinking about space? The ideaContinue reading “Extremophiles, and What They Mean For Life in Space” Continue reading
Posted in Class, Galaxies, Moons, Stars
Tagged astro2110, blog6, jupiter, life, life in space, planets, pluto, Solar System, space, Uncategorized
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Life on Europa?
When considering the likeliest hosts for extraterrestrial life in our very own system, Europa surely is near the top of possible candidates. One of Jupiter’s 79 (!) moons, it possesses the smoothest surface of any celestial body in the solar system. Because of this and imaging from probes, scientists have hypothesized that Europa has aContinue reading “Life on Europa?” Continue reading