Tag Archives: the universe

“Games without rules have many possible outcomes.” – Andrew Knoll, Harvard

Posted on April 9, 2014 by juliamac17

On a slightly more positive note to my other post about my reservations to the search for extraterrestrial life, NASA has recently confirmed that Saturn’s moon, Enceladus has been hiding a Lake Superior-sized ocean. It was discovered using data gathered by the Cassini spacecraft, and while suspicions have been around for a while, it has […] Continue reading →

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What are we even looking for?

Posted on April 9, 2014 by juliamac17

So recently we’ve been looking at different planets. Some of the planets that we tend to find most interesting are those that we think could possibly support life. But instead of tackling the life question from an excited human standpoint, I’m looking at it in a slightly wary, totally suspicious one. What are we looking for? […] Continue reading →

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Nontraditional Planets

Posted on March 12, 2014 by juliamac17

We’re learning about the formation of solar systems, however this is something we can’t observe since it happens over such a long period of time. And so to remedy our curiosity we have come up with models.These hypotheses in order to stand have to explain the various phenomena in the solar system while leaving room […] Continue reading →

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Hip-stars Wobble Too!

Posted on February 16, 2014 by juliamac17

So one of the things I think is cute about the universe we live in is that even in the most vastness you rarely find things alone. And these kindred stellar bodies don’t just ignore each other. Oh no, they get caught up in each other’s gravity. And it is this fun and nifty relation […] Continue reading →

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Is it a parallax or only one? ;)

Posted on January 25, 2014 by juliamac17

So one feature of star observation that has allowed us to figure out that we’re not the center of the universe is this really neat and slightly tricky idea of stellar parallax. It’s the phenomenon where based on our position in orbit, a star may appear to have moved based on the stars behind it. […] Continue reading →

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I swear the universe doesn’t even know I exist

Posted on January 25, 2014 by juliamac17

So I was watching this video called Powers of Ten, yes? And this video takes you from looking at a view that’s 1m^2 and then increases that by a factor of ten every ten seconds (so after the first ten seconds you’re looking at 10m^2, then 100m^2, and so on and so forth), and by […] Continue reading →

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A Humbling Experience

Posted on April 29, 2013 by marknshirleyvu

The picture that I have attached above aptly describes what my time in the class has made me feel.  Prior to Astro 201, I had very little knowledge about the workings of our Universe.  And while I’m not saying that a single 200-level course has made me anything even resembling an expert, I feel that […] Continue reading →

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