Tag Archives: Time

Halley’s Comet Shooting Through the Sky

Posted on March 27, 2014 by hollyreichert

In 1705, Edmond Halley noticed records of comets passing by Earth in 1531, 1607, and 1682.  While at first they were thought to be three different comets, Halley thought they were all the same one.  The comet passes by Earth around every 75 years.  It was here last in 1986, and is predicted to come […] Continue reading →

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The Future of Life On Earth

Posted on March 16, 2014 by katiew

The future of Earth and the future of life depends on multiple factors.  Disregarding human technology and the effects of global warming, Earth’s future depends on interactions with other objects in the solar system, the increase in the Sun’s luminosity, and the rate of cooling of the Earth’s interior. For example, scientists have predicted that […] Continue reading →

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The Prodigious Sun

Posted on March 16, 2014 by thegarrettnondorf

Is the Sun an efficient producer of energy via nuclear fusion? While humanity may be years away from commercializing nuclear fusion power, the Sun has been doing it for a while now (and for free!). The Sun is the most efficient generator of nuclear power in our solar system. Inside the Sun, nuclear reactions are … Continue reading The Prodigious Sun → Continue reading →

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Our Most Famous Dwarf Planet

Posted on March 12, 2014 by hollyreichert

Pluto was discovered on February 18, 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh.  However, decades earlier, Percival Lowell first thought that there may be another planet by Neptune and Uranus.  He died before he could find the planet and it wasn’t until years later that the search was set up again to find the planet.  The name Pluto […] Continue reading →

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The Highest Tides in the Bay of Fundy

Posted on February 15, 2014 by hollyreichert

Tides are created by the Moon’s gravitational pull on the Earth.  While the Sun also pulls on the Earth, it is so far away that the tides are not as affected by the Sun as they are by the Moon.  The tidal force is created by the difference in gravitational pull on each side of […] Continue reading →

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The size of the Universe

Posted on January 27, 2014 by asadpabani

To say the Universe is big is a bit of an understatement. The monster truck parked outside is considered big, the girl sitting next to you in class is called big by some people in bated breath, the Big Mac is supposed to be big (says so in the very name). When we’re talking about […] Continue reading →

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Light Travel Time: An Impediment to our Knowledge of the Universe

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Leigh

Despite common misperceptions, a light year is a measure of distance, not time. It is the only feasible way to measure distances in the universe because the universe is so vast that measurements of distance used on earth would quickly … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Blog Post #1: I’m just a small girl in a HUGE world

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Lauren

It is difficult to even fathom how great the universe is in comparison to our small beings here on earth.  The fact that we are only limited to the observable universe, which means that there is a possibility for mankind to have not even witnessed the extent of the universe is mind blowing.  The fact […] Continue reading →

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2500 light years away

Posted on January 27, 2014 by reidrcreviston

One day this week I was checking a weather website to see what the temperature was for the day and I came across an interesting article.  The article talked about how scientists had found a planet in the star cluster messier 67 that was orbiting a star which they called a “twin Star” to our […] Continue reading →

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Faster than you can say, “3.0 times ten to the eighth meters per second”

Posted on January 27, 2014 by thegarrettnondorf

  photo from here When I was young, I read a biography of Einstein’s life. (If he wasn’t so brilliant, we might know him as Honest Al). In this book, a story was told about young Albert at the ship docks. A worker had Al stand 50 yards away from him and swung a hammer at … Continue reading Faster than you can say, “3.0 times ten to the eighth meters per second” → Continue reading →

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