Category Archives: Observables

things we can see from Earth using our eyeballs or telescopes

Largest Solid Known Object in Solar System Found in Kuiper Belt

Posted on April 6, 2014 by waldentb

Californian Institute of Technology astronomers have recently found a new object floating in an outer region of our solar system …

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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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Observing the Night Sky

Posted on March 19, 2014 by karapetros

The website Sky and Telescope is very cool! It shows an easy to understand layout of what planets, stars, etc. you will be viewing in the night sky and where they will be moving throughout the night and week. It also gives you categories of different celestial objects you can try to search for in … Continue reading Observing the Night Sky → Continue reading →

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Heavy Bombardment

Posted on March 18, 2014 by joshkip

One topic in our readings that I found to be particularly interesting was the period known as “Heavy Bombardment” that took place in our solar system hundreds of millions of years ago. This simulation provides an excellent example of the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Volcanoes on Venus

Posted on March 12, 2014 by hollyreichert

Venus is around the same size as Earth, and therefore has a similar interior makeup.  Earth has volcanoes and they are still erupting today.  On Venus, there are signs of volcanoes but a space probe has never seen a volcano erupt on the surface.  By measuring infrared levels on the surface, we can tell that […] Continue reading →

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Spectroscopy

Posted on February 17, 2014 by karapetros

I always wondered how we were able to determine what chemicals are present in other stars in outer space. This video excellently and concisely teaches the basics behind studying this in terms of spectroscopy. Naturally, light is important in our viewing of the stars, but I never considered that the way different elements bend light … Continue reading Spectroscopy → Continue reading →

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The Moon’s Effects on the Ocean

Posted on February 17, 2014 by kaswat

Generally, if you’ve ever been on the ocean, you understand the concept of tides. You put your umbrella and chair up at noon near the edge of the ocean and you fall asleep and you wake up a few hours later in the middle of the waves. You didn’t move, so the ocean had to… Continue reading →

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“Imperfections” in the Sky

Posted on February 17, 2014 by joshkip

As we study the history of astronomy, and delve into the lives of figures such as Newton, Kepler and Capernicus, I found it particularly interesting how vital the Christian Church was in proving/disproving whether the so-called “scientific facts” of the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Where Can You See Stars in the 4th Largest City?

Posted on February 15, 2014 by hollyreichert

In the heart of the museum district in Houston, Texas, there is the Houston Museum of Natural Science.  Besides a football field size paleontology hall, IMAX screen and butterfly center, HMNS hosts the Burke Baker Planetarium.  The planetarium also is used to train astronauts to help them be able to identify stars. In addition to […] Continue reading →

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The 2017 Nashville Eclipse!

Posted on January 28, 2014 by drgrundstrom

In class yesterday we talked about eclipses and so here’s the post about it! The totally awesome (and very dedicated) Mr. Eclipse (i.e., The Ultimate Resource for Eclipse Photography) is a favorite of NASA so they use his diagrams on their eclipse website. The foremost resource for the 2017 eclipse is eclipse2017.org.  The Interactive Google […] Continue reading →

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