Category Archives: SolarSystem

Human’s Fascination of the Solstices

Posted on January 26, 2016 by 2016spaceodyssey

If there was one thing that early humans revered most, it may have been the position of the Sun.  Ancient cultures around the world, before the first cities ever existed, built monuments to measure the Sun’s position (known as archaeoastronomy).  The most famous of which is Stonehenge in England, which has its entrances aligned to […] Continue reading →

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Solar Eclipse

Posted on January 25, 2016 by OscarBen

A total solar eclipse. Source: SoftPedia There are two types of eclipses, lunar and solar, but I’d like to talk about the latter. Solar eclipses can be broken down into four subtypes: total, partial, annular and hybrid. In order for any of these to happen, the Sun, Moon and Earth must form a straight–or almost… More Solar Eclipse Continue reading →

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Precession of Earth

Posted on January 25, 2016 by sarabkeller

I think one of the most interesting topics in Chapter 2 of the Astronomy textbook is about the concept of precession, or the gradual change in the rotational axis of Earth. The direction of Earth’s axis rotates on a 26,000 year cycle. That may mean next to nothing to us in our lifespan, but precession will gradually […] Continue reading →

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The best way to propose to an astronomer: Solar eclipses

Posted on January 23, 2016 by d51blog

  A solar eclipse, which is the only acceptable way to propose to an astronomer, is a fairly uncommon event which occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun. Although the Moon is much smaller than the Sun, it is able to completely block the Sun because it is much closer to the […] Continue reading →

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2016 Planetary Alignment!

Posted on January 22, 2016 by drgrundstrom

As described in class, here are my two favorite articles about this alignment: Get Up Early, See Five Planets at Once! from Sky and Telescope How to View Five Planets Aligning in a Celestial Spectacle from The New York Times I happen to adore the NYT diagram because it shows the Solar System view as […] Continue reading →

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Planet Nine!

Posted on January 22, 2016 by drgrundstrom

Caltech Researchers Find Evidence of a Real Ninth Planet This is legit folks!  For those who are at a university (like Vanderbilt), this press release has a link to the actual research article in the Astronomical Journal.  It’s a bit heavy at times but well done. There’s also a pretty good article on Wired: This […] Continue reading →

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The Lunar Cycle

Posted on January 20, 2016 by hallesolar

The moon completes it orbit around Earth every 29.5 days, creating the lunar cycle. The most interesting thing I learned from the Chapter 2 reading was that the word “month” is meant to sound like “moon” – I’m surprised I never knew the origin of the word before! As the moon orbits Earth, we are able […] Continue reading →

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Terraforming Mars

Posted on April 28, 2015 by bryancm1

Everyone seems so caught up on finding extraterrestrial life. I think rather than focus on finding others, carving out our own “space footprint” seems so much more exciting. If you’ve seen the 2013 Superman reboot Man of Steel, you would have been introduced to the concept of terraforming. The remnants of the Kryptonian race wish […] Continue reading →

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Pluto and I

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Marissa LePore

This is the first-full color photo  taken of Pluto ever that NASA published yesterday. The space probe New Horizons took the image about 71 million miles away as it nears the “dwarf” planet. New Horizons is the fastest spacecraft ever launched and the first in history to visit Pluto. The unprecedented flyby is expected to take […] Continue reading →

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Liquid Confidence

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Marissa LePore

“I believe we are going to have strong indications of life beyond Earth in the next decade and definitive evidence in the next 10 to 20 years,” Ellen Stofan, chief scientist for NASA. “It’s definitely not an if, it’s a when,” said Jeffery Newmark, one of Stofan’s colleagues. NASA made these bold claims at a […] Continue reading →

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