Category Archives: SolarSystem

Blog 1 – Solstices, Equinoxes, and Seasons

Posted on January 22, 2024 by Julian Delamaza

Traditionally, the Solstices mark the beginning of the most treacherous seasons. Being from Miami, when the summer solstice came around everyone always knew that the days would only get hotter. Once the winter solstice hit, we always prayed that there would be some form of respite (news flash, rarely was). Arguably, this is the worst […] Continue reading →

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Speed of light in Space

Posted on January 22, 2024 by Andres Becerra

Picture by: FlashMovie/Shutterstock Light moves pretty fast. It actually moves the FASTEST out of anything that we know of (for now). Light moves at about 300,000 kilometers per second. When I’m in a rush on the freeway, I drive up to 145 kilometers per hour (90 miles per hour) which is only 0.04 kilometers a […] Continue reading →

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The Speed of Light/Light Travel Time – Cameron Klein

Posted on January 21, 2024 by Cameron Klein

Before beginning this course, I was familiar with the term light-year, but not in the way that it is truly meant to be used. When talking to members of my family, it is a common expression for us to say, “It’s going to take me lightyears to clean my room!” or “Doing my laundry is […] Continue reading →

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Asteroid Mining

Posted on April 30, 2023 by sahilreddy2

Hayabusa: A robotic spacecraft by JAXA to acquire a sample from the asteroid Itokawa Asteroid mining can be crucial in helping us to acquire rare materials in our solar system. The asteroid belt has 8% metal-rich asteroids and 75% volatile-rich carbonaceous asteroids.  Currently the technique is mainly just theoretical as we don’t have the infrastructure […] Continue reading →

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Dragonfly: Quadcopter on Titan

Posted on April 30, 2023 by willems49

After the recent rocket launch in preparation for the Artemis mission, I decided to look into the other space exploration projects currently underway. One that stuck out to me is the Dragonfly mission. After the landing of Huygens, a space probe sent from Cassini, in 2005, astronomers have desired a more advanced exploration of Titan. […] Continue reading →

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JUICE Explorer

Posted on April 29, 2023 by alicebyrnes

As discussed briefly in class, the European Space Agency (ESA) just successfully launched the Juice (formerly JUICE: JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) mission on April 14th! I had no idea this mission even existed before it was mentioned, so I decided to explore it further. The goal of this mission is focused on Jupiter’s moons. While […] Continue reading →

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Blog 8 – The History of Venus

Posted on April 26, 2023 by Melanie Marszal

When asked to picture Venus, many of us picture a hot, volcanic, inhabitable place — and we would be correct. However, science suggests that it may not have always been this way. A study of five different climate simulations of Venus found that in each of these scenarios, the planet could have supported liquid water […] Continue reading →

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Scientists Dream of Complex Life on Europa

Posted on April 25, 2023 by georgeboardman20

Images from BBC Article on Europan Life and CNET Article on Proposed NASA Rover The search for extraterrestrial life is often focused upon deep space with distances the human mind can barely comprehend. However, evidence has been building that complex life could be present in our cosmological backyard on the icy moon of Europa. The […] Continue reading →

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Blog8

Posted on April 15, 2023 by lucasliu6

The Seager Equation, an innovative idea conceived by esteemed astrophysicist Dr. Sara Seager, presents a fresh perspective in the search for habitable exoplanets and alien life. Diverging from the well-established Drake Equation, which predicts the number of communicative civilizations, the Seager Equation hones in on the abundance of exoplanets with detectable biosignature gases—a hint of […] Continue reading →

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Blog7

Posted on April 15, 2023 by lucasliu6

Astrobiology delves into some of the most profound questions concerning our existence, transcending traditional scientific disciplines to explore life beyond our planet. This enthralling field investigates the astonishing implications of extremophiles, organisms that withstand Earth’s harshest environments. These extraordinary life forms reveal an unimaginable variety of adaptive strategies, raising the possibility that life could thrive […] Continue reading →

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