Category Archives: SolarSystem

Moon Landing Evidence! :)

Posted on February 6, 2013 by drgrundstrom

In class today (Wednesday), I showed some of the lunar landing footage available to we, denizens of the Internet, for FREE!  NASA is a public entity and as such, happily will show us many awesome things and has given us the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal (ALSJ).  Much of the text was written by former astronauts […] Continue reading →

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Party Planning– for a solar eclipse!

Posted on January 28, 2013 by sharpew

On May 20, 2012 an Annular eclipse was visible in the continental US. This eclipse marked the first annular eclipse visible for the US in EIGHTEEN years! That’s almost my entire life span! For additional information on this eclipse, click here. The eclipse was visible in several locations in California, Utah and New Mexico. Being an East coast girl, I […] Continue reading →

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Once in a Blue Moon?

Posted on January 28, 2013 by brendanfeeley

While studying lunar phases for tomorrow’s test, I wondered what the common phrase “Blue Moon” meant.  According to Wikipedia, Blue Moon is a term used to describe the second full moon in one month.  A two-full-moon month occurs approximately once every 3 years, and the it can only occur is because most months (with the […] Continue reading →

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Precession and the Poles

Posted on January 27, 2013 by mirandaskunz

Pretty much everyone in the North Hemisphere knows about the North Star and how it can be used in navigation. The North Star is such a familiar subject to me that I was surprised when I learned that the North pole does not always point toward the North Star. As we have learned in astro […] Continue reading →

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The Moon Illusion and How to Resolve It

Posted on January 27, 2013 by fosterec

The moon is always the same size. It seems like an easy enough concept to grasp, but it doesn’t explain why the moon doesn’t always look like it’s the same size. I’m sure you’ve all seen it. You go out early on the night of a full moon, and the moon looks HUGE. In high school, […] Continue reading →

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Solar System Website

Posted on January 27, 2013 by kevinm387

This image comes from solarviews.com, a cool website that has lots of info on our Solar System. It has pages about each of the planets, their moons, asteroids and much more. It also has info about other things like exoplanets and the Oort Cloud, which is a spherical cloud that surrounds our Sun and extends […] Continue reading →

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Why does the moon look red?

Posted on January 27, 2013 by fathomingthestars

If you have ever seen an image of a lunar eclipse, or have had the privilege of viewing one in person, you probably noticed that the moon does not retain its bright, whitish color; instead, the moon turns a shade of orange or red.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, this very cool youtube video […] Continue reading →

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Astronomically, it IS an early spring!!

Posted on March 20, 2012 by drgrundstrom

So I read this article and I had to share it with you – I think it’s very good :) Article:  Spring Arrives With Equinox Tuesday, Earliest in Over a Century by Joe Rao, SPACE.com Skywatching Columnist As an introduction, here in Nashville, we’ve been experiencing a really mild spring – personally, I’m pretty happy […] Continue reading →

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Awesome Planetary Formation Videos

Posted on March 14, 2012 by drgrundstrom

In class on Monday, I showed a whole bunch of videos that show planetary formation – some showed certain parts better than others but they all are pretty awesome.  Just in case anyone wanted to look at them again, here they are: Short, beginning of formation (from gas cloud to disk) from ESA – here […] Continue reading →

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Go outside on March 12 and 13!!

Posted on March 5, 2012 by drgrundstrom

Right when we come back from Spring Break, we will be able to see a planetary conjunction!  You will be able to see Jupiter and Venus be within three degrees of each other and that’s an especially close separation and will be especially brilliant due to the biology of your eyeball – they will be […] Continue reading →

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