Category Archives: Stars

The Star Destroyer: Supernova

Posted on March 21, 2021 by brynicdew

Stars take the idea of a “last hurrah” to beautifully explosive level. When a star runs out of energy and collapses, it will condense into a bundle of energy and explode. Supernovas are by far the largest explosion in the universe and can only occur to a star that is truly massive. Supernovas normally occurContinue reading “The Star Destroyer: Supernova” Continue reading →

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Binary Stars

Posted on March 20, 2021 by ben141414

A binary star is a star system of two stars that orbit around the central point, called the barycenter. In conversation, binary stars are sometimes casually referred to as double stars. Binary star systems or multiple star systems (3+ stars in orbit in the same system) are actually way more common than you might think.Continue reading “Binary Stars” Continue reading →

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Comet

Posted on March 20, 2021 by justinboreskyvanderbiltedu

Is it a bird? a plane? a superhero? No it’s a Comet! Comet’s are “cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock and dust that orbit the Sun”. Comet’s generally range from the size of 750 meters to 20 kilometers. Currently there are 3,717 comets known to man. Comet’s form from dust particles combining to form icyContinue reading “Comet” Continue reading →

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The Danger of a Coronal Mass Ejection

Posted on March 19, 2021 by brianknapp

A Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is essentially a powerful expulsion of plasma and accompanying magnetic field from the solar corona, or the sort of aura of plasma that surrounds our Sun. While they have an extremely cool name, and seem pretty neat, they could actually have a pretty significant impact on humanity. The Sun has an incrediblyContinue reading “The Danger of a Coronal Mass Ejection” Continue reading →

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Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory

Posted on February 27, 2021 by laineroberts

Looking for a place to up your stargazing? Vanderbilt University has an observatory just 20 minutes away from campus! The Dyer Observatory has a 24 inch reflecting telescope. This means that the telescope uses one or more mirrors to reflect light from space to form an image for the viewer. One of the advantages ofContinue reading “Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory” Continue reading →

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Spectroscopy and Stars

Posted on February 27, 2021 by christianc3

While it may seem impossible to be able to identify the types of elements that stars billions of light years away are made of, scientists discovered a way to do exactly that. In the 1850s, Kirchhoff and Bunsen managed to identify what the black lines in light spectra meant, and it allowed them to identifyContinue reading “Spectroscopy and Stars” Continue reading →

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Celestial Navigation in Disney’s Moana

Posted on February 24, 2021 by thestarstudent

Celestial Navigation was essential for Polynesian voyagers, and the Disney Film Moana does a very good job of depicting legitimate techniques. During the film’s production, Disney created a group of experts on the matter, including Polynesian elders and locals, called the Oceanic Story Trust. Their goal was to advise on cultural accuracy. Thousands of yearsContinue reading “Celestial Navigation in Disney’s Moana” Continue reading →

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Celestial Navigation

Posted on February 24, 2021 by gracelearnsspace

People have been using the stars to navigate for most of humankind. Six hundred years BC a philosopher called Thales of Miletos taught people to use the Little Bear constellation to navigate. What’s crazy is that those are the same stars that we say today! Despite there being other stars to navigate, the most common […] Continue reading →

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The Gravity of Neutron Stars

Posted on February 23, 2021 by brianknapp

Apart from black holes, neutron stars are the densest objects in the universe – excluding some other weird stuff. These unique and very dense things can form after a star goes supernova and collapses. If the star is massive enough, the collapse will force protons and electrons to smash into each other to form neutrons.Continue reading “The Gravity of Neutron Stars” Continue reading →

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The Western Zodiac’s Origins

Posted on February 7, 2021 by weatherbysofferings

One of the most interesting aspects of Astronomy for me specifically is the element of spirituality or philosophy it tends to invoke. To witness the majesty and scale of universe evokes such wonder that, if you’ll allow some hyperbole, can at times be akin to a religious experience. I comment this not to say thatContinue reading “The Western Zodiac’s Origins” Continue reading →

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