I’m Katie! I’m a freshman and I’m from the Chicago area and I absolutely love every part of it. From the Cubs to the brutal winters, I wouldn’t trade any of it. Usually, I intentionally avoid “touristy” Chicago because they can’t see the true beauty of Chicago beyond the picture the news creates (I’ll give you a hint… it’s not a good one). But I mean… who can pass up taking pictures with your best friends at the bean?
Hello, Check out the NASA website!
Hello, Check out the NASA website!
Why do so many people try to hop into astronomy trying to seem cool or knowledgeable about something they have no idea about. “What’s your star sign? Mine’s Aquarius which means I’m a confident leader who always sets high-achieving goals! Oh, you’re a Leo? I don’t really want to be friends with someone so manipulative.”
Airheads. Idiots. Superstitious children. This is the general image most people have of people who follow or consult their star signs, more commonly known as zodiac signs. Zodiac signs, and astrology as a whole, have exploded in recent years, coming to dominate popular culture.
“Whats yo name whats yo sign, Zociac killer,
Astrology has mushroomed from a relatively obscure part of American society to becoming a large player, showing up in hundreds of songs, tv shows, and even having killers named after them. Is it really that bad for people to have an interest in their zodiac signs?
Astrology dates back to Babylonian times, starting off as a science to bring order out of chaos. Astrology was used to predict weather, agricultural outputs, personalities, and major events in human history. Zodiac signs, later developed in ancient Egypt, used to identify the progression of seasons and to assign characteristics to a group of people. As time went on, people began making horoscopes based off of zodiac signs, trying to predict peoples’ futures based off the constellation behind the sun at the time of the person’s birth. This morphed into a huge industry that currently caters to millions of individuals across the world in modern times. Some people rely on their zodiac signs and horoscopes for all their daily decisions. The large interest in astrology has also created a large interest in astronomy as a byproduct. As people try to learn more about their zodiac signs, they end up learning about constellations, star formations, and the rotation of the Earth. For some, this spawns a further curiosity in astronomy and leads to an exploratory path of learning and asking questions not only about constellations, but about space travel, dark matter, and our universe as a whole.
I opened this blog post with a negative, rude outlook on astrology and zodiac signs as a whole to demonstrate the negative, combative view many astronomers have towards people that believe and practice astrology. Why do we (people that study astronomy) bash something that inspires interest in astronomy as a whole? So what if people gain hope and/or daily inspiration from their zodiac sign. While astrology may spread some disinformation, this is heavily outweighed by the scientific curiosity and questioning it generates as people try to learn more about their zodiac sign. Throughout history, astrology and zodiac signs were helpful and semi-accurate as scientific tools, essential in planning when to plant crops and what weather to expect during a certain time of the year. Even if you don’t believe in the scientific value of astrology (which admittedly probably is not that helpful in modern time with the technology we now have), at least it starts people questioning the universe they live in and thinking on a larger level.
I’ll leave this blog post off with a final thought: Is it morally correct to support an ideology that you think is incorrect if that ideology supports further learning, curiosity, and exploration? Would you do it? If not, what are some ways to get ‘fringe’ people or those who would not generally be interested in astronomy interested in astronomy?
As of the time of writing, Voyager 1 is over 21.1 billion kilometers away from its launch point of Earth. This distance seems long to most, but in the grand scheme of things it is almost nothing at all. This distance represents only 0.2% of that of a lightyear, meaning that a photon released from our Sun could catch up to Voyager 1 in a matter of hours. Despite the fact Voyage 1 is moving at speed near 17 km/s, a speed so fast that Voyage 1 could circle the Earth in less than 40 minutes, the probe won’t even reach another star for 40,000 more years. All this goes to show just how small humanity’s sense of scale is compared to that of just our own solar system, let alone that of the entire galaxy or even universe. While popular science fiction likes to depict humanity as an interstellar fairing species within only a few hundred years of the present, this is nothing more that a pipe dream. It will be nearly impossible to reach the closet star to Earth, let alone father stars or even other galaxies, and humanity will probably be forever destined to dwell in our own Solar System. While 20% of Americans live with 18 miles of their mothers, it appears 100% of humanity live within light minutes of our galactic mother Earth until for all time.
I’m Michael, and I am a freshman at Vanderbilt University.
This photo was taken in Venice Beach, California, one of my favorite places. Although I’m from frigid Chicago, Illinois, I hope to some day end up there. This tapestry now hangs in my dorm room.Venice Beach
For Blog #0, I want you to think about how big these mountains are… then how big the universe is… multiverse?
My name is Lauren and I’m a freshman from Charlotte, NC. I included a picture that I took over the break when I went to my favorite beach, Kiawah Island, in South Carolina.
My name is Lauren and I’m a freshman from Charlotte, NC. I included a picture that I took over the break when I went to my favorite beach, Kiawah Island, in South Carolina.
Hi Folks. My name is Jonah Hinojosa. I am currently a Junior at Vanderbilt studying Physics. I’m originally from Miami, FL, so the above is a sight I have often seen. If you would like to learn more about my hometown, feel free to click here. I hope to provide you with more informative content in the future, as well as cooler and more intriguing pictures. I’m looking forward to the rest of the semester!
