Tag Archives: blog2

Total Solar Eclipses: Cool Now, Terrifying Then

Posted on January 27, 2013 by zvgio

The term umbraphile is not a common term found in most peoples’ lexicons, and even those who parse in Greek may be confused by the translation of “shadow-lover.” However, despite their rarity, umbraphiles do exist, and the shadow which they love is the one the moon casts on the Earth during a total solar eclipse. […] Continue reading →

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Ophiucus: The Thirteenth Zodiac?

Posted on January 27, 2013 by jacob933

Two years ago, an astronomer from Minnesota named Parke Kunkle informed the American public that not only  had the date ranges for each of the zodiac signs changed, but that a 13th Zodiac sign had been added called Ophiuchus. This became big news very quickly and elicited very heated responses from many astrologers. One astrologer […] 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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Google Sky Map

Posted on January 27, 2013 by AlanL

Once I first learned about the Google Sky Map app I was amazed at how it worked and its capabilities. It uses the date and time and the phone’s GPS and compass to determine where you are and where you’re looking to create a star chart that you can interact with. If there is something […] Continue reading →

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Precession: The Great Year

Posted on January 27, 2013 by burnspress

As humans on Earth there are two celestial motions that affect us most obviously. Earths diurnal motion, its rotation on its axis responsible for day and night, and Earth’s revolution around the sun, determining our yearly cycles (winter, spring, blooming, hibernation, migration). A third and less obvious celestial motion is precession. Its time scale hides […] Continue reading →

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Precession

Posted on January 27, 2013 by williamcpower

For my second blog I would like to discuss the precession of the Earth’s axis and how it could relate to possible climate change. We learned in class that seasons are caused because of the tilt of the earth. The till causes light to be more direct on a hemisphere during particular parts of the […] Continue reading →

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Power of the Zodiac

Posted on January 27, 2013 by michaelglindsay

Many of the belief system of ancient civilizations are based on what these rather primitive people observed around them, i.e. the Aztecan Sun god, the Greek gods of the sun, ocean, thunder, etc. To those ancient people who first realized the pattern of procession that the sun exhibits in it astral travels, it must as […] 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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Know your constellations, impress your friends!

Posted on January 27, 2013 by charlesbcochran

When observing the night sky, most usually it is when going home from a late practice or study session around 10-midnight. One can always look up and be able to spot Orion and the belt, and look further up to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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