Tag Archives: space

Kepler Concerns

Posted on April 10, 2016 by nickwtheastronomer

One of NASA’s most prized space probes may be in need of some roadside assistance after a scheduled Thursday communication session revealed the craft has entered emergency mode. The Kepler spacecraft was launched in 2009 and is equipped with telescopes and instruments critical to the discovery and analysis of extrasolar planets. Little is known so […] Continue reading →

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The Darkest Planet in the Universe

Posted on April 10, 2016 by nickwtheastronomer

The planet sullenly staring back at you is TrES-2b and no it is not just going through a phase, this exoplanet is indeed the universe’s ultimate goth. TrES-2b is a gas giant which was first detected in 2006 by the Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey (TrES) employing the transit method of exoplanet discovery. In the transit method […] Continue reading →

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Carl Sa(vior)gan

Posted on April 10, 2016 by evinske

We read about them in our textbooks. They’re the giants with discoveries that make our understandings of moon phases and seasonal changes seem minuscule and insignificant. We stand on their shoulders when we learn about atmospheric conditions on different planets. We hold their hands while launching expensive equipment into the hardly-known (space). We sometimes name this […] Continue reading →

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Dyson Spheres on the Horizon?

Posted on March 15, 2016 by nickwtheastronomer

We may be getting one step closer to the fabled hallmark of an advanced civilization, the Dyson Sphere. Pioneered by Freeman Dyson in the 1960s, a Dyson Sphere takes the process of energy generation to a level literally out of this world. A Dyson Sphere is a massive assemblage of solar energy collectors placed in […] Continue reading →

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The Voyager Mission

Posted on March 14, 2016 by clharrell

Launched in 1977, the Voyager 1&2 continue to explore deeper into space than any instrument ever before. Using geometries and precise calculations, the space probes were able to perform flybys of Jupiter, Saturn, Titan, Uranus, and Neptune. Upon completion of the primary objectives, they were assigned the new mission of exploring further and further away from […] Continue reading →

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The Formation of the Solar System

Posted on March 14, 2016 by clharrell

The general consensus amongst astrophysicists is that our solar system was formed through a process of gravitational collapse of a dense cloud. Over time, a large portion of the mass settled at the center, forming the Sun. The formation of the sun produced a swirling disk called a solar nebula. This disk of matter orbiting […] Continue reading →

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Project Orion: Riding Atomic Explosions into Space

Posted on February 16, 2016 by nickwtheastronomer

From the LSD-laden project MK Ultra to the ill-fated foray into psychic warfare that was Stargate Project, the U.S. government has sanctioned some truly strange studies over the past century. But one research endeavor stands out among all the others throught its sheer magnitude, ridiculousness, and surprising potential. I am talking, of course, about Project Orion. […] Continue reading →

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What Happens in Space…

Posted on February 12, 2016 by impossibleensign

Unlike Vegas, the effects of your space trip come back to Earth with you. Continue reading →

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You are stronger than the Universe! (Kind of)

Posted on January 26, 2016 by nickwtheastronomer

Minute Physics: Do We Expand with the Universe? As you read this post, the universe around you is shooting outwards and stretching off into the unknown at unimaginable speeds! But if that’s true, why cant’t you feel it? In a way it is because you are stronger the the stretching of the universe! Well maybe […] Continue reading →

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Astro Apps

Posted on January 26, 2016 by jgarrett9

Observing the night sky can often be tricky when you are trying to locate stars or planets that all look the same to the naked eye. News stories always pop up about fun things to see in the night sky that will be easily visible for us such as two planets overlapping in their perceived… Continue reading →

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