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To Infinity and Beyond
This Star Wars-esque image shows what it would be like to travel at light speed!
I have certainly learned so much by taking this course. It has really helped me grow my perspective of the universe and how much there is left to learn and explore. I might not be alone in this, but I felt like there was not a whole lot left to learn about our solar system once we reached the moon and gathered data on all the other planets. But this is absolutely not the case and this class taught me that. I have found it incredibly exciting that there is still so much to learn, and maybe as technology advances, we may be able to land on the “surfaces” of the gas giants or collect data on extremophiles on other worlds that prove life is out there.
I also look forward to the day when we figure out how to travel at lightspeed and traverse the galaxy much faster than we do now and collect data on not only our galaxies but also all the neighboring galaxies and someday the ever-expanding universe. I think it is really interesting to think of the idea that some day we could meet other advanced life in other galaxies throughout the vast expanse of space. I will be following closely along for all of the advances in astronomical science that will keep pushing us towards learning more about space.
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Extremophiles: Life on other planets?
Within our Earth, in some of the tiniest cracks and crevices of the terrain, exist micro-organisms that are able to survive in the harshest environments the planet has to offer. Whether it be in the underwater volcanic vents where temperatures reach up to 700 ° F, or the cracks of the ice at the poles where temperatures go down to -112 º F, there are these extremophiles that are thriving in the, well, extremes. While these micro-organisms are incredibly interesting to study here on Earth because of the variety of locations they can be found in, they are even more exciting to think about side the realm of Earth: on the other planets of the Solar System and Galaxy.
I guess it all depends on what you are looking for when you search for “aliens” or “other life” in the solar system, but in my opinion, it is an incredibly feasible possibility that extremophiles exist on other planets. Venus is a heavily-sulfureted planet, so many acidophiles could thrive on its surface and in its atmosphere. The icy landscape of Europa could be home to some psychrophiles that thrive in the freezing temperatures. It is incredibly exciting to think of this type of life on other planets both in our solar system but also throughout the universe, and how exciting it is that these species could evolve into more advanced life forms and become the “aliens” that people search so hard for.
Enjoy this picture of this cute little guy 🙂
Information can be so HOT and COLD! But these are just the extremes 🙂
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Earth-like Exoplanet
The super cool story of a discovery of an exoplanet!
It’s so cool that an exoplanet look like this!
There has been an incredibly interesting and exciting discovery made recently! The James Webb telescope has discovered and photographed an exoplanet and collected data to validate its existence as an exoplanet. An exoplanet is an astronomical object that classifies as a planet but orbits a star other than our lovely Sun! This discovery and validation is not only interesting for the fact that it exists outside our solar system, it is incredibly similar to our own Earth in size. The Webb found that this exoplanet, professionally labelled as LHS 475 b, is 99% the size of Earth in diameter, and it is a rocky world much like our own. Very unlike our Earth, however, this exoplanet has an orbital period of 2 days around its star! The Webb distanced this exoplanet at about 41 million light years away, so it is very cool that such a similarly sized planet is so close!
Unfortunately for followers of the question of if there is another livable planet out there, this one is not looking too habitable. It has not been ruled out, but its atmosphere seems to be very methane-based like Saturn’s moon Titan!
I certainly did not know all this! I was taught a lot of this by NASA!
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An even grander Grand Canyon
Have you ever seen the Grand Canyon? Well take that image and toss it out because it’s not even close to the size of the canyon we’re talking about here!
An inside scoop on this canyon is supported by the image above, found at Business Insider!
The New Horizon’s mission has been one of the most exciting planetary explorations in recent history, as it dove deep into the outer solar system to explore and collect data on Pluto and its surrounding satellites. One of the most interesting parts about Pluto is that it is in a binary system with its largest moon, Charon, so when the New Horizons spacecraft went to study Pluto, it was also able to explore Charon and its properties. Similar to Pluto, Charon is made of ice and rock particles that condensed at the formation of the solar system, but as ice naturally does, it expanded. As Dr. Alan Stern mentioned in his talk on Pluto and the New Horizons mission, Charon expanded much like water that freezes in a glass expands, and when the water expands further than the capacity of the glass, the glass cracks. Something very similar happened with Charon: it expanded so far that the surface had to expand to relieve some of the pressure, which caused there to be a massive canyon on Charon’s surface (pictured above!). This canyon is nearly double the length of the Grand Canyon of the United States, and nearly 5 times as deep!
Information found here, and supplemented by the information given in a talk by Dr. Alan Stern!
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Wetumpka Impact Crater
Above is a picture of the Wetumpka Impact Crater!
This crater is right near my hometown!
This blog is a fun one for me because of the freedom it allows. For this blog post I am going to talk about craters, but not just any crater: one that is right next to my hometown! How cool!
I come from a small town called Eclectic. In the next town over, Wetumpka, Alabama, there is an actual impact crater site that people can go and visit. My class actually took a field trip in middle school to go see this crater- it was an incredible experience!
The Wetumpka Impact Crater hit Earth around 84 million years ago, when the dinosaurs were still alive! The size of this crater is often compared to the size of a football stadium (Bryant-Denny and Jordan-Hare are two very famous football stadiums in the state of Alabama). Scientists who have studied this crater have found that the diameter of the crater, which is about 5 miles wide, is only a small portion of the area that was impacted by this crater. A large expanse of land AND sea was damaged by the crater and both plant and animal life was destroyed. Scientists also calculated the energy that was released in the impact was over 175,000 times that of the energy that was unfortunately released on Japan in the Hiroshima atomic bombing.
What is really interesting about this crater today is that such a classy and cute town was able to build itself up and thrive within the vicinity of a crater!
My information was found at this totally cool site!
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The Future Spacecraft
With countless spacecraft having been launched throughout a long history of space exploration, what is next for NASA?
Pictured above is a computer-rendered image of NASA’s Orion Spacecraft
Looking to shoot beyond the Moon and delve into the nearly untapped knowledge of Mars, the Orion project is what’s next on NASA’s agenda, as they prepare to send a series of Orion shuttles into space to build up to a manned mission to Mars.
The Orion mission has the ultimate goal of exploring Mars like never before, using the science and technology of satellites and spacecraft past while also containing some of the newest technology available.
The Orion craft is first set to launch under the title Artemis I and spend about six weeks shooting thousands of miles past the Moon. The Artemis I mission is in place to test the spacecraft, its technology, its aborting capabilities, and its capability of returning home safely. This check, while also collecting data from space, will ensure that the next mission Artemis II, is safe for humans to ride on and venture farther into space than any human has gone before.
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The Trial of Galileo
Astronomer Galileo Galilei using a telescope. Galileo is the scientist known for first turning a telescope towards the sky. Galileo Galilei is one of the most renowned figures in astronomy history, as he was one of the biggest and most meticulous supporters of the heliocentric model of the universe. However, Galileo not only had to fight against the fact that for all of history the idea of the geocentric solar system had been accepted as fact, he also had to deal with the fact that as a devout Catholic, he had to follow under the guidelines of the Catholic Church’s teaching. In Italy during Galileo’s lifetime, The Roman Catholic Church reigned supreme and to claim or try and prove that the earth was not the center of the solar system (and the universe) was deemed as heretical (which is why Copernicus waited until he was on his death bed before publishing his theories on heliocentrism. Despite Galileo’s extremely accurate data and falsification of Aristotelian physics, he was warned several times by the Catholic Church and its leaders to back away from the heretical theory.
Galileo went through a long and arduous period of fending off the church and trying to prove his theories correct through essays and publications. It all came to a head in June of 1633 when he was called before the Roman Inquisition to confess his crime of going against the doctrine of the Catholic Church as well as his sin of heresy. At such an old age (around 70), Galileo was tired of fighting and had done all he could do to prove heliocentrism and had done the work for future scientists to prove him correct. He confessed to the Inquisition and claimed that they were correct (a theory he did not believe). Because he confessed, he was excused from death and instead lived out the rest of his days under house arrest.
Although today we are taught that heliocentrism is correct and it seems like common knowledge, it was certainly not always the case. So many ancient astronomers laid the groundwork for the knowledge we hold today, and Galileo was one the most influential of these.
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Astronomers in Context
Tycho Brahe was born in 1546 and died in 1601. Brahe! was famous because he was an incredibly meticulous nighttime observer who dedicated hours to documenting the positions of celestial objects. Brahe became known as the best astronomical observer. He was also known for his famous observation machine that rotated and allowed Brahe to track those objects night after night.
From 1577 to 1580, Queen Elizabeth hired Francis Drake to travel around the entire globe on sea, a process known as circumnavigation. Drake traveled through the Magellan Straight but was blown extremely off-course by winds and storms. His ship was brought to an area called Tierra del Fuego, which he then discovered was part of the Antarctic, not a southern continent. He then became known as the first Antarctic explorer.
In 1600, the British East India Company was chartered. This British Empire trading conglomerate became one of if not the most powerful and militant forces on the planet during the 17th century. This company is famous not only for its trade but for its expansion and control of several Asian, Indian, and South American countries.
William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and died in 1616. He is a very famous historical figure who was alive at the same time as Tycho Brahe (and a few of the other famous astronomers). Shakespeare is perhaps the most renowned writer and poet from the 16th and 17th centuries, and he is known for his works such as Romeo and Juliet, a Midsummer Nights Dream, and Hamlet. Besides being famous for his works while he was alive and for transferring them to stages for audiences of all wealth statuses, Shakespeare is still prolific and relevant today, as works like Romeo and Juliet and Othello are still analyzed and taught in schools today.
Doing this assignment helped me realize how much overlap there is between historic and life-changing moments. I tend to very easily break history into segments and compartmentalize historical events into different eras and countries, but writing about Brahe and the famous events that occurred during his lifetime as well as reading that Shakespeare was alive at that time truly helped me realize that the fabric of history is so tightly woven together and we have so much more in common cross-culturally than I often think we do.
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Up Above The World So High
A blog about observing the night sky over and over.
Wanna read more on this long-exposure picture? Click here!
Through reading the textbook this past week, I was enlightened about what it would be like to observe the night sky hour after hour, night after night, and year after year. Before taking this course (and one other last year), I did not know much about what it would be like to observe the night sky, nor had I taken the time to stare at the night sky over and over. However, I now know that there are crystal clear and recognizable patterns that one would notice after repeated observation. In particular, the star patterns within the constellations of the sky that we recognize, such as Orion and Cassiopeia, are star patterns that have been constant in both shape and location for thousands of years. The Ancient Greeks looked up at the sky and saw the same patterns as we do to this very day. This will however change eventually, as both our galaxy and other stars/galaxies move, change, and die. But until that happens, I find it comforting that on Tuesday of this week I will look up and see the same stars I will see next Tuesday and the same stars the Ancient Greeks saw on their Tuesdays!
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All about Sam
Hi everyone! My name is Sam, and I am a sophomore here at Vandy. I am majoring in film and science communication. Here is a picture I took of the New York City Skyline at night from the Empire State Building, and I chose this picture because I really want to live in New York one day 🙂
The above picture is by me 🙂
Here is a hyperlink to a really cool Saturn picture that I fell in love with! This picture is from TreeHugger: https://www.treehugger.com/thmb/dmsgnu_xOjPYWLywnUZKeZ7msjc=/1500×0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__mnn__images__2013__02__saturnvoyager-4d4819cec3c845c8a90eaa348319a08f.jpg
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