ASTR101 Fall 2015 BLOG

Blog Post #133. Thu Dec 17 9:46:56 2015. Kyle Lopez wrote:

Hey guys! I know class is over but I was looking at the news online and saw this link and thought it was awesome! Give it a read! http://m.businessinsider.in/Astronomers-just-saw-a-black-hole-blow-something-incredible-into-space-with-tremendous-force/articleshow/50005066.cms Thanks!

Blog Post #132. Thu Dec 10 20:23:01 2015. Samira Jackson wrote:

Hey guys! Below is the link that we used to study for our second exam. I am going to add the topics that we need to know for the final and we can fill them out accordingly! Happy studying! https://docs.google.com/a/terpmail.umd.edu/document/d/1ODbgzaSVUp4AxZPdvBdAsVkLRITeycGjxt6shdaFoow/edit?usp=docslist_api

-Samira

Blog Post #131. Sun Dec 6 23:20:32 2015. Austin Rabinovitz wrote:

Hey. So did you know that recently NASA was trying to send an unmanned aircraft to the ISS to give Astronauts food and supplies that they have a shortage on. The launch failed 3 times before finally getting the rocket to launch into outer space a few days ago. The cause of the failure was discovered to be extremely high wind gusts and the strong winds wouldn't allow the rocket to be launched into space. There are millions of dollars that go into just one launch so NASA had a big spending holiday just like we did during black Friday. Cya folks and Go Terps! welcome D.J. Durkin to UMD.

Blog Post #130. Fri Dec 4 13:21:25 2015. Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

Got to watch out for those "clusters of nothingness!"

Final Exam Review Sheet and HW#5 solutions are now available on the Assignments website.

Blog Post #129. Thu Dec 3 1:21:56 2015. Logan Weir wrote:

Hey guys, I don't know how many people are familiar with The Onion but it's a satirical newspaper that writes humorous articles. I hope you guys find the article in the link below funny!

The headline is "Astronomers Discover Previously Unknown Cluster Of Nothingness In Deep Space"

http://www.theonion.com/article/astronomers-discover-previously-unknown-cluster-no-51875

Good luck with finals!

Blog Post #128. Wed Dec 2 12:19:44 2015. Jordan Hawkins wrote:

Hey guys! i found some cool astronomy fun facts for everyone to check out! http://astro.cornell.edu/quotes/category

Blog Post #127. Sun Nov 29 15:51:39 2015. William Bui wrote:

Hey guys, I have a question about a homework problem. On chapter 12, question 20, is this one of those math problems where you cancel out like terms? How would you go about answering this question? Is 1/4 average distance just mean the universe is 1/4 smaller?

Blog Post #126. Tue Nov 24 20:25:08 2015. Samuel Wang wrote:

Check this out

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-mars-suicidal-moon-phobos-ring-20151121-story.html

Blog Post #125. Fri Nov 20 8:20:39 2015. Randall Devine wrote:

Blog Post #124. Thu Nov 19 0:02:00 2015. William Noyes wrote:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/news/a18231/birth-of-a-new-planet/

Pretty interesting and relevant to whats on tomorrow's exam.

Blog Post #123. Sat Nov 14 22:12:36 2015. Malak Hakam wrote:

Hey guys! Do any of you guys know how to do question 18 on page 181? I've been working on it and, with the numbers I'm getting, I highly doubt I'm doing it right but I've checked pretty much everything and don't know what I'm doing wrong. If someone can help me, please reply/tell me! Thank you so so much!

Blog Post #122. Fri Nov 13 11:01:05 2015. Kadiatou Tounkara wrote:

Hey Everyone! Just a quick reminder to start studying this weekend! Get all the readings out the way quick so you can begin really trying to connect the dots!

Blog Post #121. Fri Nov 13 8:22:04 2015. Randall Devine wrote:

http://www.iflscience.com/technology/wtf-space-junk-will-crash-land-earth-friday-13th

Blog Post #120. Wed Nov 11 8:21:31 2015. Malak Hakam wrote:

GUYS EXCITING NEWS: NASA HAS RELEASED 30 MINUTES OF THE SUN.....IN 4K RESOLUTION!!!!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2015/11/10/4k-video-sun-thursday-night-football/?utm_campaign=Forbes&utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=social&utm_channel=Technology&linkId=18662603

Seriously check it out because the pictures/gifs/video are insanely awesome and there's some cool facts and explanations there too!!

Blog Post #119. Tue Nov 10 15:20:43 2015. Alexandra Malek wrote:

Hi everyone! I found this really interesting article on NASA about solar winds and how fast they're stripping away Mars' atmosphere. Take a look!

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-mission-reveals-speed-of-solar-wind-stripping-martian-atmosphere

Blog Post #118. Mon Nov 9 13:49:36 2015. Sawyer Delvalle wrote:

Here's and image from NASA's website showing possible volcanoes on Pluto!





Possible Pluto Volcanoes

Blog Post #117. Fri Nov 6 21:12:50 2015. Malak Hakam wrote:

Hello guys! So I just saw this article on Buzzfeed on really cool photos from NASA on the rocket that took off this last October in Virginia! If you want to check it out, the link is: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jasonwells/incredible-new-photos-show-nasa-rocket-explosion-sequence#.egzQ56QkAb

Many of the pictures look really cool and so I thought the mix between photography and science would interest you guys and you could take a look! Enjoy!

Blog Post #116. Mon Nov 2 14:51:46 2015. Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

Even more bonus points available for filling out a Lab Evaluation Form! You heard it here first! Follow link from the main ASTR101 page ...

Blog Post #115. Wed Oct 28 13:58:48 2015. Kelly Gorman wrote:

UberFacts tweeted: "The Sun is no "on fire". As a result of nuclear fusion, its energy is released as gamma rays that emit light and heat." Just thought this was cool because its what we just talked about in lecture!

Blog Post #114. Sun Oct 25 23:04:21 2015. Thuynhung Tran wrote:

Hi everyone! I just saw this on Reddit. Apparently this is NASA's newest depiction of a black hole consuming a star. Looks very cool! http://i.imgur.com/3GpLLJL.gifv

Blog Post #113. Fri Oct 23 19:11:29 2015. Geri Dunellari wrote:

This is a really cool link to a 4min video about all the incredible collaboration that went into the International Space Station.

Fun Fact: You can see the International Space Station with your naked eye.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ3oTTm_Pdo

Blog Post #112. Fri Oct 23 13:05:09 2015. John Bernabei wrote:

Hey all, I stumbled upon a pretty interesting theory about the end of the universe. It is a bit scary but well worth doing a little reading about. Check out the 2 links below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe

http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae181.cfm

The theory states that at some point in the distant future, all reactions (within the universe) capable of producing heat will have happened, such that there are no more reactions that can take place, and thus the universe will be in 'heat equilibrium' or a state of maximum entropy. nothing can happen and no more work can be done. all things will cease to burn, bind, seperate, etc.

-JB

Blog Post #111. Thu Oct 22 11:07:37 2015. Randall Devine wrote:

http://www.iflscience.com/have-we-really-discovered-huge-alien-megastructure-around-star

Blog Post #110. Sun Oct 18 15:39:16 2015. Jacques Muya wrote:

Apparently we've (most likely not) found aliens. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/10/15/the-strange-star-that-has-serious-scientists-talking-about-an-alien-megastructure/

Blog Post #109. Sat Oct 17 13:31:25 2015. Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

About ASTR101 Tests:

This first exam covered the sky, planets, history of astronomy, and the origin of the Solar System - all of these topics were listed on the Exam I review sheet. Going to lab and section helps cover a lot of the material on the test, but additional important subjects are covered mostly in lecture and in the book - history of astronomy and the origin of the Solar System, for example. It is thus very very important to attend class and to read the book to learn this material. Attending lecture and reading the book will be even more important on the next two tests which cover material that is probably less familiar to you.

More "math and science questions?" All Exam I questions were science questions! As for math, this is not a math class and you do not have to be good at math to succeed in ASTR101. Upcoming exams will not have any math more complicated than what you saw on Exam I.

Blog Post #108. Sat Oct 17 11:56:01 2015. Ryan Zimpo wrote:

Hey guys! Check out this amazing photo of pluto that was made into a cool desktop background!!

Click the photo to go to the full-resolution photo :)

style="max-height:200px">

Blog Post #107. Fri Oct 16 14:58:56 2015. Dena Schreiber wrote:

What does everyone think about this snapple fact? (I spent the whole time drinking my snapple questioning it. Thanks, Astronomy.)

"A soup can full of neutron star material would have more mass than the Moon."

Not every "real fact" is real: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/10/we-fact-checked-snapples-real-facts/280512/

Blog Post #106. Wed Oct 14 23:13:37 2015. Mubarakat Shakir-Oyegbola wrote:

I thought the exam was a bit difficult. It seemed like many of the things that were stressed in review both with the prof and the ta's were not on the exam. I understand not testing for the exam but many of the skills we learned weren't even on there and it seemed more trivia based. I honestly expected there to be more science and math based content and stuff on the celestial sphere, topics, etc. I would suggest for the next exam simpler (less obscure) worded questions, math and science questions.

Blog Post #105. Tue Oct 13 20:48:59 2015. Logan Weir wrote:

Hey guys! How did everyone feel about the exam? I thought the written response part was pretty difficult.

Also, I found this interesting article about a new robotic laser system with adaptive optics (woah). It sounds pretty intense because it will allow for us to take sharper images of stars. I thought it was neat because it is fairly autonomous too. The link is below!

http://phys.org/news/2015-10-robotic-laser-astronomy.html

Have a good week fellow Terps!

Blog Post #104. Fri Oct 9 16:25:07 2015. Ian Sankar wrote:

Hey class,

Check out this article. Nasa has confirmed Blue skies and red ice on Pluto. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/blue-skies-on-pluto/

Blog Post #103. Fri Oct 9 11:28:15 2015. William Woodruff wrote:

This site lets you visualize the solar system in different wavelengths: http://www.chromoscope.net

Blog Post #102. Tue Oct 6 21:10:26 2015. Andrew Gelsinger wrote:

https://www.rt.com/news/317788-moon-pole-shadow-holes/

Check out this article about shadowy holes on the Moon. It's pretty cool so I just wanted to share it.

Blog Post #101. Tue Oct 6 13:15:40 2015. Evan Stanford wrote:

Researches just discovered a new way to view stars. Instead of using gravitational forces of the star relative to other objects nearby they now judge a stars mass that is entirely on its own!! http://www.astronomy.com/news/2015/10/new-way-to-weigh-a-star

Blog Post #100. Sun Oct 4 0:38:49 2015. Karen Holl wrote:

Just saw the movie The Martian with Matt Damon! It was a really well done movie and it was super cool. It was really interesting watching him try to create food and water especially with the news about water on Mars. Highly recommend this movie to everyone!

Blog Post #99. Thu Oct 1 19:07:43 2015. John Kum wrote:

Found this article and thought it was interesting. Thought I'd share.

http://www.astronomy.com/news/2015/10/plutos-big-moon-charon-reveals-a-colorful-and-violent-history

Blog Post #98. Thu Oct 1 11:03:08 2015. Hassan Soarkati wrote:

Signs of water were apparently found on Mars. According to googles recent animation

Blog Post #97. Wed Sep 30 23:30:59 2015. Samira Jackson wrote:

I went to Ecuador this past January to study abroad and we visited El Mitad del Mundo which is Spanish for the Middle of the World! The latitude and longitude there was 0' 00" and it is located in Quito, Ecuador. We did lots of cool experiments that tested the pull of gravity and were able to see how being on opposite sides of Northern and Southern Hemisphere affected the pull on water in a bucket (or a toilet bowl for example). We also did experiments like balancing an egg on a nail and some that tested our balance and strength while being directly on the equator! I have some really cool pictures that I took, I'll be sure to show them to you one day after class.

Blog Post #96. Wed Sep 30 22:51:01 2015. Taylor Johnson wrote:

Since being in this class, I am very excited to see 'The Martian' with Matt Damon. Especially since NASA made the announcement about there being water on Mars!

Blog Post #95. Wed Sep 30 22:43:24 2015. Paola Santos wrote:

Also, check this article out about the launching of the first Indian astronomy satellite! I found it very interesting! Progress!

First Indian Astronomy Satellite

Blog Post #94. Wed Sep 30 22:41:12 2015. Afza Khan wrote:

Interesting link between religion and astronomy. Must read!

http://news.sciencemag.org/europe/2015/09/talking-science-and-god-popes-new-chief-astronomer

Blog Post #93. Wed Sep 30 22:40:23 2015. Kadiatou Tounkara wrote:

Omg I thought it'd help that I was standing/looking at the moon from the rooftop floor of a building..guess not! It appears that some people were able to get lucky around 10:40ish though? Which was a bummer because all I kept hearing was 10:11, 10:11..so I made sure to go around then.. ://

Blog Post #92. Wed Sep 30 22:37:18 2015. Paola Santos wrote:

Okay, so I know I am late. But I'm kind of disappointed that the super moon and the lunar eclipse didn't occur at the same time like people were saying was going to happen. Instead the super moon occurred the day AFTER the lunar eclipse. It would've been really cool if it happened at the same time!

Blog Post #91. Wed Sep 30 22:04:38 2015. Carl Apgar wrote:

I am glad someone else said they were disappointed by the blood moon I really wish it wasn't so cloudy then the moon would have been great.

Blog Post #90. Wed Sep 30 21:45:26 2015. Hoang Hoang wrote:

I can't understand why people don't go to class either. When I showed my friends the experiments video clips that Prof. Hamilton did in class, they all said it looks interesting and they will take his class for Gen Ed.

Blog Post #89. Wed Sep 30 21:43:27 2015. Austin Rabinovitz wrote:

So the hype was extreme for the blood moon but we ended up having too many clouds so we couldn't see the moon. Well it won't happen again for a while so I guess we will just have to look forward to the solar eclipse. Next solar eclipse is March 9th, 2016. During March Madness, hopefully the solar eclipse will give luck to the Terps and we might just go all the way to the national championship.

Blog Post #88. Wed Sep 30 20:15:00 2015. Meredith Claytor wrote:

Anybody looking to study for this exam coming up??

Blog Post #87. Wed Sep 30 18:15:28 2015. Hanna Tiruneh wrote:

if scientists found water on Mars, does that mean there is a good chance there is life on Mars?

Blog Post #86. Wed Sep 30 18:05:56 2015. Hanna Tiruneh wrote:

i was having a hard time to find this blog.

Blog Post #85. Wed Sep 30 18:04:40 2015. Hanna Tiruneh wrote:

i was having a hard to to find this Blog.

Blog Post #84. Wed Sep 30 15:50:17 2015. Ashley Smith wrote:

I was very disappointed about the eclipse, it was way to cloudy.

Blog Post #83. Wed Sep 30 15:49:33 2015. Scott Ritter wrote:

I don't understand why some students don't go to class. Dr.Hamilton is a great professor and his demos are awesome. Oh well, it's their loss

Blog Post #82. Wed Sep 30 14:25:46 2015. Katherine Uhar wrote:

Found a cool article/video of eclipses as seen from space http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/views-of-sundays-solar-eclipse-from-space-0915201590/

Blog Post #81. Wed Sep 30 13:20:53 2015. Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

The Blog was down for a day but is working now!

Blog Post #80. Mon Sep 28 17:14:16 2015. Karen Holl wrote:

How about that lunar eclipse, huh? Yeah stupid clouds. Was anyone actually successful in seeing it? I saw it for like 2 seconds then clouds covered it again. I tried to take a picture, but you can't really see anything. Ah well, it would have been cool if the sky was clear.

Blog Post #79. Mon Sep 28 16:57:47 2015. Conor Haines wrote:

Did anyone catch the eclipse last night? It was very hard to see because of the clouds, but I was able to catch a quick glimpse of it. If you are interested, this website has a photo gallery of pictures from last night of the blood moon from all over the world. I suggest you check it out, the pictures are pretty cool. http://www.space.com/30586-supermoon-lunar-eclipse-2015-blood-moon-photos.html

Blog Post #78. Mon Sep 28 14:22:20 2015. Joshua Maze wrote:

http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2015/09/salt_water_appears_to_flow_on.html I know it was posted about earlier but I thought this article was a little bit of a quicker read if you're trying to learn about this landmark discovery in a hurry.

Blog Post #77. Mon Sep 28 12:13:46 2015. Thuynhung Tran wrote:

NASA made an announcement about Mars! They found evidence of flowing water http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/sep/28/nasa-scientists-find-evidence-flowing-water-mars

Blog Post #76. Mon Sep 28 11:42:02 2015. Kristen Seto wrote:

If you guys weren't able to catch the lunar eclipse last night, here are some pictures of it from other parts of the world, there's also a time-lapse video of it!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/11895052/Supermoon-lunar-eclipse-2015-Amazing-pictures-of-once-in-a-generation-event-live.html

Blog Post #75. Mon Sep 28 0:49:41 2015. Nelson Le wrote:

I'm salty I couldn't see the lunar eclipse because of all the clouds. I was so hyped up for this.

Blog Post #74. Sun Sep 27 20:28:09 2015. Kaitlyn Natchez wrote:

Here is a really interesting article on the Super Moon Lunar Eclipse tonight!! (http://fox59.com/2015/09/27/super-blood-moon-total-eclipse-2015-everything-you-need-to-know/) It talks about how the moon is at the closest point to the Earth making it look more than 14% bigger, which is the super moon aspect. And then the lunar eclipse, where the moon is behind the Earth, directly in its shadow, which is the red tint that the moon will have. Since 1900, the super moon lunar eclipse has only happened 5 times, the last time being 1982. If you don't see it tonight, you won't be able to see a super moon lunar eclipse until 2033. Make sure to catch a glimpse of this rare event!

Blog Post #73. Sun Sep 27 19:54:11 2015. Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

So tonight's ASTR101 event is officially cancelled. It is stillworth looking out your window to look for the Moon on the off chance that the sky clears up a bit. Failing that, I suggest taking a look at the links posted by Adam and Samantha!

The next total lunar eclipse visible from this area happens on January 21, 2019.

But much rarer and much more exciting will be the great American solar eclipse of August 21, 2017! That one is worth traveling to!

Blog Post #72. Sun Sep 27 19:13:07 2015. Adam Ackerman wrote:

If unfortunately we cannot see the eclipse from College Park tonight, NASA TV will broadcast the eclipse live from the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. Check it out if you still want to see the eclipse!

http://go.nasa.gov/1Ftdqg3

Blog Post #71. Sun Sep 27 18:22:36 2015. Camille Nelson wrote:

Well that's a major bummer. How long will it be until the next one?

Blog Post #70. Sun Sep 27 17:40:18 2015. Samantha Enokian wrote:

Interesting article about tonight's moon! Hopefully we will be able to at least get a glimpse! There is also a cute video that NASA made about tonight, worth the 60 second viewing. http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/24/us/supermoon-eclipse-blood-moon-sunday-feat/

Blog Post #69. Sun Sep 27 16:26:26 2015. Jared Lauer wrote:

We always talk about how there are never accurate depictions of how large the solar system is the sizes of the planets and sun s=compared to eachother. Well here is a really cool scale model. (watch all the way to the end!)

http://www.iflscience.com/amazing-video-shows-our-solar-system-scale-across-seven-miles-desert

Blog Post #68. Sun Sep 27 15:23:21 2015. Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

I think that we are going to be out of luck for tonight's eclipse. The sky has been fully cloudy all weekend, and it doesn't look to be getting any better. I suppose that it could still clear during prime viewing time from 9:00-midnight. Anyway, we will most likely cancel and, in any case, don't show up unless you can see the Moon!

Blog Post #67. Sun Sep 27 12:35:47 2015. Geri Dunellari wrote:

The following link is a really cool video on outer space, and the various messages we've sent to outer space:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDrBIKOR01c

Blog Post #66. Sun Sep 27 12:23:57 2015. Akeel Alleyne wrote:

Hey all, just an informative article about the eclipse tonight! Check it out: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/26/science/super-blood-moon-to-make-last-appearance-until-2033.html

Blog Post #65. Sat Sep 26 22:10:26 2015. Haoyu Sun wrote:

Hey guys, I'm planning on doing a lunar eclipse photography Sunday night. Does anyone know a good place to set cameras?

Blog Post #64. Sat Sep 26 17:40:05 2015. Felix Nunez wrote:

hey guys check this out.

https://youtu.be/4o5zciS8tLs

These are some pretty interesting facts. For example, did you know that a neutron star is so dense that just a teaspoon of it is the same weight as the entire weight of Earth's population.

Blog Post #63. Wed Sep 23 22:45:20 2015. John Falkenklous wrote:

Check this out. http://hypebeast.com/2015/9/acorn-studio-luna-moon-lamp

Blog Post #62. Wed Sep 23 21:40:54 2015. Khari Swann wrote:

Interesting article. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2015/09/astronomers-identify-a-new-mid-sized-black-hole

Blog Post #61. Wed Sep 23 20:06:48 2015. Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

It is an ASTRO weekend!

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is having a public Open House this Saturday, 26 Sep, from 11am to 5pm, rain or shine. It will be similar to Maryland Day, with exhibits, clean room tours, and open buildings throughout the Goddard campus. Anyone can go, and it's free. http://www.nasa.gov/explorenasagoddard

... and ...

I mobilized the AstroTerps (UMD Astronomy Club) to help host our viewing of Sunday's Lunar Eclipse on the field below the Chapel. We'll start at 9:00pm. You can see the eclipse from anywhere, but drop by if you are in the neighborhood. The AstroTerps will bring binoculars and small telescopes. The partial phase of the eclipse starts at 9:07pm and the best part (the total eclipse) goes from 10:00pm - 11:23pm. Here is the eclipse link again. If it is raining and/or the Moon is not visible, then we will cancel. Let's hope for good weather!

Blog Post #60. Wed Sep 23 17:18:29 2015. Marlon Taffe wrote:

For reddit users, be sure to check out the reddit subreddit :https://www.reddit.com/r/Astronomy. Non reddit users can still check out this site for astronomy facts, pictures, and other user posts.

Blog Post #59. Wed Sep 23 16:22:36 2015. Kiwon Park wrote:

How Andromeda would look if it wasn't so dim?

Blog Post #58. Wed Sep 23 15:51:34 2015. Ian Sankar wrote:

Hey Class,

I just saw this article and thought it was really cool. The black hole in the Milky Way has been more active as of recently as material has been going in it. Although I do not think we have the technology to travel to the black hole now it would be really cool what really happens inside. I am sure many of us saw Interstellar and the way black holes work is pretty insane. Here is the link

http://www.astronomy.com/news/2015/09/milky-ways-black-hole-shows-signs-of-increased-chatter

Blog Post #57. Wed Sep 23 13:28:06 2015. Brandon Stave wrote:

Only 5 days until the next full moon!

Blog Post #56. Wed Sep 23 12:27:52 2015. Peter Hailey wrote:

Today's discussion involved a lot of talk about astrology. And while you can go on the Internet and find numerous articles debating whether astrology is legitimate or not, I found this one to be pretty helpful: http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/astrology_checklist. It takes us through a check list that determines whether astrology is scientific or just a bunch of mumbo jumbo.

Blog Post #55. Wed Sep 23 0:34:00 2015. Lucas Neves Abrantes wrote:

Hi everyone, just to remind that today (Sep. 23) is the fall or autumnal equinox! The sun will rise due east and set due west, and all places on Earth will receive approximately the same amount of sunlight. Also, this is when fall officially starts!

Blog Post #54. Tue Sep 22 16:47:47 2015. Jessica Story wrote:

New type of mid-sized black hole found by a team at UMD!

Go UMD!

Blog Post #53. Tue Sep 22 11:57:35 2015. Kendall Buck wrote:

Hey guys! I found this video of a project some people did in Nevada where they created a scale model of the solar system that also included the full orbits of the planets. Its a miraculous video because its rare to see a full scale model of the solar system because it requires so much space if the planets are scaled to a visible size, for example the model Earth in this model is only the size of a marble yet the model still took 7 square miles to make.

https://vimeo.com/139407849

Blog Post #52. Tue Sep 22 11:21:43 2015. William Bui wrote:

Hey guys! My name is William Bui. I was just wondering if it was important to include your section number on the homework or if the website will already know when you submit it.

Blog Post #51. Mon Sep 21 22:47:28 2015. Teyarna Kearney wrote:

Hey guys! So I am a little late but I attended the first look fair last week and when going around signing up for clubs and groups on campus, I came across the ASTROTERPS. I honestly think it is a good group because it will help while taking the course. Before I signed up, the guy asked if I wanted to see the Sun through the telescope and I did and it was so cool. Personally,I've never seen the Sun through a telescope so it was an awesome experience so I think you guys should check it out.

Blog Post #50. Mon Sep 21 20:43:51 2015. Elizabeth Vantiem wrote:

Found an awesome website that will show you the different moon phases for any given date! https://stardate.org/nightsky/moon

Blog Post #49. Mon Sep 21 19:41:05 2015. Marvicbob Estoque wrote:

So apparently the next closest Solar Eclipse is coming to the United States in 2017 on August 21st! The eclipse will be going through most of the United States, with the best view of the eclipse being near Tennessee or something. This article by NASA should be looked at!

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEmono/TSE2017/TSE2017.html

Blog Post #48. Mon Sep 21 18:12:49 2015. Kadiatou Tounkara wrote:

site to figure out when the next eclipse is!

http://www.space.com/15689-lunar-eclipses.html

Blog Post #47. Mon Sep 21 16:22:35 2015. John Boddiford wrote:

Something cool I came across awhile ago. Interesting to think about. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/ceres-bright-spots-seen-in-striking-new-detail

Blog Post #46. Mon Sep 21 14:47:00 2015. Rachel Lefkowitz wrote:

Here's a cool article I found on the lunar eclipse that's less than a week away! http://www.space.com/30592-supermoon-lunar-eclipse-one-week-away.html

Blog Post #45. Mon Sep 21 14:46:16 2015. Shaliah George wrote:

Hey guys! Does anyone want to get a little group together to go down to the observatory next Sunday to watch the lunar eclipse? It'll be super coooooolllll! :)

Blog Post #44. Mon Sep 21 2:21:53 2015. Lucas Neves Abrantes wrote:

Hi everyone! Be sure to regularly check the official New Horizons mission website for news! Pluto is interesting beyond compare. The latest picture (part of which one was Astronomy Picture of the Day on Sep. 18) is absolutely stunning and all its details are discussed here. Also check out Emily Lakdawalla's blog posts at the Planetary Society website; she explained how that image was made. Her texts always have lots and lots of interesting stuff about solar system exploration!

Blog Post #43. Sun Sep 20 22:55:02 2015. Devin Rosen wrote:

Check out this article discussing the dynamics of next weeks super moon/ lunar eclipse, the first one in 33 years. http://www.techtimes.com/articles/86266/20150919/supermoon-lunar-eclipse-to-occur-on-sept-27-what-makes-this-celestial-event-special.htm

Blog Post #42. Sun Sep 20 20:13:26 2015. Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

For you morning people, Venus is near its brightest over the next couple of days - far brighter than any star (except for the Sun). These simple starcharts
can help you find Venus! And Jupiter and Mars too ...

Blog Post #41. Sun Sep 20 18:35:28 2015. Nelson Le wrote:

Hey guys! Who's excited for the lunar eclipse in exactly 1 week from today? I know I am!

Blog Post #40. Sun Sep 20 18:10:24 2015. Alexandra Prescott wrote:

Hey guys, I heard a kind of cool fact the other day that I thought I'd share. "Saturn is the only planet in the solar system that would float on water." Pretty cool stuff.

Blog Post #39. Sun Sep 20 17:20:36 2015. Afza Khan wrote:

I am really into photography and this beautiful image caught my eye this morning. Its a beautiful rainbow like hybrid of aurora and the milkyway in Mt Ollivier, Mt Cook National Park, New Zealand.

http://just--space.tumblr.com/image/129488134828

As discussed in class the reason for us to be able to see the curvy stroke of stars is because of the altitude at which the photographer is standing, 1,933 m (6,342 ft).

Blog Post #38. Sun Sep 20 17:02:25 2015. Tony Cheng wrote:

Hey guys, I was watching a show about NASA this weekend and learned a cool fact about the Moon! Unlike Earth's gravity, which is fairly consistent, the Moon has spots of varying gravitational strength. This is said to have been the cause of one of NASA's satellite crashes. Imagine if the Earth had significant differences in gravity at different locations. I'd want to live somewhere with low gravitational strength.

Blog Post #37. Sun Sep 20 17:01:16 2015. Sayeef Alam wrote:

Check out this awesome picture of an eclipse in the arctic!

[img]https://i.imgur.com/x09ICAM.jpg[/img]

Blog Post #36. Sun Sep 20 14:38:47 2015. Bradley Packard wrote:

http://www.newsweek.com/2015/09/25/nasa-begins-12-month-experiment-simulating-life-mars-372703.html?piano_t=1

Interesting article I found about some cool stuff NASA is doing

Blog Post #35. Sun Sep 20 14:36:12 2015. Joshua Stein wrote:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/19/world/astronaut-scott-kelly-space-six-months/

I thought this article was really interesting. Personally, I could hardly imagine being in space for even a few days. This astronaut has been there for 6 months and still has another 6 months to go! I'm really curious to see what happens when he comes back to Earth. Any thoughts?

Blog Post #34. Sat Sep 19 19:21:17 2015. Malak Hakam wrote:

Hello everyone! I just found a cool fact on Venus on Twitter. The photo of the fact won't copy so here's the fact:

"Venus rotates on its axis only once every 243 Earth days but orbits the sun every 224.65 Earth days. This means that on Venus, a day is longer than a year. And it rotates backwards! Everything else in the solar system goes counterclockwise. It goes clockwise."

What are your thoughts on this? I think the fact that a day on Venus is longer than a year idea is pretty cool.

Blog Post #33. Thu Sep 17 22:38:12 2015. Leah Colleluori wrote:

Mercury's retrograde now until October 9th! If you believe in horoscopes, watch out Virgos and Geminis!!

Blog Post #32. Thu Sep 17 16:31:44 2015. Grace Hutchinson wrote:

Hey guys, Nasa just released some photos of Pluto taken 15 minutes after it's closest approach. There's some really cool pictures, including some of Pluto's mountains, so I thought I'd share!

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/pluto-wows-in-spectacular-new-backlit-panorama

Blog Post #31. Thu Sep 17 14:46:42 2015. Austin Jones wrote:

Hey guys! So basically I found this galaxy that is supposed to be ingesting its neighbor galaxy's stars. I believe the galaxy is called M81, Check it out!!!

http://astronomynow.com/2015/08/05/large-galaxies-appetite-for-growth-revealed-in-streams-of-stars/

Blog Post #30. Thu Sep 17 13:52:36 2015. Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

It is useful (in general and for HW#1) to know how to take a screenshot of your entire computer or a single window. This site shows you how! Choose your operating system at the top.

Blog Post #29. Thu Sep 17 11:35:32 2015. Drew Pascale wrote:

Hi everyone! I found this article about the smallest black hole discovered and how it can give us key information on how other galaxies and black holes formed billions of years ago. Enjoy!

http://www.astronomy.com/news/2015/08/oxymoronic-black-hole-provides-clues-to-growth

Blog Post #28. Thu Sep 17 11:32:43 2015. Delaney Doherty wrote:

I always thought that neutron stars and how they are formed was pretty interesting, before joining ASTR101. I first heard about them when watching a Cosmos Marathon. I'm wondering if we are getting into those down the road in thi class.

http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/solar-system/neutron-stars/

Blog Post #27. Thu Sep 17 11:16:51 2015. Renae Lee wrote:

Thought it was kind of cute and sad... #plutoISaplanet

Blog Post #26. Thu Sep 17 11:15:41 2015. Renae Lee wrote:

Blog Post #25. Thu Sep 17 10:26:35 2015. Bridget Pacheco wrote:

Astronomy Fun Facts (50) 1) Saturn would float if you would put it in water. 2) If you were to place a pinhead sized piece of the Sun on Earth you would die from standing 90 miles away from it. 3) Space is not a complete vacuum there are about three atoms per cubic meter of space. 4) Only 5% of the universe is made up of normal matter, 25% is dark matter & 70% is dark energy. 5) Neutron stars are so dense that a teaspoon of them would be equal to the weight of Earth's entire population. 6) The sun is 400 times larger than the Moon but is 400 times further away from Earth making them appear the same size. 7) The Star Lucy in the constellation Centaurus is a huge cosmic diamond of 10 billion trillion trillion carats . 8) Seasons last 21 years on Uranus while each pole has 42 years of sunlight and 42 years of darkness. 9) Venus does not have an seasons at all. 10) 1 year on Mercury consists of less than 2 days. I thought these facts were pretty interesting , if you are interested in the rest of these here is the link :) http://astroceanomy.com/2011/03/04/50-amazing-and-strange-astronomy-facts/

Blog Post #24. Wed Sep 16 16:58:56 2015. John Falkenklous wrote:

What's up class, I'm here for EC on one hand, but on the other, I wanted to share something I thought was fairly interesting. On this October 19th, the White House is hosting an Astronomy Night, a tradition that started with President Obama back in 2009. Who knew?! It just goes to show that despite the fact that space and science get ignored often for more trivial affairs like politics in our small world, the vast universe is still given its due focus within the most high of circles.

Blog Post #23. Wed Sep 16 13:14:25 2015. Jacy Eisel wrote:

Hey guys, all this moon talk lately got me thinking about how people always assume a full moon is when crazy people come out and I realized that I didn't even know if that were true or not. I found this article that talks about the correlation-it's pretty interesting!

http://www.universetoday.com/112861/why-do-people-go-crazy-during-a-full-moon/

Blog Post #22. Wed Sep 16 13:10:52 2015. Ian Sankar wrote:

Hey class,

I saw this post on The Verge originally and thought how crazy of an idea but now I am thinking it does not sound too bad. Elon Musk, the creator of Tesla, mentioned that he would nuke Mars poles in order to melt the ice caps and lower the planets temperature. It sounds really crazy but still interesting.

Thought?

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/11/us/elon-musk-mars-nuclear-bomb-colbert-feat/

Blog Post #21. Wed Sep 16 1:58:11 2015. Akeel Alleyne wrote:

If the universe is constantly expanding and the age of the light that we see is directly correlated to the number of light-years away from us that it is, how can we accurately approximate how far away things are?

Blog Post #20. Mon Sep 14 20:17:41 2015. Alex Yang wrote:

Earth*, not Pluto

Blog Post #19. Mon Sep 14 20:16:54 2015. Alex Yang wrote:

Today's daily picture looks pretty cool. It's a nice picture of Pluto. The Sputnik Planum's brightness compared to the rest of the planet and smooth look is kind of striking. I hope it doesn't change so that Pluto's heart will remain. I'm looking forward to the many more pictures New Horizons has yet to send back of Pluto.

Blog Post #18. Mon Sep 14 12:00:33 2015. TA: Nimarta Chowdhary wrote:

Hey Hyung, (and anyone else interested about the UMD Observatory!)

The website where you can learn about events going on at the observatory is: http://www.astro.umd.edu/openhouse/

This gives you the calendar with upcoming programs and open houses, as well as the option to subscribe to occasional emails about these upcoming events!

You can also like them on facebook(below) to get really awesome science news or follow them on twitter.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UMObservatory Twitter: https://twitter.com/UM_Obs

Blog Post #17. Mon Sep 14 1:42:48 2015. Michael Duan wrote:

http://www.businessinsider.com/new-horizons-pluto-photos-definition-of-a-planet-debate-2015-7

Blog Post #16. Mon Sep 14 1:42:31 2015. Michael Duan wrote:

Blog Post #15. Mon Sep 14 1:42:17 2015. Michael Duan wrote:

I found an interesting article on how Pluto might become a planet again

Blog Post #14. Thu Sep 10 18:30:14 2015. Hyung Lee wrote:

Can anyone tell me when and where the Observatory happens or any website has info?

Blog Post #13. Wed Sep 9 22:35:58 2015. Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

Just two and a half weeks until the Sunday Sept. 27 Total Lunar Eclipse from 10:11pm to 11:23pm. The website gives very good information about the circumstances of this eclipse including a useful animation. Be sure to check it out live in a sky near you!

Blog Post #12. Mon Sep 7 21:21:57 2015. Jessica Story wrote:

This is the link to the CalTech Article:

ASTR101 Home Page

Blog Post #11. Mon Sep 7 21:20:01 2015. Jessica Story wrote:

THIS IS SO COOL GUYS.

You might have seen this on Facebook, but CalTech Astrophysicists say that they've detected the oldest, most distant galaxy.

Blog Post #10. Mon Sep 7 20:21:16 2015. Avraham Goldman wrote:

Thought you guys might find this upcoming event interesting. Most "super" supermoon of 2015 on September 28

Blog Post #9. Mon Sep 7 14:42:21 2015. Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

Typed Cover Sheets are not necessary! Just fill 'em out by hand ...

Blog Post #8. Sun Sep 6 11:49:27 2015. Jessica Story wrote:

Hey all - I'd like to go to the Observatory as well, but I live far off campus. Maybe we could all schedule a date/time to go?

Blog Post #7. Sat Sep 5 17:54:13 2015. Geri Dunellari wrote:

Hey squad,

1) You can call for a NITE RIDE (you can find their number on the back of your student ID) to get a ride to the observatory.

2) For our homework: We typically have to type up our homework, but I'm guessing we don't have to type up the answers to the "Syllabus Cover Sheet" right? We can just handwrite and hand-in the syllabus cover sheet, correct?

-Geri

Blog Post #6. Fri Sep 4 23:08:10 2015. Thuynhung Tran wrote:

I, too would like to visit the observatory! There's a few open houses coming up. Does anyone know if there's a shuttle to get there? Or would we have to take a car/walk/bike?

Blog Post #5. Thu Sep 3 19:31:46 2015. Michelle Yang wrote:

Hey! I would love to go to the observatory. It seems like such a unique opportunity. I've never been to one before. Can't wait!

Blog Post #4. Thu Sep 3 15:55:41 2015. Kiwon Park wrote:

Amazing pluto flyby animation

Blog Post #3. Wed Sep 2 21:50:12 2015. Xiaoqing Qian wrote:

Hi everyone! I've been to the observatory, and it's fantastic. If anyone would like to come with me when I go next time, just let me know! You can see Jupiter and its beautiful moons most times :)

Blog Post #2. Wed Sep 2 13:15:45 2015. Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

Some bookstores have mistakenly labeled our 4th edition lab book as a "5th edition." Go ahead and get it - that's our book! It will say "4th edition" on the cover.

Blog Post #1. Sat Aug 29 18:56:06 2015. Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

Welcome to the ASTR101 Blog! I hope that you find it useful. It works best if you all make an effort to post good stuff here for the rest of the class to enjoy. You can even use Simple HTML Commands to include links and images.

But Wait - there's More! Simply post something fun here by September 30 and receive 2 juicy bonus points!*

* Offer void where prohibited by law, you must be enrolled in ASTR101 to participate, you must be a resident of Earth, and bonus points have no cash value.

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