ASTR330 Spring 2016 BLOG

Blog Post #55. Tue May 10 11:32:38 2016. Joseph Laverty wrote:

Blog Post #54. Tue May 10 6:19:59 2016. James Hazelrig wrote:

Blog Post #53. Mon May 9 23:27:57 2016. Brian Bermudez wrote:

Blog Post #52. Mon May 9 20:29:55 2016. McKenna Krebs wrote:

Blog Post #51. Mon May 9 14:43:13 2016. Joseph Cozzo wrote:

For anyone working on the homework that can't get the java applet to load I found a very similar animation/tool that I can confirm works in at least the most up to date version of chrome and I would imagine most other browsers. Might be worth looking at to get the answers.

http://lasp.colorado.edu/education/outerplanets/orbit_simulator/

Blog Post #50. Mon May 9 13:08:12 2016. Donna Arefian wrote:

Blog Post #49. Mon May 9 12:43:52 2016. James Lawrence wrote:

Blog Post #48. Mon May 9 12:34:56 2016. Donna Arefian wrote:

IMG_0799.PNG

Blog Post #47. Sun May 8 19:51:56 2016. Zeshan Ali wrote:

Blog Post #46. Sun May 8 19:50:21 2016. Zeshan Ali wrote:

Blog Post #45. Wed May 4 19:56:09 2016. Michael Chirico wrote:

A couple NASA engineers decided to do a Q&A today on Reddit regarding the Kepler mission. This came around the same time that NASA scheduled a media conference to announce the latest Kepler discoveries. Give it a read!

QA With Kepler Mission Engineers

Blog Post #44. Sun May 1 23:10:15 2016. Carl Nelson wrote:

Is anyone else having issues accessing the java program in our homework (http://janus.astro.umd.edu/java/ISSV/innerSS.html) my computer, and my friends computer, both just say that they won't run the program because it's been blocked because of security issues, using the default settings of the latest version of java.

:( any help is appreciated, i just want to do the homework.

Blog Post #43. Fri Apr 29 16:39:43 2016. Scott Wrigley wrote:

http://imgur.com/aWaECse

Blog Post #42. Mon Apr 25 22:59:24 2016. Neel Mistry wrote:

Blog Post #41. Mon Apr 25 22:58:43 2016. Neel Mistry wrote:

Blog Post #40. Fri Apr 22 12:04:49 2016. Michael Ristine wrote:

Blog Post #39. Tue Apr 19 19:24:22 2016. Carl Nelson wrote:

not a new record but i'm still proud.

Blog Post #38. Thu Apr 14 22:09:26 2016. Jeffrey Tacazon wrote:

Blog Post #37. Thu Apr 14 17:37:44 2016. Carson Myers wrote:

Blog Post #36. Thu Apr 14 17:26:29 2016. Carson Myers wrote:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12198854/winner%20winner%20chicken%20dinner.png

Blog Post #35. Thu Apr 14 12:14:22 2016. Harry Young wrote:

Blog Post #34. Thu Apr 14 12:09:32 2016. Harry Young wrote:

Most people will probably miss this, but if you have facebook and like the NASA page, Astronaut Jessica Meir is live right now talking about being an astronaut, space, NASA, etc.

https://www.facebook.com/ScienceChannel/videos/10153742302682917/

Blog Post #33. Tue Apr 12 14:10:04 2016. Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

Here is the Current Class High Score in Fe[26] - post yours if you can beat it! Best score gets 3 extra credit points!

Blog Post #32. Sun Apr 10 20:31:27 2016. Delaney Doherty wrote:

Thought this was incorrect, really. What do you guys think?

Falling into a Black Hole

What would happen if you fell into a black hole.

Posted by Hashem Al-Ghaili on Monday, November 30, 2015

Blog Post #31. Sun Mar 20 16:08:49 2016. Neel Mistry wrote:

Hey everyone,

I had a question about question 2a on the homework. When it says destroyed in the planets atmosphere, does that mean if it explodes above the ground, it is destroyed in the atmosphere, or does it mean it would be destroyed even before break through the top layers (i.e a shooting star of some sort)

Hopefully someone can help, thank you.

Blog Post #30. Wed Mar 16 17:55:52 2016. Nicholas Martino wrote:

Hope everyone is having a good spring break!

Red Flashes Reveal Black Hole Feeding on a Star

Blog Post #29. Wed Mar 9 11:17:30 2016. Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

Also on Mercury - here is a talk that is happening in CSS2400 at 4pm today. Some of you might be interested in coming, but I hope that all of you will read the abstract below which will actually be understandable to you after what we have learned in class!

Date: Wednesday 09-Mar-2016
Time: 16:05-17:00 (4:05-5:00 pm)
Location: CSS 2400
Speaker: Dr. Brett Denevi (JHU/APL)

Title: Exploring the Innermost Planet: The Geologic History of Mercury

Abstract: The MESSENGER spacecraft orbited Mercury from 2011-2015, and provided the first complete view of our solar system's innermost planet. Nearly a year after the completion of the MESSENGER mission, we present a synthesis of our current understanding of the formation of Mercury's crust and its geologic history - a history that has been revealed to be quite different from previous expectations. Mercury's unusual composition appears to have resulted in the formation of an exotic early crust and voluminous volcanic eruptions that affected nearly all of the surface. Subsequent cooling led to global contraction and the end of widespread effusive volcanism, but geologic activity continued in the form of explosive eruptions, tectonic deformation, and surface modification that produced enigmatic "hollows". We explore these features and how Mercury is helping to shape our understanding of the variety of processes

Blog Post #28. Mon Mar 7 16:24:28 2016. Connor Mount wrote:

Scientists confirm carbon is the reason for Mercury's unusually dark surface https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/03/07/scientists-reveal-the-secret-behind-mercurys-unusually-dark-surface/

Blog Post #27. Tue Mar 1 11:00:11 2016. Andrew Dilks wrote:

Hello all!

Just wanted to share this interesting article I found today that relates back to our in class discussion about Gravitational Waves due to the black whole merger.

Happy March!

Experts to Congress: Gravitational Waves Discovery Will Help Science, Humanity

Blog Post #26. Mon Feb 29 23:03:59 2016. Harry Young wrote:

I usually look at Astronomy.com for cool little things, but they also post interesting stuff where you can see whats going on this week in the sky: http://www.astronomy.com/observing/sky-this-week/2016/02/the-sky-this-week-feb-26---mar-7

Blog Post #25. Mon Feb 29 19:57:09 2016. McKenna Krebs wrote:

Wolf-Rayet star with a blue nebula of dust, hydrogen, helium and other gases.

Blog Post #24. Mon Feb 29 15:51:04 2016. Jeffrey Tacazon wrote:

Here's an interesting article explaining why we have leap years and what would happen if we didn't: http://whenthestarscomeout.com/why-do-we-have-leap-years Basically the earth orbits the sun in 365.25 days and not 365 exactly. If we ignored this fact then our seasons would eventually be out of sync with our calendar.

Blog Post #23. Mon Feb 29 14:31:58 2016. Bryan Kreafle wrote:

The largest Galaxy ever found compared to the Milky Way

Blog Post #22. Thu Feb 25 16:17:41 2016. Nicholas Martino wrote:

Here is an interesting article about the Marianas Trench. This is the deepest part of the ocean. Life exists and people have been there. Mount everest fits snug in it.

Marianas Trench

Blog Post #21. Thu Feb 25 16:07:54 2016. Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

Interactive map of Earth's Hotspots

Blog Post #20. Wed Feb 24 19:16:51 2016. Phillip Feelemyer wrote:

So a famous author once said two possibilities exist in the universe. Either we are alone or we are not, and both are equally as terrifying. Ponder on that.

Blog Post #19. Wed Feb 24 15:04:31 2016. Carson Myers wrote:

Ligo twin black holes Adding to the gravitational wave discussion we had earlier. Definitely worth the short read. The universe is crazy

Blog Post #18. Wed Feb 24 11:32:02 2016. James Lawrence wrote:

On our first homework, we analyzed at the effects of various impactors. I found a site where NASA keeps a record of these: NASA Fireball and Bolide Reports , and there was an impact on February 6th that released the equivalent of 13 kilotons at a height of 31km above the Atlantic. For reference, the nuclear weapons used on Japan in World War II were approximately 15 kilotons.

Blog Post #17. Tue Feb 23 22:39:32 2016. Neel Mistry wrote:

Check out this video. You would have thought that this idea would have been executed a while ago, but the future of it could be amazing.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35638096

Blog Post #16. Mon Feb 22 18:44:10 2016. Aldene Villardo wrote:

Pale Blue Dot



NASA link
One of my favorite "space" pictures. It's not high-res but it tells a lot. We're so used to seeing satellite pictures of other planets but seeing this picture of Earth from more than 4 billion miles away gives you a different perspective of our place in space.

Blog Post #15. Mon Feb 22 13:54:59 2016. David Simmons wrote:

Congress approved a budget for NASA to send a probe to Europa. NASA already wanted to send an orbiter to gather data about Europa, but now Congress mandates the addition of a lander. A lander is a very expensive addition to the craft, and as such, according to americaspace.com:
"Congress has now allotted $1.631 billion for NASA’s Planetary Science Division. That is $270 million more than had been requested by President Obama. Of that, $175 million is directed to the new Europa mission, plus an additional $25 million for “icy satellites surface technology” development. Overall, the new NASA budget for fiscal year 2016 is $19.3 billion."
See: http://www.americaspace.com/?p=89822

Blog Post #14. Thu Feb 18 14:14:58 2016. Seth Aulton wrote:

Hey all, here is a google drive link to download folders for the ever so famous Kerbal Space Program. There is a MAC and PC version, and please keep the folder within the crowd that is our class. Thanks!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8sVSt1If7LoMDlDNkNXbk1tSXM

Blog Post #13. Tue Feb 16 21:36:11 2016. Lauren Peng wrote:

As we are studying the geology of our planet Earth, this article about Pluto's geology and findings of hills floating in a sea containing primarily nitrogen ice on this dwarf planet, is very interesting!

CLICK HERE!

Blog Post #12. Tue Feb 16 12:39:54 2016. Dimitri Deychakiwsky wrote:

Since our internet is communicated by electromagnetic waves, is everyones internet history permanently shot into space forever (internet satellites ,etc) 'till some distant civilization picks up on our signals and reads everyones internet browsing history???

No incognito!

- D

Blog Post #11. Thu Feb 11 1:13:01 2016. Seth Aulton wrote:

http://en.spaceengine.org/

Hey all, here is a free 3D simulator of the universe, hopefully you have a computer that can run it!

Blog Post #10. Tue Feb 2 17:44:27 2016. Maria Furman wrote:

In this class we talked about how far away Planet 9 is from our Sun, and I found this interesting article about a planet whose distance from its star (1 trillion kilometeres!!) is actually 7,000 times the distance from Earth to the Sun. In fact, astronomers didn't even realize that the star and the planet were related, and the planet's Sun (if viewed from the planet) would most likely look like a bright star. It also takes it 900,000 years to complete an orbit!





NOTE: This image is an artist's conception. :)

Blog Post #9. Mon Feb 1 22:50:18 2016. Trevin Nguyen wrote:

Early on during last class, one group's spokesperson stated what they knew regarding the heliocentric model of the solar system. Here is an animation that shows how the orbits of the planets would have to be (based on the geocentric model) for the motion of the planets to be consistent with what an observer on Earth would see.

Blog Post #8. Mon Feb 1 11:50:50 2016. William Beckman wrote:

In class, it was mentioned that one of Jupiter's moons, Europa, likely has a subsurface ocean. This article describes in greater detail what led scientists to this conclusion.

Blog Post #7. Sun Jan 31 14:07:38 2016. Christopher Jones wrote:

Jumping off of what Nicholas posted, I also found an article about Planet Nine and the current evidence for why astronomers believe it exists. In the article there is a nice video from Caltech that has some nice visuals to go along with what they are explaining. I'd recommend watching it.

http://www.livescience.com/53439-mythical-planet-nine-may-exist.html

Blog Post #6. Sat Jan 30 18:30:18 2016. Lauren Peng wrote:

Here's the link to my previous post.

Blog Post #5. Sat Jan 30 18:28:31 2016. Lauren Peng wrote:

Here's an interesting article discussing how the moon was produced by a head-on collision between early Earth and a forming planet! -> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160129090451.htm

Blog Post #4. Fri Jan 29 16:50:44 2016. Carl Nelson wrote:

one minute video Theory about why the solar system is flat (no vague distant supernova collapse)

Blog Post #3. Thu Jan 28 14:28:57 2016. Nicholas Martino wrote:

Heres another article about possible water oceans on the early martian surface!

Blog Post #2. Thu Jan 28 14:13:20 2016. Nicholas Martino wrote:

This is a neat article on the overview of Planet 9 or Planet X. It says it might be in orbit at 200 AU away!

Blog Post #1. Wed Jan 27 19:08:36 2016. Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

Welcome to the ASTR330 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 February 29 and receive 2 juicy bonus points!*

* Offer void where prohibited by law, you must be enrolled in ASTR330 to participate, you must be a resident of Earth, and bonus points have no cash value.

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