Tagged With: star
A Map of the Night Sky
Have you ever wanted to be able to look at the sky and know right away what it is you’re looking at? If you’ve spent 5 minutes with me outdoors at nighttime you may have seen me point out over two dozen bright stars in the sky. You’d be surprised to know how easy this … Continue reading
Nebulae – Clouds Alight in a Deep Ocean of Darkness
We took a brief look at nebulae, but some of you fed back to me that we didn’t take far enough of a look. A nebula, as explained a few days ago, is a big mass of gas and dust that either reflects or fluoresces light. They are a showcase for the stars that inhabit … Continue reading
Classifying Stars – Luminosity, Brightness, Temperature, and Color
A few days ago, we talked briefly about how stars are made. But no two stars are identical: they can vary in size, internal pressure, temperature, composition, age, mass, mass loss, density, spectra, brightness, and luminosity. Today we’ll talk about some of their visual characteristics. Tomorrow, we’ll talk about their types, and how these two … Continue reading
Parallax
Fictitious scenario: My science project is due tomorrow! I’m supposed to talk about stars, and planets, and such! Better run to Wikipedia and grab some quick facts. (Note: I do not advocate the use of Wikipedia for academic research, but it’s sometimes a good place to start to familiarize yourself with a topic) According to … Continue reading
A Star is Born
We see them twinkle at night, we make odd shapes out of them, and one of them is a major component of our daily lives as members of a race and components of a complex ecosystem. But what is it, and how did it come to be? The Interstellar Medium When we look into space … Continue reading
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