What is Edmund Halley Famous For?
Edmund Halley was best known for identifying the correct period of time for the return of what would become known as Halley’s Comet. Among his …
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Astrometry Succeeds In Finding Extrasolar Planets
Finding planets around other stars may not be like finding a needle in a haystack, but it isn’t much easier, either. Read on to find out how a …
Continue ReadingNothing But the Facts About the Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope or HST is undoubtedly the best optical space telescope of recent times. The extra ordinary quality of Hubble’s images …
Continue ReadingClaudius Ptolemy Facts for Students to Learn
One of the most well known astronomers of the second century AD, Ptolemy has made significant contributions in the field of astronomy, geography, …
Continue ReadingNothing But the Facts About Charles Messier
Charles Messier, the great French astronomer of the 18th century compiled the greatest catalog of celestial objects of the time. The Messier reference …
Continue ReadingThe Face on Mars: Yet Another Urban Legend
When images of the face on Mars were released by NASA, mystery mongers and conspiracy theorists declared it as the first bona fide evidence of life on …
Continue ReadingWhat Are Exoplanets, How Are They Detected, And What Do They Mean For Astronomy?
Sound exotic? Exoplanets are being discussed more and more often in astronomy, yet many people are left puzzled by what precisely an exoplanet is. …
Continue ReadingThe Chandrasekhar Limit, White Dwarfs & Supernovae
The Chandrasekhar Limit defines the upper mass limit for white dwarf stars which, once reached, can trigger a supernova. What is this limit, how is it …
Continue ReadingWhen And What Was The Maunder Minimum?
Imagine a thirty year period where a mere 50 sunspots were observed—compared to 40-50,000 we see in our own times. Weird, huh? This time period, known …
Continue ReadingAstrobiology: Origins of Life on Earth and in the Cosmos - Part 1: Introduction to Prebiotic Evolution
In the first article of the series, we’ll look at the ideas of prebiotic evolution and the primordial soup, originally put forth by Alexander Oparin …
Continue ReadingAstrobiology: Origins of Life on Earth and in the Cosmos - Part 3 - The "Metabolism First" Model of the Origin of Life and Other Hypotheses
The third article in the series explores the “metabolism first” model and other origin of life theories, some being slight modifications of the two …
Continue ReadingAstrobiology: Origins of Life on Earth and in the Cosmos. Part 2: The "Genes First" Model of the Origin of Life
The second article in the Astrobiology series examines the “genes first” model of the origin of life, and in particular the “RNA world” hypothesis.
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