Astronomy
Category archives for Astronomy
Weekend Diversion: A Green Fire
Posted by Ethan on March 17, 2013 
“Build a man a fire, and he’ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.” -Terry Pratchett Whether it comes from without or within, there are few things in this life that captivate our attention better than a brilliant, hot and colorful display.…
The Unseen Lights in Our Backyard
Posted by Ethan on March 13, 2013 
“As a boy I believed I could make myself invisible. I’m not sure that I ever could, but I certainly had the ability to pass unnoticed.” -Terence Stamp When we look up at the night sky from a dark location here on Earth, somewhere around 6,000 stars greet you on a clear night. This is…
Messier Monday: The Phantom Galaxy at the Beginning-of-the-Marathon, M74
Posted by Ethan on March 11, 2013 
“When you run the marathon, you run against the distance, not against the other runners and not against the time.” -Haile Gebrselassie Welcome to a very special Messier Monday, which just happens to be the twenty-first consecutive week we’ve taken a look at one of the 110 fixed, deep-sky objects that Messier and his collaborators…
An Atom in the Universe
Posted by Ethan on March 6, 2013 
“The atoms come into my brain, dance a dance, and then go out – there are always new atoms, but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday.” -Richard Feynman Here you are, a human being, a grand Universe of atoms that have organized themselves into simple monomers, assembled together into giant…
Messier Monday: A Star Cluster on the Bubble, M52
Posted by Ethan on March 4, 2013 
“Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will forever bubble up, if forever you dig.” -Marcus Aurelius Welcome back to yet another Messier Monday! Each week, we’re taking a look at one of the 110 fixed, deep-sky objects — not to be confused with comets — that made up Messier’s original catalogue.…
Messier Monday: The Triangulum Galaxy, M33
Posted by Ethan on February 25, 2013 
“Let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change.” -Alfred Lord Tennyson Welcome back, for another Messier Monday here on Starts With A Bang! Each Monday, we’ve been taking a look at one of the 110 Deep-Sky Objects that make up the Messier catalogue, a mix of clusters, nebulae, galaxies and…
The Worst Kind of Science Hype
Posted by Ethan on February 20, 2013 
“We’ve learned from experience that the truth will come out. Other experimenters will repeat your experiment and find out whether you were wrong or right. Nature’s phenomena will agree or they’ll disagree with your theory. And, although you may gain some temporary fame and excitement, you will not gain a good reputation as a scientist…
Messier Monday: The Most Northern Galactic Globular, M53
Posted by Ethan on February 18, 2013 
“If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if the simplest things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.” -Eleanora Duse Welcome to another Messier Monday, where each week we take a look at one of the 110 deep-sky objects that make up the Messier…
The Universe Just Keeps Trying to Kill Us
Posted by Ethan on February 15, 2013 
“Don’t wake me for the end of the world unless it has very good special effects.” -Roger Zelazny It’s always the ones you least expect that get you the worst, it seems. I went to bed last night excited that Asteroid 2012 DA14, a 200,000 ton asteroid, was going to pass within just 28,000 km (or…
The Physics of Sunsets
Posted by Ethan on February 13, 2013 
“It does no harm to the romance of the sunset to know a little bit about it.” -Carl Sagan I would argue the exact opposite, in fact: the beauty of a sunset, in all of its varieties and variations, is only enhanced the more you know about it. The next time you watch the Sun…
