The FAS Astronomers Blog

  • Leap Year, the Solstice, and Seasons

    Young Astronomers Blog, Volume 28, Number 14. As we go through the year, we notice that our weather changes. For those of us who live in the United States it can be quite warm (okay, hot) during the summer months. In winter, it is cold and often accompanied by snow. As we look up at…

  • Venus

    Young Astronomers Blog, Volume 28, Number 13. Often when you look up into the night sky you will find a bright object low in the horizon in the morning to the east or in the evening to the west. This is not the Moon; it is the planet Venus. Venus is the third brightest object…

  • Going Commercial

    Young Astronomers Blog, Volume 28, Number 12. In 1958, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was formed. NASA is a civilian agency responsible for overseeing the United States space program. Commercial companies have played a significate role in the design, development, and manufacture of the hardware and software required to put U.S. spacecraft into space.…

  • The Standard Model of Particle Physics

    Young Astronomers Blog, Volume 28, Number 11. I thought we would take a different view of the Universe than most astronomers do and explore what the universe is made of … at a very small scale. Scientists call this the Standard Model of Particle Physics. Many of us learned that things are made of molecules, which are…

  • The Great Debate

    Young Astronomers Blog, Volume 28, Number 10. We live in a galaxy called the Milky Way. Our galaxy is around 100,000 light years across, and our solar system is located ½ of the way out from the galactic center. The universe is significantly larger containing billions and possibly a trillion other galaxies. However, for a long time…

  • Earth Day 2020

    Young Astronomers Blog, Volume 28, Number 9. On April 22, 1970, a senator from Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson, proposed the idea of a “national teach-in on the environment.”  He recruited a young Denis Hayes as the national coordinator.  The focus of the event was to raise people’s awareness of critical issues facing the planet.  The first…

  • Houston, we’ve had a problem

    Young Astronomers Blog, Volume 28, Number 8. Something happened on April 13, 1970 – fifty years ago this month.  A spacecraft was heading for a landing on the Moon.  If successful, it would be humankind’s third landing on another object in space.  Part way to the Moon, there was a problem. Apollo oxygen tank 10024X-TA0009…

  • Harvard Computers

    Young Astronomers Blog, Volume 28, Number 7. Stars come in all sizes, colors and temperatures. They also have a spectrum consisting of dark (absorption) lines, which identify the elements in the star’s atmosphere. March is Women’s History Month. So, let’s recognize some of the prominent women astronomers of the early 20th century who played a…

  • Happy Pi Day and The Hierarchy of Numbers

    Young Astronomers Blog, Volume 28, Number 6. It’s March 14, 2020. So, HAPPY PI DAY! Yes, Pi = 3.14, get it? Anyway, Pi is a number. It’s one of many numbers. Pi is actually a calculated number. It is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Check it out – it…