Solar flares are large explosions produced by the Sun emitting x-rays and UV radiation and disrupting long-range radio communications in the process. The correlation of solar flare to the appearance of more sunspots is not clear but scientists have observed that there are more flares when the Sun has more sunspots. A first quarter flare […]
First Quarter Flare Read More »
Anything we throw up in the air will fall back to the ground. This is because of the downward pull of gravity, which is causes the downward acceleration of 9.81 meters per second squared. For an object to leave the surface of the earth, without falling back due to gravity, it must possess a speed
Photo by: Mbz1 Creative Commons The sun has large explosions that release so much energy, which can cause a worldwide interruptions of radio communication. It can also produce ongoing radiation storms. This explosion is called a solar flare. This event can happen to other stars and is termed as a stellar flare. In 1859, Richard
Astronomical transit is the passage of a small astronomical body across the disk or face of a significantly larger body as opposed to an eclipse where significant occultation occurs. Note that the word refers to events where the nearer and smaller object actually appears significantly smaller instead of completely hiding the other.
Astronomical Transit Read More »
We view celestial objects from a distance and use their brightness to make observations. Amateur astronomers and scientists often make use of a celestial object’s limiting magnitude, which is a measure of the lowest or faintest apparent magnitude that can be seen using a particular instrument. In simple terms, limiting magnitude is often considered as
Limiting Magnitude Read More »
Event horizon, in its simplest definition, is a black hole?s surface. It has a radius of influence that can affect the perception of objects in space. Many astronomy books define it as a very dense region. A teaspoon-full of this object will weigh thousands of tons. Therefore, it has an extreme gravitational pull that even
Photo by: Brews ohare Creative Commons A standard candle is a class of astronomical objects that belong to the same class and have a standard luminosity or brightness. You can actually determine an object’s distance from the earth using standard candles.
Hertz is a unit of frequency with an abbreviation, Hz. It is equal to number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. It was the German physics professor Heinrich Rudolf Hertz who expanded on the identifying electromagnetic waves. He was the first to experiment on generating and receiving electromagnetic waves. In particular, he used
Hertz & Electromagnetic Radiation Read More »
For a period of around 5 to ten minutes, the surface of the sun gets bathed in a burst of energy. These bursts come forth with great consistency and are highly energetic regular fixtures of our Sun. These plasma waves appear as dark tubes on photographs and are known as solar spicules.
Astronomical seeing is that blurring and twinkling phenomena of various astronomical objects such as stars, which is naturally caused by the turbulent mixing activities in the Earth’s atmosphere that then varies the optical refractive index. Such conditions on any given night and locations signifies how the Earth’s atmosphere disturbs the images through the telescopes.
Astronomical Seeing Read More »
