Star Trek

shows many patterns and properties of stars based on plotting them by their temperature on the surface and their light they emit, or luminosity. Created in 1912, the HR diagram was made by two astronomers, Ejnar Hertzsprung and Henry Russell who found patterns with stars’ properties. The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram shows how every star goes through different evolutionary stages. These evolutionary stages are based on the internal structure of the star and how the star produces energy. On the…

How many things can you see in the night sky? A lot! On a clear night you might see the moon, some planets, and thousands of sparkling stars. You can see even more with a telescope. You might see stars where before you only saw dark space. You might see that many stars look larger than others. You might see that some stars that look white are really red or blue. With bigger and bigger telescopes you can see more and more objects in the sky and you can see those objects in more and more detail.…

laid asphalt. The Exoplanet is two times less reflective than our own moon, which has an albedo of 0.12. WASP-12b orbits a sun like star named WASP-12A, which is about 1400 light years away. The Exoplanet's radius is almost twice the size of Jupiter and has a year of over just one earth day. WASP-12b is categorized as a hot Jupiter. Because it is so close to its parent star, WASP-12b has been stretched into an egg shape and its surface temperature is 2600 degrees Celsius. Astronomers think the…

the radiation of ordinary stars, AGNs are prominent across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Thus, astronomers needed to look beyond the visual regime to see their full potential. Recent technological advancements, such as satellite deployment, have enabled astronomers to explore energies once unattainable. In addition to the showing in a wide range of energies, AGNs also change in brightness on time scales from minutes to decades. It's no wonder then that some stars once thought to be…

There are many astronomers out there, but the one person that stood out to me was Edwin Hubble. It is because of Edwin, we now have a better understanding on the distance in the universe and that it’s expanding. His research was very remarkable that he had a telescope with his name. Since Edwin established the scale of the universe and laid the observational basis, he helped us understand what are galaxies like in the universe. To start off, Edwin noticed a Cepheid variable in the Andromeda…

wonder has fascinating stars that captivate your attention when you take the time to focus upon it. Location South and away from the Milky Way's band lies the constellation Delphinus the Dolphin. This tiny grouping of stars lies in the transition zone from that of the summer star filled skies to that of the sparse autumn skies. Once you have located Delphinus in the night sky, turn your telescope towards Gamma (y) Delphinus' snout. His snout is one of the most amazing double stars in the…

Hertzsprung-Russel Diagram, or the temperature of stars relative to its luminosity, the theoretical H-R diagram. Stars have specific evolutionary stages based on their initial mass, dictating its internal structure and means of energy production. The phases in stellar evolution correspond to alterations in luminosity and temperature. There are three main regions present on the diagram, the most dominant is the main sequence which is where approximately 90% of all known stars lie and extends from…

fully understood, it is believed that it is a spirling column of gas, similar to a hurricane. The Great Red spot is not alone on Jupiter, in 2005, a miniature red spot was formed, causing a disturbance of three large white oval clouds. According to Stars and Planets by Ian Ridpath and Wil Tirion, “the increased size of the merged ovals is thought to have created a sufficient disturbance to dredge up reddish material from deeper in the atmosphere.” This gave astronomers…

Testing the Validity of the Approach of Using Hydrogen and Helium Emission Spectra with the Rydberg Equation to Determine the Ionization Energy of Helium Michelle Plavnik Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, United States PAGE 2 ABSTRACT: The purpose of this lab is to determine how accurate the Rydberg equation is at modeling helium transitions and finding the ionization energy from those transitions. To accomplish this aim, the spectra of hydrogen and helium were…

The star outside your spaceship's windshield is a spectacular sight. HR 5171 A is a fireball 1,300 times larger than the Earth's sun. It's so big that if it were in our sun's position, it would swallow up Earth beneath its 10,000°F surface. To look at it from your spaceship, you have to wear special goggles--this star is almost a million times brighter than our sun. As you watch HR 5171A burn, you notice something strange. An object is peeking over the horizon, growing larger and larger. It's…