Welcome!
My blog will consist of different aspects of astronomy including recent discoveries and hopefully I can build your interest in space and our role in the universe.
1/17/16 First blog- Understanding the Astronomical Unit
The astronomical unit is the measurement of the approximate distance between the Earth and the Sun. This distance is equivalent to about 93 million miles. The reason why this is an approximation is because the Earth's orbit around the Sun is not a perfect circle so the distance varies slightly. 1 AU is used as a standard measurement to approximate our location (Earth) to other planets and stars. 1 AU is about eight light minutes, which in laymen terms is how far light travels in eight minutes. One amazing bit of information to close the blog for this week is the Voyager I spacecraft, launched in 1977, is currently the farthest any spacecraft has traveled in mankind's history. As I am writing this, it is currently 134.42 AU from the Earth. That is approximately 12.5 billion miles from us!
Source: http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/
1/17/16 First blog- Understanding the Astronomical Unit
The astronomical unit is the measurement of the approximate distance between the Earth and the Sun. This distance is equivalent to about 93 million miles. The reason why this is an approximation is because the Earth's orbit around the Sun is not a perfect circle so the distance varies slightly. 1 AU is used as a standard measurement to approximate our location (Earth) to other planets and stars. 1 AU is about eight light minutes, which in laymen terms is how far light travels in eight minutes. One amazing bit of information to close the blog for this week is the Voyager I spacecraft, launched in 1977, is currently the farthest any spacecraft has traveled in mankind's history. As I am writing this, it is currently 134.42 AU from the Earth. That is approximately 12.5 billion miles from us!
Source: http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/
I have interests in astronomy and the knowledge we can gain from it and also how much we still are learning about our neighboring planets and moons. I look forward to what you have to say in future posts.
ReplyDeleteI am always checking out articles put out by NASA. Your blog should be quite interesting.
ReplyDeleteI have always been fascinated by the unknown. I feel that i can gain a lot from reading this blog and hopefully expect to further increase my knowledge on the subject.
ReplyDeleteI have always been fascinated by the unknown. I feel that i can gain a lot from reading this blog and hopefully expect to further increase my knowledge on the subject.
ReplyDeleteGood topic! seeing how small we are in comparison to the universe is mind boggling...Is there life out there?
ReplyDeleteGood topic! seeing how small we are in comparison to the universe is mind boggling...Is there life out there?
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has never even taken an astronomy class, your first post has me very interested in this topic and excited to see where your blog goes in the coming weeks.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has never even taken an astronomy class, your first post has me very interested in this topic and excited to see where your blog goes in the coming weeks.
ReplyDeleteI'm also like Jackson, I have never taken a astronomy class. I am though fascinated with space and what makes up our universe. I am excited to see what this blog becomes.
ReplyDelete