Author: Cassie Hatcher

We have already explored our Sun, now Mercury is the next stop on our journey through our solar system. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and is the smallest planet in our solar system, coming in at only slightly larger than our Moon. On average, Mercury is only 36 million miles (58 million…

1. We won’t see Halley’s Comet again until 2061 Comets can be thought of as dirty space snowballs. They were formed millions of years ago during the formation of our solar system. Like planets, comets orbit the Sun, however their orbits are very large, often reaching out past the orbits of many planets. This is…

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the premier telescope of the next decade. The James Webb will study every phase in the Universe’s history from the first glows after the Big Bang to the formation of solar systems. JWST is a large infrared telescope with a primary mirror of approximately 6.5-meter diameter. This massive…

As you begin to understand more about our Universe and learn of the millions of stars that are brighter than our Sun, you may begin to wonder, if stars are so bright and there are so many, why is space and our night sky dark? This contradiction is known as Olbers’ paradox.  Olbers’ Paradox: if…

What is Collimated Light? The rays of a collimated beam of light are parallel to each other. This means that there is minimal spread in the light beam as it travels. Non collimated light travels more in the shape of a cone, because its rays are not parallel to each other causing it to spread…

It might seem like a weird question, how far is a light-year? Isn’t a ‘year’ a unit of time, and ‘far’ refers to a unit of distance? While that is correct, a ‘light-year’ is actually a measure of distance. A light-year is the distance light can travel in one year. Light is the fastest thing…

Many movies have explored the innate human fear of an asteroid crashing into Earth and wiping out humanity. While these movies often have creative solutions to divert the asteroid, such as having oil miners drill into the asteroid and plant nuclear bombs to split it in two; in reality, protecting the planet is much simpler,…

What Are Exoplanets? An exoplanet is any planet that is not in our solar system. The majority of exoplanets orbit stars in their own solar system. But there are a few free-floating exoplanets, called rogue planets, that are not gravitationally tied to a star and instead orbit the galactic center.  While the first evidence of…

The European Space Agency (ESA) is dedicated to benefiting humankind by peacefully exploring space. Of the six largest space agencies in the world, the ESA is the only agency made up of a collective group of nations. The ESA is an intergovernmental organization that oversees space research and exploration. They promote economic growth in Europe…

The United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a world leader in scientific and technological achievements in all areas of space exploration and human space flight. The resulting technology and achievements from NASA missions have forever changed the United States and the world at large.  NASA’s Vision “We reach for new heights and…