A pair of astronomers is claiming that they have accumulated more evidence of the presence of a planet about four times the size of Jupiter lurking in the outer reaches of the solar system. If they turn out to be right, and we won't know for a few years at least, this would be a HUGE discovery! For now though, it's best to play skeptic.
Astronomy folks -- please get those permissions slips in as soon as you can! We're going to have a great time in Green Bank and you won't want to miss it!
Geology BRCC -- Next Saturday is a day of field work. Be ready!
Geology -- We wrap up minerals today and start igneous rocks. There is some technical stuff coming up, so prepare yourselves!
Till class...
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Whew! It's been awhile! But, unlike your teacher, the sun and earth never sleep...
NASA, using its twin STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) has produced the first 3D image of the sun in real time. You might ask, how is this possible? Well, you can read about it in detail at the mission website. In short, there are two satellites orbiting the sun in perfection opposition, in other words, the three objects line up to form a straight line, allowing NASA to produce such a cool image!
Did you know that there are 33 countries with land areas below sea level? The link to this article will take you to a cool Google Maps view of where they are. Sure, you probably knew about Death Valley and the Dead Sea, but what about the other places with negative elevations?
Astronomy folks -- Quiz next time -- a truly stellar one :). Our next unit will deal with how light is related to the electrons in atoms -- and how we can use the resultant absorption and emission spectra to identify what elements exist in distant stars, planetary atmospheres, and even in interstellar space. Atomic stuff! Be sure to get that permission slip and money in for the Green Bank field trip! You definitely won't regret it.
Geology people -- We are embarking into our exploration of minerals and how to identify them. From there, we will move into igneous rocks and then volcanoes. We have two field trips coming up in early March...one to the Bower-Campbell Zinc Mine in Timberville (bet you didn't know that even existed!) and to Chimney Rock the next week.
BRCC dudes and dudettes -- Our samples are in to the lab. While we still have a couple more that we may collect and some stream guaging to do, we're going to have lot's of data to play with. Personally, I can't wait! In the meantime, we're dealing with all things crystalline...minerals, igneous rocks, etc., and moving kind of quickly through a pile of material. Try to read and stay on top of it. This is college, after all!
Thanks for all of your hard work folks!
Did you know that there are 33 countries with land areas below sea level? The link to this article will take you to a cool Google Maps view of where they are. Sure, you probably knew about Death Valley and the Dead Sea, but what about the other places with negative elevations?
Astronomy folks -- Quiz next time -- a truly stellar one :). Our next unit will deal with how light is related to the electrons in atoms -- and how we can use the resultant absorption and emission spectra to identify what elements exist in distant stars, planetary atmospheres, and even in interstellar space. Atomic stuff! Be sure to get that permission slip and money in for the Green Bank field trip! You definitely won't regret it.
Geology people -- We are embarking into our exploration of minerals and how to identify them. From there, we will move into igneous rocks and then volcanoes. We have two field trips coming up in early March...one to the Bower-Campbell Zinc Mine in Timberville (bet you didn't know that even existed!) and to Chimney Rock the next week.
BRCC dudes and dudettes -- Our samples are in to the lab. While we still have a couple more that we may collect and some stream guaging to do, we're going to have lot's of data to play with. Personally, I can't wait! In the meantime, we're dealing with all things crystalline...minerals, igneous rocks, etc., and moving kind of quickly through a pile of material. Try to read and stay on top of it. This is college, after all!
Thanks for all of your hard work folks!
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