What’s in a Black Hole?

There are few things in the entire Universe that are as terrifyingly awesome as a black hole. To have a region of space exist that contains gravitational forces so strong that literally nothing can escape it (whether it's a particle, light, or any electromagnetic radiation for that matter) seems like a concept straight out of … Continue reading What’s in a Black Hole? →

Are We Alone?

As we've seen over the past few generations, our ability to harness technology to accomplish things never before seen or done has only increased exponentially. As a race, we've been able to photograph a black hole, we've been able to send probes to places in space that were thought to be unreachable, and we've just … Continue reading Are We Alone? →

Jupiter’s Eclectic Moons

As we've seen in our study of the Jovian planets, the actual planets themselves aren't the only important space-related object that provides useful and insightful information. Every Jovian planet has some sort of celestial object orbiting or surrounding it, especially the moons surrounding Jupiter. Discovered by Galileo Galilei way back in 1610 (on January 10th), … Continue reading Jupiter’s Eclectic Moons →

The Age of a Rock

In the grand scheme of things, one can forget about how everything little thing that exists in our Universe has an age. While we consistently talk about planets and stars having ages of billions of years, we sometimes forget to think about not only how the rocks and geographical formations on Earth are formed but … Continue reading The Age of a Rock →

Finding Nuclear Fusion

Before the advent of Modern Science and its ability to explain natural phenomena relatively well, we had no idea how the Sun actually worked. Scientists had no idea that the Sun was just a giant ball of really hot gas that's able to generate light using its own mass. However, over the course of time … Continue reading Finding Nuclear Fusion →

Telescopes and Space

I don't know about you, but without my glasses, I literally cannot see anything, even if it's right in front me. Whether I'm sitting in the classroom trying to take notes from the professor's lecture or trying to watch my favorite Netflix show, my ability to actually see anything with my naked eye is severely … Continue reading Telescopes and Space →

Historical Astronomers in Context

For this research assignment, my chosen astronomer is Galileo Galilei! First and foremost, it's important to note that Galileo Galilei was born on February 15th of 1564 and died on January 8th of 1642. He lived until he was 77. In order to gain a better understanding of Galileo's life and timeline, I'll highlight two … Continue reading Historical Astronomers in Context →

Traveling at the Speed of Light

Have you ever imagined what it would be like moving at the speed of light? To have the ability to travel that quickly (think ~300,000,000 m/s) would be incomprehensible -- you'd experience a host of different effects, including time dilation (how more rapidly moving objects experience time more slowly), relativistic aberration (how your field of … Continue reading Traveling at the Speed of Light →

Introductory Post

Hi, I'm Aaron Molotsky, a fourth-year student here at Vanderbilt University studying Computer Engineering. I'm excited to learn about the solar system through this blog! This is a picture of my dog, Marty! He's a 9 year old Havanese and he might be the cutest dog in the world. You can find more information about … Continue reading Introductory Post →