Emma
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The Ecliptic
The ecliptic, as astronomers call it, is the apparent path of the sun against the background of the stars in the sky. It’s useful because it tells us how to find the planets in the sky. They can be hard to…
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What is Precession?
We have a bit of a shorter post today — I thought precession warranted its own post, before I go on to talking about the ecliptic. Precession refers to the way Earth wobbles around on its axis, a bit like a…
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The Celestial Sphere
When you look up at the night sky on a clear, dark night, it seems as if the stars are glittering like bright thumbtacks on a great canvas above you. (You can get a similar effect — with less light…
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Mapping the Sky
I need you guys to help me with something. Can you find a horse in this image of the night sky? Yeah, me neither. I’m lost. I see the Great Square of Pegasus because I know what to look for,…
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Where Are We?
In the 4th century B. C. E. (Before Common Era), scientists believed the Earth was the center of the universe. Before that, they were convinced the Earth was flat. Now, most of us know that the Earth is not the…
