solar system
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What Causes the Lunar Phases?
We see it almost every night of our lives. For thousands of years, the greatest philosophers and astronomers alike have watched its face change and wondered why. Step outside and observe the moon every day for a month and you…
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Einstein: Special Relativity
Albert Einstein’s name literally sends shivers down my spine. This is the man who discovered physics as we know it. This is the man who filled in the gaps where even Newton’s laws of motion went wrong and expanded our…
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Moving with the Tides
Have you ever been to the beach? If you’re from California like me, then I’m betting you have. If you’re from a place that’s not near an ocean and you’ve never been near the water all your life, then I’ll…
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Newton and Gravity
So, the moon stays in orbit around the Earth, right? Yeah, I thought so. But why? The moon’s orbit is not a straight line, which means it’s accelerated motion (using the physics definition, which is absolutely any change in speed or…
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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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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…
