universe
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Geometry is Destiny…or is it?
Cosmologists used to think that gravity alone determined the shape of the universe, and that shape, in turn, determined its future. But that raised a lot of problems. Gravity works by curving space-time, so it can also force the fabric…
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The Shape of Space
I’ll admit it: when I hear something like “the shape of space,” my first thought is, whaaaaa? It’s hard to talk about the science behind space itself because we first have to wrap our minds around what that even means.…
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What is a Light-Year?
In my article, “Where Are We?” I showed you just how huge astronomical distances really are. There’s a reason people say that incredible things are “astronomical!” The image above illustrates how far Earth is from several faraway objects, including one…
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What was the Big Bang?
Have you heard of the Big Bang? I still remember the first time I heard about it. I was little; I can’t remember if I’d fallen in love with astronomy yet. But I do remember sitting in my living room,…
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What is Cosmology?
Cosmology is the study of the universe itself: how it came to be, how it has behaved since, and why the laws of physics operate the way they do. It’s one of the strangest branches of science — second only,…
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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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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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Tycho Brahe, the Observer
It is surprisingly difficult to find a flattering image of Tycho Brahe. Honestly. Do me a favor and do a Google image search for the guy. It’ll come up with all sorts of disfigured images, mostly because his nose got…
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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…
