Just Added A New Place To My Bucket List

Double slit experiment gives me the chills...

Tried to understand the double slit experiment to understand Schrodinger's cat...I either got more confused and understand nothing or I understand it perfectly. It's one or the either. Or both. It might be both. It's probably both. I think it's both.

I wish I could just invent an entire branch of mathematics just because I needed it to perform other experiments...

Isaac Newton invented calculus to perform his other experiments

Influenced by Galileo & Kepler, Newton became the father of physics

Radio view closeup of Milky Way center © J.C. Munoz-Mateos

How To Prepare To Go Stargazing

Preparing To Go Stargazing

So you want to go stargazing...and you have the perfect night and location picked out...the question is: What do you bring? What do you wear? Should you bring food? Drinks? Chairs? A backpack? 

Well, you've come to the right place. Prepare to have all your questions answered here!

Clothing

Generally, the best nights for stargazing are colder ones or you'll be up at higher altitudes in the middle of the night, so dress cozily! Check the weather forecast before heading out and dress appropriately, with a nice, warm jacket, pants (shorts are probably a no-no), a beanie, and gloves depending on where you're going. It never hurts to have backup extra layers stored in the car as well.

Stargazing Materials

Obviously, bring your telescope! If you don't have one, no worries, you can bring binoculars, borrow a telescope from your nearby observatory, or just go watch the stars with your naked eye--I promise it won't be any less breathtaking. 

But if you're planning on bringing your telescope, make sure to bring a beach towel or something else to place your telescope on--a plastic tub as a base works well too for telescopes that don't have tripods. Also, make sure to have something handy to clean your lens with, just in case it gets dusty or windy. 

Lights

It's best to avoid looking at your phone or any white lights to help your eyes adjust to the darkness and see the stars better, so pack a red light torch and activate red light on your phone screen so if you need to check your phone for any reason, or to access an astronomy app, you don't blind your eyes with the white light. 

Food and Drinks

This is all based on preference, but it's always fun to have a small campfire and roast s'mores while drinking hot chocolate. Depending on how long you plan to be stargazing, prepare drinks (have a few water bottles on hand just in case) and some snacks and have a good time talking, watching the stars, and snacking with others. 

Other Essentials

Make sure to have extra power chargers--portable batteries, power tanks,  a pack of batteries, etc.--just in case anything runs out of power, especially if you're in a remote location. 

A first-aid kit is important because you never know what might happen or when someone will need a band-aid. Keep a small first-aid kit in your car, stocked with (at the very least) band-aids (large and small size), Neosporin, gauze, and clean anti-bacterial wipes.

If it's summertime, it's probably also a smart idea to invest in some mosquito or bug spray, or get bug-repelling bracelets to keep the bugs from spoiling your night. 

That's All!

You are set to go stargazing, so get out there and have a fantastic time!

Best Conditions for Stargazing

Stargazing

So you want to go stargazing...but when...and where?

Follow what I call the 3 C's:

1. Clear skies

You definitely want to go stargazing only when the night skies are clear because otherwise, you won't be able to see anything. What does it mean to be clear? Well, you want to make sure that the stars are easily visible and there's no dust, moisture, or anything else that could make the stars hazy or difficult to see. Another important thing to think about is the brightness of the moon; if the moon is too bright it might outshine the stars and make them harder to view--that's why New Moons are optimal times to go stargazing.

2. Close to sky

Stargazing is best done high up and closer to the stars, and far, far away from city lights. Light pollution can seriously ruin your experience, so plan ahead and go somewhere high up and with low levels of light pollution. Locations good for stargazing usually include mountains, the tops of buildings, and beaches (usually the cliffs by the ocean are great).

3. Cold air

This isn't a requirement, but generally, visibility is better during the winter when the air is cold and the Artic sends cleaner air southwards. Plus, you can bring hot chocolate and roast s'mores!

Pro tip: Google good locations in your area to go stargazing--your five minutes of google searching will definitely pay off!

Cosmic Witch Head © Utkarsh Mishra

Newton's Three Laws of Motion

What are they?

Generally speaking, Newton's Three Laws of Motion are some of the most important laws in science. They are the fundamentals, and they are necessary for basic physics. They may seem complicated and jargon-y at first, but they are actually very understandable once broken down. So let's go over them!

Law of Inertia

Newton's Law of of Inertia states that "An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion at constant speed and in a straight line unless acted on by an unbalanced force." 

First, let's go over inertia, which this law is about. Inertia is the tendency of objects to remain the same. So basically, what this law is saying is that an object that is not moving, will stay not moving, and an object that is moving will continue moving in the same direction and speed that it is going. The last phrase in this law, "unless acted on by an unbalanced force" is basically just saying that due to inertia, objects will remain the same unless another force (eg. gravity, friction, air resistance, etc.) changes/affects the object. 

For example: a marble rolling on the floor will continue rolling in the same direction and at the same speed. Common sense says this makes no sense because obviously, the marble would eventually stop rolling. This is because although it may not seem as obvious, there actually is a force acting on the marble--friction from the floor. The friction acting on the marble slows it down until it eventually comes to a stop. 

Law of Acceleration

Newton's Law of Acceleration states that "The acceleration of an object depends on the mass of the object and the amount of force applied."

Most times Newton's Second Law is summarized as the equation F = ma, where F = net force in a system, m = mass of object(s), and a = acceleration of object(s). This law is pretty simple, it mostly is just saying that the force applied to an object depends on the acceleration of the ojbect and the mass of the object, or any other variation of this statement. In practice, you just need to input the necessary information into this equation to solve for the unknown variable. One lovely thing about F = ma is its simplicity; it only requires basicaly algebra to solve and is easy to remember. It also merits a mention that of all the equations you need to memorize for school, this is one of the most important ones (especially for physics), it should be up there in your brain with c^2 = a^2+b^2 and the quadratic formula. 

Here's an example: If a 5 kg bowling ball is rolling down the bowling alley with an acceleration of 2 m/s^2, what is the force being applied to the bowling ball? To solve this simple problem, you can input the mass and acceleration of the bowling ball into F = ma, so F = 5 kg * 2 m/s^2, meaning the force applied to the bowling ball is 10 kg m/s^2, or 10 N.

(Note: Force is usually in N, or newtons, and kg m/s^2 = N)

Law of Action and Reaction

Newton's Law of Action and Reaction states that "Whenever one object exerts a force on another object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite on the first."

You've probably have heard the saying "What goes up must come down" before. Well, this law isn't too far off from that, and the concept is pretty similar. This law is actually pretty self-explanatory; it's basically saying that for every action force, there will be an opposing reaction force that is the same strength and in the opposite direction. The law also stipulates that the two objects in the action/reaction force pair are acting on two DIFFERENT objects (so an object won't exert a reaction force unto itself). It's pretty simple when put in words, but this law is best explained using examples. 

For instance: If you jump off a skateboard, you will go forward (the skateboard is pushing you), and the skateboard will go backwards (you are pushing the skateboard). 

Another example: When you jump on a trampoline, you go up and you will notice that the trampoline will (temporarily) go down. 

Summary

This graphic from Owlcation.com describes Newton's Laws quite well: 

can't tell which is more confusing: random names that don't really follow a pattern but are relatively easy to learn and remember OR random set of numbers and letters that sometimes make sense but is impossible to remember

Scientists find remains of cannibalized baby planets in Jupiter's cloud-covered belly

The finding settles a long-standing debate about the gas giant's formation.

Jupiter’s innards are full of the remains of baby planets that the gas giant gobbled up as it expanded to become the behemoth we see today, scientists have found. The findings come from the first clear view of the chemistry beneath the planet’s cloudy outer atmosphere.

Despite being the largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter has divulged very little about its inner workings. Telescopes have captured thousands of images of the swirling vortex clouds in the gas giant’s upper atmosphere, but these Van Gogh-esque storms also act as a barrier blocking our view of what’s below.

“Jupiter was one of the first planets to form,” in the first few million years when the solar system was taking shape around 4.5 billion years ago, lead researcher Yamila Miguel, an astrophysicist at Leiden University in The Netherlands, told Live Science. However, we know almost nothing for certain about how it formed, she added.

In the new study, researchers were finally able to peer past Jupiter’s obscuring cloud cover using gravitational data collected by NASA’s Juno space probe. This data enabled the team to map out the rocky material at the core of the giant planet, which revealed a surprisingly high abundance of heavy elements. The chemical make-up suggests Jupiter devoured baby planets, or planetesimals, to fuel its expansive growth.

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