![[Portrait of Dr. Songhu Wang.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2021/03/Songhu-HeisingSimons-19.jpg)
Imagining life on other planets is usually the work of science-fiction authors, but increasingly it is becoming the work of current astronomers. Although it had been theorized that there existed other planets outside of our solar system, exoplanets were only confirmed in the late 1980s. The field exploded when the Kepler space telescope started finding hundreds of exoplanets. A rich field of study was born…
Tag: astronomy
The science behind meteor showers in Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing has proven again and again to be an exquisitely well-designed game and has surprised many with its excellent representation of scientific concepts. Many players have written about the punnet squares of flower breeding, and others have made videos about all the animals in Blathers’s museum (even the bugs!). However, I’d like to turn your attention skyward. Let’s take a look at the meteor showers that happen above your island…
30 Years of Hubble: Images and Discoveries that Shaped Astronomy
![[A bright spiral galaxy with two prominent arms of red with a blue glow of stars. The center is bright white.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2020/04/Hubble1.jpg)
Yesterday, April 24th, was the 30th anniversary of the launch of perhaps the most famous telescope: the Hubble Space Telescope. Orbiting the earth, this telescope has changed the way astronomers and the public alike view the universe. With over 1.4 million observations, providing data for more than 16,000 peer-reviewed scientific papers, Hubble has exceeded expectations…
Science without a Degree: What is Citizen Science and How to Get Involved
Louis Pasteur once said, “Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world.” The act of doing science should not, and cannot, be confined to people in lab coats with multiple degrees squinting at computer screens and scribbling on whiteboards. Exploring the natural world around us should be something everyone can take part in, and that’s what citizen science is…
What’s up with leap years?
Today is February 29. Unlike every other day in the year, this day only shows up in the calendar once every four years… but why? To understand this, we’re going to use a little bit of history and astronomy to get to the calendar that most of the world uses today. First, let’s talk about… Read more »
Why Are There No Sunspots?
It’s easy to think of the sun as a simple bright sphere in the sky, constant and unchanging; but, that is far from reality. The sun is dynamic, with many solar flares, cells of convection, and even storms. One of the easiest changes to see are sunspots, which are located on the surface of the… Read more »
Global collaboration in science
Looking back into the archives of scientific papers published in the past few decades, the majority have one, or at most four, authors. Most projects were conducted by a single individual (or a man and multiple uncredited women, but that’s a whole different topic than what I’d like to discuss here): one person started with… Read more »
Graduating ScIU Writers 2019
Our blog would be nothing without our writers. Unfortunately they can’t stay here forever; they must go on to their next great adventures in life. So we wanted to take a moment to recognize a few of our authors who have recently left or are preparing to leave soon. We wish you all the very… Read more »
Apollo 11: 5 photos (and 1 video) you might not see in the news
The anniversary of the first steps on the moon is today and undoubtedly you’ve seen a lot of images from the landing. News media love to show the footprints, the saluting of the flag, and the Earth-rise over the lunar surface. However there are many pictures that get overlooked. So here we present 5 photos (and… Read more »
The Quest for Alien Swimming Pools
Water is essential to life on Earth. So, if we are searching for life off-world, it would make sense to look for signs of water. Astronomers have been doing exactly that: employing different methods to find the first signs of life outside of our own world. Until recently, it wasn’t known whether there is water… Read more »