Black holes are arguably the most mysterious and captivating objects in the universe. Personally, I dream of studying them at university. They have been featured in many science fiction books and movies, such as Nolan’s Interstellar. But how do they really look like? What rules govern them and how do they form? I’ll try toContinue reading “Black Holes”
Author Archives: Mateusz Ratman
Look Up by Sarah Cruddas
Look Up is a history of space exploration in the 20th century with a strong focus on the purpose of going to space. The second part of the book is solely devoted to giving examples of technologies brought upon by space endeavours and the environmental research conducted by satellites. The final section discusses private spaceContinue reading “Look Up by Sarah Cruddas”
Something Deeply Hidden by Sean Carroll
We all know that quantum physics is wacky. Yet, our equations are able to make extremely precise predictions. The Higgs boson is a perfect example. We should be proud of that. Although, there is one major problem. Do we understand what quantum mechanics are fundamentally? This is the question that Carroll attempts to answer inContinue reading “Something Deeply Hidden by Sean Carroll”
The Planet Venus
Venus is the closest planetary neighbour of Earth and the second planet from the Sun. It is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty, but the conditions and weather are actually quite hellish. Despite being further away from the Sun than Mercury, it is the hottest planet in the Solar System with temperaturesContinue reading “The Planet Venus”
Water on Mars
The planet Mars has captured the imagination of science fiction authors and scientists as the best candidate to finding extraterrestrial life in the solar system. The red planet has been featured in numerous movies, most recently in the Martian, as a place to establish a human research base and colony. As far as we know,Continue reading “Water on Mars”
Neutron Stars
Neutron stars form from supernova explosions, when the remaining core does not collapse into a black hole. They have a diameter of around 20km, which is the size of a city, but they also contain the equivalent of 1.4 mass of the Sun, making them extremely dense. You probably have heard the famous anecdote thatContinue reading “Neutron Stars”
Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
In the previous post, we saw that intensity of radiation emitted by a star is proportional to its temperature to the fourth power. Let’s now use that to find a formula for a star’s luminosity. In order to calculate luminosity, we multiply intensity by the surface area of the object. Since, we assume that allContinue reading “Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram”
Blackbody Radiation
Blackbody radiation is a fascinating concept that shines some light (hehe) on quantum phenomena and stars. Planck’s research into the ultraviolet catastrophe at the beginning of the 20th century jumpstarted quantum physics. An ideal blackbody is an object that absorbs all radiation incident on it, and then emits 100% of it. This means that theContinue reading “Blackbody Radiation”
The Jovian Planets
Since I was a kid, the only thing I knew about the four jovian planets was that they are big, gaseous and cold. Yet, they are so much more interesting than it seems at first glance. In this post I’ll talk about some special characteristics of each of them. But why does our solar systemContinue reading “The Jovian Planets”
The Artemis Program
NASA’s website calls the Artemis program Apollo’s twin. Its immediate goal is revitalising the US space program and sending the first woman and person of color to the Moon. It is supposed to be the foundation for a sustained international stay of humanity on the Moon. The end goal is making going to Mars veryContinue reading “The Artemis Program”