Since the dawn of humanity, we have thought that the heavens are huge, but of constant size. We first knew that the stars move around, then that it is actually the Earth rotating on its axis. In the 18th century, the French astronomer Messier observed fuzzy objects that he didn’t know were galaxies. Only inContinue reading “The Expansion of the Universe”
Author Archives: Mateusz Ratman
Breakthrough Starshot
Overview The Starshot mission is tasked with reaching Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to Earth at 4.37 light years from the Sun. With current technology it would take 73,000 years to travel there, assuming travel at the speed of the Voyager (NASA). This project wants to use very small nano-probes attached to lightsails, whichContinue reading “Breakthrough Starshot”
The Scale of the Universe
The size of the universe is incomprehensible by humans. One of the most fascinating experiences was playing around with the scale of the universe app made by Cary Huang. Seeing just how huge the Milky Way galaxy is made me feel small. I knew it was big, but not like that. Although, that app stillContinue reading “The Scale of the Universe”
The Formation of the Solar System
The solar system formed from a cloud of interstellar gas around 4.6 billion years ago. At some point, this cloud collapsed under gravity and the sun formed. The pressure in the center became so high that hydrogen atoms began fusing into helium, and the nuclear reactions that power stars begun. A solar nebula of gasContinue reading “The Formation of the Solar System”
The Apollo 11 Story
Neil Armstrong’s words when he touched down on the Moon “That’s one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.”, are probably the most famous in the history of space exploration and in the 20th century as a whole. The Apollo 11 mission, which launched from Cape Canaveral on July 16, 1969, has been aContinue reading “The Apollo 11 Story”
Cosmic Microwave Background
Cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) is the leftover radiation from the Big Bang and serves as a source of evidence for it actually happening. It is extremely cold at just 2.725 Kelvin, so emits blackbody wavelengths in the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum. It was discovered in 1964 by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson,Continue reading “Cosmic Microwave Background”
The Fermi Paradox
At first glance it seems that our civilisation is quite special. We exist in a habitable zone on a planet with large bodies of water and oxygen. Unlike the dinosaurs, we have not been hit by a major asteroid 67 million years ago. This supposed uniqueness gave rise to many religions and philosophies. I wouldContinue reading “The Fermi Paradox”
Hawking Radiation
Black holes are regions of space with such a strong gravitational field that nothing, even light, can’t escape. They were a theoretical construct from the theory of general relativity, and only observed in April 2019. In the 1970s, questions arose if black holes had entropy and a temperature. The results of Bekenstein, Starobinsky, Hawking andContinue reading “Hawking Radiation”
A Brief History of Time
A Brief History of Time was originally published in 1988 and remains a bestselling introduction to cosmology and astrophysics. It was one of the first books I read on the subject and it immediately inspired me to find out more. It leaves the reader feeling both dumber and smarter at the same time, since itContinue reading “A Brief History of Time”
The Death of the Universe
In the previous post I have talked about the most probable cause for the creation of all reality, the Big Bang. As we know, all things that exist will (probably) die, and the same goes for the universe. In this post I will talk you through some of the most prominent theories and also makeContinue reading “The Death of the Universe”