Moiya McTierNov 15, 20182 minRules of WorldbuildingNot all fiction is created equal. To create any good piece of fiction, you have to get a lot of things right: prose, dialogue, pacing, character development,...
Moiya McTierJul 24, 20191 minAstronomy Fun Fact #100!Alright, friends. Here it is, my 100th and final astronomy fun fact! And what better topic to end on than the ultimate fate of the universe? Scientists more ...
Moiya McTierJul 22, 20191 minAstronomy Fun Fact #99Astronomy is often viewed as an unnecessary science because people think astronomy research doesn't directly affect people's lives. Astronomers don't develop...
Moiya McTierJul 22, 20191 minAstronomy Fun Fact #98If you look closely enough at the Big Dipper, you might notice that one of the points in the handle is actually two points. They are Mizar (the larger one) a...
Moiya McTierJul 21, 20191 minAstronomy Fun Fact #97In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing... Only 12 humans have walked on the Moon. They are 1. Neil Armstrong 2. Buzz Aldrin 3. Pete C...
Moiya McTierJul 20, 20191 minAstronomy Fun Fact #96The Moon is tidally locked, which means one side of the Moon is always facing the Earth. An interesting consequence of the Moon’s tidally locked status is th...
Moiya McTierJul 18, 20191 minAstronomy Fun Fact #95As of 2019, the heaviest thing humans have ever launched into space is the Saturn V rocket, which carried the Apollo Lunar Module. Saturn V itself was more t...
Moiya McTierJul 17, 20191 minAstronomy Fun Fact #94The universe is expanding, and that expansion is speeding up. But even though the universe is getting bigger, it's not creating any new mass. No, the univers...
Moiya McTierJul 16, 20191 minAstronomy Fun Fact #93I don't believe in astrology, but I know that there are people who do, and I want those people to know how their signs are assigned. The Sun isn't moving muc...
Moiya McTierJul 15, 20191 minAstronomy Fun Fact #92Total solar eclipses are possible because the apparent size of the Moon on the sky is bigger than the apparent size of the Sun. Both take up about .5 degrees...
Moiya McTierJul 15, 20191 minAstronomy Fun Fact #91If you're lucky enough to be standing outside at sunrise or sunset with an unobstructed view of the Sun as it dips below the horizon in a place with clean ai...
Moiya McTierJul 14, 20191 minAstronomy Fun Fact #90You learned in Fun Fact #89 that there's a lower limit for the mass of a star. There's also a theoretical upper limit. Stars are a careful balance of gravity...
Moiya McTierJul 12, 20191 minAstronomy Fun Fact #89Some people say that Jupiter is a failed star -- that it could have been a star if it were just a bit more massive. So how massive does something have to be ...
Moiya McTierJul 11, 20191 minAstronomy Fun Fact #88The footprints that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left on the Moon are still there because there's no wind to blow them away. There is a veeeery thin layer ...
Moiya McTierJul 10, 20191 minAstronomy Fun Fact #87It's common knowledge that there are different unit systems. That's why Americans use units like inches, pounds, and degrees Fahrenheit instead of meters, ki...
Moiya McTierJul 9, 20191 minAstronomy Fun Fact #86The second popular coordinate system used by astronomers is the Galactic Coordinate System. This system is centered on the Sun, but it gives an object's posi...
Moiya McTierJul 8, 20191 minAstronomy Fun Fact #85Space is huge and has no single reference point, which means there are no set directions. So how do astronomers keep track of the positions of space objects?...
Moiya McTierJul 8, 20191 minAstronomy Fun Fact #84Uranus rotates on its side! You may have heard that the Earth’s axis is tilted at 23 degrees. That’s nothing compared to Uranus’ tilt of 90 degrees.
Moiya McTierJul 6, 20191 minAstronomy Fun Fact #83The Earth is only the third planet from the Sun. We’re so close to the Sun that it keeps us all from freezing. But “close” means something different in space...
Moiya McTierJul 5, 20191 minAstronomy Fun Fact #82In December of 2013, the European Space Agency launched Gaia, a powerful astrometric telescope, into space. The telescope cost 650 million euros (~$730 milli...
