Category Archives: Astronomy

Russian Meteor Characteristics

Posted on 20-February-2013 by mathscinotes

A meteor exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia (Figure 1), at 3:20 UTC on February 15, 2013. I have been reading accounts of the size, speed, and energy of the meteor. This post presents some simple calculations that verify the consistency of the expert's estimates on the meteor characteristics. Also, I thought it would also be interesting to look at the amount of overpressure required to cause the sort of damage that was seen after the meteor and to include some explanatory material as to how scientists determine the characteristics of a meteor. Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Electronics | 1 Comment

Great discussion of Saturn's Polar Hexagon

Posted on 2-February-2013 by mathscinotes

This particular post discusses a very interesting laboratory experiment that illustrates how the hexagonal region at Saturn's pole may form. Continue reading →

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Earth Altitude with Equivalent Pressure to Mars

Posted on 6-October-2012 by mathscinotes

Quote of the Day In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. — Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian who died fighting against … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy | 36 Comments

Habitable Planet Math

Posted on 25-September-2012 by mathscinotes

Introduction I was reading the news the other day when I stumbled upon an article about exoplanets -- planets that are not in our solar system. The article referenced this web page that provided a Figure of Merit (FOM) for … Continue reading →

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Pioneer Anomaly Resolution Chat

Posted on 3-May-2012 by mathscinotes

The Planetary Society has a wonderful audio program called Planetary Radio. For those of you interested in the Pioneer Anomaly and a suggested resolution, listen to this program. All sorts of reasons have been proposed for the odd orbital behavior of the Pioneer spacecraft and this one seems pretty reasonable. As with most things electrical, the bad behavior can be traced to the batteries ... Continue reading →

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Bolide Meteor Sighting

Posted on 2-January-2012 by mathscinotes

I saw a bolide meteor while driving out to Montana last week. For those who are not familiar with bolide meteors, the Wikipedia has a nice description. The word bolide comes from the Greek βολίς (bolis) [2] which can mean … Continue reading →

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Meatball Math

Posted on 15-December-2011 by mathscinotes

Introduction I used to watch the television show "MASH" years ago. They would refer to quick procedures for patient stabilization as "meatball surgery." I recently encountered some "meatball math" as part of my engineering job. I call it "meatball" because … Continue reading →

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Speed of a Meteor

Posted on 8-July-2011 by mathscinotes

I own a small cabin on a lake in Northern Minnesota. Years ago I showed my brother how to find satellites, planets, and meteors. I love to lay on the dock at night and watch the sky. Because Northern Minnesota is so sparsely populated, the sky is incredibly dark and the stars are so much brighter than in the metropolitan region where I spend most of my time. When people visit me at the cabin, I take them out on the dock and introduce them to the world of meteors, satellites, and planets. It is always a good time. Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy | 28 Comments

Density of a Neutron Star

Posted on 19-June-2011 by mathscinotes

Television science programs frequently talk about black holes and neutron stars. A common quote during these programs is something like "a teaspoon of neutron star stuff weighs a billion tons" or some other similar statement. I always find numbers like these interesting to look at in detail. Continue reading →

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Solar Photons

Posted on 4-June-2011 by mathscinotes

I was watching "How the Universe Works" on the Science Channel and they had a really interesting discussion on stars and photons. During the show, they mentioned that photons generated in the center of the Sun take 4000 years to get to the surface. From the surface, the photons only take 8 minutes to get to the Earth. As part of my campaign to promote active television watching, let's take a look at where these numbers come from. As part of this effort, I will use Mathcad for the calculations and as a programming tool for a simple simulation Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, General Science | 2 Comments