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MOIYA MCTIER,
Astrophysicist, Folklorist, & Science Communicator
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Moiya McTier
May 24, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #40
Leap year exists to account for the fact that a day on Earth is actually 24 hours and 4 minutes long. A "day" is defined as the amount of...
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Moiya McTier
May 23, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #39
There is no real "end" to Earth's atmosphere. It just gets less and less dense until there's nothing left. (Yes, the atmosphere is...
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Moiya McTier
May 22, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #38
In 1983, Katrina and the Waves released one of the greatest feel-good bops of all time: "Walking on Sunshine." This song should...
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Moiya McTier
May 21, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #37
You've probably heard of planetary retrograde motion, which is when a planet appears to move backwards from our perspective here on...
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Moiya McTier
May 20, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #36
The most important factor in determining the lifecycle of a star is it's mass. If you show me a newborn star and tell me its mass, I can...
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Moiya McTier
May 19, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #35
Yesterday was the annual Eurovision Song Contest. In typical Eurovision fashion, the contestants performed in front of truly impressive...
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Moiya McTier
May 18, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #34
There's no sound in space because space is a vacuum, which means there's almost no pressure. Sound travels via pressure waves by having...
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Moiya McTier
May 17, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #33
Solar eclipses happen when the Moon lines up with the Sun from the Earth's point of view. Lunar eclipses happen when the Moon passes...
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Moiya McTier
May 16, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #32
The Moon is moving about 1.5 inches away from the Earth every year because of gravitational interactions between the two bodies.
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Moiya McTier
May 15, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #31
You can't have an open fire on Mars. Fire needs oxygen, which is in short supply on Mars. The Red Planet's atmosphere is about 1% as...
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Moiya McTier
May 14, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #30
The Sun may look yellow in the sky -- at least that's what children's drawings of the Sun have led me to believe. But it's actually...
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Moiya McTier
May 13, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #29
The most distant object most people can see with their naked eye is the Andromeda Galaxy, and it's about 2.25 million light years away.
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Moiya McTier
May 12, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #28
In his 2011 hit "Space Bound," Eminem says, "You take my breath away; you're a supernova." Supernova explosions last a couple of minutes...
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Moiya McTier
May 11, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #27
The only two planets in our solar system that don't have moons are Mercury and Venus. Astronomers are still trying to figure out exactly...
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Moiya McTier
May 10, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #26
There is gravity in space! If there weren't, the Moon wouldn't go around the Earth and the Earth wouldn't orbit the Sun. But why do...
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Moiya McTier
May 9, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #25
I mentioned a "planetary nebula" in a previous fun fact, but I didn't tell you what it is. A planetary nebula is a big cloud of glowing,...
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Moiya McTier
May 8, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #24
Have you ever wondered how big a planet can get before it becomes a gaseous planet like Neptune or Jupiter? Well, it turns out that most...
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Moiya McTier
May 7, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #23
At the height of his career, Michael Jordan could jump ~3.5 ft into the air. But if he went to the Moon, he'd be able to jump >20 ft in...
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Moiya McTier
May 6, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #22
Saturn isn't the only planet in the solar system with rings. In fact, ALL of the gas giants - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - have...
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Moiya McTier
May 5, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #21
If the Sun became a black hole (which would NEVER happen, but let's use our imagination), we wouldn't fall into it. The Sun-turned-BH...
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