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MOIYA MCTIER,
Astrophysicist, Folklorist, & Science Communicator
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Moiya McTier
May 4, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #20
Our current north star is Polaris, but that's going to change because the Earth's axis is wobbling. This wobble (which you can imagine is...
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Moiya McTier
May 3, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #19
The biggest telescope on Earth is FAST (Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope) in China. Like the name suggests, it's 500 m...
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Moiya McTier
May 2, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #18
All of the matter that we can see in the universe is called baryonic matter and it only makes up just 4% (!!!) of the universe. Dark...
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Moiya McTier
May 1, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #17
I talk a lot about how boring our Sun is, but is special in one way: it's alone. Astronomers estimate that as many as 80% of stars exist...
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Moiya McTier
Apr 30, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #16
The Milky Way makes about 5 new stars every year, but only about one star per year in the Milky Way dies and becomes a planetary nebula....
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Moiya McTier
Apr 29, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #15
All but two of Uranus' moons are named after characters from Shakespeare's plays. The other two, Umbriel and Ariel, are named after...
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Moiya McTier
Apr 28, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #14
It takes photons (particles of light) about 8 minutes to get from the Sun's surface to the Earth. But photons starting at the core of the...
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Moiya McTier
Apr 27, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #13
The last time a full moon occurred on Friday the 13th was June 13th 2014. It won't happen again until August 13th 2049.
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Moiya McTier
Apr 26, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #12
The largest moon in the solar system is Ganymede, one of Jupiter's 79 confirmed moons. Our own Moon is the fifth largest in the solar...
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Moiya McTier
Apr 25, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #11
Many people assume that you would die instantly and dramatically if you were shot out into space without protective gear. In reality,...
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Moiya McTier
Apr 24, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #10
In the time it takes you to read this (~3 seconds), the Sun has moved about 720 km or 450 mi through the Milky Way galaxy.
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Moiya McTier
Apr 23, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #9
Our Sun isn't special. It's going to live a boring life and die a boring death. And it's going to do all of that in a boring part of the...
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Moiya McTier
Apr 22, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #8
Happy Earth Day! As you celebrate, make sure you thank the Earth's thick atmosphere and strong magnetic field for protecting you from the...
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Moiya McTier
Apr 21, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #7
You may have heard about the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy called Sagittarius A*. It's about 4 million times more...
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Moiya McTier
Apr 20, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #6
We've found thousands of planetary systems in the Milky Way, but the vast majority of them (more than half) only have one planet that we...
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Moiya McTier
Apr 19, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #5
Every star -- everything that emits light, really -- has its own spectrum, which tells you how energetic its light is at different...
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Moiya McTier
Apr 18, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #4
The largest structure in the entire universe is called the BOSS Great Wall, named after the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey that...
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Moiya McTier
Apr 17, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #3
The next time you look at the constellation Orion, look at the star that makes his right shoulder (so it'll be on your left). That star...
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Moiya McTier
Apr 16, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #2
Looking down from above (meaning looking down from above the North Pole), the moon is orbiting counter-clockwise around the Earth, the...
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Moiya McTier
Apr 15, 20191 min read
Astronomy Fun Fact #1
X-Ray astronomy can only be done from space because Earth's atmosphere blocks X-Ray photons. This makes X-Ray astronomy really expensive...
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