A Matter of Scale

Last modified September 1, 2010 by Randy Russell.

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In the 1960's another startling discovery was made quite by accident. A pair of scientists at Bell Laboratories detected some annoying background noise using a special low noise antenna. The strange thing...more

The Cosmos

Cosmology is the study of the overall structure of the universe. And just what is the Universe? Quite simply, it is everything that exists. However, from Earth we cannot observe everything in the Universe....more

Elliptical Galaxies

Elliptical galaxies are generally egg-shaped. If you have the chance to see one through a small telescope, it will probably look just like a fuzzy smudge to you, a piece of lint. But it is really formed...more

Globular Clusters

If you think that this globular cluster looks like a very round elliptical galaxy, you would be right! Elliptical galaxies and globular clusters have a lot in common. There is no gas or dust in a globular...more

Large-Scale Structure: Your Place in the Universe

When we look out into the Universe we observe some rather remarkable structure. We have seen that stars cluster together to form galaxies. But galaxies also cluster together to form much larger structures....more

Irregular Galaxies

Irregular galaxies are appropriately named. This class includes any galaxy which cannot be classified as either spiral or elliptical. Thus in some sense every irregular galaxy is unique in it's appearance....more

Archaea

Archaea was originally thought to be just another form of bacteria, but archaea is a much simpler form of life, simpler than a single-celled organism, which nevertheless contains DNA, the gene-code of...more

Atomic Nucleus

Atoms are composed of a massive, central nucleus surrounded by a swarm of fast-moving electrons. The nucleus is made up of protons and, in most cases, neutrons. Almost all of the mass (more than 99%) of...more

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