In addition to Density Lab, I also had the pleasure of writing the Reach for the Stars test for the 2019 UT Invitational. Since this was the event’s first year (the past two years were Solar System, which covers planetary science), I tried to make my test relatively easy and provide a broad overview of … More UT Invitational 2019: Reach for the Stars B
This weekend, I had the opportunity to write the Density Lab B test for the 2019 UT Invitational. Although Density Lab covers a fascinating set of topics, many of its tests are little more than repeated and . As a result, I tried especially hard to write questions that were creative and unorthodox, while still … More UT Invitational 2019: Density Lab B
This February, I had the pleasure of writing the Solar System test for the UT Regional, where I got to see some of the best teams in Texas compete for a spot at the state tournament this May. Although the regional was over a month ago, this test was being used at other tournaments when … More UT Regional 2019: Solar System
A brown dwarf is an object that’s too massive to be a planet, but not massive enough to fuse hydrogen and be considered a star like our Sun. While searching for planets and looking at stellar companions (a smaller star “orbiting” a more massive star), astronomers have found a puzzling gap: about 5 AU away … More The Brown Dwarf Desert
Just like how you can find the distance of a star if you know its luminosity and apparent magnitude, you can also find the distance of a star from Earth if you know its apparent and absolute magnitudes ( and , respectively). As a refresher, the apparent magnitude of a star is its magnitude when … More Distance Modulus
One of the biggest factors in determining whether an exoplanet is habitable or not is its temperature. Liquid water is often considered a necessity for life, and if the planet is too hot or too cold, or has a really thin atmosphere (resulting in low atmospheric pressure), it can be virtually impossible for liquid water … More Planetary Equilibrium Temperature
somewhat overwhelmed 