Leslie Coleman's Columns
- Lagrangian Points
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Entry Date: Sep 1, 2004
Published Under: Leslie Coleman's Columns
Louis LaGrange in the later part of the 18th century was attempting to solve the famously difficult the Many Body Problem - predicting the orbits of multiple objects. We now know that this problem is insoluable except by approximation. LaGrange did dis... more
- Constellations and Asterisms
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Entry Date: Aug 1, 2004
Published Under: Leslie Coleman's Columns
When we look into the sky at night we tend to group stars seeing stick figures and outlines of various objects. Eighty seven of these groupings have been given more or less official sanction as constellations. Informal groupings are called asterisms. T... more
- Lighting the Park
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Entry Date: Jul 1, 2004
Published Under: Leslie Coleman's Columns
During a star party some fifteen years ago hosted by George Bliven from the Frosty Drew Nature Center and conducted by Dr. Bill Penhallow an astronomy professor at URI, the idea of creating an Observatory in Ninigret Park was born. While many factors s... more
- Why Are Most Stars White?
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Entry Date: Jun 1, 2004
Published Under: Leslie Coleman's Columns
People with good color vision acuity can see traces of color in a few of the brightest stars, but most stars appear white. In large telescopes additional stars suddenly take on colors which they lacked to the unaided eye. Pictures of large nebulae in astr... more