How Ice Ages Happen: The Milankovitch Cycles Its Just Astronomical! 2019-06-15 | I made a follow up to this video explaining more: youtube.com/watch?v=eB3DJtQZVswMany people are confused in thinking this has something to do with the global warming debate. This explains how the climate changes naturally over hundreds of thousands of years and is unrelated to any changes over the past century. Please see my follow up video.The Milankovitch Cycles are changes in the Earth's orbit and rotation that cause the Earth's climate to change over hundreds of thousands of years.For more information, I recommend Dan Britt's lecture on the history of climate:youtube.com/watch?v=Yze1YAz_LYM
How Stars Grow Old Its Just Astronomical! 2024-02-03 | Learn how stars change over time, about red giants, helium flashes, and more. For more information, I recommend the following books:Stellar Evolution and Nucleosynthesis by Ryan and NortonStellar Interiors by Hansen, Kawaler, and TrimbleStars and Stellar Evolution by De Boer and SeggewissStellar Structure and Evolution by Kippenhahn, Weigert, and Weiss
How Stars Work Its Just Astronomical! 2024-01-20 | Learn the basics of how stars work, the different kinds of stars, and why some stars are hotter and brighter than others. For more information, I recommend the following books:Stellar Evolution and Nucleosynthesis by Ryan and NortonStellar Interiors by Hansen, Kawaler, and TrimbleStars and Stellar Evolution by De Boer and SeggewissStellar Structure and Evolution by Kippenhahn, Weigert, and WeissImages from ESA/Herschel/NASA/JPL-CaltechNSO, NSF, AURA, Inouye Solar TelescopeAndrea Piacquadio
The Astronomy Event of 2024: The Total Eclipse Its Just Astronomical! 2024-01-02 | An exciting rare event is about to happen in America: a total solar eclipse. Learn all about eclipses and tips for watching them. There won't be another total solar eclipse in America for two decades.Images from:Great American Eclipse (greatamericaneclipse.com)ESOGriffith ObservatoryJeremy CampbellSergei MutovkinNikunj Patel
Creating Virtual Worlds: My Passion Project Its Just Astronomical! 2023-08-09 | Research Channel: youtube.com/@PaulMerrellResearchNew Paper Video: youtube.com/watch?v=FG3LbcOGHqwProject Page: paulmerrell.org/grammarI discuss a passion project of mine that I've worked on for many years. It was just published as a SIGGRAPH paper entitled "Example-Based Procedural Modeling Using Graph Grammars." It has many applications to people trying to design complex geometric structures.
Entropy and Time Its Just Astronomical! 2022-04-08 | Explains how going forward in time is different from going backwards in time.For more information, I recommend The Road to Reality, Chapter 27 by Roger Penrose.Created by Paul Merrell––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Music: 9th Symphony, Finale - Beethoven youtu.be/EnUQJZ5ZpNw––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Images by Frederick Sargent, Louis-Leopold Boilly, Messrs Dickinson, NASA,Taryn Elliott, Polina TankilevitchWeather Data: earth.nullschool.net
Its Just Astronomical Interview Its Just Astronomical! 2021-02-05 | My friend interviews me about my channel.The rest of the interview is here: youtube.com/watch?v=Atuhy0VhWmY
How Weather Works: Part 2 Its Just Astronomical! 2020-11-06 | Before watching this, I recommend watching Part 1: youtu.be/xXMU5KyM8YYSpecial thanks to Cameron Beccario, earth.nullschool.net and Meteorologist Daniel Schreiber.Videos and Images by Engin Akyurt, Ruvim Miksanskiy, Simon Matzinger, Taryn Elliott, Zlatin Georgiev, and Bithin Raj Beck, H.E., Zimmermann, N. E., McVicar, T. R., Vergopolan, N., Berg, A., & Wood, E. F. "Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution". Nature Scientific Data. DOI:10.1038/sdata.2018.214.Created by Paul Merrell
How Weather Works: Part I Its Just Astronomical! 2020-10-23 | Why do different parts of the world have such different climates?For Part 2 of this series go to: youtube.com/watch?v=ljb83QyXVG0For his data visualization tool, special thanks to Cameron Beccario, earth.nullschool.netCake Decoration by Nancy Farnes, sliceofelegance.comVideos and Images by Kelly Lacy, Yaroslav Shuraev, Martin Portas, Matthias Groeneveld, Denis Linine, Kristjan Nacaj, Engin Akyurt, Oscar Due Wang, and David DionBucket Thrower / Water Boy: Jonathan TimothyCreated by Paul Merrell
The Coriolis Force Its Just Astronomical! 2020-09-10 | The mysterious force changing wind patterns across the globe that is caused simply by the earth rotating. For more information I recommend:Anders Persson, Back to basics: Coriolis: Part 1 — What is the Coriolis force?, Weather, 55, (2012).Anders Persson, Back to basics: Coriolis: Part 2 — The Coriolis force according to Coriolis, Weather, 55, 6, (182-188), (2012).Anders Persson, Back to basics: Coriolis: Part 3 — The Coriolis force on the physical earth, Weather, 55, 7, (234-239), (2012).http://rus.ums.rshu.ru/file1626Special thanks to Jeremy Dittmer and Douglas Merrell for their help with this video.
Gods, Planets, and Weekdays Its Just Astronomical! 2020-06-05 | The surprising astronomical significance of the days of the week.
Is Pluto a Planet? Its Just Astronomical! 2020-01-24 | Where the controversy surrounding Pluto came from. And I give historical background on how we discovered all of the planets.Images fromEthan Kruse (ethankruse.com)NASADiego JimenezLemuel Francis AbbottEmanuel LeutzeAllan RamsayCostanzo AngeliniAnton Raphael MengsHubert von Herkomer
The Milankovitch Cycle Timeline: Where are we now? Its Just Astronomical! 2019-10-13 | This is a follow up to my previous video about the Milankovitch cycles: youtube.com/watch?v=iA788usYNWA. It explains where we are within the cycles now and how this relates to greenhouse gases. For more information, I recommend:Ruddiman, Fuller, Kutzbach, Tzedakis, Kaplan, Ellis, Vavrus, Roberts, Fyfe, He, Lemmen, Woodbridge. (2015). Late Holocene Climate: Natural or Anthropogenic?. Reviews of Geophysics. 54.
The Moon is Drifting Away: Tidal Locking Its Just Astronomical! 2019-09-13 | How tides causing the moon to drift away and the earth's rotation to slow down.
Rings vs Moons: The Roche Limit Its Just Astronomical! 2019-07-19 | How tidal forces prevent rings from forming into moons.
How the Sun Shines: The Nuclear Reactions that Power the Sun Its Just Astronomical! 2019-05-04 | Explains the source of the Sun's power, the nuclear reactions that give energy and life to our planet.Images from NASA, Jamen Long, Tino Schulz, EFDA-JET, Kelvin Macommons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wendelstein7-X_Torushall-2011.jpgen.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_JET_magnetic_fusion_experiment_in_1991.jpgcommons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sun_poster.svg
The Lagrange Points: The Parking Spaces of Space Its Just Astronomical! 2018-12-15 | The Lagrange Points are places where the forces acting on an object are perfectly balanced so that its orbit does not change. The James Webb Space Telescope will be parked near the Earth's L2 point. There are thousands of asteroids near Jupiter's Lagrange points which are called the trojans.This video has made use of data provided by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center.
The James Webb Space Telescope Its Just Astronomical! 2018-10-27 | A look at the revolutionary space telescope that NASA is building.
Blue Sunsets on Mars Its Just Astronomical! 2018-03-31 | Learn about the strange scattering effects that gives us blue skies and red sunsets, but gives Mars red skies and blue sunsets.For more information see "Blue moons and Martian sunsets" by Ehlers, Chakrabarty, and Moosmüller.
Space is not Far: Myths about Space Travel Its Just Astronomical! 2017-09-23 | I made this video to clear up some common misunderstandings about space travel.Inspired by an xkcd comic: what-if.xkcd.com/58
The Precession Correction: Why the Earths Axis Moves Its Just Astronomical! 2017-04-27 | The counter-intuitive reason the earth's axis moves the way it does. This video corrects an error in my last video. Special thanks to Jeremy Dittmer for pointing out my mistake.
The Earth Is Wobbling: The Precession of the Equinoxes Its Just Astronomical! 2017-04-07 | UPDATE: I made a mistake in this video. I made another video to correct my mistake: youtu.be/-QT1rsr9U44The Earth's axis is slowly moving. This disrupts our calendar, replaces our North star, and will one day cause astrological signs not to line up with the seasons. And it's all because the earth is not a perfect sphere.
How to Measure the Galaxy Its Just Astronomical! 2017-02-03 | How Henrietta Leavitt and Edwin Hubble discovered that galaxies existed outside the Milky Way.
How to Measure the Stars Its Just Astronomical! 2016-10-07 | How astronomers measure the distance to the stars using parallax.
Why Copernicus was Unconvincing Its Just Astronomical! 2016-08-29 | 16th century scientists had many problems accepting the Copernican theory that the Earth orbits the Sun. These problems would puzzle scientists for centuries. For more information, I highly recommend:The Case against Copernicus by Dennis Danielson and Christopher GraneyComing of Age in the Milky Way by Timothy FerrisHow Did Kepler Discover His First Two Laws by Curtis Wilson
How to Measure the Sun with Ancient Technology Its Just Astronomical! 2016-06-27 | How the Ancient Greeks measured the size and distance of the Sun and Moon. This is based on Terence Tao's lecture on the Cosmic Distance Ladder.
Using Stars to Navigate Its Just Astronomical! 2016-06-09 | How to navigate using the stars. For more information, I highly recommend Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time.
How to Measure the Earth with Ancient Technology Its Just Astronomical! 2016-04-17 | Learn how the Ancient Greeks figured out the shape and size of the Earth without any modern technology.
