Ian's Website

Questions I've had

What is a Gluon?

Gloun,the socalled messenger particle of the strong nuclear force, which binds subatomic particles known as quarks within the protons and neutrons of stable matter as well as within heavier, short-lived particles created at high energies. Quarks interact by emitting and absorbing gluons, just as electrically charged particles interact through the emission and absorption of photons.

What is a photon?

A particle representing a quantum of light or other electromagnetic radiation. A photon carries energy proportional to the radiation frequency but has zero rest mass.

What is a quark?

Any of a number of subatomic particles carrying a fractional electric charge, postulated as building blocks of the hadrons. Quarks have not been directly observed, but theoretical predictions based on their existence have been confirmed experimentally.

What is absolute zero?

At the physically impossible-to-reach temperature of zero kelvin, or minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 273.15 degrees Celsius), atoms would stop moving. As such, nothing can be colder than absolute zero on the Kelvin scale

What does interstellar mean?

"Ocurring or situated between stars"

What is a light cone?

In special and general relativity, a light cone is the path that a flash of light, emanating from a single event (localized to a single point in space and a single moment in time) and traveling in all directions, would take through spacetime.

What are binary stars?

Stars that actually orbit eachother.

What are spectroscopic binary stars?

Binary stars that go into a red/blue shift when they are in orbit of eachother. Where the star cooming closer to Earth goes under a blueshift and the star increasing in distance undergoes a redshift.

What are contact binaries?

Two stars that are literally touching eachother!

What is the Oort cloud?

The Oort Cloud is an extended shell of icy objects that exist in the outermost reaches of the solar system

galaxy

Helpful links

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For small things

Personal Section

Books: Right now I am reading "Catch-22"

So far this year I have read "A brief history of time","Mensa-genius test", "How to win friends and influence people","Of Mice and Men,"The Great Gatsby", "To Kill a Mockingbird", "1984", "Lord of the Flies", "Taking People With You", "Animal Farm", "Good to Great", "And Then There Were None", "Who Moved My Cheese?"

Bookclub!

"Farenheit 451"

I went to a quince¸«Šeara with Niko and Antonio over the weekend. It was for the daughter of their long time family friend

quince