the universe is a cramped place.

"We have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night".

- Tombstone epitaph of two amateur astronomers.

Hello. I'm very much into astronomy. It's more so my passion. Meet GJ 1214b. This picture is an artist's rendition of what the planet might look like contrast to its parent star, GJ 1214. This planet was discovered earlier last month. It is approximately 40 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Ophiuchus and believed to be a super-earth and to be made up of 70% water. While there really is no direct evidence for the presence of water, the data-fitting mass and radius values are consistent with the planet being an ocean planet, composed primarily of water (~75% of total mass), surrounding a rocky core (~25%), possibly covered by a hydrogen and helium atmosphere (~0.05%).This is a fantastic find because where there is water, there has to be some sort of life, primordial, primitive, or intelligent. When I found this information out, I began to cry. Tears of joy. Its just, the possibility of finding life other than our own is ground breaking! But really, GJ 1214b could just be a rocky planet with an outgassed hydrogen-rich atmosphere. We really will never know until the data fits.

Do you ever wonder what is out there when you're looking up at the stars? I do, almost everyday. I really don't know when I got into astronomy, probably when I was around 16. I do know, for a fact, that I got really into astronomy when I was 19. That was around the same time I was talking to one of my closest friends. He is very much into astronomy as well, basically the only person I can call when I get excited about seeing 'Orion's Belt' in the night sky. Speaking of which, I havent really talked to him in such a long time. I love going to the park with a bunch of people and lying on the grass. We look up at the stars and try to name them all. I could only get a few, but it's always fun. The last time I did that was around the time of my final exam in eleventh grade. Those were some good times.

Now, to get back on topic. My favorite constellation in the whole entire (night) sky, has to be the Orion Constellation. Ever since I could remember, every time I look up at night, the first constellation I try to look for is Orion. It is one of the largest, most conspicuous, and most recognizable constellations in the night sky. Especially the The Belt of Orion. I try to look for that first. Orion's Belt has three of the brightest stars in our sky. ζ Ori (Alnitak), ε Ori (Alnilam), and δ Ori (Mintaka). Alnitak is approximately 800 light years away from earth and is 100,000 more luminous than our very own Sun. The second star, Alnilam, is approximately 1340 light years away from earth and is 375,000 times more luminous than the Sun. Mintaka, the third and final star, is 915 light years away and is 90,000 times more luminous than the Sun. It has always been said that, looking for Orion's belt in the night sky is the easiest way to locate the constellation Orion.

One of my other favorite things about our solar system is Jupiter's Galilean Moons. The Galilean moons are the four moons of Jupiter discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610. They are the largest of the many moons of Jupiter. The four moons derive their names from the lovers of Zeus: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. I have my very own telescope, so whenever there is a clear night, I go to my roof and try to locate the four moons. I'm just an armature, but I already spotted Jupiter. At the current moment, I'm trying to find Io. That little bugger is hard to find. It would help though if I had a star map.

Nothing more to talk about now.