Daily Archives: November 18, 2024

Extrasolar Planets and How to Find Them

Extrasolar planets are planets that are found outside the Solar System. Stars are relatively easier to find than extrasolar planets as they are generally bigger and luminous (give off light). But planets, neither generate much light nor are they as big as stars so how do scientists find them? Well there are four main ways […] Continue reading

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Are There Planets Outside of Our Solar System?

The answer to this question is a resounding yes. Before the Copernican Revolution, back when many cultures still believed the Earth to be the center of the universe, the fact that these exoplanets exist would have been largely unthinkable. But today, well over 5,000 exoplanets have been discovered. When these distant bodies have eluded us […] Continue reading

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All About Comets

In popular media, comets are often depicted as huge balls of fire streaking across the sky. See Sozin’s Comet from Avatar the Last Airbender as an example: It may then be surprising to learn that asteroids are small, ice-rich bodies that are completely frozen for the majority of their life cycles. Comets tend to have […] Continue reading

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What Exactly is Pluto?

Did you know, Pluto isn’t considered to be a planet? Well you might’ve known that because of widespread media covering this information, but you may not know the reason why. There’s three qualifications of being officially considered a planet: it needs to orbit the sun; it needs to be big enough to be a spherical […] Continue reading

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