Category Archives: Moons

Tides

Posted on February 17, 2014 by karapetros

This video is a cool, informative, easy understand animation of how the gravitational pull between the Earth and the Moon affect tides. It clearly and concisely describes how tidal forces cause high tides twice per day even though the moon is only overhead once per day and why the gravity is weaker at a greater … Continue reading Tides → Continue reading →

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Tides

Posted on February 16, 2014 by katiew

Many people know that tides rise and fall as a result of the Moon, but often times people are unaware that the Sun also exerts a tidal force on the Earth. Tides are caused by gravitational force, which depends on the mass of the objects pulling on each other and the distance between them. The […] Continue reading →

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Lunar Eclipses Explained

Posted on January 27, 2014 by joshkip

After reading chapter 2 of our textbook, one of things that surprised me was the distinction between solar and lunar eclipses, and how – on an everyday basis – we seem to use the term “eclipse” only when it refers … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The Complex Chemistry of Titan

Posted on April 28, 2013 by jacob933

A recent experiment by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory simulating Titan’s atmosphere has shown that there is some exciting chemistry going on not only in it’s upper atmosphere, but in the lower atmosphere too! Before this, scientists had assumed that as you got closer to the surface, the air became “dull and inert.” However, this team […] Continue reading →

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The Galilean Moons

Posted on April 10, 2013 by rtjobe

The Galilean moons of Jupiter are in order of distance Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. They are the four largest and most prominent of the 67 moons orbiting Jupiter, these four moons are some of the largest moons in the solar system–Callisto and Ganymede are even larger than Mercury, while Io and Europa are smaller […] Continue reading →

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Oxygen on Europa?

Posted on April 9, 2013 by mirandaskunz

Europa, which is one of the four largest moons orbiting Jupiter, is currently one of the top candidates for potential life. Europa’s surface is made of ice, but beneath all this ice, is an ocean of water. This water is likely due to tidal heating caused by Jupiter and is evidenced by the magnetic field […] Continue reading →

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Chemical Activity on Titan

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Will K

  Scientists at NASA now believe that Saturn’s moon Titan is much more chemically active than we previously thought. According to Astronomy Magazine, the found that the “complex organic chemistry that could eventually lead to the building blocks of life extends lower in the atmosphere than previously thought.” This is activity in the lower atmosphere […] Continue reading →

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The Galilean Moons of Jupiter

Posted on April 9, 2013 by staunesm

With the constant discovery of more and more objects in space, it is difficult to keep track of the planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and exosolar planets that we already know and love.  Therefore I am using this blog as an … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Why is Europa so Awesome?

Posted on April 7, 2013 by fathomingthestars

A lot of the science community is excited about the possibility of life of Mars.  But, as we know, the vast majority of Mars’s atmosphere is composed of carbon dioxide and what water it does have is frozen in its polar ice caps.  An arguably much more exciting destination in our own Solar System is […] Continue reading →

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GRAIL Maps the Gravity of the Moon

Posted on March 20, 2013 by JT McJunkins

  Twin NASA probes orbiting the moon for the Gravity Recovery and Interior Labority (GRAIL) mission have created the most highly detailed gravity field map of any celestial body. Pictured above, this map reveals an abundance of features includ… Continue reading →

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