Category Archives: SolarSystem

Volcanic Io

Posted on April 9, 2016 by lindseynestor

Volcanoes are one of the coolest geographical features of Earth (in my opinion), but volcanoes outside of our world are even cooler. Jupiter’s moon Io is the most volcanically active world in our solar system – in other words, it is FULL of volcanic awesome-ness. Io’s volcanic activity produces HUGE volcanic plumes. To give some […] Continue reading →

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Where did all the dinosaurs go?

Posted on April 7, 2016 by sarabkeller

I think one of the more fascinating topics in Earth’s past is the mystery of the dinosaurs. They were here 65 million years ago (for a shockingly long time—if you remember, they were here for almost a week in the “calendar” of the universe!) and then suddenly disappeared. So, what happened to them? It is […] Continue reading →

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Charon: The Major Key to Pluto

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Sofia

Up until very recently, Pluto was considered the ninth planet of our solar system. That all changed when the definition of a planet was revised, and Pluto just became another Kuiper belt object albeit the most famous one. We know significantly more about Pluto than any other Kuiper belt object simply because it was discovered … Continue reading “Charon: The Major Key to Pluto” Continue reading →

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Io

Posted on April 7, 2016 by lawlorsolarsystem

Io is Jupiter’s third largest moon. What is notable about Io is that it is the most geologically active body in the entire Solar System. It is extremely volcanic, and is the only body other than Earth that we  have observed with active volcanism. The volcanic activity occurs because Io is greatly affected by tides […] Continue reading →

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The Dwarf Planet Sedna

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Chloe

According to Inuit mythology, Sedna was the name of a mortal woman who became a goddess of the ocean and the underworld. One version of the myth holds that Sedna was a young woman who consented to marry a hunter, only to find, once she had left home with him, that he was in fact […] Continue reading →

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The Possibility of Life on Enceladus

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Michaela Thomas

One question that still excites both amateur and professional astronomers is the possibility of life on other worlds. Certain important elements, however, must be present in order for organic life to exist. Enceladus, one of Saturn’s icy moons, has an underground ocean that may be a source of life, either sometime in the ancient past […] Continue reading →

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The Possibility of Life on Enceladus

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Michaela Thomas

One question that still excites both amateur and professional astronomers is the possibility of life on other worlds. Certain important elements, however, must be present in order for organic life to exist. Enceladus, one of Saturn’s icy moons, has an underground ocean that may be a source of life, either sometime in the ancient past …

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The Solar Shepherds

Posted on April 4, 2016 by evinske

Rings. It’s what many senior girls are looking for right now, just as graduation approaches. Spring brings the rings, right? The giant planets, however, sport perhaps the most breathtaking rings of all. What many won’t notice about rings of giant planets, such as Saturn, are its imperfections. The darker regions of the rings do not […] Continue reading →

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Jupiter’s Less Popular Moons

Posted on March 28, 2016 by hallesolar

Io, Europa, Ganymede and Castillo get a lot of love, but the 63 other members of Jupiter’s posse are often overlooked. This NASA webpage provides in-depth information about each of Jupiter’s 67 moons. 50 of them are official moons and have names to reflect that status. However, the other 17 are mere “Provisional Moons,” which […] Continue reading →

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The moon of Europa, or your practical guide to ice skating in space

Posted on March 15, 2016 by d51blog

Do you love astronomy? Do you also love ice skating? (I’m looking at you, Dr. G..) What if I told you that you could have the best of both worlds? You can(!), albeit approximately 4.2 AU away from Earth. Enter Europa, Jupiter’s icy sixth (both largest and closest) moon. Europa is an extremely young moon despite being […] Continue reading →

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