Category Archives: SolarSystem

The Pock-Marked Sun God

Posted on March 14, 2016 by Michaela Thomas

Sunspots are areas on the Sun that appear darker compared to their surroundings because they are cooler than the areas around them. This does not mean that the spots are actually cold, but relative to the 5800K temperature of the rest of the Sun, sunspots are much cooler at 4000K. Magnetic fields prevent the hotter …

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Coronal Mass Ejections and You

Posted on March 13, 2016 by astr2110geoffren

A coronal mass ejection (CME) is a massive outburst of Sun matter interweaved with magnetic field lines. This Sun matter basically consists of superheated particles accelerated at millions of miles per hour. This ejection isn’t self-contained, a lot of this stuff just goes shooting into space. This wouldn’t be so bad in of itself, except […] Continue reading →

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Nuclear Fusion in the Sun

Posted on March 13, 2016 by danielicopeland

At the core of the Sun, and every other Sun like star, a process called fusion takes place. Fusion describes a process where light elements, such as hydrogen, get fused together to form heavier elements, like helium. Fusion happens due to the intense pressure of gravity acting on the suns mass. A byproduct of this […] Continue reading →

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Jovian Moons…Alien Life?

Posted on March 11, 2016 by martisnv

One question that all humans are curious to find the answer to is: Are we alone in this universe? Based on pure numbers, it is highly probable that life exists elsewhere in the universe. Despite this high likelihood for extraterrestrial … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Terraforming Mars: Exploring The World Of Cosmic Cosmetics

Posted on March 10, 2016 by andyastronomer

If there is anything we have learned from observing the universe, it’s that Earth is incredibly unique. Of course, we could find out soon enough how utterly ordinary we are should we discover Earth-like planets bearing life beyond our Solar System, but until, we seem to be pretty special. Nasa’s Kepler Mission has discovered tens of […] Continue reading →

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Plate Tectonics on Mars?

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Chloe

Active tectonic activity, as opposed to past and currently extinct activity, was thought to be limited to Earth among the terrestrial worlds. Tectonic plates on Earth cause activity such as earthquakes and volcanoes as well as mountain-building as they move atop the asthenosphere and recycle geological materials. However, UCLA scientist An Yin discovered evidence of plate […] Continue reading →

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Olympus Mons

Posted on March 9, 2016 by alecsolarsystem

Mars is the home of the largest volcano in the Solar System: Olympus Mons. It stands 22km above the surface of Mars, and is it so wide it takes up an incredible 300,000 square kilometers of land. In comparison, Mt. Everest is only 8.8km tall, and Olympus Mons is approximately the size of Italy. As seen in […] Continue reading →

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Space: The Final Frontier…

Posted on March 8, 2016 by impossibleensign

These are the voyages of the space probe New Horizons . Its continuing mission: to explore strange dwarf planets, to seek out new objects and new data sets, to boldly go where no probe has gone before… Continue reading →

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Space: The Final Frontier…

Posted on March 8, 2016 by impossibleensign

These are the voyages of the space probe New Horizons . Its continuing mission: to explore strange dwarf planets, to seek out new objects and new data sets, to boldly go where no probe has gone before… Continue reading →

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Out of this World Symbols

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Gabi Grys

Astronomers, like all scientists, love their symbols. Why spend ages written out full text when shorthand will do? Not only  are the symbols for the planets convenient, they also have interesting stories behind them that tie into the planet’s history. Sun: The symbol for the sun is a circular shield with a dot in the […] Continue reading →

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