Category Archives: Sun

Manhattanhenge

Posted on February 10, 2017 by Nick Belsten

Four-thousand years ago, early Europeans’ connected with the Cosmos every Summer Solstice by watching the midsummer sunrise directly over the Heel Stone in what we now call Stonehenge. These early people recognized that where the sun rises and sets on the horizon cycles North and South with the seasons. Today, thousands of people gather four times … Continue reading Manhattanhenge → Continue reading →

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Celestial Navigation 101: The Sextant

Posted on February 6, 2017 by connormorency

The purpose of the sextant is to measure the angle between an astronomical object and the horizon, and ultimately get … More Continue reading →

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Sun: Where do you see yourself in 5 billion years?

Posted on March 15, 2016 by samihahplanet

Currently, our nearest and dearest star is at the ripe middle age of about 4.5 billion years old. This means that the Sun is a “main sequence star,” so it converts the hydrogen in its core to helium. However, about 4 billion years from now, the Sun will being to transition to a red giant, […] Continue reading →

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Sun: Where do you see yourself in 5 billion years?

Posted on March 15, 2016 by samihahplanet

Currently, our nearest and dearest star is at the ripe middle age of about 4.5 billion years old. This means that the Sun is a “main sequence star,” so it converts the hydrogen in its core to helium. However, about 4 billion years from now, the Sun will being to transition to a red giant, […] Continue reading →

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When the Sun Shows Off

Posted on March 15, 2016 by evinske

  There’s a spectacular light show every year at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. The grand venue boasts thousands and thousands of lights each year around Christmas. Yet, you don’t have to find a $30 parking spot at a debatably overrated hotel to see a grand, sparkling event. In fact, there’s a place giving […] Continue reading →

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Here Comes the Sun, doo doo doo doo…

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Gabi Grys

  The Sun serves at the central focus of our Solar System, our source of heat and light. However, sometimes things tend to ~flare up~ on this Sun that can disrupt things here on Earth. Eruptions of hot gas on the Sun (or solar flares) can cause shock waves that produce radio waves that worm […] Continue reading →

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NASA’s Solar Probe Plus

Posted on March 15, 2016 by solarsystemjoe

By 2018, NASA will launch the Solar Probe Plus.  This probe will get within 9 solar radii of the surface of the Sun.  That distance is 7 times closer than any probe has ever been.  A portion of the probe will have to remain cool and the rest of it will have to be as […] Continue reading →

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The Sun is still really big and still really hot, in case you forgot

Posted on March 15, 2016 by philhawkins221

captain’s blog, Stardate 69641.9 Spring Break has just ended. And, while I try to reacclimate to school life, my mind naturally drifts back to the days of Spring Break, laying on a beach in Miami without a care in the world. I miss Spring Break. Something I thought about a lot during the week of vacation […] Continue reading →

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Positivity is Key

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Sofia

Nuclear fusion is the process by which the Sun survives. During fusion, the Sun converts its mass into energy that powers the Sun itself. Fusion is unique to the Sun’s core because in order to occur high densities and temperatures are needed. In the core, there are high densities of positively charges hydrogen nuclei. In … Continue reading “Positivity is Key” Continue reading →

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Earth’s Changing Magnetosphere

Posted on March 15, 2016 by solarsystemjoe

One of Earth’s most important features is its Magnetosphere.  This magnetic field that surrounds Earth deflects Solar wind that could slowly widdle away our atmosphere. Without an atmosphere, life would not have been able to develop on Earth.  In addition, if we were to suddenly lose our magnetosphere, then our power grids and other electronics […] Continue reading →

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