Planet Nine?? (No, It’s NOT Pluto This Time)

Posted on March 15, 2020 by abriannarhodes00

This image is an artist depiction of what “Planet Nine” could possible look like. This image was uploaded from https://astronomy.com/magazine/2018/10/how-we-discovered-planet-nine.

Many get excited by the search for planets, as astronomy magazines name off new exoplanets every other month. But what many may not know is that scientist have brough their search for planets back home to our own solar system, searching for what may truly be our special “Planet Nine” (Sorry, Pluto still doesn’t make the cut).

As of 2 days ago, 139 planets, or what have been labeled as “minor planets,” have been found beyond the orbit of Neptune and even far beyond the orbits of Pluto (ranging 30 to 90 AU from the Sun). As of now, these TNOs simply remain unpublished as astronomical objects that orbit the sun, but as Scientist continue to survey them, they seem to get closer and closer to finding one that can truly be labeled as a planet. Using the Dark Energy Camera in a Chilean observatory, Scientist have been able to follow and catalogue the path of multitudes of TNOs to find out if they are the “real deal.”

Scientist have hypothesized that they must come across a ninth planet sooner or later due to certain astronomical phenomena that are explained by little else. One source of evidence for this planet are 6 objects in the Kuiper Belt with elliptical orbits tilted with respect to the solar plane. Furthermore, the 6-degree tilt of our actual planets to the solar planet could be described by a sixth planet. Finally, there are some objects in the Kuiper belt that orbit in the opposite direction as most others. All of these facts, scientist believe, point to the existence of another, possibly giant, planet in the great outer depths of our solar system.

https://www.foxnews.com/science/planet-9-discovery-gets-closer-as-astronomers-discover-139-minor-planets-past-neptune

https://astronomy.com/magazine/2018/10/how-we-discovered-planet-nine

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Why NASA?

Posted on March 15, 2020 by avighitterman
Many studies take place on the International Space Station that improve lives on Earth

With a growing distrust in both science and the government (something I discussed in one of my earlier blog posts about the Flat Earth Movement), NASA is one government agency that comes under a lot of fire these days. With many in politics hoping to slash the NASA budget or cut the agency entirely, it is crucial for everyone to talk about why NASA is so important. NASA’s impacts can be divided into two main categories. The first are the concrete impacts. These are the projects that directly help our world. While many see NASA only for landing men on the moon, exploring mars, or sending spaceships deep into space, much of what they do are projects that benefit our society directly in some way. You can check out some of their current projects here. The second impact is the far more abstract idea of exploration. In the 60’s we put men on the moon, and this century we have reached other planets. We swim deep into the ocean and travel to places we have never been before. NASA is at the forefront of human exploration to a much larger degree. Its important for many reasons, both abstract and concrete, to continue funding and believing in the work that NASA does.

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The Earth’s Leaking Core

Posted on March 15, 2020 by caseycao

The Earth’s structure reminds us of an egg, where the Earth’s core is like the egg yolk and the Earth’s mantle is like the egg white. A few months earlier, scientists surprisingly found that the Earth’s core has been constantly leaking into the Earth’s mantle. This has been suggested by the increasing amount of Tungsten-184, an isotope uniquely owned by the Earth’s core, in the Earth’s mantle.

This discovery could shed light on the evolution of the core, which consists of hot liquids which are constantly solidifying, and the mantle-core interactions. The fact that the Earth’s core is leaking shows that the rocks from the Earth’s surface must also be descending into the mantle, which bring a lot of oxygen to the core and extracts a lot of substances from it. Tungsten-184 is one of these elements that is separated out of the Earth’s core by the oxygen.

What remains unknown is how such leaks will affect the Earth’s magnetic field, which is caused by the Earth’s spinning inner core. However, I believe this will be uncovered soon and this discovery will bring us a lot of insights about the dynamics of the Earth!

A glimpse of the interactions between the mantle and the core

References:

1.A New Study Just Revealed That Earth’s Core Is Actually Leaking

2.Earth’s Core Has Been Leaking for 2.5 Billion Years and Geologists Don’t Know Why

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Nuclear Fusion

Posted on March 15, 2020 by coreyxcas

Nuclear fusion is when two atoms combine into another atom. This is the opposite of nuclear fission, which is when an atom is split into smaller atoms. Nuclear fission is how we generate nuclear energy on earth, and is highly efficient. Nuclear fusion, however, would be even more efficient. Instead of using uranium for fission, we can use water, our most abundant source, to create energy using nuclear fusion.

Nuclear fusion is done all the time on the sun. There exists a balance between the radiation pushing out of the sun with the gravity pushing into the sun, which serves as the perfect equilibrium in achieving a bond for nuclear fusion. This equilibrium, is what humans are having much difficulty replicating.

Nuclear fusion is still a ways away from becoming reality, however scientists realize that we are quickly running out of both clean air and fossil fuels, and that nuclear fusion could solve both of these issues. Common methods for creating nuclear fusion include heating plasma to around 150 million degrees celsius, scientists are trying to contain this plasma within a magnetic cage since no earthy elements can withstand heat to this degree.

Hopefully there will be nuclear fusion on earth soon as it is projected to end all pollution on earth, and has many more possibilities like ending world hunger and disease since we would have an infinite energy source.

a video, where I found this information, is here 

 

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The Voyage of Voyager 2

Posted on March 15, 2020 by abriannarhodes00

This is an image of the locations of the twin space probes, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, in their locations on their respective missions. This image was uploaded from https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php ?feature=730

In August of 1997, astronomers as NASA launched a journey to reach further into the depths of our solar system. Voyager 2, followed closely its sister probe, Voyager 1, was one of the first attempts to study our solar system’s outer planets and possibly to see what exactly lies beyond the Sun’s reach. So, what exactly has Voyager 2 shown us here on Earth since it was launched 42 years, 6 months, 24 days, 12 hours and 8 minutes ago?

Equipped with 11 scientific instruments whose only use is astronomical observations, this spacecraft remains the sole of its kind to explore all four of the giant outer planets at close range. However, its feats go well beyond this. Voyager 2 discovered Saturn’s 14th moon, 10 new Uranus moons and 5 new moons orbiting Neptune as well. Voyager 2 also discovered 2 rings around Uranus and 4 new rings around Neptune, while also bringing to light a “Great Dark Spot” on Neptune. Voyager 2 also marked the first human object fly-by of Uranus and Neptune ever achieved.

Although Voyager 2 has completed the mission it was originally created for, scientist still hope that it will remain useful for the next few years to come. Without the trajectory correction maneuver thrusters being fired up, Voyager 2 will use these to continue on its path, hopefully passing only 1.7 light-years from the star Ross 248, and, if undisturbed, passing 4.3 light years from Sirus in 296,000 years.

“In Depth.” NASA, NASA, solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/voyager-2/in-depth/.

“Voyager 2.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Mar. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_2.

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The Sun: A New View

Posted on March 15, 2020 by abbigailhughes
The Surface of the Sun looks similar to caramel corn!

Recently, a new telescope has allowed solar scientists to see the surface of the Sun in more detail than ever before. Although each of these golden kernels look small in size, each one can be estimated to be about the size of Texas to make up our Sun. These kernels compose the magnetic field of the star. The telescope is located in Hawaii on the island of Maui, this being one of three instruments that will be a part of the facility to study the Sun in more detail. The solar astronomers working on the project use the technique spectroscopy — this is looking at the different wavelengths of light coming from, in this case, the Sun. While the Earth has a stable magnetic field, the Sun rather has a dynamic magnetic field, which makes it really interesting to study. The new instruments pose the possibility that we can study space weather more as well.

What do you think of the Sun’s surface? What more do you think we can discover from the Sun?

Source

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Exotic Energy Concepts

Posted on March 15, 2020 by Dan Pitagora

With the pressing concerns regarding climate change, alternative sources of energy have been a prevalent topic of discussion. These sources range from feasible ideas such as nuclear power to ideas a bit more far fetched, such as harnessing energy from waves. While the alternative energy sources in question are all relatively feasible, there are some concepts that seem like the works of sci fi novelists. The application of these concepts is nearly impossible, but the methods and their ways of harnessing energy are quite interesting.

One such concept is known as the Dyson Sphere. Theorized by physicist Freeman Dyson, these spherical megastructures would encapsulate a civilization’s host star and ideally harness all of the solar radiation produced by said star. According to Dyson, these spheres would only be necessary for an intelligent civilization far larger and with far larger energy demands than we do. This civilization would need to be capable of travel about the solar system, as once the Dyson Sphere is constructed, the civilization would reside there. One method Dyson proposed that could be applied to create this sphere would be to deconstruct a planet in their solar system- ideally a large one such as Jupiter- and redistribute the mass into a spherical shell. Instruments capable of harnessing the Sun’s energy would be built on the inner face of the sphere, and the civilization would need to have a method of radiating the additional energy so that the Dyson Sphere does not melt.

Artist Rendition of a Dyson Sphere

Another concept would be to somehow get a mini black hole to orbit a civilization’s planet. The late Stephen Hawking claimed that a mountain-sized black hole could suffice all of Earth’s energy demands and then some; this energy is produced by harnessing Hawking radiation. Along the event horizon, particle pairs pop into existence. The pair is composed of a particle and antiparticle, which will annihilate each other right after they are created. Sometimes, one of these particles gets absorbed by the black hole and the other is released as radiation (This is also how black holes shrink and die off over time). Hawking stated that a black hole of that size would produce high-energy electromagnetic radiation at a rate of about 10 million megawatts.

Hawking Radiation

While these concepts are almost entirely implausible, it is fascinating nonetheless to think about whether or not there are other civilizations in our universe advanced enough to employ methods as intricate as these.

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A New Moon

Posted on March 15, 2020 by swarnasakshi

In mid February 2020, astronomers in Arizona noticed a small object making its way across the sky. This viewing was corroborated by others and designated to be 2020 CD3. It has been determined that the object is not linked to any known artificial objects. The object is most likely an asteroid that has been trapped by Earth’s gravity. According to calculations, it has been bound for about three years and is on its way out of the Earth-Moon system. This object, approximately the size of a car, is much smaller than the Moon, thus it is termed a mini-moon. Earth has a history of “stealing” passing asteroids and keeping them for a bit before they escape back to the universe. The “stealing” most likely occurs due to the strength of Earth gravitation force combined with the much smaller mass of an asteroid that come too close. Whereas, the “escape” occurs due to the unstable nature of the mini-moon’s orbit with the Earth-Moon system. The first and previous mini-moon, 2006 RH120, was around from September 2006 to June 2007. Do you think it would be possible for Earth to acquire a second moon? What would two (or more) moons mean for the Earth?

Source: Twitter: Kacper Wierzchos

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Flying To Another Country is So Overrated – Let’s Go To Space!

Posted on March 15, 2020 by andyyangdk
Virgin Galactic’s Spaceship

We hear about space travel and imagine the possibility in the distant future. We would be able to ride a spaceship and experience zero gravity. But guess what? Space travel will come to fruition in our life times! Virgin Galactic Holdings Incorporated is the first public commercial space that is offering sub-orbital flights to individuals who can afford their hefty price tag of $250,000 per ticket. Although it is super expensive right now, as economies of scale occurs, the price tag is expected to drop, allowing for much more accessibility to their services! Sub-orbital flight isn’t exactly space travel, but it is a huge step forward in the space travel industry. Individuals will experience a 90 minute ride with several minutes of zero gravity. The mothership will carry the spaceship to around 50,000 feet in the air, where the spaceship will detach and fly, allowing passengers to experience close to zero gravity. It is very likely that we will get to experience space travel in our lifetimes and I can’t wait to experience zero gravity!

Virgin Galactic’s mothership
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Possible Effects of Solar Flares

Posted on March 15, 2020 by Reece Boggs

If a large solar flare were to directly hit the Earth, it would significantly affect all of the electronics on Earth. Us being so dependent on electronics, this would be crippling to essentially all forms of communications, payment and many other important functions of life. Most cars would shut down due to many new cars having electronic transmissions. The giant solar storm hitting Earth would be one massive electromagnetic pulse, first hitting all satellites which would knock out communications, and then moving on to all the electronics on the surface of the Earth. Luckily, we have preventative systems in place to warn us several days in advance if something like this were to happen. NASA has a satellite designated to report any activity that would hint at the possibility of a solar flare hitting us directly, so we would have several days to prepare. Things we would do to limit the effects of these solar flares would be things like shutting down satellites and shutting down transformers. If we were to not predict an event like this several days in advance, after hitting the first satellite we would have about thirty minutes before the solar storm reached the Earth. For a more detailed and visual description of the possible effects of a solar storm hitting the Earth, reference this video.

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