Tag Archives: astro2110

Pluto

Posted on November 17, 2024 by jasonljohnson465

Image from NASA Pluto was once the 9th planet of our Solar System. However, it has since been rebranded as a “dwarf planet.” Pluto is located in a distant region of the Solar System called the Kuiper Belt, found beyond the location of Neptune. Pluto was discovered in 1930 by an astronomer named Clyde Tombaugh […] Continue reading →

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Extrasolar(exo) Planets

Posted on November 17, 2024 by Henry Wang

Extrasolar planets, or as they are better known: exoplanets, refers to any planet that exists outside of our own solar system, which is quite a lot. Astronomers are naturally very interested in planets in other solar systems, learning about their properties, sizes, or age. This information helps us understand our own solar system but also […] Continue reading →

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Studying the Kuiper Belt

Posted on November 17, 2024 by Michael

The Kuiper Belt is a very important region of our solar system, and objects in the Kuiper Belt have been essential in helping scientists determine how the solar system formed. Most of these objects are small and icy, with some (relatively) large enough to be accepted as dwarf planets, such as Pluto. In this blog […] Continue reading →

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The ‘Grand Tack’ Hypothesis

Posted on November 17, 2024 by Alekzander Waller

The Grand Tack hypothesis theorizes that Jupiter formed much farther out from the sun than it currently is, migrated inwards quite a bit due to interactions with the early solar nebula, and then back out a little ways (imitating a tack, the maneuver where a sailboat changes direction). Of all of the fascinating facts and […] Continue reading →

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The Characteristics of Pluto

Posted on November 17, 2024 by Alekzander Waller

Discovered in 1930 by astronomer Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Conservatory in Arizona, Pluto has challenged the confines and definitions of how scientists classified objects within our solar system. Up until 2006 it was considered a planet but was then demoted to dwarf planet after scientific consensus that it does not clear its orbit of […] Continue reading →

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JWST’s Revolutionary Discoveries

Posted on November 15, 2024 by Leo Silva

Since its launch on December 25th, 2021 and arrival at its final “positioning” on July 11th, 2022 (Wikimedia, Timeline of James Webb Space Telescope), the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has made a myriad of revolutionary findings that challenge our previous understanding/theories of the Universe. Due to its intentional design aimed at helping us understand […] Continue reading →

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Blog 06 – Antennae Galaxies

Posted on November 15, 2024 by Mercedes

The image of the Antennae Galaxies released May 19, 2008 NASA article. Please refer to this photo when reading the following blog post- specific aspects of the image are mentioned. The Hubble Heritage Collection released a photo in 2008 that showed a shocking image of the Antennae Galaxies. While it may just look like a […] Continue reading →

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Some “Firsts” of Exoplanets

Posted on November 15, 2024 by Leo Silva

Before the discovery of any exoplanets (prior to 1992), scientists hypothesized that star systems will planets (planetary systems) similar to our own solar system might exist around other stars– even without having confirmed evidence of them in the same way we do today. In some ways, they expected that these other planetary systems would likely […] Continue reading →

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Binary Star Systems.

Posted on November 15, 2024 by Elias Ibrahim

A binary star system A binary star system is a pair of stars which orbit a common center of mass. In fact, they are quite common in the universe. Types of Binary Star Systems Visual Binaries: Such a binary system can be resolved as two separate stars using a telescope. Spectroscopic binaries: here, the components would be close enough to one another that it would not be possible to visually distinguish the two. […] Continue reading →

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Icy Giants: Uranus and Neptune

Posted on November 15, 2024 by Elias Ibrahim

Uranus and Neptune The Outermost Planets Past the gas giants Saturn and Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune are the ice giants. These distant planets provide insight of our solar system. Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has a peculiar axial tilt. While the other planets rotate on an axis that is close to perpendicular to their orbital plane, Uranus rotates on its side. Its orbit causes extreme seasons to take place as one pole would face the Sun continuously for decades, followed […] Continue reading →

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