Monthly Archives: April 2014

A TITANIC COLLISION…but not really

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Asad Pabani

Collision: col·li·sion (kəˈliZHən) – noun: an instance of one moving object or person striking violently against another. Now imagine the outcome of a collision between Andromeda and the Milky Way which, according to the dictionary definition, should be a violent impact between two massive galaxies with millions of stars hurtling towards each other 2000 times faster than a […] Continue reading →

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Schwarzschild Radii and You

Posted on April 9, 2014 by zkorman

So what is a Schwarzschild radius? And is it a concept that is dangerous for us? First of all, the second question is silly: nearly every concept in astronomy and/or physics has implications or applications that are dangerous to us. So we’ll ignore that one. Second of all, the Schwarzschild radius is a property of a given … Continue reading Schwarzschild Radii and You → Continue reading →

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The Curious Case of the Two-Tailed Comet

Posted on April 9, 2014 by zkorman

We’ve all pictured it in our heads: a comet, whizzing through the solar system, leaving behind a long, bright, stunning tail showing where it’s been and implying its prograde (forward) velocity direction. I used to think this was the case too. and then I learned later in life that a comet’s tail is only visible … Continue reading The Curious Case of the Two-Tailed Comet → Continue reading →

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The definition of “planet”

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Drew Hamilton

Ever since the IAU gathered in Prague in 2006 and published a new scientific definition of “planet”, there has been debate on how well they did, and whether they were right to “demote” Pluto from planet to the new “dwarf planet” classification. I aim here to critique the IAU’s definition of a planet. First, here… Continue reading →

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The Largest body not to get the planetary nod

Posted on April 8, 2014 by haydenwalling

Ganymede is the largest body in the solar system not to receive the distinction of being a planet ranking at number 9 in size for the solar system. Larger than even mercury, Ganymede is approximately 41.3% the radius of Earth yet strangely is comprised out of only 2.5% its mass. The ultra light moon lacks […] Continue reading →

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Almost Hit by a Meteorite

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Chad F

In the video above, a skydiver was almost hit by a meteorite falling through Earth’s atmosphere.  There is only one person in recorded history, Ann Hodges from Alabama in 1954, to ever be hit by a meteorite and that was off of a bounce.  With all of the people that have lived throughout human history, you have a better chance of […] Continue reading →

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Mining in Space

Posted on April 8, 2014 by colepospisil

Whenever one thinks about mining in space, the image that is likely to come to mind is of drilling an asteroid made of solid gold. However, this is unlikely to be how this process will ever occur. That is partially because the value of the resources that one would receive from them would overcome the […] Continue reading →

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Is Pluto a planet?

Posted on April 8, 2014 by colepospisil

Recently, Pluto was demoted to being called a “dwarf planet”. This has caused an uproar among many people who suddenly discovered that their favorite planet was Pluto. The idea that we change how we refer to a desolate rock is apparently unbelievable to a large portion of the population. The question of whether Pluto is a […] Continue reading →

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Ceres, the Inner Solar System Dwarf Planet

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Chad F

Ceres was discovered in 1801 and is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.  It was originally classified as a planet, but has since been demoted to a dwarf planet.  It is thought to have an icy mantle and a rocky core with the possibility of a subsurface ocean and thin atmosphere. […] Continue reading →

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Saturn’s Rings

Posted on April 8, 2014 by katiew

In the outer solar system, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune all have rings, but Saturn’s are by far the largest and most spectacular. Galileo was the first to discover them in 1610, but for years they remained a mystery and much is still unknown about them. In the 1980s, the Voyager missions got a closer […] Continue reading →

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