Monthly Archives: March 2015

An Ocean on a Moon?

One of the largest satellites in the solar system is Jupiter’s moon Ganymede. Though Ganymede is classified as a moon …

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Beta Pictoris

Source: stgist.com The formation of our solar system is still an event that deserves further study, and other areas and stars in the Milky Way offer a glimpse into the processes that hold the answers. Beta Pictoris, a young star that is 63 million light years away from us, may be such a star. Beta Pictoris […] Continue reading

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Where did we come from?

Formation of the Solar System In only the recent history of astronomy, we’ve began to understand that our solar system is in fact no different than other star systems in the universe.  We now understand that stars in fact all form from a collapsing cloud called a nebula, which is composed mostly of hydrogen and… Continue reading

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“Y” in the Atmosphere of Venus

Source: dailymail.co.uk For decades, scientists have been discussing the origins of a Y shaped feature in Venus’ atmosphere. The strange feature is shown above in a picture from the Pioneer Venus Orbiter in 1979. A recent theory is that the Y shape is formed by differences in the wind speed in the atmosphere. The theory states […] Continue reading

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Salt Water Oceans Thought to be on Ganymede

Astronomers have recently determined that Jupiter’s largest moon Ganymede likely has an ocean of salt water underneath its icy, inhospitable crust. Ganymede is the only moon in our solar system that has a functioning magnetic field; because of this it is also the only one to have auroras. Scientists in Cologne studied these auroras over a […] Continue reading

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Jupiter’s Watery Moon

Recent evidence has shown that Jupiter’s largest moon (and the largest moon in our solar system), Ganymede, has a massive ocean lying underneath a thick layer of ice. In fact, it’s believed to have more water than all of Earth! Ganymede, which is just slightly larger than the planet Mercury, has long been suspected of […] Continue reading

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NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft Orbits Ceres

That’s no moon! Just this past week, the Dawn spacecraft entered orbit around Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt. The dward planet is one of the oldest planetary object left in our solar system, and as such could provide valuable information about the early formation of the planets; it is an in-between step, a […] Continue reading

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Moonquakes

Although the moon’s tectonic plates are no longer active, the moon does experience “moonquakes” not due to tectonic plates. There are four types of “moonquakes”, which can generally be explained by non-tectonic factors: tidal forces, meteoric impacts, and “the expansion of the frigid crust when first illuminated by the morning sun after two weeks of … Continue reading Moonquakes Continue reading

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Moonquakes

Although the moon’s tectonic plates are no longer active, the moon does experience “moonquakes” not due to tectonic plates. There are four types of “moonquakes”, which can generally be explained by non-tectonic factors: tidal forces, meteoric impacts, and “the expansion of the frigid crust when first illuminated by the morning sun after two weeks of … Continue reading Moonquakes Continue reading

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Our Place in the Universe

When Carl Sagan requested that NASA redirect its Voyager 1 camera towards Earth from the edge of the Solar System, he knew that it would be of little scientific value. The image taken, “Pale Blue Dot” proved to be one of the most iconic and powerful space photographs ever taken. The sheer magnitude of space […] Continue reading

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