Monthly Archives: March 2016

These Are Not the Droids We’re Looking For

Posted on March 15, 2016 by evinske

Knowledge is power. We want more and more of it. It’s no surprise, then, that we see the Solar System as a well full of knowledge we’ve never encountered before. So, we send spacecrafts out into the Solar System, looking for information. We want pictures, data, surprises, and (now) sound. We’re obsessed. But we too often […] Continue reading →

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What the Heck is a Pulsar?!

Posted on March 15, 2016 by 2016spaceodyssey

Have you ever heard of something called a pulsar?  If not then you are missing out because they are one of the strangest and most fascinating objects in the universe.  A pulsar is a special kind of neutron star, that means that the star is pretty much entirely made up of only neutrons held together […] Continue reading →

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What the Heck is a Pulsar?!

Posted on March 15, 2016 by 2016spaceodyssey

Have you ever heard of something called a pulsar?  If not then you are missing out because they are one of the strangest and most fascinating objects in the universe.  A pulsar is a special kind of neutron star, that means that the star is pretty much entirely made up of only neutrons held together […] Continue reading →

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Look Back at It

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Sofia

The surfaces of the terrestrial planets tell us a lot about their histories. The geological surface features of the planets give insight into the geological processes that have occurred in the planets’ pasts. There are four main processes that have lasting geological impacts on the terrestrial planets in our solar system. The processes are impact … Continue reading “Look Back at It” Continue reading →

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Why We Should All Love Earthquakes

Posted on March 15, 2016 by 2016spaceodyssey

Earthquakes are one of the most obvious consequences of Earth’s plate tectonics.  The crust slowly moves along the with the “current” of the mantle as the Earth surface constantly rearranges itself.  Without plate tectonics, it is very possible that life could not have taken a foothold on Earth.  On Mars, which does not have plate […] 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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Planet 9

Posted on March 15, 2016 by sarabkeller

It was a sad day when the powers that be decided that Pluto was no longer fit to be called a planet. However, this January, in a shocking turn of events, scientists at Caltech may have discovered (or somewhat indirectly presume) the existence of a real ninth planet, an ice giant by the incredibly original […] 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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The Stardust Mission

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Chloe

Missions that deliberately bring back extraterrestrial material to Earth are rare. The NASA Stardust, a probe that launched in  1999, sought to collect dust samples from the comet Wild 2’s tail. Prior to the mission, experts believed that the dust in comets’ tails would be pre-solar particles. Instead, what they found from the particles retrieved […] 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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