Daily Archives: April 10, 2016

love is forever!

neutron stars are extremely dense stars – perhaps the densest stars in the known universe! – so dense in fact, that a marble-sized serving of neutron star would weigh about the same as 5 trillion tons of earth rock! they can form as a result of the collapse of a giant star in a supernova event. because they … Continue reading love is forever! Continue reading

Posted in Class | Tagged , | Comments Off on love is forever!

Supermassive Black Holes

Astronomers have recently discovered a supermassive black hole in a region of space that is sparsely populated.  The black hole is 17 billion times bigger than the Sun (by mass), making it one of the larger black holes ever discovered.  The strange part is that scientists had only ever found supermassive black holes at the […] Continue reading

Posted in Galaxies, Universe | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Supermassive Black Holes

Kepler Concerns

One of NASA’s most prized space probes may be in need of some roadside assistance after a scheduled Thursday communication session revealed the craft has entered emergency mode. The Kepler spacecraft was launched in 2009 and is equipped with telescopes and instruments critical to the discovery and analysis of extrasolar planets. Little is known so […] Continue reading

Posted in Class, Space Travel, Universe | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Kepler Concerns

Jupiter’s Galilean Moons

Discovered by Galileo in 1610, Jupiter’s four largest moons are some of the most interesting worlds in our Solar System. “Volcanic Io”: Jupiter’s inner-most moon, Io, is the fourth largest moon in the solar system. It is also the most volcanically-active object in the Solar System, with over 400 active volcanoes. Large mountains cover its […] Continue reading

Posted in Moons | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Jupiter’s Galilean Moons

Enceladus

One of Saturn’s many moons, Enceladus, has been peppered with eruptions. Underneath the icy surface, there is a probability of a global ocean, which makes it even more suspicious that it has developed these fissures on its surface, mainly on the south pole. The erupted particles take about forty minutes or so to reach the… Continue reading

Posted in Class, Moons, Space Travel | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Enceladus

Blog 8 (Saturn’s Rings)

Saturn’s rings are one of the most fascinating subjects in astronomy for many people because they are one of the most visible examples of beauty in our Solar System. Interestingly enough, the other Jovian planets also have rings, but they are not nearly as conspicuous as the rings on Saturn are. What fascinated me when […] Continue reading

Posted in Class | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Blog 8 (Saturn’s Rings)

The Demise of Pluto

  Left: Pluto Demoted, Right: Size Comparison The discovery of Pluto had scientists ecstatic. Far out in the distance was this tiny, freezing,  icy planet with moons! Then it was official: Pluto must be added to the list of planets. It’s round, orbits the Sun and has a posse of moons, what more could we need? […] Continue reading

Posted in Historical, Observables | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The Demise of Pluto

Titan’s Peaks

Mountains have always been a source of fascination for me. I climbed my first 14er, Mt. Yale (Elevation 14,199 ft.), when I was in middle school. Hopefully one day I can return to Colorado to climb more as well as many other mountains in this world. One of my favorite mountains is Mount Amiata in […] Continue reading

Posted in Class, General, Moons, Science, Universe | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Titan’s Peaks

Hot Jupiters and Why They Don’t Wreck our Model of Planetary Formation

Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, is located exactly where astrophysicists and planetary-formation theorists believe that it should be. Its size indicates that it should be located around the middle of the Solar System, where it was able to pick up rock, ice, and a lot of gases (such as hydrogen and helium) […] Continue reading

Posted in Exoplanets | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Hot Jupiters and Why They Don’t Wreck our Model of Planetary Formation

A Lonely Planet Wandering Through Space

Astronomers have recently announced the discovery of a planet without a sun.  Known as PSO J318.5-22, the planet is a gas giant six times the mass of Jupiter, nowhere near large enough to be a Brown Dwarf.  In the past rouge planets or “planetary-mass objects” have been discovered but their size was large enough that […] Continue reading

Posted in Exoplanets, Space Travel, Universe | Tagged , , | Comments Off on A Lonely Planet Wandering Through Space