Monthly Archives: April 2017

Blog 5: Enceladus’ Ocean

Posted on April 3, 2017 by lillyastro2110

One of Saturn’s moons, we discussed in class interesting details of Enceladus. The most notable of these is the geysers of water and the potential subsurface ocean. Methane found among other particles in the water vapor plume have led researchers to consider a subsurface ocean as the origin of this methane. Because of the high … Continue reading Blog 5: Enceladus’ Ocean Continue reading →

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Blog 4: Experience Curiosity

Posted on April 3, 2017 by lillyastro2110

NASA’s Experience Curiosity web application allows viewers to go inside the Curiosity Rover’s mission. Viewers can explore Mars by leading the rover around or learn more about the rover and the mission on guided tours. Experience Curiosity gives highlights of Curiosity’s exploration of the Pahrump Hills region on Mars. You can examine the Pink Cliffs … Continue reading Blog 4: Experience Curiosity Continue reading →

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The Trojans and Greeks

Posted on April 3, 2017 by pkunetz97

As was recently discussed in class, there are two clusters of asteroids ahead of and behind Jupiter known as the “Trojans” and the “Greeks”. The first one to be discovered was an asteroid now known as “Achilles”, a hero who fought on the Greek side of the Trojan War. The Greeks are all slightly ahead […] Continue reading →

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Blog #6: New Life?

Posted on April 3, 2017 by zhengastronomy

In February 2017, NASA released what could potentially be the most important astronomical discovery ever made. Using the  Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope or Trappist for short, NASA discovered a small red dwarf star 39 light years away with three planets positioned similarly to Earth and sun in a fashion that was conducive to … Continue reading Blog #6: New Life? Continue reading →

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Blog #5: Pluto’s Demotion

Posted on April 3, 2017 by zhengastronomy

As of August 24th  2006, the international astronomical union voted to demote Pluto to a dwarf planet, ending the nine planet era, redefining the definition of a planet, and rendering many, many astronomy books obsolete. But why was Pluto demoted? What happened to make astronomers cut away a part of so many people’s worldview? Will … Continue reading Blog #5: Pluto’s Demotion Continue reading →

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Can you survive in space?

Posted on April 3, 2017 by brandonandthesolarsystem

For the astronaut shown above, he/she will be fine for now. As long as their space suit is intact, they should not be in any immediate danger of death. However, if their suit were to malfunction for some reason, what would happen next? This has been “explained” before in movies or television shows; but as we […] Continue reading →

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Ida and Dactyl

Posted on April 2, 2017 by Nick Belsten

243 Ida is a 56 km long asteroid orbiting in the main asteroid belt with a number of notable features. Ida is an S-type asteroid, or stony asteroid, and is mostly composed of rock and iron from accretion during early solar system formation. Ida was a subject of study by the Galileo spacecraft in 1993, … Continue reading Ida and Dactyl → Continue reading →

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Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9

Posted on April 2, 2017 by Nick Belsten

In 1994, one year after its discovery, the fragmented remains of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashed into Jupiter’s upper atmosphere in a sequence of 23 large impacts, each releasing the energy equivalent of 25,000 megatons of TNT, more than one million times as much energy as released by the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Orbital analysis … Continue reading Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 → Continue reading →

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Ballooning on Venus

Posted on April 2, 2017 by Nick Belsten

After their launch in 1984, the identical spacecraft Vega 1 and Vega 2 launched from a Russian Proton Rocket for their double mission of flying through the tail of Halley’s Comet and landing scientific payloads on the surface of Venus. In addition to a regular parachuted lander, the Vega spacecraft each carried a 22-kilogram balloon … Continue reading Ballooning on Venus → Continue reading →

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Pluto is a Planet Again!

Posted on April 2, 2017 by brandonandthesolarsystem

April fools! I know I am a day late with this, but I was surprised to find that this was a common thread appearing on my Facebook feed over the weekend. As is common when “news” appears on social media, an “article” was being passed around that seemingly few people even bothered to read. Instead, the headline […] Continue reading →

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