Monthly Archives: April 2019

Exoplanet Properties by Discovery Method

Posted on April 7, 2019 by Andrew Talley

In class, we’ve discussed how the method we use to discover planets may bias the types of planets we find. For example, larger, more massive planets are easier to find with almost any method of discovering planets. Likely because of this, we have found far more Jupiter-sized exoplanets than Earth-sized planets. I wanted to investigate … Continue reading Exoplanet Properties by Discovery Method → Continue reading →

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Jovian Planet’s Rings

Posted on April 7, 2019 by anna_h

Contrary to popular belief, Saturn is not the only planet in our Solar System with rings. In fact, all four jovian planets have rings, but Saturn’s are just the most noticeable because of their reflective properties. Jupiter’s rings are made of small, dark particles, which is why it is hard to detect them in photographs. … Continue reading Jovian Planet’s Rings Continue reading →

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Exoplanets 101: Does the earth have a twin?

Posted on April 7, 2019 by alfredprah

Potential Habitable Planets An extrasolar planet is a planet that orbits a star that’s not our sun. Even though these planets can be recognized, and their sizes measured, they are light years away so it would take astronomers thousands of years to reach these extrasolar planets. To detect these planets, scientists use either one of … Continue reading Exoplanets 101: Does the earth have a twin? → Continue reading →

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Europa

Posted on April 7, 2019 by dayvon

Europa, a moon of the planet Jupiter, was discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei and Simon Marius. It is a little smaller than Earth’s moon, and it has one of the smoothest surfaces in the solar system. The surface is made up of water ice with long, linear lines fracturing it. The low number of … Continue reading Europa → Continue reading →

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Probing the Mysteries of 50000 QUAOAR

Posted on April 7, 2019 by chiefkeith7

Hundreds of millions of miles beyond the orbit of Neptune lurks one of the most intriguing objects in the Solar System, 50000 Quaoar. 50000 Quaoar is notable for multiple reasons, but the most apparent is its name. Quaoar is the name of the creator deity of the Tongva people in the Los Angeles Basin. The … Continue reading Probing the Mysteries of 50000 QUAOAR → Continue reading →

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Hypothetical Planets in the Kuiper Belt and Oort Clout

Posted on April 7, 2019 by jacksonhubble2904

               With all the data we have on the orbits of familiar objects of our solar system, some interesting hypothesis have been formed about large bodies within or beyond the Kuiper Belt. This method of discovery was used in the 1840s to discover Neptune by studying the orbit of Uranus and noticing then compensating for … Continue reading Hypothetical Planets in the Kuiper Belt and Oort Clout → Continue reading →

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Ultima Thule

Posted on April 7, 2019 by victoriayaden

The New Horizons space probe was launched in 2006—primarily to study Pluto, but also to study Kuiper belt objects in its following years. Following the space probe’s flyby of Pluto in 2015, it reached 2014 MU69, also known as Ultima Thule, on January 1, 2019. Ultima Thule is a Kuiper belt object that orbits 1.6 […] Continue reading →

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Io

Posted on April 7, 2019 by calebglotta

Io is one of the closest and most prominent of Jupiter’s moons. Surprisingly, Io has the most volcanic activity of any of the worlds in our solar system. Usually, people think of moons as large barren rocks (similar to our own) however, Io breaks that mold. Because Io has such a large amount of volcanoes, … Continue reading Io → Continue reading →

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Eight Planets or Nine?

Posted on April 7, 2019 by epiphany9

Most of us probably remember a time when the Solar System had nine planets, with Pluto as the ninth and (usually) farthest from the Sun. In 2006, following the discovery of Eris, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) voted to reclassify Pluto as a “dwarf planet” (don’t forget the quotation marks!). However, there might one day […] Continue reading →

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Extrasolar Planets: A Search to Span Solar Systems

Posted on April 7, 2019 by Sam Bianco

Recently, I have started work as an undergraduate research assistant in the Physics and Astronomy department at my university. The project I was assigned to is of a stellar nature; we are attempting to find evidence of extrasolar planets, or planets around other stars. Though we haven’t found any planets yet, I keep thinking about … Continue reading Extrasolar Planets: A Search to Span Solar Systems → Continue reading →

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