Monthly Archives: March 2020

The Geology of Mars

Posted on March 12, 2020 by emily

There are four different processes that shape planetary surfaces; volcanism, tectonics, erosion, and impact catering. Impact catering is the creation of a bowl-shaped impact crater by asteroids or comets striking a planet’s surface. Volcanism is the eruption of molten rock, or lava from an interior onto its surface. Tectonics is the disruption of a planet’sContinue reading “The Geology of Mars” Continue reading →

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Mass of the Sun

Posted on March 12, 2020 by seths1

Source: space.com Learning about the planets in our last few classes (RIP senior year) reaffirmed for me that the earth is indeed very small compared to the other planets in the solar system. But then I read that 99.8% of the mass in the solar system is still contained within the sun! Even though theContinue reading “Mass of the Sun” Continue reading →

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The Aurora

Posted on March 12, 2020 by emily

The aurora borealis and aurora australis – often called the northern lights and southern lights – are mysterious and unpredictable displays of light in the night sky. The most common occurrences of this phenomena take place at higher northern and southern latitudes, less frequent at mid-latitudes, and are almost never seen near the equator. AurorasContinue reading “The Aurora” Continue reading →

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climate change and the coronavirus

Posted on March 10, 2020 by mcknia1

With the COVID-19 outbreak, a virus that has infected over 90,000 people worldwide, I’ve started to wonder how this may impact our wellbeing on an environmental level. Global warming, a phenomena caused by human activity, such as the releasing of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere poses many consequences for Earth’s inhabitants.Continue reading “climate change and the coronavirus” Continue reading →

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What Causes the Northern Lights?

Posted on March 10, 2020 by Emily Chen

The aurora borealis, or aurora australis if in Southern Hemisphere, is one of nature’s most dazzling phenomena consisting of massive bands of colorful light streaking across the sky. This spectacular light show, despite its captivating beauty, actually portrays the deadly solar radiation spewing out from the sun and largely dissipating when coming into contact withContinue reading “What Causes the Northern Lights?” Continue reading →

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Spacecraft in the Solar System

Posted on March 10, 2020 by Emily Chen

As we have learned so much about the solar system, much of our knowledge comes from telescopic observations, ground-based and those in Earth’s orbit, as well as spacecraft explorations. Robotic spacecraft operate primarily with preprogrammed instructions and carry radios that allow them to communicate with controllers on Earth. Having sent robotic spacecraft missions to numerousContinue reading “Spacecraft in the Solar System” Continue reading →

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Fusion on Earth

Posted on March 9, 2020 by gabezharovtothemoon

In conversations surrounding the transition from fossil fuels to green energy, solar, wind, and biofuels are the most common alternatives that are brought up. Solar energy, as the name implies, comes from the sun, but wind energy and biofuels made from energy crops are ultimately also derived from converted solar power. But what if weContinue reading “Fusion on Earth” Continue reading →

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Blog #4: Statistics Behind Our Solar System

Posted on March 9, 2020 by John Harrington

A concept that has always intrigued me is the possibility of life on Earth. It seems like every topic we cover reveals another statistical improbability that has allowed life to exist on Earth at all. For example, we are just far enough from the sun that we have an atmosphere, but not so far fromContinue reading “Blog #4: Statistics Behind Our Solar System” Continue reading →

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Blog #3: Spacecraft

Posted on March 9, 2020 by John Harrington

Spacecraft is a topic that takes relatively simple mechanics and merges it with the already fairly complex topic of astrophysics to create an extremely complicated topic that has gained notoriety for becoming considered one of the most difficult professions in existence (think of “this isn’t rocket science”). Something interesting to me about spacecraft is this:Continue reading “Blog #3: Spacecraft” Continue reading →

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How do we name our Solar System?

Posted on March 9, 2020 by Avery Bradley

We all remember learning the mnemonic device in elementary school: My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Noodles (or whatever variation you prefer). Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, the eight planets of our solar system. But what do these names actually mean? How do planets and moons and other stuff inContinue reading “How do we name our Solar System?” Continue reading →

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