Daily Archives: March 20, 2021

solar system superlatives: Mars

Posted on March 20, 2021 by Peter Taylor

Welcome to solar system superlatives – a blog series where we’ll learn about some of the craziest phenomena found in our solar system. First up, Mars. Mars is home to some of our solar system’s most impressive geological formations. Olympus Mons, for instance is the largest mountain in the solar system, and, as I amContinue reading “solar system superlatives: Mars” Continue reading →

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Mount Vesuvius and the Pompeiian Disaster: How it happened

Posted on March 20, 2021 by jagobillot

I was watching a documentary about the sheer power and destruction that Mount Vesuvius lay upon those heedless Roman citizens in Pompeii, and it got me thinking about the movement of the tectonic plates. What needs to happen underneath the land to create enough power to bury a city in 15 feet of rubble andContinue reading “Mount Vesuvius and the Pompeiian Disaster: How it happened” Continue reading →

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Radioactive Proof of the Earth’s Age

Posted on March 20, 2021 by jagobillot

Radioactivity of elements starts with an unstable elemental isotope. An unstable atom on radioactive elements carries too many protons or neutrons, and eventually, it must expel energy from the atom, and become an entirely new stable element through the process of beta decay. This process, for every unstable atom, is completely spontaneous and there isContinue reading “Radioactive Proof of the Earth’s Age” Continue reading →

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The Ranking System of Solar Flares

Posted on March 20, 2021 by captivatingcomet

Solar flares are solar storms and explosions that release ultraviolet light, x-rays, energy, and very fast, charged particles. They are categorized into classes based on their strength. The classes ranked from smallest to biggest solar flares are: A, B, C, M, and X. Each class increases 10-fold in energy and has a subscale that goesContinue reading “The Ranking System of Solar Flares” Continue reading →

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Binary Stars

Posted on March 20, 2021 by ben141414

A binary star is a star system of two stars that orbit around the central point, called the barycenter. In conversation, binary stars are sometimes casually referred to as double stars. Binary star systems or multiple star systems (3+ stars in orbit in the same system) are actually way more common than you might think.Continue reading “Binary Stars” Continue reading →

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Comet

Posted on March 20, 2021 by justinboreskyvanderbiltedu

Is it a bird? a plane? a superhero? No it’s a Comet! Comet’s are “cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock and dust that orbit the Sun”. Comet’s generally range from the size of 750 meters to 20 kilometers. Currently there are 3,717 comets known to man. Comet’s form from dust particles combining to form icyContinue reading “Comet” Continue reading →

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Europa and Possible Life

Posted on March 20, 2021 by thestarstudent

Europa is one of Jupiter’s 79 moons and is slightly smaller than Earth’s moon. It’s surface is covered in salty water that is almost twice the amount of water in all of Earth’s oceans combined. Covering all this water is a 10-15 mile thick sheet of ice. The inner part of the moon is thoughtContinue reading “Europa and Possible Life” Continue reading →

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Geological Map of the Moon

Posted on March 20, 2021 by thestarstudent

The United States Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center and NASA worked together to create a complete geological map of the Moon in early 2020. The map shows the immense amount of impact craters on the moon’s surface. It was made with information from six maps from the Apollo-era in conjunction with modern data. Specifically, dataContinue reading “Geological Map of the Moon” Continue reading →

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Climate Change and Animals

Posted on March 20, 2021 by justinboreskyvanderbiltedu

Since the industrial revolution humans have become the most selfish species in the world. With growth in mind we started removing trees and releasing chemicals into the air and water with no regards for it’s potential impact. Now a few centuries later its impact is seen in climate change. Climate change has been caused byContinue reading “Climate Change and Animals” Continue reading →

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The Secrets of Perseverance

Posted on March 20, 2021 by lorenzchen14

Solution to Perseverance’s parachute code, posted by Adam Steltzner When the Perseverance Rover landed on Feb.18, 2021, the parachute that was used appeared very unique, with a combination of orange and white strips. Coupled with the fact that in a conference, Allen Chen (the engineer in charge of the landing system) said, “we leave messagesContinue reading “The Secrets of Perseverance” Continue reading →

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