Monthly Archives: March 2021

BepiColombo and Learning about Mercury

Posted on March 21, 2021 by laineroberts

As discussed in chapter 9 of our textbook, scientists still have a lot to learn about Mercury, especially since it doesn’t seem to follow quite the same patterns that most of the planets in our solar system follow, studying the planet could possibly help scientists to gain a better understanding of planets outside of ourContinue reading “BepiColombo and Learning about Mercury” Continue reading →

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Aurora Borealis

Posted on March 21, 2021 by Mykayla

Aurora borealis, or the “Northern lights,” as it is often called, is the result of our Earth’s magnetosphere deflecting harmful particles from the Sun from the Earth. They can best be seen from the Arctic Circle (Canada, Iceland, Finland, etc.). Every aurora in the solar system originates from the Sun. Periodically, the Sun has stormsContinue reading “Aurora Borealis” Continue reading →

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Amazing Auroras

Posted on March 21, 2021 by captivatingcomet

Auroras happen when charged particles within solar winds go through Earth’s magnetic field. Solar winds are fast moving, plasma particles discharged by sunspot regions, areas where the Sun’s magnetic fields become tangled and burst. These particles bump into different atomic elements, such as nitrogen and oxygen, to create ions in excited states that release lightContinue reading “Amazing Auroras” Continue reading →

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Perseverance and Ingenuity

Posted on March 21, 2021 by laineroberts

Just 16 days ago, the newest rover to explore Mars embarked on its first ride around the planet! It took Perseverance a total of 7 months to get there, that must have taken a lot of… Perseverance’s mission is to collect samples from the surface of Mars to be returned to Earth and tested byContinue reading “Perseverance and Ingenuity” Continue reading →

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earth’s rings?

Posted on March 21, 2021 by Peter Taylor

Ever look at a picture of Saturn (or anything else with rings) and think “Wow, I wonder what those rings are made of?” Spoiler alert – they’re just very pretty rocks and ices and dusts. How about this one – Ever look up at the Moon (or any other moon) and think “Wow, I wonderContinue reading “earth’s rings?” Continue reading →

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Mars, Water trapped in Rocks

Posted on March 21, 2021 by lorenzchen14

An Artist’s Rendition of what Mars may have looked like 4 billion years ago As we have discussed in class, Mars looks very different today than it did billions of years ago. One notable difference is that Mars may have liquid water, as we see evidence of this in canyons and dried river beds inContinue reading “Mars, Water trapped in Rocks” Continue reading →

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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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