Daily Archives: March 7, 2023

TRAPPIST-1e: Another Earth?

Source for Image Circling a red dwarf star 40 light years away is a system of seven, Earth-like planets. All seven planets are similar enough in size to Earth to hold atmosphere and potentially have volcanic activity. However, only one of those is located within the Goldilocks zone. In other words, TRAPPIST-1e has the potential […] Continue reading

Posted in Exoplanets | Tagged , | Comments Off on TRAPPIST-1e: Another Earth?

Post 4

Scientists often try to determine the age of various bodies in the solar system. The Earth and moon are around 4.5 billion years old, and the sun is around 4.6 billion years old. But how do scientists know this? And how confident are scientists in these ages? Scientists use radiometric dating to accurately date different […] Continue reading

Posted in Science | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Post 4

The Voyagers

In the vast expanse of space, two brave pioneers are still journeying to the unknown depths of our solar system and beyond: Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. These twin spacecraft, launched by NASA in 1977, have been exploring the outer reaches of our solar system for over four decades, providing scientists with invaluable information about […] Continue reading

Posted in Class, Science | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Voyagers

Blog 4 – Geological Activity

Geological activity encompasses the ongoing changes on the surface of terrestrial worlds. This activity is derived from a planet’s internal heat, which is largely attributed to three different processes: accretion, differentiation, and radioactive decay. Accretion occurred when planets were merely planetesimals and still gaining mass to become full planets. When other planetesimals collided with the […] Continue reading

Posted in Science | Tagged , | Comments Off on Blog 4 – Geological Activity

Post 3

The sun produces energy via nuclear fusion—that is, it fuses two atoms into one, releasing a tremendous amount of energy in the process. The most common form of fusion in the sun is when hydrogen atoms are fused into helium—giving off energy in the process due to the lost mass. This is the most efficient […] Continue reading

Posted in Science | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Post 3

Tycho’s Supernova Shifting World Views

Tycho Brahe, quite a prominent astronomer in the 16th century, is one of the most well known individuals to have sighted a new light filling the night sky. This strange appearance is now known as SN-1572 or more colloquially Tycho’s Supernova, and is revolutionary towards how we view the night sky. Historically speaking, this change […] Continue reading

Posted in Class, Historical, Stars | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Tycho’s Supernova Shifting World Views

Keeping Stars Alive

How exactly do stars live? Above is an image of the sun given by SOHO, which is an extraordinarily massive object, which due to that possesses a very large gravitational pull, not just on others but also on itself. Everything that has mass possesses this trait, however these bodies are either two light, or are […] Continue reading

Posted in Class, Stars | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Keeping Stars Alive

Determining Saturn’s Rotation Speed

Throughout the 1900s, planetary rotation speeds was generally measured in one of two ways: observing the frequency of which fixed features on planets’ surfaces appear, or observing the patterns of the magnetic field, which change periodically when the magnetic field isn’t aligned with the planet’s axis of rotation. For example, both Earth and Jupiter have […] Continue reading

Posted in Class, Jovians | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Determining Saturn’s Rotation Speed

Life Beyond Earth

There have been many recent discoveries that suggest life exists beyond Earth. Some of these include new findings on Enceladus (a small moon of Saturn), exoplanets, and even Mars. Enceladus NASA’s Cassini spacecraft collected data that allowed us to simulate the geochemistry of phosphorus in the ocean. This study helped us reach some interesting conclusions […] Continue reading

Posted in Aliens, Class, Exoplanets, General | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Life Beyond Earth

Mysteries of the Oort Cloud

The Oort cloud is a mysterious spherical cloud of icy objects that exists beyond our solar system. This collection of icy debris is believed to be left over from the formation of the giant worlds – Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus and Saturn. The Oort cloud starts roughly 1000-2000 AU from the sun and is thought to […] Continue reading

Posted in Class, Science | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Mysteries of the Oort Cloud