Daily Archives: October 20, 2024

Why Two Types of Planets?

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Matthew Marcus

FIGURE 8.5 from The Cosmic Perspective (taken from Quizlet) When looking at a diagram of our solar system, one likely notices that there are two visually distinct categories of planets. The smaller, rocky planets—Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars—are known as the terrestrial (Earth-like) planets, and the larger, more gaseous planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—are known […] Continue reading →

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The Nebula Theory

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Matthew Marcus

Image from Formation of the Solar System on by Sydney Garrett One of the greatest questions of our solar system is how it came to be. A theory worthy of consideration has many criteria it must be able to fulfill: it should explain the motion of our celestial bodies, the two different types of planets, […] Continue reading →

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The Sun: Our Solar System’s Powerhouse

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Elias Ibrahim

The Sun The Sun is mostly made of hydrogen and helium. In its core the two elements are fused together releasing light and heat in the process. The Sun’s has different layers (core, radiative zone, photosphere, convective zone, and corona). The corona is only visible from Earth during a solar eclipse and reaches millions of […] Continue reading →

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Blog #4 – Pluto: Is it a planet?

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Catherine Sack

Pluto is most known for its famous debate: Is it a planet or not? As of 2006, Pluto is known as Dwarf Planet. A Dwarf Planet is a celestial body that orbits the Sun just like a regular planet; however a dwarf planet lacks a clear orbital path, sharing it with other objects. Pluto’s size […] Continue reading →

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The Sun

Posted on October 20, 2024 by jasonljohnson465

The most important object in our Solar System. Image from NASA According to NASA, our Sun is a 4.5 billion year old yellow dwarf star composed of Helium and Hydrogen. It is the largest object in the Solar System with a diameter of about 1.4 million kilometers. The hottest part of the Sun is its […] Continue reading →

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Radioactivity is all around us

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Michael

We have learned about radioactivity in class, and we hear about it in the news, but many do not have direct experience with radiation. It is a scary word that elicits a lot of fear in most; for example, concerns about safety have stopped nuclear power from gaining dominance despite otherwise being a superior source […] Continue reading →

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Blog #3 – Formation of the Solar System

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Catherine Sack

Around 4.6 billion years ago, the sun formed along with the planets surrounding it due to the collapse of the solar nebula. When this supernova explosion took place, the collapsed cloud began to spin around in a circle, ultimately getting pulled by gravity to create the center (the Sun). The excess material smashed together making […] Continue reading →

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What is Climate Change?

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Justinc

The words “climate change” and “global warming” are thrown around in politics and science, but what is “climate change” and what is causing it? There are actually four causes of climate change: solar brightening, changes in reflectivity, changes in axial tilt, and changes in greenhouse gas abundance. Solar Brightening is the change in energy the […] Continue reading →

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The Moons of Saturn

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Alekzander Waller

In total, Saturn has a total of 146 moons! The most out of any planet in our solar system. These moons vary significantly in terms of terrain and position around Saturn. Some hold huge oceans and some are rocky worlds that seem to be out of Star Wars. There’s also a few moons that are […] Continue reading →

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The Asteroid Belt

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Henry Wang

Asteroids are a really interesting part of the solar system, but is strangely absent from most models of the solar system. So what exactly is the Asteroid Belt? Diagram of The Asteroid Belt The Asteroid Belt is a ring of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter and is made up of millions of them. They vary […] Continue reading →

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