Author Archives: agiantchicken

New Horizon’s Approaches Pluto: So What?

Posted on April 28, 2015 by agiantchicken

NASA’s New Horizon’s spacecraft is only three months approaching Pluto, and for the first time, we have a true color picture of the Pluto/Charon dwarf planet system. As I sit here typing this, I say, “so what?” Well, it turns out that this is the first time that any spacecraft has traveled so long and […] Continue reading →

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NASA’s NExSS Project to Lead the Way for the Search for Alien Life

Posted on April 28, 2015 by agiantchicken

NASA is currently assembling a group that it plans to call the Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS), which will be a group of specialists from various scientific fields in hopes to study the nature of exoplanets and figure out if some might be suitable for life. Currently the project has garnered support among planetary and […] Continue reading →

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Ganymede’s Ocean Confirmed?

Posted on April 5, 2015 by agiantchicken

Recent observations of Ganymede by Hubble appear to suggest that it may truly have an ocean far beneath its crust. Aurorae on the planet, caused by Ganymede’s magnetic field (the only moon in the solar system to have one), and their behavior seem to be suggestive of this high possibility. Ganymede’s distance from Jupiter allows […] Continue reading →

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Could our Solar System have once had Super Earths?

Posted on April 5, 2015 by agiantchicken

New research appears to suggest that the early solar system might have been home to several “Super Earths,” terrestrial planets which are between 1 to 10 times the mass of Earth. One of the lingering questions about the formation of the solar system involves exactly how is it that the terrestrial planets of our solar system are so […] Continue reading →

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What if Earth stopped spinning?

Posted on March 15, 2015 by agiantchicken

*Warning: rather long documentary!* I’ll sum up the documentary, but suggest you watch if you have time. In essence, a slowing Earth result in an orbit where the length of the day is equal to the entire year. Long exposure to the sun, and long exposure to space at night would result in extreme temperature […] Continue reading →

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Could the sun live for over a trillion years?

Posted on March 15, 2015 by agiantchicken

Sun and hydrogen burning: Thinking outside the bubble Yes it can! But not except under unusual circumstances which do not naturally occur in G-type stars as our sun. This is due to the fact that the core is the only part of the sun in which temperatures and pressure are high enough to fuse helium […] Continue reading →

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Spectacular arrangement of Mars, Venus and the Moon this week!

Posted on February 14, 2015 by agiantchicken

Check that out! Later on this coming week, it is expected that Mars, Venus, and the Moon will come so close to one another in our sky, that they will be separated by less than a single degree in the sky on February 20! While given the moon’s moves along its orbit rather fast around the […] Continue reading →

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Smiling Galaxy Cluster Found in Space!

Posted on February 13, 2015 by agiantchicken

That’s some intense gravitation lensing! A cluster of galaxies was recently discovered by the Hubble Telescope (AKA, uber relevant to class!) that appears to take on the shape of a bright smiling face. The galaxy cluster, known as SDSS J1038+4849, recently had the above picture taken by said telescope. While it may appear to us that […] Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context: Isaac Newton

Posted on February 3, 2015 by agiantchicken

(Image from Wikipedia) Isaac Newton (December 25, 1642 – March 20, 1727) was a born a poor Englishman who attended Trinity College in Cambridge in order to try and improve his socioeconomic standing. He gained an interest in the world around him after witnessing an apple drop from a tree to the ground. At that […] Continue reading →

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Strange Light Found on Dwarf Planet Ceres?

Posted on January 23, 2015 by agiantchicken

Scientists claim to have spotted a strange bright light or object recently on the surface of Ceres, a dwarf planet and the largest object lying within the Asteroid Belt of our solar system. The following picture was taken of the planet as NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft flew in toward the object on January 13th. What is […] Continue reading →

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