Author Archives: andrewsolarsystem

Blog #8: Extremophiles – Exposure in Space

Posted on April 27, 2017 by andrewsolarsystem

  There are many extremophiles on Earth, some that roam the Sahara Desert and come out only for the hottest parts of the day and some that scale the coldest parts of the arctic. Extremophiles are an interesting phenomenon with applications to discovery of other life in the universe. If these organisms can survive in […] Continue reading →

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Blog #7: The Great Filter Theory

Posted on April 27, 2017 by andrewsolarsystem

If we think for a moment about the size of our universe and how many Earth like planets orbiting a star much like our Sun, it doesn’t take long to begin to wonder, where is everybody else? This is called the Fermi Paradox. Some estimate that there should be about 10 quadrillion (10 million billion) […] Continue reading →

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Blog #6: Space Weather: Impact on Earth

Posted on April 4, 2017 by andrewsolarsystem

We usually think of the Sun as providing us with only a few things such as light and heat, however, the Sun’s impact on Earth extends far beyond that. One additional way that the Sun impacts Earth is through the spewing of products of the Sun’s atmosphere directly toward Earth. The Sun releases electrically charged […] Continue reading →

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Blog #5: Triton: From Kuiper Belt to Neptune

Posted on April 4, 2017 by andrewsolarsystem

The Kuiper Belt is a disc in the solar system, extending from Neptune’s orbit to 50 AU from the Sun. The belt is like an asteroid belt, but it is far larger and more massive, containing many small bodies and remnants from the formation of the solar system. As expected, most objects in the Kuiper […] Continue reading →

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Blog #4: How did the Moon form?

Posted on April 4, 2017 by andrewsolarsystem

  For a long time, we were generally unsure of how Earth’s moon originally formed, and there were a few popular theories which were later disproven. Below are original theories about the formation of the Moon and how they were disproven: Fission Theory: This theory is based on the fact that the chemical composition of the […] Continue reading →

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Blog #3: Asteroid Mining

Posted on February 14, 2017 by andrewsolarsystem

We commonly think of asteroids simply as left over debris from when the planets were formed, but researchers believe that we will be able to harness resources from them within the next 10 years. The most common type of asteroid, C-type, contains up to 20% water as well as various metals. The presence of water […] Continue reading →

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Blog #2: Solar Tides

Posted on February 13, 2017 by andrewsolarsystem

The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about tides is the lunar tides that create 2 high and low tides each day. This is due to daily rotation of the Earth, which causes the Moon to effectively move around the Earth every day. The Moon’s gravitational force pulls the water from the sides […] Continue reading →

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Blog #1: Stonehenge and Solstices

Posted on February 13, 2017 by andrewsolarsystem

Stonehenge is commonly known as a collection of large stones in Wiltshire, England, but even after much research and investigation, we still don’t know who built it, when it was built, or exactly what it was used for. We speculate that it could have been used as a burial ground or even an astronomical observatory. […] Continue reading →

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Blog Post #1

Posted on January 17, 2017 by andrewsolarsystem

“A line of planets representing a solar system in a variety of colors to symbolize temperature.” Continue reading →

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