Category Archives: Class

Blog 05 – Enceladus

Posted on November 3, 2024 by Mercedes

The image shows the lower portion of Enceladus’ jets taken in 2010. Image and information gathered from the NASA website. Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons, got its name in Greek mythology because Saturn (Cronus) was the leader of the Titans. Despite its namesake, it is only about 310 miles across which is about the size […] Continue reading →

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The James Webb Space Telescope: A New Window on the Universe

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Elias Ibrahim

JWST The James Webb Space Telescope is a telescope made to look deep into space. It is the largest telescope in space ever built. The telescope was launched into space during 2021. Due to its infrared strength it can see distant objects that light telescopes can’t. JWST was able to study the formations of galaxies […] Continue reading →

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To Date Ancient Rocks and Artifacts

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Justinc

How do scientists know how old Earth and its rocks are? Modern humans have existed for “only” about 200,000 years, and modern science has existed for only a few hundred years (heck, how do we even know how long we as a species have existed?). So, how do scientists today know how old rocks are? […] Continue reading →

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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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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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