Category Archives: SolarSystem

Beyond The Solar System (ASTR 2110)

Posted on December 8, 2024 by Matthew Marcus

One thing that surprised me from this course was learning how gravity rounds out and differentiates the interior layers of planets. I suppose I had never really considered how the planets in our solar system formed, and I must have assumed that denser material simply gathered first and less dense material collected on top of […] Continue reading →

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Tardigrades and extraterrestrial life

Posted on December 5, 2024 by Michael

I first saw a picture of a tardigrade when I was a child, and even then, I was fascinated. I prefer the more affectionate term “water bear”, and these cute little “micro-animals” are a classic example of just how resilient life can be. As we briefly discussed in class, tardigrades have survived exposure to outer […] Continue reading →

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All About Comets

Posted on November 18, 2024 by Matthew Marcus

In popular media, comets are often depicted as huge balls of fire streaking across the sky. See Sozin’s Comet from Avatar the Last Airbender as an example: It may then be surprising to learn that asteroids are small, ice-rich bodies that are completely frozen for the majority of their life cycles. Comets tend to have […] Continue reading →

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Halley’s Comet

Posted on November 17, 2024 by Ian Vasquez

Halley’s Comet In 1705, Edmund Halley, an English astronomer, used Isaac Newton’s theories to chart the paths of 24 comets. In doing so he discovered that three comets that were seen in 1531, 1607, and 1682 were the exact same comet: Halley’s Comet. He then predicted that the same comet should appear again in the […] Continue reading →

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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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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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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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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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