Category Archives: SolarSystem

Blog 3: composition of the Solar System

Posted on March 1, 2023 by lucasliu6

The Solar System is an extraordinary marvel of the universe, a collection of celestial objects that has captured the curiosity of scientists, and the imagination of people for generations. The composition of these objects holds vital clues to understanding the origins of the Solar System and the processes that have shaped it over billions of […] Continue reading →

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nuclear fusion

Posted on March 1, 2023 by Emma Williams

Have you ever wondered why the sun shines? It’s a question that has inspired centuries of astronomers to come up with a wide variety of explanations. It was once thought that the sun shone because of chemical combustion, but we now know that there is nowhere near enough oxygen for that process to have sustained […] Continue reading →

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Lack of Cratering: Io and Europa

Posted on February 28, 2023 by willems49

During class, we have discussed magnetospheres, tectonics, geological activity, and their relation to the cores of the “Big Five”: Earth, Venus, Mercury, the Moon, and Mars. Specifically the moon has very obvious cratering across its entire surface, and its craters remain intact for billions of years. This is due to it not having an atmosphere […] Continue reading →

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Comparing the Atmospheres of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars

Posted on February 27, 2023 by Melanie Marszal

We may not think much about the presence of Earth’s atmosphere in our day-to-day lives, but it has an immense impact on us. Earth’s atmosphere contains the oxygen we need to breathe, protects us from many of the Sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, helps stabilize the Earth’s temperature, and is responsible for weather patterns. If […] Continue reading →

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Solar Flares and the Carrington Event

Posted on February 26, 2023 by sydneyastr2110

We heard a little bit about the Carrington Event in class, and I wanted to know more about it. A solar flare is essentially a burst of energy on the Sun which sends electrified gas and subatomic particles toward Earth. In 1859, there was an abnormally large solar flare caused two geomagnetic storms known as […] Continue reading →

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Powered and Unpowered Gravity Assists

Posted on February 12, 2023 by Trevor Pillow

The farthest planets in the solar system are so distant, it is infeasible to reach them using only rockets. The delta-v, or change in velocity, required to propel a spacecraft to a gas giant like Saturn is far too impractical for today’s rockets to achieve. The main problem is that a spacecraft needs tons of […] Continue reading →

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Roche Limit

Posted on February 12, 2023 by aaronxu041009

In science fiction novels and movies, we occasionally see a planet or a moon being teared into pieces due to it being to close to a star or a larger planet. In the newly premiered Chinese sci-fi movie The Wandering Earth II, our moon potentially gets torn into chunks as it moves closer to the […] Continue reading →

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Blog Post 2 – What was Stonehenge really for?

Posted on February 10, 2023 by Melanie Marszal

Most people have seen pictures or heard of Stonehenge, an ancient monument on the Salisbury Plain in England. Personally, while I had seen references to Stonehenge in the media, I never actually knew what it was for, or what people thought it was for. It has been difficult for historians to find a definitive answer, […] Continue reading →

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How Do Moons Form?

Posted on February 8, 2023 by willems49

Have you ever considered how Earth got its moon in the first place? Astronomers have come up with several theories for why each planet in our solar system has a certain number of moons, and how these moons formed. For Earth’s moon, it is thought a collision with another planet shortly after formation of the […] Continue reading →

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Solar Eclipses 😱😎

Posted on January 22, 2023 by sadiekarr

(Eclipse over Jackson, Wyoming by Ronan Donovan via NatGeo) In August 2017 a total solar eclipse was witnessed by many, cutting across the United States. My family, here in Nashville, TN, was able to see it! Even though it was a Monday, and I should have had classes, my school was cancelled for the day […] Continue reading →

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