Category Archives: SolarSystem

Survival Sweet Spot

Posted on March 21, 2021 by brynicdew

Earth is a perfect amalgamation of all the conditions necessary for live to thrive. I always hear that the other terrestrials cannot sustain life, but never exactly sure how unsuitable they were. I mean if there was only one thing wrong with them, who’s to say we wouldn’t be able to invent a solution inContinue reading “Survival Sweet Spot” Continue reading →

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No sunspots on the Sun?

Posted on March 21, 2021 by connorrobbwilcox

Have you ever seen pictures of the Sun and noticed that it has dark spots on its surface? These sunspots are cooler than the other regions on the Sun, but they also represent the beginning of new solar cycles. In fact, some signs point to the next cycle, Cycle 25, having a much smaller numberContinue reading “No sunspots on the Sun?” Continue reading →

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Aurora Borealis

Posted on March 21, 2021 by Mykayla

Aurora borealis, or the “Northern lights,” as it is often called, is the result of our Earth’s magnetosphere deflecting harmful particles from the Sun from the Earth. They can best be seen from the Arctic Circle (Canada, Iceland, Finland, etc.). Every aurora in the solar system originates from the Sun. Periodically, the Sun has stormsContinue reading “Aurora Borealis” Continue reading →

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earth’s rings?

Posted on March 21, 2021 by Peter Taylor

Ever look at a picture of Saturn (or anything else with rings) and think “Wow, I wonder what those rings are made of?” Spoiler alert – they’re just very pretty rocks and ices and dusts. How about this one – Ever look up at the Moon (or any other moon) and think “Wow, I wonderContinue reading “earth’s rings?” Continue reading →

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Mars, Water trapped in Rocks

Posted on March 21, 2021 by lorenzchen14

An Artist’s Rendition of what Mars may have looked like 4 billion years ago As we have discussed in class, Mars looks very different today than it did billions of years ago. One notable difference is that Mars may have liquid water, as we see evidence of this in canyons and dried river beds inContinue reading “Mars, Water trapped in Rocks” Continue reading →

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solar system superlatives: Mars

Posted on March 20, 2021 by Peter Taylor

Welcome to solar system superlatives – a blog series where we’ll learn about some of the craziest phenomena found in our solar system. First up, Mars. Mars is home to some of our solar system’s most impressive geological formations. Olympus Mons, for instance is the largest mountain in the solar system, and, as I amContinue reading “solar system superlatives: Mars” Continue reading →

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Europa and Possible Life

Posted on March 20, 2021 by thestarstudent

Europa is one of Jupiter’s 79 moons and is slightly smaller than Earth’s moon. It’s surface is covered in salty water that is almost twice the amount of water in all of Earth’s oceans combined. Covering all this water is a 10-15 mile thick sheet of ice. The inner part of the moon is thoughtContinue reading “Europa and Possible Life” Continue reading →

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Geological Map of the Moon

Posted on March 20, 2021 by thestarstudent

The United States Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center and NASA worked together to create a complete geological map of the Moon in early 2020. The map shows the immense amount of impact craters on the moon’s surface. It was made with information from six maps from the Apollo-era in conjunction with modern data. Specifically, dataContinue reading “Geological Map of the Moon” Continue reading →

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The Danger of a Coronal Mass Ejection

Posted on March 19, 2021 by brianknapp

A Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is essentially a powerful expulsion of plasma and accompanying magnetic field from the solar corona, or the sort of aura of plasma that surrounds our Sun. While they have an extremely cool name, and seem pretty neat, they could actually have a pretty significant impact on humanity. The Sun has an incrediblyContinue reading “The Danger of a Coronal Mass Ejection” Continue reading →

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Surface Features of Mercury

Posted on March 19, 2021 by lauryn28

Mercury is a terrestrial planet, though it is quite different in appearance than Earth. It’s grey rocky surface more resembles that of the moon, however unlike the moon Mercury has a liquid iron core and is much denser. Moreover, Mercury’s surface features paint an interesting story of past geological occurrences. Mercury formed around 4.6 billionContinue reading “Surface Features of Mercury” Continue reading →

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