Category Archives: SolarSystem

Martian Dust Devils

Posted on March 18, 2018 by laurenegish

  Martian dust devils are much like tornadoes on Earth. Both storms form the same way, but what distinguishes these dust devils from the tornadoes on Earth is that they are much bigger ( 1-2 km across and 8-10 km wide!) and the fact that dust devils occur much more frequently on Mars than tornadoes … Continue reading Martian Dust Devils → Continue reading →

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The Death of the Sun

Posted on March 17, 2018 by Caroline Henning

Unfortunately, our Solar System will not exist forever–our Sun’s lifespan is indeed finite. Sunlike stars stay on the main sequence for approximately 10 billions years. In other words, this is about how long the Sun will shine. The Sun is about 4.6 billion years old, so we may expect about 5.4 billion more years of … Continue reading The Death of the Sun → Continue reading →

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Where Did All of Mars’ Water Go?

Posted on March 17, 2018 by Katie

It is currently known that Mars has only a fraction of the atmosphere that Earth has. This could be due to a number reasons ranging from its further distance away from the Earth and its smaller size in comparison to Earth and Venus, however, all terrestrial worlds had something that could have resembled an atmosphere … Continue reading Where Did All of Mars’ Water Go? Continue reading →

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Shine on, Crazy Diamond

Posted on March 16, 2018 by therestisstardust

All the light we see and information we receive in our day to day lives is all thanks to the sun- but do we ever really stop to think what allows the sun to produce to light we so rely on? The sun actually relies heavily on quantum physics to even exist- which sounds very […] Continue reading →

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Can Elon Musk’s Dream Become a Reality?

Posted on March 14, 2018 by maxflorsheim

Just last month, Elon Musk’s SpaceX used the worlds most powerful rocket, Falcon Heavy, to launch his personal red Tesla roadster into space, racing towards Mars. With a spacesuit-wearing dummy named ‘Starman’ at the wheel, the car is predicted to enter Mars’ orbit sometime in July, before exiting soon after. While Musk claims the purpose […] Continue reading →

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Blog 4: The Sirens of Titan

Posted on March 14, 2018 by battismm

One of my favorite novels is The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut. As the title suggests a portion of the novel takes place on Saturn’s moon Titan, though this fiction is more concerned with the philosophical and not the realistic astronomical. I highly recommend it to fans of science fiction. Discovered in 1655, Titan is Saturn’s … Continue reading Blog 4: The Sirens of Titan Continue reading →

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The Sun and the solar atmosphere.

Posted on March 5, 2018 by kkim7243

The solar system is special in that it only has one star, the Sun, while most other systems have at least 2 stars. Because the Sun is very important not only for maintaining the solar system, but also for providing energy to keep the lives on Earth, it is important to know what comprises of … Continue reading The Sun and the solar atmosphere. → Continue reading →

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The Sun and the solar atmosphere.

Posted on March 5, 2018 by kkim7243

The solar system is special in that it only has one star, the Sun, while most other systems have at least 2 stars. Because the Sun is very important not only for maintaining the solar system, but also for providing energy to keep the lives on Earth, it is important to know what comprises of … Continue reading The Sun and the solar atmosphere. → Continue reading →

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The Bighorn Medicine Wheel

Posted on February 12, 2018 by alcottastr2110

Bighorn Medicine Wheel (View from above)   It is very interesting to think about ancient cultures that studied astronomy hundreds or even thousands of years ago. Among these cultures were the Native American tribes. Native Americans built structures, now known as medicine wheels, in places across what is now the US. One of the most … Continue reading The Bighorn Medicine Wheel → Continue reading →

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Solar Wind

Posted on February 11, 2018 by samssolarsystem

The corona, the outer layer of the sun’s atmosphere, can reach temperatures of up to 2 million degrees Fahrenheit.  This atmospheric temperature emits incredible amounts of thermal energy, which causes the particles in the corona to rapidly move around.  At a certain point, the sun’s gravity cannot contain these particles and they breach the sun’s … Continue reading Solar Wind → Continue reading →

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