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Category Archives: Small SS Objects
Blog 5: Comets
Comets are relatively small bodies in our solar system comprised of dust, rock, gases, and ice. They are remnants from the formation of the solar system, and their solid bodies, or nuclei, can range from a few miles to dozens of miles wide. When its orbit gets close to the sun, this nucleus heats up […] Continue reading
Posted in Class, Small SS Objects
Tagged astro2110, blog5, comet, Kuiper Belt, Milky Way, Solar System
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Blog Post 5: Comets and their Tails
Comets are large balls of dust, rock, and ice that travel across our solar system and other solar systems. They are large like asteroids, around 10 km in diameter in our solar system. The largest one in our Solar System is Bernardinelli-Bernstein, a massive body about 85 miles in diameter. These objects can approach near […] Continue reading
Posted in Class, Small SS Objects
Tagged astro2110, blog5, Comets
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Lucy Spacecraft
I chose to research Lucy, a future NASA mission, for my final blog. Throughout the semester, my favorite topics we have covered in class have been ones revolving around space exploration. I am fascinated by the complex missions that humans send out into space. Lucy is an upcoming mission set to launch from Cape CanaveralContinue reading “Lucy Spacecraft” Continue reading
Comet Swift-Tuttle
Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle (which is unfortunately not named after Taylor Swift) is just one of the several thousand comets that are known to astronomers. The “P” in its name stands for “periodic comet”, which means that it has an orbital period of less than 200 years. It was separately discovered in 1862 by Lewis Swift andContinue reading “Comet Swift-Tuttle” Continue reading
Posted in Small SS Objects
Tagged astro2110, blog6, comet, Solar System
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Types of Kuiper Belt Objects
You have likely heard of the asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter, but did you know we also have the Kuiper belt? It’s approximately 20 AU (astronomical units) wide and is located beyond Neptune. Several dwarf planets such as Pluto, Makemake, Haumea, and Eris are all located here. Unlike asteroids which are mostly composedContinue reading “Types of Kuiper Belt Objects” Continue reading
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Tagged astro2110, blog5, kuiperbelt, Solar System
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Han Solo Is Working Too Hard
While science-fiction flicks like Star Wars produce some exhilarating and high-stakes chase scenes with the help of treacherous asteroid fields/belts, in reality, you could probably navigate these asteroid belts blind-folded. With all due respect to Han Solo’s piloting skills and his less than twelve parsecs Kessel run, he would not actually have needed to utilizeContinue reading “Han Solo Is Working Too Hard” Continue reading
Posted in Class, Small SS Objects
Tagged asteroids, astro2110, blog6, sci-fi, Solar System, space, starwars
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Kuiper Belt Objects (woah)
Was I the only one who thought that only the 8 main planets that everyone knows about + Pluto and a couple other dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets here or there were the only things that orbited our sun? Yeah well, I am very wrong, and if you thought that too, so are you :0.Continue reading “Kuiper Belt Objects (woah)” Continue reading
Posted in Class, Dwarf Planets, Small SS Objects
Tagged astro2110, blog5, Kuiper Belt
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Asteroid Mining
Asteroids are failed planetesimals made up of rock and metals, some of which may be valuable such as platinum, silver, and gold. Around 8% of the asteroids in the asteroid belt are ones full of precious metals. Some platinum heavy asteroids may contain 175 times the amount of platinum mined yearly on Earth. For this […] Continue reading
Meteorites
Meteorites are fascinating. As we learned in class, a meteor is a flash of light caused by a particle of dust or rock entering Earth’s atmosphere at a high speed. But, a meteorite is a meteor that survives its drop through the atmosphere and reaches Earth’s surface. In terms of discovering meteorites, there is aContinue reading “Meteorites” Continue reading
Gravity of a Mysterious Object
Credit: Caltech/R.Hurt (IPAC) We know that there are 8 planets in the Solar System. This is a fact. You would be crazy to think that there is a 9th planet out there orbiting beyond Pluto. After all, if there was a 9th planet, why haven’t we seen it yet? Well, meet Konstantin Batygin, a professorContinue reading “Gravity of a Mysterious Object” Continue reading
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Tagged astro2110, blog2, gravity, planets, Solar System
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