Category Archives: Small SS Objects

includes asteroids, Kuiper Belt objects, comets

Halley’s Comet

Posted on April 10, 2016 by martisnv

Halley’s Comet is visible from Earth every 75-76 years. It is the only known short-period comet (a comet that has an orbital period of less than 200 years) that is visible to the naked eye. Halley most recently visited the inner parts … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The Stardust Mission

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Chloe

Missions that deliberately bring back extraterrestrial material to Earth are rare. The NASA Stardust, a probe that launched in  1999, sought to collect dust samples from the comet Wild 2’s tail. Prior to the mission, experts believed that the dust in comets’ tails would be pre-solar particles. Instead, what they found from the particles retrieved […] Continue reading →

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Your Zodiac Sign is Wrong: 3 Misconceptions You Have About the Night-Sky

Posted on January 26, 2016 by harperastronomyblog

We all get it. You’re a Capricorn or a Taurus or a Sagittarius or a(n) [any other zodiac constellation]. You’ve read all of your horoscopes, and they fit your personality soooo well. “This is so me,” you might yell to your friends, completely disregarding the fact that they don’t care which vague internet prediction you identify with. […] Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens, Class, Dwarf Planets, Exoplanets, Galaxies, General, Historical, Instruments, Jovians, Light, Moons, Observables, Outreach, Physics, Planet Rings, Public Policy, Science, Small SS Objects, SolarSystem, Space Travel, Stars, Sun, Terrestrials, Universe | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Your Zodiac Sign is Wrong: 3 Misconceptions You Have About the Night-Sky

Blog Post #7: Comets Can Be Artists Too

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Elizabeth D.

bbc.com A new study shows that Mercury may have been “painted” black by passing comets. In class, we have learned to compare …

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The Cosmic Snowball

Posted on April 5, 2015 by jamej00

Halley’s Comet This video tells us about the history of Halley’s Comet, which turns out to have actually been documented in medieval history in previous passes by the sun.  Because of the rarity with which comets actually appear in our night sky, they used to be tied to ancient superstitions; for example, to the ancient Chinese they signaled a… Continue reading →

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Between a Rock and a Whole Lot of Air

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Sam Chance

The first documented occurrence of a person being struck by a meteorite was a woman in Alabama being struck while napping by a rock that bounced off her wooden console radio. But could you imagine  being struck straight on by a meteorite while skydiving? That is exactly what happened to Anders Helstrup, after leaping for … Continue reading Between a Rock and a Whole Lot of Air → Continue reading →

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Life in the Periphery

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Sam Chance

Sedna is a dwarf planet existing outside of the Kuiper Belt; in itself that makes it fairly distinct as there is only one other dwarf planet existing beyond the Kuiper Belt and that was only discovered in late March. The other thing that makes Sedna interesting is that it has ultra-red material which is indicative … Continue reading Life in the Periphery → Continue reading →

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Almost Hit by a Meteorite

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Chad F

In the video above, a skydiver was almost hit by a meteorite falling through Earth’s atmosphere.  There is only one person in recorded history, Ann Hodges from Alabama in 1954, to ever be hit by a meteorite and that was off of a bounce.  With all of the people that have lived throughout human history, you have a better chance of […] Continue reading →

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Mining in Space

Posted on April 8, 2014 by colepospisil

Whenever one thinks about mining in space, the image that is likely to come to mind is of drilling an asteroid made of solid gold. However, this is unlikely to be how this process will ever occur. That is partially because the value of the resources that one would receive from them would overcome the […] Continue reading →

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Ceres, the Inner Solar System Dwarf Planet

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Chad F

Ceres was discovered in 1801 and is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.  It was originally classified as a planet, but has since been demoted to a dwarf planet.  It is thought to have an icy mantle and a rocky core with the possibility of a subsurface ocean and thin atmosphere. […] Continue reading →

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