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Category Archives: Sun
Could There be Life on Europa?
Europa is one of Jupiter’s Galilean moons, meaning it’s one of the four largest moons that orbit Jupiter. What makes it particularly special is that it is considered one of the most likely places in our solar system (outside of Earth) that might contain life. Now, at a glance, it seems like that shouldn’t beContinue reading “Could There be Life on Europa?” Continue reading
Gravitational Waves
Gravitational waves are a fascinating concept. The thought starts from the idea that gravity moves at the speed of light. Now, at the start this sounds like a silly idea. Doesn’t the force of gravity always act on people? Yet take this example. Say the sun were to simply disappear. Not explode or change, butContinue reading “Gravitational Waves” Continue reading
Posted in Class, Galaxies, Sun
Tagged astro2110, Black Holes, Einstein, gravity, light-speed, space
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One Strange Shield
About a year ago National Geographic released a television series titled “One Strange Rock.” It can be found on Disney+. This series looks at how life on Earth survives and thrives. It is especially interesting because it tells this story through eight astronauts (and Will Smith!) who have spent about 1,000 days in space. AnContinue reading “One Strange Shield” Continue reading
The Sun: A New View
Recently, a new telescope has allowed solar scientists to see the surface of the Sun in more detail than ever before. Although each of these golden kernels look small in size, each one can be estimated to be about the size of Texas to make up our Sun. These kernels compose the magnetic field ofContinue reading “The Sun: A New View” Continue reading
Possible Effects of Solar Flares
If a large solar flare were to directly hit the Earth, it would significantly affect all of the electronics on Earth. Us being so dependent on electronics, this would be crippling to essentially all forms of communications, payment and many other important functions of life. Most cars would shut down due to many new carsContinue reading “Possible Effects of Solar Flares” Continue reading
Posted in Class, Light, Sun
Tagged astro2110, blog4, Solar System, technology
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How Does the Sun Create Enough Energy to Reach the Entire Solar System?
The heat and light energy, that which allows for life on Earth and provides energy for the entire solar systems, comes from a powerful yet simply process from deep within the core of the sun. This process is called nuclear fusion. Essentially, single protons, which can also be defined as singular hydrogen molecules, fuse togetherContinue reading “How Does the Sun Create Enough Energy to Reach the Entire Solar System?” Continue reading
Posted in Light, Sun
Tagged astro2110, blog3, energy, fusion, nuclearfusion, Solar System, space
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Parker Solar Probe: Understanding Coronal Dynamics
Launched on August 12th, 2018, the Parker Solar Probe will make the closest approach to the Sun in history. Over a time period of roughly seven years, PSP will use Venus for gravitational assist to make successively closer approaches to the Sun at distances as small as 4 million miles from the sun’s surface. PSPContinue reading “Parker Solar Probe: Understanding Coronal Dynamics” Continue reading
Posted in Instruments, Sun
Tagged astro2110, blog3, magnetic field, space weather, technology
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Mass of the Sun
Source: space.com Learning about the planets in our last few classes (RIP senior year) reaffirmed for me that the earth is indeed very small compared to the other planets in the solar system. But then I read that 99.8% of the mass in the solar system is still contained within the sun! Even though theContinue reading “Mass of the Sun” Continue reading
Posted in Class, SolarSystem, Sun
Tagged astro2110, blog3, Solar System
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SOHO, the Sun-Watching Satellite
For my post this week, I decided to explore and learn about a spacecraft that I was not familiar with. After some research, I came across SOHO. SOHO is the longest-lived Sun-watching satellite to date. SOHO over its lifetime has been able to observe two full 11-year solar cycles and discover thousands of comets closeContinue reading “SOHO, the Sun-Watching Satellite” Continue reading
Posted in Class, Sun
Tagged astro2110, blog3, spacecraft
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How Spherical is the Sun?
From what we know about planets like the Earth and its properties, we may expect the Sun to also experience a bulge, causing its shape to deviate from a perfect sphere. It turns out that the Sun isn’t a perfect sphere, but it’s pretty close to one. If fact, with the help of instruments onContinue reading “How Spherical is the Sun?” Continue reading