Category Archives: Sun

Blog Post 3: What will happen when our Sun dies???

Posted on March 7, 2023 by Myles7235

Just as all things have a beginning, all things have an end. Unfortunately this applies to our Sun as well. As a kid, I used to think that the Sun was basically just like a lamp light in the sky. When a lamp runs out of batteries, all you have to do to make it […] Continue reading →

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Blog #4: Nuclear Fusion

Posted on March 7, 2023 by reidwalker87

Nuclear fusion is the process that drives star light formation and prevents the force of gravity of the star from collapsing into itself. In a nuclear fusion reaction, two smaller nuclei, typically hydrogen isotopes, bond together to form a helium atom while immense amounts of energy are released. The fusion between smaller atoms continues to […] Continue reading →

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nuclear fusion

Posted on March 1, 2023 by Emma Williams

Have you ever wondered why the sun shines? It’s a question that has inspired centuries of astronomers to come up with a wide variety of explanations. It was once thought that the sun shone because of chemical combustion, but we now know that there is nowhere near enough oxygen for that process to have sustained […] Continue reading →

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Solar Flares and the Carrington Event

Posted on February 26, 2023 by sydneyastr2110

We heard a little bit about the Carrington Event in class, and I wanted to know more about it. A solar flare is essentially a burst of energy on the Sun which sends electrified gas and subatomic particles toward Earth. In 1859, there was an abnormally large solar flare caused two geomagnetic storms known as […] Continue reading →

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Powered and Unpowered Gravity Assists

Posted on February 12, 2023 by Trevor Pillow

The farthest planets in the solar system are so distant, it is infeasible to reach them using only rockets. The delta-v, or change in velocity, required to propel a spacecraft to a gas giant like Saturn is far too impractical for today’s rockets to achieve. The main problem is that a spacecraft needs tons of […] Continue reading →

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Blog Post 2 – What was Stonehenge really for?

Posted on February 10, 2023 by Melanie Marszal

Most people have seen pictures or heard of Stonehenge, an ancient monument on the Salisbury Plain in England. Personally, while I had seen references to Stonehenge in the media, I never actually knew what it was for, or what people thought it was for. It has been difficult for historians to find a definitive answer, […] Continue reading →

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Solar Eclipses 😱😎

Posted on January 22, 2023 by sadiekarr

(Eclipse over Jackson, Wyoming by Ronan Donovan via NatGeo) In August 2017 a total solar eclipse was witnessed by many, cutting across the United States. My family, here in Nashville, TN, was able to see it! Even though it was a Monday, and I should have had classes, my school was cancelled for the day […] Continue reading →

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Identifying Jupiter and Mars

Posted on January 21, 2023 by Europa

Last night, I was looking up at the night sky while walking to dinner. I noticed a few constellations, as well as two brighter points of light that I was pretty sure were Mars and Jupiter. Normally, I can identify them, but for some reason Mars didn’t look as red to me as it normally […] Continue reading →

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When the Sun Dies

Posted on May 5, 2022 by Kaitlyn Lane

All good things must come to an end, including the ancient (at least relative to humanity), life-giving star we see each day. Even though the sun is considered a young star, it still has a finite lifetime, and it will eventually “die” in about 5 billion years. The image above shows a rough timeline of […] Continue reading →

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Blog #4: Coronal Mass Ejections

Posted on March 22, 2022 by nadiamcglynn

Coronal Mass Ejections are ejections of solar wind and plasma from our Sun’s corona. The blast from a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), carries about a billion tons of material away from the sun at speeds ranging from 250 km/s to almost 3000 km/s. (NOAA) If they are directed toward Earth when they are ejected from […] Continue reading →

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