Blog Post #3

Posted on March 5, 2024 by Robert Navarro

The solar system began to form from a giant molecular cloud of gas and dust particles about 4.6 billion years ago. This cloud most likely experienced a shock wave from a nearby supernova, which could have made it collapse under its own gravity. It then began to spin and flatten into a disk shape due to conservation of angular momentum. Most of the material in this nebula was pulled towards the center, in which formed our Sun. Within the spinning disk, the process of accretion had tiny grains of dust colling that caused them to stick and form larger particles called planetesimals. These planetesimals continued to collide and accumulate to form planets. Close to the Sun, where it is hotter, only rocky materials could condense, leading to the formation of 4 inner terrestrial planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. As you go more towards the outside, the cooler, icy materials are able to condense, allowing for the formation of the outer gas giants: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. As the planets formed, they cleared out their paths of orbit, by gravitational attraction. However, some debris remained which led to the formation of asteroids and comets. Asteroids are rocky remnants from the early solar system that never formed into planets, primarily found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Comets are icy bodies composed of dust, rock, and ice that originate from the outer solar system and sometimes head closer to the Sun.

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Blog 3- The Sun and its Core!

Posted on March 5, 2024 by Julian Delamaza
Layers of the Sun

As I was growing up, I never truly understood what the sun exactly was. I had understood that it emitted light and eventually I learned that it was basically a big ball of really really REALLY hot gasses. However I never understood the intricacies behind the Sun’s structure. The most interesting part of the sun’s structure to me is its core. Within the core, we can learn how the sun produces massive amounts of energy output that results from the extremely high temperatures and densities created by the surrounding gas. In the process of nuclear fusion, hydrogen atoms slam into one another creating the energy that escapes the sun and is seen as visible light by us on Earth. This process is extremely interesting as it is balanced by the inward gravitational pull of the star. Knowing the different layers of the sun have different levels of pressure and how the core creates a unique process of fusion is extremely fascinating to me and will have me looking a little differently at that great ball of fire we see in our sky every day.

Source: NASA MSFC

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Understanding Auroras: The Physics of Earth’s Magnetic Light Shows

Posted on March 5, 2024 by Garrett

The Northern Lights

The northern lights, or aurora borealis, is a display of natural light that occurs in the Earth’s sky. What you might not know is that there is another light show on Earth called aurora australis, which occurs in the southern hemisphere. So, what causes these natural and captivating lights? Solar winds are a stream of charged particles given off by the sun. During a coronal mass ejection, these winds are stronger and have more energy when they reach Earth. When a solar wind approaches Earth, it is funneled toward the poles by Earth’s magnetic field. The charged particles then collide with the atoms and molecules in the atmosphere and excite them. This causes the molecules to release photons, which we see in the sky as the colored lights. The color of the lights depends on what type of gas is excited by the solar particles because each gas has its own emission spectrum. What is also interesting is that the altitude of the gas also impacts the color. For example, oxygen at high altitudes gives off a red color, while at lower altitudes, it gives off a green one. Other planets give off auroras too! Any planet with an atmosphere and a magnetic field can emit an aurora. Auroras on Jupiter and Saturn have been documented.

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Blog 3: Fusion

Posted on March 5, 2024 by Jonas Kobza

We hear it all the time: Fusion is the future; it’s how the sun creates energy. But, how does it work? At its core, fusion generates energy by converting four hydrogen atoms (protons) into 1 helium atom with two neutrons (Helium-4 ). On the surface, it is hard to see how any energy is created from this process. We know that one proton and one neutron have about 1 AMU of mass, and those savvy with their laws of physics know that matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed—So how does this process seem to “generate” energy?

In reality, 1 helium atom is a tiny bit (0.047E-27 kg) less massive than 4 protons. This “missing
mass is not gone, but released from the reaction as energy. Einstein taught us that mass is equivalent to energy (E = mc^2) at a fundamental level, so this is where the energy from fusion comes from. Because c^2 is a very large constant, ~9E16, a tiny amount of mass is converted to a large amount of energy. This is how the sun produces the massive amount of energy that we see radiating on us everyday. It is also why fusion has been very hard to replicate here on earth; the temperatures and pressures present in the core of the sun and required for fusion are so intense that they are very difficult to create here on Earth. But, that does not stop us from trying.

The experimental IETR fusion reactor.
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Geology of Mars

Posted on March 5, 2024 by Jack Abrams
Olympus Mons

Mars has a fascinating geology that is very comparable to Earth in many ways and also shows its very dynamic history. A well known geological feature on Mars is Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system, which stands at a height of approximately 16 miles and spans 374 miles in diameter. To compare, the largest volcano on Earth is Mauna Loa which is 6.3 mi high and the volume of Olympus Mons is almost 100 times larger than that of Mauna Loa. Because Mars lacks plate tectonics, its crust remains stationary and the lava continues to pile up in one place into one very large volcano. 

Another very cool feature of Mars’ geology is Valles Marineris, a massive canyon system. This system runs along the Martian equator and is 2500 mi long and reaches depths of up to 4 mi. This dwarfs the Grand Canyon in Arizona which is only 500 miles long and about 1 mile deep. To put this in perspective, Valles Marineris is as long as the United States and spans about ⅕ the entire distance around Mars. Valles Marineris formed from the cracking of the Martin crust as the Tharsis region uplifted and the planet cooled. It was widened by erosional forces, and potentially formed by water channels that have been found on the eastern flanks of the rift.

Mars’ surface also shows signs of ancient rivers and lakes which is evidenced by dried-up river valleys, and lake beds. This means that Mars once had a climate that could support liquid water and potentially life. As you can see, Mars’ geology is super fascinating and really helps to unravel the history of the planet. One thing’s for sure, future astronauts will have some pretty spectacular places to check out on Mars!

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Natural Ozone Formation

Posted on March 5, 2024 by Owen Purcell

In the history of life on Earth, ozone has played an incredibly important role. For much of the early history of life, the atmosphere contained little oxygen, slowly being replaced by carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. It wasn’t until a critical mass of this CO2 was replaced that animal life could venture onto land. This is due, in large part, to the role of ozone. As oxygen began to fill up the atmosphere, it made its way into the stratosphere. There it encountered ultraviolet radiation, where it underwent a chemical reaction involving a catalyst molecule, and turned into ozone. This is how ozone forms, and it plays an integral role in moderating the greenhouse effect to maintain global temperatures, as well as absorbing ultraviolet light from the sun. Without significant protection from ultraviolet light, animal life on land would have been completely different and much harsher, if it were possible at all.

(https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/wxwise/ozone/OZONE2.html)

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The Role of Radioactive Decay in Earth’s Internal Heat

Posted on March 5, 2024 by Garrett

Image: Cross Section of Earth

As we have learned, the cause of seasons is the directness of sunlight a particular region of the Earth receives. What you may not know is that the sun is not the only source that heats up the Earth. The Earth actually internally generates its own heat through radioactive decay. In the Earth’s core and mantle, elements like potassium, uranium, and thorium decay from unstable to stable isotopes. When an unstable nucleus decays, it releases energy in the form of heat as it achieves its more stable configuration. The heat this decay contributes to the atmosphere is 0.05 watts per square meter, while the heat from solar radiation is about 341.3 watts per square meter. This heat from decay is fractional compared to the heat from the sun, but it plays an important role in geological processes. Plate tectonics and volcanic activity are all driven by mantle convection, which is significantly impacted by the Earth’s internal heat.

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Asteroid Mining

Posted on March 5, 2024 by Ayden Harris

As we know, the Earth’s resources are finite. There are only so many materials and metals that we can extract from Earth before it runs out. To help combat this problem, a new solution was envisioned, asteroid mining. What asteroid mining would do is collect precious metals from asteroids near Earth. Some of these include platinum and other minerals.

An important aspect to this is the cost. The cost to send the infrastructure to the asteroid would be around 2.6 billion USD. The infrastructure itself would have a steep cost, which would cost hundreds of millions if not billions to develop. Would this cost be worth it? Well according to a case study, there could be 25-50 billion dollars’ worth of platinum on platinum rich asteroids. Although this may seem worth it, at any point during the flight the shuttle could fail and all that money that was invested is lost. So, only time will tell if asteroid mining could be a viable option.

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Why Stars?

Posted on March 5, 2024 by Tejas Mahesh

Throughout history, many civilizations have been fascinated by the stars in the night sky. But the question is why. Why have many civilizations been fascinated by stars? What makes the night sky so attractive to humans? Why did they ascribe meaning to tiny dots that shone brightly, and seemed so far away? I present the case that asking questions led to humans to the night sky.

I think that imaginations and understanding the why was developed as a survival habit. The human that mistook a tiger for a tree branch probably survived longer than the human who didn’t do that. In that one in a million chance, the tiger could be lurking behind the tree and the one who was cautious and avoided that danger survived longer. However, it requires some imagination for a human to mistake that the tree branch looks like a tiger. It required the human brain to notice that the configuration of the tree branches had a close resemblance to a tigers legs or face. The ability to abstract, generalize, and recognize patterns was sent down the reproductive chain. The minute that imagination took root, asking the question why followed. The result of imagination is intuitively answers the question why in a specific scenario. Obviously, it wouldn’t take too long for a human to ask such a question. The minute the human asks why, the existential crisis begins. The hungry need to provide meaning to the world around them began to take over their entire lives. The dawn of consciousness put humans in a perpetual state of despair derived from the unknown around them. Just when one begins to know the world around them, they learn that they truly don’t know anything. So, the minute the first question was asked, the second one followed. The minute the second one was asked, the third one followed, and so on and so forth. It now wouldn’t be much of a surprise for a kid one day laying on his back, staring up at the sky, wondering why there are so many dots that are white and why the night sky is black. He probably wonders why the Moon is white and the sky is blue. So, the necessity to answer what those tiny dots across the sky are. He spends his entire time learning about stories of creation, subconsciously identifying patterns (the skill his ancestors passed down) that will allow him to solve this question. One day, he will grow up, and add to the collection of stories that his people talk around him. And that’s how human’s fascination with stars began and has continued for millennia.

Credit: News Week. A picture showing the Milky Way Galaxy at night.
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Nuclear Fusion

Posted on March 5, 2024 by Tejas Mahesh

We know that the Sun is extremely hot. Its surface temperature is 5,500 K. Temperature is a measurement of energy. So, we know that the Sun possesses huge amounts of energy. Where does that energy come from? How does the Sun create that much energy?

Credit: Gravity Warp Drive website. This image shows how the Sun generates energy.

Through a process called nuclear fusion, the Sun manages to create enough energy to keep itself from collapsing onto itself. Specifically, the Sun follows the cycle known as the proton-proton chain.

We have two branches above. Since they are exactly the same, we shall look at one of the branches. We start off with two protons with high kinetic energy. Due to their high kinetic energy, they were able to overcome the repulsive force (like charges repel) and smash into each other. In the process, a positron, a neutrino and a proton-neutron combo are created. The positron is anti-electron: it acts just like an electron, but with a positive charge instead. The positron finds an electron, and they annihilate each other, creating energy through the form of two gamma rays (electromagnetic radiation). The neutrino is created to preserve momentum. They are created from the decay of a proton into a neutron, which is how we have a proton-neutron combo. Next, the proton-neutron combo and a proton smash into each other releasing energy in the form of a gamma ray, and producing a helium isotope, containing two protons and one neutron. In total, three gamma rays of energy were produced. The same thing occurs in the other branch. It produces a positron, neutrino, a gamma ray, and a helium isotope, containing two protons and one neutron. The positron finds an electron, they annihilate each other, and produce two gamma rays of energy. So, in total three gamma rays of energy were produced from the other branch. The two helium isotopes smash into each other creating two individual protons, and another helium isotope, containing two protons and two neutrons. Overall, including both branches, six gamma rays of energy were produced. It may not seem like a lot. However, with the huge hydrogen supply, the Sun can smash a lot of hydrogen together creating enough outward radiation pressure to balance the inward gravitational force. The Sun consumes 620 million metric tons of hydrogen every second and produces 616 million metric tons of helium. So it creates an energy equivalent to 4 million metric tons, using E = mc^2.

The insane amount of energy the Sun creates helps keep itself alive, keep us alive, and every being on planet Earth. Without nuclear fusion, we just can’t survive.

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