Tag Archives: astro201

Asteroids and Impacts in Perspective

Posted on April 9, 2014 by hughavanheesewijk

When asked to think of massive impacts that our Earth has experienced one would most probably think first to the impact that happened 65 million years ago that caused the extinction of dinosaurs. When you look back further to the period of heavy bombardment you will uncover truly terrific impacts. Specifically an impact that occurred […] 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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Io is Outrageously Hot

Posted on April 9, 2014 by hughavanheesewijk

Io is known for being extremely volcanic. By just looking at images of Jupiter’s closest moon you can assume that this is a particularly hot world. Io’s scalding heat is caused by the extreme tidal forces that act upon it. Now when we compare the heat flow on Io to the heat flow on Earth it is possible to […] Continue reading →

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Rosetta’s Trajectory

Posted on April 9, 2014 by karapetros

This photo found on NASA’s Solar Exploration page diagrams the trajectory for the European Space Agency’s mission Rosetta’s exploration of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Launched in 2004, Rosetta has since flown-by Earth three times, Mars, and two asteroids, and is scheduled to arrive at the comet later this year.  It’s so how cool scientist are ale … Continue reading Rosetta’s Trajectory → Continue reading →

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A Personal Satellite

Posted on April 9, 2014 by almetetj

Ardusat Breakdown Have you ever wished you could own your very own satellite? The space exploration hobbyist’s dream is coming true in a new arduino project called Ardusat. Developed by a company named Nanosatisfi, this product combines the open source user friendly interface of arduino technology with the space friendly CubeSat design platform. This project […] Continue reading →

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The Planet Vulcan

Posted on April 9, 2014 by dhbrett

After the discovery of Neptune, which was predicted by gravitational aberrations in the orbit of Uranus, an astronomer named Urbain Leverrier noticed aberrations in the orbit of Mercury. He hypothesized that there must be another planet between Mercury and the Sun, for which he proposed the name Vulcan. No such planet exists, and the aberrations … Continue reading The Planet Vulcan → Continue reading →

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Extra Solar Planets, Probable Cause for Life Elsewhere

Posted on April 9, 2014 by almetetj

  “Kepler Orrery (large and small systems)” An extra solar planet is define as an object in space that meets the formal definition detailed by the IAU with the exception that it orbits a star other than the Sun. As of April 4, 2014 there have 1780 planets discovered in 1103 planetary systems (460 of […] Continue reading →

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The Origin of Comets

Posted on April 9, 2014 by paanvaannd

<Image from this post from here> Every 76 years, viewers from our little planet of Earth are treated to a spectacular show of Halley’s comet streaking across the sky. The comet was observed for centuries but ancient astronomers failed to identify this comet’s appearance as a recurring event, thinking that each comet was unique and … Continue reading The Origin of Comets → Continue reading →

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Enceladus For Life!

Posted on April 9, 2014 by blankster22

Just last week, researchers released findings that confirm an ocean on Saturn’s moon Enceladus, something that scientists had previously suspected, but could not validate. The moon, which is very small compared to our own (only 300 miles wide), has strange geological features around its South pole that initially led to the hypothesis of a sub-surface […] Continue reading →

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Ludicrous Speed

Posted on April 9, 2014 by efb28

Science fiction is known for its use of futuristic technology that is impossible or at least seems to be at the time. In Spaceballs (parodying Star Wars) ludicrous speed is used to comically travel faster than the speed of light. You would think anything like this would have to fall into the part of science […] Continue reading →

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