Tag Archives: astro201

“Games without rules have many possible outcomes.” – Andrew Knoll, Harvard

Posted on April 9, 2014 by juliamac17

On a slightly more positive note to my other post about my reservations to the search for extraterrestrial life, NASA has recently confirmed that Saturn’s moon, Enceladus has been hiding a Lake Superior-sized ocean. It was discovered using data gathered by the Cassini spacecraft, and while suspicions have been around for a while, it has […] Continue reading →

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Metallic hydrogen

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Drew Hamilton

In learning about the interiors, we’ve heard a lot about metallic hydrogen. To me, it was a confusing idea, simply because I only really hear about hydrogen in the context of being a gas or being a compound such as water or methane. Furthermore, it was not clear what phase metallic hydrogen would be, since… 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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What are we even looking for?

Posted on April 9, 2014 by juliamac17

So recently we’ve been looking at different planets. Some of the planets that we tend to find most interesting are those that we think could possibly support life. But instead of tackling the life question from an excited human standpoint, I’m looking at it in a slightly wary, totally suspicious one. What are we looking for? […] Continue reading →

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Life on Moons

Posted on April 9, 2014 by paanvaannd

<Image for this post taken from here> The Galilean moons, especially Europa, have been objects of interest for decades for scientists interested in finding life in our own solar system. Europa’s relatively young surface is, for the most part, devoid of the pockmarked landscapes that signify a geologically inactive world, meaning that there must be … Continue reading Life on Moons → Continue reading →

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Pluto hitting Neptune?

Posted on April 9, 2014 by efb28

Some time between elementary school and high school, you probably heard that Pluto and Neptune’s orbits crossed and that one day “far into the future” (to not scare kids) they would hit each other. Well, in reality, that collision will never take place. The reason Pluto and Neptune will never collide is that their orbits […] Continue reading →

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Unaccountable Freak: A Story of Halley’s Comet

Posted on April 9, 2014 by claremcdaniel

I’ve been interested in Halley’s comet for a long time. Something about the fact that it always come back, and the times when it will are so utterly predictable while being huge in terms of human conceptions of time, has … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Asteroids and Orbital Resonance

Posted on April 9, 2014 by dhbrett

Why is there an asteroid belt in our solar system, and why is it located where it is? The main asteroid belt is located between Mars and Jupiter, and it was formed by an effect called orbital resonance. Orbital resonance occurs when the gravity fields of two objects align. Because Jupiter was so large during … Continue reading Asteroids and Orbital Resonance → Continue reading →

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Ganymede Has a Hidden Ocean, and I Think That’s So Cool

Posted on April 9, 2014 by claremcdaniel

Ganymede is my personal favorite moon (sorry, Luna) because it has a hidden ocean inside of it, and I cannot get over that! I mean, sandwiched in between an external layer of icy matters and the core is an entire … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Europa’s Ocean

Posted on April 9, 2014 by blankster22

We often think that liquid water is the answer to life in the universe. While it certainly makes some forms of life possible, it doesn’t guarantee their existence. If it did, we would certainly not be alone, even in this solar system, as several Galilean moons are thought to have sub-surface water oceans. The most […] Continue reading →

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