Tag Archives: astro201

Saturn’s Rings

Posted on April 7, 2013 by hannahladendorf13

     I think I speak for a lot of people (or maybe I don’t) but I honestly thought Saturn’s rings were legit rings, made up of a solid material that didn’t break and rotated around Saturn.   It is amazing … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Triton: The Unexpected Volcanic World

Posted on April 7, 2013 by hannahladendorf13

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eXac1DGcjM When we think of volcanic activity, we expect molten lava to come out.  However, this video from the Science Channel explains that instead of lava, Triton actually produces nitrogen gas to the atmospheric as well as “moon dust.”   As … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Why is Europa so Awesome?

Posted on April 7, 2013 by fathomingthestars

A lot of the science community is excited about the possibility of life of Mars.  But, as we know, the vast majority of Mars’s atmosphere is composed of carbon dioxide and what water it does have is frozen in its polar ice caps.  An arguably much more exciting destination in our own Solar System is […] Continue reading →

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Exoplanets

Posted on April 3, 2013 by juliettealper

Our lecture on exoplanets in class today reminded me of an article that I saw a few months ago about the discovery of new exoplanets. After looking deeper into it, I realized that just a month ago scientists discovered 2,700 objects that could potentially be considered planets. Not only is this a possibility, but around […] Continue reading →

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Dark Matter Discovered?

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Megan C

Scientists announced today that they may have finally found dark matter. Dark matter is the invisible matter making up most of the universe, but scientists can’t see it because it emits no light.  Scientists only know it exists because dark matter’s gravity bends light – gravitational lensing – and because stars are orbiting in galaxies […] Continue reading →

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New Saturn Discoveries

Posted on April 1, 2013 by juliettealper

As we’ve learned in class, Saturn is an interesting planet mostly for its “rings” made of many small rocks and particles.  Because Saturn is a Jovian planet and so far away, we are still trying to learn as much as we can about it. In fact, scientists have discovered new information about Saturn’s rings and […] Continue reading →

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Almost Interstellar

Posted on March 22, 2013 by theskyisbeautifultonight

So, has humanity become Earth’s first interstellar species?  It all depends on whether the Voyager 1 spacecraft has left our solar system or not. Voyager NASA First, some history.  The Voyager program actually consisted of two space probes, Voyager 1 and 2, launched September 5, 1977 and August 20, 1977, respectively.  The probes were launched […] Continue reading →

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Galileo’s Moons

Posted on March 22, 2013 by theskyisbeautifultonight

To me, moons are fascinating.  Many planets in our solar system have them, with the majority belonging to the gas giants in the outer solar system.  For me, the most interesting of all the moons is not Earth’s, but rather the Galilean ones, so named because Galileo Galilei was the first to discover them orbiting […] Continue reading →

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Greenhouse Gases

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Elizabeth Merriman

As noted in the textbook, the Earth is hotter than it would be without it’s atmosphere.  According to the EES 201 notes, just based on incoming solar radiation and 30% reflected back to space, the Earth is 255 K.   … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Building the Launch Pad of the Future

Posted on March 20, 2013 by JT McJunkins

NASA’s Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) Program is currently upgrading and modifying Launch Pad 39B (pictured above) at the Kennedy Space Center. The Space Launch System, with the Orion spacecraft atop it, will release from this … Continue reading →

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