Tag Archives: blog5

The Aurora Phenomenom

Posted on March 14, 2015 by bryancm1

Auroras are caused when particles from the sun become trapped in a planet’s magnetosphere. These particles gain energy and travel down the magnetic field and collide with atmospheric atoms and molecules. This collision is what produces the light that we see in an aurora. We have all probably seen pictures of auroras on Earth. Do […] Continue reading →

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Climate Change

Posted on March 14, 2015 by newbeelity

Climate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns when that change lasts for an extended period of time (i.e., decades to millions of years). (Definition from Wikipedia) Climate change is caused by biotic processes, variations in solar radiation, plate tectonics and volcanic eruptions. Human activities have also been regarded as a cause of recent… Continue reading →

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The Biggest Volcano in the Solar System

Posted on March 14, 2015 by emilyksharp

The biggest volcano in the solar system was discovered in 1971 by the space probe Mariner 9, though it is …

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A Moment of Appreciation for the Sun

Posted on March 14, 2015 by oliviasn

One object in the Solar System that I tend to take for granted proves to be the Sun. Because it is a constant in my life and I always know that I can depend on it rising and setting everyday, I often overlook how powerful it is. The Sun has been shining for 4.6 billion […] Continue reading →

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Sun Triggers Radio Blackout with First X-Class Flare

Posted on March 12, 2015 by jclyncmp

The Sun triggered a radio blackout with the first X-class solar flare of 2015 on Wednesday, March 11th at 12:22pm ET. A solar flare is a sudden flash of brightness on the Sun’s surface. Solar flares are classified as A,…

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Sun Triggers Radio Blackout with First X-Class Flare

Posted on March 12, 2015 by jclyncmp

The Sun triggered a radio blackout with the first X-class solar flare of 2015 on Wednesday, March 11th at 12:22pm ET. A solar flare is a sudden flash of brightness on the Sun’s surface. Solar flares are classified as A,…

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Mysterious Plumes in Martian Atmosphere

Posted on March 12, 2015 by robbyks

In 2012, two strange cloud-like plumes were observed over Mars, and astronomers are still trying to solve the mystery of what caused this in Mars’ atmosphere. The two plumes were observed a month apart, one lasting ten days and the other lasting eleven days. The clouds were seen at a high altitude of 200-250 km […] Continue reading →

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Serious About Ceres

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Marissa LePore

NASA’s Dawn started orbiting the dwarf planet Ceres last Friday, making it the first spacecraft to ever orbit a dwarf planet. After a seven and a half year, 3.1 billion mile journey, Dawn reached the small, icy protoplanet that orbits the Sun in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Ceres has been a bit […] Continue reading →

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Global Warming – Who’s to Blame?

Posted on March 10, 2015 by michellelei

Nowadays, the issue of global warming has been growing in controversy and concern. The effects of it are already very noticeable – rising sea levels, the melting of polar ice, endangered species, and so much more. Many people believe that the greenhouse gases are mostly to blame, but that is not exactly the case. Greenhouse… Continue reading Global Warming – Who’s to Blame? Continue reading →

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Dawn’s New Home

Posted on March 10, 2015 by pgolemanska

If we want to understand the universe, we need to understand our Solar System first. And NASA is well underway to exploring every bit of our solar neighborhood. Just a couple of days ago the spacecraft Dawn send a message to NASA that it was “healthy and thrusting with its ion engine” in an orbit […] Continue reading →

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