Archives
- September 2024
- August 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- July 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
Currently Used Categories
Tag Cloud
- astro201
- astro2110
- astrobiology
- astronomy
- blog1
- blog2
- blog3
- blog4
- blog5
- blog6
- blog7
- blog8
- blog9
- blog10
- brahe
- Comets
- Copernicus
- earth
- Europa
- extremophiles
- galilei
- galileo
- gravity
- history
- HW2
- HW6
- jupiter
- Kepler
- life
- Mars
- me
- Moon
- NASA
- Newton
- planets
- pluto
- saturn
- Solar System
- space
- spacecraft
- technology
- telescopes
- tides
- Time
- Uncategorized
Tag Archives: blog7
Blog Post #7: Comets Can Be Artists Too
bbc.com A new study shows that Mercury may have been “painted” black by passing comets. In class, we have learned to compare …
Posted in Small SS Objects
Tagged astro201, blog7, Comets, mercury, Solar System
Comments Off on Blog Post #7: Comets Can Be Artists Too
Could our Solar System have once had Super Earths?
New research appears to suggest that the early solar system might have been home to several “Super Earths,” terrestrial planets which are between 1 to 10 times the mass of Earth. One of the lingering questions about the formation of the solar system involves exactly how is it that the terrestrial planets of our solar system are so […]
Continue reading
Posted in Class
Tagged astro201, blog7, Extrasolar Planets, jupiter, saturn, Solar System, Solar System Formation, super earths
Comments Off on Could our Solar System have once had Super Earths?
Colliding with Jupiter
The Shoemaker–Levy 9 collision with Jupiter was the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of Solar System objects. Shoemaker–Levy 9 disintegrated in to 21 fragments during a close encounter with Jupiter in July 1992 and finally collided with Jupiter two years later in July 1994. The remarkable collision lasted a week and left large, … Continue reading Colliding with Jupiter →
Continue reading
Posted in Jovians
Tagged astro201, blog7, Comets, jupiter, Shoemaker–Levy 9, Solar System
Comments Off on Colliding with Jupiter
Colliding with Jupiter
The Shoemaker–Levy 9 collision with Jupiter was the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of Solar System objects. Shoemaker–Levy 9 disintegrated in to 21 fragments during a close encounter with Jupiter in July 1992 and finally collided with Jupiter two years later in July 1994. The remarkable collision lasted a week and left large, … Continue reading Colliding with Jupiter → Continue reading
Posted in Jovians
Tagged astro201, blog7, Comets, jupiter, Shoemaker–Levy 9, Solar System
Comments Off on Colliding with Jupiter
WASP-12b
WASP-12b is an HUGE planet that orbits extremely closely to its star. Due to the close distance (at 1/44 the distance compared to the distance between Earth and the Sun), WASP-12b has a very low densities from the flux of energy from the star and is being distorted into an egg shape. The most interesting […]
Continue reading
Ganymede’s Ocean
When we think of Earth we tend to associate it very strongly with water and life. It makes sense since water covers up 75% of Earth’s surface. Water in liquid form seems to be unique to our world … or does it? … As it turns out, Earth’s salty water oceans may not be the […]
Continue reading
The Cosmic Snowball
Halley’s Comet This video tells us about the history of Halley’s Comet, which turns out to have actually been documented in medieval history in previous passes by the sun. Because of the rarity with which comets actually appear in our night sky, they used to be tied to ancient superstitions; for example, to the ancient Chinese they signaled a…
Continue reading
Posted in Historical, Small SS Objects, SolarSystem
Tagged astro201, blog7
Comments Off on The Cosmic Snowball
Comet Brightness – Not Related to Test Scores
A comet is an icy Solar System body with very elliptical orbit that takes it close to the Sun on one end and far from the Sun on the other. When it gets close to the Sun it begins to outgas, forming a visible atmosphere called a coma and often also a tail. One noticeable […]
Continue reading
Beyond Pluto
Not long after a couple of astronomers announced hints of a giant planet prowling beyond Pluto, a team in Spain says there may actually be two supersize planets hiding in the outer reaches of our solar system. After the discovery of a potential dwarf planet 2012 VP113 in March, astronomers started questioning the curiously aligned […]
Continue reading
The Galilean Moons
When I went out observing on the 24th Avenue Parking Garage the other night, every astronomical object that I saw through the telescope amazed me, but Jupiter especially captured my attention. I had never viewed Jupiter through a telescope before, and on this beautiful and mostly clear night, I was able to clearly see not […]
Continue reading