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Tag Archives: planets
Planetary Distances to the Sun
Okay, hear me out – Mercury is the closest planet to every other planet in the Solar System, on average. When I read this it kind of blew my mind but after reading this article it makes a lot of sense. This is true because Mercury is on a very tight orbit around the sun.Continue reading “Planetary Distances to the Sun” Continue reading
Posted in Class
Tagged astro2110, blog4, distance, planets, Solar System, Uncategorized
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Juno and Jupiter
For my post this week, I decided to learn more about the Jovian planets, specifically Jupiter. Through my research, I discovered that Jupiter had a spacecraft sent by NASA to observe Jupiter named Juno. Juno was launched in 2011 and reached Jupiter by 2016. It is a rotating, solar-powered spacecraft. Because of the images andContinue reading “Juno and Jupiter” Continue reading
How do we name our Solar System?
We all remember learning the mnemonic device in elementary school: My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Noodles (or whatever variation you prefer). Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, the eight planets of our solar system. But what do these names actually mean? How do planets and moons and other stuff inContinue reading “How do we name our Solar System?” Continue reading
Posted in Moons
Tagged astro2110, blog4, dwarfplanets, IAU, planets, Solar System: Dwarf Planets, Solar System: Jovians, Solar System: Moons, Solar System: Terrestrials
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Nashville’s “Snow Moon”
On the evening of Saturday February 9th, the Nashville area saw an abnormally large moon known as a super-moon. This was also a special moon because it was also known as the “snow moon.” The “snow moon” is a full or new moon of astronomical and cultural significance around the globe. The super-moon phenomenon occursContinue reading “Nashville’s “Snow Moon”” Continue reading
Star Atlas
This picture is a screenshot of the night sky view on January 19th, 2020 over Nashville through the lens of Star Atlas. Star Atlas is a website that allows anyone across the world to see the names and locations of various stars and planets they might see in the sky. In addition to a nightContinue reading “Star Atlas” Continue reading
Jovian Planets
Jovian planets always interested me. The term “Jovian” is naturally everyone’s first guess – derived from the Latin root, Iovis, or Jovis. It’s a 3rd declension, genitive singular noun, so any classics nerds should know that it very specifically translates to OF Jupiter. I don’t know, I just find it interesting that an entire class … Continue reading Jovian Planets → Continue reading
Awesome Planetary Formation Videos
I’d love to show you a whole bunch of videos that show planetary formation! Some showcase certain parts of formation better than others but they all are pretty awesome. Beginning of Solar System formation (from gas cloud to disk) from ESA (0:39) Why is the Solar System Flat? from Minute Physics (3:12) Planetary Formation – […] Continue reading
Posted in Class, Exoplanets, SolarSystem
Tagged astro201, planetaryformation, planets, simulations, videos
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Grasping the Scale of the Solar System (with help from Josh Worth)
Have you ever wondered just how big the Solar System is? One helpful website to answer that question is Josh Worth’s “If the Moon Were Only 1 Pixel” site. This beautiful website allows you to scroll through the Solar System, to-scale, as if the Moon were only 1 pixel (that is, teeny-tiny and barely visible … Continue reading Grasping the Scale of the Solar System (with help from Josh Worth) → Continue reading
Posted in Class, SolarSystem
Tagged astro2110, blog1, planets
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Final Post (Reflection)
The Observable Universe (Thus Far) I learned quite a bit this semester and it definitely changes the way in which I look at the universe. Coming into the course I could name the planets of our Solar System and that is about it, so I basically had no previous astronomical knowledge. For the most part … Continue reading Final Post (Reflection) → Continue reading
Extrasolar Planets and the Search for Life
Kepler 22-b Extrasolar planets are planets that orbit a star other than our own. Being in another star system, these worlds are very hard to observe since they are so far away and the light they produce pales in comparison to that of the stars they orbit. Because of this, although their existence had already … Continue reading Extrasolar Planets and the Search for Life → Continue reading