Tag Archives: planets

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

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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

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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

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The Peculiar Dwarf Planet: Haumea

Haumea is a recently discovered dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt that has some very unique features. The first thing many people notice is that Haumea is shaped more like a football than a sphere. This is due to the fact that Haumea spins around its axis roughly every four hours. This extreme rotation causes … Continue reading The Peculiar Dwarf Planet: Haumea Continue reading

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The Peculiar Dwarf Planet: Haumea

Haumea is a recently discovered dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt that has some very unique features. The first thing many people notice is that Haumea is shaped more like a football than a sphere. This is due to the fact that Haumea spins around its axis roughly every four hours. This extreme rotation causes … Continue reading The Peculiar Dwarf Planet: Haumea Continue reading

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Pluto Reclassified as Planet

    History was made on Sunday, April 1, 2018, as the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has decided to reclassify Pluto as a planet. Pluto, discovered in 1930 as the ninth planet of the solar system, is a tiny world smaller than Earth’s moon. Pluto was stripped of its planetary status in 2006 and demoted […] Continue reading

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We Are Not Alone. (Probably)

    Life: one of the most unique, hard to find things in the universe. We have so much life on Earth, but it’s often something we take for granted. In the 200,000 years humans have existed on Earth, we have not found any evidence of life outside of our planet. Considering how vast and […] Continue reading

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Building a Planet 101

Step 1: A Solar Nebula To build your very own solar system, you will need to start out with a solar nebula – a colossal cloud of “star stuff” recycled from dying stars. It should consist mostly of hydrogen, about 1% hydrogen compounds (“ice”), and less than 1% consisting of rock and metal. It should look something like […] Continue reading

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The Shape of The Terrestrial Planets

Here upon Earth, it is known that the planet’s surface is constantly changing, due to weather, tectonic movements, erosion by water, wind, flora, fauna, etc., and various other natural phenomena. These forces cause geographic features such as mountains, valleys, and other characteristics of Earth’s surface. Although the terrestrial planets all share various characteristics, the other… Continue reading The Shape of The Terrestrial Planets Continue reading

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Formation of the Solar System

Approximately 13.8 billion years ago, an interstellar cloud of gas known as the solar nebula collapsed under its own gravity due to some cataclysmic event… Continue reading

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