Tag Archives: Solar System

The Sun

Posted on October 20, 2024 by jasonljohnson465

The most important object in our Solar System. Image from NASA According to NASA, our Sun is a 4.5 billion year old yellow dwarf star composed of Helium and Hydrogen. It is the largest object in the Solar System with a diameter of about 1.4 million kilometers. The hottest part of the Sun is its […] Continue reading →

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Blog 03 – Forming the Solar System

Posted on October 17, 2024 by Mercedes

The current idea of the solar system’s formation is the nebular theory, which states that it occurs in a five-stage process. First, there is the shock of a gas cloud called a supernova which causes the cloud to collapse. Next, gravity causes the heating, flattening, and spinning. It changed the shape and temperature of the […] Continue reading →

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Retrograde Motion

Posted on September 23, 2024 by jasonljohnson465

Diagram of Retrograde Motion Retrograde motion is when the motion of a planet seems to reverse direction in the sky. The name of this phenomenon is derived from the Latin word retrogradus, which means “going backward.” This motion, however, is purely an illusion as the planet’s motion does not actually change and start moving backward […] Continue reading →

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Blog 8 – Beyond Saturn

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Leni Ertel

There is likely a subsurface ocean on Enceladus! Enceladus is the sixth moon of Saturn and is the brightest world in the solar system. This world is small and icy, which lead scientists to believe it was geologically dead, as most small, icy worlds tend to be. However, it was discovered geyser-like jets spew water […] Continue reading →

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Blog 8: Why Try?

Posted on April 28, 2024 by matthewastro

Humanity is constantly being humbled by nature on our very own planet, not to mention the vast expanse of the cosmos. The fastest thing we have ever created, the Parker Solar Probe, was clocked at 330,000 miles per hour in 2020, as it orbited around the sun at an absolutely breakneck pace. Parker’s speed constitutes […] Continue reading →

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Blog 7: The Fermi Paradox

Posted on April 27, 2024 by matthewastro

Many scientists have theorized that we are not alone in the universe. Indeed, there are many scenarios that should lend themselves to the existence of life. The conditions inherent in theoretical models that have been developed to explain Earth’s formation and subsequent development of life exist elsewhere. Not only do they exist, but they appear […] Continue reading →

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All is Said and Sun

Posted on April 25, 2024 by Adriana Santos

Wow, I cannot believe we are already at the end of the semester! This class has certainly been a journey, and we learned so much together! At the beginning of this course, I was not sure what to expect, and I was nervous that it was totally out of my wheelhouse, but ASTR 2110 gave […] Continue reading →

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The Solar Eclipse

Posted on April 8, 2024 by Ethan Jones

Like many of you I was very excited to see the solar eclipse today. I thought about driving to see totality, but ended up choosing against it as I figured it would be too much, and I had a quiz the morning of. So, I decided to stick around campus and watch it from here. […] Continue reading →

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bLOG 6: HOW MUCH DOES SIZE MATTER (FOR VOLCANISM and CRYOVOLCANISM)?

Posted on April 8, 2024 by matthewastro

Even some of the smallest world in our solar system exhibit (or have exhibited) evidence of volcanism or cryovolcanism. Asteroids like Vesta, with radii of only several hundred kilometers, displays features that indicate that they once exhibited active volcanism and even separation by differentiation. Although their volcanism lasted for periods that were geologically very brief, […] Continue reading →

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The Kuiper Belt

Posted on April 7, 2024 by Ethan Jones

The Kuiper Belt was foreign to me before this class. I had never heard of it and because of that it stuck out to me. The basics of the Kuiper Belt is that it is the large region beyond Neptune. It stretches from about 30au-50au from the Sun. So far NASA says that only 2000 […] Continue reading →

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