Tag Archives: Uncategorized

Climate Change and Earth’s Coral

Global warming is incredibly real, and an incredibly big problem. According to NASA, 9 of the 10 warmest years on record have occurred in the last 17 years, as well as the amount of arctic ice shrinking to the lowest it has ever been recorded in 2012. Our habits as a population are ever increasingly changing […] Continue reading

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The Hale-Bopp Comet

Comet Hale-Bopp, also known as the The Great Comet of 1997, was a comet that appeared in – you guessed it – 1997. It was first discovered in 1995 by both Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp, after whom it was named. It was first visible in mid 1996, but did not reach its brightest until […] Continue reading

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The Epic Exploration of Voyager 2

Voyager 2 space probe was launched by NASA to study the outer solar. It was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida on August 20, 1977. The primary mission of Voyager 2 is to make flybys of the four Jovian planets in our solar system. Having visited the Jovian system in 1979, the Saturnian system in […] Continue reading

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Blog 6: Orion and the Space Launch System

NASA is building a new human spacecraft. The Orion spacecraft will carry humans farther than we’ve gone before. In 2014, Orion completed a two-orbit, four-hour flight to test its systems. Looking forward, Orion will launch from the Space Launch System. The Space Launch System (SLS) is the world’s most powerful rocket. Wow! In a series … Continue reading Blog 6: Orion and the Space Launch System Continue reading

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Blog 5: Enceladus’ Ocean

One of Saturn’s moons, we discussed in class interesting details of Enceladus. The most notable of these is the geysers of water and the potential subsurface ocean. Methane found among other particles in the water vapor plume have led researchers to consider a subsurface ocean as the origin of this methane. Because of the high … Continue reading Blog 5: Enceladus’ Ocean Continue reading

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Blog 4: Experience Curiosity

NASA’s Experience Curiosity web application allows viewers to go inside the Curiosity Rover’s mission. Viewers can explore Mars by leading the rover around or learn more about the rover and the mission on guided tours. Experience Curiosity gives highlights of Curiosity’s exploration of the Pahrump Hills region on Mars. You can examine the Pink Cliffs … Continue reading Blog 4: Experience Curiosity Continue reading

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The Trojans and Greeks

As was recently discussed in class, there are two clusters of asteroids ahead of and behind Jupiter known as the “Trojans” and the “Greeks”. The first one to be discovered was an asteroid now known as “Achilles”, a hero who fought on the Greek side of the Trojan War. The Greeks are all slightly ahead […] Continue reading

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Ida and Dactyl

243 Ida is a 56 km long asteroid orbiting in the main asteroid belt with a number of notable features. Ida is an S-type asteroid, or stony asteroid, and is mostly composed of rock and iron from accretion during early solar system formation. Ida was a subject of study by the Galileo spacecraft in 1993, … Continue reading Ida and Dactyl Continue reading

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Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9

In 1994, one year after its discovery, the fragmented remains of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashed into Jupiter’s upper atmosphere in a sequence of 23 large impacts, each releasing the energy equivalent of 25,000 megatons of TNT, more than one million times as much energy as released by the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Orbital analysis … Continue reading Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 Continue reading

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The Tabby Star

Image of Tabby Star‘s light blocked by “mega-structures” Tabby Star is an unsolved and inexplicable mystery, situated 1,500 light years away from us. Tabby star is located at the constellation Cygnus it was named after the lead scientist in the study of this star, Tabetha S. Boyajian. What’s the mystery behind this star? Well, this… Continue reading The Tabby Star Continue reading

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