Jupiter

Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are known as the terrestrial planets. In comparison to the outer planets, they are small in size, made of denser materials, and lack a huge numbers of moons. Even though they share these common traits, they are still very different from each other. Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, yet its surface is either extremely hot or extremely cold due to the slow rotation of the planet on it's axis and the lack of atmosphere. It is also unique in that it's core is…

TRAPPIST-1 twice as old as our close planetary system 0 BY/ON 13 AUGUST 2017 SCIENCE Aug. 11 — Astronomers have limited in on a more exact gauge of the TRAPPIST-1 framework. Researchers trust the star and its exoplanets are in the vicinity of 5.4 and 9.8 billion years of age — as much as twice as old as our close planetary system. The sun was conceived 4.5 billion years back. In February, NASA declared the disclosure of seven Earth-sized planets circling TRAPPIST-1, a ultra-cool smaller…

Learn or Stay Curious? The idea that our world has been visited by other worldly beings, in the past is becoming about as popular as believing in god. I became interested in other worldly beings over winter break. I found a show on Netflix called Ancient Aliens, I watched the first episode and I was hooked. The idea that we are not alone made me feel small, but in a way it made me feel more secure, knowing that there could be someone looking out for us. The more I watched the show the more…

Helium is the second element in the periodic table. Its period number is 1 and it is apart of group number: 18. The group that Helium falls under is the Noble Gases. The element has an atomic number of 2, an atomic mass of 4 and is classified as a non-metal. It is the second most abundant element in the universe. Helium was discovered on the sun before it was found on the earth. In 1895, Pierre-Jules-César Janssen, a French astronomer and Norman Lockyer, an English astronomer both who discovered…

The existence of the Kuiper Belt was hypothesized by Gerard Kuiper in 1951. Kuiper described an expanse of icy space material beyond Neptune as the only explanation for short-lived comets. However, that anomaly was not the sole phenomenon the Kuiper Belt and its contents helped explain. The Kuiper Belt’s primordial origins have established it as one of the most helpful tools to aid in learning more about the solar system’s beginning. Its existence debunks the original theory of the belt’s…

Neon is the 10th element on the periodic table. It was discovered by Sir William Ramsay and Morris Travers in 1898 (Mowat 130). It has 10 protons, 10 neutrons, and 10 electrons. Neon has no stable compounds because it is a noble gas. However, there are three stable isotopes, the most abundant being neon-20 (90.5%). It has no color, odor, or taste. It changes from a gas to a liquid at -245.92°C and from a liquid to a solid at -248.6°C (Chemical Elements). It is found in the sun and the…

ASTROPHYSICS Methods used to search for extrasolar planets Lucky Ruangsiri 24.02.2016 Extrasolar planets are planets that revolves another star apart from our solar system. The human race has found nearly 2000 confirmed extrasolar planets by the year 2016, and this has fuelled the search for extra-terrestrial life as we scour the universe for anything out there. How do we discover these planets that are light years away from the earth? An extrasolar planet detection technique is the…

For years, astronomers have debated if Pluto is a planet or not. Pluto has been taken off the list of planets, and has now been classified as a Dwarf Planet. According to IAU.org, “A dwarf planet is classified as an object in orbit around the Sun that is large enough to have its own gravity pull itself into a round shape... A dwarf planet may also orbit in a zone that has many other objects in it.” Pluto now falls into the dwarf planet category because of its size and because it is in a zone of…

Pluto is known as “dwarf planet” in the planetary system. Also, it’s called the “Dwarf Planet” because of its size. It could be called a “plutoid” because it’s farther out into space. Pluto is occasionally closer to the sun than other times because of the oval orbit. Pluto has five moons, which are Kerberos, Styx, Nix, Hydra, and Charon. Because of the New Horizons information and pictures this data has helped scientists learn more about Pluto. Pluto was discovered in 1930 by an astronomer…

Saturn's geologically active moon Enceladus, with a diameter of approximately 505 kilometres, is small enough to fit inside the borders of India. Despite it’s small size and large distance from the, the unique conditions on this moon make it one of the most promising sites for hosting life in the Milky Way. In consice term, we can make this conjecture because there are hydrothermal vents spread across Enclelads which spew water vapour and granulated ice prticles from an underground ocean. The…