Mars Society

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…

Golden Eyed, Mr. Bittering and his family move to Mars in order to escape a war-torn Earth. At first, Mars is simply scary, but slowly Mr. Bittering, his family and all the Earth product they brought with them are changed. Over the course of a few months the empty martian villa is filled with a fresh, new generation of Martians, with no recollection of their past life. Ray Bradbury paints an eerie picture in this short story through his description of Mars and how his main character, Mr.…

isolation, survival and the role of science can be explored in connection to a change in setting. Written in 2011 The Martian is a science fiction novel written by Andy Weir. It follows the survival story of Mark Watney, an astronaut left behind on Mars, after his mission was aborted. In comparison Moon, a film released in 2000 by director Duncan Jones explores chosen isolation through the astronaut Sam Bell completing a three year job overseeing the mining of helium on the Moon. Similar themes…

“The Space Traders” by Derrick Bell is a short story that, is a very intriguing tale of aliens coming to earth and saving mankind, but for a hefty price. The Space Traders come to earth and offered riches (gold) to the U.S government, offering things such as paying the American debt, a year without taxes for every American and a clean environment. The Space Traders are charging a big, hefty fee in return, by asking for all African Americans in the country. The Space Traders asking for an entire…

Primack (2013) led a study that shows the effects of warming temperatures on winning times in the Boston Marathon. He and his three co-authors, Dr. Abe Miller Rushing, Dr. Nathan Phillips and Dr. Robert Kaufmann, examined the timing of the Boston Marathon runners from the years 1933 to 2004. They found that when warmer temperatures and headwinds occurred the day of the race, the runners were indeed slowed down. The reasoning for this research was to further their focus on climate change from…

diameter telescope we were lucky enough to have a mostly clear sky to view in this order: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon. Viewing these celestial bodies in person is truly one of the most exciting and core tenets of astronomy. With our telescope we were able to see firsthand and notice some of the distinct characteristics of the different objects. First we looked at our nearby neighbor planet, Mars. Mars is named after the Roman god of war and has a nickname of the “Red Planet” due to…

Mercury's surface is similar in appearance to the appearance of the Moon, showing plains and heavy cratering, indicating that it has been inactive for billions of years. Knowledge of Mercury's geology has been based only on the 1975 Mariner flyby and terrestrial observations, it is the least understood of the terrestrial planets. As data from messenger orbiter is processed, this knowledge will increase. For example, an unusual crater with radiating troughs has been discovered that scientists…

Lesson is for 2nd or 3rd graders Engage: The teacher will present the class with a fish tank full of water, and will begin to tilt it back and forth to make waves inside the tank. Students will be asked what is causing waves to form inside the tank? After the teacher has listened and responded to each student’s answer, the teacher will then ask multiple questions for class discussion before the lesson, such as what makes water tides? What is gravity? Does the moon or the sun affect the…