Astronomy
« Previous Entries Next Entries »What is the biggest planet in our solar system?
Friday, May 2nd, 2008Mighty Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system with a mass 318 times that of the Earth. In fact, its mass is more than twice that of all the other planets in the solar system combined. Aside from mass, the planet also takes up a lot of space. It is 88,736 miles in […]
There were 9 planets. What happened to Pluto?
Thursday, May 1st, 2008Poor Pluto. Discovered in 1930 by Cylde W. Tombaugh, Pluto was thought to be the missing planet theorized to exist based on inaccurate calculations. It was added as our ninth planet and actually sparked quite a fan following with its popularity, even inspiring the name of a famous Disney character. For 36 years, humble little […]
How many planets are there in our solar system and what are their names?
Thursday, May 1st, 2008There’s a lot more to our solar system than the planets. I’ll cover some of the less known objects and phenomenon such as the Oort Cloud, Kuiper Belt and other strange stuff in a future post, but when people think solar system, they usually think of the planets in orbit around the Sun. Our solar […]
How big is the Earth?
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008There are several things in our solar system bigger than the Earth; the Sun and all the gas giants like Jupiter. But of the four terrestrial planets - the rocky worlds you could actually walk on if appropriately attired (Venus has a strict jacket and tie requirement) - the Earth is the largest. You have […]
How far away is the Earth from the Sun?
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008The Earth circles peacefully around the Sun at about 149 million kilometers or 92.75 million miles on average. Our orbit is slightly elliptical so our distance swings from anywhere as far as 94.5 million miles and as close as 91 million miles. There are a lot of interesting facts about the Earth I’ll save for […]
What is a planet?
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008Our solar system has an interesting and diverse cast of characters. We even have a black sheep in our solar family in the form of Pluto and at the center of all the recent controversy about its status has been one surprisingly difficult question to answer - what is a planet?
You’d think that pretty much any […]
How many times would the Earth fit in the Sun?
Monday, April 28th, 2008I considered answering this in my previous post - How big is the Sun - but found the question so well answered elsewhere that I’ll give it its own post. The short answer is - 1 million. As explained by Ask an Astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center - Imagine the Universe, it helps […]
How big is the Sun?
Monday, April 28th, 2008The Sun is about 1,392,000 kilometers or 875,000 miles across. If you wanted to put a belt on the sun to hold up its pants you would want to know its circumference and for that you just apply a little math. The circumference of a sphere is determined by multiplying 2 times pi (3.14) times […]
How old is the Sun and how long will it live?
Monday, April 28th, 2008The Sun is about 4.57 billion years into its main-sequence stage and when we think of its age, that’s the number generally agreed on. You can think of this as the relatively stable period in a star’s life after it forms and during which it converts Hydrogen into Helium in a process known as nuclear […]
What is the Sun and what is it made of?
Monday, April 28th, 2008If you’re ever away from the glare of city lights on a cloudless night, take a look up into the sky and marvel at the countless thousands of sparkling stars you see up there. Pick one you like and point your finger at it. Now imagine that maybe, just maybe, the star you’ve picked has […]
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