How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming - A Review by Yours Truly

I just read the book 'How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming' by Mike Brown. I have to say, I really, really liked it. It held my attention and provided a funny first person narrative of Mike Brown's story - how he discovered a planet that was bigger than Pluto. This planet, Eris, was the reason that Pluto was 'killed'- if Eris went, then Pluto had to go, too. I highly recommend this book! It's awesome!

Galaxies

This is an awesome song on Youtube... because it involves astronomy AND is religious. Yay, Owl City!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPqqeTxz6Tc

Asteroid Glides By Earth... Uncomfortably Close

I was scrolling through Google News, like I usually do, and discovered an article posted today that said,
"Asteroid 2011MD, measuring about 10 to 50 yards, will be passing Earth on Monday at a distance close enough to have drawn the interest of scientists. This distance is approximately 30 times closer to Earth than the existing distance between the planet and the moon, which is approximately 240,000 miles." The article also says that even though the asteroid could possibly hit a satellite orbiting Earth, it's not big enough to survive the journey through Earth's atmosphere. Read the full article here -
http://www.christianpost.com/news/asteroid-to-glide-past-earth-30-times-closer-than-distance-to-moon-51577/

It's SUMMER!

Yay, the last day of school was June 11th! I recently went to the Rock Creek Nature Center/Planetarium and on July 2nd there's a program called "Exploring the Sky". I might be going! Woo-hoo, I love stargazing!

Cool Space Shuttle Experiment.

I was surfing the net when I came across this cool article... check it out...

"A University of Florida experiment sent baby squid into space aboard Monday's launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavor. The experiment will test the effects of microgravity on bacteria in the squid, said Jamie Foster, a UF assistant professor of microbiology and cell science conducting the research."

Squid in space... cool, huh! Read the rest of the article here -

http://www.ocala.com/article/20110516/ARTICLES/110519797/-1/entertainment02?Title=Squid-pro-quo-UF-sending-squid-aboard-shuttle

March 2011 Auroras

"A powerful solar flare hurled into space when superhot gases erupted on the sun and caused a display of the aurora borealis for parts of the northern United States overnight. These geomagnetic storms are caused by particles that glow green in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum."

Here are some pictures of the March 2011 auroras.

EDIT: For some reason, the pictures aren't showing up. Sorry =(

These pictures are from - http://www.space.com/10905-spectacular-auroras-northern-lights-photos.html

New Galaxy Discovered!

The Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea has found a surprisingly young galaxy.

According to a media release, astronomers have uncovered one of the youngest galaxies in the distant universe, with stars that formed 13.5 billion years ago, a mere 200 million years after the big bang. The finding addresses questions about when the first galaxies arose, and how the early universe evolved.

See the full article here: http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2011/04/13/suprisingly-young-galaxy-found-by-keck-nasa/comment-page-1/

I'm back!

Hey guys, sorry I haven't been posting in a while. I guess I've been really busy. I'll try to post more often.

Kuiper Belt

The Kuiper Belt is an area of space way out beyond Neptune and the other planets. It's like the Asteroid Belt, but A LOT BIGGER. It's at least... 20 times wider and maybe... even up to 200 times as massive! The asteroids in the Asteroid Belt are made of rock and metal and stuff like that, but the asteroids in the Kuiper Belt are made of frozen chemical elements such as water, ammonia, and methane. There are 3 dwarf planets that make their homes in the Kuiper Belt- Pluto, Haumea, and Makemake. Things in the Kuiper Belt are often called TNOs, or trans-Neptunian objects.

Saturn

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System. Saturn is named after the Roman god of agriculture. Saturn is a gas giant, along with Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune. Saturn's density is only 1/8 of Earth's but, since it has a larger volume, its mass is a little more than 95 times Earth's mass. Saturn has 9 rings. These rings are mostly made up of ice and dust. The rings orbit the planet at speeds of up to 40,000 miles an hour. 62 known moons orbit the planet, but 53 are officially named. This number does not include the hundreds of 'moonlets' that orbit Saturn. The winds on Saturn's surface are faster than the winds on Jupiter. Saturn's wind speeds can reach 1,800 km/h.

Exoplanets

Exoplanets (AKA Extrasolar planets) are planets outside our Solar System that orbit around a celestial body other than our Sun. It is estimated that billions of exoplanets probably exist in our very own galaxy, the Milky Way. Scientists try to find planets in the Habitable Zone (or Goldilocks Zone) of their star, which means it's not too far away, which would make it too cold for liquid water to exist, and not too close, which would make it too hot for liquid water to exist.

There are a couple of ways to detect an exoplanet.

1) The Doppler Shift
When a planet orbits a star, its gravity tugs very slightly on the star, making the star move a little bit. We can detect this movement to see whether there are planets orbiting the star. The more the star is moved by the planet, the bigger the planet is.

2) The Transit Method
When a planet passes in front of its star, the light coming from the star gets a bit fainter. The size of the planet can be determined by how much dimmer the star gets.

There are some other ways, but these are the two main ways of detecting exoplanets.

Who knows, maybe one day we'll find an exoplanet with liquid water on it, or maybe even life.

YouTube

Hey guys, so I uploaded a recording of my favorite song on Youtube one week ago (to date) and as of right now, it has 13,018 views. O.O Wow. It's amazing! Check it out at this link!

---> Francesca Battistelli - This is the Stuff

EDIT: (2.13.11) 15,721 views. Wow.

Blog Updates

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't been on. We went to New Jersey yesterday. Anyway, I'm gonna be changing some of the things on this blog.

1. Weird Science Fact of the Day will become Weird Science Fact Wednesday.
2. I won't be posting as often, maybe a post every day or every other day.

Thanks!

The Moon

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It's the brightest thing in the night sky (well, ignoring the Sun). The Moon's gravity creates the ocean's tides on Earth. It also makes the day a liiiiitle longer. The Moon looks about the same size as the Sun when it's in the sky, and this allows it to cover the Sun almost exactly, and this results in total solar eclipses. The dark spots you see on the Moon are called 'maria'. The word 'maria' is Latin for 'seas', because ancient astronomers thought they were filled with water. We now know that they are big solidified pools of ancient basaltic lava. The Moon is the only celestial body that humans have landed on.

The Universe is on!

Hey, guess what! You remember that show that's never on? The Universe? That's the one! It's on! It's about the Moon! Not the topic I would have chosen, but still, it's The Universe!

Supernovae

A supernova is a stellar explosion. They are really, really bright bursts of radiation, and can even outshine galaxies. The explosion expels most (or even all) of the star's material at a velocity of up to 30,000 kilometers a second! 'Nova' means 'new' in Latin, because when it explodes it looks like a really bright new star from Earth. The earliest recorded supernova was viewed by Chinese astronomers way back in 185 A.D. Supernovae occur about once every 50 years in the Milky Way galaxy.

That bright spot off to the side is a supernova.

Weird Science Fact of the Day

(astronomy) The energy in the sunlight we see today started out in the core of the Sun 30,000 years ago – it spent most of this time passing through the dense atoms that make the sun and just 8 minutes to reach us once it had left the Sun! The temperature at the core of the sun is 13,600,000 kelvins. All of the energy produced by fusion in the core must travel through many successive layers to the solar photosphere before it escapes into space as sunlight or kinetic energy of particles.

Shooting Stars

A 'shooting star' is a well-known nickname for the visible paths of meteoroids when they enter the atmosphere and become meteors. Meteors have a range of sizes, from grains of sand to massive boulders. If a meteor reaches the ground AND survives the impact then it's called a meteorite. Meteor showers are events when lots of meteors start falling towards the earth from one point in the sky. But don't worry, because most meteors are only the size of a grain of sand and vaporize in the earth's atmosphere before hitting the ground. The next meteor shower that's going to happen is the Lyrids on the night of April 21st. You won't be able to see it in a big city, so you'll want to drive away from all the city lights. You know you're far enough away if you can see all the stars in the Little Dipper. Don't forget, if you see a shooting star, make a wish!

Amazing Nebulae

I think nebulae are some of the most interesting things in the universe. A nebula is defined as "an interstellar cloud made of dust, hydrogen gas, helium gas, and other ionized gases." The reason nebulae are so cool is because they are star nurseries! Yep, stars form in nebulae, because a nebula is made of the same stuff stars are made of. When stars are formed, the remaining material is formed into planets, moons, and other planetary system objects. Most nebulae usually stay the same shape over time. The only reason I can think of for nebulae to 'disappear' suddenly is if a supernova occured within, say, 2 million miles of the nebula. All the energy radiation of this massive explosion would blow away all the gas and dust of these nebulae, leaving us only with memories and pictures.

Here are some pictures of the most common (and beautiful!) nebulae.

Cat's Eye Nebula (this is a Planetary nebula)

Eagle Nebula. (this specific shot is of the 'Pillars of Creation'. This is a diffuse emission nebula, or 'H II region'.)

Horsehead Nebula (this is a Dark Nebula)

Ant Nebula (this is a bipolar planetary nebula)

Weird Science Fact of the Day

(Astronomy/Astrophysics) Tiny, possible massless particles called neutrinos (Italian for 'little neutral one') from the sun are streaming through every square centimeter on the Earth, about 65 billion every second. They pass right through solid materials (including our bodies) all the time and have no impact on us. Now that's something!

My Rock Collection

I have a HUGE rock collection. If I were to set it up for everyone to see, it would take up a couple of tables. In Orlando, there was a rock store and that's where I spent most of my allowance. They have everything there! From agate slices to rock bracelets to salt lamps to rock tables to animals made out of quartz, it's all there. But a friend in Orlando (you know who you are! =D) has a collection to rival the Smithsonian's (which I am familiar with). He has massive agate slices, 9-inch-long-quartz spikes, and bunches of other things. It's really cool. But at least the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History has a gift shop so I can expand my collection. =)

The Universe

I'll be the first to say, the History Channel has some cool shows. Personally, The Universe is my favorite. =) But the problem is, it's not on a lot anymore. Sure, you can buy episodes on Itunes, but it's not the same as flipping through channels and coming to the History Channel, and thinking, "Hooray! My favorite show is on!" Kinda random, but anyways.... It's never on anymore. That's happened with a lot of good shows. I guess I'll just have to stay tuned.

My blog

So this is my blog, have a look around, read some posts, check out the weird fact of the day, and look at my pictures. I post often, usually every day.