(18.01.2018)
Like the waistband of a couch potato in midlife, the orbits of planets in our solar system are expanding. It happens because the Sun’s gravitational grip gradually weakens as our star ages and loses mass.
Archiv: planets
Earth Is Drifting Away From The Sun, And So Are All The Planets
(Jan 3, 2019)
Deep inside the Sun, the process of nuclear fusion occurs. Every second, the Sun emits some 3.846 × 1026 joules of energy, which are released via the conversion of mass into energy in the core. Einstein‘s E = mc2 is the root cause, nuclear fusion is the process, and the continuous emission of energy from the Sun is the result. This energy is the underlying process that powers practically every biologically interesting process occurring on Earth.
NASA Missions Make Unprecedented Map of Sun’s Magnetic Field
They’ll have a chance to take that step forward soon: A re-flight of the mission was just greenlit by NASA. Though the launch date isn’t yet set, the team plans to use the same instrument but with a new technique to measure a much broader swath of the Sun.
“Instead of just measuring the magnetic fields along the very narrow strip, we want to scan it across the target and make a two-dimensional map,” McKenzie said.
Using Light to Study Planets
In this activity, students will build a spectrometer using basic materials to observe the light emitted and absorbed by several sources. This will be used as a model for how NASA uses spectroscopy to determine the nature of elements found on Earth and other planets. For higher grades, this activity can also be used to discuss advanced spectroscopic topics, such as how NASA research is advancing spectroscopic techniques to teach us more about plant life on Earth.
Magnetic Rope observed for the first time between Saturn and the Sun
(06.07.2016)
The Cassini spacecraft has been in orbit around Saturn since 2004, and after many years analyzing the data collected, Cassini has observed the first FTE at Saturn.
Leonids Meteor Shower 2019 – Leoniden Meteorstrom
Merkurtransit: Mini-Sonnenfinsternis am Montag
In Deutschland versinkt die Sonne schon vor dem Ende des Transits hinter dem Horizont (in Berlin beginnt der Sonnenuntergang gegen 16.20 Uhr). Der Transit dauert aber noch bis um 19:04 Uhr.
Strong planetary magnetic fields like Earth‘s may protect oceans from stellar storms
(14.03.2019)
„Magnetic fields appear to play an essential role in making planets habitable, so I wanted to find out how Earth‘s magnetic field compared to those of other potentially habitable planets,“ she said.
Ms McIntyre said Earth‘s strong magnetic field had probably played an important role in protecting the atmosphere from the solar wind and keeping the planet wet and habitable.
„Venus and Mars have negligible magnetic fields and do not support life, while Earth‘s magnetic field is relatively strong and does,“ she said.
Magnetic Rope observed for the first time between Saturn and the Sun
(06.07.2016)
The Cassini spacecraft has been in orbit around Saturn since 2004, and after many years analyzing the data collected, Cassini has observed the first FTE at Saturn.
Surprise: Solar System „Force Field“ Shrinks Fast
(01.10.2010)
„If we’ve learned anything from IBEX so far, it is that the models that we’re using for interaction of the solar wind with the galaxy were just dead wrong,“ David McComas, principal investigator for the IBEX program, said during a NASA press conference Thursday.
For starters, it’s been assumed that the heliosphere’s expansion and contraction follows the sun’s roughly 11-year activity cycle, during which the flow rate of charged particles, or solar wind, fluctuates.
Rapid destruction of Earth-like atmospheres by young stars
(24.04.2019)
The high energy radiation is important because it is absorbed high in the atmosphere of a planet, causing the gas to be heated. For the Earth, the gas is heated to temperatures of more than 1000 degrees Celsius in the upper region known as the thermosphere. This is the region in which spacecraft such as satellites and the International Space Station fly. When orbiting young stars with high activity levels, the thermospheres of planets are heated to much higher temperatures which, in extreme cases, can cause the gas to flow away from the planet.