What’s out there in the Kuiper Belt?

Way, way out into the solar system past Neptune is the Kuiper Belt. It’s full of icy objects that range in size and shape that move slowly around the Sun. Dwarf planets Pluto and Eris, which are smaller than the Moon, are floating way out in the in the Kuiper Belt. The planetoid Sedna also […]

Earth’s “twin”

Venus is often called Earth’s twin, because of their similar sizes and locations relative to the Sun. However, there is a big thing that makes Venus very different from Earth: its atmosphere. Venus’s atmosphere is 96% carbon dioxide, while Earth’s is only 0.04%. This chemical composition causes such intense greenhouse effects that Venus is the […]

Spacenectar!

Last Friday, my friends and I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch a rocket launch during Bassnectar’s set at the Okeechobee Music Festival. Just over 100 miles from the Kennedy Space Center, we had a stunning view of the entire launch. A rocket launch by itself is an amazing site, but combining it with hard […]

The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope!

From Earth, the Sun appears to be just a glowing yellow orb. However, the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii has captured new images of the Sun that reveal its violent and explosive nature. This massive four-meter telescope has the technological capabilities that are necessary to better understand the Sun’s magnetic field and outer […]

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The Dark Side of the Moon?

The Moon is tidally locked to the Earth, which means that we always see the same side of the Moon. People have come to call the side of the moon that we do not see the “dark side” of the Moon, as they think that this side never sees the sun and that the Moon’s […]

Welcome!

This is my first blog post for ASTRO2110 The Solar System. I am really excited for this blog. I hope to discuss many fun space-related topics, including craters like the one pictured above. I visited Meteor Crater on a road trip from California to Nashville with my brother. This crater is spectacular and definitely worth […]