Solar System: Things To Know This Week

Solar System: Things to Know This Week

Our solar system is huge, let us break it down for you. Here are a few things to know this week:

1. The New New Horizons

Solar System: Things To Know This Week

Seven months after the  Pluto flyby, information and discoveries continue to flow from the New Horizons mission, as the spacecraft transmits more and more data to scientists on Earth.

2. A Longlasting Dawn

Solar System: Things To Know This Week

The Dawn orbiter is in good health as it carries out the ongoing reconnaissance of the dwarf planet Ceres, which is revealing some spectacular and mysterious landscapes.

3. Storm Watch: Saturn

Solar System: Things To Know This Week

This week the Cassini spacecraft will be watching for storms in Saturn’s turbulent atmosphere. On March 6, it will spend about 14 hours acquiring a movie of the narrow, braided F ring. Check out some past photos of Saturnian storms HERE.

4. The Next Flight to Mars Departs Soon

Solar System: Things To Know This Week

The ExoMars 2016 mission, a joint endeavor between the European Space Agency and the Russian space agency Roscosmos, is set to lift off in March. The 2016 mission consists of the Trace Gas Orbiter and the Schiaparelli Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module. We’re supplying some of the technology that will fly aboard the orbiter. In 2018, the ExoMars rover is slated to follow.

5. Early Encounter with a Comet

Solar System: Things To Know This Week

As we continue to marvel at the latest images from Rosetta, this week is a good time to remember the 30th anniversary of the Vega 1 Comet Halley flyby. This Russian spacecraft dropped off a balloon probe at Venus before continuing on to the comet, which is photographed and examined at close range by flying through its coma.

Want to learn more? Read our full list of the 10 things to know this week about the solar system HERE.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

More Posts from Allisonkitten and Others

9 years ago
Neptune, Seen From The Keck Observatory In The Infrared (wavelength 1.17-1.3 Microns), 11 August 2004.

Neptune, seen from the Keck Observatory in the infrared (wavelength 1.17-1.3 microns), 11 August 2004.  (Program ID N19N2.)

9 years ago
A Denied Stardom Status - Jupiter

A Denied stardom status - Jupiter

Of all the planets in our solar system, Jupiter seems to stand out as this massive giants.

When scientists started uncovering the secrets of this mysterious planet, they discovered that Jupiter was probably a ‘star in the making’ during the early years of the solar system.

Jupiter and the sun

Jupiter has a lot in common with the sun than you think.

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It is made of the same elements such as Hydrogen and Helium that are found in the sun and other stars!

But it is not massive enough and does not have have the pressure and temperature to fuse the existing Hydrogen atoms to form helium, which is the power source of stars.

How do stars form ?

Stars form directly from the collapse of dense clouds of interstellar gas and dust. Because of rotation, these clouds form flattened disks that surround the central, growing stars.

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After the star has nearly reached its final mass, by accreting gas from the disk, the leftover matter in the disk is free to form planets. 

How was Jupiter formed ?

Jupiter is generally believed to have formed in a two-step process:

First, a vast swarm of ice and rock ‘planetesimals’ formed. These comet-sized bodies collided and accumulated into ever-larger planetary embryos.

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Once an embryo became about as massive as ten Earths, its self-gravity became strong enough to pull in gas directly from the disk. 

During this second step, the proto-Jupiter gained most of its present mass (a total of 318 times the mass of the Earth).

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But sadly soon thereafter, the disk gas was removed by the intense early solar wind (from our sun) , before Jupiter could grow to a similar size.

This destroyed all hopes that Jupiter had on becoming a star

A Denied Stardom Status - Jupiter

What if it had become a star ?

If Jupiter had become a star,our solar system would have become a binary star system.

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A binary star system is those systems having two stars.they both revolve around themselves in their own orbits.

It is interesting to note that most of the solar systems in the universe are binary,triple or higher multiple star systems but our sun is rather unusual.

In other star systems the mass distribution of the stars is equitable, but in ours the sun decided to not let that happen

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Why? We have no clue ! Scientists are still trying to fathom these mysterious details of the birth process. But the more we know, the more we learn we don’t know :D

9 years ago

What’s Up for March 2016?

In March, Jupiter, it’s moons and moon shadows will all be visible in the sky. Find out when and where to look up:

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Jupiter dominates the evening sky this month, rising at sunset and setting at dawn. On March 8, Jupiter reaches what is called “opposition”. Imagine that Jupiter and the sun are at opposite ends of a straight line, with the Earth in between. This brings Jupiter its closest to Earth, so it shines brighter and appears larger in telescopes.

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On the nights of March 14 – 15, March 21 – 22 and March 29, two of Jupiter’s moons will cross the planet’s disk. 

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When the planet is at opposition and the sun shines on Jupiter’s moons, we can see the moon’s shadow crossing the planet. There are actually 11 of these double shadow transits in March!

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The next six months will be awesome times for you to image Jupiter when it’s highest in the sky; near midnight now, and a little earlier each night through the late summer.

Even through the smallest telescopes or binoculars, you should be able to see the two prominent belts on each side of Jupiter’s equator made up of the four Galilean moons: Io, Europa Ganymede and Calisto. If you have a good enough view, you may even see Jupiter’s Red Spot!

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Our Juno spacecraft will arrive at Jupiter on July 4th of this year and will go into orbit around the giant planet. Right now, the Juno mission science team is actively seeking amateur and professional images of the planet. These images are uploaded to a Juno website, and the public is invited to discuss points of interest in Jupiter’s atmosphere.

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Locations will later be voted on and the favorites will be targets for JunoCam, the spacecraft’s imaging camera. Once JunoCam has taken the images, they’ll be posted online. Imaging participants can then process these raw mission images and re-upload them for others to view.  

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Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

10 years ago
Scribbles

Scribbles

9 years ago
Planet Saturn And Its Moons Tethys And Dione Were, Photographed By The Voyager 1 Space Probe In November

Planet Saturn and its moons Tethys and Dione were, photographed by the Voyager 1 space probe in November of 1980.

9 years ago

Truly we are living in the future

allisonkitten - Here, have some space
9 years ago
The Dew Drop Of Saturn : The Water-world Enceladus Appears Here To Sit Atop Saturns Rings Like A Drop

The Dew Drop of Saturn : The water-world Enceladus appears here to sit atop Saturns rings like a drop of dew upon a leaf. Even though it appears like a tiny drop before the might of the giant Saturn, Enceladus reminds us that even small worlds hold mysteries and wonders to be explored.

js

9 years ago

Adorable motor protein just traveling along. Converting chemical energy into mechanical energy. Keep on rockin motor protein!

9 years ago
Some Pictures From My Adventure At Kitt Peak Observatory Today 🔭📡☀
Some Pictures From My Adventure At Kitt Peak Observatory Today 🔭📡☀
Some Pictures From My Adventure At Kitt Peak Observatory Today 🔭📡☀
Some Pictures From My Adventure At Kitt Peak Observatory Today 🔭📡☀
Some Pictures From My Adventure At Kitt Peak Observatory Today 🔭📡☀

Some pictures from my adventure at Kitt Peak Observatory today 🔭📡☀

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allisonkitten - Here, have some space
Here, have some space

Just a socially awkward college student with an interest in the celestial bodies in our universe.

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