Posts tagged as:

Solar System

Diamond Oceans With Diamond Icebergs in Space!

January 19, 2010

Oceans of liquid diamond, filled with solid diamond icebergs, could be floating on Neptune and Uranus, according to a recent article in the journal Nature Physics.

The research, based on first detailed measurements of the melting point of diamond, found diamond behaves like water during freezing and melting, with solid forms floating atop liquid forms. The surprising revelation

givesscientists a new understanding about diamonds and some of the most distant planets in our solar system.

From Discovery News

{ 0 comments }

Spirit and Opportunity, The Rovers After 5 Years

January 5, 2009

The NASA Mars Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, where only designed to operate for 3 months on the Martian surface, but after a five year anniversary, they are still collecting data and exploring the planet.

The rovers are now showing some serious signs of wear and tear.
Spirit has to drive backwards everywhere it goes because of a jammed wheel; and Opportunity’s robotic arm has a glitch in a shoulder joint because of a broken electrical wire.
There have been times also when the vehicles’ have been dangerously short on power because of the dust covering on their solar panels.

[From BBC News]

{ 0 comments }

The 2008 “Leap Second” on New Years

Wait a second. The start of next year will be delayed by circumstances beyond everyone’s control. Time will stand still for one second on New Year’s Eve, as we ring in the New Year on that Wednesday night. As a result, you’ll have an extra second to celebrate because a “Leap Second” will be added [...]

[click to continue...]

Is There Ice on the Moon?

Could there be ice on the moon?
A team of British researchers thinks so, and theorizes that the water could be put to use by residents of a future permanent lunar base.
Poring over data from NASA’s 1998 Lunar Prospector probe, the Durham University scientists found that hydrogen on the moon tends to be concentrated in dark [...]

[click to continue...]

A Plasma Cloak Surrounds the Earth

A detailed analysis of the measurements of five different satellites has revealed the existence of warm cloak of plasma around Earth.
This newfound feature is part of the magnetosphere, a shield of magnetic fields and electrically charged particles that surround and protect Earth from the onslaught of the solar wind.
The northern and southern polar lights – [...]

[click to continue...]

Sun Flares

“The sun’s activity ebbs and flows on a roughly 11-year cycle. It can range from very quiet to violent space storms that knock out power grids on Earth and disrupt radio and satellite communications. The last peak was in 2000, and scientists have in recent months figured the low point was occurring. Fresh sunspots during [...]

[click to continue...]

Sun Energy

“How much energy comes to earth from the sun? Yearly, the earth receives 6,000 times more sunlight energy than humans consume.”
[link]

[click to continue...]

The Planet Jupiter

“Jupiter is our solar system’’s largest planet. It is made almost entirely of gas and liquid. It has a distinctive feature on it called the Great Red Spot which is a giant storm in its atmosphere.”
[nasa.gov]

[click to continue...]

← Previous Entries