Hello guys sorry for the delay but my network was out the past 2 days, post coming tommorow :D2/5/2022 What and where is Jupiter?The largest planet in our solar system and the 5th away from the sun, Jupiter is one of the most spectacular planets to look out for and is one of the brightest in our night sky. Did you know that Jupiter is 318 times the mass of Earth which makes it 2.5 more massive than all of the planets in the solar system combined. But, if Jupiter got any more massive it would decrease in size because it would start pulling in on itself due to its increased density. Despite its large size, Jupiter's rotation is surprisingly quick and is the fastest spinning planet, around 10 hours. Its incredible rotation also allows it to create a strong magnetic field making its surrounding quite dangerous. And the famous Red Spot is a storm that has been roaring for at least 400 years as it had been spotted in the 17th century, but since then has nearly doubled in size. The gas planet is a wonder but so are its 67 identified moons that contribute to its glory.
Solar system size comparasion Image of Jupiter's poles How Jupiter saved EarthOne of the dangers people rarely bring up are huge asteroids and comets that could possibly make contact with our surface, it would be an extinction-level event ( just like the dinosaurs) that would bring an end to humanity :(. Have you ever wondered why we have rarely had problems with asteroids causing problems, its because of Jupiter. Jupiters mass allows it to have a massive gravitational field that attracts a huge amount of celestial objects into its atmosphere. The impacts on Jupiter are so common that an amateur astronomer managed to catch one happening while he was stargazing, here's the video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVSU_TJlSjYfeature=emb_logo. However, in the past when more objects were in space, impacts were the reason many of the ingredients of life exist on our planet today ( such as water), so if you think about Jupiter could have possibly stopped life from ever existing. But in the present, we are all grateful for the savior Jupiter (ALL HAIL JUPITER).  The Great Red Spot Sub Topic : THE GREAT RED SPOT The Great Red Spot is amazing, I would like to share even more with you. It is humongous, by humongous I mean nearly 1000 Earths can fit inside of it. According to NDTV, "The Great Red Spot is a storm roughly 10,000 miles (16,000 km) wide churning in Jupiter's southern hemisphere, boasting crimson-colored clouds that spin counterclockwise at high speeds. It is one of the marvels of the solar system and has been in existence for centuries, but scientists until now have had little understanding of what lies below its surface." No final thoughts, thank you.
What and where is Venus ?The second planet from the sun, named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty is Venus. It is mainly made up of the colors yellow, white, and a tint of orange. Venus was similar to Earth in the early days of our solar system, but things changed drastically and sciences believe climate change could be the reason why it became inhabitable. Despite the similarities between our Earth and Venus ( in size, density, gravity, and the fact it has a rocky structure), Venus is extremely different. Starting off with its rotation, it is in the opposite direction of Earth's and takes nearly a year (243 Earth days) for it to complete a single rotation, which literally means a single day is nearly a year over there. It is also the hottest planet in our solar system because of its intense atmosphere that traps the heat inside of it, and also its constantly active surface of volcanoes just makes it even HOTTER !! And for all the stargazers, you know how easy it is to spot Venus in the sky because of its intense brightness.
Picture on Venus's surface The latest mission announcements to Venus According to NASA, "Venus has been visited by several spacecraft: Mariner 2, Mariner 5, Mariner 10, Pioneer Venus 1, Pioneer Venus 2, and an orbiter called Magellan." meaning it has been visited 6 times, but recently a new mission has been announced that will tell us more about its twisted world. The mission's goal is extremely interesting and I personally cannot wait to find out what it has to offer in terms of solid answers. From the Smithsonian Magazine, "NASA selected two new missions to study the second planet from the sun. These two missions will set out to understand how Earth’s sister planet may have been the first habitable planet in the solar system and how it has become the volcanic and mountainous planet it is today. Both are expected to launch by 2028 to 2030." The first mission is VERITAS which will focus on mapping the planets surface and attempt to explain why it developed so differently from Earth. And the second mission is DAVINCI+ which is meant to be more focused on Venus's atmosphere and how it formed.  Description of the future Venus Missions Final ThoughtsFinding out more about Venus won't just help us get answers about itself but also why Earth is the way it is and why despite the similarities Venus took a dark turn. Thank you and stay safe.
Hello guys, unfortunately, I and my whole family got Covid-19 and even though I am feeling much better, need a bit more time to rest, the blog will be about tomorrow. Sorry for the delay guys don't forget to check in tomorrow.
What is the James Webb TelescopeWith technology developing exponentially, scientists' opportunities to see more and do more increase. Attempting to replace the Hubble Telescope, the JWST will be used to look at deep space objects which will give us even a further look into the past. The infrared observatory is better than Hubble because of its increased depth in view and improved sensitivity. Named after the famous James Webb (the second administrator of NASA in the 1960s), the JWST's size can be split into two parts, the base, and the sun-shield. According to sciencfocus.com, "Billed as the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, the JWST is the largest space observatory ever built. Its gigantic sun shield base measures a massive 22m by 12m, roughly the same size as a tennis court. Although nearly twice as big as Hubble (which is only 13m long), the JWST is almost half the weight at 6,500kg. The JWST’s gold-plated mirrors have a total diameter of 6.5m, much larger than Hubble’s 2.4m diameter plate. Overall, the JWST will have approximately a 15 times wider view than Hubble." ( taken from https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/james-webb-space-telescope/ ) Finally, its main missions are to, study galaxy evolution, see the first in the universe and the first objects after the big bang, study the atmosphere of planets, and find dark matter.
How does the JWST work?
 Image of JWST's positioning (it's currently approaching L2). Final ThoughtsImages from the JWST should be available in May of this year which is extremely exciting, I honestly cannot wait. After launching in Christmas Day (December 25), JWST is now approaching the position known as L2 (image above for reference), I wish all the scientists that are currently participating in the JWST's deployment luck, thank you, and stay safe.
What is Dark Energy and how is the universe expanding ?Dark Energy is a theoretical form of energy that is said to be the reason our universe is expanding. I guess you are wondering how our universe is expanding, well galaxies are being pushed part, getting further and further away from each other. That isn't even the crazy part, the expansion itself is accelerating. There is no current explanation for how this occurs and it is one of the most mindboggling mysteries of our generation.  Timeline of universe How was it proven?The universe's acceleration was discovered in 1998, the team used the light from a supernova. They measured their increase in distance by measuring the difference in brightness. Later, different tests were made on other objects such as galaxy clusters, and another technique in measuring how far light travels is measuring the redshift of the light. Redshift is a property of light where its wavelength stretches as the light travels, it goes towards the red part of the spectrum. Measuring redshift in distant light is another way of determining distance and if measured over time will give an accurate value of how far the object traveled.
A frozen future of darkness As the universe continues to expand more rapidly, there is a possibility that the future has all galaxies so far away from each other that light from them can is no longer visible. As the universe grows older, stars will also fade and energy will distribution will decrease meaning the universe will be dark, cold, and empty. Raw materials will also not be accessible in large amounts meaning star formation is impossible. to That conclusion is assuming dark energy will continue to accelerate ( it actually doesn't NEED to accelerate but if it stops accelerating there is a chance it will start slowing down instead) and that the universe will not stop expanding. Possible ways the universe may end. Final ThoughtsNone, enjoy your weeks everyone.
What are the Northern Lights Hello guys, since it's New Year's Eve I thought I'd do a quick and easy blog about a well-known phenomenon, enjoy. Northern lights (known as Auroras) are one of the most interesting phenomena that occur on our planet. Mainly occurring in regions by Earth's poles, they are an amazing display of natural lights (mainly blue and green) that appear in different and dynamic shapes throughout the night sky. They usually occur from late August to April and are not harmful in any way to humans but they may harm technology or any electric structures.
How do they occur? They are caused by the activity of the sun, large solar storms cause a load of charged particles to interact with the gas atoms by the Earth's atmosphere. This interaction causes the colors and flashes, they're movement and structure depend on Earth's magnetic field. Magnetic fields have maximums strength at each pole, which explains why they are only visible in the North and Southern poles. Here is an in-detail explanation of why and how the sun's particles end up in our atmosphere from https://www.theaurorazone.com/about-the-aurora/are-the-northern-lights-going-to-disappear, "Let us explain the science behind the Northern Lights. At ‘Solar Maximum’, there are many sunspots on the Sun’s surface, where streams of magnetic current arc in and out of the star. When these get especially active, it can lead to bursts of plasma from the Sun in the form of coronal mass ejections, which cause streams of charged particles to rush towards Earth. These interact with the planet’s magnetic field and create beautiful Aurora displays."  Norwegian Northern Lights display Final ThoughtsI hope everyone has had a great year and has had a nice quick read of one of the most interesting phenomena and get ready for a new mysterious topic for next week. Enjoy the holidays, peace.
The Speed of LightAt a whopping 300,000 kilometers per second, light travels (light can travel up to 300,000 kilometers per second and this is if it is in a vacuum), even though it may seem like the speed of light itself doesn't reveal anything about the cosmos your wrong. Only massless particles can reach such speed, as the mass of a particle increases its maximum speed decreases meaning massless particles such as photons ( particles that makeup light ) can reach maximum speed. It is impossible to accelerate any mass object to light speed since doing so would need unlimited energy, which is unachievable with our existing understanding and technology. Also, our vision depends on light, meaning our eyes are light detectors of some sort. This also means that if we see an object that is 8 light minutes ( light time, in general, is how long it would take for light to travel from the object to the viewer) away such as our sun we are seeing it 8 minutes ago, if the sun were to disappear we wouldn't notice for 8 minutes. Why the cosmic speed limit limits our capabilities? The limit is not a positive when it comes to space voyages and communication. First it is nearly impossible according to modern physics to reach light speed travel meaning traveling to other stars let alone other galaxies would take a very very long time, however this may be seen as an advancement to the amount of options we have when it comes to interstellar travel and has led to the development of alternate ways of fast travel such as the Alcubierre Warp Drive (topic for another blog). But space travel isn't the only way the speed limit affects our capabilities, it also limits the speed of the transfer of information. We use waves and different types of signals to communicate in general, and they are all limited by speed meaning if we were to go on a interstellar voyage to Proxima Centauri ( nearest star to our solar system ) and get there successfully, it would take 4 years for the information from Earth to get there. This limit on communications is definitely another aspect to keep in mind when it comes to future travels.
Final ThoughtsEven though we currently cannot defy it, I believe we will find a way to go around the cosmic speed limit and find a way to travel beyond our solar system. There have been theorists who have suggested the existence of particles that surpass the cosmic speed limit such as the tachyon. Hopefully, we will see the day when interstellar travel exists, hope everyone has a great day.
Hello fellow enthusiasts, I'd like to announce that there will unfortunately not be a blog today, I am taking a 1 week break to relax and focus on my final weeks of collage admission. I will be returning with a fundamental topic about the cosmic speed limit on the 24th, be ready.
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