The Earth’s journey around the Sun is not a perfectly circular orbit but rather an elliptical one. As a result, our planet experiences variations in its distance from the Sun throughout the year. Two significant events in the Earth’s orbit, known as perihelion and aphelion, mark its closest and farthest points from the Sun, respectively.
Author Archives: M. Özgür Nevres
Oil does NOT come from Dinosaurs: The Great Oil Misconception
For generations, a popular myth has been fossilized in our collective consciousness: that oil, our critical energy resource, comes from dinosaurs. This age-old notion, often reinforced by popular culture, has turned out to be just that – a myth. As fascinating as the idea of fueling our cars with remnants of T-Rex or Triceratops may …
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You found Pascal! [Joke about physics]
Albert Einstein, Sir Isaac Newton, and Blaise Pascal are hanging out one afternoon. Einstein is bored, so he suggests, “Let’s play hide and seek! I’ll be it!”.
Saturn’s rings are no more than 400 million years old, study suggests
![Cassini image of Saturn and its rings [October 28, 2016]](https://cdn-0.ourplnt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Saturn-Cassini-2016-10-28.jpg)
A new study led by physicist Sascha Kempf at the University of Colorado Boulder has upended our understanding of Saturn’s iconic rings, suggesting that they may be much younger than previously believed. According to recent research, the majestic rings encircling the gas giant could be no more than a mere 400 million years old. These …
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Adler Planetarium, the first planetarium in the United States was opened on May 12, 1930
The Adler Planetarium is a public museum and planetarium located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It was the first planetarium in the United States (and also in Western Hemisphere) and is one of the oldest in the world. It was founded in 1930 through a donation from Max Adler (1866-1952), a Chicago businessman and philanthropist …
Breathtaking photo of Deimos and Mars captured by UAE’s Hope Probe
United Arab Emirates’ Hope Probe (Arabic: Misbar Al-Amal, al-amal means “hope” in English), which entered Mars’ orbit in February 2021, has captured a breathtaking photo of Mars and its tiny moon Deimos.
Top 12 Tallest Rockets Ever Launched [2023 SpaceX Starship Update]
To be able to reach space, we need rockets. Rocket engines work by action and reaction (“To every action, there is always opposed an equal reaction”, see notes 1) and push rockets forward simply by expelling their exhaust in the opposite direction at high speed and can, therefore, work in the vacuum of space. Space rockets …
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The first in-space satellite repair was performed on April 11, 1984
The first orbiting satellite to be repaired in space was NASA’s Solar Maximum Mission, which launched on February 14, 1980, to observe solar flares. Just a few months later, in November 1980, one of the satellite’s altitude control fuses failed. It was put in standby mode, and it remained so until Space Shuttle Challenger [STS-41-C] …
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The first cell phone call was performed on April 3, 1973
The first cell phone call was made by Martin Cooper (born December 26, 1928), a researcher at Motorola, on April 3, 1973. Cooper was working on developing the first handheld mobile phone, which he called the DynaTAC. The phone was large and bulky, weighing about 2.5 pounds, and it had a battery life of only …
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The first weather observation satellite [TIROS-1] was launched on April 1, 1960
On April 1, 1960, the world’s first weather observation satellite (TIROS-1) was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It became operational for 78 days, despite the mission duration being 90 days.
