Category: Solar System

Yet Another Scale Model of the Solar System [Video]

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date December 17, 2018
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A scale view of the Sun and the planets — In his YouTube channel, The Science Asylum, physicist Nick Lucid provides yet another scale model of the solar system. A very nice video conceptualizing how mind-bogglingly big our solar system (and space) is. Image: from the video titled "The Craziest Solar System Model EVER!" on Science Asylum channel on YouTube.

Previously I posted articles titled “If The Moon Were Only 1 Pixel – A Tediously Accurate Map Of The Solar System” and “A Scale Model Of Solar System Drawn In The Desert And The Result Is Stunning”. Since the human brain cannot deal with really large numbers, these articles provide amazing ways to understand how big actually our Solar System is.

Now, in his YouTube channel, The Science Asylum, physicist Nick Lucid provides yet another scale model of the solar system. A very nice video conceptualizing how mind-bogglingly big our solar system (and space) is.

Astronomy Solar System

Size Comparison of the Sun and the Planets

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date November 19, 2018
5 Comments on Size Comparison of the Sun and the Planets

Sun, planets and dwarf planets size comparison — An illustration of the solar system to scale, created by the San Francisco-based artist Roberto Ziche. The image features the Sun in the background with the planets, Moon and the four dwarf planets lined up in the foreground in the relative scale of size to one another. The radiuses of the celestial bodies in the image: Sun: approximately 695,700 km (432,300 mi) Planets (and moon) Mercury: 2,440 km (1,516 mi) Venus: 6,052 km (3,760 mi) Earth: 6,371 km (3,959 mi) Moon: 1,737 km (1,079 mi) Mars: 3,390 km (2,106 mi) Jupiter: 69,911 km (43,441 mi) Saturn: 58,232 km (36,184 mi) Uranus: 25,362 km (15,759 mi) Neptune: 24,622 km (15,299 mi) Dwarf Planets Pluto: 1,188 km (738 mi) Haumea: 816 km (507 mi) Makemake: 750 km (466 mi) Eris: 1,186 km (737 mi) You can see the full-size image on Roberto Ziche's website. Ziche says: "At the Chabot Space and Science Center there were some old, poor quality images, probably downloaded from the internet and printed on office paper, showing the Sun and the planets to scale. I found the images content to be extremely interesting, but the design and quality was definitely something that could have been improved. I decided to give it a try, and create a brand new, more artistic view of our solar system, poster size (36″x36″), and donate it to the Center to replace those old prints. The 3D geometry was not too complex, but there was a lot of lighting experimentation to get the scene illuminated only by the Sun itself, and some time-consuming multi-layer composition in Photoshop."

This size comparison of the Sun and the planets in our solar system is going around frequently, but it’s still amazing to see it. Created by the San Francisco-based artist Roberto Ziche, the image features the Sun in the background with the planets, Moon, and the four dwarf planets lined up in the foreground in the relative scale of size to one another.

Photography Astronomy Solar System

This is probably the most beautiful Solar Eclipse photo ever

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date October 17, 2018
No Comments on This is probably the most beautiful Solar Eclipse photo ever

Great American Total Solar Eclipse photo (Jon Carmichael) — Photographer Jon Carmichael chose another way. He got aboard a Southwest Airlines aircraft and captured the Great American Total Solar Eclipse from an unusual vantage point at 39,000 feet (11,890 meters). And the result is probably the most beautiful Solar Eclipse photo ever. Carmichael shot over 1,200 photos in two minutes at 39,000 feet and managed to perfectly capture the total eclipse over Snake River, a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. The result was so beautiful that Inc. calls it "the most amazing image ever taken from a commercial airplane". Limited edition prints of this wonderful image are now available for purchase via the photographer's website

More than a year ago, on Monday, August 21, around 2 million to 7.4 million Americans traveled to see the first total solar eclipse in 99 years to go coast to coast in the United States. Photographer Jon Carmichael chose another way. He got aboard a Southwest Airlines aircraft and captured the Great American Total Solar Eclipse from an unusual vantage point at 39,000 feet (11,890 meters). And the result is probably the most beautiful Solar Eclipse photo ever.

Solar System Astronomy Science Fiction Space Exploration

5 Surprising Facts about Mars

Post author By Our Planet
Post date October 2, 2018
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Mars - Valles Marineris Hemisphere Enhanced — Mars may once have been more hospitable to life than it is now. Scientists think the magnetosphere of Mars collapsed around 3.7 billion years ago, and it eventually lost its atmosphere. Now, Mars has a very thin atmosphere: the atmospheric pressure on the Martian surface averages 600 pascals (0.087 psi; 6.0 mbar), about only 0.6% of Earth's mean sea level pressure of 101.3 kilopascals (14.69 psi; 1.013 bar). Photo: NASA

For eons, skywatchers have been fascinated by the pale red dot that not only unpredictably moves backward in the night sky but also shines a compelling blood-red. Its color, indeed, is one of the first features we notice about Mars. It seizes our attention, and its compelling ambiguity has evoked a deep visceral reaction from the nomad in ancient savannas to modern astronomers.

The ancient astronomer may be satisfied to know that, in fact, Mars is literally blood-red: the same chemical reaction that occurs in the iron in Mars’ soil is the same as the same chemical reaction that occurs in the hemoglobin molecule. Mars, is, quite literally, blood red. Even with our cutting-edge technology and science, Mars still bewitches and amazes us as seen with these five surprising facts about Mars.

Space Exploration Solar System

Lunar Landmarks meets Debussy’s “Moonlight” in this Amazing NASA Video

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date August 20, 2018
No Comments on Lunar Landmarks meets Debussy’s “Moonlight” in this Amazing NASA Video

NASA Lunar landmarks video "Moonlight" — NASA's Lunar landmarks video "Moonlight". NASA has published an amazing video titled "Moonlight (Clair de Lune)", which attempts to capture the mood of the French composer Claude Debussy's (22 August 1862 - 25 March 1918) best-known composition, Clair de Lune (moonlight in French). The piece's name comes from the French poet Paul-Marie Verlaine’s (30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) poem Clair de lune, “moonlight” in French. It is written in 9/8 meter, marked andante très expressif, and to be played mostly pianissimo.

NASA has published an amazing video titled “Moonlight (Clair de Lune)”, which attempts to capture the mood of the French composer Claude Debussy’s (22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) best-known composition, Clair de Lune (moonlight in French).

Astrobiology Solar System

Life on the Moon? New study suggests there was a habitability window 4 billion years ago

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date August 12, 2018
No Comments on Life on the Moon? New study suggests there was a habitability window 4 billion years ago

Rotating Moon — NASA APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day) published an amazing video showing a rotating Moon. In fact, no one sees the Moon rotate like this. We see only one side of the moon, because the Moon is tidally locked to Earth. But, thanks to modern digital technology combined with many detailed images returned by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a high-resolution virtual Moon rotation movie has been composed.

The Moon is completely uninhabitable and lifeless today – a dusty, dry rock. It has no atmosphere, there is no liquid water on the surface, and, maybe most important, it has no magnetosphere to protect its surface from solar wind and cosmic radiation. But, according to a new study published in Astrobiology, it may have looked quite different around four billion years ago: its surface was not as dry as it is today, and conditions to support simple life on the Moon existed twice during the early years.

Solar System Astronomy

Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will scan the skies for asteroids that threaten Earth

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date August 4, 2018
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Around 66 million years ago, an asteroid (or a comet) with a diameter of at least 10 kilometers (6 miles) impacted a few miles from the present-day town of Chicxulub in Mexico at around 64,000 kilometers per hour (40,000 mph). The impact triggered a chain of events what is known today as the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction event, also known as the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) extinction, and wiped out three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth, including non-avian dinosaurs.

If this Chicxulub impactor happened today, it would wipe out human civilization. Luckily, events like Chicxulub impact are rare. Asteroids with a 1 km (0.62 mi) diameter strike Earth every 500,000 years on average. But that doesn’t mean we are totally safe. Asteroids with a diameter of at least 140 meters (460 ft) are big enough to cause regional devastation to human settlements unprecedented in human history in the case of a land impact or a major tsunami in the case of an ocean impact.

Solar System Astronomy Space Exploration

Song of Saturn and Its Moon Enceladus

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date July 17, 2018
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Enceladus with Saturn. Image credit: Kevin Gill, a software engineer, planetary and climate data wrangler, science data visualization artist ( image source). Rendered with Autodesk Maya, postprocessing in Adobe Photoshop. Enceladus is Saturn's sixth largest moon, only 157 miles (252 km) in mean radius, but it's one of the most scientifically compelling bodies in our solar system. Hydrothermal vents spew water vapor and ice particles from an underground ocean beneath the icy crust of Enceladus. This plume of material includes organic compounds, volatile gases, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, salts and silica. With its global ocean, unique chemistry and internal heat, Enceladus has become a promising lead in our search for worlds where life could exist.

NASA has published an amazing video titled “Sounds of Saturn: Hear Radio Emissions of the Planet and Its Moon Enceladus”. The analysis of the data from the Cassini Spacecraft’s Grand Finale orbits showed a surprisingly powerful interaction of plasma waves moving from Saturn to its icy moon Enceladus. Researchers converted the recording of plasma waves into a “whooshing” audio file that we can hear, in the same way a radio translates electromagnetic waves into music.

Solar System Astronomy

The Moons of the Solar System in Perspective

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date June 23, 2018
No Comments on The Moons of the Solar System in Perspective

To put things into a perspective, here are some of the largest moons of our Solar System (including our moon) and their sizes compared to Earth.

Planet Earth Astronomy Solar System

Moon Illusion: here’s why the Moon looks larger when it’s near the horizon

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date June 12, 2018
No Comments on Moon Illusion: here’s why the Moon looks larger when it’s near the horizon

A Harvest Moon. This image was taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III on February 14, 2017 with 600.0mm, f/8.0s, 1/500s, ISO 200. Image source: pxhere If you go out on a clear night when it's full moon, you may notice how gigantic the Earth's satellite looks when it's near the horizon. But, in fact, that moon is the exact same size as every other time as you've ever seen it in the sky. You can test this by holding your thumbnail at arm's length and comparing it to the size of the Moon when it is near the horizon and high in the sky, and you'll see it doesn't change size. Photographs of the Moon at different elevations also show that its size remains the same. In fact, it plays a trick on your brain which called the *"Moon Illusion"*. This illusion has been known since the ancient times, and an explanation of this optical phenomenon is still debated.

The moon illusion: if you go out on a clear night when it’s a full moon, you may notice how gigantic the Earth’s satellite looks when it’s near the horizon. But, in fact, that moon is the exact same size as every other time you’ve ever seen it in the sky. You can test this by holding your thumbnail at arm’s length and comparing it to the size of the Moon when it is near the horizon and high in the sky, and you’ll see it doesn’t change size.

Photographs of the Moon at different elevations also show that its size remains the same. In fact, it plays a trick on your brain which is called the “Moon Illusion”. This illusion has been known since ancient times, and an explanation of this optical phenomenon is still debated.

The moon illusion is subtle for some and dramatic for others (including me). A small fraction of people even don’t see it.