Category: Planet Earth

Earth without Moon: what would it be like?

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date January 27, 2019
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Earth without moon - what it would be like — Have you ever wondered what Earth would be like without Moon? Without its closest celestial companion, our planet’s tides, climate, and even the length of days would change dramatically. The Moon stabilizes Earth’s axis, influencing seasons and weather patterns. Without it, life as we know it would be profoundly different.

The Moon is the Earth’s only natural satellite. It is also the fifth-largest natural satellite in the Solar System and the largest among planetary satellites relative to the size of the planet that it orbits. It formed about 4.51 billion years ago from the debris left over after a giant impact between Earth and a Mars-sized body called Theia (this is known as the Giant Impact Hypothesis and is the most widely accepted explanation of the formation of the Moon). This impact happened not long after the Earth has been formed. But, what if that giant impact never happened? What would the Earth without Moon be like?

Moon Landing Geology Planet Earth Space Exploration

Earth’s oldest rock has been found… on the Moon!

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date January 25, 2019
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Apollo 14 Commander Alan B. Shepard on the Moon — Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., Apollo 14 commander, assembles a double core tube as he stands beside the rickshaw-type portable workbench or modularized equipment transporter (MET) unique to this mission. The photograph was taken by astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, lunar module pilot, standing some 170 meters (560 feet) northeast of the Lunar Module (LM), during the mission's second extravehicular activity (EVA) on Feb. 6, 1971. While astronauts Shepard and Mitchell descended in the LM "Antares" to explore the Fra Mauro region of the moon, astronaut Stuart A. Roosa, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) "Kitty Hawk" in lunar orbit. Apollo 14 was the eighth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, and the third to land on the Moon. This photo was taken on February 6, 1971. This is a cropped and resized image. You can see the original photo on the NASA Spaceflight website.

According to research published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Earth’s oldest rock (which is 4.1 billion years old) has been found in an Apollo 14 sample from the Moon. If confirmed, it’s an amazing discovery.

Solar System Astronomy Planet Earth

Meteorites do not fall to Earth

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date January 23, 2019
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A Leonid meteor during the peak of Leonids in 2009. The Leonids (/ˈliːənɪdz/ lee-ə-nidz) are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Tempel-Tuttle. The Leonids get their name from the location of their radiant in the constellation Leo: the meteors appear to radiate from that point in the sky. Their proper Greek name should be Leontids (Λεοντίδαι, Leontídai), but the word was initially constructed as a Greek/Latin hybrid[citation needed] and it has been used since. They peak in the month of November. Photo: wikipedia

When a meteoroid hits Earth, it’s not because the space rock has “fallen out of” its orbit. It’s because its orbit crosses over Earth’s orbit at the exact right (or wrong) moment.

Prehistoric Evolution Life on Earth Planet Earth

Dinosaurs were already doomed as the frequency of Asteroid Impacts increased 290 million years ago

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date January 21, 2019
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The Chicxulub impactor was an asteroid or comet at least 10 kilometers (6 miles) in diameter. Around 66 million years ago, it 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 has created a crater (Chicxulub crater) more than 180 km (110 miles) in diameter, making it the third largest known impact crater on Earth. Image credit: Joe Tucciarone/Science Photo Library

By studying lunar craters, scientists have discovered that asteroid impacts became more frequent about 290 million years ago. So was just a matter of time for dinosaurs to become extinct.

People Planet Earth

The urbanization of the world

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date January 13, 2019
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An aerial view of Tokyo — Once a small fishing village named Edo, Tokyo, the capital of Japan is the most populous city in the world (by the metropolitan area). As of July 2016, the population of Tokyo's metropolitan area is 37,800,000. It has also the world's largest urban agglomeration economy.

The world has been urbanizing rapidly in recent decades. In 1950, only 30 percent of the world’s population lived in urban areas, a proportion that grew to 55 percent by 2018. The global urbanization rate masks important differences in urbanization levels across geographic regions.

Northern America is the most urbanized region, with 82 percent of its population residing in urban areas, whereas Asia is approximately 50 percent urban, and Africa remains mostly rural with 43 percent of its population living in urban areas in 2018 (United Nations, 2018).

Climate Animals Environment Global Warming Life on Earth

African musicians protest the destruction of the environment with a song titled “Samalilani” (Preserve)

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date January 10, 2019
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Musicians from Zambia (Africa) protest the destruction of the environment and the wildlife with the song titled “Samalilani” (means “preserve” in English). They also draw attention to climate change and environmental issues facing Zambia, like deforestation and charcoal burning.

Planet Earth Evolution Life on Earth Solar System

What if the Earth was tidally locked to the Sun?

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date January 7, 2019
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Sunrise from space (NASA) — Image: NASA - ISS013-E-78960 (9 Sept. 2006) - A rising sun and Earth's horizon are featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 13 crew member on the International Space Station.

We only see one side of the moon, because it is tidally locked to the planet Earth (tidal locking the situation when an object’s orbital period matches its rotational period). What if the Earth was tidally locked to the Sun?

Life on Earth Animals Evolution Planet Earth Plants Prehistoric

What If Earth’s History Compressed Into One Year

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date January 1, 2019
3 Comments on What If Earth’s History Compressed Into One Year

Earth from the Geostationary Orbit — Earth image taken by Japanese weather satellite Himawari 8, which takes a photo of Earth every 10 minutes. Himawari 8 is the 8th of the Himawari geostationary weather satellites operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency. Himawari 8 entered operational service on 7 July 2015 and is the successor to MTSAT-2 (Himawari 7) which was launched in 2006.

What if the Earth’s history (our planet’s age is approximately 4.54 billion years), compressed into just one year? @YearOnEarth just did that. At midnight on the 31st of December, Chris Jennings started a little project for the incoming year: tweeting the entirety of the geological history of the Earth, compressed into one year.

The result is an amazing timeline of the Earth’s history.

Solar System Astronomy Planet Earth

The sidereal days and axial tilts of the Planets

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date December 31, 2018
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Solar System Planets' sidereal days and axial tilts

NASA Goddard Planetary Scientist James O’ Donoghue created a nice animation showing the sidereal days and axial tilts of the solar system planets.

Animals Life on Earth

Cheetah facts: 20 interesting things about the world’s fastest land animal

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date December 22, 2018
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Cheetah running at full speed in South Africa (Acinonyx jubatus). Source: Deposit Photos

The cheetah (scientific name: Acinonyx jubatus) is a large cat of the subfamily Felinae, which specialized for high speed. Cheetahs live in North and East Africa, and a few localities in Iran. Here are 20 amazing cheetah facts.