Posts Tagged ‘uranus and neptune’

We feel a special regard to the other planets in our solar system maybe because we have been watching a lot of science fiction stories about visiting the moon and other planets. We love to think about those planets do the processes that Earth does but in different ways.

The planets in our system have taken the names of mythical beings and have appealed in our literature and arts. It is easy to encounter artists who render their own vision of the planets. The names of the planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune derived their names from the Greek and Roman mythology. However, the solar system is not only composed of planets, it is composed of other celestial bodies too. Space is a very busy place indeed.

In 2006, Pluto became an overnight controversy as scholars and astronomers agreed to downgrade Pluto to a moon. You might have wondered what makes a planet worthy to be called planet and what happened to Pluto? A planet, by definition, is any object in orbit around a sun. The planet takes a round shape as well as it has cleared away other orbiting items around it. When you say “cleared away”, it does not mean destroying other objects in its path. For example, our planet has not “cleared away” the moon but it has captured it into its own orbit so we classify Earth as a planet.

Aside from the planets, there are other objects floating in our solar system. As a matter of fact, there are 165 moons orbiting around the nine planets. Some of those moons are believed to be advance that some scientist have suspected that they might have supported life at some point.

Aside from the planets and moons, there are also dwarf planets, asteroid belts and comets. Can you imagine that the solar system is bustling with celestial bodies moving everywhere? Two dwarf planets that exist in the outer rim of our solar system are called Eries and Ceres. So when Pluto’s status was changed to be removed from the list of planets, it was no longer considered as a major planet but simply joined those two dwarf planets but is still a solid citizen of the community of celestial bodies in our solar system.

Moreover, there are asteroid belts between Mars and Jupiter that most of the meteor showers that we see in our night sky came from this belt. There is another belt of large objects further out called the Kuiper belt as well as a “bubble” in space called a heliopause. There are additional belts suspected by the scientists that exists in the solar system. Another belt called the Oort belt was believed to be the origin of large asteroids and comets that frequent our solar system and also come into orbit around the sun.

It is also important to take note of the history of our solar system to understand why we have such neighbors around our planet. The universe was once a huge body of gas and clouds of matter eventually cooling and heating, exploding and spinning off stars and massive space giants that become more stars, more galaxies and more solar systems. It was from this activity that our sun separated from the gases and carried with it materials that will be the precursor of out solar system. Moreover, the gravity of the sun captured enough matter that it began to go through the process of forming, cooling, exploding and separating as a result giving birth to the planets that eventually established orbits around the sun.

When you think about it, it is amazing to step back and see the beauty and organization of our solar system today. The more details that you know about the history of the solar system, the more you will appreciate these celestial bodies and the more you will attached to them. Discovery is part of the fun of astronomy.

Author: Gregory McFadden
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Cellphone news

Planet-x-Nibiru
NEW PLANET,SPACE SEARCH.
When Pluto was discovered back in 1930, Planet Astronomers were also observing a massive terrestial mass in Space that caused fluctuations in the Planet orbits of Uranus and Neptune. So intrigued were they that this sparked a massive focus for the search for a new Lunar Planet, Planet X as it was so called,and it’s set to visit us soon.

N.A.S.A.’s CLAIM.
Where time in space is irrelevant, but back on Earth 1993 was a good year for N.A.S.A. They announced an Earth like Planet mass was traveling in an uneven orbit around the Sun. It’s trajectory was indeed discovered to be towards Planet Earth.

More recently adding credence to N.A.S.A.’s claim, was an article published on Feb.28, 2008 in Japan by a scientist named Kyoko Hasegawa from the Kobe University he said that their calculations, using computer simulations led them to believe that this Planet was up to two thirds the size of Earth and was in orbit at the far reaches of our Solar System.
It was only a matter of time before the mysterious Planet X came into view.

PLANET-X-NIBIRU.
So where does Nibiru fit in?
By talking up and manipulating the fore mentioned information, skeptics and believers alike both clung to the belief that this astronomical discovery was, and then declared proof that, Planet X and Nibiru were one of the same.

Planet X Nibiru measures approx. 30 to 70% of the Earths mass and is made up of Ice, Icy Ammonia and Methane. With that you can imagine the surface would be veeerrry cold. The Planet is in an oblong elliptical orbit and circles the Sun every 1,000 years or so. It’s radius is estimated to be 15 to 26 billion killometres. To put it into perspective, if you looked into Space, and managed to see Pluto the celestial size is estimated to be much larger than that and will leave a larger trail than Halleys Commet.

LOOK INTO SPACE.
Observers estimate that by the year 2012 this Planet like mass, will pass through our solar system and we on good old Planet Earth will get the front row seats.

Author: Evert Harder
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera Information

Astronomy trivia is so interesting because the universe is something that we are constantly learning more about. It would be impossible for any one person to learn everything there is to know about astronomy, as the nearly endless night sky provides endless opportunities for the interested person to continue learning.

An Astronomy quiz might involve the study of the planets, the stars, or other heavenly bodies such as comets and meteors. A common place for the beginning student of astronomy to learn about is the planets in our own Galaxy. They are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Formerly, Pluto was known as a planet but it has since been declassified as such.

The study of astronomy often begins with an interest in the constellations that are visible in the night sky. A constellation is a configuration of stars that astronomers have grouped together into patterns which represent certain symbols as a way of recognizing or remembering them. One of the most commonly seen constellations that is recognized the most easily is the Big Dipper.

There are many other constellations which can be easily recognized even by someone with just a passing interest in Astronomy trivia. Orion’s belt, a series of three aligned stars is one of the easiest to see. There are actually 88 official constellations, which include those that represent all the signs of the zodiac.

An interesting point for any Astronomy quiz is that the constellations as humans have identified them are only a creation based on human perception. Our eyes are unable to differentiate the vast differences in distance between many of the stars which are part of the same constellations. Some times stars in the same constellation will actually be millions of light years apart, but our inability to perceive depth in the night sky makes them appear in such a way that we can imagine them as a pattern.

Another point worth noting for someone interested in astronomy is that it has been posited by astronomers that many of the stars that we see in the night sky are no longer even there. Because of the vast distances across space that separate the stars from earth, the light from the stars takes an incredibly long amount of time to reach earth. That period of time is such that many of those stars have likely burnt out since the time that they were actually light.

Author: Shawna S. Ruppert
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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