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Gotta find them all!!
Knowing about all the planets in our own solar system made us wonder if there are other planetary systems out there as well. And there are!! But how did we detect these extrasolar planets? There are four ways to detect extrasolar planets. The simplest way, but not always the easiest way, is direct observation. That’s… Continue reading
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Are we there yet??🚀
In my entire life, I have never traveled outside of the country. Most people on Earth have never traveled off of Earth. And none of us have ever traveled outside of our Solar System! We know that travel to the Moon is possible, but is it possible to visit worlds in other planetary systems? Is… Continue reading
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SOLAR ECLIPSE DAY!!!
Yesterday, (April 08, 2024), a group of friends and I drove up to Vienna, Illinois to observe the solar eclipse in totality. It was one of the best experiences in my life, and I think that getting to see such a beautiful and interesting astronomical phenomena in person is life-changing. Because totality only lasted for… Continue reading
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Some things never change…
Asteroids are rocky leftover pieces from the planetary formation era that never ended up becoming planets. They orbit our Sun out in the asteroid belt, but they are too small and weirdly shaped (thanks to impacts!) to be classified as planets. To give a sense of the size range of asteroids, the largest asteroid, Ceres,… Continue reading
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Put a ring on it!! 🪐
When I think of rings, the first planet that comes to mind is Saturn. Saturn has the most impressive rings out of all the Jovian planets in our solar system. (In fact, Saturn’s rings are so prominent that I sometimes forget that other Jovian planets also have rings!!) First, let’s talk about the properties of… Continue reading
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☆Born to shine, forced to fuse☆
Stars, like us, have an exciting life journey. Stars are born when gas and dust in cold molecular clouds collapse from gravity. Just like our solar system, the formation of a star involves the gas cloud spinning, heating, and flattening until the star is formed. Something I thought was cool was that stars tend to… Continue reading
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From collapse to solar system
Once upon a time, there was a huge interstellar cloud of cold, low-density gas called the solar nebula. This solar nebula came about from billions of years of galactic recycling, and consists of about 98% hydrogen and helium and 2% other random elements. The solar nebula collapsed under its own gravity, and BOOM! the Sun… Continue reading
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Gravity holds the universe together
Gravitational force, why planets have orbits, and how we know that black holes exist When you think of gravity, you might think of the force that makes apples fall on people’s heads (talking about you, Newton!). But it’s also why planets have orbits! Any two objects in space have a gravitational force between them. Kepler’s… Continue reading
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The Universe Isn’t Kepler-centric!
Johannes Kepler made three of the most influential discoveries to the field of astronomy, also known as Kepler’s Laws. Kepler was born on December 27, 1571 (a true Capricorn!), and died on November 15, 1630. In case you forgot: Kepler’s 1st Law: planet orbits are elliptical (not necessarily perfect circles!) and the Sun is at… Continue reading
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It’s not a phase, Mom! ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆
One thing I love about the nighttime is getting to see the different phases of the Moon in different times of its cycle. The Moon cycle consists of 8 phases as you can see in the picture below, and lasts 29.5 days, which is around one month! In this period, we see the Moon go from… Continue reading
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Abbie's Astronomy Adventures!! 