The Strange Wonders of Jupiter’s Moon Callisto

By on Feb 29, 2016 in Solar System | 0 comments

Imagine a moon where your typical view is the gargantuan planet Jupiter. It never seems to move across the sky and just stares right back at you. This is probably a typical view from most of the moons around Jupiter but there is one that separates itself from the rest; enter Callisto. Quick Facts About Callisto Discovered in 1610 by Galileo 16 Earth day orbital & rotation periods (synchronous) Average radius: 2,410 km (Earth’s moon = 1,737 km) Callisto is a very intriguing planet when you start getting a closer look at it. Its cratered filled surface tells a story of ancient turmoil since the early solar system. We know that its other comparable siblings – Io, Europa, and Ganymede – experiences tidal heating as a result of orbital resonance. Meaning the enormous effect of a tug of war between Jupiter’s gravity and these moons causes some internal heating....

The Opulent Vela Supernova Remnant

By on Feb 27, 2016 in Pictures, Supernova | 0 comments

If there’s one thing I can’t get enough of it’s the gorgeous supernovae remnant photos. The cosmos sculpts magnificent scenes from hundreds or hundred of thousands light years away from Earth. The beautiful image you see here is our friend called the Vela Supernova Remnant, located 800 light years away from Earth. This remnant exploded about 11,000 – 12,300 years ago. To give you some context 11,000 years ago on Earth was the emergence of the oldest city still around today called Jericho. Humans who settled there may have been able to see this supernova in the sky. The gorgeous filaments you see here are traces of expanding shockwaves in the X-ray wavelength. As these gasses of elements such as hydrogen and oxygen fly away from the detonated star, they smash into each other and eventually form into young stars. The blue points of light in the photo are the...

Horsehead and Flame Nebula: A Cosmic Tango

By on Feb 22, 2016 in Pictures | 0 comments

Estimated 1,500 light years away from planet Earth, lies a tale of two nebulae dancing in the cosmos. We’ll start with one of the most famous nebulae in astronomy: the Horsehead Nebula.  This gorgeous nebula is a dark nebula in the constellation Orion. The red emission nebula behind it acts like a gorgeous cosmic backdrop to show the curves and structure of this hydrogen gas beast. The head itself is about 2 to 3 light years across. In kilometers this would be about 20 – 30 trillion kilometers!   On the left hand side you’ll see its partner, famously known as, the Flame Nebula. This nebula is a star nursery for more than 800 young stars. Just right of the Flame Nebula, underneath the Horsehead Nebula, you’ll see a blue reflection nebula reflecting blue light from nearby stars. One of the most famous images of the Horsehead Nebula is the magnified image of...

Mysterious Dark Sand Dune on Mars

By on Feb 21, 2016 in Mars | 0 comments

Mars is a hot topic these days with the discovery of water, the revelation of what happened to the water on Mars billions of years ago, to this…mysterious sand dune. Yes, what they call the Namib dune. Mars has a lot of strange landscape features and this sand dune is no exception. The dune is about 4 meters tall and what separates this dune from the rest is the fact that it moves 1 meter per year. Mars rover Curiosity took a side quest to actually study this up close. It’ll help scientists understand how Martian dunes act and behave. There isn’t a ton of information on this dune as this photo was taken in November of 2015. It still counts as a first for humans studying an active sand dune other than Earth.   For more information or to download the full image in color you can check out JPL’s webpage here.  

Furious 20,000 Year Explosion Wolf-Rayet Star 124

By on Feb 19, 2016 in Wolf-Rayet Star | 0 comments

When we think of stars going supernova we might imagine one of the most incredible explosions in the universe. Nothing surprising here. However, when we think about how fast the explosion happens, well there’s a whole different story altogether. Enter Wolf-Rayet Star 124. Let’s take a sidebar and talk about this specific stellar death scenario. It’s one that is really like no other!   What is a Wolf-Rayet Star? A Wolf-Rayet Star has a few requirements. It is a star at least 20 times massive than our Sun, that starts its final farewell or beings to die a lot earlier than typical stars. They really embody the phrase “live fast and die hard.” What makes Wolf-Rayet stars fascinating is how quickly and furiously these stars go out. These magnificent stars are fusing through elements so fast that their solar winds are traveling at a blazing 3.6 million KM...

What Being an Astronomy Fan has Taught Me

By on Feb 18, 2016 in My two cents | 0 comments

Astronomy or even just science has taught me so much in my life that I figured I should share my key takeaways. I’m still learning so it’ll be great to revisit this post in about 5-10 years to see what else I’ve picked up. Before I jump in to this post I should give you some context about myself, the BrownSpaceman. Here are a few points about me before I really noticed the beauty of the universe and the poetry of science. I did not enjoy science in school and often struggled with math I enjoyed astronomy but nothing beyond looking through a telescope I rarely thought or looked at things in a scientific way   Flash forward to my third year in university I took an astronomy course with a friend. I mostly took it because I liked astronomy and heard it was an easy course (some motivation I had!). I didn’t find anything too eye opening to be honest. However, one...

Q&A with Future Mars-walker Astronaut Alyssa Carson

By on Feb 17, 2016 in Interview | 0 comments

Going to Mars will be no easy task. NASA and other private space companies have set goals for 2030 to go to Mars. To become an astronaut they say you need the “right stuff.” Being a Mars astronaut not only gets adults excited but even teenagers such as 14 year old Alyssa Carson. She has dedicated her life to becoming a Mars astronaut and you can tell she’s the real deal (find out what I mean here). I got a chance to ask Alyssa Carson a list of questions around her journey to becoming a Mars astronaut. Here we go! How has your journey to becoming an astronaut going? What things are you looking forward to in 2016? My journey towards becoming an astronaut has been going great. Somethings I am looking forward to in 2016 is doing more scuba trips, as well as starting my pilots license. I am also excited to continue going to camps especially in the summer. What was your...

What is Dark Matter and How Much is in the Milky Way?

By on Feb 15, 2016 in Cosmology | 1 comment

One fact that always humbles me is that the universe is made up 68% dark matter, 27% dark energy, and less than 5% matter. That means that all the current knowledge that we have is only about < 5% of the universe. When we say matter we are talking about stars, planets, moons, nebulas, and all the atoms in the universe. That makes up about 5%. This fact is just mind boggling and you should take a second to let that sink in. Now, that leaves us with dark matter and dark energy? Dark energy is what we believe is causing the universe to expand. Beyond that, we don’t know much about it. Dark matter on the other hand is interesting. We can say the things that are not dark matter but actually don’t know what it is either. Scientists know that dark matter is not in the form of stars and planets. It’s also not in the form of dark clouds or matter. Dark matter is also not...