"That" Pluto Controversy (You Know The One)

If you are like me, then when you went to school, you probably learned about the nine planets in our solar system. Then, tragically, in 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) set the official classification of what a planet was; and Pluto didn’t make the cut. Now, we have a controversy surrounding our favorite frozen rock. But why is this a big deal?

See: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/that-pluto-controversy/

Image Credit: NASA

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 12/19/13 - New Look at Old Vesta Images

The Dawn Spacecraft is a trailblazer in every sense of the term. Over the course of the last few years, it has offered us valuable insight into the inner workings of several non-planetary bodies in our solar system (proving that size doesn"t necessarily always matter). Now, as it makes its way toward Ceres - a dwarf planet that can be found in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) - scientists decided to take another look at some of the images it beamed back to Earth during its foray with a large asteroid from 2011 to 2012.

The new look at the original images of Vesta was led by a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research. Using the images that were gathered by Dawn"s framing camera, the team analyzed the surface features in unprecedented detail by ascribing specific colors to wavelengths of light noted on Vesta. This granted them with the opportunity to make out details that would not be discernible to the naked eye (In the images, each pixel is representative of 200 feet [60 meters]).

References & Further Reading: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/apod-vesta/

Larger Image: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/vesta.jpg

6 Mysteries of Our Solar System

In this day and age, our species has accomplished several note-worthy feats. We"ve sent human beings into space and touched down on the moon. We"ve been able to visit and probe each and every one of the gas-giants that reside in our solar system, revealing our local neighborhood to be full of many incredible worlds. We"ve even sent two separate probes on their way into interstellar space. A accomplishment that is slightly sullied considering the fact that we"ve even been able to figure out the mass and composition of planets and stars that are hundreds of thousands of light-years away from home. Even with our book of knowledge growing by the second, we would be naive to think we have all the answers, so much still needs to be uncovered about our own back yard.

Here, we dive into 6 of the most intriguing mysteries of our solar system: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/mysteries-of-our-solar-system/

Image Source (before editing): http://ow.ly/qTZ1v