Earthrise: 45 Years Later

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the famous Earthrise picture. This picture was taken by William Anders on the Apollo 8 mission on December 24th, 2968 . Today, we celebrate the 45th anniversary of this humbling image. This is possibly one of the most profound images a human has ever taken; the renowned nature photographer Galen Rowell even went to so far as to say that this is "the most influential environmental photograph ever taken." The Earthrise picture is one of the first images of Earth ever taken where the entire globe is visible, showing the Earth as a small blue ball over the lunar horizon.

To learn more about this iconic image, and see more amazing images and videos, visit: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/earthrise-45-years-later/

TW Hydrae: The Planet That Shouldn"t Exist

In a physical world that contains phenomena such as pulsars, neutron stars, and black holes, one would think that we have a pretty good grasp on the basics--how our universe evolves and functions; however, you might be surprised to know that some of the basics are actually difficult to discern. One of those problematic areas is planetary formation. That"s right.. .we really have a somewhat-amateur understanding of how planets form, despite actually living (and evolving) on one.

Our current models say that our solar system, and other planetary systems circling other stars, form from a protoplanetary accretion disk encircling a young star. This elliptical disk of material is typically comprised of gas, ice, rock, and grain. These build up slowly before ultimately coalescing into a planet, shaped by gravity. This process is thought to take tens of millions of years to occur from start to finish, and of course the amount of material concentrated around the protoplanetary disk dictates the number of planets a star has (and their size), which means that the planets should all form during a similar time-frame and there should also come a period when planetary formation is no longer possible.

However, we may have to rethink this theory. Find out why at:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/tw-hydrae-the-planet-that-shouldnt-exist/

Image:
NASA

Life and Moons in our Solar System: Europa

Most of us know about the 8 planets in our solar system (formerly 9 planets…poor Pluto). But you may not know too much about these planet’s moons. Some of these moons are strikingly similar to our own moon, but there are many that are vastly different and incredibly diverse. One such moon is Europa…

Learn about the possibility of life on Europa at:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/potential-of-life-on-europa/

Image:
NASA

Earth"s Magentic Shield and the Van Allen Radiation Belts:

Some of you may not be aware of this, but the Earth is shrouded in a doughnut shaped, magnetic force field! Okay, that aforementioned statement is *a bit* sensationalist, but it is more or less true. The Earth is protected by a "shield" of magnetism. This magnetic shield is generated from the rotating, metallic, liquid iron core at the center of the Earth -- a dynamo.

And as many of us already know, the Sun can be temperamental and cruel. It is the giver of life, but it can also be the harbinger of death. The chaotic sphere of rotating plasma in the Sun emanate charged particles in all directions; occasionally producing violent flares. If powerful enough, these flares can release energy that can soar through our magnetic shield and cripple modern infrastructure.

Learn how the Earth is able to protect us at:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/recent-news-on-earths-van-allen-radiation-belts/


Image:
NASA

If One of Jupiter"s Moons Replaced Our Own...

Life is messy. It is turbulent and chaotic. However, in a world that is constantly evolving, there are a few things that we can rely on -- things that help keep life stable and keep us all sane. First, there is the Sun. It rises each day, giving us the light and energy that we need to survive, and then slowly slips behind the horizon (like clockwork).

The same is true of the Moon. Each night, it silently creeps through the sky; acting as a beacon of light in an increasingly dark world. Then, the sun peeks back up on the horizon, causing the moon"s presence to become less apparent for several hours -- until the cycle starts anew. One thing is for sure.. the moon is much more than a hunk of rock.. it"s a familiar, friendly figure. But what if the Moon wasn"t our moon? Furthermore, what would it be like if the Moon was replaced by another celestial body?

Like, one of Jupiter"s moons: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/if-jupiters-moon-replaced-our-own/

Image Credit: Lights in the Dark: https://www.facebook.com/LightsInTheDark

The Moon and the International Space Station

I spy something with my little eye that is...the International Space Station (ISS). One of the most remarkable images I"ve seen was taken at NASA"s Johnson Space Center in 2012. The image, which was taken by photographer Lauren Hartnett, captured the old (Luna) and the new (the ISS) side-by-side in one stunning image.

Get further information and see more amazing images at:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/the-moon-and-the-international-space-station/

Image:
NASA

For some Perspective: The Moon Compared to the United States

For the most part, our moon is nothing particularly special. It isn"t home to a series of active volcanoes, a thick atmosphere chalked full of nitrogen (with oceans of liquid hydrocarbons) or cryovolcano plumes, which other moons in our solar system are known to contain. But regardless, it is very special to us. Not only is our planet the only one capable of experiencing a total solar eclipse, the moon also helps regulate the tides here on Earth, as well as helps to stabilize our planet"s tilt. Both of those are important, but most importantly is the moon"s relative size to Earth, as the moon is just about a quarter of Earth"s diameter with about 1/81th of its mass, with most moons being much, much smaller.

To learn more interesting facts about the moon, see: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/the-moon/

Image source:
boredboarder8 or reddit

Some Fun Facts about the Moon:

Luna: Earth"s beautiful companion. It is forever locked looking at us, it even pulls on the oceans twice a day to let us know it"s there. The story of Earth"s moon is a romantic (and violent) tale that dates billions of years. In short, it is a tale of how the two objects helped to make one another into what they are today.

Learn about the Earth-Moon system and get some of the most interesting facts about the Moon at:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/some-fun-facts-about-the-moon/

Image and caption by FQTQ"s Colin Robson

Volcanism on Io (Jupiter"s Moon)

If there was a contest for the most un-Earth like world, Io would be one of the top contenders. Without a doubt, the most interesting thing about Io is its huge quantity of active volcanoes. As you can see, this volcanism makes the moon look more like a large ball of cheese (or a terribly unappealing pizza) than an actual world.

Find out just how many volcanoes Io has at:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/volcanism-on-io-jupiters-moon/

Image source:
NASA

A Rocky Relationship: Is the Moon Leaving the Earth?

It’s comforting to look up at the night sky. The bright stars seem like old familiar friends; the pockmarked Moon is like a steady and unchanging ally. From our perspective on Earth, the universe seems stable and eternal.

Of course, this isn’t how things really are. In reality, our night sky is in a constant state of flux. You’ve probably heard that the Moon and Earth are drifting apart, but will the Moon ever completely leave?

Find out at:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/a-rocky-relationship-is-the-moon-leaving-the-earth/

Image source:
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/photogallery-earthmoon.html

Why Don"t Moons Have Their Own Satellites?

Have you ever wondered why moons don"t have other moon"s in orbit around them? The question is rather common, but the answer is rather complex -- especially when you initially attempt to visualize the mechanics of such a system.

Technically speaking, everything is in orbit around something else. The Earth, Sun, and all the planets orbit around the center of mass of the solar system. More generally, Earth orbits the Sun; the Moon orbits the Earth; our entire solar system orbits around Sagittarius A* (the supermassive black hole in the center of our galaxy); our galaxy completes one full rotation every 230 million years (interesting aside, Sagittarius A* might have 10,000 additional black holes in orbit around it).

And in theory, it"s possible that our Moon once had a satellite of its own; however, for such a body to remain in orbit, it would need to have to very specific characteristics for its size, mass, speed, and orbital distance. It would be difficult for an orbiting body to fit these exact parameters, but it is possible. As such, it is appropriate to ask why moons don’t have their own moons. After all, we’ve observed large asteroids with satellites. Why then don"t moons have satellites of their own?

To find out, see:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/why-dont-moons-have-their-own-satellites/

Image source:
http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/ABSTRACTS/GPN-2001-000009.html

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 11/19/13 - The ISS Transiting the Moon

In a truly one-of-a-kind photograph, astrophotographer Thierry Legault captured this detailed image of the International Space Station transiting the moon from our vantage point. This is such an incredibly difficult shot to capture since the ISS is constantly traveling at 7.5k meters per second, or about 28,0000 km/h (17,500 mph). Therefore, it only takes about half a second for the ISS to dance across the face of the moon. As you can (hopefully) see, the ISS was snapped here about an inch above the famous Tycho crater (not literally, of course. It just appears as such because of the photo"s size.)

Legault took this image from Avranches in Normandy, France a few hours before the eclipse, on December 20th of 2010. He used a Meade 10″ ACF on Takahashi EM400, with a Canon 5D mark II.

Additional Reading : http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/the-iss-transiting-the-moon/

Image Credit: Thierry Legault

P.S. You can sign up for alerts from NASA, who will contact you to let you know when the ISS is expected to pass over your location.

Learn more here: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/?p=9814

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

Dropping a Hammer and Feather on the Moon (video post)

Have you ever seen a feather and a hammer dropped from the same height at the same time and land together? It is rather hard to accomplish this feat on Earth, as the air usually causes the two to land at different times. But the same isn"t true on the Moon. In the image pictured here, artist Alan Bean depicts Davin Scott preforming the hammer and feather experiment on the Moon during the Apollo 15 mission. And seeing this happen in a 40-second video clip is probably one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a long time.

Even though the feather and the hammer have different weights, in this video, you will see them hit the ground at the same time. Why does this happen? It is all because of a property of gravity discovered by Galileo Galilei. As you may have heard, he discovered the principle of gravitational acceleration (or acceleration due to gravity) by taking various objects to the top of the Tower of Pisa and dropping them. Later, Galileo devised a method to measure this acceleration by rolling balls down an incline.

To see the video of gravity in action, go to:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/dropping-a-hammer-and-feather-on-the-moon-video-post/

Image source: Alan Bean
http://www.alanbeangallery.com/hammerfeather-story.html

"Seeing" Cosmic Rays

You"ve probably heard of "cosmic rays" before - it"s a term that is thrown about regularly in modern astrophysics and cosmology - but do you know what they really are?

Cosmic rays are high-energy particles with intrinsic mass. They can come from outside the solar system or from extreme solar events (like solar flares). Cosmic rays range from atomic nuclei that have had all of their surrounding electrons stripped away to more exotic particles that make up the standard model. Photons used to be considered cosmic rays; however, they are quanta of electromagnetic radiation that have no intrinsic mass; photons are known by their common names, such as "gamma rays" or "X-rays."

The origin of cosmic rays is unknown, but they are suspected to be born from supernovae, possibly from outside our galaxy. The highest energies produced by cosmic rays have been found to be 40 million times that of those produced in the Large Hadron Collider, but most don"t reach this extreme. Fortunately, our atmosphere protects us from the main front of this strange phenomenon, but out in space where there is no protection, cosmic rays damage equipment--such as microelectronics. However, contrary to popular sci-fi movies, they don"t cause the development of superhuman abilities (The Fantastic Four, anyone?). Studies have tried to detect these particles in a number of experiments, but it has proven difficult for ground-based equipment. They are most easily detected as primary rays in space or the upper atmosphere, and our most effective way of picking up these elusive particles hasn"t been with fancy equipment, but actually through our own eyes!

To learn more about cosmic rays, see:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/seeing-cosmic-rays/

Image source:
http://www.aspera-eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=290&Itemid=196

Searching for Life Beyond Earth: Could Life Exist on Enceladus?

In order to ask a question such as this, and ultimately answer it, one needs to first understand what life is, and then analyze the degree to which a celestial body is capable of sustaining this life. And what are the requirements for life as we know it? In the most basic sense: water, an atmosphere, and a source of energy. The interesting bit here is that Enceladus only fits into two of these categories (it has water and an atmosphere). However, this does not necessarily mean that life cannot survive. After all, the lifeforms that exist in the deepest parts of our ocean are a prime example of living beings thriving in unexpected places. And it seems that similar oceans flow under the icy covering of Enceladus.

Enceladus is one of Saturn’s small moons (it’s about the size of Wyoming). Interestingly, it is also one of the brightest objects in our Solar System. This is a world that has a temperature of -201 degrees Celsius (-329 Fahrenheit). Meaning, the moon is completely frozen over. Could life exist on this frozen moon? Apparently, the answer is yes (of course, scientists don’t expect this life to be a species of gigantic super aliens that want to enslave humanity…just bacteria).

Just how likely is life on this distant world? Find out at: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/searching-for-life-beyond-earth-could-life-exist-on-enceladus/

Image source: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060608.html