A remote planet reflects less than 1 percent of its star’s light, making it much darker than coal or even black acrylic paint. Some 750 light-years away, astronomers have found the darkest planet ever observed — darker even than coal – but scientists can’t explain why this is so.
Space jetpacks exist, though they don’t work quite as you’d see in the movies. So when, on 12 February 1984, the astronaut Bruce McCandless went free-flying 40 metres (131 feet) away from the Orbiter – farther than anyone had ever been from the safety of their ship – it was a considerable achievement.
Saturn’s freezing moon Enceladus has volcanoes, but they’re not what you’d expect. They’re known as cryovolcanoes, and though scientists don’t have cast-iron proof that volcanoes spouting ice from a sub-zero caldera exist on Enceladus, there is strong evidence for it.
The launch of a rocket is the culmination of years of planning, work and expense, and the most important element in this process is the launch pad and its attendant facilities. The launch pad cradles, fuels and powers the rocket, before it is unleashed into the sky.
Our greatest chance of finding life is possibly on this moon of Jupiter. One of Jupiter’s four largest moons – the others being Io, Ganymede and Callisto – Europa is notable for its icy surface with a theorized ocean underneath. The moons all keep the same face towards Jupiter as they orbit.
Saturn’s rings might have disappeared a long time ago without these celestial bodies… Without them Saturn would be just another gas giant, but the Saturnian system’s rings have been a thing of wonder since Galileo first spotted a pair of fuzzy ‘ears’ around our solar system’s second largest planet some 400 years ago.
Had NASA decided to launch an extra mission between Apollo 16 and 17, its astronauts would’ve been killed by an acute overdose of radiation caused by a solar radiation storm courtesy of a solar flare. In extreme circumstances, you wouldn’t even have to be in space to suffer the consequences of increased energetic particle activity …
A cosmic kite blown by photons is our greatest hope for interstellar travel. When the Space Shuttle fuels up for a short commute to the International Space Station, 95 per cent of its weight is in the gas tank. The sheer weight of rocket fuel is one of the greatest obstacles to interstellar space travel.
Venus has often been called Earth’s sister planet because of their similarities. Both planet are terrestrial (meaning that they are made up of silicate rocks and close in size, mass and m gravity. Venus probably has a similar structure Earth, with a crust, mantle and core.
We tend to take the Sun for granted, but it’s much more than just our source of light and energy. Once we figured out that the Earth was revolving around the Sun instead of the other way around, we’ve been striving to learn more about this amazing star.
