The Oort cloud is an enormous spherical cloud composed of comets and dust. Its size is hypothesized to be at 2000 or 5000 to 50,000 astronomical units (AU)-an AU equals the distance between the earth and sun. The sphere is so huge that its border is closer to the Earth’s nearest star as opposed to the sun itself. The spherical shape of the Oort cloud
The Nebulae and Clusters of Stars NGC, or New General Catalogue is a list or catalogue of deep sky objects. It was first compiled by a person named J. L. E. Dreyer in 1888, using observed data from various astronomers, among them William Herschel and his son, and James Dunlop. Dreyer was commissioned by the Royal Astronomical Society to do the elaborate work.
All of us may have considered what if we aren’t the only intelligent form of life in the universe. What if, light years away, are living beings who think and act like us? Or maybe beings with way, way advanced technology, and are studying us from afar? Some people doubt the existence of extraterrestrial life, but we also don’t have any evidence that life elsewhere in the universe do not exist.
Extrasolar planets are planets outside our Solar System. Astronomers have confirmed 464 extrasolar planets as of 2010, but it is believed that there are billions of extrasolar planets in our galaxy alone. Majority of these planets are detected through radial velocity observations, usually without actual imaging. Most of these planets are giant planets that resemble Jupiter and Neptune.
The word interplanetary is associated with various space terms. It may mean a medium, an established theory, or even space, much like the term intergalactic. This term also means, between or across planets and is considered the lowered version of the word intergalactic.
The word intergalactic in astronomy may mean different things. It can be associated to travel, mediums, or space itself. From the word itself, the prefix “inter-” means in between or across, and “galactic” means galaxy. Basically, the term means between galaxies, and it may be an interaction or other activity when two galaxies meet and come in contact, either direct or indirect. When people say intergalactic travel, it relates to science fiction that travel between galaxies or planetary systems are [...]
Ever wonder why this colorless, odorless, tasteless non-toxic gas is named strong>Helium? The name Helium comes from a Greek word Helios meaning sun. It was in the Sun that this element was first discovered. In 1868 a French Scientist, Jules Janssen was observing a total solar eclipse. He noticed a bright yellow spectrum and thought it was Sodium. It was Norman Lockyer who discovered that this line of thinking did not match that of the spectral line of sodium. He [...]
The Sun’s astrosphere is composed of several layers that include the heliosphere, heliosheath, heliopause and the termination shock. Heliosphere can be thought of as a bubble in space surrounding the sun. It shields and helps protect the earth from harmful intergalactic radiation. These radiations can destroy DNA and can make climate not suitable for existence. Without the heliosphere life on Earth would be impossible.
Two different numbers, namely the Latitude and the Longitude, usually characterize various locations on Earth. This helps people in determining specific locations on the map, and the respective distances between two points on the Earth.
The universe is continuously being explored by astronomers and scientists. This exploration and research endeavors have led to the discovery of many other galaxies and celestial phenomena that had been unknown to us for many years. Now, the Milky Way galaxy, which is our galaxy, is now part of a Local Group, where about thirty more galaxies are found. Aside from the Local Group, superclusters also exist and host smaller galaxies and clusters that are some of the largest entities [...]