Merriam-Webster dictionary defines gibbous as marked by convexity or swelling, seen with more than half but not the entire apparent disk illuminated or having a hump. It also means characterized by being protuberant. When used on celestial bodies, it is when more than half but less than full of the surface is illuminated.
Solar flares are large explosions produced by the Sun emitting x-rays and UV radiation and disrupting long-range radio communications in the process. The correlation of solar flare to the appearance of more sunspots is not clear but scientists have observed that there are more flares when the Sun has more sunspots. A first quarter flare
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A TNO or Trans Neptunian object is any minor planet orbiting the sun in our solar system beyond Neptune, or at a distance which is more than Neptune’s (on average). Known divisions of bodies beyond Neptune which are still part of the solar system are the Kuiper belt, the scattered disk and the Oort cloud.
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The Sun follows a periodic cycle of activity. This cycle, called the Solar Cycle or Solar Magnetic Activity Cycle, is the periodic recurrence of sunspots, or darker, relatively cool regions at the Sun’s surface. This was discovered by Samuel Heinrich Scwabe in 1843 when he observed the variation of the number of sunspots over a
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What is the exact density of the Sun? It is made of hydrogen and helium, two of the lightest elements known. Does it mean it’s not very dense? What factors affect stellar density and how do we compute the Sun’s density? Does gravity have any effect at all? These are just some of the questions
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How does the fusion in the Sun work? The Sun is very hot. In fact, it is so hot that it provides enough warmth and light to our planet. How did it become hot in the first place? The Sun is made up of light gasses, specifically hydrogen. What happens to hydrogen inside its core
The Galilean moons/satellites are Jupiter?s four moons discovered by Galileo Galilei. Jupiter has many moons that orbits around it. These four moons are the largest of those moons. And its names were derived from the lovers of Greek god, Zeus. Those are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Io is the innermost Galilean moon. It is
What color is the Sun when looked at from Earth and from outer space? Everybody knows that the Sun is a very hot star. It gives out light and electromagnetic waves. These waves have colours ranging from violet to red. The colour yellow is what most people associate the Sun with. But is that the
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Synchronous rotation is an astronomical term that is used to describe a celestial body orbiting another celestial body in a manner such that the orbiting body takes as long to rotate on its axis as it does to make one orbit. Therefore, it always keeps the same hemisphere pointed at the celestial body it orbits
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Are there planets that are not composed of rock, like Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars? Are there planets where there is no land, just all nothingness? Yes, there are, they are known as a Gas Giants, they are large celestial bodies that are instead made up of gases. They may have a solid core, and
