There is a huge amount of observation and scientific research that can be carried out from Earth. Either ground or orbital telescopes and equipment are now able to give us an unprecedented view of just just the solar system but the universe as a whole. But in order to find out more like what's behind … Continue reading Solar System Exploration: Spacecraft – The Future
There is a huge amount of observation and scientific research that can be carried out from Earth. Either ground or orbital telescopes and equipment are now able to give us an unprecedented view of just just the solar system but the universe as a whole. But in order to find out more like what's behind … Continue reading Solar System Exploration: Spacecraft – The Present
There is a huge amount of observation and scientific research that can be carried out from Earth. Either ground or orbital telescopes and equipment are now able to give us an unprecedented view of just just the solar system but the universe as a whole. But in order to find out more like what's behind … Continue reading Solar System Exploration: Spacecraft – The Past
Since the discovery of Neptune there has always been the nagging question of "are there any other planets out there?" This question is by no means baseless, mathematical models similar to the ones used to predict the existence of Neptune have suggested that there's something pretty big out there that's having an effect on the … Continue reading Solar System Exploration: Planet X
Beyond the orbit of the outer giants, beyond the orbit of Pluto even is a region of the solar system is the Kuiper belt. A place where the material left over from the creation of the solar system resides. We're not quite into interstellar space (the space between the stars) yet, in fact we're not … Continue reading Solar System Exploration – The Kuiper Belt
Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh. Analysis of the outer planets suggested a planet out beyond Neptune and having taken photographs of the night sky and comparing them the movement of Pluto across the sky gave it's position away. The mass of Pluto did not account for the gravitational anomalies, but Pluto was … Continue reading Solar System Exploration – Pluto
Neptune was discovered in 1846, the credit of discovery is split between Urbain Le Verrier and John Couch Adams. Both these astronomers used permutations in the orbit of Uranus to locate Neptune before observing it. Neptune is the only planet to have been discovered from mathematical computation rather than direct observation. Although Galileo had observed Neptune … Continue reading Solar System Exploration – Neptune
We're really getting far away from the sun now as our exploration takes us to Uranus. Uranus is the first planet to have been discovered in relatively modern times with a telescope. It was discovered by William Hershel in 1781 who at first thought he had discovered a comet. Uranus is the ancient deity God … Continue reading Solar System Exploration – Uranus
Moving away from Jupiter, our next visitor is Saturn. Saturn is twice the distance from the sun than Jupiter is, so there is a long, cold gap between the two worlds. This isn't surprising as the gravitational pull of these two planets would either capture or knock away any other object of any substantial mass. … Continue reading Solar System Exploration – Saturn
Moving away from the rocky planets of the inner solar system the first planet in this region is the king of the planets - Jupiter. This is especially fitting as Juno has just entered orbit of Jupiter at the start of it's mission to find out more about this giant. Veiled in colourful clouds of … Continue reading Solar System Exploration – Jupiter
The asteroid belt is a region that exists between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter where a high number of asteroids have settled in their own orbits around the sun. There are hundreds of thousands of asteroids in this region, ranging in size from the dwarf planet Ceres down to a dust particle. … Continue reading Solar System Exploration – Asteroid Belt and Ceres
Our next stopping place in the solar system is Mars. Mars is named after the Roman God of War, it's also called the Red planet after it's distinct red colour, which can be made out - even to the naked eye! It's a terrestrial planet with some similarities to Earth, for example it's relatively temperate, liquid … Continue reading Solar System Exploration – Mars
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