The Weird Plumes of Jupiter’s Moon Are Real

Europa, the smallest of the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter and the sixth-closest moon to the planet of the 79 known moons of Jupiter. Also, it is the sixth-largest out of 181 moons in the solar system.

History

Europa was discovered by Galileo Galilei on 8 January 1610. The first reported observation of Io and Europa was made by Galileo Galilei on January 7, 1610, using a 20x magnification refracting telescope at the University of Padua. However, Galileo could not separate Io and Europa due to low magnification of his telescope. Europa was named after Europa, daughter of the king of Tyre, a Phoenician noblewoman in Greek mythology. Like all the Galilean moons (satellites), Europa was named after a lover of Zeus, the Greek counterpart of Jupiter.

Facts

• Europa is one of the 79 known moons orbiting Jupiter.
• Europa is nearly the same size as Earth’s Moon. 
• Earth is 4.1x larger than Europa. 
• Europa is the sixth-largest moon of Jupiter.
• Europa also the sixth-largest moon in the Solar System.
• Europa was discovered on 8 January 1610 by Galileo Galilei.
• Oxygen is the atmospheric part of Europa.
• Europa is the first four moons discovered beyond Earth, it played a vital role in the ancient understanding of how our solar system works. 
• NASA is building a future mission called Europa Clipper and ESA is developing a mission called JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer).
• Europa has a weak atmosphere. 
• NASA’s Galileo mission is responsible for what we know about Europa.
• In 2007 the New Horizon mission took further snapshots of Europa on a flyby on its way to to the outer edges of our Solar System.
• Europa’s surface temperature is -171 degrees Celcius.
• It takes Europa 3.55 Earth days to orbit Jupiter.
• Europa’s orbit distance is 671,000 kilometres.
• While Europa’s age is 4.5 billion years old, it’s surface is only about 20-180 million years old. 
• The surface of Europa is the smoothest surface of any of our solar system objects. 
• The Galileo space probe provided further detailed images and data captures of the Galilean moons of any space mission.
• Galileo might have actually discovered Europa a day earlier than announced. On January 7th the had thought he had found a moon, but couldn’t be sure if it was one moon or two moons.
• The largest crater on Europa is named Pwyll.

Around two years ago (October 11 2017), I had posted about Europa and the possibilities of water plumes, it also had facts and information about Europa. 

A team led by researchers out of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, has confirmed traces of water vapour above the surface of Jupiter's icy moon Europa. Using the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, researchers "have obtained the first direct detection of water vapour on Jupiter’s moon, Europa," according to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

References:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_(moon)
• https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-scientists-confirm-water-vapor-on-europa
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ-E1lnSOzc
• https://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-finds-water-plumes-above-the-surface-of-jupiter-s-icy-moon-europa
• https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/jupiter-moons/europa/by-the-numbers/
• https://space-facts.com/moons/europa/
• https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/jupiter-moons/europa/exploration/
• https://theplanets.org/europa/
• https://www.planetsforkids.org/moon-europa-moon.html
• https://nineplanets.org/europa/

Rare Mercury Transit, Next in 2032

Welcome to another post on my blog. In today's post, I am going to share you the rare event which is going to start tomorrow, the Mercury Transit.

Mercury, that smallest planet in the solar system is going to transit the sun tomorrow on 12 November at 6:02 AM. The last Mercury transit has happened in 2016. The next rare event is going to happen in 2032. We need to wait for 13 more years for the next one. 

So this transit will last for 1 hour and 6 minutes. This transit will start at 5:58 AM. The midpoint of the transit is at 6:01 AM. The midpoint means the best time to see the transit. The end of the transit is at 7:04 AM. In Christchurch and the rest of New Zealand, the transit is near the max. 

The 2016 Mercury Transit
Credit: ScienceAtNASA

After reading about the Mercury transit, you must be thinking, what is a transit? A transit is where one object crosses in front of the other object in space. An example of a transit is when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun. The Moon is “transiting” the Sun. This is also called a solar eclipse. But the Moon isn’t the only object which can transit the Sun. We can see Venus when it passes between Earth and the Sun on its object. Because of how the orbits of Venus and the Earth line up, we can’t see the transit of Venus really often. This is a rare transit. transits occur in early May and early November. People don’t see a Mercury transit every year. The last transit of Venus was on 6 June 2012, we can’t see the next one until 2117!

If you want more information about the transit and what happens during a transit, read this infographic below from Space.com.

Let’s go back to the Mercury transit. If you want to see the transit, you need a telescope and solar filters to view the transit. Mercury’s diameter is only 1/194th of that of the sun, as seen from the Earth. That’s why, the master of the eclipse, Fred Espenak suggests using a telescope with a magnification of 50 to 100 times for observing the event.

If you don’t have any telescope or any tools to view the transit, you can try an online view of the transit. The Virtual Telescope is hosting a live observation. Or, watch the live stream from Time and Date.

Mercury Transit
Credit: The Planetary Society

The planet will look like a tiny, small mark travelling on the sun’s face as it passes through in front of the sun. Did you know that the Mercury transit occurs only 13 or 14 times per century? You know that the last transit was in 2016 and it won’t happen again until November 2032. What’s the best way to see and enjoy the event that, like a solar eclipse, it is observable during the day time. 

Mercury transit will be visible from most of North America, all of South America, all of Africa, parts of Europe, Asia, Oceania and Antarctica. According to a map developed by Time and Date, sky gazers in cities like Montreal, New York and Sao Paulo will be able to see and observe the entire transit. People sky gazing in cities like Rome, Cario and Honolulu can view part of the transit.

Let’s go to New Zealand history about the Mercury transit. About 250 years ago Captain Cook’s astronomer observed a similar event. Stargazers will gather at Mercury Bay (Te Whanganui o Hei), where astronomer Charles Green and Captain Cook observed the planetary phenomenon in 1769. This transit will be visible across New Zealand, but only with a telescope. Astronomy societies across the country will be setting up star parties for people to observe the transit, according to astronomer and Otago Museum director Ian Griffin. Stardome astronomer Dr Grant Christie said November 9, 1769, happened to be clear weather, enabling Green a good view of the solar system's innermost planet. "They noted that Mercury seemed like a little disc against the sun and implied that it didn't have a big fuzzy atmosphere."

"On the morning of the 12th of November, as the sun rises, the planet Mercury will be transiting across the face of the sun," he said. "You won't be able to see it with the naked eye ... you need a special solar telescope.”

Sources:

• https://earthsky.org/tonight/transit-of-mercury-on-november-11-2019
• https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/transits/en/
• https://www.space.com/mercury-transit-2019-viewing-guide.html
• https://youtu.be/dDd_cS6SHqA
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2019/11/08/four-easy-ways-you-can-watch-monday-as-mercury-transits-the-sun-for-the-last-time-until-2032/ 
• https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/402324/all-night-star-party-mercury-transit-visible-from-nz
• https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12281668

Parker Solar Probe

Today's post we are looking at a solar probe launched a few days ago, named Parker Solar Probe. Parker Solar Probe was launched on 12 August 2018. If you haven't seen my last post, It's Here!, check it out. My last and first probe was for the Voyagers, for my Astronomy badge, check it out if you haven't! First I'll talk about the launch of the solar probe. Let's go!

Launch

The liftoff of the spacecraft, Parker Solar Probe on the mission to the sun.
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

NASA's Parker Solar Probe was launched on Sunday 12 August 2018 from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force, Florida.
Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls 

As you know the launch was on 12 August 2018 at 6:31 AM ETC (7:31 AM UTC). The rocket was launched into the sky from John F. Kennedy Space Centre, Cape Canaveral, Florida. The rocket was launched on Delta IV-Heavy with Upper Stage.

It has been 5 days, 14 Hours, 0 Minutes, 0 Seconds (On 17/8/18, At 5:31 PM)

There hasn't been enough information because the spacecraft had been launched a few days ago. So here is some information. First are some videos of the launch and information of the spacecraft.

This is a video of the launch of the Parker Solar Probe (video from NASA)

This is a timeline video of the Parker Solar Probe (video from SciNews)

This is NASA's video of the Parker Solar Probe in detail - NASA TV (video from SciNews)

This is a diagram showing the planned route of the Parker Solar Probe Mission
Credit: http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/
NASA/Johns Hopkins APL

Venus Flyby: 2 October, 2018 at 7:45 PM EDT (23:45 UTC)

7 Venus gravity assist flybys

After the three final orbits, Parker Solar Probe will fly around 6.2 million kilometres of the Sun's surface. The space probe will be more than seven times closer than the current record holder, Helios 2 spacecraft, which came 43 million kilometres in 1976.
Credit: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/infographics/

This is a timeline of the Solar Wind and Corona Timeline
Credit: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/infographics/

References:

http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu - Parker Solar Probe Website
https://www.nasa.gov/ - NASA's website
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/infographics/ - Jet Propulsion Laboratory Infographics
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpGTA7wMEDFhjou2ZaH6sRCOGUpW9UVAD - Youtube - SciNews (playlist of the videos of the Parker Solar Probe) [SciNews might publish more videos]


I hope that you like my post. Hope you learnt something new. I'll try to post another post of the spacecraft if there is more information. Comment down below what I need to go next. Have a cool day!! Bye!!

Wow! Our Solar System

For this post, we are looking at our solar system. Not just the solar system we also made a model of the solar system, with polystyrene. It took some periods, but it was awesome. It was fun. First, I got some polystyrene balls and coloured them. Next, I let them dry and added skewers and placed them on the polystyrene box. Later I attached the rings to Saturn. When I completed my model it looked outstanding. In this post, we will tell you why do outer planets or gas planets have rings. Comment down what you've learnt. Have a cool day!! Bye!!

The Solar System
Finished Product

Me painting Uranus

Me painting Mars

Me with the Solar System

What are the sizes of the Planets

The planets go from smallest to largest in diameter.

• Mercury - 4,879.4 km
• Mars - 6,787 km
• Venus - 12,104 km
• Earth - 12,756 km
• Neptune - 49,528 km
• Uranus - 51,118 km
• Saturn - 120,600 km
• Jupiter - 142,800 km

Rings

Why do gas planets have rings?

Well the outer planets are of course far away from the sun where they have more debris, (means something wrecked or destroyed) left over when they were formed, so they turned into rings or moons.

Why don't inner planets have rings?

The inner planets are too close to the sun and have more sunlight, the sunlight sublimes the ice (makes solid into gas), which makes the solar wind sweeps the dust away.

What I've learnt?

• The outer planets have rings because they have more debris.
• The inner planets don't have rings because the planets are too close and the solar wind sweeps the dust away.
• Mars is the second smallest planet
• Neptune is smaller than Uranus by 2,000 km.
• Saturn is x2 the size than Uranus - Uranus, 51,118 km - Saturn, 120,600 km
• Jupiter is nearly x3 the than Uranus - Uranus, 51,118 km - Jupiter - 142,800 km

Our Satellite

For today's post we are looking at our Moon. In this post there will be information about the moon, the phases of our moon. Comment down what you've learnt. Have a cool day!! Bye!!

Our moon is the satellite of our Earth. Our Moon is the brightest and largest object in the night sky. The Moon was named as the "Moon" because there wasn't any other moon discovered, that time. In 1610, Galileo Galilei discovered four moons or Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter. In Latin, our Moon was called Luna, which is our Moon-related: lunar.

Size and Distance

The size and distance of our Moon, with a radius of, 1,737.5 kilometres. Our Moon is less than a third of Earth. Did you know that the moon is far away than most people think, the moon is an average 384,400 km away from Earth. That means that there would be 30 Earth-sized planets between the Earth and the moon. If the Earth was a size of a nickel than the moon would be the size of a coffee bean. The moon is getting about 2.54 centimetres away from Earth every year.

How did the moon form?

The theory of the moon being formed is when a Mars-sized body crashed into Earth about 4.5 billion years ago.

The moon's core is smaller than other inner planets. The hard, iron-rich inner core is 240 km in radius.

Structure 

The surrounded liquid iron shell, 90 km thick. A partly molten layer with a thickness of 150 km, surrounds the iron core. The mantle expands from the top of the partly molten layer to the bottom of the moon's crust. It is more likely made of minerals like, olivine and pyroxene, which are made up of magnesium, iron, silicon with oxygen atoms.

Atmosphere

The moon's atmosphere is very thin and weak, called an exosphere. The atmosphere doesn't provide any protection from the sun's radiation or the impacts of meteoroids.

Missions

Left: Neil Armstrong
Center: Michael Collins
Right: Buzz Aldrin
Credits: wikipedia.com

Luna 1 spacecraft
Credits: wikipedia.com

The first seven missions were unsuccessful, there were four Pioneer spacecrafts, that had failed. But Luna 1, was the first moon flyby.

Luna 1 launched on January 2, 1959. The next Luna spacecraft, Luna 2 was fully successful. Luna 2 was the first spacecraft to impact the moon's surface. On September 14, 1959, Luna 2 reached to the moon by crashing the moon. Luna 3, had a flyby, it was successful, Luna 3 took the first pictures of the lunar farside. Most of the Luna spacecrafts had succeeded, but some had been unsuccessful. Luna 9 was the first lunar soft landing and the first picture from the lunar surface.

Surveyor 1 was the first U.S. moon landing and first U.S. photo from the lunar surface.

Apollo 8 was successful and was the first humans to orbit the moon. Apollo 11 was a famous knowing spacecraft because Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to land on the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the only two to step on the moon.

What I've learnt?

• In Latin, the moon means lunar.
• Our moon is less than a third of our Earth.
• 30 Earth-sized planets could fit between the Earth and the moon.
• The moon is getting 2.54 centimetres away from Earth every year.
• Our moon formed 4.5 billion years ago.
• In our Moon, there are elements like olivine, pyroxene, magnesium, iron, silicon, and oxygen atoms.
• The atmosphere is very thin and weak, that is called an exosphere.
• The first seven moon missions had failed. Luna 1 was the first layby spacecraft to reach the moon. Luna 2 had reached the moon's surface. 

The Differences?

For today's post, we are looking at the differences between, comets, meteors, asteroids and meteorites. Our activity was to 'make a poster which explains the difference between comets, meteors, asteroids and meteorites'. In the slideshow, there are the posters that I had made. There is a lot of things to learn. In the end, there is what I have learnt about. Comment down below what you have learnt new about. Have a cool day!! Bye!!

What I have learnt?

• There are billions of comets orbiting the sun in the Kuiper Belt and even more in the Oort Belt.
• There are 3,520 known comets. I thought that there were less than 3,520 comets.
• Some comets are called sungrazers, they get so close that they crash to the sun or they brake up.
• There is a crater in Arizona, the Barringer Meteorite Crater that is 1 kilometre long.
• There are more than 50,000 meteorites have been found on Earth.
• 99.8 percent have been from asteroids, but the 0.2 percent of meteorites are from Mars and the moon.
• They are leftover rock from the early formation of the solar system.
• There are more than 150 asteroids are known to have a small partner moon.

Eclipses!

For today's post, we are looking at Eclipses. We are focusing on the two eclipses, Lunar Eclipse and Solar Eclipse. Well, there was a Solar Eclipse last year in America on 21 August 2017. I had posted a post about the Solar Eclipse. It was known as 'The Great American Eclipse". If you haven't seen the last post about the Car in Space, click here. In this post, I have learnt something new too. I learnt that there are four types of Solar Eclipses. If you have learnt something new comment down below. I hope you like my post about Eclipses. Have a cool day!! Bye!!

My Solar System Poster

This is my Solar System poster. and I done this poster because I want people to learn about our Solar System. Do you know, Pluto was a Dwarf Planet since 2006! Ceres is a Dwarf Planet between the Astroid Belt! I could add more facts but I ran out of space on the poster. I hope you like my Solar System poster. Have a cool 😎 holiday. Bye!!