Interactive 3D model of Solar System Planets and Night Sky Solar System, Solar System Information Our Cosmic Neighborhood From our small world we have gazed upon the cosmic ocean for thousands of years. Ancient astronomers observed points of light that appeared to move among the stars. They called these objects "planets," meaning wanderers, and named them after Roman deities—Jupiter, king of the gods; Mars, the god of war; Mercury, messenger of the gods; Venus, the goddes of love and beauty, and Saturn, father of Jupiter and god of agriculture. Since the invention of the telescope, three more planets have been discovered in our solar system: Uranus (1781), Neptune (1846), and, now downgraded to a dwarf planet, Pluto (1930). The four planets closest to the sun—Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars—are called the terrestrial planets because they have solid rocky surfaces. Nearly every planet—and some of the moons—has an atmosphere. Moons, Rings, and Magnetospheres From 1610 to 1977, Saturn was thought to be the only planet with rings. —Text courtesy NASA/JPL
Moon's interior water casts doubt on formation theory 26 May 2011Last updated at 19:01 By Jason Palmer Science and technology reporter, BBC News The study looked at pockets of volcanic material locked in glass An analysis of sediments brought back by the Apollo 17 mission has shown that the Moon's interior holds far more water than previously thought. The analysis, reported in Science, has looked at pockets of volcanic material locked within tiny glass beads. It found 100 times more water in the beads than has been measured before, and suggests that the Moon once held a Caribbean Sea-sized volume of water. The find also casts doubt on aspects of theories of how the Moon first formed. A series of studies in recent years has only served to increase the amount of water thought to be on the Moon. The predominant theory holds that much of the water seen on the lunar surface arrived via impacts by icy comets or watery meteorites. They wrote in a Nature paper that the samples contained about 10 times more water than they expected. 'Not consistent'
Complete Sun and Moon Data for One Day Use these forms to obtain rise, set, and transit times for the Sun and Moon; civil twilight beginning and end times; and, lunar phase information. First, specify the date and location in one of the two forms below. Then, click the "Get data" button at the end of the form. Use Form A for cities or towns in the U.S. or its territories. Be sure to read the Notes section located after the two forms, especially if you wish to use these data for legal purposes. Form A - U.S. Form B - Locations Worldwide Notes Legal Use of the Calculated Data Please see Astronomical Data Used for Litigation if you are interested in using the data produced by this service for legal purposes. Definitions For more information on the terms used, see the Astronomical Almanac On-line Glossary, Rise, Set, and Twilight Definitions or Phases of the Moon and Percent of the Moon Illuminated in the Astronomical Information Center. Computing Data for Multiple Days Time Formats Time Zones Daylight Time Back to . . . top Form A Form B
History of Space Exploration History of Space Exploration There are things that are known and things that are unknown; in between is exploration. -Anonymous Space History Historical Publications Space Exploration Chronology Spacecraft Mission Summaries This is a partial list of past, present, and future planetary and solar missions; for a complete account, please see the Space Exploration Chronology. U.S. USSR/Russia Missions European Missions China National Space Missions Chang'e 1 Japanese Missions Spacecraft Home Pages for Current and Future Missions Educator Guides Additional History Resources
Physics Flash Animations We have been increasingly using Flash animations for illustrating Physics content. This page provides access to those animations which may be of general interest. The animations will appear in a separate window. The animations are sorted by category, and the file size of each animation is included in the listing. In addition, I have prepared a small tutorial in using Flash to do Physics animations. LInks to versions of these animations in other languages, other links, and license information appear towards the bottom of this page. The Animations There are 99 animations listed below. Other Languages and Links These animations have been translated into Catalan, Spanish and Basque: En aquest enllaç podeu trobar la versió al català de les animacions Flash de Física. Many animations have been translated into Greek by Vangelis Koltsakis. Most animations have been translated into Hungarian by Sandor Nagy, Eötvös Loránd University.
Monster Galaxy Cluster 'El Gordo' Packs Mass of 2 Quadrillion Suns AUSTIN, Texas — The largest cluster of galaxies seen yet in the early universe, a giant that astronomers have dubbed "El Gordo," could one day reveal secrets about the invisible dark matter that fills the universe, researchers said. El Gordo — which means "the fat one" in Spanish — is officially known as ACT-CL J0102-4915 and "is located more than 7 billion light-years from Earth, at a time when the universe was half its current age," study co-author John Patrick Hughes at Rutgers University told SPACE.com. The universe is about 13.7 billion years old. The monster galaxy cluster has mass about 2 quadrillion (that's 2 followed by 15 zeroes) times that of the sun, making it "the most massive known cluster in the distant universe." A galaxy cluster behemoth Galaxy clusters form through mergers of smaller groups of galaxies. Dark energy seems to make up 73 percent of all the mass and energy in the universe, and is driving the accelerating expansion of the universe. El Gordo, a hot galaxy group
7 Horrible Ways The Universe Can Destroy Us Without Warning The universe hates you. Let's get that out of the way right now. The universe loathes your guts and is infuriated by the way you dress, and the stupid way you talk sends it into a murderous rage. It's just one bad morning and an empty coffee canister away from driving to your house and shanking you in the neck. What we tend to call shooting stars are really just meteoroids burning in the Earth's atmosphere. GettyThe stars want you dead. How They Will Get Us: But it's probably OK: We've only found like 16 of these things zipping about. GettyIf you ever meet a woman who's impressed with your bat'leth skills, it's probably time to start worrying. But the thing with the universe is that it's kind of a largish place. Getty"How about Earth? And we're not exaggerating that "hypervelocity" part, either -- an average HV star moves at a staggering 1.6 million kilometers an hour. GettyThe whole universe is basically a grab bag filled with medical waste. Via NASAOh yeah, great. Wait, what? Yeppers!