Physical Science

Amalthea is one of Jupiter’s inner moons, along with Thebe, Metis, and Adrastea. It was the first of the inner moons to be discovered, in 1892, and was named after a foster-mother of Zeus in Greek mythology. In the Roman…
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Thebe is a small moon of the planet Jupiter, which was first discovered by Voyager 1 in 1979. One of Jupiter’s relatively thin rings, known as the Thebe ring, consists of dust lost from the surface of this moon. It…
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An orbiting satellite is any object encircling a planetary body in an orbit based on the gravitational force on that object. When hearing the word satellite, the TV signal relay equipment flying around Earth are what come to mind, but…
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Many teenagers love astronomy.  They may enjoy looking at the stars and learning about them.  There are many great 2010 Christmas gifts that you can get for someone with such an interest.  Consider the following ideas. Books and magazines A…
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* Why it is called the Harvest Moon * Long ago, before calendars, people used the full moons to tell the months in the year. Each month has a full moon and historically, farmers used the full moons to plant,…
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In the year 2010 we were treated to a Super Harvest moon, one that occurs exactly on the day of the Autumnal Equinox.  That is the first time this has happened in almost twenty years. The Harvest Moon is the…
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Iapetus is one of the moons of the planet Saturn. It is the third-largest in Saturn’s moon system (of 62 moons, at last count), and is best known for the bizarre ridge which rings the moon along its equator. Saturn,…
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Metis is Jupiter’s closest moon, and is located within that planet’s tenuous main ring. For this reason, it is still an object of some interest, even though its small size makes it otherwise quite unremarkable. Jupiter possesses 63 known moons,…
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Scientists and society alike have often dreamed of finding another habitable planet in the universe. Being the other planets in our solar system have, for the most part, been determined not to be habitable, astronomers have been exploring further out…
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Star gazing can be a pleasant way to spend an evening.  It is fun, educational, and costs much less than many other activities that you might do.  Keep a few things in mind and you will enjoy your time much…
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