All known gas giants, like Jupiter and Saturn, have solid cores. These cores are either rocky or metallic, and aren’t completely solid throughout, with some of the core being comprised of molten metal and rock. It’s hard to imagine that the most massive things in our solar system besides the Sun could be made of something … Read more
Tidal locking is a phenomenon in which the locked celestial body’s day and year are the same length, because the amount of time it takes to complete an orbit around its own axis and around the planet/body it is orbiting is equal. This occurs because of gravitational forces acting upon the bodies. Earth is not … Read more
Europa is the sixth Moon of Jupiter. It orbits the planet once every three and a half earth days and is tidally locked, meaning that it always faces Jupiter on the same side. Continue reading to explore why Europa is tidally locked and the effects this has on both it and the planet Jupiter. The … Read more
Jupiter is not tidally locked to the sun, any of its own moons, or any other planet. Jupiter’s distance from the Sun and other planets, combined with its enormous size, prevents it from becoming tidally locked. That being said, all of Jupiter’s major moons are tidally locked to Jupiter, but not the other way around. … Read more
Telescopes are built in mountains to eliminate light pollution and minimize the distorting effect of the atmosphere. Light pollution and atmospheric distortion are the two most problematic things for astronomers and the optical telescopes they use, so building the telescope on the peak of a mountain lessens these interferences as much as possible. Ever since … Read more
Unlike traditional lenses, an aspheric eyepiece does not have a spherical surface. This non-spherical surface is able to correct aberrations, often leading to more improved and cheap optical results. Aspheric eyepieces are often used in glasses, telescopes, and other optical objects as a result. Whether you are a fan of telescopes or need eyeglasses yourself, … Read more
When a celestial body is tidally locked to another, the time it takes to rotate around that other body is equal to the time it takes to rotate once upon its own axis. In other words, a day and an entire year are equal in length. This phenomenon is caused by gravitational forces. A good … Read more
If you’re a teenager looking into astronomy or even if you’re looking to gift a telescope to your teenage nephew, niece or child you’ve come to the right place. Here we’ll introduce you to the best entry to intermediate options to get your feet wet in astronomy and the art of stargazing. There are many … Read more
Radio telescopes are a marvel of astronomical technology. They can view things we could never dream of seeing with our own eyes. Their only downfall is how extremely large they tend to be, sometimes spanning multiple miles. Radio telescopes are so large because the wavelengths they receive, radio waves, are so much larger than the … Read more
The difference between a white hole and a black hole is the direction space-time is flowing. Space-time flow towards a black hole’s event horizon, whereas space-time flow away from a white hole’s event horizon. Since the two entities are opposite and opposing, you might think that if the two collided, they would cancel each other … Read more
