For the longest time the only gas giant planets that we knew about were Jupiter and Saturn. But now, in the age of extrasolar planets, astronomers have discovered thousands of gas giants across almost as many star systems. What new discoveries have been made about gas giants, both here in the solar system and across the Milky Way
Over the next few years new missions headed to Jupiter & Saturn. Why aren’t we seeing more missions to the outer planets like Uranus and Neptune, even Pluto? Today @AstronomyCast talks about the challenges of exploring the outer, outer solar system.
The outer Solar System is far enough from the Sun that water doesn’t get blasted away into deep space. In this icy realm, there are many worlds with vast quantities of water ice. Today let’s look at the icy outer moons and dwarf planets.
Uranus & Neptune are Ice Giants, filled with water and other volatiles that we’d consider ice if it was here on Earth. What’s inside these worlds and what can we expect to find across the Milky Way as we find more?
Funding for basic science has always been a tricky business. But who knows how many fascinating discoveries were never made because of a lack of funding. And we now live in an era where regular people can come together to fund scientific discoveries.
We all know Hubble Space Telescope. But it’s not the only one. After Hubble came 3 more incredible telescopes. Each greater than the last! More about the great observatories with @AstronomyCast at #365DaysOfAstro
You might know the name “Hubble” because of the Hubble Space Telescope. It was named after the most influential astronomers in modern astronomy. Let’s learn about Edwin Hubble from @AstronomyCast
After Pluto lost its planethood we were down to 8 planets. But there’s growing evidence of another world or worlds out beyond the orbit of Pluto. Is Planet 9 out there and how will we find it? Could there even be a Planet 10?
So there are asteroids, and there are comets. But there’s an entirely separate class of objects called centaurs. More about it at #365DaysOfAstro
It’s been 15 years since Pluto was kicked out of the planet club. Are there any updates? Does Pluto have a chance of regaining planethood again?