nature Archives ⋆ Page 3 of 4 ⋆ What is the meaning of ... / Who is ... / What is ...

What is the Sun?

03/02/201728/01/2017 What is

The Sun is a star in our Milky Way

The Sun gives off energy as electromagnetic radiation. That includes light, infra-red energy (heat), ultraviolet light and radio waves. It also gives off a stream of particles, which reaches Earth as solar wind. The source of all this energy is the reaction in the star which turns hydrogen into helium and makes huge amounts of energy.

The Sun gives off energy as electromagnetic radiation. That includes light, infra-red energy (heat), ultraviolet light and radio waves. It also gives off a stream of particles, which reaches Earth as “solar wind”. The source of all this energy is the reaction in the star which turns hydrogen into helium and makes huge amounts of energy.

The Sun is a star like many others in our Milky Way galaxy. It has existed for a little over 4.5 billion years, and is going to continue for at least as long. The Sun is about a hundred times as wide as the Earth. It has a mass of 1.9891×1030 kg, which is 333,000 times the mass of the Earth. The Earth can also fit inside the Sun 1.3 million times.

Source: Wikipedia

What is the Moon?

13/01/201718/04/2017 What is

The Moon (Latin: luna) is Earths satellite, and we can usually see it in the night sky

Our moon is about a quarter the size of the Earth. Because it is far away it looks small. The gravity on the moon is one-sixth of the Earth’s gravity. It means that something will be six times lighter on the Moon than on Earth. The Moon is a rocky and dusty place. The Moon drifts away from Earth at the rate of four centimeters each year.

The Moon is lit up by the sun as it goes around (or orbits) the Earth. This means sometimes people on Earth can see the whole Moon and other times only small parts of it. This is because the Moon does not send out its own light. People only see the parts that are being lit by sunlight. These different stages are called Phases of the Moon.

Humans finally landed on the Moon on 21 July, 1969.[8] Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, landed their lunar ship (the Eagle) on the surface of the moon. Then, as half the world watched him on television, Armstrong climbed down the ladder of the Eagle and was the first human to touch the Moon as he said, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Source: Wikipedia

What is Mars?

12/01/201703/01/2017 What is

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System and the second-smallest solid planet

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System and the second-smallest solid planet. Mars is rocky and cold, with polar ice caps of frozen water and carbon dioxide. It has the largest volcano in the Solar System, and some very large impact craters. Mars is named after the mythological Roman god of war because it is a red planet, the colour of blood.

The planet Mars is made of rock. The ground there is red because of iron oxide (rust) in the rocks and dust.[7] The planet’s atmosphere is very thin and contains a lot of carbon dioxide and a very tiny amount of oxygen. The temperatures on Mars are colder than on Earth, because it is farther away from the Sun and has less air to keep warmth in. There is water ice and frozen carbon dioxide at the north and south poles. Mars does not have any liquid water on the surface now, but signs of run-off on the surface were probably caused by water. Mars has two small moons, called Phobos and Deimos.

Source: Wikipedia

Who is Tilikum?

07/01/201707/01/2017 What is 1 Comment

Tilikum was an Orca who lived in SeaWorld, Orlando

Tilikum the Orca (November 1981 – January 6, 2017), nicknamed Tilly, was a bull orca. He was captured in Iceland in 1983 at Hafnarfjörður, near Reykjavík. After a year he was transferred to Sealand of the Pacific in Victoria, British Columbia. He was subsequently transferred in 1992 to SeaWorld Orlando, Florida.

Tilikum was involved in the death of three people: a trainer at the now-defunct Sealand of the Pacific in Victoria, British Columbia, a man trespassing on SeaWorld Orlandos property, and a trainer at Orlandos SeaWorld. Tilikum was heavily featured in the CNN 2013 documentary Blackfish, a film discussing captivity of orcas for entertainment.

He sired 21 calves, of whom ten are still alive. In the Chinook Jargon of the Pacific Northwest, the name means friends, relations, tribe, nation, common people. SeaWorld announced in March 2016 Tilikums health was deteriorating, and it was thought he had a lung infection caused by a rare resistant bacterium. In May 2016, it was reported Tilikums health was improving. Seaworld announced Tilikum had died on January 6, 2017.

Source: Wikipedia

What is Andromeda Galaxy?

01/01/201727/12/2016 What is

The Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way, our galaxy

The Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way, our galaxy. Andromeda is sometimes called M31 or NGC 224 by astronomers. It is about 2.6 million light years away from us.

Andromeda is the largest galaxy of the Local Group, which consists of the Andromeda Galaxy, the Milky Way Galaxy, the Triangulum Galaxy, and about 30 other smaller galaxies.

At an apparent magnitude of 3.4, the Andromeda Galaxy is notable for being one of the brightest Messier objects, making it visible to the naked eye on moonless nights even when viewed from areas with moderate light pollution. Although it appears more than six times as wide as the full Moon when photographed through a larger telescope, only the brighter central region is visible to the naked eye. Being both large and bright, it is one of the farthest objects that can be seen without a telescope or binoculars.

Source: Wikipedia

What is Ganymede?

30/12/201626/12/2016 What is

Ganymede is the largest moon of Jupiter

Ganymede is the largest moon of Jupiter. It is also the largest moon in the Solar System. Ganymede is larger in diameter than Mercury, but has only about half its mass. Ganymede is much less dense. Ganymede is part of a group called the Galilean Satellites. These also include Io, Europa and Callisto.

Galileo Galilei discovered this moon in 1610. Simon Marius suggested the name Ganymede soon after. In Greek mythology, Ganymede was Zeus’ cup-bearer. Ganymede is the only Galilean moon of Jupiter named after a male figure.

Source: Wikipedia

What is Saturn?

27/12/201627/12/2016 What is

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun in the Solar System

Saturn is the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is a gas giant.

The thing that makes Saturn different is its very large system of rings around it. These rings are made of ice with smaller amounts of rocks and dust. Saturn also has 62 known moons orbiting the planet. The largest moon is Titan which is the second-largest moon in the Solar System. Saturn’s distance to the sun is about 1,400,000,000 km (869,000,000 mi). It takes Saturn 29.6 years to revolve around the Sun.

Saturn was named after the Roman god Saturnus.

Source: Wikipedia

What is Pluto?

26/12/201627/12/2016 What is

Pluto is a dwarf planet in the Solar System

Pluto is the ninth-largest body that moves around the Sun. At first, Pluto was called a planet. Now, it is the largest body in the Kuiper belt.

Pluto is mainly made of rock and ice. It is quite small. It is about a fifth (⅕) of the weight of the Earth’s Moon. It is only a third (⅓) its volume. It has an odd orbit and this orbit is very sloped. It takes Pluto to 30 to 49 AU (4.4–7.4 billion km) from the Sun. This causes Pluto to sometimes go closer to the Sun than Neptune.

Source: Wikipedia

What is Venus?

26/12/201627/12/2016 What is

Venus is the second planet from the sun

Venus is a terrestrial planet because it has a solid, rocky surface like other planets in the inner solar system. Astronomers have known Venus for thousands of years. Venus is the brightest thing in the night sky except for the Moon. It is sometimes called the morning star or the evening star as at some elongations it is easily seen just before the sun comes up in the morning and, at other elongations, just after the sun goes down in the evening. Venus comes closer to the Earth than any other planet does.

Venus is quite similar to earth in size and gravity. But Venus’ atmosphere (air) is mostly carbon dioxide with clouds of sulphuric acid which makes it very poisonous to humans.

The pressure on Venus’ surface is 92 times that of Earth. Venus has no moons. Venus spins very slowly on its axis and it spins in the opposite direction to the other planets. The ancient Romans named it after their goddess Venus.

Source: Wikipedia

What is Jupiter?

26/12/201627/12/2016 What is

Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System

Jupiter has the mass of about 318 Earths and it the largest planet in the Solar System. It is the fifth planet from the Sun. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant, both because it is so large and due to the fact that it is made up mostly of gas.

Jupiter is the third brightest object in the night sky and can be seen with the naked eye. Only the Earth’s moon and Venus are brighter.

Jupiter has at least 67 moons. Of these, 55 are very small and less than five kilometres wide. The four largest moons of Jupiter are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System.

Source: Wikipedia