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New Discovery: Young Planet Found Outside of Solar System

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Math Blaster

Have your Blaster been keeping up with the latest space happenings? It seems that a team of astronomers have discovered a giant planet, orbiting a single, sun-like star, right outside of our solar system. What’s most unique about this planet? It weighs 11 times more than Jupiter’s mass, and it is orbiting its star at 650 times the average Earth-Sun distance, which is a formation model that cannot be explained by present theories and knowledge.

Photo by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

This young planet is about 13 million years old, and it still glows from the heat that was created during its formation. Earth was created 4.5 billion years ago, which is 350 times older than this giant planet, known as HD 106906 b. Its temperature is about 2,700°F, which is much cooler than its host stars, and thus, emits most of its energy as infrared, not visible light.

Since this planet is orbiting very far from its parent star, astronomers are very puzzled and confused about its odd formation. None of the present theories sustained. This new discovery provided astronomers the opportunity to question planets’ formation, history, and composition.

Filed under: Current Events, Free Online Games, Newsletter, Parents and Kids, Science Facts, What's New | Tagged: Blaster, Earth, Math Blaster, Orbiting, Solar System, Space Happening, Space News, Star, sun, Young Planet | 1 Comment »

The Final Frontier: NASA’s Spacecraft the First to Enter the Interstellar Space

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Math Blaster

After 35 years of travelling through space, NASA’s Voyager 1 made a historical leap out of our solar system, making it the first spacecraft to venture into what is known as interstellar space. Interstellar space refers to the area between giant stars that died millions of years ago. It is a space that is dominated by plasma or ionized gas. Recent data shows that the Voyager is currently in this transitional region right outside of our solar system, which is 19 billion kilometers away from our sun.

Photo by NASAblueshift

Although the Voyager’s plasma sensor has been ineffective since 1980, the massive burst of solar wind and magnetic field from our sun made the plasma around the spacecraft to vibrate, allowing the researchers to understand the density of the plasma. From this incident, scientists are able to determine the vibration of the plasma is 40 times denser than the measurement taken in the outer layer of the heliosphere, which is a sort of bubble of charged particles that surrounds our sun. The change in density indicates a new region in space and the new data matches very well with what the researchers expect to find in interstellar space.

The NASA engineers carefully calculated and managed the Voyager’s resources to ensure that it can still send data back to Earth at least through 2020. The signals emitted from Voyager 1 are weak, at about 23 watts, which is the power of a refrigerator light bulb. Even traveling at the speed of light, it takes about 17 hours for the signals to reach Earth.

Voyager 1 has gone beyond any probe has ever gone, and it is continuing to reach for the undisturbed part of interstellar space, where there is no influence from our sun. Although scientists are not certain whether Voyager 1’s twin, Voyager 2, can cross into interstellar space, they believe it is very close behind.

Filed under: Current Events, Free Online Games, Just for Fun, Newsletter, Science Facts, Technology and Kids | Tagged: Final Frontier, Interstellar Space, NASA, Solar System, space, Spacecraft, sun, Voyager | Leave a comment »

A Caterpillar-shaped Star Discovered by NASA

Posted on September 2, 2013 by Math Blaster

Have you and your Blasters been keeping up with recent space news? NASA recently found a protostar that is a light-year-long and shaped like a caterpillar. Protostars are knots in its early evolutionary stage, and by collecting gas, dust and other materials from its surrounding region, a protostar may eventually evolve and become young stars.

Photo by NASA

The irregular shape of the star “wanna-be” is caused by the harsh winds from 65 of the hottest, brightest known stars, classified as O-type stars. These stars are blasting ultraviolet radiation at the protostar, effectively dissolving the envelop around it. This sculpts the gas and dust surrounding the protostar into its elongated shape.

Spectroscopic observations show that the protostar is still collecting materials to bulk up its mass. Scientists predict that the final masses of these young stars from that region of the universe may be 1 to 10 times that of our Sun. However, if the O-type stars continue to erode the envelop with radiation, the final masses may reduce. Moreover, to tell whether the stars formed will be “heavy” or “light”, we can only wait.

Filed under: Current Events, Just for Fun, Science Facts | Tagged: Lightyears, NASA, Radiation, science, space, stars, sun | Leave a comment »

Planets, Stars, and Moons – Oh My!

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Math Blaster

We all know that our solar system is a vast and unexplored mystery. Throughout the years, scientists have collected data, conducted experiments and engaged in observations on our solar system. With this research, we have learned much about the different components that make up our universe. Some of the main objects that exist in space include planets, stars and moons. Although these three particular extraterrestrial objects are fairly familiar to many of us, do you really know the difference between them

Earth is a planet because it is an object in space that orbits around a star. Each planet has different properties that might be more pronounced in one planet than another, such as density levels and chemical compositions. The various planets in our solar system vary in atmospheric pressure, distance from the sun, and even in color. For decades, scientists classified now dwarf planet Pluto as the ninth planet in our solar system. The International Astronomical Union set a refined definition of what it meant to be a “planet,” which excluded beloved Pluto from the list of eight other planets in our solar system.

Earth’s moon plays a role in our daily lives. However, moons, also known as natural satellites or secondary planets, also exist for and orbit around other planets in our solar system. Moons are referred to as “celestial bodies” that orbit around a planet. The planet, or any other smaller celestial object, is called the moon’s “primary.” All eight planets in our solar system have at least one satellite each, varying in size and other attributes.

To tie everything in our solar system together, we have the sun. The sun is a star, and it is the source of most of Earth’s energy. For clarification, a star is essentially a giant, glowing sphere of plasma that is kept intact by gravity. Some stars are visible from a human standpoint during the night, and these stars also group together in places to form constellations and other astronomical formations.

This basic knowledge about the solar system is sure to enrich your scientific knowledge so that you can help your child when the time comes for them to learn more about our solar system. Encourage your child to use their imagination, and perhaps design and name their own planet. Whatever interesting ideas your child comes up with, continue to help them find inspiration in all the things they learn.

Filed under: Current Events, Just for Fun, Newsletter, Parents and Kids, Technology and Kids, Uncategorized, What's New | Tagged: Earth, Fun facts, science, Science facts, stars, sun | Leave a comment »

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