When it comes to the exploration of the solar system, no planet has spurred the scientific community to greater efforts, whipped up the general public into a greater frenzy of speculation, or resulted in pseudo-experts […]
Since the angular separation of Mercury from the Sun is never more than 28 degrees at maximum elongation, visual observation and study of the planet is fraught with technical difficulty. In fact, the rugged, little […]
Despite being named after a goddess of love and beauty, Venus is a harsh, hellish place that does not inspire warm and fuzzy feelings. Temperatures on its surface are hot enough to melt lead, and […]
The constellation Orion counts among the oldest of the recognized constellations, and since it is visible from both hemispheres, it has featured prominently in many ancient cultures, many of which predate the old Roman and […]
The constellation Ursa Major is not only the third biggest of all the 88 recognized constellations, taking up an area of 1279.66 square degrees, or 3.10% of the night sky, but it is also one […]
Named after the Dutch astronomer Jan Oort, but sometimes also known as the Öpik–Oort cloud, this hypothetical cloud of small, icy planetesimals is thought to surround the solar system out to a distance of more […]
Also known as the Edgeworth–Kuiper belt, this structure extends from just beyond the orbit of the planet Neptune to a distance of roughly 50-55 astronomical units from the Sun. Composed primarily of small icy bodies […]
In simple terms, a variable star is a star whose luminosity changes or fluctuates as seen from Earth. The changes in luminosity can be caused by a wide range of possible causes, some of which […]
Simply put, a neutron star is the collapsed and highly compressed remains of a relatively massive star that died in a supernova event. Neutron stars are also the smallest stars known to exist, with their […]
As a general rule, brown dwarf stars can be described as sub-stellar objects that range from between 13 and 90 Jupiter-masses. Consequently, brown dwarfs are considered a missing link between gas giant planets and small […]
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