The Final Frontier- Volume 1 Issue 2

The Final Frontier  

(Click above to view online version.)

September 4, 2009

News Flash!

The Allain family spots an iridium flare on August 27 at 9PM.

The Asteroid Belt by Ellie Allain

• An asteroid is a rock that was "left over" from when the sun and planets were made.
• Most of the asteroids in our solar system are found between Mars and Jupiter.  This is called the "asteroid belt."
• Asteroids can be different sizes.  There are over 40,000 that are 1/2 mile across.  Wow!  That's really big!
• They are sometimes called "minor planets."
• Jupiter actually protects all of the inner planets from constantly being hit by asteroids.  Thanks Jupiter!

Black Holes by Luc Allain

Black holes are created from a highly massive stars.  After they supernova, the gravity is so great they collapse inward and actually create a hole in space-time. 

Black holes are not visible but you can detect them.  One way to spot them is by looking for stars that appear "out of control." Another way to locate black holes is to scan for x-rays. 

The region around a black hole is called the event horizon.  This is the "point of no return."  Once you cross the event horizon, the gravitational pull is too strong to escape.  Think about being pulled over the edge of Niagra Falls.  The closer you get to the edge, the harder it is to escape. 

Scientists call black holes the "eternal jail."  Dr. Stephen Hawking, however, has proven otherwise.  He suggests that a black hole slowly releases energy in the form of Hawking Radiation.  Over time, the black hole shrinks.  Although its captives will not escape in their original forms, they will eventually "get out of jail" in the form of energy and particles.

Our Sun by Ellie Allain

• It is the closest star.
• It is a yellow, dwarf star which means it's a medium star.
• Nuclear fusion takes place at the center of the sun where it is very hot.
• The sunspots on the surface are actually storms.
• The image below shows the the different parts of the sun.

Jupiter by Abby Allain

Jupiter, named after the most powerful Roman god,  is the biggest planet in our solar system. As a matter of fact, it contains about 75% of all the planetary mass in the solar system.  It has a small, rocky core and a gassy, outer layer.  Because its mass is great, you would feel much heavier on Jupiter than on Earth.

Jupiter played a huge role in history.  Galileo, a famous scientist of the Middle Ages,  was looking at Jupiter in the night sky and discovered four small objects orbiting this planet.  This served as evidence that the Earth was not the center of our solar system.  Clearly, these objects were orbiting Jupiter.  These four moons were called the Galilean moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.  This giant has at least sixty-three moons other some of which are captured asteroids. 

One of the most obvious features of Jupiter is its Great Red Spot.  This is no ordinary spot!  It is actually a huge hurricane that formed centuries ago.  It is about four times the size of the earth.  If you look closely at this massive giant, you can see stripes.  According to space.com, these stripes are actually cloud bands that can last many years.  Like Saturn, Jupiter has rings that were not found until 1979.  They are difficult to see because it's rings are made of dust.  The image below shows a break down of the rings.

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system.  Located beyond Mars and past the asteroid belt, this gassy giant is pretty cool!  Literally!  Check out NASA for more information.