Kinds of Telescopes - Astronomy
Since Galileo introduced the telescope to astronomy in 1609, the device has been refined and adapted several times. Amateur and professional astronomers can find a telescope for any purpose, and which kind to use depends on budget, experience ... [... more]
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Why Isn't Pluto a Planet? - Astronomy
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) reclassified Pluto as a "dwarf planet". Gone were the days of nine planets, while ahead lay contention about the criteria that resulted in Pluto's demotion. Many astronomers and enthusiasts ... [... more]
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Halley's Comet - Astronomy
Though known since at least 240 BC, Halley's Comet wasn't understood until 1705, when Edmund Halley predicted the comet's movement using Newton's newly formulated laws of motion. Though this provided some insight, legend still surrounded the ... [... more]
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Nebulae -- Birthplace of Stars - Astronomy
Huge clouds of dust and gas, nebulae are often the birthplace of stars. From the Latin word for cloud, the word "nebula" originally referred to distant galaxies, but today, the term is generally reserved for the dust and gas clouds that often .. [... more]
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Oort Cloud -- Birthplace of Comets - Astronomy
Nearly 30 trillion kilometers from the Sun, at the outer edges of the Solar System, lies a spherical region called the Oort Cloud. This cloud, which surrounds our planetary system, is home to an estimated six trillion icy bodies, or long-period ... [... more]
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All About Meteorites - Astronomy
They are often called "shooting stars," but meteorites have a less than stellar origin. Actually, they are space debris, mostly fragments of asteroids, but sometimes of lunar or Martian heritage. These fragments orbit the Sun just as the [... more]
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All About Pluto - Astronomy
The most distant planet in the solar system, Pluto's exact nature is a mystery. Is it a planet? Or a large asteroid? Though we've known of Pluto's existence since 1930, there are a lot of questions we haven't answered. And because no spacecraft ... [... more]
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All About the Moon - Astronomy
As our closest neighbor, the moon is one of the most easily observed objects in the sky; in fact, only the Sun is brighter. And since prehistoric times, the moon has been a source of fascination and mystery. It was the ancient Greek astronomer ... [... more]
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All About the Moon - Astronomy
As our closest neighbor, the moon is one of the most easily observed objects in the sky; in fact, only the Sun is brighter. And since prehistoric times, the moon has been a source of fascination and mystery. It was the ancient Greek astronomer ... [... more]
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All About the Moon - Astronomy
As our closest neighbor, the moon is one of the most easily observed objects in the sky; in fact, only the Sun is brighter. And since prehistoric times, the moon has been a source of fascination and mystery. It was the ancient Greek astronomer ... [... more]
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All About the Sun - Astronomy
Measuring over 330,000 times the size of Earth, the Sun is the largest object in the solar system. And though it constitutes over 99 percent of the solar system's mass, when compared to the other 100 billion stars in the galaxy, it is actually of ... [... more]
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Bode's Law - Astronomy
In 1772, German astronomer Johann Elbert Bode resurrected a nearly forgotten mathematical formula for measuring the distances of planets from the Sun. Though it was not his formula, and is not accurate, it was named for Bode and used for several ... [... more]
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