Ice Giants and the Tiny lad of the Solar System - Explanation for a Newbie

May 31, 2020

By: Haris Ahmad[1]

In my previous blog, I explained the fifth and sixth planets from the Sun which were from a type of planets called the Gas Giants. In this blog, I will explain the last two planets of the Solar System and the dwarf planet, Pluto.

Ice giants are planets that are mainly composed of elements that are heavier than hydrogen and helium. The ice giants of our Solar System are Uranus and Neptune. These planets are the seventh and eighth farthest from the Sun. The temperatures on them are extremely low due to both the distance from the Sun and their composition.

The first planet I’ll talk about is Uranus. Uranus was named after the Greek god of the sky. This planet is composed of water, methane, and ammonia fluids that exist above a rocky surface. Moreover, like Saturn and Jupiter, its atmosphere is made up of hydrogen and helium. The element behind the blue color of this planet is methane. This planet is about four times wider than Earth has 27 Moons. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus

Furthermore, many of you may not know but Uranus also has rings. It has 13 rings that are narrow and dark. This planet has been only once seen close by humans when the Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by it (Read my blog about voyager 2 if you want to read about it in detail). Otherwise, no other spacecraft has orbited this planet. This planet is very unique in its style of orbit around the Sun because it orbits the Sun on its side which means that its rings can be seen vertical. Moreover, due to this kind of orbit, Uranus experiences weird seasons. In Winters, the planet’s north pole experiences 21 years of nighttime. In Summers, it experiences 21 years of daytime and in spring and fall, it experiences 42 years of nighttime.

The last and farthest planet that orbits the Sun is Neptune. Neptune was named after the Roman god of the sea. It is a cold and dark planet, dominated by furious winds. This planet is also four times wider than Earth and orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.5 billion km. 

https://www.space.com/41-neptune-the-other-blue-planet-in-our-solar-system.html

This planet is composed of water, methane, and ammonia which exist above a small rocky core. Similar to Uranus, this planet also has an atmosphere mainly composed of hydrogen, helium, and methane. It has 14 moons named after sea gods of the Greek mythology. Moreover, like Uranus, it also has rings. It has a ring system comprising of five faint rings. These rings were formed due to the dust and debris formed by a nearby moon. Furthermore, this planet also hasn’t been orbited by any spacecraft. However, it was seen closely only once when Voyager 2 flew by it in 1989.

The next planet I’ll talk about is; let’s not call it a planet. Sadly, in August 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) downgraded Pluto from the status of a planet to a dwarf planet. This was done because Pluto lacked the characteristics of a planet. This planet is 2380 km wide. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 5.8 billion km in a region called the Kuiper belt. 

https://www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/item/why-is-pluto-no-longer-a-planet/

It takes Pluto 248 Earth years to orbit around the Sun once. This is due to the vast distance of the planet from the Sun. This planet has a thin atmosphere of nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide. It has 5 moons of which the largest is Charon. Charon is so big that Pluto and Charon orbit each other. Unlike its neighboring fellas, Pluto has no rings. Till this time, only the New Horizon spacecraft has passed close to the planet Pluto. The surface temperature of Pluto is -228 to -238 degrees Celsius which would instantly freeze any human who lands on it.

[1] Haris Ahmad is currently studying in 9^th grade (O levels) in The City School Islamabad.

Solar System And The Sun- Explanation For A Newbie

10th May, 2020

By: Haris Ahmad[1]

This is the first blog of a new series of blogs that I’ll start in which I’ll explain the universe to people who have very little or no knowledge about the universe. I will explain the facts in very simple words and feasible explanations. I will start from the most common phenomena and then eventually explain the complex phenomena because, by that time, you would probably be ready to understand because of your base knowledge which you will gain from the initial few blogs.

In this blog, I will start with the explanation of the Sun and the Solar System. However, we first have to understand what the Solar System is. The Solar System is a gravitationally bound planetary system of the Sun and the objects which orbit it. The statement above is stated by Wikipedia but I’ll explain in simple words about what it means. The Solar System is a system of planets and many other objects that orbit (revolve around) the Sun because the Sun has so much mass (amount of matter) that its gravitational force attracts all of the objects that have a lower mass than it. Hence, celestial bodies such as planets, dwarf planets, asteroids, etc. orbit the Sun making the Solar System. 

http://www.seasky.org/solar-system/solar-system.html

I will frequently use the word celestial bodies which means any object in space. Furthermore, let's move on to the explanation of the parent of all of the Solar System. It is the object which everyone on Earth knows and it is the Sun. The Greek name of the Sun is Helios. The Sun is a nearly perfect sphere of helium and hydrogen which burns on and creates energy by a process called nuclear fusion. This process is very complex for me to explain in this blog series because I have to keep everything simple in this series; however, I’ll tell you a fact that this process can only take place in a star like the Sun and not at any other place. Moreover, the Sun burns 600 million tons of hydrogen per second and it is still 4.6 billion years old and will burn on until 4.5-5.5 billion years further. Even though Sun provides warmth and energy for life to evolve on our planet Earth, it’s still a deadly partner. The Sun expels harmful radiation that can destroy life but thanks to our planet’s atmosphere, those radiations won’t reach us. The atmosphere is a crucial part of the life of a planet and I’ll come to it later on. Since the Sun is using fuel to power it, it has to come to a stop one day when its fuel will end. In between this process, another process will happen which will cause the Sun to swell and expand into a red giant phase in which it will increase its radius by 256 times the current. After the Sun finishes up everything it has to burn with, it’s core will collapse on it which will cause a humongous explosion. That will mark the end of the Solar System but there is still a few billion years till that will happen. Furthermore, the Sun normally experiences some explosions on its surface which expel high energy particles into space. This is known as solar flares. These flares are so dangerous that they can wipe out all organisms on Earth but thanks to our atmosphere again that nothing will happen to us as these won’t even reach us. However, they still affect us in the way that they temporarily create disruptions in our signal transmission. 

https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0509/How-a-solar-flare-could-send-us-back-to-the-Stone-Age

Besides, there is a more disruptive phenomenon that the Sun can produce which can blow out the transformers in power grids. This phenomenon is called a coronal mass ejection. According to Wikipedia, a solar storm of 1859 (also known as the Carrington Event) was a powerful geomagnetic storm during solar cycle 10 (1855–1867). A solar coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth's magnetosphere and induced the largest geomagnetic storm on record, September 1–2, 1859. This briefly describes how dangerous these ejections are. Whatever the consequences, we have to live with the Sun because we have nothing else that can provide us warmth and energy to live on our planet in the whole universe. 

This was the end of this blog. This was the first in its series and I will soon write more blogs to add on to the series. In the next blog, I will explain the inner planets of the Solar System to you in simple words. 

[1] Haris Ahmad is currently studying in 9^th grade (O levels) in The City School Islamabad.

Gas Giants of the Solar System – Explanation for a Newbie

May 17, 2020

By: Haris Ahmad[1]

In my last blog, I explained the inner four planets of the Solar System in simple words. In this blog, I will explain about the Gas Giants of the Solar System in simple words so that people with very little or no knowledge about the universe can understand.

The first planet I’ll talk about is simply everyone’s favorite and is frequently called the jewel of the Solar System since it is so elegant and attractive. It is the one and only, Saturn. Saturn was named after the Roman God of agriculture because an ancient myth stated that Saturn introduced agriculture to his people by teaching them how to farm the land. Another fun fact about Saturn is that the day, Saturday is named after Saturn and it means Saturn's day. 

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/saturns-rings-shine-in-hubbles-latest-portrait

This planet belongs to a type of planets that are called Gas Giants which simply suggests that they are made mostly of Gas. Saturn is made up of 94% Hydrogen and 6% Helium and small amounts of methane and ammonia. This planet is the second largest in the Solar System and is famous for its rings. This planet got its rings due to the comets and asteroids that reached its Roche limit and broke into pieces due to the immense gravitational force exerted by this giant beast. If you're wondering what Roche limit is; it is the limit in the orbit of a planet where objects will shatter into pieces due to the immense gravitational field exerted by the planet. Believe it or not, Saturn has 62 confirmed orbiting Moons. That is just mind-boggling but wait till you see the real big fella after this. Moreover, Saturn has very disturbing surface activity. It has very strong winds and lightning in its clouds. If Earth faces a storm like the ones Saturn, no standing structure would survive. Besides, there is also perfect hexagon made up of clouds on the North pole of Saturn (You can see it in the picture if you look deeply). Furthermore, this planet has a moon called Titan which is its biggest one. According to my opinion and study, Titan may be the best place for finding life in the Solar System due to its extremely close characteristics that are needed to sustain life. I will explain why in one of my next blogs but for now, let’s move on to the real beast of the Solar System.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/63754150952875545/?autologin=true

The next planet I’ll talk about is Jupiter. It was named after the King of the Roman gods. This planet is the largest in all of the Solar systems and is also a gas giant like Saturn consisting of 90% Hydrogen, 10% Helium and small amounts of compounds like ammonia, sulfur, water vapor, and methane. This planet has 79 known Moons. This planet is so large that it can manage all those Moons without any problems. Jupiter is more than twice as massive as all of the other planets in the Solar System. Moreover, many of you may not know but Jupiter also has very light rings made mainly out of dust particles. I call Jupiter, the vacuum cleaner of the Solar System because it attracts and engulfs many asteroids that could collide with other planets and even the Earth. These asteroids are large enough to wipe out all life on Earth but thanks to Jupiter, that is not the case. Also, in almost all of the pictures of Jupiter that you will see on the internet, you will see a giant red spot. This spot is 1.3 times bigger than Earth and has been continuously observed from 1830. It is a giant storm that has been there for a long time and will end in a few years or decades.

In this blog, I explained the two gas giants of the Solar System. In the next, I will explain about the two ice giants and the not so planet, planet Pluto; or let’s say, the dwarf planet Pluto.

[1] Haris Ahmad is currently studying in 9^th grade (O levels) in The City School Islamabad.

Inner Planets of Solar System - Explanation for a Newbie

May 10, 2020 

By: Haris Ahmad[1]

In my last blog of the same series, I explained what the Solar System and the Sun are in very simple words so that people with very little or even no knowledge about the universe can understand. In this blog, I will move on further and explain the four inner planets of the Solar System.

https://www.tes.com/lessons/lwmnzI_djhVevA/solar-system-the-inner-planets

The first Planet of the Solar System which is the closest to the Sun is Mercury. Mercury was named after the swift-footed Roman messenger god because it moved across the sky faster than any other planet. It is a rocky planet with no natural satellites/Moons. This planet is 57 million km away from the Sun and lacks an atmosphere. This means that there is no shield protecting the planet from the intense radiations of the Sun which I explained in the previous blog. Its surface is full of craters/impact points due to the collision of asteroids (Small rock bodies) with it. I will explain about asteroids in the coming blogs in simple words. Even though this planet is the closest to the Sun, it is not the hottest one in the Solar System and has a temperature of 427 degrees Celsius since it lacks an atmosphere which means that not only does it not have a shield to protect it, it also doesn’t have a cover to trap heat inside the planet.

The second planet is Venus. Venus was named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. It also doesn’t have any natural satellites/Moons. It is a rocky planet similar to Mercury. Though it is almost thrice larger than it. Moreover, it has an atmosphere. This means that it has a shield as well as a heat keeper. However, due to its distance from the Sun, the planet’s atmosphere stores an insane amount of heat which makes the planet the hottest of all in the Solar System. The temperatures on this beast reach up to 462 degrees Celsius. This is enough to kill you and turn you into ashes in less than 2 seconds. Moreover, if that isn’t enough to kill you, the Sulphuric acid rain on the planet will surely do the job. This deadly rain is caused due to the composition of its atmosphere. If you want to see hell in this life, then go the Venus and you’ll get an idea. This sure is a hard fella to stay with. Hence let’s move on to our home planet.

The third planet from the Sun is our very own planet Earth. It has one natural satellite named Luna or Moon. This planet exists in a zone of the Solar System called the Goldilocks Zone. Therefore, it orbits the Sun in an area where water remains liquid. Neither does it boil due to high temperatures nor does it freeze due to low temperatures. Hence, this is the reason why it is the only perfect planet is all of the Solar System to sustain life. Temperatures of this planet are warm and stable enough for life to thrive on it. However, we humans are destroying the planet even though we know we have nowhere else to go with the current technology.

The fourth planet from the Sun is called Mars or the red planet. Mars was named after the Roman god of war. It has two moons named Phobos and Deimos. Mars rotates around the Sun in a tilted motion and so, it has seasons. On this planet, the daytime temperatures can reach up to 26 degrees Celsius, which doesn’t seem bad at all. But, since this planet has an extremely thin atmosphere, approximately 100 times less thick than Earth’s atmosphere there is an immense amount of radiation on the planet. Moreover, due to the absence of a thick atmosphere, temperatures at night can reach -125 degrees Celsius. The atmosphere of this planet was destroyed by the solar winds because it had a very small gravitational field. Furthermore, even though this planet is a hard fella to stay with, humans can still terraform it to help it meet the requirements for life to strive for it. In a few years or even soon, humans will be sent to Mars for the first time.

This was the end of this blog. In my next blog, I will explain the jewel and the vacuum of the universe which all of you may know as Saturn and Jupiter.

[1] Haris Ahmad is currently studying in 9^th grade (O levels) in The City School Islamabad.

Why Hubble's Sight is Limited and How Will We Tackle It

May 3, 2020

By: Haris Ahmad[1]

The Hubble telescope was launched by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and ESA (European Space Agency) on April 24, 1990. Space Shuttle Discovery launched it into orbit. The Hubble telescope orbits approximately 547 km above Earth. It travels 5 miles per second and is solar-powered; hence, it gets energy from the Sun. Hubble takes clear and sharp images of the celestial bodies in space e.g. planets, stars, galaxies, and nebulae. It can take images of celestial bodies, which are billions of light-years away from us. In this blog, I will explain that even though Hubble made many astonishing discoveries about celestial bodies many light-years away, it still has limited sight.  This doesn’t mean that it was useless. It made discoveries which totally changed our perception of the universe. One of the greatest images this telescope took was the Hubble deep field, which is an image of a small region in the Ursa Major constellation. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Deep_Field#/media/File:HubbleDeepField.800px.jpg

All the colorful dots you see are individual galaxies and this makes you wonder just how big this universe is and how small we are. These galaxies may seem a lot but they are just the ones from a tiny spot we can see in the sky. You can even find more Hubble deep field images on NASA and ESA websites. This wasn’t the only astonishing image; it took many other images of planets, stars, nebulae and galaxies. Now, lets come to the main point. Hubble can only see visible light from a certain point of the electromagnetic spectrum. 

http://hubble.stsci.edu/the_telescope/nuts_.and._bolts/wavelengths.php

Therefore, only the light from the range of wavelengths that the telescope’s instruments can observe is captured. Hence, the visible light that has a longer wavelength than that of Hubble can see is not visible to it. This is the main reason why Hubble can’t see the galaxies of the early universe because the wavelengths of their light are much longer. Moreover, another factor that adds to this disability is the expansion of the Universe. Many of you may know  the Doppler effect. If you don't know about it then I'll explain it with an example. When an ambulance is blowing its siren close to you, you can hear the sound very loudly because the pitch of the sound is high due to the shorter wavelengths of sound; however, when the ambulance goes further away from you, the pitch of the sound gets lower and the wavelengths are longer and hence, you hear the sound slower. The same effect happens with light when the universe expands. When the universe expands, the wavelengths from distant objects also expand and due to this, Hubble can’t capture these longer wavelengths because they are out of its reach. However, we shouldn’t just give up. Space scientists are filling this pothole by creating another telescope that will see what Hubble could not and that telescope is the James Webb Telescope.

The making of this telescope is the largest, most expensive, and the most challenging space-engineering project the humans have ever attempted. NASA has been working on this project for 30 years and it is called, The James Webb Telescope. The James Webb telescope can take images in more detail and higher distances than the Hubble telescope and can see objects that have details about the origin of the universe. This telescope will help us understand how the universe started and how it formed. It would uncover the forces of the universe and the evolution of how many objects formed in the universe and how. Not only will this telescope help us see the past of this universe, but it will also help us predict the fate of many of the galaxies, stars, etc. This telescope has the ability to capture infra-red the light that ultimately helps it significantly in finding objects much farther than the Hubble could see. The main problem though is that the Sun also emits infra-red light so, how do we keep the infra-red light from the Sun away? Well, this telescope has a sun shield which blocks all the light from the Sun from reaching the telescope’s camera. Scientists still have a lot of problems to tackle before we launch this but, one problem is what we all have to pray to end well. That problem is the launch. Now, we know that rocket launches are extremely hard and have a high chance of failure. Therefore, we have to launch this telescope perfectly into space or else, a lot of money, effort, and time will be wasted. This telescope will be launched into orbit at a very far distance, at a point called the Second Lagrangian point. This point in orbit is 1.5 million km away from the Earth though it is still in the zone of orbiting the Earth. The advantage of this orbit is that it would clear out a huge space for the telescope to see.

[1] Haris Ahamd is currently studying in 9^th grade (O levels) in The City School Islamabad.