5 Comet Facts: Dirty Snowballs of the Solar System
Comets are balls of frozen gases mixed with pieces of rocks, water and ice. There are only a hundred or so named comets and a bit over 3500 known comets.
Comets are balls of frozen gases mixed with pieces of rocks, water and ice. There are only a hundred or so named comets and a bit over 3500 known comets.
From largest to smallest, Earth’s atmosphere composition contains nitrogen, oxygen, argon, CO2 and trace gases. Water vapor is excluded from this total.
All planets have layers. Inside Earth, we have a crust, core and mantle. Imagine a team of drillers who set out to drill a hole to the other side of Earth.
There are 4 primary layers of the atmosphere on Earth: troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and thermosphere. The ionosphere and exosphere are above those.
At all times the sun illuminates half of the moon. Depending on your point of view, this is what causes the various phases of the moon.
The moon is approximately 238,855 miles (384,400 km) away from the Earth. It’s such a big gap that you can almost fit all the 7 other planets in between.
Earth’s geological time scale is almost unimaginable to us. This is because humans lifespans are so short in comparison (in hours, days, months and years).
As the Earth spins, the sun always shines on one side which gives it sunlight. When you’re facing the sun, it’s daytime. But when you’re not, it’s night.
Their difference is location. Meteoroids are up in the sky. Meteors fall to Earth and flash light breaking down in the atmosphere. Meteorites are on Earth.
In terms of space exploration, Mars has been the greatest frontier for discovery. From its red color to marsquakes, here are 15 remarkable facts about Mars.
Highlights of the mesosphere include: (1) Air is very thin (2) It’s the coldest region of the atmosphere close to -100°C and (3) It’s where meteors burn up.
Ocean currents are like giant conveyor belts moving huge amounts of water all the time. Wind, temperature and salt gradients all influences ocean currents.