The Science Blog Of Nick

Fact of the day: Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun in our solar system. (above) Neptune from NASA Neptune is very similar to Uranus , in both colour, size and composition. Neptune is the last planet in the solar system, at 30.1 astronomical units (4.498 billion km) away from the sun. Neptune is around seventeen times more massive than the Earth, and has a radius of nearly four times that of the Earth's. It has the strongest winds in the solar system, at over 2200 kilometres per hour. That is (just under 1000km/h) faster than the speed of sound on Earth. It is also the coldest planet in the solar system, with temperatures in the atmosphere being at 51.8K (-221.35ºC). Neptune radiates over two times as much energy than it receives from the sun, despite its very cold temperatures. It takes Neptune 164.79 Earth years to orbit the sun, and takes 16.1 hours to rotate once in its axis. (below) This is an image of the approximate distances of the planets. The size ...

Fact of the day: Uranus has diamond rain. Uranus is the second to last planet from the sun, at an average of 19.2 astronomical units (2.871 billion km). (above) Uranus Uranus is known for both its name and that its axis is at a very large angle, 97.77º to be exact. No one knows how this occurred, but a reasonable hypothesis is that a dwarf planet collided with it in the early stages of its formation. Also, despite the fact that because of its rotation the poles receive more energy from the sun than the equator, the equator is still warmer. Uranus is composed of mostly hydrogen, helium, methane, and ammonia. Research suggests that in Uranus's mantle, the pressure breaks down the methane molecules, and the carbon from the methane then crystallises to form diamonds, with rain down like hailstones. Also, at the base of the mantle, research suggests that there is a diamond ocean. A year on Uranus is 84 Earth years, and it takes 17 hours and 14 minutes to rotate once on it...

Fact of the day: Saturn's rings are mostly only 10 metres thick, but some can be kilometres thick. Saturn is the fifth planet from the sun at 9 astronomical units (1.429 billion km) away from the sun. It is the second largest planet in the solar system. Saturn is famous for its ring system, which is made up mostly chunks of ice, varying from the size of grains of sand, to tens of metres wide. Saturn's rings extend over 120,700 km out from the planets equator. (below) Saturn and its rings. Saturn is made up of mostly hydrogen and helium, both in liquid and gaseous form. In its atmosphere it has a hexagon shape surrounding its north pole, but it is not currently known what actually causes the formation of this hexagon. Saturn takes 10,759 Earth days (about 29.5 Earth years) to orbit the sun once, and takes between 10 hours and 10 minutes, and 10 hours and 40 minutes to rotate once on its axis, depending on your latitude. (above) Saturn (below) Saturn's he...

Fact of the day: The 'Red Spot' storm on Jupiter is large enough to fit three Earths inside it. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system, and the fourth planet away from the sun. It is 5.2 astronomical units (778.5 million km) away from the sun. (above) Jupiter. Jupiter is known for being the largest planet in the solar system, and for its ferocious atmosphere and storms, such as the 'Red Spot'. Jupiter's atmosphere is made up of various bands, moving at different speeds. Its atmosphere mainly consists of ammonia crystals, and this layer is only 50 km deep. Jupiter is made up of (from the surface inwards) its atmosphere, hydrogen gas, liquid hydrogen, a mix of helium and neon, a very thick layer of metallic hydrogen, and then its rocky and icy core. (below) Jupiter's stormy atmosphere. Jupiter has 67 moons, the four largest are: Ganymede, which is one of the largest in the solar system; Callisto, which has a diameter 99% that of Mercur...

Fact of the week: There are over 100 billion galaxies that are detectable with current technology, each with billions of stars in them, in the universe. I have chosen this as the fact of the week, as it, in my mind at least, is mind blowing. It is more the fact that our planet is only one among possibly hundreds of billions in our galaxy, than the number of stars and galaxies. (below) This is an image of very distant galaxies takes by NASA's hubble telescope, it shows a smiling face created by gravitational lensing. Images from NASA, https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/iotd.html

Fact of the day: Mars has the largest mountain in the solar system, Olympus Mons at around 22,000 metres. (above) Mars. Mars is the fourth planet from the sun, at 1.524 astronomical units ( 227.9 million km) away from the sun. Mars has a diameter that is just over half that of earths. Mars is known for its red appearance (hence the fact that it is occasionally called 'the red planet'), and that it has a potential to harbour life. Mars's suface is very dry and rocky. The surface is coated in dust and sand, and large rocks. The geology of the landscape suggests that water used to exist on its surface, such as the (extremely) large  valles marineris which could only have been formed by water erosion. The atmospheric pressure does not allow liquid water to exist of the surface of mars. (above) Mars's landscape taken from NASA's curiosity rover. It is also suggested that mars also had an extensive atmosphere, but due to its weak gravitational pull, was no...

Fact of the day: The first man stepped on the moon in 1969*. The moon was formed at around the same time as the Earth, and some theories suggest that the moon formed when a mars sized planet collided with the Earth and the moon formed from the debris. The moon is the fifth largest natural satellite in the solar system, and the largest natural satellite in relation to its host planet. Most people think that the moon is really close to the earth, but the distance is actually around 4 times the diameter of the earth. (above) The Earth and the moon taken from Mars. The moon always shows the same face to Earth as its orbit and rotation are synchronised by coincidence. It takes around 29.53 days to orbit the Earth and rotate once on its axis. It has no atmosphere, and as a result is covered with impact craters. The moon's noticeable effect on the Earth is the tides, but has many other effects, even effecting the weather. (above) The moon. *Some people think that this ...