Thermal Axes

  Mar 15, 2016 Hot polar regions are common among planets and moons. Scientists using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) discovered a ten degree Celsius temperature difference above the polar region of Neptune. Another consideration that has not been published regarding Neptune’s polar thermocline, is that the “hot spots” can be…

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Ripples in Clear Space

  Mar 11, 2016 Where do galactic clumps and filaments come from? One proposal suggests that galaxies are drawn toward the center of galactic clusters through gravitational attraction. What is termed, “blow-back force” by astronomers supposedly pushes galaxies out and away from the direction of travel like a vast comet…

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Mighty in Heaven

  Mar 8, 2016 One more year to go. The dice of Zeus always fall luckily. — Sophocles Editor’s note: Originally published August 2015. NASA launched the Juno Mission to Jupiter on August 5, 2011. After traveling out past the orbit of Mars, the spacecraft returned for a gravity assist from…

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Old and Far Away

  Mar 7, 2016 The Big Bang theory states that for some reason (not explained) an irruption of energy from some other realm replaced “nothingness” with what was to become the present Universe. The theory was proposed because Edwin Hubble, using the recently completed 100-inch telescope at Mt. Wilson observatory,…

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Arcos Rojos

  Mar 3, 2016 What causes colorful streaks on Tethys? As reported in previous Pictures of the Day, maps of Mimas, Enceladus, Rhea, and Dione show that they are red to some degree. All the latest maps indicate that most of them are redder on their trailing hemispheres. No one is…

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