Category: Planets

Snippet: Can Pieces of Mercury be Found on Earth?

A meteorite on the surface of Mars. Image credit: NASA/JPL

This is an interesting thought. We know that rocks from space can fall through the atmosphere and hit the ground as meteorites. But where do these rocks come from? Some come from old remnants of the early solar system, floating through space until they are captured by the Earth’s gravitational pull. Other meteorites come from other planets, ejected pieces of the planet crust (caused itself by a meteorite impact), escaping from the planets gravity by achieving “escape velocity”. We have found samples known to come from the Moon and Mars, but what about the other planets? Venus’ atmosphere is too thick to allow pieces of its surface to fly into space, but what about the first planet from the Sun, Mercury? Can bits of Mercury travel through space and land on Earth?
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Protecting Future Mars Colonies From Solar Radiation: An Early Warning System

A solar flare during the storms of 2003. Image taken by the EIT instrument on SOHO. Image credit: NASA/EIT

We all know that space can be a dangerous place. Many safety measures are put in place by space agency scientists so astronaut’s lives are protected and mission success can be assured. Generally, some degree of certainty can be insured in near Earth orbit, protecting astronauts onboard the International Space Station and Shuttle missions, as most activities go on within the Earth’s protective magnetosphere. But in the future, when we establish a colony on the Moon and Mars, how will human life be protected from the ravages of solar radiation? In the case of Mars, this will be of special interest as should something go wrong, colonists will be by themselves…
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Snippet: Will the Earth be Safe From Solar Expansion? The Outlook Isn’t Great…

As the Sun runs out of fuel, it will swell… but will it swell enough to swallow the Earth? Image credit: Mark Garlick/HELAS. Source: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=exoplanet-red-giant-space-astronomy-stars

In 7 billion years time, the Sun will run out of fuel. As it dies, it will swell so big that many predict that it will reach as far as Earth’s orbit. Naturally, the likelihood of the Earth still harbouring life may be debatable (after all 7 billion years is a long, long time), but should the human race still be around, and evolved into something totally unrecognizable, what will we see?
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