EduNotes

 Astronomy Notes / Sedna  Astronomy Notes / Sedna SEDNA ·          A planetoid that is 13 billion km from the sun. ·          A bit smaller than the dwarf planet Pluto and three times further away ·      Its temperature never gets above minus 240 degree  C ·          It is one of the reddest objects in the Solar system, after Mars and takes 10,500 years to travel its highly elliptical path around the Sun  Astronomy Notes / Sedna

 Astronomy Notes / Minor Planet named after Indian Scientist  Astronomy Notes / Minor Planet named after Indian Scientist MINOR PLANET NAMED AFTER INDIAN SCIENTIST ·          A minor planet in the Solar system which was earlier known as 5718 C174, has been now named 5718-Pattazhy, after Kollam based environmentalist Dr.Sainudeen Pattazhy by Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA on recognition of his pioneering research on many environment related issues such as the phenomenon  of red rain which occurred in Kerala.  Astronomy Notes / Minor Planet named after Indian Scientist

 Astronomy Notes / Magnetosphere  Astronomy Notes / Magnetosphere MAGNETOSPHERE ·          Earth’s magnetic shield ·          First called the ‘VAN ALLEN BELT’ after the American Physicist, James Van Allen who discovered them in 1959. ·          It is extended far out to about 64000 kilometers from the earth’s surface ·          The protons and electrons that shot out from the sun are caught and held by the ‘Magnetism’ of the earth. ·          The upper belt with its centre, some 2400 kilometer from the earth, does not touch the atmosphere.  Astronomy Notes / Magnetosphere

 Astronomy Notes / Aurora Borealis / Australis  Astronomy Notes / Aurora Borealis / Australis AURORA BOREALIS / AUSTRALIS ·          Aurora Borealis or Northern lights and Aurora Australis or southern lights are multi coloured lights that sweep across the sky in waves and are visible in the Arctic region and Antarctic region respectively ·          Aurorae are chiefly caused by sunspots, which are magnetic storms on the surface of the sun ·          Atoms discharge electrified particles into space ·          The earth’s magnetic poles attract these electrified particles coming from the sun ·          These electrified particles cause gases in the upper atmosphere or more appropriately the Magnetosphere to vibrate and glow in colours  Astronomy Notes / Aurora Boreali...

 Astronomy Notes / Planets in the Solar system  Astronomy Notes / Planets in the Solar system PLANETS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM ·          Celestial bodies revolving around the sun. Each of them revolves around the sun along a definite path is called orbit ·          Orbits of the planets around the sun are elliptical ·          8 planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune ·          Inner or Terrestrial planets have higher densities ·          Outer planets have lower densities ·          Earth is the largest of the inner planets and the densest of the planets ·          Mercury and Venus are termed as interior planets ·          Outer pla...

 Astronomy Notes / Sun / Core / Photosphere /Chromosphere / Nuclear Fusion / Orion arm / Solar Winds / Plages / Sunspots / Solar Dynamics Observatory  Astronomy Notes / Sun / Core / Photosphere /Chromosphere / Nuclear Fusion / Orion arm / Solar Winds / Plages / Sunspots / Solar Dynamics Observatory SUN ·          The largest body of the solar system is the Sun ·          The centre of the solar system ·          This view was first put forward by Copernicus ·          4 parts of Sun – Core, Photosphere, Chromosphere and Corona ·          The Core       Very High Temperature and Pressure    Temperature is roughly 15 million C       Nuclear fusion occurs, turning four hydrogen nuclei into a single helium nucleus plus a lot...

 Astronomy Notes / The solar system  Astronomy Notes / The solar system THE SOLAR SYSTEM ·          Solar system evolved 5 billion years ago ·          The Sun is the closest star to earth and is the centre of our solar system ·          The Sun with its planes, asteroids, comets etc… constitute the solar system ·          Solar system consists of Sun, 8 planets, 3 dwarf planets, their satellites, asteroids, comets and other bodies ·          The solar system moves with an average speed of 250 km/sec. It takes 250 million years to complete one revolution around the galactic centre. This period is known as a cosmic year ·          The direction of the planets in their revolution around the sun is also from west to east  Astro...

 Astronomy Notes / Nebula  Astronomy Notes / Nebula NEBULA ·          Nebula are actually clusters of stars and gaseous clouds ·          They appear in the sky as bright spots or as a dark hole or band against a brighter background Orion Nebula is one of the many nebulas within the milky way  Astronomy Notes / Nebula

 Astronomy Notes / Kuiper Belt  Astronomy Notes / Kuiper Belt THE KUIPER BELT The Kuiper Belt is a region beyond the planet Neptune in which at least 70000 small, icy, slow-moving objects orbit. This belt is located from roughly 30 to over 50 Astronomical Units from the sun.  Astronomy Notes / Kuiper Belt

 Astronomy notes / Quasars  Astronomy notes / Quasars QUASARS ·          A quasar is a compact extra galactic object that looks like a point of light, but emits more energy than a hundred supergiant galaxies. ·          Although they are bright optical sources, quasars emit most of their energy as infrared radiation. They are also strong X-ray sources. ·          Quasars were discovered in 1963 as the optical counterparts to some powerful radio sources  Astronomy notes / Quasars

 Astronomy notes / Plutoid / Dwarf Planet  Astronomy notes / Plutoid / Dwarf Planet PLUTOID ·          Any dwarf planet that orbits beyond the orbit of Neptune ·          2 known objects fall into this subcategory: Pluto & Eris ·          Pluto was defined by the International Astronomical Union’s Committee on Small Body Nomenclature in June 2008 ·          Dwarf planets are objects that “have sufficient mass for their self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that they assume a hydrostatic equilibrium shape, and that have not cleared”. – Definition by IAU ·          Plutoid has an orbit that takes it further from the Sun than Neptune  Astronomy notes / Plutoid / Dwarf Planet

 Astronomy Notes / Asteroids  Astronomy Notes / Asteroids ASTEROIDS ·          Asteroids are also called Minor Planets or Planetoids. They are relatively small planetary bodies which are found in between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It is believed that asteroids are debris left over from the formation of inner planets. There are about 50000 known asteroid in our solar system ·          The discoverer can give the name of his choice to the asteroids. But they should get the recognition of International Astronomical Union ·          Ceres was the biggest asteroid, but it has been promoted as a dwarf planet. Now the biggest is Vesta and second biggest is Pallas ·          2000 BF 19 is an asteroid that will hit Earth in 2022 ·          Comets are distinguished from aster...