Blogpost 8: Where We Were Created, The Earth.

Our universe were created by the big bang, by the big planet then spread everything into other places. When we were curious about the creation of our universe, can't you also think or ask in your mind the creation of your homeland? How it were formed? It may be a little part of the whole creation, but this creation of the Earth is more important, because it's the one who sheltered us, and gave us the life we're now living.

There's an article I've read entitled, How Earth Was Formed? written by Nola Taylor Redd from space.com. It tells there the story of our Earth being formed, from being a hot rocky ball to the coldness, then the warmness we feel today. They said that there were impacts on rocks to asteroids and comets to the planets back then. Luckily, our Earth experienced one of the impacts of the rocks because without it, we obviously wouldn't be born nor the Earth. Scientists said that, that happened 4.6 billion years ago in our solar system. Meaning our Earth is now 4.6 billion years of age. Particularly, our earth suffered from the impact by large body that catapulted pieces. It made the earth's shape from that impact. They said that collisions and frictions gave the mountains' birth to the world, then eventually started to create atmosphere.

"As scientists continue to study planets inside of the solar system, as well as around other stars, they will be better understanding how Earth and its siblings formed." -Nola Taylor Redd, the author.

You can tell that our earths creation is really an accident. Or, you could say, a lucky event. Because without it, the whole universe would be boring. You know, no humans. Well, what do we know? Maybe there are other lives out there.

Moving from its creation, to the components and facts about our great mother earth. An article I've read entitled, Earth: Orbit, Composition, Atmosphere & Other Facts written by Charles Q. Choi from space.com. They first stated there that the earth is the third planet from the sun. Second, it is the only planet that is known to have atmosphere that has oxygen for human life. Third, it has oceans of liquid water also for life. Fourth, it is the 5th largest planet in the solar system. Lastly, Earth has a diameter of 8,000 or 13,000 and its shape isn't circle, but an "oblate spheroid."

They said that the Earths' surface is mostly covered by water, we all know that of course. 71% to be specific. They also said that a fifth of Earths atmosphere are produces by plants. They said that there are 4 eons in Earth. The Hadean, Archean, Proterozic and Phanerozic. They specify that the Archean eon started the human lives on Earth.

Now for the atmosphere they said that 78% are nitrogen and 21% are oxygen. They said that the upper atmosphere actually expands during the day and contracts at night because of the heat and cold temperature.

"Earth is the only planet in the universe known to possess life. There are several million known species of life, ranging from the bottom of the deepest ocean to a few miles into the atmosphere, and scientists think far more remain to be discovered." -Charles Q. Choi, the author.

Again, just like that quotation, we may know our place or structures or its origin, but we still don't know all the beings who possess life. Maybe in other worlds? Or maybe there are beings that aren't really discovered here actually on Earth? But I still believe that soon we will know.

But then, I am happy, that through all this complicated things outside our world we can't explain, there is still beauty in simple and little things around us, where we live in, where we laugh, love, and mostly, feel. So let us live life to the fullest and always remember that we have a beautiful world called Earth.

Blogpost 7: The Solar System

As we grow up, we were taught that our Earth we live in is a part of the solar system. They were many theories of our solar system since the older days. Scientists and astronomers back then even thought that the Earth was in the middle of the solar system and the other planets and the sun revolves around it. But now we somehow know alot about our solar system,  but did we actually know everything? Every detail?

There is an article I've read about the solar system entitled, Our Solar System: Facts, Formation and Discovery written by Charles Q. Choi from space.com. It is stated there that our solar system was formed from a nebula, a giant massive nebula called the "solar nebula." Like how a nebula would form, it rotated and spun like a disk. Then, the materials pulled together to form the sun. Other particles collided with each other then eventually created the planets. The rocks or the leftovers became the asteroid and comets. According to scientists there are 2 types of planets in our solar system, the "terrestrial worlds" and the "four gas giants" or the "outer planets." The ones who are called terrestrial are the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. They're called terrestrial because of it's rocky state and "earthlike" structures because they are made of iron and rock. They're also similiar in size and composition. Then the outer planets are the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. They were called gas giants because of their mass made of gases and also, its cold temperature. They are also made up of hydrogen and helium and they have no solid surfaces, but may have rocky cores.

Scientists also consider little asteroids as planets, they call it the "minor planets" that circle the sun circle the sun in the region of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. They estimated about 750,000 asteroids that circles. They sometimes lead and collide with other planets, or sometimes it can include Earth.






Then there's the comets. Also called the "dirty snowballs" because of its icy and rocky formation. To be specific, scientists told that comets are made of dust, ice, carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane, and etc. Scientists say that the comets orbit the sun but have a specific area inhabiting called the "Oort Cloud" which surrounds the sun. They said that that's why we see comets with beautiful tails or whatever you may call it, it's because when they orbit the sun the central nucleus of it turns into gas and spreads. Also, they added the fact that the icy particles were being melted then follows the orbit of the comet. That is why we are seeing them with bright tails.

"Our solar system is a vast place, with lots of mostly empty space between planets. But out there are comets, asteroids, and more rocky frozen objects yet to be discovered in the Oort Cloud." -Charles Q. Choi, the author.

These facts are really astonishing to know. Of course knowing its formation and types, singularity and the connections between every thing in our universe. It was interesting and entertaining to study these kinds of differences.

Now, we all know that there are 8 planets in our solar system. Before it was 9 but they omitted Pluto because of its lacking size. But have you ever wondered of a 10th planet? I've read an article entitled, Search from 'Planet X' Far From Over written by Nola Taylor Redd from space.com. They said that the hypothetical Planet X has been fruitless, but still, they're not calling it off. "I think astronomers will continue to search for a distant companion to the sun with every new, deeper survey," said Kevin Luhman of the University of Pennsylvania. Researchers discovered a dwarf planet orbiting the sun particularly, the unexplored Oort Cloud. They said that some of its orbitals can or may be considered as planet sized objects. But they also said that they still cannot detect it because of lack of instruments to use. They've discovered this using NASA'S WIDE-FIELD INFRARED SURVEY EXPLORER (WISE), a telescope. Using that telescope made their findings more concrete, but through its very far location and revolution or also its setting one place to another, they've found it harder to see as it gets dimmer and draws far away. But at least, they say that they can soon know everything or see its exact components and elements of the mysterious "Planet X."

"We have natural desire to better determine the content of our solar system." -Kevin Luhman.

Discovering or studying another planet really eats scientists time. They may discover this before they die, or maybe they won't even finish this discovery by the time they're dead. But I'm also at least grateful that these scientists are really adding up new things on people's minds.

Knowing these kinds of things really heats up my hype as a researcher. Yet, scientists still set for their new learnings and discoveries by finding little pieces of information gathered through the use of technology. I also believe that someday, maybe we could discover or know everything that's outside our planet.

Blogpost 6: Nebulae

Our cosmos is filled up with very bright things that light up our universe. Filled with beautiful and gorgeous ones. Are you familiar of the term nebula? Maybe you've heard the word in some cartoons, but do you really know what it is and where it is in space? Nebula is a cloudy and gasy object that can be seen outside our solar system. Do you know it's purpose and how it formed? Let me give you a thought.

There is an article I've read entitled, What is a Nebula? written by John Carl Villanueva from universetoday.com. They said here that a nebula is made up of  dust, hydrogen, helium, gas, and plasma. It could be dark or bright. Imagine it like a cloud in outer space, but it's very massive. It is also stated there that a nebula could be a part of a stellar or planetary formation or maybe a result of it. Particularly, some formation of stars or planets in our universe. They also said that it could be death of a star, which has failed to become a black hole, more likely a positive result of it's death because a black hole is basically dangerous while a nebula is just a stable object. But there is also pressure in the middle of a nebula, there are also gravitational forces that make the cloud on form only on its direction and that's why it won't scatter out somewhere in outer space. That's the reason why a nebula is cloudy but not explosive because it's a cloud, you could imagine it would spread out. It's not really dangerous because it's stable and it only like they said, it only has its gravitational forces in the middle so it won't really catch you up. Just like the author John Carl Villanueva, a technical writter, stated:

"For those who are not aware of this yet, outer space is not really totally a vacuum." 

I could say these things really are a positive result of a death of a star or a planet. Like a black hole, a negative one. Nebulae can also be created for our the designs of the outer space, so it could be beautiful, and colorful. Some can even be galaxies, who knows?

But through the beautiful attractions of the nebulae in space, there are still mysteries about them, like the article I've read entitled, Mystery flares betray hidden force within Crab Nebula written by Rachel Courtland from newscientist.com. It says there that a nebula called the "Crab Nebula" has been releasing bright flares of gamma rays in a record breaking speeds. "The highest particle energies ever associated with a single force," says Elisa Bernardidni of the DESY research center in Germany. The observers were surprised by the flares extracted from the nebula because it calibrates astronomical instruments and streams wavelengths. So are we in danger? The scientists don't think of this as much, because it doesn't really threaten Earth from it's extraction of cosmic rays. That is why Crab Nebula is the most powerful cosmic accelerator because it gives us the most energy and cosmic rays through Earth said by the scientists. But they also said that through this events they can know the origin of the cosmic rays. Like Rene Ong of the University of California, Los Angeles said:

"This is a fascinating discovery, we understand this source as well as anything in the sky. It's a new wrinkle and a new mystery."

I think that events like these were really meant to happen, to let us know where they really came from and what do they really possess.

Nebulae are one of the most beautiful creations. Why? Because it colors our entire world, not just Earth, I mean everything. It lights up the darkness of this world, and sometimes they give us thoughts of how this and that happen. You know, you can get sources and origins to them. Plus, they're not that dangerous compared to the black holes that are happen to be the result of a death of a star just like these nebulae. Well, for me, staring at these creations are really wonderful and beautiful.

Blogpost 5: Black Holes

Can you imagine what could happen if you got suck by a black hole? Scientists say that every part of energy can be sucked up, I mean everything, atoms, matter, yourself, and even light and sound. It's so massive and powerful that no one would be able to escape once you've been caught by it. Can you also imagine what's in there? Like, what would you see when your're exactly inside a black hole? I guess no one could know, because I think it's very impossible for us to get inside then go out. Black holes also have gravitational around it's spot that lures everything that'll be eaten by it.

Scientists told us that black holes are the death of the stars, but not exactly just a star. Only massive ones, for example, our sun is not that massive enough to become a black hole. So it means it needs a bigger one. Imagine that the black holes are far bigger than the sun. How terrifying. But did you actually know that there is a black hole that is only 26,000 light years away from us? I've read an article entitled,  It's Snack Time In The Cosmos by Ron Cowen from nytimes.com. It is stated there that we might have the chance to see a black hole consumes. A black hole called the "Sagittarrius A." Of course from a big telescope because it's not seen by the naked eye. A theoretical astrophysicist at Harvard named Avi Loeb even said that "This is a rare oppurtunity to witness spoon-feeding of a black hole," and even asked, "will the gas reach the black hole, and if so, how quickly?" then he even theoretically stated that, "will the black hole throw up or spit the gas out in the form of an outflow or a jet?" The one that will soon be sucked by the black hole is a gas cloud. The cloud is massive, it's even three times bigger than the Earth. But it's still no match for Sagittarius A. The black hole will soon devour every part of that gas cloud. It will use its gravitational forces around him to set the direction of the gas cloud to the center. But they also said that if the black hole has eaten too much of its gas, it's process of eating could take years for it to finish. Then, a firework could be seen. The firework they'd talk about is a metaphor for a radiation explosion through the cosmos.

I can imagine the power of the black hole by just seeing the pictures. I think that if you were to go there, you would really feel the massive force of its gravity pulling you. We still won't know what could be the effect of the radiation explosion of those events because it's the first time for us to happen. Also, according to some scientists, when the black hole sucks you, you would stretch very long like you're a bubble gum. Imagine those things, it's like defying the laws of science.

There is also an article I've read entitled, How Do Black Holes Form? written by Fraiser Cain from universetoday.com. It is stated here that back then black holes were just considered as abstracts. They still haven't concluded that they exist. But in 1931 an astronomer named Subrahmanyan Chandasekar calculated and studied stars, then eventually came up with the conclusion that black holes can be form by a stars big mass. They also said that inside a black hole, there are millions of tonnes of hydrogen that are changing to helium. After that, it releases gamma radiation. For them, this process is too "exothermic," meaning it's exaggerating its energy extraction. Then soon, they said that the helium will switch to carbon then becomes oxygen. But it also balance its gravitational forces to make it at least stable. After that, well, it's more likely to a black hole now. A star that was so bright and shiny became a dark and evil existence to the most dangerous and terrifying objects in our universe. Like they said, you would need a velocity even faster than light to escape these things, or maybe, speed of light is not enough? Who knows? But even through the research and findings that a black hole is a bad object, Fraser Cain the publisher of universe today still stated that: 

"Black holes are the most exotic and awe inspiring objects in the Universe." 

We can't really know much of these things because we need  to study these kind of objects in a very accurate way, like, we need to study them very clear and very actively to know what's really in there. But I guess we can't, because it's obviously dangerous for us to even get near them.

So what might happen when you're in a black hole? Do you even want to test it for yourself? From this study I think I could say I hate black holes. They're too scary for them to even exist. Why were they even created? Do they have a purpose? I don't think so, I can say they were the evil creatures that have been formed on the universe.