Mercury will be transiting the Sun on the 11th November 2019. What time will it be? How can I see it for myself? And why doesn't a transit happen much more regularly?

Can planets exist in multi-star systems, and what would that look like from their perspective?

While tiny, Earth now has a second moon, or natural satellite, named 2020 CD3. So, will we have to rewrite the text books?

NASA's Dawn spacecraft was the first spacecraft to orbit two extraterrestial bodies, Vesta and Ceres. But what did it do and discover while it was there?

A black body is a theoretical or imaginary object that perfectly absorbs all incoming electromagnetic radiation, and also emits radiation, like heat and visible light, based on its temperature. A black body is considered theoretical...

Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the sun, just like the rest of the planets and celestial bodies in our solar system. Although asteroids are present throughout the solar system, most of them live in the asteroid belt—a...

Multiverse theory suggests that our universe, which consists of billions and billions of planets, stars and galaxies and extends out tens of billions of light-years, may not be the only universe that exists. There could be another...

Without a spacesuit, there is no chance of surviving in the scary cosmic void. In science fiction movies, we often see peoples heads exploding or being frozen by the apparent pressure differential or lack of heat, respectively. As long...

The rotation of the planet around its axis can be generally of two types: prograde and retrograde. Prograde rotation indicates that the motion is in the same direction as the Suns rotationwhich is counter-clockwiseif youre looking down...

Mercury and Venus have no moons because of their close proximity to the Sun. Any moon orbiting around them is likely be swallowed by the mammoth gravitational pull of the mighty Sun. All planets except for Mercury and Venus have moons....

While Neptune, the most distant planet in our Solar System, is 4.5 billion kilometers away from the Sun, Uranus, the second-farthest planet, is just 2.88 billion kilometers away. Uranus is more than a billion kilometers away from...

Planetary orbits are elliptical because gravitational interaction over time changes the delicate balance of mass, velocity and distance from the star which otherwise keeps planetary orbit circular. For a very long time, from Ptolemy to...

An increase in Earths rotational speed could have various impacts on life: ranging from increased earthquakes and tsunamis to a shortening of the length of the day. People could be floating in central Africa while the polar ice might...

There are many planets in the universe, but very few of them have qualities to support life Taking one celestial body at a time and determining whether it supports life would be slow and inefficient. So, astronomers look for certain...

From ancient civilizations to modern breakthroughs, learn about the nine most important cosmic discoveries that changed the way we look at our Sun, Moon and beyond. Learn how Copernicus challenged the status quo, Kepler unveiled the...

Remember those old space movies where spaceships had to maneuver through a bunch of asteroids scattered around and blocking the path of the ship? Well, that's not really true. The asteroid belt contains asteroids which are so far apart...

Also called rocky planets, the planets in our solar system composed mostly of silicate rocks, and the innermost of the eight planets in our Solar System.
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A Twig Science
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Key scientific terms...

How did previous generations of scientists think of the Universe, and how has that understanding changed over time?
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A self-sufficient celestial body that is in orbit around a star.
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A Twig Science
Glossary Film.
Key scientific terms defined in just 60 seconds using stunning images and concise textual definitions. Twig Science...

Our Sun and the collection of bodies that are bound to it by gravity.
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A Twig Science
Glossary Film.
Key scientific terms defined in just 60 seconds using stunning images and concise textual definitions. Twig...

In spaceflight, the time period within which a rocket must be launched in order to achieve the desired orbit or destination.
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A Twig Science
Glossary Film.
Key scientific terms defined in just 60 seconds using...

How a small error in accuracy in the 19th century led to the prediction the Universe would one day fall apart – and the development of chaos theory. How small changes in dynamic systems can lead to much greater, unpredictable events....

Scientists suppose there could be other life-bearing planets like Earth. To find them, they are looking for 'wobbling' stars. Physics - Universe - Learning Points. When a planet orbits a star, it has just enough gravitational force to...

The Sun is dying, getting hotter as it goes. Eventually it will shrink into a black dwarf, but life will have vanished long before.



Physics - Our Solar System - Learni

ng Points.

The Sun is 5 billion years...