Astronomy Facts by Aiden Zylman
Did you know shooting stars are colored based on the elements they consist of? If you look carefully enough during a meteor shower, you can spot a color or multiple colors on a single meteor! Magnesium shines a cyan or blueish-white color, sodium shines orange, iron is yellow, calcium is purple or violet, and oxygen is red. When the compounds inside a meteor reach beyond their burning point, they shine colors as they fall to Earth.
Only a fraction of the stars are white! While they may appear white, most can appear blue or red; this isn't visible to the naked eye because of their subtle color and behavior. Stars will radiate as their temperature increases, causing their color to differentiate based on their temperature. Every star has what’s known as an ‘effective temperature.’ For example, class O stars have an effective temperature greater than or equal to 33,000 K.
Planets aren't the only celestial objects with rings and moons; asteroids have them too! The asteroid Charkilo, known as a Centaur asteroid, has a pair of rings around it, making it the smallest celestial object having rings. In 1993, Galileo’s pictures found an asteroid, Ida, and its moon, Dactyl; this was the first observational evidence of asteroids and their moons.
Metals such as gold and silver can forge when dying stars collide. When the remnants of dead stars collide, they produce and release a large quantity of gold, silver, and other elements. As a result of the large amount of energy in the collisions, heavy naturally occurring elements, such as uranium, are produced almost exclusively by these events.
If you want to witness some of these events, get a telescope, sit back, and enjoy the galaxy’s many wonders.
Only a fraction of the stars are white! While they may appear white, most can appear blue or red; this isn't visible to the naked eye because of their subtle color and behavior. Stars will radiate as their temperature increases, causing their color to differentiate based on their temperature. Every star has what’s known as an ‘effective temperature.’ For example, class O stars have an effective temperature greater than or equal to 33,000 K.
Planets aren't the only celestial objects with rings and moons; asteroids have them too! The asteroid Charkilo, known as a Centaur asteroid, has a pair of rings around it, making it the smallest celestial object having rings. In 1993, Galileo’s pictures found an asteroid, Ida, and its moon, Dactyl; this was the first observational evidence of asteroids and their moons.
Metals such as gold and silver can forge when dying stars collide. When the remnants of dead stars collide, they produce and release a large quantity of gold, silver, and other elements. As a result of the large amount of energy in the collisions, heavy naturally occurring elements, such as uranium, are produced almost exclusively by these events.
If you want to witness some of these events, get a telescope, sit back, and enjoy the galaxy’s many wonders.