Tag: archaeology

Sol’s Newest Dwarf Planet

ryanLeave a comment
A couple of weeks ago, using the Subaru Telescope, astronomers from the Carnegie Institution for Science discovered the newest dwarf planet of our solar system, which may end up claiming the title for most distant dwarf planet. The object, which isn’t even confirmed as a dwarf planet yet, is called V774104.  It resides a distance of 2-3 times that of Pluto, around 9 Billion Km.  It is expected to be a little less than half of Pluto’s size, and it may have a highly eccentric orbit, bringing it closer to the Sun over it’s multi-century trip around the solar system. “That’s...

Astroarcheology – The Oldest Stars

ryanLeave a comment
A few hundred million years after the big bang, the first stars formed.  We aren’t exactly sure how, but we do know that they contained Hydrogen, Helium, and a little bit of Lithium.  These were the only elements in the entire universe at the time.  Within these first stars, the fusion of heavier elements began.  Oxygen, Nitrogen, Carbon, Iron, and all the other elements that make up everything we know formed Billions of years ago in these first stars and in their progenitors.  It was a slow process to produce these elements and seed them throughout the cosmos, but over...