PV Gap

Becky Said:

are all planets in our solar system on the same plane; is there a good map of their layout available?

We Answered:

Yes all 8 planets lie on the same plane along with the asteroids on the asteroid belt. Other celestial bodies however, such as comets, dwarf planets, and lone asteroids orbit on radically different angles.

Jacob Said:

How will this newly discovered Planet effect our Solar system, and what is the spiritual meaning of it?

We Answered:

Why ask about supernova remnants in Religion & Spirituality? If you'd asked in Astronomy & Space, you'd have got answers more like this. Or perhaps this is the sort of answer you don't want in that it rubbishes all the conspiracy nonsense you refer to. Your 'Spanish Astronomers' reference is pure bunk. This object, G1.9+0.3 is 25,000 light years away. It was not seen as a supernova 140 years ago because is obscured by dust, being near the centre of the Milky Way. It is not Wormwood, Nibiru, Hercolubus, Blue Star or any other fictitious object. Just accept it.

Constance Said:

Earthquakes! Has anyone a correlation to present shifts in the solar system?

We Answered:

what about the BLACKHOLE in the middle of our milkyway galaxy, and it is growing bigger every single day. i know you may not believe this but, no human being will be able to detect this beautiful baby because its' orgin and activity is unknown, even to astronomist in NASA. it is sort of like driving your car in the middle of the deserted place with heavy fog all around you. i think the year 2010 will be glorious.

Terri Said:

Are Voyager 1 and 2 completely out of our solar system?

We Answered:

Depends on what you mean by "out of our solar system". They are not yet at the heliopause.

We should be able to get information back from Voyager 1 for about another 16 years. After that, the power will be too weak, and we will not be able to track them, they are already too far for radar.

The mission was designed to fly past Jupiter and Saturn. Scientists believe the craft will reach the heliopause in 2015. Since Voyager 1 is just coasting along, it wasn't aimed in any particular direction after Saturn. The camera system was turned off long ago to save power, but several other sensors are still operating.

It is now about 15 light hours from Earth. At the rate it is moving, it will take over 17,000 years to travel one light year. In about 40,000 years it will be within 1.6 light years of the star AC+79 3888 in the Camelopardalis constellation (the star will be 3 light years from Earth at that time.)

Yvonne Said:

When will we try to discover our outer solar system?

We Answered:

Not sure what you mean.
We have sent probes to Jupiter, one is currently orbiting Saturn, we have landed a probe on Saturn's moon Titan, we have sent several probes to fly by Uranus and Neptune, and New Horizons is on its way to Pluto to study it and the Kuiper Belt.

Do you mean human exploration of the outer planets? That will take time, since we haven't sent humans to Mars yet (and that won't happen for another 10 years at the earliest).

The main roadblock is not technology, its funding. If NASA got just 1% of the money spent on the war on terrorism we would have colonies on Mars within 5 years.

Arnold Said:

what role does our star (the sun) play in the solar system?

We Answered:

I guess thinking about these simple Grade 4 questions would be too hard.
And I'll bet you'd find answers in your textbook.

Without the sun, there would not be a solar system.

2. There are objects that generate their own heat and light (stars) and there are objects that don't (planets, moons, asteroids, comets, meteoroids).

3. No tides, the Earth's axis would wobble more than it does.

4. One rotation is a day. One revolution around the sun is a year.

5. To be able to pinpoint a location on the surface.

6. The tilt of the axis causes the seasons.

Naomi Said:

Do the planets in a solar system rotate on a two dimension plane?

We Answered:

The planets all lie in the plane of the elliptic - a nearly 2D disk.

This happens because the physics of accretion disk - the drawing of matter into orbits around the central core - spins material into a flat disk around the axis of the rotation.

Saturn's rings are another example of 2D accretion.

It's not perfectly flat (hence, it's not exactly 2D) but it's close.