Closer to Home ~ The Solar System

Our 2021 survey of our Solar System begins with the big heavy guy in the middle of the bed that keeps the planets – ever wanting to escape him – rolling somewhat towards him…

Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto were the chief Roman gods ruling over heaven, earth, waters, and the underworld. I was curious about the choice of the name Uranus for the next planet out from Saturn …

Let’s focus on some of the lesser known facts about the planet proper. STORMS, for example …

In 1610 Galileo discovered the first moons other than our own. He used a homemade telescope with 2 two-inch lenses …

These entries were inspired by the book Orbit, NASA Astronauts Photograph the Earth, by Jay Apt, Michael Helfort, and Justin Wilkinson…

Pac Rim and the Americas

Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system even though Mercury is nearer the Sun…

The first rock away from the Sun suffered a major trauma earlier in its life. The Caloris Basin was created by …

Curiosity, imagination, faith, persistence, and flexibility – those are the qualities that made Kepler a man of modern science

OK. A little homespun observing, but a good time was had by four.

A play in five acts, in which GREED, ARMED CONFLICT, PREMATURE DEATH, MISCALCULATION, AND ABJECT FAILURE are dramatically, yet factually portrayed ...