Impact craters can be found throughout the solar system. NASA scientists use impact craters and volcanic activity to learn about the process throughout the solar system. By studying craters on Earth, scientists gain knowledge of volcanic landform formation and modification made by impacting bodies. In northern Quebec, Canada, the Clearwater site is actually two craters from a rare binary impact. The site contains one of the best records of impact melt rocks and breccias among impact sites. These clues provide information on Impact Rock Modification. The goal of the research is to understand the nature and formation of impact melts, breccias and effect of volatiles delivered by an impactor. Please Join us for our March fundamentals talk, where we will explore the known impact craters on earth and their characteristics. Their geology and causes will be evaluated as well as the dating of the impacts using Chronological Record research. Our presenter, NAA Club Member Jim Hopkins, will also examine several objects in the solar system and how craters may have formed there. Jim will highlight the physics of crater formation.
Exoplanet Atmospheres and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life
Exoplanets orbit distant stars many lightyears away. The name comes from extrasolarplanets, which are planets orbiting outside of oursolar system. To date, astronomers have found over5,600 exoplanets. The method resulting in the mostdiscoveries is the Transit Method....
March ’25 – Rick’s Picks
Transient Events That Can Give Us a Good Enough Reason to Get Outside and Do a Little ObservingAll month: the evening sky becomes less dramatic this month, as Saturn and Neptune spend the entire month hidden in the Sun’s glare, reaching solar conjunction on March 12...
Europa Clipper: NASA Investigates an Icy Ocean
Europa, one of Jupiter's four biggest moons, appears to harbor a liquid ocean not far beneath its bright, icy surface. Is there life there? NASA plans to fly the Europa Clipper spacecraft to orbit Jupiter and, making frequent flybys of Europa, will study the...
Astronomy Fundamentals: The Last Trillionth of the Journey
As stargazers, we look out across space at objects floating in what is mostly vast emptiness. The light we see travels at its breathtaking speed through a vacuum, only now and then perhaps encountering some wisps of gases and dusts. To an observer on our Moon, or to...