Solar Week - Ask a Question

Yes and no. One of the missions I currently work on will be going away this summer, but there are some other missions that I will likely transition to, though the pickings at the moment for jobs are definitely slim. I honestly don't know how much of this is economy and how much of it is just the life of a contractor:>

Hello Keira A solar eclipse is when the moos passes directly between the Earth and the Sun blocking the Sun's light whereas a lunar eclipse is when the moon passes through the shadow of the Earth temporarily darkening it's surface

I have two cats. To be honest, I am big animal lover and would have more pets if I had more time and a bigger house! As far as a favorite, it is hard to say. I love both cats and dogs. Dawn

Hello Chris I have actually been lucky enough to travel quite a bit for my work. I have been to Sicily and I traveled to Japan many many times over the last few years. Travel is actually a nice little perk of my job, though I haven't traveled much since my daughter was born. Dawn

Hello Sunny Aurora Borealis is Latin for Northern Dawn. If seen in the lower 48 states or in mid-Europe it appears as a glow in the northern horizon as if the Sun was rising in the wrong direction. Also Aurora was the Roman goddess of the dawn and Boreas is the Greek name for north wind.

Hello Karen The last I heard the color of the Sun could still be debated. There are two answers that most scientist believe and that is yellowish-white and green. Our eyes perceive sunlight as being yellow or white, but the Sun's peak wavelength is in the green part of the spectrum. (PLEASE DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN). A longer ...

Hello Emily, I used to love to draw. I took drawing classes all through middle and high school and continued to carry a sketchbook with me through college. Unfortunately between work and a family I don't really have the time to pick up a pencil anymore. Hopefully one day I will be able to get back to it.

Hi Karen The magnetic field at the poles is substantially different from that at the Sun's equator. At the equator, the magnetic field lines generally do not stray far from the surface. They come out from one point in the surface and go back in again not far away, forming loops. Sunspots are found at the bases of really strong loops. At ...

Hi Evelyn I don't really collect coins or stamps though I do have some special "space" stamps that my great uncle sent me when I graduated from college. He was a big stamp collector and was so excited that I was going to work at NASA that he sent me a congratulations card that was covered in space & NASA related stamps. ...

You can read about the details of the lifetime of the Sun here as well as learn about the Herzsprung-Russell Diagram http://www.astro.uva.nl/demo/sun/leven.htm