Solar Week - Ask a Question

Hello! Some of the other planets have strong magnetic fields, just like the Earth does. Venus and Mars do not have strong, global magnetic fields. Mars only has weak remnants of a magnetic field in rocks that were formed long ago when Mars may have had a much stronger, global magnetic field. It is kind...

Greetings from Iowa! Wow! Your class asked a lot of very interesting questions. The Solar Week scientists all have different areas of expertise, so I will answer the questions I think I know the best. Hopefully, some of the other scientists will answer the rest of your questions. Is the study of the...

Greetings from Romania! We are an enthusiastic group of students from 11th I grade in Tudor Vianu National High School of Computer Science, Bucharest, Romania. We are really delighted to take part in this outstanding project and we strongly consider that this opportunity enhanced our knowledge in science...

Hi Valarie, The key here is not how far away from Earth a spacecraft is, but how far away from the Sun a spacecraft will have to travel. Since the intensity of sunlight falls of as the square of the distance away from the Sun, the further away a spacecraft will go from the Sun, the more difficult it...

Hi Carmen, That's a great question! The answer is yes, but the Sun does not necessarily affect these planets in the same way as it does Earth. Both Earth and the outer planets are affected by disturbances in the solar wind like coronal mass ejections (CMES). Although the aurora on Jupiter are strongly...

Hi Victor, That's a great question! The answer is yes, the outer planets are also affected by disturbances in the solar wind like coronal mass ejections (CMES). Although the aurora on Jupiter are strongly influenced by Jupiter's moon Io, the solar wind has also been observed to have an effect...

Hi Suzzy, If I could go anywhere in the solar system, I think it would be really interesting to visit some of Jupiter and Saturn's moons. Jupiter's moon Io has strange sulfur volcanoes. Jupiter's moon Europa is completely covered in ice, but some people think it may have a liquid core. Saturn's...

Hi Crystal, I have not worked in the solar energy business either, but I think it is very important that we try to increase our use of alternate energy sources like solar power and wind power. Paulett made a very good point about many spacecraft being solar-powered. Scientists here at the University...

Hi Cynthia, That is a very interesting question! Scientists do not know exactly what caused Jupiter's Great Red Spot to form, or why it is red. However, it appears that ultraviolet radiation may be responsible for the reddish color of this storm. One theory is that the storm carries compounds from...