Current Events

  • Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm
    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm rep...Read more

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    Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm

    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm repeatedly. Daily levels of CO2 can vary due to weather, and there are seasonal trends as well. The level of atmospheric greenhouse gases continues to increase, now over 120 ppm since the Industrial Revolution began. For more on the Keeling Curve, see http://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/. Find out more about greenhouse gases and warming.
  • Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley
    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Io...Read more

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    Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley

    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. On May 20th, a massive tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, devastating communities - destroying over 100 homes and hitting two elementary schools and a hospital - with many casualties and deaths. Our thoughts are with our friends and colleagues suffering from these storms. For more on the May 20th storms, see the NOAA Storm Prediction Center Storm Report.
  • Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education
    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of ...Read more

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    Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education

    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of sustainability. Here is a link to the one-page bill: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/measures/documents/hb2366_00_0000.pdf. See report on Bloomberg News.
This picture is from a model of how the earth's magnetic field is generated.
Click on image for full size
Glaztmeir and Roberts of LANL

The Generation of Neptune's Magnetosphere

Magnetospheres are generated with magnetic materials and motions within the magnetic material. Scientists believe that as long as a planet or star has these two ingredients it can generate a magnetic field.

The terrestrial planets generate magnetospheres within the iron cores at their centers. However, Neptune has almost no iron core.

The magnetic material of Neptune is found within its icy shell. Motions within that shell produce Neptune's medium sized magnetosphere.


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The Structure of Neptune's Interior

There is no surface to the giant planets, only a gradual transition from the atmosphere, as depicted in this drawing. Therefore the giant planets do not have strict layers, as the terrestrial planets do....more

Detecting Planetary Magnetism

A magnetometer is an instrument for measuring magnetic fields. Many spacecraft carry magnetometers to measure the magnetic fields around planets they orbit or fly by. When a spacecraft takes such measurements,...more

The Plasmaspheres of Neptune

Neptune has three tiny plasmaspheres. The rings of Neptune sweep away much of the particles in the area. Particles enter the plasmasphere from the atmosphere as well as the magnetotail. Mathematical theory...more

Neptune's "Scooter"

One of the many cloud patterns of Neptune is the "scooter" which was discovered by Voyager in 1989. In this image, the Great Dark Spot is found in the upper left of the image, and just below the Spot is...more

The position of Neptune when gas changed to ice

The position of the planets in the solar nebula greatly affected their 1. size and 2. composition. This is because of the effect of how cold it was in the nebula. 1. The nebula was a lot warmer close to...more

How a proto-planet sweeps up nearby material

As shown in this picture, while they were forming in the solar nebula, the nuclei of the protoplanets drew material to themselves from the cloud of gas and dust around them. The bigger a protoplanets was...more

The Atmosphere of Triton

Triton, by far the largest moon of Neptune, is slightly smaller than Earth's Moon. Triton has the coldest surface temperatures in our Solar System. Surprisingly, this frigid moon has an atmosphere, albeit...more

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