The Northern Lights

One of the world’s most fascinating and natural wonders are the Northern Lights. These magical lights come in a variety of dancing colors. This seemingly random light show occurs as a result of interactions of Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere with solar winds. Solar winds released by the Sun’s sunspot regions travel through space until they meet with Earth’s magnetosphere. Usually, the magnetic field is strong enough to block these winds, but near the poles, it is weak enough to be penetrated by the solar winds. The solar winds collide with Earth’s atmosphere and create the beautiful lights that we’ve come to admire.

Nuclear Fusion in the Sun

Nuclear fusion is the process in which the Sun and all other stars generate energy through the combination of light atoms into heavier ones. The nuclear fusion in most stars is carried out in proton-proton fusion. In the first step, two protons fused together to create a proton-neutron core and emitting a neutrino and positron. Then, the core is fused with another proton to form helium-3. Finally, two helium-3 atoms are combined together to create helium-4 with two additional protons. Since the mass of the final product in this process is lower than the mass of its original components, the “missing” mass was converted into energy. The quantity of this energy can be calculated by Einstein’s famous formula: e = mc^2. Because the speed of light is such a massive quantity, even the most tiny of masses converted into energy will yield very large outputs.

Where the Zodiac Signs Come From

What’s your sign? This is a common question you may have encountered in your life. While most people aren’t too deep into astrology, chances are that most of us have looked into our daily horoscope at least once for fun. However, a lot of people don’t really know where these signs come from, or why they exist in the first place. If you are curious, keep reading.

The twelve zodiac signs come from the way the sun moves across the sky throughout the year. As each day passes, the sun will slightly shift its position among the stars. Due to Earth’s orbit, the sun will cycle around the stars in nearly the same pattern every year. The twelve zodiacs get their names from the constellations that the sun appears in front of during the year. Although the sun actually crosses over a thirteenth constellation Ophiuchus, it unfortunately does not a place in astrology.