The Interstellar Travel

Since childhood we have learnt that all the planets go around the Sun. Meaning, the planets and other celestial objects rotate around the Sun in specific directions. But did you know that not all follow the same directions? Some follow the Sun’s rotation while some go in the opposite direction. After observing these motions of certain planets and comets, astronomers termed these rotations as “ Prograde ” and “ Retrograde ”. Before we get into these terms, let’s first understand how the direction of the motion is determined. The direction is determined by the primary object in system that forms the system’s hub. In our case, it is the Sun. So rotation of all the planets and celestial bodies is decided by the Sun’s direction of rotation. Now that we know how the motion is determined, let’s get into the above mentioned terms. Prograde:   It is the motion in the direction of that of the Sun. Meaning, most of the planets and some comets move in the direction of the ...

Asteroid or the “ killer rock ” is a small solar system body, whose size varies from a planet to a meteoroid. The smaller ones are called as “minor planets” and the larger ones are called as “planetoids”. The size of an asteroid varies from 1000 km up to 1 meter. These asteroids together form an Asteroid belt and orbits around the Sun. This asteroid belt is between Mars and Jupiter and has elliptical orbit. Some scientists believe that asteroid belt is remnants of a planet which was destroyed in the collision whereas others believe that they are material left from a planet which was never formed due to Jupiter’s gravitational force.   How are they formed? There are three types of asteroids:   Carbon type, silicate type and metallic type.   The core of asteroid is either rocky core, nickel-iron core or carbonaceous core; depending on their composition.   The process of asteroid formation can be widely seen as a contrasting process, as we are not qui...