Harry Potter and the Moons of JupiterWritten by K.A.Cassimally
It is in latest Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and Order of Phoenix, that readers get confirmation that ‘Boy who lived’ is indeed interested in a science that even some Muggles are good at: Astronomy, study of celestial objects, of space and of physical universe as a whole. Maybe awful Dursleys did do some good things with Harry when they let wizard, who did not yet know he was one, learn Astronomy.At Hogwards School of Witchcraft and Wizardry though, Harry and his two best friends, Ron and Hermione, seemed to be going on more with giant of giants: Jupiter but to be more precise with its moons. But unluckily for wizards and witches, Astronomy was making life difficult. As Harry and his friends would be sitting for their O.W.L.S (Ordinary Wizarding Level) at end of year, they were bombarded with homework. This was fortunately corrected by Hermione before being actually handed to teachers. And believe me, this was a good thing too as both Harry and Ron were making terrible mistakes. If it were not for Hermione, both boys would be getting a ‘D’ standing for Dreadful on top corner of their parchment rolls. An would be: ‘“Harry, you must have misheard Professor Sinistra,” says Hermione, “Europa’s covered in ice not mice!”’ Europa as you might have guessed is way too cold for mice. Spacecrafts have taken photos of this natural satellite and Europa does look lifeless. If you are a Harry Potter fan though, you may well say that Harry went on Europa by magic and then saw living organisms there. Well coming to think of it, maybe he did find life on Europa if of course he ever went there. This is because below Europa’s ice coating, scientists think that there may well be a big ocean of liquid water. The biggest ocean in Solar System in fact and that says something. Here on Earth, life and water appear to go together. So it is logical to think that there may be life in that ocean of Europa, is it not? Of course life in form of microbes or some sort of alien fish is expected. And maybe swimming mice!
| | Asteroid AttackWritten by K.A.Cassimally
Earth, ‘our mother planet’, is being attacked everyday by about 25 tons of dust and sand-sized particles. An asteroid, size of a small car, hits Earth’s atmosphere about once in every year.Fortunately she knows how to defend herself. When that small car-sized asteroid enters her atmosphere, she burns asteroid up before latter touches her surface. So no damage is done. But what exactly are asteroids? Asteroids are fragments from formation of Solar System some 4.6 billion years ago. Fortunately, most asteroids are found in Asteroid Belt found between planets Mars and Jupiter, gas giant. Scientists think that asteroids found in belt can be as big as 940 km across. Like everybody though, Earth cannot cope with each and every one of asteroids. If an asteroid has managed not to be completely burned up while sprinting into Earth’s atmosphere, then ???? Scientists think that collision would cause local damage to surrounding area. If that same asteroid however measures more than 1 km across when it touches Earth’s surface, disaster is on its way. Scientists believe that this impact could have worldwide effects. Man however is helping or trying to help our mother Earth. Astronomers are now observing and tracking asteroids, which are at an average distance from Earth to Moon. By immediately tracking potential dangers and learning more about their orbital paths, scientists have more time to study potentially threatening situations. In next few years, NASA hopes to discover more than 90% of all Earth’s threatening objects larger than 1 km across.
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