The 365 Days of Astronomy Cheap Astronomy - Dear CA #122: Other Planets
Strange new worlds.
Dear Cheap Astronomy – How big can rocky planets and how small can gas giants get?
Well there is some data, so we don’t have to talk in hypotheticals. There’s a rocky planet with
about 40 times Earth mass and about 3 and a half times Earth’s diameter, which is about 85%
of Neptune’s diameter. So, it’s a mighty big rocky planet that’s approaching gas giant scale.
Dear Cheap Astronomy – Will we grow crops in Martian regolith?
So, firstly you can’t really grow any plants from Earth on Mars since Earth plants need oxygen.
While photosynthesis can make oxygen, plants don’t have vascular system that can move the
oxygen around. So if there isn’t enough oxygen in the atmosphere to start with, then the roots
die and the plant dies.
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