THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Solar Cola Earth can Solar Cola Solar Cola Earth can

Space - the final frontier

 

 

Naturally occurring energy is all around us.  The problem is in collecting it cost effectively.  Plants do it with leaves on land using chlorophyll to convert the Sun's rays into energy to grow.  Algae does it in the sea.  There is energy in the wind and in the waves, derived from the Sun.  Energy from the Sun reaches us across space as radiation.  Radiation is one of the most efficient ways of transmitting energy - lucky for us.  The radiation heats the Earth's surface which in turn creates wind and waves as the earth tries to cool itself by convection currents.  All this means is that heated air or water tries to flow to cooler parts of the Earth at the poles.  Simple really, but the land masses and water evaporation all go to disturb any regular flow, and this is how weather systems develop to be unpredictable.

 

The Earth collects around 1 kilowatt of energy per square meter from the Sun's radiation.   We can collect this radiation (called insolation) using photovoltaic cells, or solar cells.  If we connect a number of these cells together we can harness quite a bit of electricity, even if solar cells at this time are only 10-15% efficient.  As you can see from the picture above Solar Navigator has a large area of solar panels arranged to face the Sun.  The crew must keep away from these panels to prevent shading.  Solarnavigator also collects the Sun's energy from the wind.  As you can see in the picture below, Solar Navigator also generates electricity from the wind which the crew can use to cook food and power navigation equipment.  This is why the vessel is known as a hybrid: there is more than one natural energy source being collected.  Four wind turbines are being tested on this 1/20 model of the wave piercing catamaran.

 

 

Solar powered hybrid catamaran

 

 

A boat like Solar Navigator has many uses.  It can cruise around the World without stopping to refuel.  Unlike other sailing boats which also use free energy from nature, this boat can be controlled by computer directly quite simply using an Autohelm and GPS, or driven by any skipper with powerboat experience - no more tacking.  Solar Navigator is both quiet and non-polluting.  If you think such a boat may be useful to you, or your country for any reason why not contact us and tell us why?

 

 

Our solar system
Our solar system consists of the Sun and the space surrounding it. The nine known planets, their moons, comets and hundreds of thousands of asteroids are in orbit around the Sun

 

The origins of the solar system
Different theories accounting for the formation of the solar system.

 

 

 

The Sun
The diameter of the Sun is 1,400,000 km (840,000 miles) which is more than 100 times the diameter of the Earth. Its mass is more than 300,000 times that of the Earth.

 

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Sunspots
Sunspots are a phenomenon that has been known about for at least several thousands of years.

 

 

Eclipses
An eclipse occurs when a body cuts off the light from a light source so that we can no longer see it shining. We generally talk of eclipses of the Sun and Moon but other bodies inside and outside the solar system exhibit eclipses and are very important in astronomy.

 

 

Aurorae
The Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis are seen in the northern and southern hemispheres respectively. Both are due to the interaction of a stream of particles from the Sun with the Earth's atmosphere.

 

The Moon
The Moon is the closest astronomical object to the Earth. With the Earth it forms what is almost a double planet as no planet has a satellite which is as large in comparison to the size of the planet.

 

 

Once in a blue moon!
The phrase 'once in a blue moon' is a familiar one meaning once in a very long interval of time. The phrase goes back to at least 1824 when an explanation of its meaning appears as a footnote attached to its use.


 

Mercury
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. With a diameter of 4880 km, it is the second smallest

 

 

Venus
Venus is the second closest planet to the Sun. It has no moon. With a diameter of 12104 kilometres it is the closest in size to the Earth.

 

Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and there has been much speculation over the years about the possibility of other life forms existing there.

 

Jupiter
Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. It has a diameter 11 times that of the Earth and a mass (more than 300 times that of the Earth) which is greater than twice the sum of all the other planets.

 

Saturn
Saturn is probably the best known, and most beautiful planet in the Solar System.

 

Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet of the Solar System. It has a diameter of about 52,400 km; a mass 14.6 times that of the Earth and orbits the Sun every 84 years.

 

Neptune
Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun. It orbits the Sun every 165 years at a mean distance of 30.1 times that of the Earth (Astronomical Units).

 

Pluto
Pluto is, on average, the most distant planet from the Sun.

 

 

The furthest object in the solar system
The object which can claim to hold this title is probably one of the comets which passed close to the Sun many years ago and has returned to the furthest limits of the solar system never to return again.

 

 

Orbits
Until Isaac Newton formulated his Laws of Motion it was generally thought that to keep a body in motion it was necessary to use a force to push or pull it

 

 

Tides
Tides are created by the gravitational attraction of one massive body on another. We commonly think of the tides as being a phenomenon that we see in the sea. There are other instances of the effects of tidal forces such as the drastic effect that a Black Hole has on matter in its close vicinity.

 

 

The surface temperatures of the planets
The surface temperatures of the planets vary from more than 400 degrees on Mercury and Venus to below -200 degrees on the distant planets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Solar System on Youtube


 

 

Artwork by Martin House for the John Storm adventure novel series

 

A heartwarming action adventure: Pirate whalers V Conservationists, introducing John Storm and his solar powered robot ship as they fight to save a wounded whale from the sushi bars. For release as an e-book from 2014 with hopes for a film in 2015/2016 TBA

 

 

 

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