Comets Essays (2385 words) - Comets, Minor Planets,

Comets The first written records of comets date back to nearly 3,000 years ago from China and Europe. The accounts of these comets were believed to be the causes of terrible events that occurred afterwards. In more recent times, however, astronomers have found out what they really are. A comet is basically a mixture of ices, from both water and frozen gases, and dust. They have also been given the names ?dirty snowballs? or ?icy mud balls.? The typical comet is less than 10 kilometers across. They spend most of their time frozen solid in the outer parts of our solar system. Comets are composed of five parts: the nucleus, coma, hydrogen cloud, dust tail, and ion tail. The nucleus is pretty solid and stable, composed mostly of ice and gas with a small amount of dust and other solids. The surface of the nucleus is best described as a black crust. Comet nuclei can range from 1 kilometer to about 50 kilometers across. The black crust on the surface of the nuclei helps the comet to absorb heat, which causes some of the ices under the crust to turn to a gas. Pressure builds up underneath the crust and causes the surface to bubble up in some places. Eventually, the weak spots of the crust break open from the pressure, and the gas shoots outward; astronomers refer this to as a jet. Dust that had been mixed in with the gas is also pushed out, and as more jets appear, a small gas and dust shell forms around the nucleus, and this is called the coma. The coma, also called the head, is a dense cloud of water, carbon dioxide and other gases and comes off of the nucleus. They can be several thousand kilometers in diameter, depending on the comet's distance from the sun and the size of the nucleus. The size of the nucleus is important because since large nuclei have a greater surface area facing the sun, which is the side that is the warmest, hence the side where most of the jets are coming from, it means more jets and greater amounts of gas and dust go into the coma. Even though the coma can get to be very large, its size can actually decrease about the time it crosses the orbit of Mars. At this distance the particles that drift out from the sun act as a powerful wind which blows the gas and dust particles away from the nucleus and coma. This is the process, which mak es the comet's tail. The hydrogen cloud is very large at millions of kilometers in diameter. But it is only a very sparse body of neutral hydrogen. It was discovered from spectroscopy that was carried out by satellites in 1970. Hydrogen was discovered in comets Tago-Sato-Kosaka and Bennett. It is ionized hydrogen that forms the light that goes past the coma. The reason why the hydrogen cloud was not discovered for a long time is because it is not visible from Earth. Atomic hydrogen emits in the ultraviolet, but the ozone layer stops the waves from entering. The hydrogen cloud can only be observed from space, with satellites. The dust tail is usually up to 10 million kilometers long, and is composed of smoke-sized dust particles that come off the nucleus by escaping gases. The dust tail is also the most visible part of a comet to the naked eye. The tail has a potential to be long when it enters the orbit of Earth. The record for the longest tail is the length of the Great Comet of 1843; its tail extended more than 250 million kilometers. The ion tail, known as type I or plasma, is made up of ions. It can be up to 100 million kilometers long and 100,000 kilometers wide. The tail is straight and always is oppo sed to the direction of the Sun. The color of it, through a spectrum, is mostly blue. The reason why the tail is ionized is because of solar wind. Solar wind, which flows at about 400 kilometers per second, is filled with charged particles that are around the solar magnetic field. The gases in the tail are ionized

The Rainmaker Essays - Cinema Of The United States, Film

The Rainmaker Essays - Cinema Of The United States, Film The Rainmaker The Rainmaker The world is full of great novels. From Sherlock Holmes to the three musketeers. As the years progress more novels are written and more money is made. John Grisham is a rising star in literature. His books have enticed readers and has given the people something good to read. What makes his books great is that they are so realistic. He applies his personal law and trial knowledge into the books he writes. What it is about ? It was his last semester of law school. Rudy Baylor was assigned to give free advice to a group of seniors. It is at that very time, and that very place, that Rudy encounters his first true clients. Dot and Buddy Black. They have been robbed by a powerful insurance company. A company with millions of dollars in assets. They have caused the suffering of a young man. They have ruined his chances to live by not issuing their coverage that they were obligated to give. Donny Ray, son of Dot and Buddy is dying of Lukemia, he is going to die, his chances for survival are over and it is a matter of months. Rudy doesnt realize the case that has fallen into his lap until phone calls are made. There is a great problem, however, Rudy is broke, he hasnt even passed his bar exam yet. And will go head to head with one of Americas most experienced and accomplished defense attorneys. From the beginning of the novel to the last word, Rudy is plagued with a series of mishaps and problems. When something looks bright the clouds come in and ruin the hope. Rudy is in Luck. As the big trial begins, he is given a judge that is definetly on his side and 12 jury members that think the same way that he does. After researching great benefit, the insurance company, Rudy discovers cover ups by the company. He also discovers Great Benefits harsh way in getting rid of their numerous mistakes. n How it relates to your audience The Trial Obviously Rudy is not stupid. He enters all the facts he has discovered and uses them to help solidify his position in the minds of the jurors As the trial goes on Rudy is given another problem. A beaten girl is discovered by Rudy at the hospital during his studying. Her husband has repeatively beaten her with an aluminum softball bat. Her ankle is broken and her life is in shreds. Rudy knows that these beatings will continue if the couple divorces but the young girl of 18 is unable to leave because she believes that she is still in love with him. n John Grisham does not maintain one single story, instead he creates numerous events so that the reader does not get bored with the main story. From minor cases to FBI investigations, John Grisham does a swell job in creating a global society. He shows that lawyers have cares concerns about what is going on in the world and contrary to popular belief, lawyers dont focus mainly on cases and they have lives to. Ever-since The Firm was published, in 1991, John Grisham has been in a creative state. His five books that followed the firm, combine to form a total of approximately 50 million copies in print. Why ? The answer is because his thrilling stories and intense legal intrigue is in such a great demand. Now in The Rainmaker Grisham has weaved his talent into the storyline and has created a powerful, and at times humerous , tale of one young lawyers quest for fame,fortune and most importantly, hapiness. I am positive that this novel will rise to the best sellers list, And after reading this book, you will think alike. This novel is for all ages and all types. If the book you are searching for, is for excitement or pleasure. The Rainmaker is a great novel and provides a goood read. John Grisham has done his homework now do yours and read this good book. Bibliography The Rainmaker, John Grisham.

Diversity Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Diversity - Article Example I stayed in the country for two weeks. This was a good thing because I needed a few days to recover from jet lag. By the third day, I was beginning to feel more like myself and could appreciate some of the differences surrounding me. The culture in South Africa was very similar to my own in many ways. People were wearing western style clothing and everything was very modern. I was in Cape Town the entire time, so I did not get to see any of the more rural areas in South Africa. My colleagues assured me that the rural areas looked more like stereotypical Africa than did the city. One part of the business culture that was different than at home is the number of ethnically uniform meetings I had. This is perhaps a left-over from the age of Apartheid in South Africa. When I met with one firm, all of the participants in the meeting were white. In another firm, everyone was native. I do not know if this is the norm for South Africa, but it was my experience. In the few meetings that were interracial, there did not appear to be any animosity between races, but racial tensions seemed to be an unfortunate part of the business environment in South Africa to a much larger extent than they are at