Nola Taylor Tillman
Nola Taylor Tillman is a contributing writer for Space.com. She loves all things space and astronomy-related, and enjoys the opportunity to learn more. She has a Bachelor’s degree in English and Astrophysics from Agnes Scott college and served as an intern at Sky & Telescope magazine. In her free time, she homeschools her four children. Follow her on Twitter at @NolaTRedd
Latest articles by Nola Taylor Tillman
![How big is Jupiter?](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mLf4o3wJxcfKZfmBjkg87-320-80.jpg)
How big is Jupiter?
By Nola Taylor Tillman, Ailsa Harvey last updated
Reference This gas giant is the largest planet in the solar system, but just how big is Jupiter?
![Artist's conception of a Space Launch System (SLS) launch](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/eTp6sMhSPAWFf3Y6ndX82K-320-80.jpg)
Space Launch System: NASA's megarocket for Artemis moon missions
By Nola Taylor Tillman published
Reference NASA's Space Launch System aims to carry humans far beyond Earth.
![White dwarfs are dense stellar corpses.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/DWKzCqjuCtirYCu8qH5ZU7-320-80.jpg)
White dwarfs: Facts about the dense stellar remnants
By Nola Taylor Tillman, Daisy Dobrijevic published
Reference White dwarfs are hot, dense remnants of stars. They are the last observable stage of evolution for low and medium-mass stars including our sun.
![The temperature on Mars is much colder than the average temperature on Earth and thanks to the NASA’s Perseverance Rover we're getting new data all the time.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/yge2s7gYkik6hT4D7LG9hV-320-80.jpg)
What is the temperature on Mars?
By Tim Sharp, Jonathan Gordon last updated
Reference The temperature on Mars doesn't get much above 70 degrees F and it drop down to nearly minus 200 degrees F, making it a relatively cold planet.
![Cosmology and the science of the universe's origin](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ZtWC8mbZD8esRSaTqgCepc-320-80.jpg)
What is cosmology? Definition & history
By Nola Taylor Tillman, Ailsa Harvey published
Reference Cosmology by definition is the branch of astronomy involving the origin and evolution of the universe, from the Big Bang to the future of the cosmos.
![Famous astronomers](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/jJdPjHDdpU55QHiaaRER33-320-80.jpg)
Famous astronomers: How these scientists shaped astronomy
By Nola Taylor Tillman, Ailsa Harvey published
Reference This list of famous astronomers includes great scientists in history who mastered many fields and modern astronomers who helped popularize astronomy.
![Jupiter is the largest planet in Earth’s solar system and has 63 moons encircling it. The planet is a giant ball of gas and liquid.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/j4cAbsF38uqgxxV47hcn2E-320-80.jpg)
What is Jupiter made of?
By Nola Taylor Tillman last updated
Jupiter is composed of gases — hydrogen and helium, mostly.
![Kalpana Chawla](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/5LbRNpcnmz6hxiJXKW2iK6-320-80.jpg)
Kalpana Chawla: Biography & Columbia disaster
By Nola Taylor Tillman, Ailsa Harvey published
REFERENCE Kalpana Chawla's story has inspired millions to pursue careers in space.
![The temperature of Uranus averages minus 320 degrees Fahrenheit. This image was taken by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1985.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vGptycb5Ys2yjsAfwzh5UP-320-80.jpg)
What is the temperature of Uranus?
By Daisy Dobrijevic, Nola Taylor Tillman published
Reference The temperature of Uranus averages minus 320 degrees Fahrenheit. Uranus holds the record for the coldest temperature ever measured in the solar system.
![Planet Nibiru, or Planet X](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/fzPkreu3eCn2nSjAcBr5aA-320-80.jpg)
Nibiru: The Nonexistent Planet
By Nola Taylor Tillman last updated
Nibiru has been linked to NASA, and is also sometimes referred to or confused with Planet X, another supposed world for which there is no evidence.
![How big is the moon? Relative to Earth, the moon is a little more than one quarter the size of our home planet.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/YtdXPyT9geguTkuJ96g4ik-320-80.jpg)
How big is the moon?
By Daisy Dobrijevic, Tim Sharp last updated
Reference How big is the moon? Our moon is the fifth largest moon in the solar system, with a radius of 1,079.6 miles (1,737.5 kilometers).
![The Milky Way Galaxy is organized into spiral arms of giant stars that illuminate interstellar gas and dust. The sun is in a finger called the Orion Spur.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/HNvga2CFNvAEnDCfp29GRb-320-80.jpg)
What Is a Galaxy?
By Nola Taylor Tillman last updated
Everything you wanted to know about the basics of galaxies.
![The Hubble Space Telescope's iconic view of the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/gmBZXsy3MT7CrG6qJEND6n-320-80.jpg)
Hubble Space Telescope: Pictures, facts & history
By Nola Taylor Tillman published
Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has provided countless amazing images and contributed to many big discoveries. Learn more here.
![How big is the universe? This illustration shows the stages of how the universe has already expanded over time.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xpjM7amhENxxTKEB42G4UW-320-80.jpg)
How big is the universe?
By Nola Taylor Tillman, Jonathan Gordon published
Reference Based on what we can observe, the universe appears to be almost 28 billion light-years in diameter. However, it is far larger than that.
![The Sun: Our Perfectly Average Middle Aged Star](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7JwpfUpwtJMzQnjqPjHAqS-320-80.jpg)
How was the sun formed?
By Nola Taylor Tillman last updated
Material from the solar system's creation clumped together to form our closest star.
![How was the moon formed?](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Z6YV4faysfF8FD67KzzWE-320-80.jpg)
How was the moon formed?
By Nola Taylor Tillman, Scott Dutfield published
Reference There are three theories as to how Earth's satellite could have been created.
![Nicolaus Copernicus](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/EEPfAHvFWHbB6zY5JDySfg-320-80.jpg)
Nicolaus Copernicus biography: Facts & discoveries
By Nola Taylor Tillman published
Nicolaus Copernicus proposed his theory that the planets revolved around the sun in the 1500s, when most people believed that Earth was the center of the universe.
![Galileo was an Italian philosopher, mathematician, physicist and astronomer](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/CEkEW2uXjVSWojdeDDCr8K-320-80.jpg)
Galileo Galilei: Biography, inventions & other facts
By Nola Taylor Tillman last updated
Referene Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei made a number of inventions and discoveries that remain important to astronomy and science in general today.
![Data gathered by the European Southern Observatory shows a cloud in the Ophiuchus star-forming region.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vrGr53MaJL4CwcZjYhsCVL-320-80.jpg)
Multiple supernovas may have implanted our solar system with the seeds of planets
By Nola Taylor Tillman last updated
Multiple exploding stars may have seeded the solar system with material required to form planets.
![Artist's conception of our solar system's solar nebula, the cloud of gas and dust from which the planets formed.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/L6fsT2mumwAXqRAU8kG5wT-320-80.jpg)
How Was Jupiter Formed?
By Nola Taylor Tillman last updated
Like all of the planets, Jupiter was formed out of the solar nebula.
![Astronomer Carl Sagan pictured in 1981](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/nEtxF6h8J6UhKUUx2gDoTU-320-80.jpg)
Carl Sagan: Cosmos, Pale Blue Dot & famous quotes
By Nola Taylor Tillman, Jessica Leggett published
Reference Carl Sagan was a scientist and educator best known for his TV series Cosmos, the Pale Blue Dot image of Earth and quotes about life and Earth.
![A 'Blue Marble' image of Earth.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4fciRAREfw8LiU3BVJuhxB-320-80.jpg)
How old is Earth?
By Nola Taylor Tillman published
Scientists have calculated that Earth is 4.54 billion years old, with an error range of 50 million years.
![An artist's depiction of NASA's InSight lander on Mars.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/GKzpWVXyVysCqGwzhVgqBM-320-80.jpeg)
Marsquakes reveal Red Planet has surprisingly large core, thin crust
By Nola Taylor Tillman published
The first detected quakes on Mars suggest that the Red Planet has a larger core, potentially thinner crust and slightly different composition than scientists had thought.