Space News/UFO's Etc...(Discussion/Pics/Vids)

[Capt.Kangaroo]

This section is for anything Space related. Other than Space Pictures.
UFOs. Videos. News Stories.Whatever.....:)

[Capt.Kangaroo]

A View From The Other Side



http://youtu.be/jdkMHkF7BaA

[Falcon05]

CaptainK, just wanted to let you know my son purchased his telescope last week. He found a Celestron SkyProdigy 130 online that was an open box situation for less than $300. He said it's a good starter scope with a motorized mount that automatically finds stars and planets by using a "cellestial" GPS database. He just moved to Colorado on a new assignment so he can't wait for it to arrive.

[Capt.Kangaroo]

CaptainK, just wanted to let you know my son purchased his telescope last week. He found a Celestron SkyProdigy 130 online that was an open box situation for less than $300. He said it's a good starter scope with a motorized mount that automatically finds stars and planets by using a "cellestial" GPS database. He just moved to Colorado on a new assignment so he can't wait for it to arrive.

Thats awesome. I'm sure he'll get many hours of joy out of it.

[alphablondy]

432

this is an interesting read if you think outside of the box.

Reality is a consciousness hologram. The Akashic Records refer to the matrix of consciousness programs that create our reality within that hologram. One could look upon it as a library of light wherein one can access all information.

The Akashic records (Akasha is a Sanskrit word meaning "sky", "space" or "aether") are collectively understood to be a collection of mystical knowledge that is encoded in the aether; i.e. on a non-physical plane of existence. The concept is prevalent in New Age discourse.

The Akashic Records are understood to have existed since the beginning of The Creation and even before. Just as we have various specialty libraries (e.g., medical, law), there are said to exist various Akashic Records (e.g., human, animal, plant, mineral, etc) encoding Universal lore. Most writings refer to the Akashic Records in the area of human experience but it is understood that all phenomenal experience as well as transcendental knowledge is encoded therein.

History of Akashic Records
Those who champion the truth of the Akashic Records assert that they were accessed by ancient people of various cultures, including the Indians, Moors, Tibetans, Bonpo and other peoples of the Himalaya, Egyptians, Persians, Chaldeans, Greeks, Chinese, Hebrews, Christians, Druids and Mayans. It is held that the ancient Indian sages of the Himalayas knew that each soul, jiva, atma, or entity recorded every moment of its existence in a "book", and that if one attuned oneself properly then one could access that book (refer mindstream for example).

Nostradamus claimed to have gained access to the Akasha, using methods derived from the Greek oracles, Christian and Sufi mysticism, and the Kabbalah. Other individuals who claim to have consciously used the Akashic Records include: Charles Webster Leadbeater, Annie Besant, Alice Bailey, Samael Aun Weor, William Lilly, Manly P. Hall, Lilian Treemont, Dion Fortune, George Hunt Williamson, Rudolf Steiner, Max Heindel and Edgar Cayce amongst others.

A Chinese man named Sujujin was reported to need only the first name of anyone to access the Akasha and describe their life history. Another Chinese seer, named Tajao, explored a variety of topics in the Records which span over two thousand years.

In Surat Shabda Yoga cosmology, the Akashic Records would be located within the causal plane of Trikuti.

Description and Explanation of the Akashic records
The Akasha is said to be the library of all events and responses concerning consciousness in all realities. Every lifeform therefore contributes and has access to the Akashic Records. It is asserted that to gain access into the Akashic Records, every individual human can become the physical medium, and various techniques and spiritual disciplines (e.g., yogic, pranayama, meditation, prayer, visualization) can be employed to quiet the mind, become a "witness", and achieve the focused, preconscious state necessary to access the Records.

While accessing the Akashic Records, both the events and responses are said to be perceived. This is analogous to having a meta-enhanced cinematic experience. When accessing the future, the events are known, but the responses are only probable. Based on an individual's responses in the past, the Akashic seer/reader can investigate probable future responses and give the highest future probability. A simple illustration of this might be witnessing several alternate endings to the main characters in a movie (e.g., Run, Lola, Run). At some point in the evolution of the Akashic reader, however, a state of unification and awareness can be achieved whereby even the future responses are known with absolute clarity instead of only as a probability.

Claims and Skepticism
Believers in the Akasha make many claims about how widely the Akasha was used, including:

The claim that the Vedas of Hindus and the language of Sanskrit itself were extracted from Akasha.
The claim that in Egypt, those who could read the Akasha were held in high standing and would advise the Pharaohs on daily activities and dream interpretation.[citation needed]
The claim that the Druid cultures of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England (???-500 (est.)) demonstrated the ability to access the Akasha.[citation needed]
The claim that the Bible refers to the Akasha records as the Book of Life in both the Old Testament (Psalm 69:28) and the New Testament (Philippians 4:3, Revelation 3:5, 13:8, 17:8, 20:12, 20:15 and Revelation 21:27 "Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.")
Despite claims that the Akashic Records have been used by mystics throughout history, there are not any direct references to the Akasha to be found in any of the historical documentation of the aforementioned groups. The term Akasha itself, along with the concept of an etheric library, originated with the 19th century movement of Theosophy. Skeptics say that the concept of Akashic Records has been attributed indiscriminately and inappropriately to a wide range of historical religious figures and movements.

Traditionally the theory has also been rejected by the scientific community, due to a lack of any independently verifiable evidence. Interestingly, Ervin Laszlo (2004) explores science and the Akashic Records in the spirit of Occam's razor, and champions the theory of the Records as resolving many anomalies within history, science and experience with simplicity.

Specific Accounts of the Akashic Records
In Theosophy and New Age discourse the Akashic Records are records of all knowledge, including all human experience, held in the Universe. The Akashic Records are metaphorically described as a library and are also likened to a universal computer or the 'Mind of God'.

The Akashic Records are referred to by Edgar Cayce, who stated that each person is held to account after life and 'confronted' with their personal Akashic record of what they have or have not done in life in a karmic sense. The idea is comparable to the biblical Book of Life which is consulted to see whether or not the dead are admitted to heaven.

Jane Roberts in the Seth books describes a different version of a similar idea when Seth asserts that the fundamental stuff of the universe is ideas and consciousness, and that an idea once conceived exists forever. Seth argued that all ideas and knowledge are in principle accessible by "direct cognition". Direct cognition shares semantic congruency with intuition and allows for the possibility of direct knowing without time elapsing and without knowledge needing to be transferred e.g. in speech or text. This is similar to what Robert Monroe refers to as rotes in his out-of-body book trilogy.

Some writers believe that, free from and independent of all religions and faiths, there exist many libraries or record repositories such as the Akashic library throughout the universe, albeit on various planes of existence.

According to Max Heindel's Rosicrucian writings, the Memory of Nature (Akashic Records) may be read in three different inner worlds. In the reflecting ether of the Etheric region there are pictures of all that has happened in the world - at least several hundred years back, or much more in some cases - and they appear almost as the pictures on a screen, with the difference that the scene shifts backward.

The Memory of Nature may be read, in an entirely different manner covering the essence of a whole life or event, in a higher world, in the highest subdivision of the Region of Concrete Thought of the World of Thought, and, last, it may be read in the World of Life Spirit, covering events from the earliest dawn of our present manifestation, but only spiritual adepts, spiritual entities and through grace is access to the Records granted.

[Kimbo]

489

The largest known structure in the universes might just be a giant void – at least, evidence found by astronomers seems to point to that. While more observations are needed to confirm the discovery of the “supervoid”, it is likely that it can explain the origin of an enormous and abnormally cold region of the sky.

The “cold region” was spotted for the first time back in 2004 by NASA, and it can be observed with the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). Its existence has so far remained unexplained in spite of the growing amount of literature constituting of possible theories, many of which are contradictory to others. The new study has focused on one of the hypotheses put forward in the past involving a supervoid.

An international team of astronomers, with lead author Istvan Szapudi from the Institute for Astronomy at The University of Hawaii at Manoa, have come up with evidence of a supervoid. It is said that the density of galaxies in a supervoid is much lower than what is considered to be usual in the known universe.

The team of researchers made use of two groups of data by matching objects spotted at infrared wavelengths by Nasa’s Wide Field Survey Explorer (WISE) with colours in visible light measured by the robotic telescope Pan-STARRS1. A map of the distribution of galaxies located in the cold region was thus made.

It was found that in the center of the cold spot, there was a decrease in the number of galaxies. This suggests the presence of the largest known structure in the universe: the supervoid. The supervoid is said to stretch 1.8 billion light years across heaven when the universe was 11.1 billion years old.

The universe would consist of holes, voids that are devoid of matter and gravitational pull. Were a photon from the CMB to meet a void, it would lose its energy to ultimately retrieve it upon exiting the void. Now, given that the universe is forever expanding, the photon would only exit in a medium less dense than before it entered the void. Lower density is, in turn, associated with weaker gravitational pull exerted on the photon exiting the hole. As a consequence, the photon would not be able to compensate for the totality of the energy it lost, and it would end up with less energy. Less energy is associated with a lower temperature. Therefore, that photon would have less energy and lower temperature than light from other regions of the sky where it would not pass through voids.

The cold spot in question is actually 70 μK colder than the chilly CMB radiation in the surroundings, which is 2.7 K. The fluctuations that do exist are very small: the temperature would differ by only around 18μK.

More observations need to be made to create enhanced maps of the supervoid in order to have additional information. For instance, it is not known if it has any substructure given the limited data.

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Eta Aquarid Shower visible overnight


Sky watchers, get that pot of coffee ready, this could be a late night for you, a meteor shower should be visible overnight.

What we could see is made up of debris from Halley's comet, which is only visible to the naked-eye every 75 years, this from the folks at NASA. While, we can't see the comet as it passes, its tail leaves remnants that transform into a beautiful sight visible from earth called the Eta Aquarid Shower.

[K00lKatT]

Some friends went out to Harrisburg to get a much better view away from the town lights..haven't heard from them yet. I couldn't go because I had a customer coming over last nite..

[Capt.Kangaroo]

http://cdns.yournewswire.com/wp-content/uploads/bfi_thumb/matrix-universe-2z2eqofv455o9zj6vdn4lm.jpg


British philosopher Nick Bostrom says he believes that the reality we perceive around us may be the product of a highly-advanced computer program, much like the plot of the Matrix movies – and surprisingly NASA have said they agree with him.

Dr Bostrom proposed in a paper he wrote that an evolved race of aliens have imprisoned the human-race in what he refers to as a “digital imprisonment”.

These aliens, or super-humans, are using virtual reality to simulate space and time, according to Bostrom

NASA scientist Rich Terrile, director of the Centre for Evolutionary Computation and Automated Design at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, thinks Dr Bostrom may be onto something.

Speaking to Vice the NASA scientist said, “Right now the fastest NASA supercomputers are cranking away at about double the speed of the human brain …If you make a simple calculation using Moore’s Law [which roughly claims computers double in power every two years], you’ll find that these supercomputers, inside of a decade, will have the ability to compute an entire human lifetime of 80 years – including every thought ever conceived during that lifetime – in the span of a month.”

Express.co.uk reports:

“In quantum mechanics, particles do not have a definite state unless they’re being observed.

“Many theorists have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how you explain this.

“One explanation is that we’re living within a simulation, seeing what we need to see when we need to see it.

“What I find inspiring is that, even if we are in a simulation or many orders of magnitude down in levels of simulation, somewhere along the line something escaped the primordial ooze to become us and to result in simulations that made us – and that’s cool.”

The idea that our Universe is a fiction generated by computer code solves a number of inconsistencies and mysteries about the cosmos.

The first is the Fermi Paradox – proposed by physicist Enrico Fermi during the 1960s – which highlights the contradiction between the apparent high probability of extraterrestrial civilisations within our ever-expanding universe and humanity’s lack of contact with, or lack of evidence for, these alien colonies.

“Where is everybody?” Mr Fermi asked.

It could simply be that Earth and mankind truly is the centre of the universe.

Another mystery explained by Dr Bostrom’s Matrix-like theory is the role of Dark Matter.

US theoretical cosmologist Michael Turner has called the hypothetical material “the most profound mystery in all of science”.

Dark Matter is one of many hypothetical materials used to explain a number of anomalies in the Standard Model – the all-encompassing theory science has used to explain the particles and forces of nature for the last 50 years.

The Standard Model of particle physics tells us that there are 17 fundamental particles which make up atomic matter.

The Higgs boson, which was first theorised by scientists during the 1960s, is amongst these 17 fundamental particles.

In summer 2012, scientists at CERN observed what is now believed to be the elusive “God particle”.

But the Standard Model is as-yet unable to explain a number of baffling properties of the universe – including the fact that the universe is expanding at an ever-increasing speed.

Dark Matter is believed to be a web-like matter that binds visible matter together.

If it exists, it would explain why galaxies spin at the speed they do – something which remains unexplained based only on what we can currently observe.

The Standard Model does not yet hold an explanation for the force of gravity.

The as-yet unproven existence of Dark Matter could be explained by a virtual universe.

But not everybody is convinced about The Matrix explanation.

Professor Peter Millican, who teaches philosophy and computer science at Oxford University, thinks the virtual reality explanation is flawed.

“The theory seems to be based on the assumption that ‘superminds’ would do things in much the same way as we would do them,” he said.

“If they think this world is a simulation, then why do they think the superminds – who are outside the simulation – would be constrained by the same sorts of thoughts and methods that we are?

“They assume that the ultimate structure of a real world can’t be grid like, and also that the superminds would have to implement a virtual world using grids.

“We can’t conclude that a grid structure is evidence of a pretend reality just because our ways of implementing a pretend reality involve a grid.”

“It is an interesting idea, and it’s healthy to have some crazy ideas,” he told The Telegraph.

“You don’t want to censor ideas according to whether they seem sensible or not because sometimes important new advances will seem crazy to start with.

“You never know when good ideas may come from thinking outside the box.

“This Matrix thought-experiment is actually a bit like some ideas of Descartes and Berkeley, hundreds of years ago.

“Even if there turns out to be nothing in it, the fact that you have got into the habit of thinking crazy things could mean that at some point you are going to think of something that initially may seem rather way out, but turns out not to be crazy at all".

Yournewswire.com

[Kimbo]

You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember: all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more.

[Marley]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/for-the-second-time-supersonic-parachute-fails-on-nasas-flying-saucer/ar-BBkR0XW

[Kimbo]

The European Space Agency (Esa) says its comet lander, Philae, has woken up and contacted Earth.

Philae, the first spacecraft to land on a comet, was dropped on to the surface of Comet 67P by its mothership, Rosetta, last November.

It worked for 60 hours before its solar-powered battery ran flat.

The comet has since moved nearer to the Sun and Philae has enough power to work again, says the BBC's science correspondent Jonathan Amos.

An account linked to the probe tweeted the message, "Hello Earth! Can you hear me?"

On its blog, Esa said Philae had contacted Earth, via Rosetta, for 85 seconds on Saturday in the first contact since going into hibernation in November.

"Philae is doing very well. It has an operating temperature of -35C and has 24 watts available," said Philae project manager Stephan Ulamec.

Scientists say they now waiting for the next contact.

ESA scientist Mark McCaughrean told the BBC: "It's been a long seven months, and to be quite honest we weren't sure it would happen - there are a lot of very happy people around Europe at the moment."

Philae was carrying large amounts of data that scientists hoped to download once they made contact again, he said.

"I think we're optimistic now that it's awake that we'll have several months of scientific data to pore over," he added.

This is one of the most astonishing moments in space exploration and the grins on the faces of the scientists and engineers are totally justified, says BBC science editor David Shukman.

For the first time, we will have a hitchhiker riding on a comet and describing what happens to a comet as it heats up on its journey through space, he adds.

When Philae first sent back images of its landing location, researchers could see it was in a dark ditch. The Sun was obscured by a high wall, limiting the amount of light that could reach the robot's solar panels.

Scientists knew they only had a limited amount of time - about 60 hours - to gather data before the robot's battery ran flat.

But the calculations also indicated that Philae's mission might not be over for good when the juice did eventually run dry. The comet is currently moving in towards the Sun, and the intensity of light falling on Philae, engineers suggested, could be sufficient in time to re-boot the machine.

And so it has proved. There is some relief also, because the very low temperatures endured by the lander in recent months could have done irreparable damage to some of the circuitry.

The fact that both the computer and transmitter have fired up indicate that the engineering has stood up remarkably well to what must have been really quite extreme conditions. Scientists must now hope they can get enough power into Philae to carry out a full range of experiments.

One ambition not fulfilled before the robot went to sleep was to try to drill into the comet, to examine its chemical make-up. One attempt was made last year, and it failed. A second attempt will now become a priority.

Philae is designed to analyse the ice and rocky fragments that make up the comet.

The Rosetta probe took 10 years to reach 67P, and the lander - about the size of a washing-machine - bounced at least a kilometre when it touched down.

Before it lost power, Philae sent back images of its surroundings that showed it was in a dark location with high walls blocking sunlight from reaching its solar panels.

Its exact location on the duck-shaped comet has since been a mystery

Esa had a good idea of where it was likely to be, down to a few tens of metres, but could not get Rosetta close enough to the comet to acquire conclusive pictures.

Continued radio contact should now allow precise coordinates to be determined, correspondents say.

Comet 67P is currently 205 million km (127 million miles) from the Sun, and getting closer.

It is due in August to get as close as 186 million km, before then sweeping back out into the outer Solar System.

As it nears the sun, the comet will warm and its ices will melt.

This process will throw out a huge shroud of gas and dust, and if Philae can continue to keep working it will provide scientists with an extraordinary view of what is happening right at the surface of 67P.

[doozer]

Hi All,

Does anyone know about a laser that is somewhere in the USA - it fires a beam to a mirror that is placed on the moon. I know that they use it to measure the distance from the earth to the moon.

D

[Blackbear199]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Laser_Ranging_experiment

[Marley]

cool pic
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/why-the-soviet-space-shuttle-was-left-to-rot/ss-BBlemQ2

[doozer]

Thanks blackbear- don't know how I missed that one. I'm in Wikipedia a lot.

Do you think they would be annoyed if a group of geeks started to build and aim a laser beam up ;)

I'm sure there are enough geeks in here to be able to build something :-)

[BIO]

They probably wouldn't mind someone else bouncing off the mirror, but I would probably check into things like fcc rules and airplane flight paths first. A laser capable of scattering some photons back from the moon could cause havoc if a passing airline pilot happened to look down at the time. Just a thought.....

[doozer]

I have to say I love this group. It's more than just TV. It makes you think.

So I'm guessing somewhere the universe has a 9pin d serial connector so some alien can watch the scrolling lines of verbose logging like most admins do ;)

[Marley]

oh oh ......................

[doozer]

yeah - knowing my luck - I would end up causing a national incident and featuring on the top of the hour news for CNN :D

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Venus: Planet and Jupiter Move Closer to Each Other in Night Sky Through June 30, NASA Says
The planets continue to move closer to one another in the western sky as the sun sets and on June 30, Jupiter and Venus will be so close they will appear as though they are colliding, NASA said.


https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/11181091_723074611155070_6910395565269187443_n.jpg ?oh=13bba3dbeca7fbe4850ee79c525f2275&oe=55F136E6

[Marley]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/this-is-one-of-the-strangest-star-systems-astronomers-have-ever-found/ar-AAcIVrN

[Marley]

In just five days, we Earthlings will see Pluto up close for the first time — and you can watch it live. In fact, start watching NASA TV now. There's already much to see and learn.

On July 14 at 7:49 a.m. ET, the New Horizons probe will be just 7800 miles above Pluto. That's less than the distance between New York City and Hong Kong. It traveled for nine years and 3 billion miles to get this close.

Today, July 9, the probe is about 3.5 million miles from Pluto. Already we're seeing better images of the ice-covered, atmosphere-evaporating dwarf planet than we've ever seen before.

The public has always had an intense affection for Pluto; consider the surprisingly emotional outcry when it was reclassified as a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union in 2006. Is Pluto finally returning our love? The photo above, taken July 7 by the probe's Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), appears to show a giant heart at the lower right.

We're kidding, but the "heart" is notable because it's one of several planetary features that scientists at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory, which is operating the New Horizons mission for NASA, are seeing for the first time—and giving nicknames to while awaiting more precise data. (They've also identified a "whale" and a "donut.")

These images are only going to get better — 500 times better, in fact. As the probe closes in on Pluto and its moons (most notably Charon), some images will have 500 times higher resolution. No more "little pixelated blobs seen from 3 billion miles away, but real worlds, with complexity and diversity, high definition and in color," enthuses New Horizons project scientist Hal Weaver in the July 8 daily mission update — €”and who is downright giddy with excitement. (We at mental_floss are right there with you, Dr. Weaver.)

Beyond images, the mission aims to collect data on the surface chemical compositions of both Pluto and Charon by taking 64,000 "footprints" of each body. The probe will also gather data on Pluto's atmosphere, temperature, and pressure, which change depending on its proximity to the sun during its 248-Earth-year orbit.

So here's what's happening over the next few days as New Horizons makes its final approach. Scientists will take optical navigation data to make sure the probe is on the right trajectory to hit the optimal position, time, and lighting conditions to secure the best data from the flyby. Through July 13, you can check in daily at 11:30 a.m. ET on NASA TV for updates, images, and live briefings.

On July 14, the channel will broadcast a live countdown beginning at 7:30 a.m. to the moment of closest approach at 7:49 a.m. For much of the day, New Horizons will be out of communication with mission control as it gathers data about Pluto and its moons.

The next day, the real fun begins as scientists begin to study the data — and NASA releases more images to the public.

In the meantime, you can find your "Pluto Time" twice a day, no matter where you are on Earth. (As NASA puts it: "It's always Pluto time somewhere.") At dawn and dusk, there's a moment when the light on Earth is similar to Pluto at noon. People are sharing their images on Twitter and Instagram.

Check back with mental_floss for updates both before and after July 14. We expect to see some fantastic sights in the next couple of weeks — and beyond. After its Pluto flyby, New Horizons is headed for the Kuiper Belt, a gigantic zone of icy bodies and mysterious small objects orbiting beyond Neptune.

[Falcon05]

Here's my son and grandson recently enjoying an evening of star and planet gazing in Colorado. My son is really having a great time with his scope. His next purchase will be some better eyepieces. He said Saturn's rings aren't very clear.

759

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Here's my son and grandson recently enjoying an evening of star and planet gazing in Colorado. My son is really having a great time with his scope. His next purchase will be some better eyepieces. He said Saturn's rings aren't very clear.

759

Good stuff. Get a barlow. It will increase all your eyepieces strength...:)

http://www.telescope.com/Accessories/Barlow-Lenses/pc/3/41.uts

[Capt.Kangaroo]

AN ASTEROID MINING TEST VEHICLE JUST LAUNCHED FROM THE SPACE STATION


http://www.popsci.com/sites/popsci.com/files/styles/medium_1x_/public/arkyd3.jpg?itok=6mZ8eomG

Planetary Resources, a company that wants to mine asteroids for precious materials, has just launched a demonstration vehicle to test out its asteroid mining technologies. The breadbox-sized Arkyd 3 Reflight (A3R) is so-named because the original Arkyd 3 died a fiery death in the Orbital Sciences explosion in October. This one survived its launch to the International Space Station in April, and today, astronauts booted it out of an airlock to see how it fares in low Earth orbit.
The vehicle’s mission is to test out components that the company later plans to send into deep space to visit resource-rich asteroids, with the goal of extracting water, which can be broken down in to hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel, and valuable metals, including platinum.
Over the next 90 days or so, the little spacecraft will test out its avionics and control systems--it won't actually be doing any drilling anytime soon. While low Earth orbit isn’t a perfect facsimile to deep space, it will give the components a taste of the harsh environments they would face on the job—including extremely cold temperatures, radiation, and the vacuum of space. By pinpointing the components’ weaknesses in low Earth orbit, the company can hopefully fix any problems before sending spacecraft further beyond Earth.
The test is going according to plan so far, a Planetary Resources spokesperson told Popular Science.

http://www.popsci.com/sites/popsci.com/files/styles/medium_1x_/public/arkyd3-front-and-back.jpg?itok=9yVhYY5M

Later this year, Planetary Resources plans to launch another demonstration vehicle, the Arkyd-6. Twice the size of the A3R, the A6 will test out avionics, attitude control, power, and communications systems. (Notably, the robo-prospectors will eventually use LASERS to communicate with Earth.)
Onboard the A6 will also be an infrared imaging system, which will eventually scan asteroids for water and minerals. A Planetary Resources press release says “the system will first test targeted areas of our own planet before being deployed to near-Earth asteroids on future missions.”

http://www.popsci.com/sites/popsci.com/files/styles/medium_1x_/public/arkyd-6.jpg?itok=RWBvI9vd


Popular Science

[Capt.Kangaroo]

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/140630113225-irpt-summer-stars-hawaii-horizontal-large-gallery.jpg

A moonless evening could give stargazers a fantastic light show next week.

The annual Perseid meteor shower, which is known for being among the brightest of meteor showers, is happening near the tail end of summer.

The major meteor shower will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere.

"If you see one meteor shower this year, make it August's Perseids or December's Geminids," NASA says. "The Perseids feature fast and bright meteors that frequently leave trains, and in 2015 there will be no moonlight to upstage the shower."

The best part about the showing is that it will happen a day before the new moon, meaning the night skies will be dark and perfect for meteor spotting. Under clear and dark skies, observers could expect to see up to 100 shooting stars an hour.

Astronomy experts say that those conditions have not been available since 2010.

Stargazers, campers or simply astronomy lovers will not need any additional equipment like a telescope to see the meteor shower. These fiery streaks of light should be visible to the naked eye that evening. But going to a rural area, away from urban spaces that are filled with light pollution, will increase the chances of seeing the Perseid meteor shower.

Perfect conditions for summer's major meteor shower

Staying up past midnight might also help viewers spot meteors. Some of the strongest showings happening in the predawn hours.

The Perseids are active from July 13 to August 26, according to the American Meteor Society, a nonprofit scientific organization that supports the research of astronomers, but the meteor shower peaks between August 12-13.

What to watch up above

The meteor shower is composed of particles released from Comet 109/Swift-Tuttle during its many trips to the inner solar system, a region comprising terrestrial planets and asteroids.

The Perseids are named after the constellation Perseus because that is where the meteors seem to originate from when looking up at the sky.

[Marley]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/weather/perseids-peak-this-week-in-one-of-the-brightest-meteor-showers-of-the-year/ar-BBlAt9K im ready

[Kimbo]

Thailand meteorite caught on dashcam: Huge fireball lights up sky over Bangkok


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOCsN4Jb2zI

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Thailand meteorite caught on dashcam: Huge fireball lights up sky over Bangkok


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOCsN4Jb2zI

Nice daytime fireball...:)

[Kimbo]

Scary that it could happen anywhere!!

[nada233]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1003[/ATTACH
Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015: Astronauts study the medaka fish on the International Space Station to examine the impact of microgravity on its bones. The fish, also known as the Japanese rice fish (Oryzias latipes), may give insights into the loss of astronaut bone density during spaceflight, as they participate in a study called the Medaka Osteoclast investigation. The fish have transparent bodies, allowing scientists to view their internal structure while they swim in space. Image released Sept. 1, 2015.

— Tom Chao

[Capt.Kangaroo]

The solar system built to scale on a dry lakebed in Nevada


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR3Igc3Rhfg&feature=youtu.be


A group of friends build the first scale model of the solar system with complete planetary orbits on a dry lakebed in Nevada.

[Capt.Kangaroo]

IT'S NOT A SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE (WE HOPE)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKAw_wrIr5s
As you gaze toward the sky on Sunday night, the cooling fall air around you, perhaps a few leaves crunching beneath your feet, and--WAIT the moon is giant and red. Don't worry, it's not a sign of the end times. You're witnessing a rare and exciting event.

On September 27, sky spectators in North America, South America, the Atlantic Ocean, Greenland, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East will be able to see the moon at its closest point to Earth (known as its perigee). The moon reaches its perigee (and the apogee, which is its furthest point from Earth) about once a month. However, it does not always reach that point when it's full. This week, we're in luck. The full moon will appear about 14 percent larger in diameter than usual, and is thus called a super moon. At the same time, the Earth will pass between the sun and the moon, creating a total lunar eclipse.

To make it even more exciting (or scary, depending on how you look at it), it's also what is know as a Blood Moon. It's the fourth full lunar eclipse in a row (a.k.a. a tetrad), with no partial eclipses in between.
According to a fun investigation by EarthSky.org, the menacing "blood moon" moniker comes from biblical prophecy. It also pretty accurately describes the color of the moon during the eclipse. The moon appears red during a total lunar eclipse mostly because of the Earth's atmosphere. When the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, our home planet casts its shadow over the moon. If the Earth had no atmosphere, the moon would be dark, and basically invisible to the non-existent humans who would definitely not survive without the atmosphere.

The last time a super moon eclipse took place was 1982, and if you miss this one, there won't be another until 2033. NASA has a nice detailed set of videos to show when the magic happens in different time zones, so be sure to find your area and get your eyes on the sky.

popsci.com

[Kimbo]

Milky Way's supermassive black hole shows increased X-ray action as mystery object passes by

Scientists are puzzled by an increased rate of X-ray flares from the giant black hole at the centre of our Milky Way Galaxy.

They are trying to determine whether it is the result of closer monitoring, or whether the flare were triggered by the close approach of a close approach of a mysterious object called G2.

The new study reveals that the black hole – Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A* for short – has been producing one bright X-ray flare about every 10 days.

In the past year, however, there has been a tenfold increase and now there is one nearly every day.

The increase took place after G2 appeared, passing close to Sgr A* in late 2013.

Originally, astronomers thought G2 was an extended cloud of gas and dust, but, apart from some stretching as it neared the black hole, its appearance did not change as expected. Some scientists now believe G2 could a star swathed in an extended dusty cocoon, but no ones really sure.

“There isn’t universal agreement on what G2 is,” said Mark Morris of the University of California at Los Angeles.

“However, the fact that Sgr A* became more active not long after G2 passed by suggests that the matter coming off of G2 might have caused an increase in the black hole’s feeding rate.”

The data has been collected by three orbiting X-ray space telescopes – NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton, with observations by the Swift satellite.

Astronomers are not all convinced the behaviour has anything to do with G2 and say the increased chatter from Sgr A* may be a common trait among black holes. For example, the increased X-ray activity could be due to a change in the strength of winds from nearby massive stars that are feeding material to the black hole.

“It’s too soon to say for sure, but we will be keeping X-ray eyes on Sgr A* in the coming months,” said co-author Barbara De Marco, also of Max Planck. “Hopefully, new observations will tell us whether G2 is responsible for the changed behaviour or if the new flaring is just part of how the black hole behaves.”

1056

[Marley]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/hubble-captures-a-fantastical-view-of-the-veil-nebula/ar-AAeN8xw?li=BBgzzfc

[Capt.Kangaroo]

NASA Confirms Evidence That Liquid Water Flows on Today’s Mars

New findings from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) provide the strongest evidence yet that liquid water flows intermittently on present-day Mars.

Using an imaging spectrometer on MRO, researchers detected signatures of hydrated minerals on slopes where mysterious streaks are seen on the Red Planet. These darkish streaks appear to ebb and flow over time. They darken and appear to flow down steep slopes during warm seasons, and then fade in cooler seasons. They appear in several locations on Mars when temperatures are above minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23 Celsius), and disappear at colder times.

“Our quest on Mars has been to ‘follow the water,’ in our search for life in the universe, and now we have convincing science that validates what we’ve long suspected,” said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “This is a significant development, as it appears to confirm that water -- albeit briny -- is flowing today on the surface of Mars.”

These downhill flows, known as recurring slope lineae (RSL), often have been described as possibly related to liquid water. The new findings of hydrated salts on the slopes point to what that relationship may be to these dark features. The hydrated salts would lower the freezing point of a liquid brine, just as salt on roads here on Earth causes ice and snow to melt more rapidly. Scientists say it’s likely a shallow subsurface flow, with enough water wicking to the surface to explain the darkening.

http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/side_image/public/thumbnails/image/15-195_perspective_6.jpg?itok=vGJV0vsA
Garni crater on Mars
Dark narrow streaks called recurring slope lineae emanating out of the walls of Garni crater on Mars. The dark streaks here are up to few hundred meters in length. They are hypothesized to be formed by flow of briny liquid water on Mars. The image is produced by draping an orthorectified (RED) image (ESP_031059_1685) on a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) of the same site produced by High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (University of Arizona). Vertical exaggeration is 1.5.
Credits: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
"We found the hydrated salts only when the seasonal features were widest, which suggests that either the dark streaks themselves or a process that forms them is the source of the hydration. In either case, the detection of hydrated salts on these slopes means that water plays a vital role in the formation of these streaks," said Lujendra Ojha of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, lead author of a report on these findings published Sept. 28 by Nature Geoscience.

Ojha first noticed these puzzling features as a University of Arizona undergraduate student in 2010, using images from the MRO's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE). HiRISE observations now have documented RSL at dozens of sites on Mars. The new study pairs HiRISE observations with mineral mapping by MRO’s Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM).

The spectrometer observations show signatures of hydrated salts at multiple RSL locations, but only when the dark features were relatively wide. When the researchers looked at the same locations and RSL weren't as extensive, they detected no hydrated salt.

Ojha and his co-authors interpret the spectral signatures as caused by hydrated minerals called perchlorates. The hydrated salts most consistent with the chemical signatures are likely a mixture of magnesium perchlorate, magnesium chlorate and sodium perchlorate. Some perchlorates have been shown to keep liquids from freezing even when conditions are as cold as minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 70 Celsius). On Earth, naturally produced perchlorates are concentrated in deserts, and some types of perchlorates can be used as rocket propellant.

Perchlorates have previously been seen on Mars. NASA's Phoenix lander and Curiosity rover both found them in the planet's soil, and some scientists believe that the Viking missions in the 1970s measured signatures of these salts. However, this study of RSL detected perchlorates, now in hydrated form, in different areas than those explored by the landers. This also is the first time perchlorates have been identified from orbit.

MRO has been examining Mars since 2006 with its six science instruments.

"The ability of MRO to observe for multiple Mars years with a payload able to see the fine detail of these features has enabled findings such as these: first identifying the puzzling seasonal streaks and now making a big step towards explaining what they are," said Rich Zurek, MRO project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

For Ojha, the new findings are more proof that the mysterious lines he first saw darkening Martian slopes five years ago are, indeed, present-day water.

"When most people talk about water on Mars, they're usually talking about ancient water or frozen water," he said. "Now we know there’s more to the story. This is the first spectral detection that unambiguously supports our liquid water-formation hypotheses for RSL."

The discovery is the latest of many breakthroughs by NASA’s Mars missions.

“It took multiple spacecraft over several years to solve this mystery, and now we know there is liquid water on the surface of this cold, desert planet,” said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “It seems that the more we study Mars, the more we learn how life could be supported and where there are resources to support life in the future.”

Nasa.gov

[Capt.Kangaroo]

SO, NASA Got Sick of all that Conspiracy Thing and Released over 10,000 Photos from the Apollo Moon Mission

Some say it was a giant leap for humanity, some say it was fake, some even say Stanely Kubrick directed it. However, the landing on the moon is still a subject that evokes mixed emotions.

Recently, NASA uploaded just about every image captured by Apollo astronauts on lunar missions, which you can find here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/

Good Stuff, Enjoy!!
Amazing pics....check em out

[Farmer1]

NASA has laid out a detailed plan for how it intends to send humans to Mars in the next few decades. The 36-page report explains the technology and infrastructure that will be needed to make missions to Mars a reality
1099


http://www.iflscience.com/nasa-unveils-its-plan-send-humans-mars-permanently

[Kimbo]

In the data of the NASA Space Telescope Kepler civilian members of the project "Planet Hunters" have discovered a star that is orbited by numerous objects. which - although it already is a mature star - orbiting the star only been comparatively few thousand years. Exactly this feature might point to a technologically sophisticated civilization around the star. Astronomers at the SETI project, the search for signals of extraterrestrial civilizations are, take the star already in the coming months with large telescopes targeted. - The Most Mysterious Star in Our Galaxy
Astronomers have spotted a strange mess of objects whirling around a distant star. Scientists who search for extraterrestrial civilizations are scrambling to get a closer look!!

1106

[Kimbo]

Text "Between these constellations sits an unusual star, invisible to the naked eye, but visible to the Kepler Space Telescope, which stared at it for more than four years, beginning in 2009. “We’d never seen anything like this star,” says Tabetha Boyajian, a postdoc at Yale. “It was really weird. We thought it might be bad data or movement on the spacecraft, but everything checked out.” Kepler was looking for tiny dips in the light emitted by this star. Indeed, it was looking for these dips in more than 150,000 stars, simultaneously, because these dips are often shadows cast by transiting planets. Especially when they repeat, periodically, as you’d expect if they were caused by orbiting objects. The Kepler Space Telescope collected a great deal of light from all of those stars it watched. So much light that Kepler’s science team couldn’t process it all with algorithms. They needed the human eye, and human cognition, which remains unsurpassed in certain sorts of pattern recognition. Kepler’s astronomers decided to found Planet Hunters, a program that asked “citizen scientists” to examine light patterns emitted by the stars, from the comfort of their own homes. In 2011, several citizen scientists flagged one particular star as “interesting” and “bizarre.” The star was emitting a light pattern that looked stranger than any of the others Kepler was watching. The light pattern suggests there is a big mess of matter circling the star, in tight formation. That would be expected if the star were young. When our solar system first formed, four and a half billion years ago, a messy disk of dust and debris surrounded the sun, before gravity organized it into planets, and rings of rock and ice. But this unusual star isn’t young. If it were young, it would be surrounded by dust that would give off extra infrared light. There doesn’t seem to be an excess of infrared light around this star."

Text "It appears to be mature. And yet, there is this mess of objects circling it. A mess big enough to block a substantial number of photons that would have otherwise beamed into the tube of the Kepler Space Telescope. If blind nature deposited this mess around the star, it must have done so recently. Otherwise, it would be gone by now. Gravity would have consolidated it, or it would have been sucked into the star and swallowed, after a brief fiery splash. Boyajian, the Yale Postdoc who oversees Planet Hunters, recently published a paper describing the star’s bizarre light pattern. Several of the citizen scientists are named as co-authors. The paper explores a number of scenarios that might explain the pattern—instrument defects; the shrapnel from an asteroid belt pileup; an impact of planetary scale, like the one that created our moon. The paper finds each explanation wanting, save for one. If another star had passed through the unusual star’s system, it could have yanked a sea of comets inward. Provided there were enough of them, the comets could have made the dimming pattern. But that would be an extraordinary coincidence, if that happened so recently, only a few millennia before humans developed the tech to loft a telescope into space. That’s a narrow band of time, cosmically speaking. And yet, the explanation has to be rare or coincidental. After all, this light pattern doesn’t show up anywhere else, across 150,000 stars. We know that something strange is going on out there. When I spoke to Boyajian on the phone, she explained that her recent paper only reviews “natural” scenarios. “But,” she said, there were “other scenarios” she was considering. Jason Wright, an astronomer from Penn State University, is set to publish an alternative interpretation of the light pattern. SETI researchers have long suggested that we might be able to detect distant extraterrestrial civilizations, by looking for enormous technological artifacts orbiting other stars. Wright and his co-authors say the unusual star’s light pattern is consistent with a “swarm of megastructures,” perhaps stellar-light collectors, technology designed to catch energy from the star. “When [Boyajian] showed me the data, I was fascinated by how crazy it looked,” Wright told me. “Aliens should always be the very last hypothesis you consider, but this looked like something you would expect an alien civilization to build.” Boyajian is now working with Wright and Andrew Siemion, the Director of the SETI Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley. The three of them are writing up a proposal. They want to point a massive radio dish at the unusual star, to see if it emits radio waves at frequencies associated with technological activity. If they see a sizable amount of radio waves, they’ll follow up with the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico, which may be able to say whether the radio waves were emitted by a technological source, like those that waft out into the universe from Earth’s network of radio stations. Assuming all goes well, the first observation would take place in January, with the follow-up coming next fall. If things go really well, the follow-up could happen sooner. “If we saw something exciting, we could ask the director for special allotted time on the VLA,” Wright told me. “And in that case, we’d be asking to go on right away.” In the meantime, Boyajian, Siemion, Wright, the citizen scientists, and the rest of us, will have to content ourselves with longing looks at the sky, aimed between the swan and the lyre, where maybe, just maybe, someone is looking back, and seeing the sun dim ever so slightly, every 365 days.

[Marley]

play around with universe
http://astro.vm.rub.de/

[Marley]

A Mesmerizing NASA Video Shows Sun In Intimate Detail

http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/wonder/a-mesmerizing-nasa-video-shows-sun-in-intimate-detail/vi-BBmO7QB can i say wow

[Marley]

Fireballs are falling to Earth tonight in numbers we won't see for another 10 years — here's how to watch

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-watch-taurid-meteor-shower-2015-11

[anon2599]

Hello Guys,

I have read so much hype and watched so many you-tube video`s` concerning this mysterious planet X and all the scare monger concerning its approach ....Estimated time of arrival = now or mid march 2016.

I would like to here your views on this please.

Hopefully a constructive truthful approach.

[Marley]

like i always save why cant we see it now with all stuff looking into space

[anon2599]

like i always save why cant we see it now with all stuff looking into space

Good question...but through investigation it seems that it may be difficult to see via the naked eye so they say.
That was why they apparently sent probes into space with infra-red technologies ? Still it does seem a bit far fetched to me and I agree ..if it was closing in for the End of times? Surely we would see it soon.. Well lets hope we don't see for a very long time to come.

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Alot of those youtube vids that I've seen are just lens flare. Showing a double sun and what not.
Like asft said, I think with all the technology we have now days, we would be seeing more pics if it was truely real.
But......who knows...:rolleyes:

[anon2599]

Alot of those youtube vids that I've seen are just lens flare. :

Agree...But there are one or two that got my attention and got me wondering...lol
This one in particular .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rw5-X8CNaU

There is also one from a guy who tries to dissect this footage..But fails to come to any other conclusions other than mystery object ? after discounting the know planetary systems alignments in Mid September, when this was taken.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TdNzdgqzHc

Pandemonium would occur if the world was to announce this as fact ...So that also got me thinking too ..:confused:

I have found myself looking to the stars alot more often in recent times with an uneasy feeling. :eek:

Hopefully more come in with there thoughts and even a pic`s or two and share there experience`s , Would be quite cool.

[anon2599]

Truly AMAZING! picture..Thank you for sharing. Awesome...indeed.

[anon2599]

This is Fantastic! ... info Captain...Keep up the Great work.

[Capt.Kangaroo]

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, November 13 – 21
By: Alan MacRobert | November 13, 2015

Monday, November 16
• This is the time of year when the dim Little Dipper extends to the left from Polaris just as twilight ends. If you can't see the Little Dipper's 4th- and 5th-magnitude stars, at least you can see 2nd-magnitude Kochab and 3rd-magnitude Pherkad, "the Guardians of the Pole," at the end of the Little Dipper's bowl some 17° to Polaris's left. That's nearly two fists at arm's length. Farther left lies the arched back of Draco.
Tuesday, November 17
• The typically weak Leonid meteor shower is likely to peak late tonight: from about midnight local time until dawn Wednesday morning. Good luck.
Wednesday, November 18
• The brightest star on the northeastern side of the November evening sky is Capella, magnitude zero. It's below Perseus. Look well to its right (about three fists at arm's length) for the Pleiades, the size of your fingertip at arm's length. Below the Pleiades blinks orange Aldebaran.
Thursday, November 19
• Orion is now clearing your eastern horizon by about 8 p.m. (depending on how far east or west you live in your time zone). Aldebaran is high above Orion. Above Aldebaran are the Pleiades. Aldebaran and the Pleiades always serve as Orion's early announcers.


http://www.skyandtelescope.com/wp-content/uploads/WEBvic15_Nov21ev1.jpg

Friday, November 20
• Whenever Fomalhaut is "southing" (crossing the meridian due south, which it does around 7 p.m. this week), the first stars of Orion are just about to rise in the east, and the Pointers of the Big Dipper stand directly below Polaris (for skywatchers in the world's mid-northern latitudes).
• Before dawn tomorrow morning, look east for bright Jupiter and brighter Venus. Between them is little orange Mars. Look carefully; very close to Mars is the 4th-magnitude star Eta Virginis. The two may appear less than 0.1° apart depending on where you are.
Saturday, November 21
• After dark these nights, Altair is the brightest star in the west-southwest. Look upper left of it, by barely more than a fist at arm's length, for the delicate little constellation Delphinus, the Dolphin. To Altair's upper right by a lesser distance is little Sagitta, the Arrow.

This Week's Planet Roundup

Mercury is hidden in superior conjunction with the Sun.
Planets before dawn, Nov. 14, 2015
Before dawn begins the Jupiter-Mars-Venus line shines especially bright, but Spica is still low.


Venus, Mars, and Jupiter continue their display in the east before and during dawn, but they're drawing farther apart. Venus is the brightest at magnitude –4.4. Jupiter, higher, is –1.9, and Mars, between them, is much fainter at +1.6.
Watch the line lengthen this week. Venus is descending; Jupiter and Mars are moving higher. And so is Spica; look for it well below Venus, more or less in line with the planets.


Saturn (magnitude +0.6) is hidden deep in the afterglow of sunset.
Uranus (magnitude +5.7, in Pisces) and Neptune (magnitude +7.8, in Aquarius) are high in the southern sky during evening.

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/wp-content/uploads/WEBvic15_Nov14mo1.jpg


sky&telescope

[Capt.Kangaroo]

THE SHOW SHOULD PEAK AROUND MIDNIGHT ON TUESDAY ON BOTH U.S. COASTS—AND EVERYWHERE IN BETWEEN

On Tuesday, November 17, the Leonid meteor shower will hit its peak. The annual event, caused by bits of ice and rock burning in Earth’s atmosphere, will create a host of shooting stars above the eastern horizon around midnight in the U.S. (local time on both coasts, when the constellation Leo rises). Here’s our guide to the shower.
Where To Look, And When
Any single meteor might appear anywhere, but for the most part Tuesday’s shooting stars will appear to come from the constellation Leo—hence, “Leonids.” Leo will rise above the eastern horizon at about midnight. But meteors will be visible even before then. So if you're in the U.S. and the skies are clear, head out any time after sunset and look east. Try to find a dark site away from street lights, or better yet, away from cities altogether.

http://www.popsci.com/sites/popsci.com/files/styles/medium_1x_/public/leonid2015_horizonchart.jpg?itok=hwH2bcZq

Likely Awesomeness Rating: Medium
The Leonids peak every three decades, and this shower comes mid-cycle—the last peak was in 1998. So we won’t see a phenomenal number of shooting stars. (If you’re bummed about that, console yourself with some of the illustrations of the famous 1833 Leonid meteor storm—a pretty incredible event.) This year, NASA predicts we’ll see one meteor about every four minutes.
That’s a moderate rate. But in this year’s favor, the moon will be a crescent, which means a darker sky that makes streaks of light easier to spot. Strike against: the current cloud-cover forecast predicts overcast skies for a good fraction of the U.S. that night.
Why Now?
The Leonids happen every year around November 17. That’s when the Earth passes through the cloud of debris left behind by the comet Tempel-Tuttle. Don’t worry about an actual impact—Tempel-Tuttle is currently further than Uranus. We’re just crossing its orbit. There’s no chance we’ll hit the comet itself.

http://www.popsci.com/sites/popsci.com/files/styles/medium_1x_/public/leonid2015_orbitchart.jpg?itok=FEWN0uy6




Tempel-Tuttle’s debris cloud is actually pretty big. The shower will peak Tuesday night, but we’ll still see more meteors than usual the rest of the month. So if it’s cloudy on November 17, keep your eyes on the sky when it clears again. You’ll have another chance to make your wish on a shooting star.

By Katie Peek
popsci.com

[Kimbo]

Awesome thanks!!!

[Farmer1]

this is cool


http://imgur.com/EIJwf3P

[Kimbo]

cool video Farmer!!

[K00lKatT]

some nite pics also featuring the sky, combining nature and the sky...
credit for all photos to Dan Zarlenga, of the MO Dept of Consv.

1320Castor River Shut-Ins showing part of the Milky Way

1321Tower Rock Nature Area on the Mississippi River, lunar eclipse

1322Ozark Trail

1323Pickle Springs Nature Area w/Milky Way

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Very cool.
Thanks KK...:)

[K00lKatT]

my pleasure...got tons of em...:)

[crazed 9.6]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR5ApYxkU-U

[crazed 9.6]

..............

[Marley]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/best-space-and-celestial-images-of-2015/ss-AAgfCPp

[Marley]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/a-giant-asteroid-will-fly-past-earth-on-christmas-eve/ar-BBny8VZ?li=BBnb7Kz

[dara]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_KAfr_xf_k


Pretty awesome!

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Excellent......:)

[crazed 9.6]

thnx dara
Since posting this I went a looking at some it's history. Some pretty cool stuff.
This unmaned rocket delivered some stuff to space station including the Dragon, which i don't know what that is , but also took food and experiments to astronauts.

It also carried an expresso machine up to the space station.
They dubed this the expreso-rocket :)

[Marley]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/giant-comets-may-threaten-earth-astronomers/ar-BBnOYTi?li=BBnbfcL oh oh

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Mercury Rising: Elusive Planet Makes Appearance This Week

http://i.space.com/images/i/000/052/308/i02/151223-Gaherty-Mercury.jpg?1450887061

This week is your last chance this year to spot the elusive planet Mercury in the evening twilight sky.


Because Mercury never strays far from the sun, skywatchers get only a few chances each year to see the planet. This week marks one of its brief appearances. The very best viewing will be on Dec. 28, but the planet can be seen by skywatchers in the northern hemisphere a few days before and a few days after.


Not all appearances of Mercury are equal. The view of Mercury from Earth is very sensitive to the angle the inner planet's orbit makes with the local horizon. For this reason, a good apparition in the Northern Hemisphere usually means a poor one in the Southern Hemisphere. This week, Mercury is well-placed for northerners, but poor for those south of the equator.


In a few weeks, the situation will be reversed, and Mercury will be on the other side of the sun, well-placed in the morning sky for southerners, but poorly located for northerners.


I find it easiest to spot Mercury about half an hour after sunset, or half an hour before sunrise in the morning sky. Any earlier, and the sunlit sky swamps out the planet's dim light; any later, and it is lost in the trees on the horizon.


Mercury will be farthest from the sun on Monday, Dec. 28, but can be seen a few days before and after that date. I usually use binoculars to first spot the planet, sweeping back and forth parallel to the horizon to the left of the sunset point. Once located in binoculars, Mercury is usually quite easy to see with the naked eye.


Unless you are an early riser, this will probably the first time you've seen a planet in some months. Most of the planets have been on the far side of the sun recently, and are just moving into the morning sky. Jupiter is now rising around 11 p.m. local time, but the other bright planets aren't visible until early morning.


Mercury is usually a disappointing sight in a telescope: a tiny "half moon." However, it is an accomplishment just to have seen it. Many astronomers, including Johannes Kepler, have never managed this feat.

space.com

[K00lKatT]

would really like to see this but view to the SW is nothing but large hardwood trees...will be awaiting your pics...:)

[Capt.Kangaroo]

would really like to see this but view to the SW is nothing but large hardwood trees...will be awaiting your pics...:)
Me too, been raining for a week and more tomorrow.Flooding pretty bad here.
I'll find some pics and post them though.:)

[K00lKatT]

same here, raining right now, lots of road closures....:(

[Capt.Kangaroo]

same here, raining right now, lots of road closures....:(
The wife and I almost hit a pine tree that had fallen across the road last night coming from my mother inlaws house.
Had to call 911 and tell them to send Fire Dept out to cut it out of the way. Was extremely foggy and drizzling rain. Glad no one hit it.
My driveway is completely washed out too.

[crazed 9.6]

my scope is still in house. It's too damn cold out there.
No rain here. It's all frozen :)

[crazed 9.6]

The wife and I almost hit a pine tree that had fallen across the road last night coming from my mother inlaws house.
Had to call 911 and tell them to send Fire Dept out to cut it out of the way. Was extremely foggy and drizzling rain. Glad no one hit it.
My driveway is completly washed out too.

glad your wive was alright.
You, well you are one your own. You shoulda known to carry a chainsaw !

[K00lKatT]

temps going to fall, tomorrow..rain changing to snow on Mon & Weds...:mad:

[Capt.Kangaroo]

glad your wive was alright.
You, well you are one your own. You shoulda known to carry a chainsaw !
Usually have one but we were in her trailblazer loaded with Christmas presents.:)

[crazed 9.6]

ahhh, the christmas presents :)

You shoulda got your father inlaw a chainsaw, then you woulda had one in the blazer.

Remember this for next year will yea :)

[Capt.Kangaroo]

ahhh, the christmas presents :)

You shoulda got your father inlaw a chainsaw, then you woulda had one in the blazer.

Remember this for next year will yea :)
Will do buddy, thanks for the life lesson.....:p

[crazed 9.6]

serously thou, hope you guys are okay with the weather. It's a dangerous thing when chit is on a highway and chit.
You good man for being responsible with that situation Captain. Some would have just drove on :(

[K00lKatT]

glad no one was hurt...hope everyone stays safe for New Years Eve....don't be an amateur and donate to the courts...:p

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Thanks guys,
Be safe....:)

[Farmer1]

happy to hear all worked out well for you Captain and everyone is safe

[Kimbo]

Glad everything went well!!

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Thanks guys, still raining like crazy.....


1380

[Marley]

wow happy to hear all is safe

[big dady]

Happy every one is safe

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Still raining/flooding here but we're doing ok.
Supposed to clear out later and turn cold finally....:)
Hope everyone has a great New Year and stays safe....
Meanwhile......

1384

[K00lKatT]

MO is in a state of emergency...okay here though...

[Farmer1]

MO is in a state of emergency...okay here though...

sure glad your ok

[Kimbo]

Welcome to FEMA!!:rolleyes:

[big dady]

Please stay safe and dry except for Cap's fish...:cool:

[Farmer1]

Aurora borealis could illuminate New Year's Eve sky across Canada


Solar storm could spawn swirling show of northern lights

By Laura Wright, CBC News Posted: Dec 30, 2015 3:41 PM ET Last Updated: Dec 30, 2015 7:16 PM ET






1389

Photographer and tornado hunter Greg Johnson took this photo in Saskatchewan. The photo was taken at night, and the lights seen are the from the full moon and aurora borealis. (Greg Johnson )

A recent strong solar storm is expected to give Canadians across the country a special New Year's Eve northern lights show.
The aurora's swirling colours may light up night skies as far south as 50 degrees geomagnetic latitude, says the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This means that cities along the Canada-U.S. border and farther north might get a chance to see the display.

The agency says people in places as far south as Oregon and Illinois could also see the lights.

The aurora borealis is most commonly seen in high latitudes.
"The effects are strongest around the magnetic poles of the Earth, with the magnetic North Pole being in northern Canada," said Piet Martens, a physicist at Georgia State University.
Because of this, people who live in the territories and northern regions of some provinces are often treated to beautiful aurora displays. But it's rare that the northern lights are on view in Canada's south.
Geomagnetic storms are caused by the sun. Martens said, and this particular storm is being caused by a coronal mass ejection (CME) that happened Dec. 28. A CME is an eruption of a magnetic cloud from the sun that takes off into space and sometimes hits Earth, as it will this time. It takes some time for the effects to be felt on Earth, which is why we won't see anything unusual until Dec. 31.

1390



A significant solar flare erupts in June 2014. A flare that occurred on Dec. 28 is expected to produce a northern lights display. (Goddard Space Flight Center/Associated Press)
CMEs are typically coupled with solar flares, which also happened this time. A solar flare is a "burst of emission of X-rays, extreme ultraviolet rays and sometimes even gamma rays from a location on the sun," said Martens.
And "the larger the flare, the larger and faster the CME," he added.
People who want to increase their chances of seeing the lights should try to get away from light pollution, look north, and hope for clear skies.
And if you miss out tonight and tomorrow, the space weather agency is predicting an even stronger storm on Jan. 2.
Risk of power outage

A possible downside to the display is that massive solar storms can disable satellites and affect radio signals. Solar surges can also knock out power on Earth. But the risk is low.
"Power grid operators have gotten better at anticipating and preventing negative impacts from geomagnetic storms," said Martens.
He added that GPS systems could be thrown off by a "couple of metres," but it's unlikely that cellphones in general will be affected.

[Marley]

think im to far away thanks

[anon2599]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_KAfr_xf_k


Pretty awesome!

Dam user must have deleted it .
Would have loved to view this. So off to find a feed from some source....Hopefully to see this.

Thanks for your time and efforts in posting this cool stuff.

[anon2599]

I have been looking more into this lately and I am starting to Doubt if they did actually land on the moon ever.
This actually stirred my interest and upon further investigation ...I have came across a great deal of conspiracy theorists views and post throughout my trawling of the net , archives and with every new corner or avenue uncovered ....My doubts most definably ..increase.
I am starting to truly believe there is a lot NASA never discloses .

[Orziz]

One thing that makes me wonder is the amount of perfectly focused photographs that the astronauts managed to take. The cameras were mounted on the chest of the spacesuit and yet they managed to take 5771 photographs in 4834 minutes over the 6 successful Apollo missions. How did they have time to complete the other experiments? One thing is true- somebody did go to the moon and harvest moon rock. Only NASA knows if it was them for sure.

[catz]

I'm told (don't know) that with the proper scope you can see the stuff that was left there and that would remove all doubt.

[dale-63]

There is pitchers from the mars rover going by the moon showing the things that were left behind

[Kimbo]

Is there a conspiracy...Hmmmm:

7 Secret Government Projects Most Will Never Believe Are Real

Acoustic Kitty : It sounds like something from a 1960s spy show, and maybe that's where the CIA got this unbelievably bad idea. Project Acoustic Kitty was designed to turn ordinary cats...into secret agent listening devices. This Cold War-era program was one of many silly ideas the U.S. attempted in the 1960s. By implanting a microphone in the ear canal and a radio transmitter near the skull, this project aimed to turn cats into sophisticated spies that can go places humans just can't go.

The problem was the cats, who really can't be trained. For example, the first field test cat was supposed to record conversations in the park. It wandered into the street and got hit by a car instead. Project Acoustic Kitty didn't survive long after that.

Stargate Project: The CIA spent $20 million studying psychic thoughts starting in the 1950s. The main element of Operation Stargate was something called remote viewing, the idea that psychic powers can be used to spy on enemies across great distances. This project went on for about 20 years before it was eventually shut down because the CIA finally determined that psychic powers aren't real. This unbelievable-but-true story was used to create the film "The Men Who Stare at Goats."

Operation Northwood: Though it was never implemented, Operation Northwoods was completely drawn out and planned before it was rejected by President John F. Kennedy. The U.S. government planned to stage terrorist attacks on domestic soil, and blame the incidents on Cuba. This would be used to sway public opinion to favor a war on Cuba.

Project Pigeon: Actual tax dollars were spent on Project Pigeon, which racked up a $25,000 bill. Pigeons were trained for service in WWII and outfitted with control systems that would help guide missiles. The project was stopped because it’s just plain dumb, and it was found that technology is more accurate than birds.

Project Sky Blimp: The U.S. government spent $300 million on an enormous blimp, roughly the size of a football field. It was going to be used to spy on Afghanistan, but it never worked. The Army stopped the project in 2013 and sold the blimp back to the contractor they purchased it from.

Project Mechanical Elephant: The mechanical elephant was developed in 1966 by DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), borne of the need for American soldiers and gear to be transported across South Vietnam. The mechanical elephant was developed as a narrow-trail vehicle, NTV, that could traverse mountains, move across the jungle and travel across rivers and marshes. The project was ended when the director found out about it, because it’s so completely impractical.

Mujahideen: When Afghanistan fell into civil war in 1978 and the Soviet Union invaded to support Communist groups in the country, the CIA covertly got involved as well. The CIA built Mujahideen, training camps for Afghani rebels who opposed the Communist movement. They were trained with CIA tactics for defeating the Soviets and given weaponry, including surface-to-air missiles. These CIA tactics and weapons were later used against U.S. forces who invaded Afghanistan in 2001. Oops.

[crazed 9.6]

in 1999, NSA banned the furby toy from their building. They were afraid it would record secret information being discussed.
I guess that Acoustic Kitty incident had them worried that maybe the Furby was a double agent :eek:

[ilan]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/14/us/possible-powerful-supernova/index.html

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Thanks ilan...:)

[ilan]

Welcome, Cap... :)

[Capt.Kangaroo]

1407

An artist’’s impression of the superluminous supernova ASASSN-15lh (Assassin) as it would appear from an exoplanet located in the host galaxy of the supernova.


Photograph: Jin Ma/AP

[Kimbo]

interesting super nova name!!Beautiful pictures!!

[Marley]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/weird-star-system-scientists-have-been-checking-for-aliens-just-got-weirder/ar-BBofAlY
they will come some day or we will be one that put life on another world

[ilan]

It's fun when something baffles the experts. It leaves open a whole range of cool, possible explanations.

[ilan]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/19/us/planet-comet-show/?iid=ob_homepage_deskrecommended_pool&iref=obnetwork

[Kimbo]

thanks, here is the article:

If you don't mind getting up a bit early -- or sneaking out of the office if you work the overnight shift -- the skies are offering a very special treat for the next few weeks.

From January 20 to February 20, you can see five planets spanning the sky together just before dawn: Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter will all be visible about 45 minutes before sunrise.

This is the first time all five of the so-called naked-eye planets have appeared together in the pre-dawn sky in more than a decade, according to Sky and Telescope.

The group got the name "naked-eye planets" because you can see each of them with your own eyes -- you don't need binoculars or a telescope.

But that doesn't mean they're all easy to find. If you don't do a lot of skywatching, it can be confusing to pick the planets out of a sky filled with stars. Here are some tips to make it easier:

First, figure out when sunrise is for your area. The U.S. Naval Observatory has an easy tool.

Also, to help you get your bearings and to make it easier to find the planets, download an astronomy app and get used to using it inside the house before you head out into the cold.

You can also use the charts in many of the popular astronomy websites:

Astronomy.com

Earthsky.org

Sky & Telescope

Or you can contact your local planetarium to see if a special show is planned.

Bundle up! You'll probably need to be outside 15 to 20 minutes to find the planets and enjoy the sky.

Start with Venus! Besides our moon, it's the brightest thing in the night sky and it's the easiest planet to find. Look to the southeast just above the horizon.

Next, look for Jupiter. It's second brightest but it's far away from Venus in the southwestern sky. If you have good image-stabilizing binoculars, you may even see some of Jupiter's moons.

Once you're confident you've spotted Venus and Jupiter, the other planets get easier to pick out.

Mars will be the reddish dot about halfway between Venus and Jupiter. It's not nearly as bright as Venus and Jupiter, but it's still easy to see.

After you find Mars, you can hunt for Saturn. It's between Mars and Venus.
Space + Science

Now for the troublemaker -- Mercury. Because it's closest to our sun, it often gets lost in the glare of sunrise or sunset.

But you might be able to spot it by January 22 -- if you don't have a lot of buildings, trees or mountains blocking your view. Mercury will look like a small bright dot between Venus and the horizon.

If five planets aren't enough for you, a comet is making its closest swing by Earth this week. Comet Catalina doesn't pose any threat to us -- it will safely pass about 67 million miles away, according to NASA. But that's close enough to spot it with binoculars or a telescope in the pre-dawn sky.

Earthsky.org has some good tips for finding the comet. Looking at it through binoculars, the comet looks like a small, fuzzy smudge in the sky but it's worth the trouble for comet lovers.

Interested in the comet? Don't wait around. This is the first time Comet Catalina has been in our part of the solar system. But it's going so fast that scientists expect it to zip by Earth, escape our solar system and never return.

[Kimbo]

also today

Jan. 19: Occultation of Aldebaran. A waxing gibbous moon will cross in front of one of the brightest and most colorful stars in the sky, orange Aldebaran. This stellar eclipse will be visible over Canada and most of the United States, except the Gulf Coast and Florida.

[Capt.Kangaroo]

https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xlt1/v/t1.0-9/12522909_933992836666491_407750793326270245_n.jpg? oh=3234b3eb5f3ad20426c6f6d936489225&oe=574370EB

[Farmer1]

Cool will have to keep an eye out for it

[Marley]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/new-evidence-suggests-a-ninth-planet-lurking-at-the-edge-of-the-solar-system/ar-BBotNpO?li=BBnb7Kz

[ilan]

Pluto must be feeling really left out!

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Pluto must be feeling really left out!
Pluto will always be 9th in my heart.;)

[ilan]

Me too. Heck, I learned Pluto was the 9th planet way back in grammar school, and it was the reality for decades after that. Now, the poor critter gets demoted. Cryin' shame from my perspective.

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Me too, I learned their order like this

My
Very
Educated
Mother
Just
Served
Us
Nine
Pizzas

Pluto was my pizzas...lol

[Marley]

no pizza for you

[ilan]

Cool mnemonic device. Wonder if learning the planets is considered too frivolous nowadays? I wouldn't put anything past the current education system.

[crazed 9.6]

Dr Brown who discovered this ninth planet also was the same guy who produced proof that lead to the demotion of Pluto to a class called "dwarf planet,"

That was a decision mocked repeatedly last summer when NASA's New Horizons probe flew past Pluto and revealed a world with an atmosphere, weather and a volatile and dynamically reworked surface.

*that quote came from the link posted above.

Dr. Brown later revealed that his daughter has been very upset about his de-motion of Pluto and since then he had promised her to find a new planet for her.
Me thinks Dr. Brown messed up and his daughter should kick his ass :eek:

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Dr Brown who discovered this ninth planet also was the same guy who produced proof that lead to the demotion of Pluto to a class called "dwarf planet,"

That was a decision mocked repeatedly last summer when NASA's New Horizons probe flew past Pluto and revealed a world with an atmosphere, weather and a volatile and dynamically reworked surface.

*that quote came from the link posted above.

Dr. Brown later revealed that his daughter has been very upset about his de-motion of Pluto and since then he had promised her to find a new planet for her.
Me thinks Dr. Brown messed up and his daughter should kick his ass :eek:
Agreed, kick his ass girl...:)

[ilan]

http://www.astronomy.com/news/2016/01/the-aliens-are-silent-because-they-are-extinct


The aliens are silent because they are extinct
In research aiming to understand how life might develop, scientists realized new life would commonly die out due to runaway heating or cooling on their fledgling planets.
By Australian National University in Canberra | Published: Thursday, January 21, 2016
RELATED TOPICS: EXOPLANETS | EXTRATERRESTRIALS
CSIRO Parkes radio telescope
CSIRO Parkes radio telescope is in the search for alien civilizations.
Wayne England
Life on other planets would likely be brief and become extinct very quickly, said astrobiologists from the Australian National University (ANU).

In research aiming to understand how life might develop, scientists realized new life would commonly die out due to runaway heating or cooling on their fledgling planets.

“The universe is probably filled with habitable planets, so many scientists think it should be teeming with aliens,” said Aditya Chopra from ANU.

“Early life is fragile, so we believe it rarely evolves quickly enough to survive.”

“Most early planetary environments are unstable. To produce a habitable planet, life forms need to regulate greenhouse gases such as water and carbon dioxide to keep surface temperatures stable.”

About four billion years ago, Earth, Venus, and Mars may have all been habitable. However, a billion years or so after formation, Venus turned into a hothouse and Mars froze into an icebox.

Early microbial life on Venus and Mars, if there was any, failed to stabilize the rapidly changing environment, said Charley Lineweaver from ANU.

“Life on Earth probably played a leading role in stabilizing the planet’s climate,” he said.

Chopra said their theory solved a puzzle.

“The mystery of why we haven’t yet found signs of aliens may have less to do with the likelihood of the origin of life or intelligence and have more to do with the rarity of the rapid emergence of biological regulation of feedback cycles on planetary surfaces,” he said.

Wet, rocky planets with the ingredients and energy sources required for life seem to be ubiquitous, however, as Enrico Fermi pointed out in 1950, no signs of surviving extra-terrestrial life have been found.

A plausible solution to Fermi’s paradox, say the researchers, is near universal early extinction, which they have named the Gaian Bottleneck.

“One intriguing prediction of the Gaian Bottleneck model is that the vast majority of fossils in the universe will be from extinct microbial life, not from multicellular species such as dinosaurs or humanoids that take billions of years to evolve,” said Lineweaver.

[Marley]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/wonder/hubble-reveals-a-diamond-like-cluster-of-stars-8000-light-years-away/vi-BBozpYc

[Capt.Kangaroo]

I've cleaned up the Space Section, it was getting a little out of control.
I appreciate everyones input and hope you all continue to contribute.
Please post in the appropriate areas, Pics, Tools,Ufo vids etc...
Thanks again for your help,
Captainkangaroo...:)

[ilan]

"Now I have been saying for years that IR cameras or night vision cameras can see things our eyes can't. Also, the angle of the sun during a UFO sighting causes the UFO cloak to become visible. Everything these doctors say in this video confirms that there are cloaked UFOs or Entities that our eyes cannot see."
-- Scott C. Waring


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gRC2q_VLEM&feature=youtu.be

[Kimbo]

NASA's GEOS-5 provides a satellite view of historic winter storm


The NASA GEOS-5 atmospheric data assimilation system follows an historic winter storm as it approaches the mid-Atlantic this weekend 2016 January 22-24 where it is expected to produce a wide swath of more than 2 feet of snow. The near-real-time operational GEOS-5 system ingests more than 5 million observations every six hours producing comprehensive analyses and forecasts of the atmosphere each day at 25-km global resolution. This experimental product uses the global mesoscale capabilities of GEOS-5 to downscale the operational product to 6-km global resolution. Subsequent forecasts are launched with this product providing a detailed view of the developing storm and its predicted evolution across the region.

The simulated field visualized here is outgoing longwave radiation (OLR). Clouds block longwave radiation that is emitted from the Earth's surface producing cold OLR values in regions of thick/deep cloudiness. Thus, OLR provides a satellite-eye view of clouds from storm systems around the globe, including the developing blizzard across the eastern United States.

here is the video:


http://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/research/science_snapshots/historic_winter_storm_2016.php?linkId=20596770

[ilan]

The storm looks pretty damn impressive as it rolls into the Northeast. You can sense its power!

Cool imagery...

[ilan]

Moon News...


http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/29/us/earth-moon-collision/index.html

(CNN)It's the only world besides Earth that man has set foot on. But we still don't know exactly how it got there.

Now, rocks brought back by the Apollo astronauts in the late '60s and early '70s are providing new clues about how Earth got its moon.

Many scientists have long theorized that the moon formed after a planet called Theia crashed into Earth about 4.5 billion years ago.

A UCLA-led research team compared Earth rocks and moon rocks and determined the crash was a head-on collision, not a glancing blow as earlier theories stated.

"The moon was formed by a violent, head-on collision between the early Earth and a 'planetary embryo' called Theia approximately 100 million years after the Earth formed," the team said in on UCLA's website.

The team reported its new research in the journal Science.

The researchers analyzed seven moon rocks brought back to the Earth by the Apollo 12, 15 and 17 astronauts. They compared them with six volcanic rocks from Earth, five from Hawaii and one from Arizona.

They found the oxygen in all the rocks had a similar chemical signature.

"We don't see any difference between the Earth's and the moon's oxygen isotopes; they're indistinguishable," said Edward Young, the study's lead author.

Young said that if Earth had only received a glancing blow, most of the moon would have been made up of Theia, and the Earth and moon rocks would not be so similar.

So what happened to Theia? Scientists say it didn't survive the collision, except for some pieces that got mixed in with the Earth and moon. If it hadn't crashed with Earth, it might have become a full-fledged planet, Young said.

But then Earth wouldn't have a moon. That would mean no beautiful moonlit nights, fewer songs and much different weather for us Earthlings. The moon gets credit for moderating Earth's wobble and stabilizing its climate.

[Capt.Kangaroo]

NOW YOU CAN SEE FIVE PLANETS AT ONCE WITH THE NAKED EYE
TILL MID-FEBRUARY, EARLY RISERS WILL SEE THE FIRST FIVE-PLANET ALIGNMENT IN A DECADE

http://www.popsci.com/sites/popsci.com/files/styles/medium_1x_/public/five-planets-february-2016.jpg?itok=odj7zRyE

Starting tomorrow morning, all five* visible planets will shine down from the sky in the morning twilight. Head out about an hour before sunrise, and look toward the southeast.
The four bright ones—Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and Venus—are pretty easy to spot, if you’ve got a star chart in hand. Venus, for example, will be the brightest thing up there (apart from the moon). Mercury is a little trickier, because it’s easily lost in the light of the soon-to-rise sun.
The planets should be visible from just about anywhere on the globe (though not from the North Pole), and the view will last until mid-February, if tomorrow’s too cold for you. And if you’re a night owl rather than an early bird, you’re in luck: The five planets will all be aligned in the evening sky come August 2016.
What makes all five visible at once? It happens because of the planets’ positions along their orbits. At the moment, these five all happen to lie to the right of the sun, when viewed from above the solar system. That means, as the earth spins, they’re all visible in the sky just before sunrise. You can think if it as a line of six, with Jupiter the first to rise and the sun rising last—and marking the end of the morning stargazing session.

http://www.popsci.com/sites/popsci.com/files/styles/medium_1x_/public/five-planets-february-2016-orbits.jpg?itok=VVih47Y8

*Yes, in total there are eight planets, but Uranus and Neptune are too dim to see without a telescope and Earth is the one just there at your feet. So we’re just talking about the big five of stargazing: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

popularscience

[ilan]

CIA releases UFO documents and images from the 40s-50s


http://www.techworm.net/2016/01/hundreds-secret-ufo-x-files-released-cia.html

[ilan]

New fly-over video of dwarf planet Ceres


http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2016/01/30/ceres-dwarf-planet-jnd-orig-pkg.nasa

[Kimbo]

I would let Agent Mulder and Agent Scully take a look at this documents!!

[ilan]

It would make a show or two for sure... :)

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Chinese photos show moon's surface in vivid detail


http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/01/asia/china-moon-photos-jade-rabbit/index.html?sr=twCNN020116china-moon-photos-jade-rabbit0842AMStoryGalLink&linkId=20839601
Beijing (CNN)China has released hundreds of high-resolution photos taken by its Chang'e-3 lunar lander and rover, showing the moon's surface in vivid detail.


The China National Space Administration made the images, video clips and scientific data available on its website in a rare show of openness for the country's usually secretive space program.


China sent its first unmanned lunar probe, the Yutu, or "Jade Rabbit," to the moon in 2013 as part of its Chang'e-3 mission, becoming only the third nation after the United States and Russia to land on the moon's surface.


Despite a shaky start to its mission, the Jade Rabbit is still working and sending images and data back to earth.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/160201140816-08-china-moon-surface-photos-exlarge-169.jpg

The images show the moon's crust in true color and spectacular detail. The tracks of the Jade Rabbit rover are clearly visible in some pictures. The full data sets are available for the public to download on the website.


China has ambitious plans to explore the moon, with two robotic missions planned for the next two years.


In 2017, China will launch the Chang'e-5 spacecraft, which plans to land on the moon and return with soil samples.


While in 2018, China plans to land on the far side of the moon with the Chang'e-4 spacecraft, a mission, which, if successful, would make it the first country to do so.


China hasn't committed to it, but many analysts think the country ultimately wants to put a man on the moon.

Cnn.com

[ilan]

Some interesting UFO news. Consult the site for video footage.


http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/641166/UFO-footage-which-sent-alien-hunters-into-frenzy-confirmed-as-GENUINE-by-expert

UFO footage which sent alien hunters into frenzy 'confirmed' as GENUINE by expert

FOOTAGE of a 'UFO' hovering over Moscow that sent alien hunters into a frenzy has been 'confirmed' as being authentic.

Last month, footage emerged of four lights hovering over the Russian capital which sent UFO fanatics into a frenzy.

The uploader of the video, known as Timur, said to local media in Russia: “There were four balls of light. A red one to the left, two white ones in the middle and a less bright one to the right.

“Sometimes the one on the right would disappear and come back. All together, they made the geometric shape of a rhombus.
“I’ve been living in the district for two years, and have never seen anything like that before.”

After debate about whether the footage of genuine arose, a UFO expert in Russia, Vadim Chernobrov, has chipped in to give his opinion, and said that the footage is indeed real, he believes.

Mr Chernobrov said: “The lights cannot be explained as either an atmospheric or a cosmic image.

The chance of it being some sort of mirage is also impossible due to the precise geometric form the objects have formed.

“Some have said they could look like Chinese lanterns but I would dismiss this possibility because of the movements and speed of the objects.”

This year has kicked off positively for UFO hunters, even in the UK.

Last month, Wiltshire resident Ian Jones was out walking his dog when he noticed a strange light hovering in the night sky.

He shot a video of it which shows a light with an orange ambience flashing brighter in certain sections, sitting almost perfectly overhead.

Mr Jones watched the light for about five minutes in the hope that something would occur that would explain the phenomenon, but noticed no change.

Speaking to Express.co.uk, he said: “At first I thought it was a Chinese lantern but it wasn’t moving. It could have also been an Apache, but there was no noise. “I went back the next day in the day time to see if it was a crane or something, but there was nothing there.”

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Good stuff. Thanks ilan...:)

[ilan]

Welcome, Cap.. UFO sightings are always fun... :)

[ilan]

http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/02/from-exile-to-eminence-how-the-alien-hunters-conquered-astronomy/

From exile to eminence: How the alien hunters conquered astronomy
Jill Tarter tells Ars how technology and discovery have primed the search for life.

by Eric Berger - Feb 5, 2016 9:34am CST

Tarter speaks after a screening of Contact, in 2014, at the Qualcomm Institute.

When Jill Tarter first began to look for aliens, she drew looks askance from her friends and colleagues. The perception was “What’s a nice girl like you doing in a subject like this?” she recalled in an interview with Ars. Tarter, now 72, would go on to rise above that perception, becoming a leading figure at the SETI Institute. And the astronomer played by Jodie Foster in the movie Contact, which was largely based on Tarter, would further bolster her reputation.

She and her fellow searchers haven’t found E.T. yet, but they have become respected members of the scientific community. These days, when NASA plots future explorations of Mars or ice-covered moons in the outer solar system, they’re driven by the search for microbial life. And with the discovery of billions of planets in the Milky Way, no one snickers any more at the idea of sniffing atmospheres around other worlds for biosignatures.

The search for aliens has become respectable because it no longer is a philosophical or religious matter to ask if we are alone. During Tarter’s lifetime, scientists and engineers have developed the tools and technology to finally probe this question in a meaningful way.

“When I first started in this field, we were coming off the bad science done by Percival Lowell and Martian canals,” Tarter said. “It made the field odoriferous.”

Lowell, an American businessman and astronomer, popularized the idea that the long, somewhat linear features seen on Mars were canals. This influence pervaded the public mind through the middle of the 20th century and featured in science fiction works by both Robert Heinlein and Ray Bradbury. But then NASA probes to Mars, beginning in 1964 with Mariner 4, found a cold, barren, and likely dead world. Many scientists began to dismiss the notion of aliens.

Tarter became intrigued with the search for alien signals from other worlds in the 1970s, while earning a PhD in astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley. She was working on brown dwarfs, objects too large to be planets but too small to be stars. But the work felt remote to her. “I was always wondering why is the taxpayer paying my salary? Once I started working on SETI I no longer had that feeling," she said. "The person on the street I’d talk to understood it. It wasn’t like trying to explain the Large Hadron Collider. It was a topic people have been interested in forever.”

Over time, the alien hunters slowly garnered respect, but during the 1980s and 1990s, SETI remained on the fringes of mainstream science. For example, on Columbus Day in 1992, NASA formally launched a $100 million radio astronomy program called SETI. Yet Congress canceled funding a year later, with some members criticizing the plan as a “search for little green men.” Things began to change soon after that however, aided by two key discoveries which had implications both for life inside the solar system and beyond.

By the 1990s, scientists were finding organisms that survived at very high and very low pressures and temperatures, and sometimes in environments with no oxygen at all. Scientists learned that microbes were a lot more adaptable than previously thought, and they began to consider all of the places in the solar system where life might exist today, such as on ice-covered ocean worlds in the outer solar system like Europa and Enceladus.

Gradually NASA’s plans to explore Mars and these worlds have made finding evidence of present or past life as a key goal. The agency's chief scientist, Ellen Stofan, said in 2015 that NASA is close to achieving that goal. "I think we're going to have strong indications of life beyond Earth within a decade,” she said during a panel discussion last year.

The second key discovery has come far outside solar system. Scientists first began finding exoplanets about 20 years ago, but these were giant, Jupiter-like worlds close to their stars. The launch of the Kepler spacecraft in 2009 changed everything. It has found more than 1,000 confirmed exoplanets, with thousands of more candidate worlds. Moreover, many of the planets it has found are close in size to Earth. Based upon calculations by astronomers working with Kepler’s data, there may be as many as 40 billion Earth-sized worlds in the habitable zones of solar systems in the Milky Way Galaxy.

“Kepler has been a game changer,” Tarter said. “When I first started this work, we didn’t know if there were any planets beyond our solar system. The fact that many of them are Earth-sized and close to Earth mass is also a hopeful outcome because we don’t know what’s required for life.”

THE SETI INSTITUTE LOOKED AT ODDLY DIMMING “E.T.” STAR, FOUND NOTHING
The initial survey is not conclusive, but hopes for a Dyson sphere also dimming. For a long time, the SETI Institute’s work was largely an ad hoc affair. But with the Allen Telescope Array and better computation, its ability to search for alien signals has gotten much better. Think of it like this, Tarter says, comparing the area and dimensions of space and time that must be searched to the vastness of Earth’s oceans. During the last 50, years SETI astronomers have looked at about one glass of that water. With new tools, she said, they will perhaps look at an amount the size of Lake Michigan during the next two decades.

And NASA is getting into the game, too. It is contemplating projects such as a giant starshade, which would block the light from distant stars and allow astronomers to image rocky, Earth-like worlds directly. It is proposing projects to study the atmospheres of those worlds as well.

It is perhaps a measure of the SETI Institute’s success that when the Kepler spacecraft found a world with rapidly dimming light, the explanation of an alien megastructure as the cause wasn’t dismissed out of hand. Instead, astronomers have considered aliens as one possible cause of the unique light curve from KIC 8462852.

For Tarter, hunting for aliens has paid dividends. After the movie Contact, she was named one Time’s 100 most influential people in the world and recently became a member of the Creative Class. Respect is nice, she says, but what Tarter is really after is answers. “I think this is our century,” she said. “I would like to be able to stay around long enough to see this play out.”

[ilan]

Hundreds of hidden nearby galaxies have been studied for the first time, shedding light on a mysterious gravitational anomaly dubbed the Great Attractor.


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160209132047.htm

Despite being just 250 million light years from Earth--very close in astronomical terms--the new galaxies had been hidden from view until now by our own galaxy, the Milky Way.

Using CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope equipped with an innovative receiver, an international team of scientists were able to see through the stars and dust of the Milky Way, into a previously unexplored region of space.

The discovery may help to explain the Great Attractor region, which appears to be drawing the Milky Way and hundreds of thousands of other galaxies towards it with a gravitational force equivalent to a million billion Suns.

Lead author Professor Lister Staveley-Smith, from The University of Western Australia node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), said the team found 883 galaxies, a third of which had never been seen before.

"The Milky Way is very beautiful of course and it's very interesting to study our own galaxy but it completely blocks out the view of the more distant galaxies behind it," he said.

Professor Staveley-Smith said scientists have been trying to get to the bottom of the mysterious Great Attractor since major deviations from universal expansion were first discovered in the 1970s and 1980s.

"We don't actually understand what's causing this gravitational acceleration on the Milky Way or where it's coming from," he said.

"We know that in this region there are a few very large collections of galaxies we call clusters or superclusters, and our whole Milky Way is moving towards them at more than two million kilometres per hour."

The research identified several new structures that could help to explain the movement of the Milky Way, including three galaxy concentrations (named NW1, NW2 and NW3) and two new clusters (named CW1 and CW2).

University of Cape Town astronomer Professor Renée Kraan-Korteweg said astronomers have been trying to map the galaxy distribution hidden behind the Milky Way for decades.

"We've used a range of techniques but only radio observations have really succeeded in allowing us to see through the thickest foreground layer of dust and stars," she said.

"An average galaxy contains 100 billion stars, so finding hundreds of new galaxies hidden behind the Milky Way points to a lot of mass we didn't know about until now."

Dr. Bärbel Koribalski from CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science said innovative technologies on the Parkes Radio telescope had made it possible to survey large areas of the sky very quickly.

"With the 21-cm multibeam receiver on Parkes we're able to map the sky 13 times faster than we could before and make new discoveries at a much greater rate," she said.

The study involved researchers from Australia, South Africa, the US and the Netherlands, and was published today in the Astronomical Journal.

[ilan]

The always amazing Einstein strikes again...


http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/11/us/gravitational-waves-feat/ http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/11/us/gravitational-waves-feat/

(CNN) Einstein was right.

Just over 100 years after he published his general theory of relativity, scientists have found what Albert Einstein predicted as part of the theory: gravitational waves.

"We have detected gravitational waves. We did it," said David Reitze, executive director of LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, which was created to do just what Reitze announced.

Reitze made the announcement Thursday at the National Press Club in Washington surrounded by other LIGO researchers and National Science Foundation head France Cordova.

The gravitational waves -- ripples in space-time -- were created by the merging of two black holes, Reitze said. One black hole had the mass of 29 suns; the other was the equivalent of 36 suns. Each was perhaps 50 kilometers (30 miles) in diameter.

More than a billion years ago -- LIGO estimates about 1.3 billion -- the two collided at half the speed of light. Gravitational waves pass through everything, so the result traveled through the universe for that time before reaching Earth.

The 'chirp' of black holes colliding
The gravitational waves stretched and compressed space around Earth "like Jell-O," said Reitze.

However, the waves are so small that it takes a detector like LIGO, capable of measuring distortions one-thousandth the size of a proton, to observe them. They were observed on September 14, 2015.

Scientists heard the sound of the black holes colliding as a "chirp" lasting one-fifth of a second. Though gravitational waves aren't sound waves, the increase in frequency the collision exhibited in its last milliseconds -- when the black holes were mere kilometers apart and growing closer -- is a frequency we can hear, said Deirdre Shoemaker, a Georgia Tech physicist who works on LIGO.

LIGO is described as "a system of two identical detectors" -- one located in Livingston, Louisiana, the other in Hanford, Washington -- "carefully constructed to detect incredibly tiny vibrations from passing gravitational waves." The project was created by scientists from Caltech and MIT and funded by the National Science Foundation.

Szabolcs Marka, a physicist at Columbia University who is leader of the LIGO member Columbia Experimental Gravity Group, said you could think of it as "a cosmic microphone."

Einstein's concepts
Gravitational waves were predicted by Einstein in his general theory of relativity in 1915, the theory that proposed space-time as a concept. The waves are a distortion of space-time.

However, in order for us to detect them, they needed to be created by a mammoth event -- for example, the collision of two black holes.

Black holes are a holy grail of the gravitational wave concept. To date, we'd been able only to see their aftereffects. Black holes themselves were a conjecture.

"There's been a lot of indirect evidence for their existence," says Shoemaker, an expert in black holes. "But this is the first time we actually detect two black holes merging and we know the only thing that predicts that (is) gravitational radiation, (which) comes from a binary black hole merging. There's no other way we could have seen that but gravitationally."

'Now we can listen to the universe'
But is LIGO correct? Have we really detected gravitational waves?

Scientists have what they call a "five-sigma" standard of proof, and LIGO's researchers say the gravitational wave discovery exceeds that.

"It took six months of convincing ourselves that it was correct," says Shoemaker. "It goes beyond that five-sigma to proving that nothing was happening with the equipment that couldn't be understood."

She's thrilled with the possibilities.

"Imagine having never been able to hear before and all you can do is see," she says. "Now we can listen to the universe where we were deaf before. It's a different spectrum (from the electromagnetic spectrum). It's unlike anything we've ever detected before."

"What's really exciting is what comes next," said Reitze at the announcement. "I think we're opening a window on the universe -- a window of gravitational wave astronomy."

Einstein would be surprised
Columbia University physicist Marka, who's been working on the project for more than a decade, said the discovery will open up new horizons, including direct tests of Einstein's general theory. Those could further support it -- or force physicists to come up with new ideas.

"A physicist is always looking for a flaw in a theory. And the only way to find a flaw is to test it," Marka told CNN. "Einstein's theory did not present any flaws to us yet, and that is really scary. Physicists are very (skeptical) of flawless theories because then we have nothing to do."

Ironically, Einstein didn't think gravitational waves would be discovered.

"He thought gravitational waves are a beautiful construct, but they are so small nobody would ever be able to actually measure it," said Marka.

CNN's Rachel Crane and Claudia Morales contributed to this story.

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Thanks ilan...:)

[Marley]

yea was reading all of this a few day ago he really did know his chit

[ilan]

How can you be that freakin' smart! It still floors me. Yes, he was a genius, but it seems like he went beyond that.

[catz]

The alien with in.

[ilan]

Tapping all cylinders to say the very least...

[Marley]

i think someday all of us we be einsteins

[Capt.Kangaroo]

https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-0/s480x480/10583891_10153494826231275_8929242396350931688_n.j pg?oh=143a3522331b7961088ead6dee1be5fa&oe=5769040C

[crazed 9.6]

that is pretty damn awesome Captain !
I had to read that like 3 times.
I got it thou,,, lol... nuts.

[Marley]

http://beforeitsnews.com/paranormal/2013/08/albert-einstein-top-secret-alien-document-2455624.html

[Kimbo]

Did someone say Laser?LOL...Awesome post Captain..I miss having the Thank you and Like Buttons but here is a smiley face :)
https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-0/s480x480/10583891_10153494826231275_8929242396350931688_n.j pg?oh=143a3522331b7961088ead6dee1be5fa&oe=5769040C

[ilan]

Einstein Quotes...

1. “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution."

2. “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly."

3. “Human knowledge and skills alone cannot lead humanity to a happy and dignified life. Humanity has every reason to place the proclaimers of high moral standards and values above the discoverers of objective truth."

4. “Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions."

5. “I, at any rate, am convinced that He (God) does not throw dice."

6. “The important thing is not to stop questioning; curiosity has its own reason for existing."

7. “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."

8. “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe."

9. “Falling in love is not at all the most stupid thing that people do— but gravitation cannot be held responsible for it."

10. “The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science."

11. “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."

12. “Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value"

13. “The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."

14. “The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits."

15. “Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character."

16. “Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas."

17. “Nature shows us only the tail of the lion. But I do not doubt that the lion belongs to it even though he cannot at once reveal himself because of his enormous size."

18. “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile."

19. “It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer."

20. “My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind."

21. “Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding."

22. “I never think of the future. It comes soon enough."

23. “Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics, I can assure you that mine are all greater"

24. “In order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep."

25. “The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible."

26. “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

27. “Truth is what stands the test of experience."

28. “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving"

29. “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

30. “Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down by the mind before you reach eighteen."

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Thanks guys...:)

[Blackbear199]

40 years ago...

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/video/40-years-ago-nasa-sent-a-message-to-aliens-%E2%80%94-heres-what-it-says/vi-BBpF9ZF

[ilan]

Cool... Here's hoping there's an audience some day.

[ilan]

Messages from around the world are to be beamed into space at the speed of light as part of a cultural project to create a celestial time capsule.

In autumn 2016, dispatches from the public will be converted into radio waves and broadcasted towards the North Star, Polaris, this autumn, reaching their destination in 434 years.

The interstellar message in a bottle will comprise of people's responses to a single question: how will our present environmental interactions shape the future?

A Simple Response to an Elemental Message is a collaboration between the University of Edinburgh, the Royal Observatory of Edinburgh, and the UK Astronomical Technology Centre (UKATC) along with other partners.

Within 21 hours of transmission, the signal will have travelled deeper into space than humankind's first message to the stars, Voyager 1, which was launched in 1977.

Project Coordinator Paul Quast said Polaris was chosen as the destination because of its cultural significance as a reference point for navigators and star gazers.

Researchers will be able to use the responses to gauge if there are significant geographical differences in how people think about the environment and the future of the planet.

Edinburgh College of Art postgraduate student Mr Quast said: "We are at a pivotal point in this planet's history. Our present ecological decisions will have a massive impact on the future for all Earth's inhabitants. This project will create a culturally-inspired message in a bottle capturing global perspectives that will travel into space for eons."

The public are invited to visit the official website
http://www.asimpleresponse.org and leave their contributions to be broadcast into the cosmos.

The website is available in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. German, Arabic, Russian and Mandarin will be available soon.

Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of Edinburgh. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Astronaut Scott Kelly is home


1491

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly is back on Earth.

Kelly and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov landed late Monday night in the Kazakhstan desert, NASA and Russian mission control said.

Kelly could be seen pumping his fist and giving a thumbs up after being hoisted from the Russian Soyuz spacecraft that brought the trio back.

All three underwent field tests immediately after leaving the spacecraft.

Spending 340 days in space could affect a person's vision and bones, but Kelly said last week that physically, he feels pretty good. "I could go for another 100 days or 100 years," the astronaut said during his last briefing with reporters from orbit.

But the long stay has also been lonely. "The hardest part is being isolated from people on the ground who are important to you," he said.

The space veteran said he has witnessed some of the most amazing scenes of Earth during his mission, like spotting the northern lights, passing over the Bahamas and watching huge storms like Hurricane Patricia

more..

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/01/us/astronaut-scott-kelly-one-year-mission-ending/index.html?sr=fbCNN030216astronaut-scott-kelly-one-year-mission-ending0634AMVODtopLink&linkId=21818482

cnn.com

[ilan]

Area 51: Testing facility or nucleus of alien research?

It’s shown up in movies, television shows, comics, novels, video games, and more. This week, we go in depth exploring the one, the only Area 51. If you want more conspiratorial weirdness, check out our previous looks at the Hall of Records, Stonehenge, and the Voynich Manuscript.

Area 51
About 80 miles northwest of Las Vegas, on the shore of a salt flat known as Groom Lake, lies Homey Airport, a United States Air Force facility that is much more commonly known as Area 51. Though not its official name, the name given to the facility in Vietnam-era CIA documents has stuck, due largely to its ominous sound and its prevalence in other media.

There’s a lot that we don’t know about Area 51 — in fact, we know shockingly little about the facility with any certainty — as even its primary reason for existing is kept under lock and key. While it’s not technically a “secret base,” that’s largely a semantic distinction, as it is surrounded by special-use airspace and everything that goes on inside of it is regarded as Top Secret.

In fact, even though the site had been a fixture in pop culture for years at that point, the CIA didn’t even publicly acknowledge that the base existed until 2013, and only then as a response to a Freedom of Information Act request from back in 2005. Unfortunately, while those documents did shed some light on how the base had been historically used, pointing toward it being a site meant for the development and testing of new aircraft and weapons, they still leave a lot of questions unanswered, and leave conspiracy theorists, naturally, unsatisfied.

First up? The name. “Area 51” was used by the CIA during the Vietnam war, but it’s still unclear where the name actually came from. The more mundane guesses have to do with the grid developed by the Atomic Energy Commission. But the problem with that answer is that there is no Area 51. This has been explained as being kind of the point, as the name was perhaps chosen because it wouldn’t ever be confused with a AEC number, but that explanation is somewhat lacking. As you might imagine, there are countless theories — most wholly unsubstantiated — as to the real meaning behind the site’s name.

What we do know is this: The test facility was first set up by the CIA back in 1955 as part of the development of the Lockheed U-2 spy plane. Given the fact that we were hip deep in the Cold War at that point, secrecy was of the utmost importance, which is why such a remote location was chosen (along with the ease of testing aircraft over such flat areas of land). The area was euphemistically christened “Paradise Ranch,” which was originally an attempt to lure workers to the area, but has since become just another source of conspiracy theories.

Groundbreaking and high-tech (but for this column’s purposes, not really all that interesting) aerodynamic tests and development continued to take place at the facility through the 1960s. By the end of the decade, though, the site began to serve another purpose, testing rival fighter aircraft, most notably the Soviet MiGs, and even pitting them against domestic planes. Many Area 51 conspiracy theories deal with aircraft tests, though they are typically not just from outside the country, but outside of our galaxy.

Outside of this rather mundane test and development history, Area 51 remains inscrutable even to military pilots, who can be subject to severe disciplinary action if they go to parts of the facility for which they are not cleared. The Air Force itself, however, almost became subject to disciplinary action back in 1994, when a lawsuit was brought against the USAF and the Environmental Protection Agency for the burning of dangerous chemicals in open pits. Conspiracy theories were fueled not just by the suit itself, but by the government’s response, which included President Bill Clinton exempting Area 51 from environmental disclosure laws meant to protect the public. Since then, the President of the United States has extended the Area 51 exception each year, which is some of the rare acknowledgement that there is indeed something unusual or special about the site.

However, that’s not the only measure that the government has taken to continually shroud Area 51 in mystery. In 1974, astronauts on Skylab 4 had taken pictures of the site, which led to a series of CIA memos about whether the photos should be destroyed or not, though they did eventually see print. Plus, there’s the simple fact that the area is continually guarded by closed circuit camera, motion censors, and signs that prohibit photography and announce to passersby that the “use of deadly force is authorized.”

Like many popular sources of conspiracy theories, there are countless explanations for what’s really going on in Area 51, with all of the usual suspects represented: Weather manipulation, time travel, extraplanar entities, the New World Order, the Illuminati, and, most notably, aliens.

This should come as no surprise, given the site’s proximity to Nevada State Route 375, better known as the Extraterrestrial Highway due to repeated claims of UFO sighting and other alien activity. Area 51 is also said to be where the government conducts studies of captured alien technology, as well as of aliens itself, including samples that were said to have been found at Roswell. Despite their link in the public consciousness, however, Area 51 is not near Roswell — it’s in a completely different state and more than 900 miles away.

While Area 51 is extremely well-known, reputable information on it is exceedingly hard to come by. There have been examples of individuals who have claimed to have worked on any number of projects at the site, including underground railroads and flying discs recovered from alien spacecraft, as well as experiments into telepathy. But these claims raise a very important question: If their tales of a top secret alien laboratory are true, why would the CIA allow them to talk about it in public?

Of course, it’s easy to fall down the “Well, maybe that’s what they want you to think!” rabbit hole, but at best, all that line of thinking does is prove that there’s not definitely nothing happening at Area 51, which, double negatives aside, is pretty much meaningless. Still, this supreme secrecy, combined with a high concentration of UFO sightings in the area, has led to countless conspiracy theorists subscribing to any number of wild ideas about the purpose of Area 51 and what goes on behind its doors, and beneath its floors. Of course, skeptics readily discount those UFO sightings as a result of the government’s aircraft testing and people seeing what they want to see.

What do you think? Is Area 51 exactly what the government says it is? An Air Force research base kept under wraps in the name of national security? Or is there something, stranger, weirder, and perhaps more nefarious going on inside of it? Tell us below in the comments!


http://www.geek.com/news/area-51-testing-facility-or-nucleus-of-alien-research-1649338/

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Thanks ilan.:)
Area 6 is a new test site thats starting to make the news now.:cool:

http://i.livescience.com/images/i/000/081/758/i02/Area-6-hangars6.jpg?1457388368


http://www.livescience.com/53967-area-6-tests-drone-planes.html

[Marley]

its funny the government give us the latest info but its 25 yrs old

[wickedjoker]

Probably will be the new test site for the new Long range bomber that was awarded to Northrop gonna be a beautiful plane.



http://breakingdefense.com/2015/11/why-northrop-won-the-lrs-bomber/

or they just using it as a base to spy on the american people...


http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/03/09/pentagon-admits-has-deployed-military-spy-drones-over-us/81474702/

I love me a good conspiracy...

[ilan]

Obama 'alien contact' quip fuels rumours 2016 WILL be the year of UFO disclosure

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama has refused to deny the existence of aliens fuelling hopes among UFO believers 2016 will be the year the truth comes from "out there" to over here.

By JON AUSTIN
PUBLISHED: 14:49, Tue, Feb 16, 2016 | UPDATED: 15:41, Tue, Feb 16, 2016

Obama, who will give up office in January 2017, was put on the spot by a six-year-old girl who pulled no punches during a Q&A at a filming of the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

The direct youngster, Macey Hensley, asked Obama about the fabled "Book of Secrets" from the 2007 National Treasure movie of the same name starring Nicholas Cage, reported The Wall Street Journal.

In the film the legendary book is said to contain details about the top-secret military "alien base" Area 51 and the assasination of President Kennedy, and Obama has previously joked about having seen it.

Macey asked the president if it did indeed did hold information about contact with aliens, but he said: "That’s a secret.”

The girl theorised to Mr Obama that the “secrets” in the book could say whether “aliens are real".

According to a report by breitbart.com, the president replied: "We haven’t actually made direct contact with aliens yet.

“When we do, I’ll let you know.”

Previous presidents, including Bill Clinton, have reacted in a similar tongue-in-cheek fashion when put on the spot over the alien question.

And Obama's refusal to out right deny the existence of aliens to the girl has buoyed alien chasers that 2016 will be a turning point for so called alien disclosure.

It could be down to the X-Files returning to our screens this year, but conspiracy theorists and UFO hunters have been in overdrive since Hilary Clinton vowed in January she would send a task force into Area 51 to see what is going on there and get to the bottom of what the White House knows about aliens if she gets elected.

The disclosure movement want all world governments, and particularly the US, to release all confidential files they hold on aliens and UFOs.

There has already been much speculation about this year being the time for disclosure.

This was bolstered by an Express.co.uk explosive report yesterday which revealed a former US navy officer has contacted investigators to break his silence over thousands of confidential UFO files he claims to have seen, including some containing so-called "alien hieroglyphs."

One disclosure conspiracist, 34, told Express.co.uk: "Whenever a US president or senior official is put on the spot they get this smile and say something like 'I couldn't tell you even if I knew'…or something like that.

"You will never get a total denial, but it is a double bluff.

"Take what Obama just said to the girl 'we haven't made DIRECT contact.' He says it like they know they are there, so what about indirect contact? They can't hold it in much longer."

[ilan]

Hubble finds 'monster stars'

By Todd Leopold, CNN, Updated 1:40 PM ET, Fri March 18, 2016

(CNN)There are monsters in the universe.

That's the description of stars photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope, which took a shot of the R136 star cluster and revealed nine stars more than 100 times the mass of the sun, according to a statement from spacetelescope.org.

Hubble is operated by the European Space Agency and NASA.

One of the stars is R136a1, the most massive star known in the universe. Even the lesser stars in R136 are huge: "Dozens" of them exceed 50 sun masses, said the release.

They're also incredibly bright, with the nine largest stars together outshining the sun by a factor of 30 million.

R136 is about 170,000 light years away, in the Tarantula Nebula within the Large Magellanic Cloud. To give an idea of this distance, Alpha Centauri -- the closest star system to Earth -- is about 4.3 light years away, or about 25 trillion miles.

The discovery offers more information on star formation -- and, in terms of the cosmic scale, just in time. Massive stars live for only a few million years before going supernova.

Paul Crowther, a University of Sheffield astrophysicist and lead author of the study, praised Hubble for the revelations.

"Once again, our work demonstrates that, despite being in orbit for over 25 years, there are some areas of science for which Hubble is still uniquely capable," he said.

The results will be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

[Blackbear199]

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/whats-up-in-space-ceres-bright-spots-circular-solar-prominence-wandering-lunar-poles/65444/

[Capt.Kangaroo]

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/whats-up-in-space-ceres-bright-spots-circular-solar-prominence-wandering-lunar-poles/65444/
Thanks Blackbear...:)

[ilan]

http://cdn.phys.org/newman/gfx/news/hires/2016/56f1195fd84a0.jpg

For the first time, scientists have been given a look at the moment of extreme brightness when a star goes supernova in visible light.

In fact, not one, but two exploding stars were captured by the Kepler space telescope in 2011. Two red supergiants exploded in what are known as Type II supernovae, which occur when the star's core collapses and violently explodes in rapid succession. The shockwave, or shock breakout, of this explosion only lasts about 20 minutes, so capturing one of these events is incredible.

The international team, led by astrophysics professor Peter Garnavich of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, went looking for supernovae in the Kepler data. They analysed data from a three-year period, wherein Kepler captured images every 30 minutes, covering over 500 galaxies and 50 trillion stars.


https://cnet1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2016/03/23/8cab5fa3-24e5-4636-9944-c55363028311/resize/270xauto/dc18d285234fa557c2afff437a883169/supernova.jpg
Cassiopeia A, a nebula left behind after a Type IIb supernova. Until now, these remnants were the best way to study exploding stars.

They found what they were looking for with KSN 2011a and KSN 2011d. The first of the two supernovae occurred some 700 million light-years away, with a star nearly 300 times the size of the sun. The second occurred 1.2 billion light-years away, with a star around 500 times that of the sun.

Their research has been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal and is available to read in full on arXiv

Although both supernovae showed similar energy levels, and closely matched the mathematical models for Type II supernovae, only KSN 2011d was followed by a shock breakout.

This is not disappointing. By comparing the two very similar events, the team was able to look at the differences between them to figure out why one had a shock breakout and one did not. In the case of KSN 2011a, the team hypothesises that a gas cloud around the star absorbed or masked the shock breakout.

"That is the puzzle of these results," said Garnavich. "You look at two supernovae and see two different things. That's maximum diversity."

This discovery is important because actually observing an event in action will allow scientists to gauge much more accurately how that event came to pass. And understanding supernovae will help understand how not just elements, but life itself, have been scattered throughout the universe. This is in keeping with Kepler's mission to find life outside the solar system.

"All heavy elements in the universe come from supernova explosions. For example, all the silver, nickel, and copper in the Earth and even in our bodies came from the explosive death throes of stars," said Steve Howell, project scientist for NASA's Kepler and K2 missions.

"Life exists because of supernovae."

[ilan]

Mystery Object Slams into Jupiter

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4LiL7RYG7ac/sddefault.jpg
Note bright spot of impact on right side

Video and news story...


http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/30/world/object-hits-jupiter-irpt/index.html

[Capt.Kangaroo]

c/p
ITER is the name of a gigantic machine that will change the world in 2022. The budget used for its construction is 12,000 billion surpassing that of the International Space Station, the Apollo missions and the Manhattan Project. The function of this machine will create infinite energy for the planet through nuclear fusion. For this, the machine will be able to create a small-scale sun. The problem arises when many scientists say there is immense to try to stabilize the sun inside the machine, getting to think about the possibility of creating a black hole danger. This project in turn holds something far darker, laser use atomic weapons enhancer, capable of erasing any target from space. What dark intentions are hidden by the creation of this machine?

Scary stuff, check the link for info

https://www.iter.org/

[ilan]

Seems like they'd have to have a couple of thousand troops guarding this thing from the air, the land and the sea. If it fell into the wrong hands or was tampered with, it sounds like the apocalypse could be unleashed.

Of course, this reminds me a little of the fears in the 1930's that the first atomic bomb test would destroy the planet.

"There was a fear that the detonation of that first bomb would also initiate the destruction of the world. This fear was based on the exceedingly small but finite probability that the explosion of this bomb would initiate an unstoppable chain reaction in the most common element in the world: hydrogen. Their fears were perhaps not totally unfounded, as a rumor persists that the energy liberated by that bomb exceeded the very best theoretical calculations by as much as twenty percent, begging the question 'where did it come from?'


http://www.scienceiq.com/Facts/AtomicAndHydrogenBombs.cfm

[Marley]

Stephen Hawking announces $100 million hunt for alien life

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/07/20/stephen-hawking-announces-100-million-hunt-for-alien-life/

[ilan]

1607

From the American Museum of Natural History

"What may have started as a science fiction speculation — that perhaps the universe as we know it is a computer simulation — has become a serious line of theoretical and experimental investigation among physicists, astrophysicists, and philosophers.

"On April 5, watch live as host and moderator Neil deGrasse Tyson, Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium, and a panel of experts hold a lively discussion about the merits and shortcomings of this provocative and revolutionary idea."

The debate will feature the following panelists:

David Chalmers: Professor of philosophy, New York University
Zohreh Davoudi: Theoretical physicist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
James Gates: Theoretical physicist, University of Maryland
Lisa Randall: Theoretical physicist, Harvard University
Max Tegmark: Cosmologist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

- To watch and see more visit:
http://www.space.com/17933-nasa-television-webcasts-live-space-tv.html#sthash.efVbEg6Y.dpuf

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Thanks ilan. I had a similar post here. Post 22
http://iptvtalk.net/showthread.php?79-Space-News-UFO-s-Etc-(Discussion-Pics-Vids)/page3

[ilan]

That's a good read. It's mind blowing stuff. I'm going to catch some of the program, as long as it doesn't go too far over my head...and that doesn't take much :)

================

On the technical side, do you know if there's a way to increase the size of an uploaded image, rather than having it be a default, click-resizable thumbnail? I captured that image from the video feed. I note the code is

[ATT*CH=CONFIG]1111[ATT*CH]

On another board, that same code could be surrounded with resize brackets, specifying the height or width in the opening bracket. I tried that here but the code was not understood.

Thanks, Cap...

[Marley]

I think there was a mistake made in the universe and here we are .

[Capt.Kangaroo]

That's a good read. It's mind blowing stuff. I'm going to catch some of the program, as long as it doesn't go too far over my head...and that doesn't take much :)

================

On the technical side, do you know if there's a way to increase the size of an uploaded image, rather than having it be a default, click-resizable thumbnail? I captured that image from the video feed. I note the code is

[ATT*CH=CONFIG]1111[ATT*CH]

On another board, that same code could be surrounded with resize brackets, specifying the height or width in the opening bracket. I tried that here but the code was not understood.

Thanks, Cap...
thanks ilan, yes some codes don't work here with images. Just about have to resize in an image program (gimp) and then upload.
Also if you upload a pic from pc, you can double click on it and tell it what size you want, ex...small,medium,large or full size.
1614
Good stuff you guys are posting. keep it up...:)

[ilan]

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/130207133023-asteroid-earth-graphic-horizontal-large-gallery.jpg


Space probe finds 72 new objects near Earth

(CNN) When you think of Earth, do you see our bright blue planet floating out in the vast darkness of space? Maybe you imagine the ring of satellites and spacecraft circling the planet.

But do you see the space rocks that could plunge into our planet, causing major destruction?

NASA does.

It's using a spacecraft called the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Survey Explorer, known as NEOWISE, to track near-Earth objects -- asteroids and comets -- that could hit our planet.

NEOWISE has discovered 72 new NEOs since 2013. The tally includes eight objects that are classified as potentially hazardous asteroids -- asteroids that could one day approach or hit Earth.

NEOWISE also is helping scientists study space rocks detected earlier by ground-based telescopes. It's provided new information on a total of 439 NEOs previously detected by those telescopes.

"NEOWISE discovers large, dark, near-Earth objects, complementing our network of ground-based telescopes operating at visible-light wavelengths. On average, these objects are many hundreds of meters across," Amy Mainzer, NEOWISE principal investigator, said in a news release.

If you combine the number of NEOs spotted by the satellite with the ones identified by ground-based telescopes, a total of 14,246 NEOs had been detected as of this week

So now that you know Earth isn't sitting out in empty space, you may have some questions.

Are these things going to hit us?

According to NASA's Near Earth Object Program, no big space rocks are likely to hit us anytime soon.

But keep in mind that smaller space rocks can slip by undetected. Remember Chelyabinsk? There was no warning before a meteor streaked across the sky over Russia on February 15, 2013, and exploded, shattering windows and injuring hundreds of people.

If we do spot a big asteroid or comet on a collision course with Earth, what can we do?

Maybe we could nuke it, according to NASA. Here's what the agency's Asteroid and Comet Watch page says:

"Unless there are a few decades of warning time, hazardous asteroids larger than a few hundred meters in diameter will require enormous energies to deflect or fragment. In the rare case of a large threatening asteroid, nuclear explosions that could push or fragment the object might provide a sufficient response."

Where do these space rocks come from?

NEOs "have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of the giant planets in our solar system into orbits that allow them to enter Earth's neighborhood," according to space scientists.

Besides tracking them, what's being doing to protect the Earth from NEOs?

NASA says "no government agency, national or international, has been tasked or accepted the responsibility to stop such an asteroid, should one be discovered."

The space agency is working on a mission to "redirect" an asteroid if it threatens Earth. But that mission won't be ready to go until the 2020s.

So if you want do something yourself, NASA also has issued an "Asteroid Grand Challenge." Here's how it works: Find asteroids, win a prize and possibly save the Earth.

[Marley]

Scientists Nuke a Fake Comet to Create Ingredients for Life

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/scientists-nuke-a-fake-comet-to-create-ingredients-for-life/ar-BBruixo?li=BBnbcA1

[ilan]

Well, we may really have come from outerspace. We are, in fact, aliens! Cool find, asft!

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Nice link asft.:)
We are stardust...

[Capt.Kangaroo]

NASA asked to explain 'Millennium Falcon' UFO that appeared in live feed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yQZkuO1PCo

TBCA
A space enthusiast has demanded NASA explain a "UFO" after an unexplained patch of light in the shape of a Star Wars spacecraft appeared above the earth during a live feed.


Jadon Beeson was watching a stream of the International Space Station on his iPhone on Tuesday when a strange object appeared in the background.


The 20-year-old Brit said NASA "cut the live feed for an hour" after it showed up.


He says he has asked NASA explain the "clearly defined UFO", which was broadcast on NASA's official app, but they have not responded.


"It was unquestionably real and present. It looked like the Millennium Falcon," he told The Mirror, referring to Han Solo's spaceship in Star Wars.


It is the second time in a month NASA has been accused of covering up "UFO" activity.


Scott Waring noticed a strange metallic object while watching footage from the International Space Station (ISS) on March 9.


Like Mr Beeson, he claimed NASA cut the footage after it appeared.


A likely explanation for the objects is that they are merely two of the 500,000 pieces of space junk NASA estimates are orbiting around Earth.


© ninemsn 2016

[ilan]

Amazing Videos Show SpaceX's Epic Ocean Rocket Landing

http://space.com/images/i/000/054/667/i02/spacex-rocket-landing-sea.jpg

Two new videos let you relive SpaceX's incredible rocket landing at sea, giving two different perspectives of the historic event — including a stunning rocket's-eye view.

On Friday (April 8), SpaceX brought the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket down for a soft landing on a robotic "drone ship" in the Atlantic Ocean during the successful launch of the company's Dragon cargo capsule toward the International Space Station. SpaceX soon released two videos, which were captured by cameras aboard the booster stage and a monitoring "chase plane," respectively. We combined the two short clips into one awesome video of the SpaceX rocket landing here. (See link below.)

Nobody had ever landed a rocket on a ship at sea prior to Friday's milestone flight. SpaceX had tried such drone-ship touchdowns four times in the past and missed narrowly; on every occasion, the Falcon 9 stage managed to hit its target but fell over on the ship's deck and exploded.

Video:


http://www.space.com/32526-spacex-rocket-landing-at-sea-captured-by-on-board-camera-chase-plane-video.html

[ilan]

The planet hunter searching for another Earth

By Jacopo Prisco, for CNN
Updated 12:18 PM ET, Mon April 11, 2016

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/151204123741-expoplanets-1-hd106906b-super-169.jpg

I want to find another Earth. That's what I'm living for."

MIT astrophysicist Sara Seager has been looking at planets beyond our solar system, known as exoplanets, for almost 20 years.

When the first ones were discovered in the 1990s, many questioned the finding and didn't think it was real. But since then, with better technology, we have observed more than 6,000 of them, most of which are giant balls of gas.

Today, the list grows every week.

With so many planets now coming out of hiding, the race is on to identify one that resembles Earth: a rocky world with liquid water just like ours, and suitable to host life.

Seager believes she knows how to make that discovery.

'These aren't planets!'

It's not easy to see exoplanets as you can't just look at them through a telescope. This is due to the blinding light coming from their host stars, which can be very different in size and features compared to our sun. The process is often described as trying to spot a firefly circling a lighthouse, from thousands of miles away.


"As many as one in five stars like the sun could have a planet with liquid water."
Prof. Sara Seager, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

The first ones were discovered indirectly, in 1995, by just looking at stars to see if they would wobble slightly, responding to the pull of another object's gravity

At this time, Seager was a graduate student at Harvard searching for a topic for her Ph.D. and she was intrigued by the newborn field of faraway planets.

"Since the planets were discovered indirectly, most people didn't believe that the discoveries were real. They'd say to me 'Why are you doing this? These aren't planets!'," says Seager.

The contrarians weren't entirely wrong: the wobble can be caused by other factors such as another star and several planet discoveries have been retracted over time for this reason.

But then a different technique was found to make their hunt easier, called transit. This is when a planet moves in front of its host star and causes the star's light to dim slightly.

"One of the planets from the wobble technique showed transit: it went in front of the star at exactly the time it was predicted to and that was basically incontrovertible," says Seager.

Exoplanets were real.

[Marley]

Scientists are preparing for a solar superstorm that could cause $2 trillion in damages

http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/wonder/scientists-are-preparing-for-a-solar-superstorm-that-could-cause-dollar2-trillion-in-damages/vi-BBrERdr

[ilan]

That would be a mess and would give new meaning to the term "storm damage." Interesting post, asft!

[Marley]

Russian billionaire and Internet investor Yuri Milner, together with physicist Stephen Hawking, announced a plan Tuesday to send tiny robotic spacecrafts into deep space using lasers.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/wonder/stephen-hawking-and-yuri-milner-unveil-nanocrafts-plan/vi-BBrGNfW

[ilan]

APRIL 12, 1961: THE FIRST HUMAN IN SPACE
12 Apr , 2016 by Evan Gough

http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Yuri-Gagarin1.jpg
Yuri Gagarin, the first human to break free of Earth's gravity and enter space. Credit: Russian Archives

On April 12th, 1961, the first human being broke free of the gravity bond with Earth, and orbited the planet.

Though most everyone is familiar with the American Apollo astronauts who walked on the Moon, what it took to get there, and the “One small step…” of Neil Armstrong, fewer people are familiar with Yuri Gagarin, the Soviet cosmonaut who was the first human in space. He orbited Earth in his Vostok 1 spacecraft for 108 minutes.

Gagarin became an international celebrity at the time. He received the USSR’s highest honor, the Hero of the Soviet Union. Quite an honor, and quite an achievement for someone who, as a child, survived the Nazi occupation of Russia by living in a tiny mud hut with those members of his family who were not deported for slave labour by the Germans.

The Space Race between the USA and the USSR was in full swing at the time of Gagarin’s flight, and only one month after Gagarin’s historic journey, American astronaut Alan Shepard reached space. But Shepard’s journey was only a 15 minute sub-orbital flight.

Gagarin only has one space flight to his credit, aboard the Vostok 1 in 1961. He did serve as back-up crew for the Soyuz 1 mission though. Gagarin was a test pilot before becoming a cosmonaut, and he died while piloting a Mig-15 fighter jet in 1968.

Space travel in our age is full of ‘firsts.’ It’s the nature of our times. But there can only ever be one first person to leave Earth, and that accomplishment will echo down the ages. Scores of people have been into space now. Their accomplishments are impressive, and they deserve recognition.

But this day belongs to Yuri Gagarin.

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Thanks ilan.
Happy Anniversary Yuri, you changed our world.

[ilan]

Yes, a heroic effort on Yuri's part. There were many theories/conspiracy theories surrounding his very early demise.

Yuri Gagarin death mystery solved after 40 years
By Andrew Osborn in Moscow
6:00AM GMT 08 Jan 2010

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01442/1961-1st-manVostok_1442391c.jpg

Independent Russian investigators say they have uncovered crucial new evidence which finally reveals how the world's first man in space died aged just 34.

The study claims Gagarin's death during a routine training flight in 1968 was caused by his panicked reaction after realising an air vent in his cockpit was open.

He threw his MiG-15 fighter jet into such a steep dive that he blacked out and crashed into a forest below killing himself and his co-pilot.

Igor Kuznetsov, a retired Soviet air force colonel, believes his findings will end years of conspiracy theories ranging from claims Gagarin was drunk to allegations the accident was staged by jealous Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.

He has spent the past nine years with a group of aviation specialists, piecing together the circumstances using modern accident investigation techniques.

Gagarin died on a routine flight seven years after he shot to global fame by orbiting the Earth for 68 minutes. His mission handed the Soviet Union a spectacular propaganda coup and Gagarin quickly became the USSR's biggest star.

But the findings of the original investigation into his death have never been published and are known to have been vague.

Investigators were only able to conclude that "the most probable cause" was a sudden in-flight manoeuvre made to avoid a weather balloon or cloud cover.

But after studying hundreds of documents relating to the incident, Col Kuznetsov has concluded that an air vent in the cockpit was left partially open.

He said Gagarin and his co-pilot realised the cockpit was not hermetically sealed as they were approaching 10,000ft and took emergency action to descend to a safer altitude.

But according to Col Kuznetsov, the two men dived far too quickly and lost consciousness as a result – the plane then ploughed into a forest killing Gagarin and his trainer, Vladimir Seryogin, instantly.

Medical knowledge at the time meant the pilots would not have known it was dangerous to descend at such speed.

The operating instructions for the MiG-15 were also flawed, he adds, and did not specify how the pilots were supposed to use the fateful air vent.

Col Kuznetsov also raises the suggestion a careless pilot who used the same plane in the days leading up to crash may have been to blame for the open vent.

Until now, it had been thought that Gagarin himself was the last person to use the plane two days previously.

But Kuznetsov says he has now learnt that other pilots simulated a flight in the same plane prior to Gagarin's fatal flight. He believes they may have tampered with the air vent and wants to determine their identity and what kind of training they were doing.

"Nobody knows what really happened except us," said Col Kuznetsov. "We need to tell our people and the international community the real reason why the world's first cosmonaut died.

"This part-open vent triggered the entire sequence of events that followed. These new facts need to be checked independently and by a government commission. Or even by foreign specialists."

Col Kuznetsov says he wants space and aviation experts around the world to get involved to confirm his findings.

==========

Ilan: Lets hope he rests in peace and is regarded in high esteem. He was a hero regardless of your nationality! I'm not Russian but I respect his effort!

[Capt.Kangaroo]

^^^^^Like^^^^^

[nada233]

very interesting piece of information Ilan,thank you.

[ilan]

How to Spot Mercury in the Evening Sky
By: Kelly Beatty | April 15, 2016

If you've never seen this fleet-footed planet, now is a great time to look for it in the evening sky after sunset.


Right now Jupiter reigns supreme in the evening sky after sunset. But it's not the only bright planet in view. For the next week you can spot Mercury low in the west about 45 minutes after sunset. If you're never seen the innermost planet before, this is a good month to look for it.



Because it's the innermost planet, Mercury is never far from the Sun in the sky. This proximity makes it tricky to spot — when Mercury is above the horizon, the Sun usually is too; when the Sun has dropped from sight enough for the sky to be dark, it's usually dragged the planet along as well. Even in the very best of geometric circumstances, Mercury and the Sun can never appear more than 28° apart in the sky.


http://www.skyandtelescope.com/wp-content/uploads/Mercury-on-April-15th.jpg
If your sky is clear after sunset, Mercury is easy to spot low in the west during mid-April.


Moreover, this fast-moving planet orbits the Sun so quickly, once every 88 days, that it can't stay put for very long. Instead, it jumps between the morning and evening sky multiple times each year.

But some times are better than others for trying to glimpse this celestial speedster — and this is one of those times. Mercury is in the midst of its best evening-sky appearance of the year. And its angular separation from the Sun will reach 20°, what astronomers call greatest elongation, on April 18th.

So if you've got an unobstructed view toward west and it's clear at sunset, step outside for a few minutes to track down this elusive planet. Bring along binoculars if you have them, so you can take in one last view of the Pleiades, somewhat higher up in the western sky, before they sink out of view in the coming weeks.

But don't wait too long! Mercury is getting a little dimmer with each passing day, and by early May it will be too low and faint to spot.

[ilan]

NASA finds cosmic dust speeding through our solar system
By Jareen Imam, CNN
Updated 7:01 AM ET, Sun April 17, 2016



http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/160416115647-cassini-saturn-dust-illustration-exlarge-169.jpg
Detected at Saturn: dust that came from beyond our solar system


(CNN) NASA just discovered some special particles floating in our cosmic neighborhood.

The Cassini spacecraft, which has been orbiting Saturn since 2004, has detected alien dust that came from outside our solar system.

Scientists suspect that this dust is interstellar in origin because it moves fast and in different directions, compared to the dust found on Saturn, according to a recently published report in the Journal of Science. And although this alien dust was faint, it had a distinct signature.

Cassini has been studying the gas giant and its moons. During its tenure, the spacecraft used its cosmic dust analyzer to sample millions of ice-rich dust grains.

Understanding the makeup of interstellar dust can help scientists learn more about how stars, planets and, ultimately, our universe has taken shape.

Most of those dust came from Saturn's active moon Enceladus. The moon, which has a global ocean and other geographic features, has active jets that spray dust particles into space.

Out of the millions of cosmic particles the spacecraft collected, 36 were special. These were alien dust grains. Scientists concluded that the dust came from interstellar space -- the void that exists between stars.

Scientists have come across alien dust in our solar system before, so the discovery is not unprecedented. In the 1990s, international researchers from the ESA/NASA Ulysses mission made an observation of foreign dust, which was traced back to an interstellar cloud.

"From that discovery, we always hoped we would be able to detect these interstellar interlopers at Saturn with Cassini. We knew that if we looked in the right direction, we should find them," said Nicolas Altobelli, Cassini project scientist at the European Space Agency and lead author of the study.

These microscopic dust particles were traveling at high speed through space when Cassini detected them. They were moving at a rate of 45,000 mph, a speed so fast the dust can essentially avoid being trapped by our sun's gravitational forces.

Unlike previous missions, Cassini was able to analyze the alien dust, which revealed the dust grains were made of minerals, not ice. The composition was primarily rock-forming elements such has magnesium, silicon, iron and calcium.

Stardust found in some meteorites are generally pristine and diverse because they have been preserved since the birth of our universe. But the particles Cassini picked up are not like that.

Instead, these particles pretty much have the same chemical makeup, which is surprising. Scientists theorize that when the dust was created from a dying star, it was destroyed and reformed, shaping similar cosmic particles every time.

"Cosmic dust is produced when stars die, but with the vast range of types of stars in the universe, we naturally expected to encounter a huge range of dust types over the long period of our study," said Frank Postberg of the University of Heidelberg, a co-author of the paper and co-investigator of Cassini's dust analyzer.
------------------

See CNN for more in-depth coverage of this story:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/16/tech/cosmic-dust-nasa-cassini-irpt/index.html

[ilan]

Huge Sunspot Turns Earthward
11 Apr, 2016 by David Dickinson (Universe Today)

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_vBjD-JgTc4/VwqL2VNlLcI/AAAAAAAAMh4/cLDAol8S5Ac7ZqfKI9UOj6A1lImTGOvwA/s400/2016-04-10-Sunset2.png


Our seemly placid host star is just full of surprises.

Just one week ago, it looked like we were set to enter the first spotless stretch of 2016, as the Earthward face of Sol presented one lonely sunspot group going ’round the limb, headed towards the solar far side.

Ah, but a few days can make all the difference when it comes to solar astronomy. Late Sunday night we were flooded with new solar images taken by observers worldwide, showing the emergence of sunspot active region AR 2529. This monster spot is easily already number one with a bullet for 2016.

And as Gadi Eidelheit based in Israel notes, you can already see AR 2529 without magnification, using solar filter glasses:



http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/ezgif.com-resize.gif
The evolution of sunspot active region
AR 2529 over the past weekend. Image credit: NASA/SDO


How big will AR 2529 get? One thing is for certain: it’ll be turned directly Earthward in just a few days. AR 2529 currently harbors the potential for C-class flares, and could send some love our way in the form of solar flares, and just maybe a coronal mass ejection or two. This also means we could be in for a fine aurora display later this weekend for folks living in high latitudes.

This development certainly goes against the prevailing trend. One swallow certainly does not make a spring, and AR 2529 appeared just as we were sliding back towards another solar activity minimum for sunspot cycle 24. The last solar minimum back in 2009 was the deepest in over a century, and some heliophysicists speculate that Cycle #25 may be absent all together. Another idea in the solar astronomy community is that perhaps the classic use of sunspot numbers does not completely describe current solar activity, and perhaps the orientation of what’s known as the solar heliospheric current sheet paints a more accurate picture.

Can you see it? We urge all owners of solar scopes and eclipse glasses to get out and try to spot AR 2529 this week. Welder’s glass #14 works great as well. Do not, of course, stare at the Sun unprotected, or attempt the long list of unsafe methods we’ve heard of over the years, to include smoked glass, sunglasses, exposed film negatives, screw-on eyepiece filters, etc. All of these are dangerous.


http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/26085369540_e24435b3d5_o.jpg
Sunspot Active Region 2529, along with a dramatic white-light flare
imaged on April 10th. Image Credit: Chris Kennedy.


You can also safely project the image of the Sun onto a piece of paper using binoculars and see large sunspots… or you can watch the daily growth and progression of AR 2529 via NASA’s Spaceweather website or the joint NASA/ESA Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) mission.

------------------------

Tribute to the sunspot:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRWyxzmNdJc

[ilan]

Image of a solar flare erupting from AR 2529...



http://www.space.com/images/i/000/054/860/i02/solar-flare-heart-shaped-sunspot.gif
This footage from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft shows
the heart-shaped sunspot AR 2529 firing off an M6.7 solar flare on April 17, 2016.
Credit: NASA/SDO/Goddard

[Capt.Kangaroo]

http://www.missopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/April-Full-Pink-Moon-to-Be-Visible-This-Week-Across-the-US.jpg

April Full Pink Moon to Be Visible This Week Across the US

The full moon will peak on Friday at 1:25 a.m. EDT. While the moon doesn’t actually change color, Pink Moon is the nickname given to the April full moon. It is also called the Seed Moon or Egg Moon.
Friday, April 22nd, 2016 brings us a Full Moon in Scorpio – and between Mars Retrograde, and the Full Moon, it may feel as though you’re being pulled in all different directions.
Unresolved issues from the past are becoming ever-present in the present, and worries of the future may cause you to feel like you’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. While it may seem like everything is falling apart, in reality – things are falling together, and whatever is breaking down right now, is creating new room for a more expansive experience.
Astrologically speaking, this Full Moon creates a standoff between Taurus and Scorpio, which calls for us to find balance and personal security, but to check our ego and do some deep work on our soul. Everything is changing rapidly, but as things shift their shape – don’t forget to stay grounded, and try not to allow the energy to thwart your equilibrium. If you keep your balance, you may find a pleasant surprise over the weekend when Venus joins with Uranus, which will open your heart and mind to abundance…but don’t be too pushy, practice the art of allowing and let it be what it’s meant to be.
April’s Full Moon is also referred to as the Full Pink Moon, which carries a very powerful energetic signature…


“The kind of grass that is called pink or wild ground phlox is one of the earliest, widespread flowers of the spring. Other names for this same moon were the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon and — among coastal tribes — the Full Fish Moon, when the shad came upstream to spawn.
April’s full moon will also coincide with the peak of the annual Lyrid meteor shower but don’t expect a dazzling display of shooting stars. The bright moonlight will wash out most meteors this year. The moon also will NOT turn green this year despite an Internet rumor. ” (via Space.com)


In using the nature energies that surround this Full Moon as a guide to deepen the appreciation and understanding of the shape of things to come – both the sprouting grass, and the egg can serve as great metaphors for guidance. For grass to grow, a seed must be planted, cared for, and tended to…while it takes time, light and care – eventually the grass breaks through the dirt/darkness, and reaches the surface to stand tall and proud in the sunshine.
The same thought process can be applied to the egg as the “teacher” and a great quote to serve as a mantra for this time period is the following “if an egg is broken by an outside force, life ends. If an egg is broken from an inside force, life begins. Great things happen from the inside”.
Stand tall and proud, look within and allow what’s meant to manifest, remember to stay balanced and calm – and not allow the ego to trick you. Look deep into your soul, enjoy the change of seasons, fall in to what’s meant to be and let go of what’s not.

[ilan]

Purdy and some good philosophical meanderings as well :) Thanks, Cap...

[ilan]

Researchers Spy Traces of a Supernova In Earth-bound Cosmic Rays
Cosmic rays pelting the upper atmosphere are evidence of a recent supernova in the cosmic neighborhood.
By John Wenz | Published: Thursday, April 21, 2016

http://www.astronomy.com/-/media/Images/News%20and%20Observing/News/2016/04/LMC_bubble.jpg
Cosmic rays are accelerated toward Earth by the same kind of supernova explosions
that carved this bubble into the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Gemini South Telescope in Chile; composite by Travis Rector of the University of Alaska Anchorage


Sometime in the last few million years, a not-so-far-off supernova sent charged particles known as cosmic rays out in all directions. The scattered, stripped nuclei of radioactive iron isotopes eventually made their way to Earth as part of a larger stream of material. Now, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have found traces of this stream bombarding our planet, bringing interstellar atomic debris crashing into Earth.

In a paper published today in Science, the researchers report on the findings of 17 years worth of observation from the Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer aboard NASA’s ACE craft. During that time, it detected 15 individual nuclei of iron-60, a by-product of supernova explosions. Because iron-60 tends to decay quickly, and cosmic rays don’t quite reach the speed of light, that means the supernova was likely local.

[anon2599]

Thank`s ilan for your recent array of superb! pics...... I especially love the sunspot phenomenon one.

[ilan]

It's amazing that hot spinning orb is only a few feet away (relatively speaking, of course) and it's kicking up these incredible storms yet we hardly notice.

[ilan]

Cosmic beacons reveal the Milky Way’s ancient core

Astronomers have discovered that the central 2,000 light-years within the Milky Way Galaxy hosts an ancient population of stars.
By Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics, Potsdam, Germany | Published: Friday, April 22, 2016


http://www.astronomy.com/-/media/Images/News%20and%20Observing/News/2016/04/Planeofourgalaxy.jpg?mw=1000&mh=800

An international team of astronomers led by Andrea Kunder of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) in Germany has discovered that the central 2,000 light-years within the Milky Way Galaxy hosts an ancient population of stars. These stars are more than 10 billion years old and their orbits in space preserve the early history of the formation of the Milky Way.

For the first time the team kinematically disentangled this ancient component from the stellar population that currently dominates the mass of the central galaxy. The astronomers used the AAOmega spectrograph on the Anglo Australian Telescope near Siding Spring, Australia, and focused on a well-known and ancient class of stars, called RR Lyrae variables. These stars pulsate in brightness roughly once a day, which make them more challenging to study than their static counterparts, but they have the advantage of being “standard candles.” RR Lyrae stars allow exact distance estimations and are found only in stellar populations more than 10 billion years old, for example, in ancient halo globular clusters. The velocities of hundreds of stars were simultaneously recorded toward the constellation Sagittarius over an area of the sky larger than the full Moon. The team therefore was able to use the age stamp on the stars to explore the conditions in the central part of our Milky Way when it was formed.

Just as London and Paris are built on more ancient Roman or even older remains, our Milky Way Galaxy also has multiple generations of stars that span the time from its formation to the present. Since heavy elements, referred to by astronomers as “metals,” are brewed in stars, subsequent stellar generations become more and more metal-rich. Therefore, the most ancient components of our Milky Way are expected to be metal-poor stars. Most of our galaxy’s central regions are dominated by metal-rich stars, meaning that they have approximately the same metal content as our Sun and are arrayed in a football-shaped structure called the “bar.” These stars in the bar were found to orbit in roughly the same direction around the galactic center. Hydrogen gas in the Milky Way also follows this rotation; hence, it was widely believed that all stars in the center would rotate in this way. But to the astronomers’ astonishment, the RR Lyrae stars do not follow football-shaped orbits, but have large random motions more consistent with their having formed at a great distance from the center of the Milky Way. “We expected to find that these stars rotate just like the rest of the bar,” states lead investigator Kunder. Juntai Shen of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory said, “They account for only one percent of the total mass of the bar, but this even more ancient population of stars appears to have a completely different origin than other stars there, consistent with having been one of the first parts of the Milky Way to form.”

-----------------------------------

Ilan: I don't feel quite as old after reading this.

[Kimbo]

Nice Article, Thank you Ilan!!

[ilan]

The incredible mystery of the ‘alien spacecraft’ that lies at the bottom of the Baltic Sea
April 26, 201610:10am | new.com.au

http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/78b03f9bc17b82a7f839b58fb9c66931
Baltic Sea Anomaly” ... artist Tod Twentytod’s graphic depiction of the object. Picture:sonofmabarker/YouTubeSource:Supplied


When the mystery object at the bottom of the Baltic Sea was first spotted in 2011, it baffled experts and excited alien hunters. They still don’t know what it is.

Dubbed the “Baltic Sea Anomaly”, the structure looks like the Millenium Falcon from Star Wars.

It was discovered five years ago by Swedish treasure hunters, Ocean X team, led by Peter Lindberg, its captain, and his co-researcher Dennis Asberg, The Sun reports.

They used a side-scan sonar and found something strange 91 metres below the surface of the water.
Mystery object found in Baltic Sea

It was reported that the divers exploring the anomaly said their equipment stopped working as they approached it.

“Anything electric out there, and the satellite phone as well, stopped working when we were above the object,” professional diver Stefan Hogerborn, part of the Ocean X team, said.

“And then when we got away about 200 metres, it turned on again, and when we got back over the object it didn’t work.”

The 61-metre-wide and eight-metre-tall circular object hit the headlines, with many speculating the anomaly could be a giant mushroom, a sunken Russian ship or an alien spaceship.

A sample recovered by divers was given to geologist Steve Weiner who ruled out the possibility of it being a natural geological formation.

After examining fragments, he claimed that the materials were “metals which nature could not reproduce itself”.

Some experts think it’s a Nazi anti-submarine device or a battleship gun turret.

Other observers believe it is a UFO called the “Roswell of the Ocean”, but there is still no evidence to suggest that the UFO-like object is an alien ship.


http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/75560ea252cd152cb1a2c2411f331108
Location ... the “Baltic Sea Anomaly” was found at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Picture: GooglemapsSource:Supplied


Volker Bruchert, an associate professor of geology at Stockholm University, told Life’s Little Mysteries.com: “My hypothesis is that this object, this structure was formed during the Ice Age many thousands of years ago.”

But Lindberg and Asberg claim the samples they gave for analysis weren’t from the object itself, but from the “vicinity” of the object”, according to Open Minds.tv.

It seems that nobody wants to fund research into the Baltic Sea discovery. The question remains: what really lies beneath?

[anon2599]

[CENTER][B]The incredible mystery of the ‘alien spacecraft’ that lies at the bottom of the Baltic Sea
The Sun reports.

Was getting quite interesting ........until I read what daily rag produced this information.

The Sun ...is the Biggest worthless heap of trash here in the UK daily s.
Produces and reports nothing but pure garbage.

It may well be true ....but probably not or extremely over exaggerated considering its this daily rag that has reported it.

[ilan]

http://www.snopes.com/photos/supernatural/balticufo.asp

[anon2599]

http://www.snopes.com/photos/supernatural/balticufo.asp


Thank you Sir. It is a fascinating read indeed and I actually do have a open mind.

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Thanks ilan. I really appreciate your contribution to these Space threads...:)

[ilan]

Welcome, Cap...

[ilan]

Bayesian Analysis Rains On Exoplanet Life Parade
26 Apr, 2016 by Evan Gough | universetoday.com

http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/iau1301a-1024x639.jpg
An exoplanet seen from its moon (artist's impression). Via the IAU.


Is there life on other planets, somewhere in this enormous Universe? That’s probably the most compelling question we can ask. A lot of space science and space missions are pointed directly at that question.

The Kepler mission is designed to find exoplanets, which are planets orbiting other stars. More specifically, its aim is to find planets situated in the habitable zone around their star. And it’s done so. The Kepler mission has found 297 confirmed and candidate planets that are likely in the habitable zone of their star, and it’s only looked at a tiny patch of the sky.

But we don’t know if any of them harbour life, or if Mars ever did, or if anywhere ever did. We just don’t know. But since the question of life elsewhere in the Universe is so compelling, it’s driven people with intellectual curiosity to try and compute the likelihood of life on other planets.

One of the main ways people have tried to understand if life is prevalent in the Universe is through the Drake Equation, named after Dr. Frank Drake. He tried to come up with a way to compute the probability of the existence of other civilizations. The Drake Equation is a mainstay of the conversation around the existence of life in the Universe.

The Drake Equation is a way to calculate the probability of extraterrestrial civilizations in the Milky Way that were technologically advanced to communicate. When it was created in 1961, Drake himself explained that it was really just a way of starting a conversation about extraterrestrial civilizations, rather than a definitive calculation. Still, the equation is the starting point for a lot of conversations.

But the problem with the Drake equation, and with all of our attempts to understand the likelihood of life starting on other planets, is that we only have the Earth to go by. It seems like life on Earth started pretty early, and has been around for a long time. With that in mind, people have looked out into the Universe, estimated the number of planets in habitable zones, and concluded that life must be present, and even plentiful, in the Universe.

But we really only know two things: First, life on Earth began a few hundred million years after the planet was formed, when it was sufficiently cool and when there was liquid water. The second thing that we know is that a few billions of years after life started, creatures appeared which were sufficiently intelligent enough to wonder about life.

In 2012, two scientists published a paper which reminded us of this fact. David Spiegel, from Princeton University, and Edwin Turner, from the University of Tokyo, conducted what’s called a Bayesian analysis on how our understanding of the early emergence of life on Earth affects our understanding of the existence of life elsewhere.


https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/66629446/DTESS_1951_Klaatu_gal.jpg
IlAN: I took the liberty of adding my good friend Klatu/Klaatu to the article


A Bayesian analysis is a complicated matter for non-specialists, but in this paper it’s used to separate out the influence of data, and the influence of our prior beliefs, when estimating the probability of life on other worlds. What the two researchers concluded is that our prior beliefs about the existence of life elsewhere have a large effect on any probabilistic conclusions we make about life elsewhere. As the authors say in the paper, “Life arose on Earth sometime in the first few hundred million years after the young planet had cooled to the point that it could support water-based organisms on its surface. The early emergence of life on Earth has been taken as evidence that the probability of abiogenesis is high, if starting from young-Earth-like conditions.”

A key part of all this is that life may have had a head start on Earth. Since then, it’s taken about 3.5 billion years for creatures to evolve to the point where they can think about such things. So this is where we find ourselves; looking out into the Universe and searching and wondering. But it’s possible that life may take a lot longer to get going on other worlds. We just don’t know, but many of the guesses have assumed that abiogenesis on Earth is standard for other planets.

What it all boils down to, is that we only have one data point, which is life on Earth. And from that point, we have extrapolated outward, concluding hopefully that life is plentiful, and we will eventually find it. We’re certainly getting better at finding locations that should be suitable for life to arise.

What’s maddening about it all is that we just don’t know. We keep looking and searching, and developing technology to find habitable planets and identify bio-markers for life, but until we actually find life elsewhere, we still only have one data point: Earth. But Earth might be exceptional.

As Spiegel and Turner say in the conclusion of their paper, ” In short, if we should find evidence of life that arose wholly idependently of us – either via astronomical searches that reveal life on another planet or via geological and biological studies that find evidence of life on Earth with a different origin from us – we would have considerably stronger grounds to conclude that life is probably common in our galaxy.”

With our growing understanding of Mars, and with missions like the James Webb Space Telescope, we may one day soon have one more data point with which we can refine our probabilistic understanding of other life in the Universe.

Or, there could be a sadder outcome. Maybe life on Earth will perish before we ever find another living microbe on any other world.

[anon2599]

I really must compliment you Guys that provide us with these stunning images and information.

Really compelling stuff ,That you guys post.........So thank you all who contribute to this Excellent! thread.

[Capt.Kangaroo]

I really must compliment you Guys that provide us with these stunning images and information.

Really compelling stuff ,That you guys post.........So thank you all who contribute to this Excellent! thread.
Thanks anon, we appreciate that...:)

[ilan]

Stephen Hawking explains how black holes could reveal their secret interiors
April 25th, 2016, by Greg White | space.news

http://www.space.news/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2016/04/black-hole.jpg


Astronomy abandons our preconceived notions of the universe, somewhere between the horizon of a black hole and its singularity. That is, at least, what the insights of famed physicist Stephen Hawking has achieved upon publishing a paper, which attempts to demonstrate that information locked inside a black hole is not forever shackled to the abyss.

The paper titled “Soft Hair on Black Holes” has since been published online. It attempts to resolve, what is known as, the information paradox. According to general relativity, information sucked inside a black hole is forever lost. According to quantum mechanics, however, information sucked inside a black hole is not completely lost but must be stored somewhere else. Hawking and his colleagues try to solve –or better yet, dissolve – this seeming paradox using “concrete tools."

Last year, Hawking hinted that black holes may not be the eternal prisons we vision them to be, but could, in fact, leak information. The 74-year-old physicist has since expounded upon this idea using zero-energy particles, known as soft hairs, which could teeter on the horizon of a black hole and leak information.

Black holes aren’t so black after all

“This has been an outstanding problem in theoretical physics for the last 40 years…no satisfactory resolution has been advanced,” Professor Hawking said. “I propose that the information is stored not in the interior of the black hole as one might expect, but on its boundary – the event horizon,” he added.

In the 1970s, Hawking suggested black holes could radiate particles and that energy was lost in the process, inevitably causing the three-dimensional hole to shrink. Last year, Hawking modified the theory by stating black holes were actually grey.

According to the grey hole theory, matter and energy are held for a period of time before they are released back into the universe. Hawking claims the idea of an event horizon – a boundary in space time, beyond which events cannot affect an outside observer – is flawed. Instead, light rays trying to travel away from the black hole are held back, and can slowly shrink by releasing radiation.


http://videos.revision3.com/revision3/images/shows/dnews/1343/dnews--1343--what-happens-inside-a-black-hole--marge.thumb.jpg
This black hole pulls matter from blue star beside it. NASA/CXC/M.Weiss image added to article by ilan


In collaboration with physicists Malcolm Perry and Andrew Strominger, the researchers claim soft hairs could linger on the black hole’s horizon. According to the physicists, soft hair is like a record that captures and stores information taken from particles, as they fall into the black hole. In theory, the information lost in the black hole could be preserved in an alternative universe.

“The answer I propose is that the information is stored in a super translation of the horizon that the in-going particles caused,” explained Hawking. “The information about in-going particles is returned, but in a chaotic and useless form…for all practical purposes the information is lost. The theoretical physicist likened the return of information to a burned encyclopedia, where information wouldn’t technically be lost, but would be incredibly hard to decipher.”

Solving the information paradox

The zero energy particles on the edge of the black hole capture and store information from the stripped particles. Even though the particle is lost, the information would create a hologram of the original particle. The radiation bleeding from the black hole would carry some information stored on the event horizon, thereby solving the information paradox.

Despite these new calculations, however, a complete understanding of how the holographic plate might work has yet to be fully developed.

“A complete description of the holographic plate and resolution of the information paradox remains an open challenge, which we have presented new and concrete tools to address,” the authors of the study concluded.

[ilan]

Astronomers Find a Moon Hiding Around Makemake in Hubble Data
Once a lonely ice block, now it seems the dwarf planet may have a close-in companion.
By John Wenz | Published: Tuesday, April 26, 2016

http://astronomy.com/-/media/Images/News%20and%20Observing/News/2016/04/hs201618aprint.jpg
Dwarf planet Makemake and its newly discovered moon.
The newly discovered moon, MK 2, found in Hubble data orbiting Makemake.
NASA, ESA, A. Parker


In 2005, Caltech astronomers Mike Brown and Chad Trujillo discovered dwarf planet Makemake, currently believed to be the third largest object in the Kuiper Belt after Pluto and Eris. But at the time, astronomers believed it was alone out there on its long path around the Sun. But new data from the Hubble Space Telescope reveal a moon around the tiny world, and offer a little explanation as to where it was hiding.

“The satellite that we found was not that faint and not that close to Makemake,” says Alex Parker, principal investigator of the research and a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute. “It popped right out of the data when we looked.”

It turns out it was always there. But the newly found object, provisionally called MK 2, orbits Makemake nearly edge-on from our point of view, meaning most of the time it’s obscured by the comparatively bright dwarf planet. Makemake is 886 miles (1,434 km) in diameter, while the new object appears to be only 100 miles (161 Km). Current scenarios also paint it as a dark companion compared to bright Makemake.

The dark surface of MK 2, which in one scenario may reflect as little as 4 percent of light, could explain why astronomers previously showed Makemake to have two highly contrasting albedos (reflectivities) that indicated different materials at work. Those dark spots didn’t seem to line up with the 7.7-hour day on Makemake, though.

“You would expect Makemake’s brightness would go up and down as it rotated, but it’s brightness hardly goes up or down,” Parker says.

There are two possibilities for why a bright dwarf planet has such a dark moon. In one scenario, it’s a captured Kuiper Belt Object that through various circumstances ended up in orbit around Makemake. In the other, a collision formed it, much like the one that formed Pluto’s moon system.


http://www.amnh.org/learn/assets/courses/images/solar/solarsystem2.jpg
Kuiper Belt image added to artilce for clarity: ILAN


In the latter scenario, Makemake may have a sort of seasonal atmosphere, and as the ices and other chemicals on its surface sublimate, it covers MK 2 in a hydrocarbon film known as tholin. This same process likely creates the red patches on Pluto’s moon Charon’s north pole.

“You might imagine you could paint this moon dark with a transitory Makemake-ian atmosphere,” Parker says.

Follow-up observations will help determine an orbit for MK 2, something that may be hard given its edge-on nature. This would give the researchers a chance to study the size of the moon and help determine a mass for Makemake, especially if they can predict the intervals at which it is visible. In the meantime, Makemake joins a short list of Kuiper Belt Objects known to have moons, including Pluto, Eris, Quaoar, and Haumea.

[ilan]

Planet Nine: A world that shouldn't exist
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics | May 3, 2016

http://cdn.phys.org/newman/gfx/news/hires/2016/planetnineaw.jpg
An artist's conception of Planet Nine. Credit: Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)


Earlier this year scientists presented evidence for Planet Nine, a Neptune-mass planet in an elliptical orbit 10 times farther from our Sun than Pluto. Since then theorists have puzzled over how this planet could end up in such a distant orbit.

New research by astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) examines a number of scenarios and finds that most of them have low probabilities. Therefore, the presence of Planet Nine remains a bit of a mystery.

"The evidence points to Planet Nine existing, but we can't explain for certain how it was produced," says CfA astronomer Gongjie Li, lead author on a paper accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Planet Nine circles our Sun at a distance of about 40 billion to 140 billion miles, or 400 - 1500 astronomical units. (An astronomical unit or A.U. is the average distance of the Earth from the Sun, or 93 million miles.) This places it far beyond all the other planets in our solar system. The question becomes: did it form there, or did it form elsewhere and land in its unusual orbit later?

Li and her co-author Fred Adams (University of Michigan) conducted millions of computer simulations in order to consider three possibilities. The first and most likely involves a passing star that tugs Planet Nine outward. Such an interaction would not only nudge the planet into a wider orbit but also make that orbit more elliptical. And since the Sun formed in a star cluster with several thousand neighbors, such stellar encounters were more common in the early history of our solar system.

However, an interloping star is more likely to pull Planet Nine away completely and eject it from the solar system. Li and Adams find only a 10 percent probability, at best, of Planet Nine landing in its current orbit. Moreover, the planet would have had to start at an improbably large distance to begin with.

CfA astronomer Scott Kenyon believes he may have the solution to that difficulty. In two papers submitted to the Astrophysical Journal, Kenyon and his co-author Benjamin Bromley (University of Utah) use computer simulations to construct plausible scenarios for the formation of Planet Nine in a wide orbit.

"The simplest solution is for the solar system to make an extra gas giant," says Kenyon.

They propose that Planet Nine formed much closer to the Sun and then interacted with the other gas giants, particularly Jupiter and Saturn. A series of gravitational kicks then could have boosted the planet into a larger and more elliptical orbit over time.

"Think of it like pushing a kid on a swing. If you give them a shove at the right time, over and over, they'll go higher and higher," explains Kenyon. "Then the challenge becomes not shoving the planet so much that you eject it from the solar system."

That could be avoided by interactions with the solar system's gaseous disk, he suggests.

Kenyon and Bromley also examine the possibility that Planet Nine actually formed at a great distance to begin with. They find that the right combination of initial disk mass and disk lifetime could potentially create Planet Nine in time for it to be nudged by Li's passing star.

"The nice thing about these scenarios is that they're observationally testable," Kenyon points out. "A scattered gas giant will look like a cold Neptune, while a planet that formed in place will resemble a giant Pluto with no gas."

Li's work also helps constrain the timing for Planet Nine's formation or migration. The Sun was born in a cluster where encounters with other stars were more frequent. Planet Nine's wide orbit would leave it vulnerable to ejection during such encounters. Therefore, Planet Nine is likely to be a latecomer that arrived in its current orbit after the Sun left its birth cluster.

Finally, Li and Adams looked at two wilder possibilities: that Planet Nine is an exoplanet that was captured from a passing star system, or a free-floating planet that was captured when it drifted close by our solar system. However, they conclude that the chances of either scenario are less than 2 percent.

[Marley]

yup thanks for info

[Kimbo]

Thank you Ilan!!

[anon2599]

Fascinating all this info concerning Planet X Nibiru .

Thanks for this Sir.................and lets hope we never see it close quarters .

[ilan]

Welcome... Never know, though, The Man from Planet X might just show up again. (Fun, sci-fi romp from '51. Spanish subtitles, but still worth a watch.)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epGlcbXdgOc


Technically, though, Planet Nine and Planet X are different beasts.

[ilan]

NASA: Planet 9 is not the ‘mythical, non-existent’ Planet X / Nibiru

http://planetxnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/nasa.jpg


The Many Lives of “Planet X”

An intriguing idea has long tugged at the collective imagination: what unknown planets might be hiding in the distant, dark reaches of the solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune?

The concept of an undiscovered “Planet X” has inspired science fiction stories, alien monster movies and Internet rumors of wandering planets that periodically wreak havoc when they pass near the Earth.

Astronomers have systematically searched for a Planet X for many decades. Their various hunts have often turned up nothing more than phantoms…with some major exceptions.



http://planetxnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/beyondneptune-768x398.gif


Finding a New World

In the early 20th century, legendary astronomer Percival Lowell concluded that peculiarities in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune resulted from an unseen planet. Lowell proposed that the gravity of this previously unknown “Planet X” pulled the gas giants slightly away from their expected orbital positions. He organized an intensive search with telescopes, but it came up empty.

However, after Lowell’s death a young astronomer named Clyde Tombaugh was working at the Lowell Observatory in Tucson, AZ. He searched the sky near the predicted location of Lowell’s mystery planet, comparing telescopic photos of star fields to look for moving objects. In 1930, he discovered Pluto. Even though we now know that an incorrect estimate of Neptune’s mass, not Pluto, explains the orbital discrepancies, Lowell was right that other bodies lurked in the outer solar system.

But Wait … There are More — Many More

In 2005, a team led by astronomer Mike Brown discovered a previously unknown object at a vast distance-about three times as far away from the sun as Pluto. It was round like a planet, and even had its own moon. At first it was believed that this object, which was officially named Eris, was even larger than Pluto. What’s more, astronomers knew that many other similar objects could exist as well.

This set off a debate about just what a “planet” is, and ultimately led to the International Astronomical Union designating Pluto and Eris as “dwarf planets.” Outer solar system explorers, using a variety of instruments on the ground aboard Earth-orbiting spacecraft, have now found a host of similar tiny worlds. They carry the names of creator gods and other deities from many traditions, including Varuna, Quaoar, Makemake and Haumea. Some of these orbit in the region known as the Kuiper Belt, while others trace huge, tilted, elongated orbits that carry them even farther out.

A Planet of Possibilities

Mike Brown piqued the world’s interest again in January 2016 when he and his colleague at Caltech, Konstantin Batygin, announced they had evidence for another previously unknown planet. But this time, the proposed discovery is no dwarf. The potential object, which the researchers have nicknamed “Planet Nine,” could have a mass about 10 times that of Earth and orbit about 20 times farther from the sun on average than Neptune. It may take between 10,000 and 20,000 Earth years to make one full orbit around the sun.

No one has actually seen this possible new planet. As with previous “Planets X,” the proposed evidence again revolves around the idea that although this new planet has not yet been seen, its gravitational effects have been. Mathematical modeling and computer simulations suggest that the orbits of many smaller objects in the Kuiper Belt region have been clustered together by “Planet Nine’s” gravity.

More Than Meets the Eye

One thing that recent exploration has made clear: the realm beyond Neptune is vast, complex and populated by a menagerie of varied objects. Thanks to the New Horizons mission, we have seen that at least one of them tells a much more involved story of planetary evolution than might have been expected. The simple solar system map that we saw in grade school-showing the neat, nearly circular orbits of Mercury through Neptune-is just the innermost core of what may be out there.

“Planet X” comes in many forms, and we’re only beginning the quest to understand the solar system it inhabits.

No, It’s Not Nibiru

There is no evidence whatsoever for the existence of “Nibiru,” the mysterious object from online conspiracy theories that supposedly swings near the Earth on occasion. The recently predicted “Planet 9” comes nowhere near Earth or even the inner solar system. According to the Caltech astronomers’ calculations, the planet would never approach closer than about 200 times the distance between the Earth and the sun.

[anon2599]

Absolutely loving the information and post Sir.

[ilan]

Thanks... It is fun stuff!

[wickedjoker]

We haven't seen Mars like this in more than a decade.

The red planet will soon be closer to Earth that it has been in 11 years: On May 30, Mars will be about 46.8 million miles (75.3 million kilometers) from Earth. Yes, that's still a long way off, but sometimes Mars is 249 million miles (400 million kilometers) from Earth.

Skywatch: Your guide to space
What does this close approach mean for sky watchers? It means Mars will appear bigger and brighter from May 18 until June 3, according to NASA. But you don't have to wait. Mars already is putting on a spectacular show in the early morning sky. And you don't need a telescope or binoculars to see it. In fact, you'll probably be able to find it without a star chart or an astronomy app. In the United States, the best time to look for Mars during its close approach will be around midnight Eastern time, according to NASA. It will be the brightest "star" that you'll see in the southeastern sky and it will appear a bit reddish. 'Way Up There': Above the Earth and onward to Mars NASA's Mars mission: Spaceship under construction To find out when Mars is visible in your neighborhood, you can go to timeanddate.com/astronomy and pop in your location. It will give a list of times that the sun, moon and planets rise and set. Also, both CNN partners Astronomy and Sky & Telescope.com offer online tools to help you track what's going on in the night sky. After you have seen Mars shining bright in the morning sky, you may want to get an even better view. You can hook up with your local astronomy club to see Mars through a telescope. If you miss this year's close approach, Earth and Mars will be even closer on July, 31 2018. They'll come about 35.8 million miles from each other. Back in August 2003 they were closer still: The two planets were only 34,646,418 miles (55,758,006 kilometers) from center to center. That was the nearest Earth and Mars have been in almost 60,000 years, according to NASA. Scientists calculate they won't get that close again until August 28, 2287.

Source -- CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/05/us/mars-close-approach-to-earth/index.html

[ilan]

Great info, Wicked...

http://mars.nasa.gov/images/mep/allaboutmars/closeapproach/mars-apparent-size-2016.gif

[wickedjoker]

Oh I like that very cool! I need a telescope but I'm to poor!

[wickedjoker]

Eta Aquarids meteor shower peaks this week

The Eta Aquarids meteor shower will put on a brilliant show for stargazers as it peaks Thursday evening and Friday morning.

The annual light show starts in mid-April but really starts to dazzle in the first week of May. It's created by the dusty debris left behind by Halley's Comet, which flew by Earth in 1986.
Although the famous comet won't be entering our solar system again until 2061, its remnants appear in our skies each year. The frozen particles from the comet disintegrate in our atmosphere, creating a bright and colorful display.
What's happening above?

The Eta Aquarids are highly visible for people living in the Southern Hemisphere, but more difficult to observe for those north of the equator.
Hear CNN Meteorologist Brandon Miller pronounce "Eta Aquarids"

Observers in the Northern Hemisphere can expect to see about 10 meteors per hour. They can also see "earthgrazers," long meteors that seem as though they are skimming the surface of our planet, just along the horizon.

These meteors are known for their speed, traveling about 148,000 mph into ​the Earth's atmosphere. Since they are moving by so quickly, they often leave behind "trains," glowing bits of debris that streak the night sky.

No special equipment is required to view the celestial event. All observers need are clear skies.

Source -- CNN


http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/05/tech/eta-aquarids-meteor-shower-irpt/index.html

1695

[ilan]

It will be visible with the naked eye, but being able to see it is contingent on being able to differentiate it from the rest of the glowing menagerie. Check this image and the page for observational tips.

https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sites/www.cfa.harvard.edu/files/Moon_Mars_Saturn_2016-05-21.jpg



https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/skyreport

[wickedjoker]

Nice thanks for the Ilan bummer part for me is it will still be daylight here I will miss it :( or just have to wait a few hours...

[ilan]

Yes. everything has to be adjusted a bit. I saw it last week on a clear night, but it was really just one more glowing speck in the night sky. However, I did enjoy knowing the identity of that particular glowing speck.

[ilan]

What if a black hole swallowed Earth? Scientist describes 3 possible scenarios
Reuters News | 16 February 2016

https://img.rt.com/files/2016.02/original/56c32407c361887e588b458c.jpg


Black holes are shrouded in mystery despite scientists’ attention, but a British academic has now outlined three ways we could perish if one ever swallowed Earth – and they'll make you want to keep on the good side of the supermassive galactic phenomena.

None of the three scenarios is particularly pretty, though one of them at least has an interesting title.

'Spaghettification'

Although the name is imaginative and perhaps even fun to say, make no mistake – the process would be anything but fun. In fact, it would involve being stretched out like spaghetti, in a procedure that seems painful and terrifying.

“In brief, if you stray too close to a black hole, then you will stretch out, just like spaghetti. This effect is caused due to a gravitation gradient across your body,” Kevin Pimbblet, a senior lecturer in physics at the University of Hull, wrote in an article for The Conversation.

He went on to explain that the two sides of a human – the feet and arms – would be pulled in different directions, lengthening the body and thinning out the middle.


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CaTzLwyXEAEfxE7.jpg


“Hence, your body or any other object, such as Earth, will start to resemble spaghetti long before it hits the center of the black hole,” Pimbblet wrote.

Death from radiation

But don't worry, there's a chance you'd be fried by radiation before being “spaghettified.”

Radiation is generated when a black hole feasts on new material.

“This is a problem for anything orbiting (or near) a black hole, as it is very hot indeed. Long before we would be spaghettified, the sheer power of this radiation would fry us,” Pimbblet wrote.

Becoming a hologram

But if turning into a piece of spaghetti and being fried by radiation sound completely unappealing, there is potentially a third option – the world could be transformed into a hologram, and humans probably wouldn't even realize it.

According to Pimbblet, if a black hole appeared next to Earth, the same effects that produced spaghettification would start to take effect and “the doom of the entire planet would be at hand.”

But there's potentially light at the end of the black hole. We might not even notice if Earth was swallowed, because everything would appear as it once was – at least for a short period of time.

“In this case, it could be some time before disaster struck,” the physics professor wrote.

Or we could also live holographically, Pimbblet noted, referencing a theory created last year by Dr. Samir Mathur from Ohio State University (OSU).


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ca_-9JDWEAAR-ul.jpg


The theory states that everything touching a black hole is not destroyed, but rather becomes an imperfect copy of itself, existing exactly as it did before.

In short, it means that black holes are seen not as killers, but as “benign copy machines,” OSU said at the time.

While that option clearly seems most appealing, no one can predict what may or may not happen in the future. In the meantime, enjoy life on Earth and try not to upset the galactic bullies lurking in the depths of the universe.

[anon2599]

Amazing! and intriguing stuff you been posting Sir...I really appreciate all that you and others post for us all on this splendid thread.
Thank you.

Regards,

[ilan]

Did a Super-Mega-Ultra Neutrino Come From a Black Hole Gobbling Down Matter 10 Billion Light-Years Away?
By Phil Plait | May 6, 2016 Slate.com

http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/bad_astronomy/2016/05/03/blazar_art_cosmovision.jpg.CROP.original-original.jpg


Astronomers may have solved a mystery that started a few years ago. Or 9.5 billion years ago, depending on how you look at it.

Even better? This mystery involves, in no particular order: neutrinos, Antarctica, faster than light travel, bizarre radiation, the Fermi observatory, gamma rays, and a supermassive black hole with its barrel aimed right at us. That’s like astronomical mystery bingo right there.

OK, here’s how this played out.

In 2012, astronomers detected an extremely high-energy neutrino slamming into the ground. Neutrinos are a weird kind of subatomic particle, created by things like nuclear fusion in the Sun’s core, fission in nuclear reactors on Earth, stars exploding out in the Universe, and even when matter falls into a black hole. Neutrinos are very standoffish and don’t react to matter; they can easily pass through the entire Earth like it was completely transparent. Which to them it really is.

So detecting them is very difficult. But, it turns out, there’s a clever way to see them: Sometimes very high-energy neutrinos slam into ice molecules, creating a barrage of subatomic particles like shrapnel. These move so rapidly from the collision that they actually move faster than the speed of light through the ice. (Note: Before you start angrily writing comments, remember that the speed of light is the ultimate speed limit in a vacuum; light slows down when passing through solids, so the particles were moving faster than light can through the ice, but not faster than light can through a vacuum.)

When they do this, they create a flash of energy that’s the equivalent of a sonic boom, but with light. I sometimes call this a photonic boom, but the technical term is Cherenkov radiation. That flash of blue light can be detected if the ice is clear enough. There are parts of Antarctica where that’s the case, and so scientists built IceCube, a series of detectors buried deep in the south polar ice.

In 2012 it detected a whopper of a neutrino (nicknamed Big Bird; all these events are named after Sesame Street characters to make it easier to keep track of them). The energy in that single neutrino was staggering beyond staggering: It contained 1,000 trillion times as much energy as a photon of visible light. If that neutrino had hit someone they would have felt it. A blow from a single subatomic particle. Egads.

The mystery is a bit obvious: What the heck can create a neutrino with that kind of soul-crushing energy?

One suspect is a supermassive black hole, the kind located in the centers of galaxies. Matter falling into them forms a swirling disk, and can also focus twin beams of matter and energy that scream out of the poles of the disk at very high speeds. Many such active galaxies are known, and most emit energy across the electromagnetic spectrum at one level or another. But if the beams are aimed right at us, we see a lot of very high energy light from them, including gamma rays. We call these objects blazars.

We see blazars all over the sky, though. Is there any way to narrow down the suspect list?


http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/bad_astronomy/2016/05/03/fermi_pksb1424_neutrino.jpg.CROP.original-original.jpg
The suspect blazar blasts out gamma rays, as seen by Fermi.


Yes! IceCube was able to track the subatomic shrapnel shower backward, upward, and give a very rough area in the sky from which it must have come. Astronomers then used Fermi, an orbiting gamma-ray observatory, to see if any blazars happened to be particularly active at that time.

And they did. Confirming this with TANAMI, an array of radio telescopes, they found that the blazar PKS B1424-418 had a monstrous flare-up during this time. During the yearlong blast, it blazed with gamma rays 15–30 times brighter than usual. That’s just such an event that could create the ultra-high energy of Big Bird.

Astronomer Roopesh Ojha, from the Fermi team, gives his perspective on this event:


https://youtu.be/Fq-5RI9C69I


So, case closed? Well, maybe. Blazars don’t flare like that often, and the fact that it happened at the right place at the right time is pretty compelling. There’s always room for doubt, but this seems like the astronomers have made a pretty good case. They found the motive, means, and opportunity.

Now I know at this point your head may be swimming with all these terms and technology, but I still have one more thing I want to plant into your brain. Think on this for a moment: PKS B1424-418 is one of the brightest gamma ray sources in the sky … even though it’s located 9.5 billion light-years from Earth. That’s two-thirds of the way to the edge of the observable Universe!

That’s a long, long way. And yet it produces enough energy to shine brightly in our skies, if you have gamma ray eyes. Which, I’ll note, astronomers do.

And that mind-stompingly distant galaxy produced a hail of subatomic particles that shot across the cosmos at just a hair under the speed of light, passing galaxies and clouds of dust and gas and heaven knows what else, only to be stopped by a single molecule of frozen water on a tiny blue-green planet, creating a flash of light so faint it took sophisticated technology and advanced science to see it at all.

And astronomers traced that flash of light led backwards to one of the most energetic and violent objects in the Universe.

Look. I love science fiction, and superhero movies, and all that. But no matter how bizarre a story fiction tells, they can’t hold a candle to the real thing.

The Universe has way better stories than we do. And we read them through science.

[Kimbo]

WOW, good reads!!

[ilan]

I think Plait said it pretty well in the last article, "Look. I love science fiction, and superhero movies, and all that. But no matter how bizarre a story fiction tells, they can’t hold a candle to the real thing."

[alphablondy]

this is very interesting :
I think disclosure is near. the commercials have them . the joking of it is dying down. just tell us once & for all.
now the FBI website puts stuff on there site. something is definitely up!

http://www.ancient-code.com/the-fbi-admits-visits-of-beings-from-other-dimensions-declassified-fbi-document/

[ilan]

I wouldn't say we should discount this material, but it is essentially just reports the FBI compiled from witnesses over the years and has now made public. The FBI never said they corroborated any of the material or contacted any of the entities described. It's still nice to see the witnesses' descriptions being made publicly available, however. I thank you for the post and so do the tall, partially transparent visitors who are making me type this.

[ilan]

Parallel Universes: Theories & Evidence
By Elizabeth Howell, Space.com Contributor | April 28, 2016 12:18am ET


http://www.space.com/images/i/000/024/273/original/shutterstock_12310231.jpg

Our universe may live in one bubble that is sitting in a network of bubble universes in space.
Credit: Sandy MacKenzie | Shutterstock


Is our universe unique? From science fiction to science fact, there is a proposal out there that suggests that there could be other universes besides our own, where all the choices you made in this life played out in alternate realities. So, instead of turning down that job offer that took you from the United States to China, the alternate universe would show the outcome if you decided to venture to Asia instead.

The idea is pervasive in comic books and movies. For example, in the 2009 "Star Trek" reboot, the premise is that the Kirk and Spock portrayed by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are in an alternate timeline apart from the William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy versions of the characters.

The concept is known as a "parallel universe," and is a facet of the astronomical theory of the multiverse. There actually is quite a bit of evidence out there for a multiverse. First, it is useful to understand how our universe is believed to have come to be.

Arguing for a multiverse

Around 13.7 billion years ago, simply speaking, everything we know of in the cosmos was an infinitesimal singularity. Then, according to the Big Bang theory, some unknown trigger caused it to expand and inflate in three-dimensional space. As the immense energy of this initial expansion cooled, light began to shine through. Eventually, the small particles began to form into the larger pieces of matter we know today, such as galaxies, stars and planets.

One big question with this theory is: are we the only universe out there. With our current technology, we are limited to observations within this universe because the universe is curved and we are inside the fishbowl, unable to see the outside of it (if there is an outside.)

There are at least five theories why a multiverse is possible, as a 2012 Space.com article explained

1. We don't know what the shape of space-time is exactly. One prominent theory is that it is flat and goes on forever. This would present the possibility of many universes being out there. But with that topic in mind, it's possible that universes can start repeating themselves. That's because particles can only be put together in so many ways. More about that in a moment.

2. Another theory for multiple universes comes from "eternal inflation." Based on research from Tufts University cosmologist Alexander Vilenkin, when looking at space-time as a whole, some areas of space stop inflating like the Big Bang inflated our own universe. Others, however, will keep getting larger. So if we picture our own universe as a bubble, it is sitting in a network of bubble universes of space. What's interesting about this theory is the other universes could have very different laws of physics than our own, since they are not linked.

3. Or perhaps multiple universes can follow the theory of quantum mechanics (how subatomic particles behave), as part of the "daughter universe" theory. If you follow the laws of probability, it suggests that for every outcome that could come from one of your decisions, there would be a range of universes — each of which saw one outcome come to be. So in one universe, you took that job to China. In another, perhaps you were on your way and your plane landed somewhere different, and you decided to stay. And so on.

4. Another possible avenue is exploring mathematical universes, which, simply put, explain that the structure of mathematics may change depending in which universe you reside. "A mathematical structure is something that you can describe in a way that's completely independent of human baggage," said theory-proposer Max Tegmark of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as quoted in the 2012 article. "I really believe that there is this universe out there that can exist independently of me that would continue to exist even if there were no humans."

5. And last but not least as the idea of parallel universes. To go back to the idea that space-time is flat, the number of possible particle configurations in multiple universes would be limited to 10^10^122 distinct possibilities, to be exact. So, with an infinite number of cosmic patches, the particle arrangements within them must repeat — infinitely many times over. This means there are infinitely many "parallel universes": cosmic patches exactly the same as ours (containing someone exactly like you), as well as patches that differ by just one particle's position, patches that differ by two particles' positions, and so on down to patches that are totally different from ours.

Arguing against a parallel universe

Not everyone agrees with the parallel universe theory, however. A 2015 article on Medium by astrophysicist Ethan Siegal agreed that space-time could go on forever in theory, but said that there are some limitations with that idea.

The key problem is the universe is just under 14 billion years old. So our universe's age itself is obviously not infinite, but a finite amount. This would (simply put) limit the number of possibilities for particles to rearrange themselves, and sadly make it less possible that your alternate self did get on that plane after all to see China.

Also, the expansion at the beginning of the universe took place exponentially because there was so much "energy inherent to space itself," he said. But over time, that inflation obviously slowed — those particles of matter created at the Big Bang are not continuing to expand, he pointed out. Among his conclusions: that means that multiverses would have different rates of inflation and different times (longer or shorter) for inflation. This decreases the possibilities of universes similar to our own.

"Even setting aside issues that there may be an infinite number of possible values for fundamental constants, particles and interactions, and even setting aside interpretation issues such as whether the many-worlds-interpretation actually describes our physical reality," Siegal said, "the fact of the matter is that the number of possible outcomes rises so quickly — so much faster than merely exponentially — that unless inflation has been occurring for a truly infinite amount of time, there are no parallel universes identical to this one."

But rather than seeing this lack of other universes as a limitation, Siegal instead takes the philosophy that it shows how important it is to celebrate being unique. He advises to make the choices that work for you, which "leave you with no regrets." That's because there are no other realities where the choices of your dream self play out; you, therefore, are the only person that can make those choices happen.

[ilan]

Before the Transit of Mercury: forgotten forerunners of an astronomical revolution
Karl Galle (The Guardian) | Monday 9 May 2016

A manuscript note in the Royal Society Library hints at an observing program that
would eventually transform our ability to predict the motions of the planets.

1706
Willibald Pirckheimer notes his observation of a Transit of Mercury on 18 March 1504.
Written in the margin of astronomical tables by Johannes Regiomontanus,
now in the Royal Society Library, London, UK. Photograph: Karl Galle/Royal Society Library


“Today I saw Mercury.” This terse remark scrawled inside a 16th-century almanac could reflect anyone watching today’s transit of Mercury across the Sun. The winding path this observation took after it was recorded, however, traces a century-long story leading through the transformation of both our understanding of the cosmos and the practice of astronomy itself.

Mercury’s observer in this case was Willibald Pirckheimer, a German humanist who made diary notes in a set of astronomical tables by Johannes Regiomontanus, which are now preserved in the Royal Society Library. Pirckheimer almost certainly wasn’t alone, as the same Mercury sighting (early in the evening of 18 March 1504) was recorded in more detail by his friend Bernhard Walther, who had inherited Regiomontanus’ observation program and copious manuscripts. Perhaps it was solely an observing session, or perhaps it preceded one of the festive banquets Nuremberg’s humanists were known for. We may not know the evening’s full itinerary, but it’s a reminder that science was rarely a solo activity even back then.

What we do know, however, is the probable location where the sighting was made. When Walther died three months later, his sizeable house was purchased by Pirckheimer’s best friend and fellow investigator of nature Albrecht Dürer. Today the house is a museum to Dürer’s life and art, but if you walk around back, you can still see the observation ledge for astronomical instruments that Walther constructed beneath a top-floor window.

Walther’s numerous and detailed observations, including some 746 midday solar altitudes, suggest he may have been trying to construct his own reformed model of celestial motions. Although he died before completing any theoretical work, the next generation of Nuremberg astronomers preserved his books and manuscripts – after Pirckheimer and Dürer purchased a few volumes from the estate for themselves – just as Walther had done for his mentor Regiomontanus.

The observations themselves remained unpublished until a young Wittenberg professor named Georg Rheticus visited Nuremberg in early 1539 and then set off on the long trek to Frombork, where a church canon named Nicholas Copernicus was rumored to have developed a startling new theory putting the Sun rather than Earth at the center of the cosmos. When Rheticus returned carrying Copernicus’s manuscript for the city’s most famous printer, three of Walther’s Mercury observations, including the one Pirckheimer recorded, were included in the final text. Two were incorrectly attributed to Johannes Schöner, then a caretaker for the Regiomontanus and Walther materials, but Schöner set the record straight by publishing Walther’s complete observations the following year.

From Copernicus to Kepler
Why did Copernicus even need these Mercury observations at all? In the most basic historical accounts of his new cosmological theory, he simply switched the positions of the Earth and Sun, putting our planet into motion without really rearranging the other planets. In fact, the heliocentric idea appeared first as a brief outline in his book’s opening leaves and was followed by over 350 pages of often brain-bending mathematical models for predicting the apparent motions of the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets.


1707
Copernicus’s On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres (1543),
showing how early in the book his illustration
of the heliocentric system occurs. Image courtesy of the Linda Hall Library.
Photograph: Karl Galle/Linda Hall Library, Kansas City


The key to making these models work was having just enough measurements of key configurations – when planets were directly opposite or at greatest elongation from the Sun, for example – to compute mean motions over time. As the closest planet to the Sun, Mercury was notoriously difficult to spot, and Frombork’s greater northern latitude made the problem worse by reducing the planet’s vertical angle above the horizon. For this reason, even three of Walther’s Mercury observations were enough to help fill out Copernicus’s model of the planet’s motions.

If opportunistically using a few decades-old measurements symbolises the astronomy of Copernicus’s time, however, the imperfection of the results (after several rounds of calculations, Copernicus finally rounded Walther’s numbers upward to make them better fit his models) were a stimulation to the astronomy that followed. In the coming decades, astronomers would no longer settle for averaging a handful of key measurements, instead embarking on increasingly ambitious programs to quantify celestial positions in every nightly configuration. Walther’s simple window ledge thus gave way to ever larger instruments and observatories at Uraniborg and elsewhere.

Walther’s observations did not disappear, however. On the contrary, having accurate measurements from the more distant past remained a key part of refining the long-term accuracy of astronomical tables. The value of this quotidian grind of observing and number-crunching is often forgotten in histories that emphasize a few big ideas like heliocentrism or elliptical orbits, but nothing encapsulates its core role in early astronomy like Kepler’s nearly three decades of slaving over his Rudolphine Tables, drawing not just from Tycho Brahe’s observations at Uraniborg but from meticulous attempts to adjust Walther’s data for atmospheric refraction and stellar precession.

Walther even photobombed the famous frontispiece to Kepler’s tables displaying historical figures from astronomy. While Copernicus and Tycho occupy the image’s center, lurking just behind Copernicus’s head is a book labeled “Observations of Regiomontanus and Walther.”

Predicting Transits of Mercury
For today’s Mercury transit, the key significance of the Rudolphine Tables is that they led Kepler to predict a Mercury transit would occur on 7 November 1631. Other transit observations had been claimed in the past – including once by Kepler in 1607 – but were almost certainly sunspots instead. In this case, astronomers had time to prepare, and Pierre Gassendi spotted the planet as predicted during a break in cloudy weather.

Gassendi’s observation was a striking confirmation of how astronomical theory was becoming precise enough to predict even a small and brief event far in advance. By the time Johannes Hevelius documented another Mercury transit three decades later, he could compare six sets of astronomical tables and note that two including Kepler’s had successfully predicted the event. This revolution in accuracy was possible not from a single idea or individual but because a growing professional community, stretching across countries and generations, could compare, improve, and compete for observations whose quantity and precision would have been unimaginable when Walther and Pirckheimer looked out a Nuremberg window.

The other remarkable finding to come out of Gassendi’s Mercury transit observation was the planet’s shockingly small apparent size. He and other contemporaries grappled over why it was so much smaller than anyone expected before gradually coming to terms with its implications for cosmic dimensions.

Echoes of this recognition are part of what preserves the wonder of a Mercury transit even now when we can browse close-up images of the planet from orbiting spacecraft. No longer merely a point of light that’s difficult to spot near the horizon, we now know this tiny dot crossing the solar disc is an entire rocky world, orbiting the center of the solar system like us – and like us just a speck in the vast cosmic ocean.

[nada233]

great postin ilan and great read as well alphablondy.keep up the great work.

[ilan]

Mercury Transit of Sun on 9 May 2016

http://i.imgur.com/8vGmUZB.gif



https://66.media.tumblr.com/7e99c9b8dbac785107a5bb97200fd92d/tumblr_o6xcghz5bX1v2useeo1_540.gif



http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--Ob3otTvc--/jgky2dmuzdlu0rgj4vsw.gif


Here is a nice video of the event from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:

https://youtu.be/AhWMOkrzKzs

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mercury's Next Transit of the Sun on 11 November 2019

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Cool. Thanks ilan...:)

[wickedjoker]

man its crazy how man it is compared to the sun!

[ilan]

And Mercury looks bigger than it actually is because it's so much closer to us (48 million miles) than is the sun (93 million miles). The ratio is nearly 2:1. Thus, Mercury appears twice as big as it really is in relation to the sun..

[ilan]

Is There a UFO Cover-up? A Government Insider Speaks Out (Part 1)
05/09/2016 06:09 pm ET | Huffington Post Updated 18 hours ago


About six months ago, our board at UFODATA was privileged to welcome Christopher Mellon as the newest member of our team. Chris spent nearly 20 years in the federal government serving in various national security positions. For the first time, he has agreed to speak publicly about his experiences within government as they relate to UFOs.


http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2016-05-08-1462727039-5361826-CKMPhoto.jpeg
Photo courtesy Chris Mellon


It is unusual for a man of Chris’s stature to speak openly about UFOs, which gives his statements great weight. His positions during the Clinton and Bush administrations involved high clearances; in fact, there are few people who have enjoyed such deep and wide-ranging access to compartmented programs in both the Defense Department (DoD) and the intelligence community. Chris is the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Reconnaissance Office Gold Medal and the Defense Intelligence Agency Director’s Medal.

At DoD, Chris served on a small committee that provided oversight of all DoD special access programs, in order to eliminate potential waste and duplication. The oversight included visits to Area 51 and other sensitive facilities. He also spent over a decade on the Senate Intelligence Committee, involved in oversight of NRO, CIA, NSA and other intelligence organizations. He became the first Congressional official to review all of the NSA’s compartmented programs.

I wanted to know what Chris had to say about Hillary Clinton’s implications that the government may be withholding classified UFO documents. Backed by John Podesta, chairman of her campaign, Clinton has been speaking about the need to “get to the bottom of the UFO mystery.” Her comments are unprecedented within a presidential campaign.

Here is my recent conversation with Chris Mellon, mainly conducted via email, edited only for clarity.

Q: When did you first become interested in UFOs?

A: I was about seven years old when I saw an old-fashioned amateur movie taken by a friend of our school principal. It showed a huge, golden disc-shaped object serenely moving through sunny, blue skies, passing through cumulous clouds in a manner that would be very hard to fake. I have no idea what became of the movie, but it filled me with wonder and awe. I read everything I could get my hands on afterwards and eventually did a research project on UFOs in college for a physics professor. I remain deeply intrigued.

Q: Did your colleagues in government know you were interested in UFOs? Were you afraid of being ridiculed?

A: It was something I didn’t reveal to colleagues unless I got to know them well and we became personal friends. Even then of course I wasn’t a nut about it and I certainly was not obsessed; it was simply a subject of great curiosity. It did not come up often. I was focused like a laser on my duties 99.9 percent of the time.

Q: Hillary Clinton has been asked about UFOs during her campaign. As the former Secretary of State, would she be likely to know if there were any classified government programs involving UFOs?

A: No, I don’t think so. I recall instances when White House officials sought briefings on highly compartmented DoD programs and were flatly refused. Access to such programs is on a need to know basis. In general, nobody outside DoD, including the Secretary of State, is deemed to have a need to know. Officials like John Podesta and Secretary Clinton can easily serve for years in senior positions and be avid consumers of classified intelligence analysis but never obtain access to DoD’s compartmented programs, which mostly relate to new weapons systems. Information about such programs rarely leaks because it doesn’t circulate, unlike the constant stream of leaked information regarding classified intelligence activities.


http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2016-05-08-1462729057-2025640-ChrisandBill5-thumb.jpeg
Chris (right) with former Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen in 1995. Note the inscription:
“The Other Man who kept all the secrets.” Chris drafted the bill for Cohen
that established the US Special Operations Command. (photo © Chris Mellon)


Q: Do you think that if Clinton is elected we can expect to learn new information about UFOs?

A: I highly doubt DoD or any other government agency is concealing UFO information. I participated in a comprehensive review of DoD’s black programs and spent over a decade conducting oversight of the national foreign intelligence program, an almost totally separate world of secrets. I visited Area 51 and other military, intelligence and research facilities. During all those years, I never detected the faintest hint of government interest or involvement in UFOs.

Q: Clinton and John Podesta have been focusing on the need for de-classifying government documents. What do you think about that?

A: While a few new, previously overlooked documents might turn up (the bureaucracy is never perfect), I do not believe they would resolve the UFO issue or provide significant new insights. I can think of one lengthy UFO report that is classified only due to concerns over sources and methods. In fact, it identified a convincing conventional explanation for the pilot sightings in this particular case. There are lots of classified documents related to activities at Area 51, where high security is needed. But this is all legitimate stuff the American people would support. They have nothing to do with UFOs, to the best of my knowledge.

Q: Do you recall any incidents involving UFOs while you were in government?

A: Yes, there were a handful of incidents. Knowing of my interest in UFOs, a breathless naval aviator called me one day to report that he was present minutes earlier when a Navy jet landed after being circled by a UFO in broad daylight. The Navy did not pursue the issue as far as I could tell. I also recall the Maui Optical Tracking Facility, which tracks satellites, recording a flight of four or five fiery UFOs traversing the night sky. Nobody knew what to make of it. But no government official expressed the slightest interest even after the tape was featured on ABC’s Nightline. I found the utter lack of scientific curiosity due to political correctness highly frustrating.

Q: How do you think the press and public will react if Clinton is elected, makes the inquiries she promised, but comes up empty-handed?

A: I think the conspiracy theorists will be angry and unconvinced, while the general public may conclude UFOs are not a worthwhile topic. If Clinton really wants to get to the bottom of the UFO issue, I think she should officially task NORAD with collection and analysis responsibility. Simultaneously, she should assign the Office of Science and Technology Policy the job of reviewing available evidence, coordinating with other countries and providing scientific assessments and recommendations.

Q: The taboo against taking UFOs seriously is a huge problem. How can we get more government officials to change this ingrained attitude?

A: I think we have to ask ourselves a key question, and then bring it forward. “Are there UFO cases that are sufficiently well-documented to warrant a scientific investigation of the phenomenon?” In my view, the answer is yes.

The patterns in the data are too strong; the reports from credible witnesses separated widely by time and place too similar; the evidence from videos and trained military and law enforcement observers too extensive; and the independent radar data in select cases correlates too highly with visual observations to safely ignore. Finally, when someone you trust and respect, like a naval aviator, looks you in the eye and tells you he saw something truly extraordinary at close range, it’s hard not to take his testimony seriously. It is arrogant, unreasonable and unwise to dismiss such reports. We should simply and impartially follow the trail wherever it leads.

[ilan]

Is There a UFO Cover-up? A Government Insider Speaks Out (Part 2)
05/09/2016 06:09 pm ET | Huffington Post Updated 18 hours ago


Q: Which credible UFO incidents have you found particularly impressive and convincing?

A: A few stand out in my mind. In November 1989, 13 police officers and hundreds of other witnesses saw two silent triangular craft gliding over Belgium. This was the beginning of a wave of sightings there lasting well over a year. Ground and air radar data were acquired as well. The Belgian Air Force investigated the events in cooperation with a team of scientists and consulted with the U.S. and NATO countries, but could not find a conventional explanation.


http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2016-05-08-1462727551-4429314-DB29NovoriginalA-thumb.jpeg
An artist’s rendition of the Belgium UFO that made repeated visits in 1989-90



http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2016-05-08-1462727932-8377390-INSERTpressConf11Jul1990-thumb.jpeg
Colonel Wilfried De Brouwer, who later became a general,
presents anomalous radar readings at a 1990 press conference during the Belgian wave


On the night of March 30, 1993, over a hundred witnesses in England, including police officers and military personnel, saw a triangular-shaped craft able to rapidly accelerate in seconds from a hovering position. The British Ministry of Defense stated that “none of the usual explanations put forward to explain UFO sightings seem applicable” and concluded that the evidence showed that “an unidentified object (or objects) of unknown origin was operating over the UK.”

Similarly, multiple police officers in Southern Illinois saw an object in January 2000 that looked and behaved very similarly to the Belgian and British UFOs. In fact, the Illinois police officers’ drawings of the craft are uncannily similar to the depictions of triangular craft produced by Belgian law enforcement officers a decade earlier, as well as many others since.


http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2016-05-08-1462739196-8484924-004-thumb.jpeg
A Belgian Air Force weather forecaster drew his sighting in 1990
© SOBEP archives


In 2006, pilots and airport personnel witnessed a disc-shaped object hovering over O’Hare airport for over five minutes, yet no government investigation was undertaken.

And, while most sightings have conventional explanations, I think it is stunning how many reports come in regularly to groups like MUFON, with impressive detail, including photos or videos. I often hear from skeptics, “If UFOs are out there how come nobody ever gets a video with all the smartphones around?” That is ignorant, it happens all the time!

Q: Some people believe the more recent sightings in cases such as those you mentioned may simply be US government tests of experimental aircraft. Is that possible?

A: I can understand why this may seem the most plausible explanation. But I can assure you, those objects did not belong to US Department of Defense. Just before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, I was contacted by the DoD Office of Congressional Affairs. They were in a tizzy because Robert Byrd, the powerful Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, was challenging them over reports appearing in magazines such as Aviation Week and Space Technology describing an alleged super-secret US aircraft program dubbed “Aurora.”

Senator Byrd would use his budget power to punish the department severely if we lied to him or withheld information. We pursued all possible options, double-checking with the appropriate officials while reminding them of the imperative of providing an accurate response. We quickly confirmed what we already knew - that while there are always things on the drawing board, there was nothing remotely resembling such aircraft being operated by the department. We had nothing with the capacity to hover and then silently accelerate at massive speeds.

Also, it is totally uncharacteristic of the US military to conduct experimental tests of new vehicles over populated areas where security would be compromised and innocent civilians placed in harms way. That’s completely contrary to military DNA. Alien visitation is actually easier to believe than that level of stupidity being exhibited by the brilliant people developing new aircraft technologies for DoD.

Q: Are you certain there is no government cover-up?

A: It’s impossible to prove the negative, so all I can say is that I never saw any evidence of official interest in UFOs. I’d love to believe we have a crashed saucer somewhere, but I’ve never seen anything remotely supportive of such incredible claims. In my experience, on those rare occasions when UFO incidents involving the government occur, they are highly inconvenient, awkward and embarrassing for the afflicted government officials who want nothing more than to put the issue behind them as quickly as possible! The military seems generally unwilling to investigate even when UFO reports come from our own military pilots or officials in high office such as Fife Symington, the former governor of Arizona. Senior officials are so fearful of being ridiculed that they conceal any expression of interest or curiosity.

Q: Some inside sources have proposed that retrieved hardware from a UFO may exist within a private aerospace company which has become independent from the DoD. In this way, it would be exempt from government oversight and known only to a few people. Do you think this is possible?

A: I find it hard to imagine something as explosive as recovered alien technology remaining under wraps for decades. So while I have no reason to believe there is any recovered alien technology, I will say this: If it were me, and I were trying to bury it deep, I’d take it outside government oversight entirely and place it in a compartment as a new entity within an existing defense company and manage it as what we call an “IRAD” or “Independent Research and Development Activity.”

Q: So where does this all leave us, and what is to be done?

A: In my view, calling for the end to an alleged government UFO cover-up is almost certainly a dead end, and does not help inspire anyone in government to become more open to the topic. The UFO mystery is a scientific problem. A true scientist seeks and follows the data no matter how politically incorrect the facts may be. The greatest scientific breakthroughs occur when we verify information that challenges conventional wisdom. That’s why I joined the board of UFODATA.

Q: I’m so glad you did. What kinds of new data are you hoping we will collect?

A: Our team of scientists and engineers are designing and will build a large network of automated surveillance stations with sophisticated sensors to capture a wide range of data. The stations will house cameras to record both an image and spectra, a magnetometer, instrumentation to detect radiation, a gravimeter, and more. They will be mobile so that we can readily deploy them to areas that become hotspots of UFO activity. We can then make the data available to the scientific community for analysis.


http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2016-05-08-1462732220-3487299-Hessdalen-thumb.png


Q: Do you think UFOs could be visitors from civilizations elsewhere?

A: I’m certainly intrigued by the possibility. But I don’t think we will find out without a deeper scientific inquiry. I would like to invite the public to participate and support this lean but potentially groundbreaking effort, staffed by volunteers. UFODATA’s findings, one way or another, can help us to resolve this perennial mystery and perhaps even help us to better understand the universe and mankind’s place within it.

[ilan]

Strange, Weird, and Amazing Astronomy Facts
Wednesday, April 20, 2016 | Astro Reporter

1715
Black holes gobble up material that strays too near them.They're among the oddest, weirdest things in the universe.


Even though humans have studied the heavens for thousands of years, we still know very little about the universe. As we continue to explore, we learn more about the stars, planets, and galaxies. Some of the things we find out are amazing, and others are confusing. Here is a collection of amazing, interesting, and strange astronomy facts, based on our current knowledge of the cosmos.


We can only detect about 5% of the matter in the universe. The rest is made up of invisible matter (called dark matter) and a mysterious form of energy known as dark energy.
Neutron stars are the leftovers of the deaths of massive stars in supernova explosions. These stars are so dense a soup can full of neutron star material would have more mass than the Moon. They are among the fast-spinning objects astronomers have studied, with spin rates up to 500 times per second!
The Sun's core releases the equivalent of 100 billion nuclear bombs every second. All that energy works its way out through the various layers of the Sun, taking thousands of years to make the trip. The Sun's energy is emitted as heat and light.
Galileo Galilei is often incorrectly credited with the invention of the telescope. Historians now think the Dutch eyeglass maker Johannes Lippershey was its creator. Galileo was probably the first to use the device to study the heavens.
Black holes are so dense, and produce such intense gravity, that nothing — not even light —can escape their gravitational clutches. However, there are some unusual situations where a form of radation — called Hawking radiation — can slip away.
When supermassive black holes collide, gravitational waves are released. These waves were known to exist, and were finally detected on 19 Feb 2016.
If you somehow got too close to a black hole and were sucked in by its gravitational pull, it would pull harder on your feet than on your head. You would get stretched out — or spaghettified — by the intense pull.
Light from distant stars and galaxies takes so long to reach us that we are actually seeing these objects as they appeared in the past. As we look up at the sky, we are really looking back in time. For example, the Sun's light takes almost 8.5 minutes to travel to Earth, so we see the Sun as it looked 8.5 minutes ago. The nearest star to us, Proxima Centauri, is 4.2 light-years away, so it appears as it was 4.2 years ago. The nearest galaxy is 2.5 million light-years away, and it looks as it did when our australopithecus hominid ancestors walked the planet.The farther away something is, the further back in time it appears.
The Crab Nebula was produced by a supernova explosion that appeared in our skies in the year 1054 A.D. The Chinese and Arab astronomers at the time noted that the explosion was so bright that it was visible during the day, and it lit up the night sky for months. It was likely also observed by the Anasazi people of the U.S. southwest.
Shooting stars really aren't stars. They are usually just tiny dust particles falling through our atmosphere and they vaporize due to the heat of friction with the atmospheric gases. Earth sometimes passes through cometary orbits. As comets travel around the Sun, they leave behind dust trails. When Earth encounters that dust, we see an increase in meteors.
Even though Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, temperatures there can reach -280 degrees F on its surface. How can this happen? Since Mercury has almost no atmosphere, there is nothing to trap heat near the surface. So, the dark side of Mercury (the side facing away from the Sun) gets very cold.
Venus is considerably hotter than Mercury, even though it is farther away from the Sun. The thickness of Venus’s atmosphere traps heat near the surface of the planet. Venus also spins very slowly on its axis.
A day on Venus is 243 Earth-days long, while Venus's year is only 224.7 days. Even weirder, Venus spins backwards on its axis compared to the other planets in the solar system.
Space isn't completely empty. We often hear about the vacuum of space, but it turns out that there are a few atoms of matter in each cubic meter of space. The space between galaxies, which was also once thought to be quite empty can often be filled with molecules of gas and dust.
The universe is filled with galaxies and the most distant ones are moving away from us at more than 90 percent of the speed of light.

[anon2599]

AMAZING!

Thank you Sir for all your tremendous info. Really truly appreciate everyone's posts and info in this Awesome! thread.
Absolutely love this thread....My favourite ...indeed.

[ilan]

It's all simply amazing, and suggested as such but much more eloquently by Carl Sagan...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzS39oghcnY

[Marley]

MUFON Case Management System - LAST 20 SIGHTING REPORTS

http://mufoncms.com/cgi-bin/report_handler.pl?req=latest_reports
it may take some time to load

[ilan]

Great catch, asft. Yes, it takes a bit of time to load, so hold on while it suggests it is connecting...

Note, too, if you click VIEW you get the commentary from the person who took the photos. Cool stuff...

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Good stuff as usual.
Thanks fella's....:)

[ilan]

Continuing in the UFO vein, here is a news report about a UFO sighting from the 70's, long considered more credible than most. Maybe it is because it was made by a ... tune-in to find out.



http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/video/3314458-finding-minnesota-deputys-ufo-encounter/
(http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/video/3314458-finding-minnesota-deputys-ufo-encounter/)
(http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/video/3314458-finding-minnesota-deputys-ufo-encounter/)

[ilan]

Hunting for hidden life on worlds orbiting old red stars
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York | Published: Monday, May 16, 2016

Planetary diversity suggests that around other stars, initially frozen
worlds could be the size of Earth and provide habitable conditions once the star becomes older.

http://www.astronomy.com/-/media/Images/News%20and%20Observing/News/2016/05/RamirezandKaltenegger.jpg?mw=600
Ramses Ramirez, left, and Lisa Kaltenegger hold a replica of our own habitable world,
as they hunt for other places in the universe where life can thrive.


All throughout the universe, there are stars in varying phases and ages. Planetary diversity suggests that around other stars, initially frozen worlds could be the size of Earth and provide habitable conditions once the star becomes older. The oldest detected Kepler planets — exoplanets found using NASA’s Kepler telescope — are about 11 billion years old. Our Sun is currently 4.6 billion years old. Astronomers usually looked at middle-aged stars like our Sun, but to find habitable worlds, one needs to look around to stars of all ages, including red giants.

In their work, Ramses M. Ramirez and Lisa Kaltenegger from Cornell’s Carl Sagan Institute have modeled the locations of the habitable zones for aging stars and how long planets can stay in them.

The “habitable zone” is the region around a star in which water on a planet’s surface is liquid and signs of life can be remotely detected by telescopes.

“When a star ages and brightens, the habitable zone moves outward and, you’re basically giving a second wind to a planetary system,” said Ramirez. “Currently, objects in these outer regions are frozen in our own solar system, and Europa and Enceladus — moons orbiting Jupiter and Saturn — are icy for now.”

Dependent upon the mass (weight) of the original star, planets and their moons loiter in this red giant habitable zone up to 9 billion years. Earth, for example, has been in our Sun’s habitable zone so far for about 4.5 billion years, and it has teemed with changing iterations of life. However, in a few billion years, our Sun will become a red giant, engulfing Mercury and Venus, turning Earth and Mars into sizzling rocky planets and warming distant worlds like Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune — and their moons — in a newly established red giant habitable zone.

“Long after our own plain yellow Sun expands to become a red giant star and turns Earth into a sizzling hot wasteland, there will still be regions in our solar system — and other solar systems as well — where life might thrive,” said Kaltenegger.

“For stars that are like our Sun, but older, such thawed planets could stay warm up to half a billion years in the red giant habitable zone. That’s no small amount of time,” said Ramirez.

“In the far future, such worlds could become habitable around small red suns for billions of years, maybe even starting life, just like on Earth. That makes me very optimistic about the chances for life in the long run,” said Kaltenegger.