Monday - August 04, 2008
Somebody is watching us
Another one of those amazing APOD photos, this is the Cat’s Eye Nebula.
Starting in 1995, stunning false-color optical images from the Hubble Space Telescope detailed the swirls of this glowing nebula, known to be the gaseous shroud expelled from a dying sun-like star about 3,000 light-years from Earth. This composite picture combines the latest Hubble optical image of the Cat’s Eye with new x-ray data from the orbiting Chandra Observatory and reveals surprisingly intense x-ray emission indicating the presence of extremely hot gas. X-ray emission is shown as blue-purple hues superimposed on the nebula’s center. The nebula’s central star itself is clearly immersed in the multimillion degree, x-ray emitting gas. Other pockets of x-ray hot gas seem to be bordered by cooler gas emitting strongly at optical wavelengths, a clear indication that expanding hot gas is sculpting the visible Cat’s Eye filaments and structures. Gazing into the Cat’s Eye, astronomers see the fate of our sun, destined to enter its own planetary nebula phase of evolution ... in about 5 billion years.
Kewl !
Posted by Drew458
on 08/04/2008 at 08:37 AM
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Permalink • Friday - June 20, 2008
Natural Disaster Narrowly Avoided?
Democrats confused: Should they blame Bush or Hillary?
Oops, sorry about that. For a second I was channeling Steamboat McGoo from his prior career writing headlines for The National Enquirer. No, what we have right now is a full moon and a Solstice going on at the same time, which makes for a maximum Moon Illusion. This is the harmless kind of moonbattery, so have at it and enjoy.
The Really Smart People At NASAtm are only too happy to tell you all about it, right here. And right here. And because you can never get a real scientist to actually shut up, they provide a neat link that allows you to find your local moonrise anywhere in the world, right here. Government at work, solving all the little problems so the big problems can solve themselves!
I’m sure the Democrats will wind up blaming Bush anyway.
Posted by Drew458
on 06/20/2008 at 02:42 PM
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Permalink • Thursday - June 19, 2008
Will Cold Solar Storm Chill the Earth?
Don from over at The Further Adventures of Indigo Red emails me that the brainiacs over at NASA have come up with an amazing theory: Solar Activity and Earth’s Temperature are linked! But not exactly in the way you might think.
When the sun has lots of sunspots, there are lots of solar flares. Properly called Solar Coronas, these flares are hundreds, perhaps thousands of times hotter than the surface of the sun itself. They also give off tremendous amounts of X-ray and UV radiation. Pointed straight at us. Oh noes!!!
X-rays and ultraviolet radiation from the solar corona affect Earth and its atmosphere. For satellites, this can be a real drag--literally. As Earth’s atmosphere gets hotter, it expands and becomes denser at high altitudes. When this happens, satellites experience more drag, which changes their orbits. Accurately predicting this “space weather” gives satellite operators more time to respond to or avert problems that could potentially cause interruptions and outages.
In order for scientists to build realistic models of the corona, they “must understand coronal heating. It’s the root cause of all this radiation,” says Klimchuk.
Naturally, as scientists, they are required to say “But more study is necessary!!” which translates into Normal as “We want more grant money!!”
Interestingly, at this very moment in time, the sun has but one little sunspot. BUT, and this might be significant, instead of a Coronal Loop, right now the sun has a Coronal Hole. Which is the exact opposite kind of thing. And that thing is pointed right at us! Oh noes? No, oh yesss!!!
coronal hole
A region of the Sun’s corona that appears dark in pictures taken with a coronagraph or during a total solar eclipse, and that shows up as a void in X-ray and extreme ultraviolet images. Coronal holes are of very low density (typically 100 times lower than the rest of the corona) and have an open magnetic field structure; in other words, magnetic field lines emerging from the holes extend indefinitely into space rather than looping back into the photosphere. This open structure allows charged particles to escape from the Sun and results in coronal holes being the primary source of the solar wind and the exclusive source of its high-speed component.
Why could this be good news? Because right now the Earth is caught up in the solar wind from this, but it’s a COLD wind. And one very very low in X-rays and UV, far lower than the sun’s normal output.
So, does that mean the weather will be a bit colder for the next couple of weeks? Beats me. But it’s nearly chilly here today.
Credit: Hinode X-ray Telescope
Posted by Drew458
on 06/19/2008 at 06:47 PM
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Permalink • Thursday - February 14, 2008
Excellent Marketing
I don’t know if it’s part of the SDI system or not, but the US Navy is going to try to shoot down that ailing spy satellite that’s been in the news. They’re going to launch a missile at the thing from a cruiser. This will discussed today at a Pentagon briefing at 2:30 EST. Live streaming media from Fox News affiliate http://www.kpho.com . I don’t know when the shoot is going to happen, but the satellite’s orbit is decaying rapidly, so they only have a window of opportunity that’s a week or two wide.
U.S. officials said the Pentagon is planning to shoot down a broken spy satellite expected to hit the Earth in early March.
The Associated Press has learned that the option preferred by the Bush administration will be to fire a missile from a U.S. Navy cruiser and shoot down the satellite before it enters Earth’s atmosphere.
The satellite is outfitted with thrusters, small engines used to position it in space, that contain the toxic rocket fuel hydrazine. Hydrazine can cause harm to anyone who contacts it.
The satellite, known by its military designation USA-193, was launched in December 2006. It lost power and its central computer failed almost immediately afterward, leaving it uncontrollable. It carried a sophisticated and secret imaging sensor.U.S. officials do not want this equipment to fall into the wrong hands.
The Delta II rocket carrying spy satellite USA-193/NRO L-21 launches Dec. 14, 2006, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. |
|
|
What goes up |
WILL come down whenever we want it to. And don’t you forget it. |
So we will see the US Navy
- actively protecting the world from bad things falling from space,
- showing all our enemies that we can knock stuff down from orbit even from our ships,
- keeping sooper-secret spy stuff from falling into the wrong hands, and
- giving a show that either
1) SDI is fully operational and can also be ship based, or
2) the latest Aegis upgrade is working perfectly.
Any way you look at it, this is excellent publicity for the Navy and the Bush administration. Assuming, of course, that it works. Keep your fingers crossed.
PS - the destroyer in the picture is the USS John S. McCain, DDG 56. The ship was named after Admirals John S. McCain and John S. McCain Jr., the grandfather and father of Navy veteran and Arizona Senator John S. McCain III, whom you may have heard of. I have no idea if this is the ship that will be used, but I doubt it.
news source I and news source II
Posted by Drew458
on 02/14/2008 at 01:41 PM
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Permalink • Five Most Recent Trackbacks:
LAST POST FOR THE DAY AND A LAST FUN THING FOR THE ADULT KIDDIES. CHECK IT OUT.
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Tracked at Mazurland Blog
While my wife and I are at work all day, I imagine that our dog and cat, which are locked in a 150 square foot family room all day, are…
On: 11/19/08 04:21
The first colour photographs from the German front line during World War One.
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Tracked at Macker's World
WOW! Now this presents a new perspective on World War I: color photos from the German side: Given today's film speeds and grain quality, I can only imagine that what…
On: 11/15/08 11:19
Too True!
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Tracked at Macker's World
Now here's a parody of a parody: If Parker & Hart were around, I'm sure they'd be OK with this. HAT TIP: BMEWS
On: 11/09/08 11:38
Twas the Night Before
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Tracked at The Chronicles Of A Rogue Jew
A friend of mine emailed this to me. He said he got it from the Barking Moonbat Monitor. Enjoy! ‘Twas the night before elections And all through the town Tempers…
On: 10/30/08 12:38
Banned from using Hoover or hot water under health and safety rules. (ere we go again matey)
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Tracked at Goldwater Girl's Weblog
Perhaps some of BHO’s civilian security force (which will be funded as well as the military) can cook up something like the Elf and Safety over in the UK. This…
On: 10/23/08 09:48
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