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#51 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » New Discoveries #5 - Deep space, galactic, solar system, etc. » 2007-02-28 10:54:24
Detection of a colliding-wind beyond the Milky Way
Imagine two stars with winds so powerful that they eject an Earth's worth of material roughly once every month. Next, imagine those two winds colliding head-on. Such titanic collisions produce multimillion-degree gas, which radiates brilliantly in X-rays. Astronomers have conclusively identified the X-rays from about two-dozen of these systems in our Milky Way. But they have never seen one outside our galaxy - until now.
Oh...it's in the Small Magellanic Cloud. Close enough for really good observation.
The binary system, known as HD 5980, contains two extremely massive stars, 'weighing' about 50 and 30 times the mass of the Sun. Each star radiates more than a million times as much light as the Sun, meaning they put out more light in one minute than our host star generates in an entire year.
:shock: Yipes.
The sheer photon pressure of this incredible outpouring of light blows off gas from each star in a supersonic 'wind'. These winds are so powerful that they carry away roughly an Earth mass each month, a rate 10 thousand million times greater than the solar wind, and at a speed 5 times faster than the solar wind itself.
HD 5980's two stars are separated by only about 90 million kilometres, roughly half Earth's average distance from the Sun. "These stars are so close to each other that if they were in our solar system they could fit inside the orbit of Venus"
Amazing.
The system emits about 10 times more energy in X-rays alone than the Sun radiates over the entire spectrum"
The stars orbit each other every 20 days in a plane that is edge-on to Earth's line of sight, so the stars periodically eclipse each other.
the two stars are nearing the end of their lives and will eventually explode as supernovae. The more massive star, HD 5980A, is passing through a Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) phase - a short-lived, erratic stage that only the most massive stars go through...Its companion, HD 5980B, is an evolved Wolf-Rayet star that has already ejected much of its original envelope.
Quite a pair indeed. 
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0702/25binary/
--Cindy
#52 Re: Human missions » WHAT is getting shortchanged? (John Glenn article) » 2007-02-22 12:38:50
http://www.space.com/imageoftheday/imag … 70221.html
45 years of Americans in orbit
(Coincidentally includes a photo of Glenn himself).
As if that is such a wonderful and laudable accomplishment [on the contrary, considering what we could have achieved BY NOW this is a flat-out laughable disgrace. Literally going round and round in circles -- like a dog chasing its tail -- is the best we can do, huh?].
As if Apollo never existed.
And likely it'll be another 45 years of us just being in orbit (around Earth).
Whoopie ding-dong bells! :evil:
#53 Re: Human missions » WHAT is getting shortchanged? (John Glenn article) » 2007-02-21 14:01:16
Ichabod! The glory HAS departed.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/02/2 … index.html
Am I reading this correctly?
Glenn says it's wrong to divert money away from the international space station
He supports the president's moon and Mars goals but not at the station's expense
You're joking, right? Apollo.
The country is not getting its money's worth out of the international space station, John Glenn said Tuesday...
I agree with him here. It's a worthless piece of junk (except for billionaires' holidays) and a drain on the taxpayer's wallet.
Diverting money from the orbiting research outpost to President Bush's goal of sending astronauts back to the moon and eventually on to Mars is preventing some scientific experiments on the space station
You mean like sending SNAILS into weightlessness? Doing experiments on mould? Wow I'm SO thrilled.
He said he supports the president's moon and Mars goals but not at the expense of the space station, which is only two-thirds complete.
You MUST be joking, Mr. Glenn. Or perhaps you've gone the way of Charleton Heston?
Glenn, a Democrat who represented Ohio from 1975 to 1999, said the station shouldn't be abandoned, especially after costing taxpayers billions of dollars.
Billions of dollars of which could have a Mars colony established since 1980.
"We will not even begin to realize its potential," he said.
It's already seen its potential, Mr. Glenn: An orbiting hotel for billionaires.
I'd like to see its ultimate potential: A big flaming ball of metal screaming through the atmosphere and landing in the ocean. Not that I want to pollute the ocean, but it'd be great getting that huge ball and chain off the taxpayer's neck and getting on to Mars.
Never thought I'd live to see the day someone of Glenn's stature values the ISS over Moon/Mars, but what the heck...there's always astronomy. I'll just wait for the space exploration clods to get their act together once again (if ever).
#55 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Heliopolis *2* - ...Sun, Solar Science Cont'd... » 2007-02-21 09:58:42
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/0 … spole.html
Intense solar storms raging at Sol's south pole (Ulysses discovery). This is a surprise, considering Sol's currently at minimum (sunspot cycle).
Also, the south pole is currently cooler than the north pole.
#56 Re: Not So Free Chat » Canada / U.S. relations » 2007-02-17 11:06:15
This is quite an intense discussion.
Canadian way is to be polite, courteous, considerate, respectful, diplomatic, humble and meek;
I'd like to visit Canada. Have been there as a small child; remember none of it of course. Would like to tour it, particularly central and eastern regions.
but if force is required be fast, firm, and effective.
I agree on fast/firm/effective (if force is required). A former NM member advocated the very same thing, instead of dwadling and mucking around.
Given the mess we're in and the sacrifices we've made, I expect some thanks from the US government.
Agreed.
Hey, have I mentioned that I think Hayden Christensen is an absolute doll?
Oh. :shock: I have? Sorry...
#57 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » New Discoveries #5 - Deep space, galactic, solar system, etc. » 2007-02-17 10:57:08
Star smashes spinning speed record
[Don't read this if you're prone to vertigo 
]
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/0 … _spin.html
Facts:
+The neutron star is a burned out corpse that's collapsed into an incredible density rivaled only by black holes.
+It packs the mass of the Sun into a sphere the size of a city.
+It has been reduced to nothing but tightly huddled neutrons.
+A THIMBLEFUL would weigh a hundred million TONS back here on Earth.
+It is zipping around on its axis 1,122 times every second. That smashes the previous record of 760 spins per second for a neutron star.
[There's a limit to how fast stars can spin. Too fast and they'd break apart. But since astronomers don't know the exact make-up of neutron stars, the speed limit is not known.]
+The Sun, for comparison, spins on its axis once every 25 days as measured at its equator.
--Cindy
#58 Re: Not So Free Chat » Canada / U.S. relations » 2007-02-17 06:40:49
[url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/story/3882575p-4490081c.html]Bush calls for all-out effort to defeat Taliban
Doesn't mention current Canadian, Dutch roles[/url]WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush called for an all-out allied effort Thursday to defeat the Taliban but angered some in Canada by failing to mention its role in the deadly southern part of Afghanistan.
Bush singled out for praise countries that have recently pledged extra forces or equipment as a spring offensive looms -- countries like Norway, Britain, Poland, Turkey, Denmark, Greece and Iceland.
He didn't talk about Canada or the Netherlands, which already have big commitments in Afghanistan and are fighting in the most dangerous areas.
Hi Robert: Canadian anger in this regard (Netherlands too) is totally understandable. I've been under the impression (could be my fault, as I don't always pay really close attention to politics) that the USA is mostly "going it alone" in Afghanistan. Some of that is doubtless propoganda, too.
It's wrong to not acknowledge everyone (praise), especially in this context!
Long live the land of Hayden Christensen! 
#59 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » New Discoveries #5 - Deep space, galactic, solar system, etc. » 2007-02-16 07:54:52
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070216.html
:shock: I'll say it's rare. Cool!
Perpendicular rings of stars, gas and dust orbit the plane of the flat galactic disc (can see this in photo).
The ring system structure is "remarkably old and stable."
They're unsure how these rings formed.
#60 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » New Discoveries #5 - Deep space, galactic, solar system, etc. » 2007-02-16 07:08:42
Cindy: Oddly, except for your's, I found no new posts submitted on the 15t--the day after Valentine's-- so just between us (blush) I would like to quote, for all those slackers to read, the following--which could apply to you, if only you follow your dream:
[From a talk, given at Waterloo University's Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, in Ontario, by young Dr. Arkani-Hamed, 34, who believes that the scientific community is on the brink of "a real revolution in the understanding of physics."]
"What really drives scientists is a deep sort of curiosity. It doesn't feel like chess. It doesn't feel like playing a game. It doesn't feel like solving a puzzle. Puzzles were invented by humans. In Physics, there's a sense of discovery, and what it contains is far beyond what we imagined we could have imagined.
"For example, Physicists have long been perplexed by the apparent weakness of gravity compared to the three other basic forces in nature: electromagnetism, the weak force associated with atomic radiation, and the strong force that holds atomic nuclei together. One answer may lie in the concept of multiple universes in dimensions beyond the space and time we experience. To visualize this idea, picture in your mind our universe collapsed onto a flat, two-dimensional plane. The stacked planes represent alternative universes--they exist alonside ours, but unless we could extend our perceptions beyond our limited plane, we would be totally unaware of them. A force such as electromagnetism might act only within our universe, while gravity might act throughout multiple universes, effectively diluting its perceived effect in our own universe."
See? no math involved you'll notice, Cindy. Only astronomical observations, followed by wherever the incomparable human imagination that you were born with takes you!
Hi again dicktice: Interesting, thank you. Unfortunately I'm at that point in life where it's not possible to "switch gears" and embark on an entirely new career. Not to mention the debt I'm in (whoops...I didn't say that). 
Hopefully a younger person will also read and be inspired by your post.
--Cindy
#61 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » New Discoveries #5 - Deep space, galactic, solar system, etc. » 2007-02-15 05:39:11
Given a choice, would you not prefer to be an astronomer, even a cosmologist, Cindy?
Oh dicktice, yes. A cosmologist?? I could only dream.
Since around 8 years of age I wanted to be a professional astronomer, but I haven't the brains for higher mathematics and physics. :cry:
Astronomy is one of two ongoing, never-flagging loves of my life. Can't ever get enough.
#62 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » New Discoveries #5 - Deep space, galactic, solar system, etc. » 2007-02-13 09:56:45
Comets clash @ heart of nebula:
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=21861
A bunch of rowdy comets are colliding and kicking up dust around a dead star, according to new observations
"We were surprised to see so much dust around this star...The dust must be coming from comets that survived the death of their sun."
In about 10,000 years [the nebula's] shiny clouds will fade, leaving the white dwarf and its circling comets to cool down alone in empty space.
Where is the dust coming from? According to the astronomers, it is most likely being freshly churned up by comets smashing into each other in the outer fringes of the white dwarf's system. A few million years ago, before the white dwarf formed, when it was still a lively star like our sun, its comets and possibly planets would have been in stable orbits, harmoniously traveling around the star. But when the star died, any inner planets would have burned up or been swallowed as the star expanded. Outer planets, asteroids and comets would have been jostled about and thrown into each other's paths.
Wow!
Spitzer has seen evidence before for such comet survivors around dead stars. In January of last year...
--Cindy
#63 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Rockets into Auroras » 2007-02-13 09:05:09
Why is this the first time I recall ever hearing of this?
Yesterday in Skiland, Alaska, scientists at the University of Alaska's Poker Flat Research Range launched a rocket into the auroras:
"The launch occurred about 3:45am local time, and the picture shows the first of the four stages," says photographer Lance Parish.
Photo of launch:
http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/imag … rrish1.jpg
Rockets like this one are launched several times each year from the Poker Flat facility. They carry instruments able to sense charged particles and electric fields into the high atmosphere where auroras are formed. Why? Because after centuries of observation and study, auroras are still not fully understood. Researchers need more data! Later this week, NASA plans to launch a fleet of five satellites to unravel the mystery of auroral substorms. Stay tuned for images and updates.
Article about auroral substorms:
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/ja … HEMIS.html
All that courtesy spaceweather.com
--Cindy
#64 Re: Not So Free Chat » NASA astronaut accused in kidnap plot is charged » 2007-02-12 16:02:30
http://www.space.com/news/ft_070212_nowak_benefit.html
Florida Restaurant Holds Benefit for Astronaut Lisa Nowak
:?:
Where's Colleen Shipman's benefit dinner?
Dicktice, I think you're right: Americans ARE frustrated royalists and I guess astronauts are royalty. 
It's one thing to give someone a 2nd chance, but let's not forget there are serious criminal charges involved.
I hope Nowak gets the help she needs, but my heart is with Shipman.
I'm also tired of the media (popular or space) making this sound merely like a lover's triangle. Nowak is MARRIED...Shipman isn't.
This is beginning to remind me of all the sympathy for O.J. Simpson.
#65 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Hot Comet (McNaught) » 2007-02-12 15:54:55
OH NO! :shock:
Look what's happened to Comet McNaught:
http://www.spaceweather.com/comets/mcnaugh...b07/Cooper1.jpg
It's STUCK!
Photo from New Zealand.
#66 Re: Unmanned probes » Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander » 2007-02-10 08:48:17
Saturn's moon Enceladus is a 'cosmic graffiti artist'
Astronomers from the University of Virginia and other institutions have found that Enceladus, the sixth-largest moon of Saturn, is a "cosmic graffiti artist," pelting the surfaces of at least 11 other moons of Saturn with ice particles sprayed from its spewing surface geysers.
This ice sandblasts the other moons, creating a reflective surface that makes them among the brightest bodies in the solar system.
Article:
#67 Re: Not So Free Chat » NASA astronaut accused in kidnap plot is charged » 2007-02-09 12:18:29
Must dissect this blog post (viewable through space.com).
Stop the Presses … Please!!! Lisa Nowak and Anna Nicole Smith
Author Anthony Duignan-Cabrera
Just as the groundswell of gossip-mongering, prurience and plain old media exploitation reached its histrionic crescendo surrounding astronaut Lisa Nowak’s tragic fall-from-grace,
You're right. I just cannot fathom why, for the 1st time in the 5-decade history of NASA, a little ol' incident like that could possibly generate media attention/scrutiny. Give me a break, Mr. Disingenuous.
along came the untimely (inevitable?) death of Anna Nicole Smith, a woman truly famous for doing absolutely nothing.
So...are you bashing ANS for "doing absolutely nothing" to achieve her fame?
For the families of all involved in what appeared to be an ill-fated romance
Ill-fated? As in a matter of fate, i.e. entirely out of anyone's control and over which everyone is a victim in it?
among NASA’s astronaut corps it can only be a relief that Smith, a beauty of Amazonian proportions who married well, widowed ugly and parlayed the ensuing media circus into reality-TV stardom shuffled off this mortal coil just in time for the 5 o’clock news Thursday evening. Talk about timing!
You said it, I didn't.
For someone like Smith, the relentless, 24/7 coverage of her self-created trials and trevails was the business that she was in.
So it's okay for the media to cover the self-created "trials and trevails (travails)" of one sort of celebrity, but not another? The media should adhere to a deliberate double standard? Bimbos are fair game, astronauts are holy untouchables?
Seems to me Nowak also has her self-created trials and travails. Unfortunately.
Then there’s Nowak, who prior to Monday’s very public breakdown, arrest and arraignment, lived her life like the rest of the nation’s astronaut corps in a kind of noble obscurity, trotted out for photo ops and interviews when it came time for NASA to promote visibility for its ongoing manned space program, specifically last July’s mission to the International Space Station.
A quick Google search this morning captured about 2.5 million references for Anna Nicole Smith, while Nowak came in with a paltry 890,000. That said, a bulk of the Nowak references, almost 50 percent of the search pages, referenced the awful events of the last five days of her life. In fact, it’s safe to say that the media has printed more column inches in the last four days on Nowak’s personal tragedy than it did over the last year on the fact that she risked her life as a member of the STS-121 space shuttle Discovery crew.
Maybe that's because shuttle missions have been somewhat routine for decades now? Because there have been lots of shuttle astronauts whose missions are ho-hum compared to their Apollo counterparts? Yes, she risked her life. AND she might have risked Colleen Shipman's life earlier this week.
Where is Colleen Shipman in all this?
It’s nice to know where the media’s priorities lie.
The media's priority is making MONEY. Alleged attempted murder and erratic behavior likely will make the media more MONEY than another ho-hum routine shuttle mission. Sorta sucks, but that's reality. Which you're old enough to know already, if you weren't so bent on kissing up to an astronaut.
So you can imagine my surprise last night when I saw People magazine’s latest issue at the local pharmacy with Nowak, her alleged intended victim and her alleged paramour plastered on the cover.
That was a terrible shock to you? After all the relentless media frenzy you pointed out and bemoaned above? Please ... just write the blog, don't make silly attempts at jaw-dropping theatricality.
On the other hand, just imagine how surprised People’s editor’s were today,
Likely they were, as they probably don't consult a crystal ball.
realizing that when they put the issue to bed Wednesday, in less than 24 hours, a “real celebrity” would do something really worthy of a cover story? Tragic, really.
Yeah, what a pity Anna Nicole didn't die two days earlier in order to take the heat off Nowak and be on that cover instead! And darn those People magazine editors for not being psychic!
So what do you suggest they do from now on? Hold off on publication until "something REALLY newsworthy" happens?
Quit booty smooching; NASA astronauts are not gods, they are not entitled to special treatment. Nowak messed up. Colleen Shipman might be lucky to be alive.
Colleen Shipman, you know...the SINGLE woman in the matter?
Hopefully Nowak can get her life straightened out.
#68 Re: Not So Free Chat » I'll take malaprops for *5* Bob - Apropos of Nothing continues. . . » 2007-02-09 06:15:03
Anna Nicole Smith has died.
I wonder if the two men fighting for paternity recognition/proof of the baby will continue fighting.
If Anna Nicole were a mere Pizza Hut waitress, chances are no one would be the father.
But of course Anna Nicole had won a $400 million settlement [a long-deceased husband's estate]. If Anna Nicole got that money it'd be passed on to the child. That's 400 million reasons two people would fight like crazy for parental proof.
Now Anna Nicole (who claimed bankruptcy a few years ago) is dead, and so are the possibilities of that $400 million being paid to her...and ergo her baby daughter will receive none of it.
So I'm wondering if there'll still be "a battle for the baby" or if Anna Nicole's mother will soon be rearing an infant granddaughter. I'm betting on the latter.
#69 Re: Not So Free Chat » NASA astronaut accused in kidnap plot is charged » 2007-02-07 10:23:50
All these details about what happened have come from the accuser
And from the police.
why take them as fact?
Why not take Ms. Shipman's and the police's details as fact? Unless of course Ms. Nowak is to be granted utter and complete "benefit of the doubt" solely on the basis of her being an astronaut. ?
Maybe Ms. Nowak is in seclusion (she is) and not giving any statements to the press (she's not) because she did indeed screw up and is feeling remorseful?
Silence gives assent.
She's still got freedom of speech/expression: Why isn't she in front of cameras/microphones right now, giving her side of the story? No one can stop her from doing that, not even her attorney.
It's a very sad state of affairs
Manned space exploration has been in a very sad state of affairs since 1975, by my estimation.
when this type of story gets far more media coverage than NASA's budget, even from the space media.
Reality bites.
We should be reading about NASA's latest addition to its Mars colony (would beat the frickin' budget reports).
Currently over 2,000 reports about Nowak and less than 100 about the budget and the future of the VSE.
Maybe that's because nothing like this has happened before in the history of NASA?
No surprise to me why it's a big story.
--Cindy
#70 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Heliopolis *2* - ...Sun, Solar Science Cont'd... » 2007-02-07 07:11:51
Ulysses (ESA/NASA) flyby of Sol's south pole TODAY (Feb. 7)
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007 … thpole.htm
Only two previous flybys of Sol's poles.
The sun's north magnetic north pole sticks out the south end of the sun. Magnetically, the sun is upside down!
"Most people don't know it, but we have the same situation here on Earth"
There are holes over the sun's poles--"coronal holes."
Just as the sun's polar magnetic field allows solar wind out, it also allows galactic cosmic rays in. Could the space above the sun's poles be a place where we can sample interstellar matter without actually leaving the solar system? "That's what we thought before our first polar flyby in 1994," recalls Posner. "But we were wrong.
That's new to me (allows galactic cosmic rays in).
Another mystery: There is evidence from earlier flybys that the north pole and the south pole of the sun have different temperatures. "We're not sure why this should be," says Posner, "and we're anxious to learn if it is still the case."
Me too.
Today's south polar flyby will be followed by a north polar flyby in early 2008, allowing a direct north vs. south comparison.
God's lightbulb is SO groovy.
#71 Re: Not So Free Chat » NASA astronaut accused in kidnap plot is charged » 2007-02-07 06:49:44
She printed out detailed maps for the trip, which were found in her car during a police search, along with handwritten directions to Shipman's home. En route, she paid cash for hotel stays and registered under an assumed name.
Once in Orlando, according to the arresting affidavits, Nowak followed Shipman from the airport to her car in a satellite parking lot, where the confrontation took place about 3:45 a.m.
3:45 a.m. is always a nice time to merely want to talk.
Wearing a wig and glasses, Nowak approached Shipman as she got into her car and told Shipman her boyfriend had not shown up to pick her up and she needed a ride.
What boyfriend, Ms. Nowak? Did you mean your husband in Houston? Or your astronaut paramour who also was in Houston at the time? You needed a ride from Colleen Shipman in Orlando, FL to Houston?
Shipman drove away and found police, who located Nowak at a bus stop. They also found a wig and a plastic bag containing a carbon dioxide-powered BB pistol in a nearby trash can, the report said.
Well you know, if blasting someone in the face with pepper spray can't coax them into a chatty 3:45 a.m. conversation, perhaps waving a BB pistol around might make them friendlier.
Inside a bag Nowak was carrying, the officer found a tan trench coat, a new steel mallet, a new folding knife with a 4-inch blade, 3 to 4 feet of rubber tubing, several large plastic garbage bags and about $600 in cash, the report said.
Maybe she was confused and thought Ms. Shipman was hosting a Tupperware party at her home later in the day.
#72 Re: Not So Free Chat » NASA astronaut accused in kidnap plot is charged » 2007-02-07 06:24:01
From the latest Yahoo! update:
Then, according to police, Nowak donned a wig and trench coat, boarded an airport shuttle bus with Shipman and followed her to her car. Crying, Nowak sprayed a chemical into the car.
Nothing suspicious about that. Nope.
Shipman drove to a parking lot booth and sought help.
With red eyes and other side effects from having been blasted in the face by pepper spray for no good reason. Unless Ms. Shipman merely fabricated the entire incident and Nowak just happened to be coincidentally caught by police disposing of similar items in Orlando, FL. Or maybe the cops planted the evidence.
A police affidavit made public Tuesday said Nowak had "stealthily followed the victim while in disguise and possessed multiple deadly weapons."
The affidavit said the circumstances of the case "create a well-founded fear"
If I were Colleen Shipman I'd definitely have felt some fear.
and gave investigators "probable cause to believe that Mrs. Nowak intended to murder Ms. Shipman."
Yep. When I read "garbage bags, mallet, new knife, rubber binders" in Nowak's possession my first thought was murder. Classic "kill, dismember, discard" items.
Lykkebak said that Nowak only wanted to talk to Shipman.
Oh sure. It's so commonplace: Want to merely talk with someone so put on a disguise, chase person to their car, blast them with pepper spray when you can't force the door open, etc. 
Asked about the weapons, he said, "You can sit and speculate all day."
Whatever her full intentions, at the very least Nowak was up to no good; the disguise, chasing after Shipman and blast of pepper spray in the face is proof enough.
Unless of course Shipman fabricated the entire incident and the cops are in cohoots with her, including planting evidence on Nowak. Which I highly doubt. And Nowak would still have to explain WHY she was suddenly at that same Florida airport (sans her own airfare) at the same time as Shipman, so far from her own home in Houston.
A mere coinkydink? I think not.
#73 Re: Not So Free Chat » NASA astronaut accused in kidnap plot is charged » 2007-02-07 05:33:38
There's no statement at all from Novak on the alleged incident.
Because it's wiser she only talk with an attorney now.
It's amazing how the media just love to tear apart someone famous without hearing their side of the story. She's been tried and found guilty by the media, if she is innocent the damage to her reputation will be hard to repair.
???
Have you even followed the basic details of the case?
Shipman said Nowak's been stalking her for quite some time. Nowak drove 900 miles straight wearing diapers so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate (though we must presume she had to stop at least twice to refuel the car), donned a disguise (wig and trenchcoat), ran after Shipman while she was getting into her car, blasted Shipman with pepper spray when Shipman cracked the window open so Nowak could hear her...
...not to mention the mallet, new knife, rubber binders and trash bags Nowak was carrying.
All of it at the very least looks rather suspicious, wouldn't you say?
But heck, maybe she was just sore Shipman didn't pay for an order of Girl Scout cookies or something. Or maybe Colleen Shipman hallucinated the entire event and is maliciously trying to get Nowak into trouble over nothing?
C'mon.
#74 Re: Unmanned probes » Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander » 2007-02-02 13:03:12
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/0 … _moon.html
Scientists predicted such a cloud. It's 1500 miles/2400 km in size, half the U.S. continent. Entirely engulfs Titan's north pole. They're speculating it could endure for 25 years, disappear for 4 to 5, then re-form. Only visible now after emerging from shadow/winter.
16 more Cassini flybys...more opportunities to get additional information.
#75 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Hot Comet (McNaught) » 2007-02-01 07:39:32
Yes, this was an awesome sight. I live in Melbourne Australia and last week went out to see this comet from my front door. I was looking straight into a street light and yet could see it as clear as day. I have never seen anything like it (despite my ameteur telescope efforts lol) and it was beautiful. I missed Halley's Comet 20 odd years ago, and this was much better. Made me think of what an asteroid must look like before it hits a planet like ours too. Now if I can only find Mars....
Ooooooo, I sure do envy you! Never got to see it when it was visible from the northern hemisphere: It was too dim then, and we've had clouds/rain.
Can enjoy the photos, though. Tons of pics from the s. hemisphere have submitted to spaceweather.com.