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Palomar · 2003-12-09 13:29:10

*Sunlight can do this?? Weird, but interesting.

(Be sure to check my two other posts from today in this thread)

--Cindy

P.S.: How do scientists like I.O. Yarkovsky even come up with theories like this one (in year 1900, no less!)? Geez.

Palomar · 2003-12-10 07:08:08

*Interesting how-to on observing the ISS (and other satellites). There are 3 links to choose from within the article; the top-most pertains to the ISS.

Which reminds me (on a somewhat different note)...in 1996 or 1997, my husband and I attended a football game (the local University). After the "Star Spangled Banner" was played and the flag raised, it was announced that the space shuttle (Columbia, I believe...now gone of course) and its Russian mate (a joint mission -- I can't remember the Russian vessel name, sorry) was heading our way. The lights were shut off, and approximately 3 minutes later two very bright (and closely together) "stars" hurtled past the stadium, traveling from northwest to southeast. There was a lot of cheering and excitement from the crowd (probably 3000 people at least).

Anyway, going back to the ISS...I think I'll try and find it.

--Cindy

Rxke · 2003-12-10 07:38:00

That must've been MIR, the USSR-Russian spacestation.
Nasa's Shuttles did several dockings with the station, American astronauts did months-long tours on the station,... to get more experience for the building and living in the then future ISS

Palomar · 2003-12-11 08:40:47

That must've been MIR, the USSR-Russian spacestation.
Nasa's Shuttles did several dockings with the station, American astronauts did months-long tours on the station,... to get more experience for the building and living in the then future ISS

*Hi Rxke: Yes, MIR. I was having a terrible time trying to remember...that's what I get for posting so early in the morning. Thanks!

Helioseismic Holography -or- "The Sun is a Humming Ball..."

This is a really intriguing link from the folks at spaceweather.com. It discusses seismic activity on the sun, the position of "far-side" sunspots (gargantuan spot #488 is currently on the far side), etc.

I am still waiting for my telescope (which is due to be shipped around the 16th of this month); I can hardly wait to get a look at the sun with my solar filter. Of course, just when my 'scope arrives is when our winter monsoon season (rain and clouds) will start...my luck (!!!). :laugh:

Anyway, check out the helioseismology link.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2003-12-11 13:23:11

Galactic Impact Makes Black Holes

*Cool...a "trail of black holes"...that's quite a mental image.

"Dozens of black holes and neutron stars were strung out across space like beads on a necklace."

Hey, this could be the start of an astronomy joke: What do you get when two spiral galaxies (as differentiated from elliptical galaxies) collide? Answer: Erm...something like "a black-hole necklace"...or "a strand of beaded black holes"...no, The Answer options still sound awkward...hmmmm

--Cindy

Palomar · 2003-12-12 20:36:05

Great News

*This article says the Earth's magnetic field has weakened by 10%.

Then there's this:

"SAN FRANCISCO - The strength of the Earth's magnetic field has decreased 10 percent over the past 150 years, raising the remote possibility that it may collapse and later reverse, flipping the planet's poles for the first time in nearly a million years, scientists said Thursday.

At that rate of decline, the field could vanish altogether in 1,500 to 2,000 years, said Jeremy Bloxham of Harvard University."

*What would happen if it were to "vanish altogether"?
Sounds rather ominous ala "adios homo sapiens".

Sorry, but I don't know much about magnetic fields, which is why I ask.

Comments?

--Cindy

Byron · 2003-12-12 21:56:02

I recently saw a Nova episode about this very topic ... about how the magnetic fields switch poles every so often. They didn't go into much detail about what would happen exactly if that what happened...might screw up electronics, navigation, that kind of thing. The show mainly discussed how the fields work, the things that people are doing to study them, etc...

If it went away altogether, then we'd be in for some serious trouble, being exposed to cosmic radiation, solar flares, etc...but scientists are pretty certain that this isn't going to happen...at least not for a LONG time....

B

Echus_Chasma · 2003-12-12 23:45:58

There was an interesting doco on the Discovery Channel in NZ (and Oz presumably) last night.

Said basically that we are over due for a magnetic reversal by likw 500k years (usually happens every 200k years but it has been over 700k since it last occured).

From estimates and studies etc the mag field is at about 10% of normal due to the abundance of areas where the magnetic field goes in/comes out from the core (currently there are two of these - the poles, actually, they said that there is an area in the south Atlantic where the magnetic thing is opposite than the area around it).

Suddenly the magnetic field kinda flips but it stays unstable for a very long time (thousands of years) where North and South move very often. They used the example of a mountain range thing which was formed my lava flows where the bottom was aligned towards the current North and the top was aligned towards the south. The interesting part was in-between the rocks varied to a large extent. There was one flow were in the time it was cooling (bout 10 days) the location of North varied by 60 DEGREES!!!!!! The whole instablility thing was like around 5,000 years or so.

For the effects, they estimated that at sea-level cosmic radiation will double causing like 100,000 more deaths per year via cancer and you may be able to view the northern lights in Central America and Europe!

But dont worry, it won't happen for a couple of thousand years. Anyway, the Earth just went through a period of high magnetic field strength. I cant remember how long the period was but there was a big bulge on the graph.

So yeah, i wouldn't really worry about it. Our core isn't going to freeze ending the field entirely and letting the solar wind steal our atmosphere.

As a side note, apparently Mars' magnetic field was like 30x times stronger than the Earth's before it shut off.

So yeah, I hope I informed someone Sorry for mistakes etc, but my parents rushed me off the computer.

Rock on all.

Shaun Barrett · 2003-12-13 00:08:26

I did some googling on this because I think it's interesting to think about what a magnetic reversal would really be like.
My gut feeling was that such a reversal would likely be a minor inconvenience, in relative terms, rather than a major disruption of life on Earth. Too many reversals have occurred over the ages and yet life has continued largely unperturbed. If the many species known to depend on Earth's magnetic field were so 'over-adapted' to that field that they couldn't survive any significant disturbance in it, we would have seen multiple and frequent extinctions in geologically very short time-spans and those extinctions would correlate with magnetic reversals. That hasn't happened.

I was pleased to see my intuition vindicated in opinions expressed at This Site.
It's a great site for those who want an accessible description of most of those aspects of magnetic pole reversals which seem to interest people.
Byron, it looks like this is derived from the TV show you mentioned. I wish I'd seen it!

[I was amazed to see that the magnetic field was essentially stable (no flips) for just about the whole of the Cretaceous period! I'm very much looking forward to future work from Dr. J. Marvin Herndon in relation to his hypothesis on uranium fission in planetary cores. It may help us to understand why reversals can be so infrequent in one era and yet so frequent in others. And I still wonder whether the situation with Mars' magnetic field (or lack of it! ) may be better understood if we apply Dr. Herndon's ideas to it.]

Palomar · 2003-12-13 15:25:05

As a side note, apparently Mars' magnetic field was like 30x times stronger than the Earth's before it shut off.

*Hi Echus, Shaun and Byron: Thanks for the scholarly replies. Echus, I was particularly surprised to read the above (quoted).

Hopefully I can catch the programs you and Byron have referred to (on Nova and Discovery).

Thanks again, all.

--Cindy

Shaun Barrett · 2003-12-16 03:57:12

Cindy, I only just noticed your link to the shoe factory and the huge Christmas bonuses.

Now that's the kind of Christmas spirit that I like to hear about! It really does restore your faith in human nature and make you feel good about life.
The owners of that factory must have earned the respect and loyalty of all their employees and I wish more companies would try to follow suit.

There really is so much more to life than maximising profits at all costs!

Palomar · 2003-12-16 07:51:41

Is Reality Boring?

*One of a handful of questions (and an old familiar face) which accompanies this article.

My eye still wants to try and make out facial features though...yep, I admit it.

Shaun: Glad you enjoyed the little article in my sig, and I agree with your comments. Screw the Scrooges!

--Cindy

Palomar · 2003-12-16 07:56:47

Mars and Uranus "doing the Tango"

*It's so retrograde!

And a great "family photo" opportunity (by coincidence).

--Cindy

Palomar · 2003-12-16 11:29:34

*I'm not quite sure how to post this, as the front page of http://www.spaceweather.com changes daily. These are the main news stories for Tuesday, December 16 (which will be archived tomorrow...Archives link is towards the bottom):

DAYTIME JUPITER: Jupiter is bright enough to see in broad daylight--if you know where to look. Today you can find it using the moon as a "landmark." The quarter moon and Jupiter are only a few degrees apart. Scan around the moon with a pair of binoculars, and you might be surprised to see Jupiter pop out of the bright blue background. [sky map]

*Bright enough to be seen in daylight...that's amazingly rare. Even Sirius (the alpha star of Canis Major and brightest star in the sky...excepting our sun of course!) can't be seen in daylight.

DUST STORM ON MARS: Something is happening on Mars. Recent images of the planet reveal widespread bright areas--the telltale sign of a growing dust storm. These, for instance, were taken by amateur astronomer Don Parker on Dec. 13th using a 16-inch telescope (details):

*Will keep our eyes on this, right folks?

--Cindy

Palomar · 2003-12-16 12:14:31

This Just In From Australia

*Koala bears have sharp claws!

Whoops...er, sorry...(Byron!!!)

New news about the Milky Way Galaxy!

--Cindy

P.S.: Three other posts from today above this one, including a tidbit on a developing Marsian dust storm. Scroll up please!

Shaun Barrett · 2003-12-16 21:03:25

Yeah, Mars is having dust trouble by the look of it. Something to keep close tabs on.

Interesting photo of Mars doing a waltz across the sky!

Yayyy !!! Aussie scientists at the CSIRO do it again! What a great bunch of people they are.

(What's with the koala-bear-claws thing, Cindy? )

Palomar · 2003-12-17 06:02:02

Yeah, Mars is having dust trouble by the look of it. Something to keep close tabs on.
Interesting photo of Mars doing a waltz across the sky!
Yayyy !!! Aussie scientists at the CSIRO do it again! What a great bunch of people they are.
(What's with the koala-bear-claws thing, Cindy? )

*Good morning Shaun:

Byron told me he had the opportunity to hold a koala bear while visiting your homeland in 1986. Apparently the cute little critters have sharp claws (not surprising, I suppose).

Yes, it's good news from the Australian astronomers. Nice to get that news from "Down Under."

--Cindy

Palomar · 2003-12-17 07:30:21

Proton Aurora

*I saw this very same photo (a bit smaller, however) in my _Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Sun_ book. I was hoping to find an image of it on the internet. I opened up Astropix today...and lo and behold, here it is. Nice surprise.

Very dramatic photo, with (as usual) lots of interesting, fact-filled links.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2003-12-18 06:22:26

*From the good folks at Sky & Telescope Weekly Bulletin:

A CHRISTMAS TREAT

Christmas Day 2003 brings a special astronomical treat. Two of the most beautiful sights in the sky will be visible side by side low in the southwest at dusk: Venus and a two-day old Moon. Catch them early before they set. As the sky grows darker, don't forget to look for the "old Moon in the new Moon's arms," where the Moon's entire face is visible --
partof it as a brilliant thin crescent lit directly by the Sun, and the rest lit faintly by light reflected from the Earth. If you were standing on the Moon at this time, you would see a nearly-full Earth overhead, 50 times brighter than the full Moon as seen from Earth!

--Cindy

Palomar · 2003-12-18 09:59:48

*Software Tools: Mars24 - Time on Mars. This is from the Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

http://www.giss.nasa.gov/tools/mars24/

--Cindy

Palomar · 2003-12-19 11:52:29

Change in Speed of Light?

*Okay, this is new to me. There have been theories that the speed of light slows as it moves through space. ???

Researchers at NASA have "found evidence that the speed of light is still traveling as fast as it ever has."

I didn't know it's been theorized as being anything other than constant. Learn something new every day. The research indicates the speed of light is constant.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2003-12-23 07:39:27

Tones Break Silence

*From JPL, a bit of an unusual article. U.S. probes will emit tones during landings in 1/04, etc. (facilitate communication).

"'Tones are a simple way to send information directly to Earth about what the rover thinks it is doing as it enters the Martian atmosphere and prepares to land on Mars,' said Mars Exploration Rover Entry, Descent and Landing Telecommunications Lead Dr. Polly Estabrook.

After the Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander missions were lost in 1999, mission engineers began looking at ways to strengthen communication during future landings."

Article includes 2 simulations.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2003-12-24 11:55:28

California earthquake...

*So strong it caused our Earth to "ring like a bell." Unfortunately, it also caused loss of life and injury.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2003-12-24 12:00:07

Best of 2003!

*Top 10 Astronomy Images.

I really like #9; only occurs about 13 times in a century (you'll have to look and see for yourself what that is, nyaaaaa!) :;):

--Cindy

Palomar · 2003-12-26 06:47:42

Layered Hills on Mars

*Striking photo. This was posted to Astropix on 24 December, and so makes a mention of the impending Beagle 2 mission.

Such varied surface features Mars has, truly exotic. Would be a shame to obliterate all those eccentric dandies with too much terraforming.

--Cindy

New Mars Forums

Announcement

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