Water from comets
New results using the Herschel Space Telescope suggest that Earth’s water was brought here by comets.
Year: 2011
Astronomers have found a dozen supernovae taking place closer to the Big Bang than ever detected.
Astronomers have found a dozen supernovae taking place only a few billion years after the Big Bang.
[The results suggest that these types of supernovae] were exploding about five times more frequently 10 billion years ago than they are today. These supernovas are a major source of iron in the universe, the main component of the Earth’s core and an essential ingredient of the blood in our bodies.
Beethoven — second movement, Fifth Symphony, performed by NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini
An evening pause: This March 22, 1952 television performance of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony from Carnegie Hall by the NBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Arturo Toscanini, was probably the most remembered by the generation of our parents. I show the second movement, because it happens to be my favorite. Listen as the opening theme returns several times during the piece, only changing the last time into something even more beautiful.
Watching Toscanini as he conducts is fascinating as well.
Want to become an astronaut? NASA insists you speak Russian
Want to become an astronaut? NASA requires you to speak Russian.
Aden Meinel, astronomer and innovator, has passed away
Aden Meinel, astronomer and innovator, has passed away.
Meinel, first director of the Kitt Peak Observatory, was the also first to conceive and try to build robotic telescopes that could be operated remotely. Many of his ideas were later incorporated both on the ground and in space.
The sun’s activity goes boom
Today NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center released its monthly graph of the Sun’s solar cycle sunspot activity. Posted below, it shows the Sun’s activity finally leaping upward in September, after several months of less than expected performance.
It is interesting to see how the sun’s rising sunspot activity for the past year has followed a consistent fluctuating pattern, whereby a sudden monthly jump in sunspots is then followed by several months of decline. If this pattern repeats itself again, we should expect to see the numbers ease off again in October and November.
Regardless, the higher sunspot counts for September are more in line with past predictions. In fact, the solar scientists at the Marshall Space Flight Center have increased their prediction for the time and intensity for the peak of the sun’s maximum. Last month they had called for a peak in May 2013 with a sunspot number of 70. Now, they are predicting the peak will come in April 2013 with a number of 77. They note however that even this higher number will result in the weakest maximum in more than a hundred years.
A summary of Messenger’s first six months in orbit around Mercury
A summary of Messenger’s first six months in orbit around Mercury.
Though packed with lots of results, this strikes me as the most interesting discovery so far:
Orbital data reveal that Mercury’s magnetic field is offset far to the north of the planet’s center, by nearly 20% of Mercury’s radius. Relative to the planet’s size, this offset is much more than in any other planet, and accounting for it will pose a challenge to theoretical explanations of the field. . . . This finding has several implications for other aspects of Mercury, says Anderson, who co-authored several of the presentations in the MESSENGER session. “This means that the magnetic field in the southern hemisphere should be a lot weaker than it is in the north. At the north geographic pole, the magnetic field should be about 3.5 times stronger than it is at the south geographic pole.
The Taj Mahal in danger of collapse
The Taj Mahal is in danger of collapse.
Certain points about this story — few details and the extreme and sudden nature of the claims — leave me skeptical and wondering if it isn’t merely a ploy for funding.
CBS News Reporter Says White House Screamed, Swore at Her Over allowing thousands of guns to illegally go to Mexico
A CBS news reporter says White House officials screamed and swore at her over her questions about the administration’s decision to permit thousands of guns to be illegally transferred to Mexican criminals.
Judge rules that NASA has the right to sue for camera given to former astronaut
A Florida judge has ruled that NASA has the right to sue for the camera former Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell says was given to him by NASA forty years ago.
A new Arianespace rocket
A new Arianespace rocket starts its journey to French Guiana.
This first launch, the Vega qualification flight, is planned for January 2012 and will pave the way for five missions that aim to demonstrate the system’s flexibility. . . . Vega is compatible with payload masses ranging from 300 kg to 2500 kg, depending on the type and altitude of the orbit required by the customers. The benchmark is for 1500 kg into a 700 km-altitude polar orbit.
This rocket is comparable to SpaceX’s now discontinued Falcon 1, though it can put more payload into orbit.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Researcher Fired Amidst New Controversy
Office politics in science: Chronic fatigue syndrome researcher fired amidst new controversy.
I read this story and wonder if these scientists are as bad as politicians.