The northern lights may indeed be changing their name if the recent study by Columbia University turns out to be true. They have conducted a new study and Columbia revealed that the famous northern lights of the Arctic may indeed be heading south and might soon need to be named the southern lights.
COLUMBIA’S STUDY ON THE NORTHERN LIGHTS
Columbia has stated that the main reason behind the northern lights possibly moving to the south is due to the fact that the magnetic field of the Earth is weakening. The researchers at Columbia Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory explained that as the magnetic field of the planet continues to weaken that the waves of charged particles will likely be affected in how they bounce off of the field. One of the experts at Columbia, Dennis Kent, further explained that the Earth’s magnetic field keeps the solar wind at bay and that the solar wind interacting with the field contributes to the northern lights. He then went on to say that the reason it will go south within the next couple of decades is because with a weaker field the lights will not be pushed to high altitudes. They have mentioned how evidence has already been revealed. The Columbia team mentions how the northern lights have been spotted in places like Ottawa and that means that it is moving south, but could take a long time.
The Columbia team also mentioned some very interesting news that the magnetic field of the earth actually flips occasionally. They have determined that earlier research suggests that the earth has undergone hundreds of polarity reversals in the last 100 million years and they also stated that the last time it happened was 780,000 years ago. However, they have mentioned that something like this is not likely to happen anytime soon. We will have to see if Columbia’s research team is on point in due time, but for now we can only speculate that their research is accurate. No matter what, though, it will be cool to see if the northern lights transform into the southern lights.
While NASA’s New Horizons flies by Pluto and targets new destinations farther than we can imagine, examining our relationship with the Sun could help explain why the Earth can sustain life. What if Earth moved a mile closer to the Sun? Would we all burn up? Would our atmosphere disintegrate? Would we have an extreme runaway greenhouse effect and dry up like Venus? The concept of a habitable zone, sometimes referred to as the “Goldilocks Zone,” is vital in order to explain the possibilities.
WOULD MOVING EARTH CLOSER HAVE A BIG EFFECT?
Since the Earth’s orbit is an ellipse, not a circle, its distance from the sun varies from a minimum of 147.1 million kilometers each January to a maximum of about 152.1 million kilometers each July. The range of this distance has little effect on Earth’s weather with the Northern Hemisphere’s summer occurring during the time that Earth is farthest from the Sun and winter occurring when Earth is closest to the Sun.
THE ANSWER COULD LIE IN THE HABITABLE ZONE
The habitable zone is the region around a star where the average temperature on a planet allows for liquid water, according to Universe Today. However, the concept is based off of the Earth and focused around the range at which worlds similar to Earth could exist. While we are lucky at the moment to lie within the sun’s habitable zone, future generations might not be so lucky. Since stars go through growth and decay as humans do, our sun will continue to grow warmer until our oceans boil away.
THE GOLDILOCKS ZONE ISN’T THE ONLY ANSWER
Although the habitable zone seems like an easy answer to explain why life on Earth is able to sustain itself, the goldilocks zone isn’t the only requirement for life; it also depends on the type of star in a solar system. The moon, for example, is an obvious example of this; it remains our companion without a chance for living life.
Scientists continue to search for the probability of life on Europa and Enceladus, way outside of the sun’s habitable zone. We are lucky to have our Sun because it’s neither too big to harm us with deadly solar flares nor too dim, like red dwarfs, which cannot provide us with the warmth we need.
Gaining insight on what makes Earth different from its neighboring planets could help us understand the likelihood of finding Earth-like worlds in orbit around other stars. According to the 3rd edition of Life in the Universe by Jeffrey Bennett and Seth Shostak, other stars also have their own habitable zones, meaning distances at which a world similar in size to Earth, and with a similar atmosphere, would be habitable. The sizes of these habitable zones, however, are different for varying type of stars.
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Over the years the technology that offers information on weather prediction has improved, but we are still missing accurate measurements to help us predict how intense the storms are going to be. Now, ten years after Hurricane Katrina, NASA plans to deploy eight microsatellites in space to help forecast incoming hurricanes.
HOW WILL THEY TRACK A HURRICANE?
The microsatellites will orbit 317 miles above the Earth and will be positioned 35 degrees to the equator, measuring the oceans surface winds in the eye of a storm. The first test mission is going to launch in late 2016 from Florida and the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS), NASA’s weather prediction project, will be the first to study the interior of a hurricane. This mission is going to provide the space agency with more detailed information on the rapid intensification of the hurricanes.
The technique used in the past to measure wind speed over the oceans is called scatterometry for which a satellite sends a signal to the ground to measure its strength once reflected back. However, this technique is more expensive than the one being developed right now by the University of Michigan, because the microsatellites will only receive signals from GPS satellites already in orbit around Earth. Those signals will bounce off of ocean surfaces measuring the height of waves and the speed of the wind of a hurricane. The data will be shared with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) helping emergency managers make decisions during extreme weather conditions.
NASA HAS STARTED DEVELOPMENT
The eight satellites will extend the range on Earth that can be measured and they are going to be deployed separately around our planet. Also, the first microsatellite, which weighs about 64 pounds, began assembly on August 14th. The other seven are to follow in the next few weeks.
Their initial testing is scheduled for early 2016 and the authorities are hoping that they are going to be fully operational by 2017’s Atlantic hurricane season.
Dear Earthlings, we are the victims of another Internet hoax and the world is not getting hit in September by a giant asteroid; at least, according to NASA.
IN FACT, NASA ASSURES WE ARE GOING TO BE SAFE FOR A WHILE
Specialists at NASA note that there are no indications that the world will be destroyed in a matter of months or years, and the possibility of an asteroid hitting Earth in the next century is about 0.01 percent.
WHAT LED NASA TO THE PUBLIC STATEMENT?
The Internet, the place where rumors spread faster than the flu, was full of whispers stating that the world will be hit by an asteroid strike between September 15 and September 28, 2015. NASA felt the need to speak up against bloggers who claimed that the asteroid would wipe America off the face of Earth, and made a public statement saying that our planet is safe.
Paul Chodas, the manager of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Office, says that if there was an object, large enough to damage Earth that badly, closing in, specialists would have known already. In addition, there’s not one piece of scientific evidence to sustain the rumor. Zero. Nada. As Chodas says, to his knowledge no asteroids are approaching Earth anytime soon since his office spares no expense to track every known and potentially unknown object in space, and the danger of a strike is not likely in the next one hundred years.
THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME NASA CALMS THE MASSES
In 2012, two rumors of an Earth disaster came to light. The Elenin comet, the one that many believed would destroy Earth, led NASA to talk to speak up about it, explaining that the comet was simply a harmless trail of particles that could not damage Earth in any way.
The most popular of all rumors, however, was the one with the world ending on December 21st, 2012, because that was the last day of the Mayan calendar. NASA officials killed the rumor’s veracity months before that date, and historians had already explained that Mayans could not have legitimately predicted any kind of Apocalypse.
A new project by NASA excites all of the Mars enthusiasts and space nerds since the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) agency is inviting everyone to send their names to the Red Planet.
NASA: SEND YOUR NAME ON INSIGHT
All of the space fans are able to participate in NASA’s “journey to Mars” mission, adding their names to the InSight Mars lander. The data are going to be stored in a silicon microchip and the InSight is set to launch next year.
Jim Green, the director of planetary science at Washington’s NASA Headquarters, says that the next step in this journey is a fantastic mission. By sending our names to Mars, we indicate our dedication to the future of space exploration:
“Our next step in the journey to Mars is another fantastic mission to the surface. By participating in this opportunity to send your name aboard InSight to the Red Planet, you’re showing that you’re part of that journey and the future of space exploration.”
WHERE DO I SIGN?
The opportunity to have your name flown aboard InSight, comes with some ‘frequent flier’ points given by NASA to reward a person’s participation in the Journey to Mars, which will take several missions and some more decades.
This is not the first call for name submissions. Last December, 1.38 million names flew on a chip along with NASA’s Orion spacecraft, which has been designed to carry astronauts to further space destinations, such as Mars.
NASA’s Exploration Mission-1, the first planned test flight to bring the Space Launch rocket and the Orion capsule together, will be the next chance for everyone interested in sending their names on space. The purpose of that mission is to get prepared for human travels to Mars and beyond.
THE INSIGHT MISSION
InSight will launch from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base in March 2016 and it is scheduled to land on Mars on September 28 of the same year.
The reason why this mission is considered to be one of the most important space travels in our history is because it is the first research devoted to the Red Planet’s deep interior. NASA scientists have already designed the first seismometer, that will be placed directly on Mars’ surface area, and a heat probe that will baste deeper than any previous device put into the planet’s ground.
This, will not only help us understand more about the most famous planet of our solar system, but it will also help us broaden our knowledge on the creation and the evolution of all rocky planets, such as Earth.
If you are one of the space enthusiasts you can send your name clicking here. You can also read more about space here!
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There’s a new digital map limning the composition of the seafloor, a major factor in global climate change, and it’s shown evidence of “microfossil” graveyards off the coast of Australia, in addition to other complex deep-ocean geology.
SEAFLOOR GRAVEYARD IS AVAILABLE ONLINE
The interactive map is actually available via the online journal Geology, published August 9th. This marks a first at creating an extensive, comprehensive map in the past 40 years. There hasn’t been a single attempt at such a map since the 1970s, which the University of Sydney has announced was drawn by hand. Back then, the impetus to understand how the planet reacts to global climate change wasn’t so great, either.
“The old map suggests much of the Southern Ocean around Australia is mainly covered by clay blown off the continent, whereas our map shows this area is actually a complex patchwork of microfossil remains,” said study author Adriana Dutkiewicz, a sedimentologist at the University of Sydney in a statement. “Life in the Southern Ocean is much richer than previously thought.”
SECRET TO GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AVERSION IN DEAD DIATOMS
The microfossils discovered are actually from a type of phytoplankton that takes in carbon dioxide and excretes oxygen. Known as diatoms, these phyloplankton take roughly 20% of breathable oxygen in the air, air we need to breathe. When they die, diatoms sink down to the dark musty abyssal of the oceans, dragging all the their carbon with them. This process is referred to as “carbon sink,” and it helps prevent the renown greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from spreading into and warming the planet’s fragile atmosphere.
The new map also showed scientists that masses of dead diatoms are resting in the Southern Ocean, which are not where diatoms ordinarily bloom on the ocean surface. Continuing our studies of these underwater distributions of dead diatoms will help us come to understand how oceans reacted to eras of greater climate change in the past, said Dutkiewicz. Color coding (visible on the map) represents what composes the seafloor from region to region: light green is “diatom ooze,” which is a mix of mud and diatom bits; blue is “calcareous ooze,” which is mud and calcium carbonate from microscopic shelled animals; and brown is simply clay. Red spots are volcanic ash and gravel, and yellow is sand.
DATA COLLECTION & MAP MAKING
So far the data incorporated to construct a map of the 15,000 seafloor samples has been collected exclusively from research cruises. After the ventures, big-data algorithms were used to synthesize the data into one contiguous map.
Dutkiewicz is excited that for this new map to guide future research missions.
“Australia’s new research vessel ‘Investigator’ is ideally placed to further investigate the impact of environmental change on diatom productivity,” she explained. “We urgently need to understand how the ocean responds to climate change.”
WANT TO SEE THE DARK PLACES WITHOUT THE BAD ENDING?
A planet similar to how Jupiter looked in its formative years has been discovered by scientists using a high-tech camera that has been especially designed to capture photographs of distant planets – the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI).
The planet, known by the name 51 Eridani b is 96 light years away from Earth and is twice the size of Jupiter. However, it still remains as one of the smallest planets in our solar system to be captured by astronomers. Previously, those pictured have been up to 13 times the size of Jupiter.
The star it circles, 51 Eridani is only 20 million years old, in contrast to our sun which is thought to be around 4.5 billion years old.
So Why The Interest In Young Jupiter?
The fact that the ‘new Jupiter’ is still influenced by its surrounding conditions provides astronomers with an opportunity to study 51 Eridani b in great detail. There are also many similarities to Jupiter billions of years ago means that areas that were not focused on the first time around can now be discovered and researched in great detail.
“51 Eridani b is the first young planet that probably looks like Jupiter did billions of years ago, making it currently our most important corner piece of the planet-formation jigsaw puzzle,” says Travis Barman, Planetary Scientist at University of Arizona.
Another simularity between the two planets is that they both include methane in their atmosphere, giving astronomers the opportunity to learn more about the formation and the evolution of this type of gas-planet. So far, it has been discovered that 51 Eridani b’s temperature is considerably higher, estimated to be around 800 degrees.
A Breakthrough In Discovery
Over the last 20 years, scientists have confirmed the existence of 1,800 exoplanets and alien planets around other stars. However, this image marks something significant in the breakthrough of technology and discovery. The Gemini Planet Imager has been able to capture something quite remarkable.
“This is exactly the kind of planet we envisioned discovering when we designed GPI,” said James Graham, project scientist for GPI.
This invention of GPI will not only be able to discover unknown planets, but will provide clues as to how the solar systems form.
“Unlike most of the currently known confirmed exoplanets, these GPI images of exoplanets allow us to examine planetary atmospheric information, which will eventually allow astronomers to examine biosignatures from mature planets during the next decade”, said Song, UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.
While this discovery is still fairly new, scientists are going to start observing 51 Eridani b’s orbit in September. In the meantime, check out Science Mag to find out more information and keep up to date on the latest discoveries.
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Another extrasolar planet, now called HD 219134b was just discovered, and it’s actually a rocky planet, like Earth. It’s also the closest rocky planet (a super earth!) discovered this close to our own solar system. Huzzah!
HOW FAR IS THIS MAJESTIC SUPER EARTH?
Too far for you to walk or drive. Or fly, for that matter. The super earth, HD 219134b, is 21 light years away, but it is possible for us to explore the planet someday.
This newfound planet is also a “transiting” world, meaning that, from our perspective, it crosses in front of its host star. Of course we can’t see it from Earth, even if we had the most powerful telescopes at hand, because its star is so bright in comparison. Imagine trying to see a bird descend from the sky in the same line of sight as the sun.
SO HOW DO WE DETECT EXTRASOLAR PLANETS?
When a transiting planet passes in front of its host star, the host star’s brightness drops to a significant enough degree because of some of that light is being eclipsed by the transiting planet. This means we can measure the drop in brightness, and therefore, infer the planet’s mass and size. From here we can calculate the planet’s density, and with that knowledge, we can know whether the planet is rocky like Mars, Venus or Earth, or gaseous, like Jupiter, Saturn or Neptune (or even icy, like Pluto).
“Transiting exoplanets are worth their weight in gold because they can be extensively characterized,” said Michael Werner, the project scientist for the Spitzer mission at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “This exoplanet will be one of the most studied for decades to come.”
New data on this extrasolar planet HD 219134b, set to be released soon after publishing, will be available through the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. This data shows, among other things, that the massive exoplanet is 4.5 times Earth’s mass, and roughly 1.6 times the diameter. This is relatively close to Earth’s size and mass, when compared to the “Earth-like” planets” scientists are usually getting so excited about.
SO WHAT’S KEEPING US? LET’S GO!
The problem is that this newly discovered super earth is much too close to its sun for it to harbor life–whether originated or transplanted. It orbits its star once every three days. This planet, and all of its properties were confirmed using only NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, but scientists hope researchers will soon focus many more telescopes on the new find.
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Perhaps what one thinks of when they hear the word Aurora is the fairytale of Sleeping Beauty from the animated film by Disney. But rest assured, this is not about princesses or fairy tales…at least not that kind of fairytale.
The Light Show on Earth
For the more scientifically-inclined individual, you probably think of the aurora that occurs on Earth; the Northern Lights. Indeed, the Northern Lights are a fantastic light show for everyone to enjoy, given the chance to travel up near the Arctic Circle.
Some Insight to the Auroras
If you are wondering how such spectacles occur, you only have to understand that the aurora light show is made up of energy and particles that are triggered during solar storms. The oxygen and nitrogen in our atmosphere then release the light we see in the Northern and Southern Lights.
However, ever curious about the nature of things, scientists began to wonder if seeing such light show phenomena could occur outside our solar system under observation. This is why recent news has been in a furor about the light show that is proving to be so much brighter than the one here on Earth, the size of Jupiter basically.
Our Understanding of the Universe has expanded a little more
A study that was published today in the Nature journal but received back in August 2014, nearly a year ago, talks about the findings. The object of interest, LSR J18535+3529, was suggested to be a brown dwarf based on the impressions of it being too heavy for a planet but too light for a star. The black sheep of the universe so to speak, as it’s not quite one or the other but is rather unique. However, that doesn’t stop brown dwarfs being awesome as one of the authors of the study, Gregg Hallinan of CalTech says when scientists discovered that the nonconformist brown dwarf emitted radio waves usually seen in stars.
Given what we already know about auroras on our planet, the team of scientists hazarded a guess and thought that perhaps brown dwarfs could also have their own light show. So given the difference of atmospheres between Earth and the dwarfs, the color of the light show changed, was redder, and had some ultraviolet and infrared lights as well.
Thus far, the furthest known auroras had come from Jupiter and were the brightest.
With this new research, the auroras from the brown dwarf are significantly massive and brighter given its middle occupancy between planet and star. More research will uncover more information about the light show phenomenon.
Many scientists and space enthusiasts awaiting news about a second Earth were answered when NASA announced the results its phoenix-like telescope, Kepler, had found. The exoplanet that created so much excitement has a size and age reminiscent of Earth’s, and, critically, even exists in the Goldilocks zone of its Sun-like star, ensuring its neither freezing nor burning away any possibility of complex life.
Size, age, and other specs of second earth
Known as Kepler 452b, it’s the smallest exoplanet we’ve discovered existing within that coveted circular area of a G2 star colloquially called the Goldilocks zone. G2 is a category of star-luminescence that our own Sun also falls under. The new planet is about 6 billion years old, has a diameter sixty percent that of the Earth, and is located in the constellation Cygnus, roughly 1,400 light-years away from us.
WHY Kepler 452b IS SIMILAR TO EARTH
Kepler 452b orbits its sun-like star in a year lasting 385 days, which puts it undoubtedly within the habitable zone, which means it is very likely it will have liquid water.
But we shouldn’t get too excited to leap into our planet’s family’s arms.
DON’T JUMP THE SHARK, BECAUSE YOU CAN’T
The associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s Washington headquarters, John Grunsfeld, called Kepler 452b a “close cousin to the Earth.” This is an apt description. Since the planet is rocky, like ours, yet smaller, the difference in gravity could do more harm than good.
Additionally, initial studies have suggested to us that the planet has entered a rather misfortunate runaway greenhouse gas phase, similar to what happened to Venus long ago, which is why the planet is so hot and antagonistic to life.
COLLECTIVE FERVER & SENTIMENTALITY
But this unfortunate atmospheric development didn’t stop the Chinese from getting excited, whom after hearing about the new planet flooded social media with over 44 million posts about the planet’s “substantial opportunity” to host life. China’s microblogging service, Sina Weibo, the hashtag #AnotherEarth exploded, with nearly 90,000 participants in the discussion.
Their state-run Xinhua news agency, Xinhua, had to quell high hopes for Kepler 452b’s biocompatibility, but the Chinese populace remained undaunted in its manic ravishing of the discovery, with the highest trending comment “Even Earth has found its other half, why am I still single?” lending credence to the notion of humankind’s innate alienation.
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Imagine you’re doing routine repairs of the newest, most sensitive telescope, orbiting in low-earth orbit near the International Space Station (ISS). You’ve just reached this new level of Buddha-esque calm and detachment from the world below, which spins below you in pristine, eternal perfection. Surviving the onslaught of hundreds of particles of space debris is the last thing on your mind.
ISS IN CHAOS
Suddenly you feel a strong, low vibration coming out of the telescope, and your visor lights up. Above you half the telescope has been sheared away by something flying by very, very quickly. You detach from the spinning junk lense and push off, turning around to return to the ISS. You dodge a few extra globules of metallic blur on your way to the airlock, and just as you close it behind you, you catch white, blue and red rectangles zapping by the window. You recognize that pattern. You turn around to your fellow cosmonaut, and he’s floating there with arms raised, palms flat, and says in a deep, accented English: “it’s Russian, eh?”
THIS ISN’T HOW SANDRA BULLOCK OUTLIVED GEORGE CLOONEY
No really, the crew of the ISS recently received permission to re-enter the space station proper after having to take shelter from the throes of passing space debris. This started less than two hours after a live interview with WDRB news Thursday morning, NASA made an announcement explaining that the crew had just taken shelter in a capsule called the Soyuz, presently docked with the station. This was done as a precautionary measure in the unlikely event that the passing space debris from Russian satellites did enough damage to necessitate that the crew make an emergency return to Earth.
The debris was predicted to come closest to striking and chewing the station into pieces at about eight a.m. this morning, NYC time.
AFTER THE BULLET-quick DEBRIS PASSED
Very little time passed before NASA announced an “all clear,” for the crew to the media. More specifically, they said that the crew of the ISS had returned to normal operations following permission to do so at just after seven a.m., central standard time.NASA continued, “All station systems are operating normally and the crew will move out of the Soyuz spacecraft in which they stayed during the space debris pass. They will reconfigure the station for normal operations and then continue their research work during the day.”
In fact, this is the fourth time since ISS was completed that the crew had to take such extreme shelter. Let’s assume they are breathing a long sigh of relief up there.
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The greatest bulk of the world’s population of humans is growing old, and this is happening during the greatest environmental crisis the Earth has experienced since humankind rose to power: global climate change.
NO NON-SEQUITURS FOR GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
This is not rhetoric: the quantity of people over sixty years old has doubled since 1980, and this number is predicted to surpass two billion by the year 2050. In the first half of the 21st century, this population will bloat from 11 to 22 percent of the total human population. These are statistics formed by the World Trade Organization. They go on to report that, exclusively in the U.S., those over 60 accounted for 18% of the population, and this piece will grow to a quarter of the total population by the year 2050.
As for what climate change has to do with the aging population, we’re not here to simply blame this burgeoning population for spending their entire lives reveling in the kinds of excess that sealed the 21st century’s fate in a vain celebration of its own narcissistic addictions. No, we aren’t going to say this.
PRESIDENT OBAMA’S GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
But President Obama will soon be hosting the White House Conference on Aging in Washington D.C., and he has yet to add the topic of climate change to the convention’s agenda. Many Americans believe this is a golden opportunity (pun intended) to expose this massive demographic to the most urgent social problem of our day. If he did add global climate change to the agenda, Obama would help increase political consensus regarding this ecological crisis before the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris convenes this fall.
BUSINESS AS USUAL IS RISKY AT BEST
Michael Bloomberg, Henry Paulson, and Tom Steyer formed a PR campaign called Risky Business last year. It’s composed of a bipartisan series of studies explicating the economic and health risks this nation faces, with each region of the country to its own, unique fate.
Their findings were universally negative, showing the economy sliding into a state of perpetual disruption, and health dangers increasing as the environment loses its ability to maintain a hospitable atmosphere, e.g., a southerner of ordinary means will have 1.5 to 4 more heat months per year, causing him or her to witness 14 to 45 more deaths per 100,000 people. The greatest amount of risk is endured by urban and elderly residents.
IT GETS WORSE
What this means is that, in addition to it being too late to change the world’s environmental course, we also need to start planning how to curb global climate change’s impact on American subpopulations. The ones most at risk are at once the largest homogeneous chunk and the most politically involved subpopulation in the United States. Older Americans tend to vote much more often and regularly than younger ones, e.g., in the 2012 presidential election, 71% of those 64 to 75 years old voted–much higher than the measly 38% of 18-24 year olds. In light of such facts, why shouldn’t Obama appeal to older adults to assist with the political struggle to adapt to global climate change?
It’s not as if it would be an outlying topic to the convention. The main theme includes such symbolically near associations as maintaining the elderly’s health. If Obama steps up, we won’t even have to do the math, here.
BUILDING A NEW climate change NARRATIVE FOR OLDER AMERICANS
What’s more, it’s common sense that the elderly are more concerned with their legacies, and about future generations’ well-being. Laura Cartstensen, director of the Stanford Center on Longevity said in a TED Talk that when an adults reach the middle of their life, their sense of time reverses. Instead of conceiving of one’s existence in terms of how much time has already passed, one begins to see themselves in terms of how much (or little) time is left to live.
Carstensen continues: “When we recognize that we don’t have all the time in the world, we see our priorities most clearly;” so perhaps concern for the prosperity of one’s family, and the world’s vital posterity can be synthesized into a potent narrative for those of us this aging citizenry is preparing to leave behind. Perhaps the graying can go green, after all.
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Our planet is the most amazing miracle. Not even just ours, but planets in general. Space has always interested me. You might have seen my blog on the most interesting Black Holes recently, so you know all about my youth as a space nerd. If you don’t, check it out. Black holes are insane. Anyway, so I was a space nerd and I know I’m not the only one either. Ancient Aliens on the History Channel is doing quite well in their ratings.
One of my favorite family trips was to the McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis, Texas. They would have special viewings and events and such, and one year when we went, I got to see Saturn. I have to tell you that from what I saw in that telescope, Saturn is just amazing. It’s so beautiful! While I don’t think any other planet compares to Earth when talking about beauty, (who can forget about the amazing sunsets we see and places like the Grand Canyon or the beaches of Greece?) Saturn came close. But what I’ve learned about Saturn’s moon, Titan might make it my second favorite rock.
Saturn’s Moon, Titan, Has More Earth Like Similarities
Scientists previously made a huge discovery that some of you, like myself, might’ve missed. Apparently, Saturn’s moon, Titan was found to have actual liquid on its surface. It houses a sea made of liquid methane. Not an ideal location to start planting your farm or anything, but it’s a pretty awesome discovery. Now, scientists are thinking that Titan might actually have an internal ocean made of water and ammonia. Massive movement of surface structures suggested that they had been resting on liquid. This theory hasn’t yet been fully proven, but they’re confident that it’s there and making changes to the surface of the moon.
Mars or Titan: Where will you build your new home?
Recent research suggested that Mars at one point might have had living organisms on it. Signs of water have been found and according to NASA, Mars might’ve had as much water as Earth’s Arctic Ocean. These new discoveries show not only an amazing advancement in our technology, but in our knowledge of the solar system we are a part of.
I think I’ll stay on Earth a bit longer, I kind of like it here. But won’t it be cool when we eventually see not only flights to Mars, but to Titan too. Would you take the opportunity to live on another planet?
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When I was younger, my mom had a tradition of always taking us out into the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night to watch meteor showers, comets, and anything else you can see in the sky with the naked eye. At a young age, I knew all about the constellations and about other galaxies in the universe. You could definitely say I was a space nerd. It always reminded me how tiny and insignificant my life is compared to the vastness of the universe. It’s really a beautiful thing. However, there was one thing that always terrified me. Black holes. Not the kind that you consider your dryer to be when you come out with less socks and you put in. I’m talking planet-swallowing black holes randomly placed in outer space. For the space explorer such as myself, I’m going to tell you about three of the most interesting black holes that I’ve found in my research and how a new theory might change your perspective on them.
1. Middleweight Black Hole
An Australian telescope observed bursts of super hot gas, which inevitably lead to the discovery of the first middleweight black hole. Before it was discovered, supermassive black holes and stellar mass black holes were the only two types thought to exist. These types of black holes have been a constant mystery to astronomers for many years. The most recent discovery of one, an intermediate-mass black hole, is said to be approximately 290 million light-years from Earth. It is described as being 20,000 “solar masses” in size.
2. Rotating Black Holes
These bad boys are exactly as their name depicts them. To give you an idea of how fast they spin, the fastest one scientists have found is in the constellation of Aquila that spins more than 950 times per second.
3. Rogue Black Holes
We call a black hole “rogue” when it gets knocked out of their original location, usually due to galaxy collision. The first known one of these space ninjas is said to be approximately 600 million times the size of the sun. It is believed that in our galaxy alone, there could be hundreds of rogue black holes roaming around.
They are the age-old natural nemesis in space: Black holes. Infamous for what dangers might lurk within them, or on the other side of them. They are one of space exploration’s greatest mysteries, and a topic that I have always been curious about. NASA has dedicated resources specifically to the exploration of black holes. They come in all different shapes and sizes, a very different thought from the original idea that there were only the three general sizes; small, medium, and large. So the big question is always: what happens if we get sucked in?
According to the cinematic geniuses of our time, you either travel through space at light speed or you are transported (short cut style) to another part of the universe. As cool as both of these ideas sound, it’s very unlikely. Recently, a paper was presented in a space conference in Paris that suggested looking at black holes from a completely different perspective; not that looking at them in any perspective was easy in the first place!
A professor at Ohio State University, Samir Mathur, has dubbed black holes “Fuzzballs,” and claims that what happens when you get close to one is not like what happens in the movies. He says that the surface of the hole destroys your body (if you were floating through space and got close to one) and basically makes a hologram of it and it is forever stuck in the outer layer of the “Fuzzball.” He has dubbed them so because he thinks that they are a thin, fuzzy layer of space, which differs from the typical sooth layer that we all know and love. I think naming them something so cute sounding definitely takes away from the menacing fact that they could make a hologram of our lifeless bodies forever to be embedded in space.
Tailored for children, Space Scouts Summer Adventure is your start to a most interesting summer for:
NASA heads for mission to find water on Europa, Jupiter’s moon.
NASA’s mission to find life is here. The concept involves conducting an investigation on one of Jupiter’s moons, Europa, and determining its ability to hold life. NASA just completed the first review, and is now looking towards the development phase known as formulation. The space administration is reaffirming the possibility that there may be life on planet Earth. The Science Mission Directorate of NASA seconded the objective and shared how the space agency is now going ahead from concept to mission.
As per the scientists, Europa is a one-of-a-kind place to search for potential life outside Earth, but within our solar system. The space agency is all set to search for life signs on Europa. In addition, the experts say that their observations and research results have found potential clues on life in Europa. It is definitely a strong step towards finding out if, other than Earth, there is anything else in our solar system that supports life.
Launch of a spacecraft to the planet Jupiter will take place in the 2020s.
NASA’s mission involves sending a spacecraft to Jupiter in the 2020s. The craft should reach its orbit after several years, and complete one orbit every two weeks. This activity will provide opportunities for the close flybys of Jupiter’s moon, Europa. The NASA mission will involve 45 flybys, wherein the spacecraft shall capture images of the moon’s icy surface.
The images will be high-resolution and, should provide great detail to the experts who will investigate the structure and composition of Europa’s icy shell. This mission is referred as the Galileo mission to Jupiter and is expected to produce revolutionary findings in near future. Learn more about Europa here.
The NASA Galileo mission displayed strong signs of life in the 1990s.
According to the NASA experts, Jupiter’s moon Europa has a huge ocean right beneath its frozen crust. Similar to the size of Earth’s moon, Europa has the potential to hold twice the amount of water present on Earth. Research results show that with its rocky sea floor, large amount of salt water, and chemical processes and energy given by tidal heating, Europa has the potential to support organisms. Stay tuned.
