Friday, July 29, 2005
Astronomers detect '10th planet'
Astronomers have detected what they are calling the '10th planet' orbiting our Sun.
It is bigger than Pluto, the ninth planet, which is 2,250 km across, and was discovered by three US astronomers.
It is the largest object found in our Solar System since the discovery of Neptune in 1846.
The object, designated 2003 UB313, is currently 97 Earth-Sun distances away - more than twice Pluto's average distance from the Sun.
Since this object is bigger than Pluto, I believe that it will have to be called a planet, otherwise we will have to reclassify what Pluto is.
From BBC News.
It is bigger than Pluto, the ninth planet, which is 2,250 km across, and was discovered by three US astronomers.
It is the largest object found in our Solar System since the discovery of Neptune in 1846.
The object, designated 2003 UB313, is currently 97 Earth-Sun distances away - more than twice Pluto's average distance from the Sun.
Since this object is bigger than Pluto, I believe that it will have to be called a planet, otherwise we will have to reclassify what Pluto is.
From BBC News.
Ice lake found on the Red Planet
A giant patch of frozen water has been pictured nestled within an unnamed impact crater on Mars.
The photographs were taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on board Mars Express, the European Space Agency probe which is exploring the planet.
The ice disc is located on Vastitas Borealis, a broad plain that covers much of Mars' far northern latitudes.
This discovery of frozen water on the surface of Mars could be an indication that life is possible on the red planet. It also would provide needed resources for a manned mission to Mars.
From BBC News.
The photographs were taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on board Mars Express, the European Space Agency probe which is exploring the planet.
The ice disc is located on Vastitas Borealis, a broad plain that covers much of Mars' far northern latitudes.
This discovery of frozen water on the surface of Mars could be an indication that life is possible on the red planet. It also would provide needed resources for a manned mission to Mars.
From BBC News.
Distant object found orbiting Sun
Astronomers have found a large object in the Solar System's outer reaches. It is being hailed as "a great discovery".
Details of the object are still sketchy. It never comes closer to the Sun than Neptune and spends most of its time much further out than Pluto.
It is one of the largest objects ever found in the outer Solar System and is almost certainly made of ice and rock.
It is at least 1,500km (930 miles) across and may be larger than Pluto, which is 2,274km (1,400 miles) across.
This is the second significant body found in the outer Solar System since last year. The other object was named Sedna, and is now included with the other large objects that have been discovered including Quaoar (2002) and 2001 KX76 (2001).
From BBC News.
Details of the object are still sketchy. It never comes closer to the Sun than Neptune and spends most of its time much further out than Pluto.
It is one of the largest objects ever found in the outer Solar System and is almost certainly made of ice and rock.
It is at least 1,500km (930 miles) across and may be larger than Pluto, which is 2,274km (1,400 miles) across.
This is the second significant body found in the outer Solar System since last year. The other object was named Sedna, and is now included with the other large objects that have been discovered including Quaoar (2002) and 2001 KX76 (2001).
From BBC News.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
NASA Returns to Flight as Discovery Reaches Orbit
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The space shuttle Discovery roared into space Tuesday, piercing a Florida morning sky today and launching seven astronauts on NASA’s first orbiter mission since the Columbia disaster.
After almost two weeks of delay, two and a half years without a shuttle flight and $1.4 billion in return-to-flight work, Discovery successfully left Earth behind on a 12-day test flight to the International Space Station (ISS) with no hint of the fuel sensor glitch that scrubbed a July 13 launch attempt. Typical Florida weather, including rain storms and a potential launch threat from electrified anvil clouds, was not an issue here at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) spaceport.
“With an early morning launch, we hope we give you a good show,” Discovery’s STS-114 commander Eileen Collins told reporters before the flight. “We’re very prepared.”
Discovery launched right on time at 10:39:00 a.m. EDT (1439 GMT), rising above Launch Pad 39B here at KSC. Eight minutes and 29 seconds later, Collins and her crew reached orbit.
Congratulations both to NASA and the crew of STS-114 for a successful launch.
Story from Space.com.
After almost two weeks of delay, two and a half years without a shuttle flight and $1.4 billion in return-to-flight work, Discovery successfully left Earth behind on a 12-day test flight to the International Space Station (ISS) with no hint of the fuel sensor glitch that scrubbed a July 13 launch attempt. Typical Florida weather, including rain storms and a potential launch threat from electrified anvil clouds, was not an issue here at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) spaceport.
“With an early morning launch, we hope we give you a good show,” Discovery’s STS-114 commander Eileen Collins told reporters before the flight. “We’re very prepared.”
Discovery launched right on time at 10:39:00 a.m. EDT (1439 GMT), rising above Launch Pad 39B here at KSC. Eight minutes and 29 seconds later, Collins and her crew reached orbit.
Congratulations both to NASA and the crew of STS-114 for a successful launch.
Story from Space.com.
T-Minus 01:10:00
Approximately one hour and ten minutes until STS-114 (Shuttle Discovery). You can follow the launch through NASA, and watch it on NASA TV.
Friday, July 22, 2005
Mount St. Helens Still Shaking
There's a whole lotta shakin' going on at Mount St. Helens these days as the restless peak does what it has done for thousands of years: build new lava domes that totter and fall and become the foundations for still more new ones.
A series of unusually strong earthquakes — exceeding magnitude 3 — has been reported in recent days by the Cascades Volcano Laboratory in Vancouver, Wash., about 50 miles south of the mountain. The latest was a magnitude 3.1 quake early Thursday that was accompanied by a rockfall.
Rockfalls during the quakes send up plumes of ash. Some tower thousands of feet above the 8,364-foot crater rim; a March plume reached 30,000 feet, raising concerns about area air traffic. Some plumes don't escape the crater and some wispy, gritty puffs crest just above the rim.
Some 10 months after Mt. St. Helens began its unrest, it is still rebuilding its lava dome. You can check out the Crater Dome/Eruption pictures at the USGS/Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, Washington web page, including the below picture of changes in the dome structure (if you look close enough, you can see where part of the spine collapsed between July 20th and July 21st).
From Yahoo - AP Science.
A series of unusually strong earthquakes — exceeding magnitude 3 — has been reported in recent days by the Cascades Volcano Laboratory in Vancouver, Wash., about 50 miles south of the mountain. The latest was a magnitude 3.1 quake early Thursday that was accompanied by a rockfall.
Rockfalls during the quakes send up plumes of ash. Some tower thousands of feet above the 8,364-foot crater rim; a March plume reached 30,000 feet, raising concerns about area air traffic. Some plumes don't escape the crater and some wispy, gritty puffs crest just above the rim.
Some 10 months after Mt. St. Helens began its unrest, it is still rebuilding its lava dome. You can check out the Crater Dome/Eruption pictures at the USGS/Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, Washington web page, including the below picture of changes in the dome structure (if you look close enough, you can see where part of the spine collapsed between July 20th and July 21st).
From Yahoo - AP Science.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
NASA: Space Shuttle Discovery to Launch July 26
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA will restart the countdown for the space shuttle Discovery Saturday, with plans to launch the orbiter spaceward on July 26 after more than week of work to pin down a fuel sensor glitch, mission managers said late Wednesday.
“Right now we think we have eliminated all the common causes,” shuttle program manager Bill Parsons said of the glitch during a press briefing here at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC). “We believe we’ve done everything we possible could on the vehicle.”
Discovery’s STS-114 mission, NASA’s first shuttle flight since the 2003 Columbia disaster, is now set to launch at 10:39 a.m. EDT (1439 GMT) on July 26.
All eyes will be focused on this launch as NASA tries to get its fleet back up in the air.
From Space.com.
“Right now we think we have eliminated all the common causes,” shuttle program manager Bill Parsons said of the glitch during a press briefing here at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC). “We believe we’ve done everything we possible could on the vehicle.”
Discovery’s STS-114 mission, NASA’s first shuttle flight since the 2003 Columbia disaster, is now set to launch at 10:39 a.m. EDT (1439 GMT) on July 26.
All eyes will be focused on this launch as NASA tries to get its fleet back up in the air.
From Space.com.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Ancient life in China limestone
Researchers have found well-preserved fossils of organisms that lived on the ocean bed about 550 million years ago.
The fossils, unearthed in Southern China, are of some of the earliest complex lifeforms known to science.
Frondose vendobionts died out before the Cambrian explosion about 540 million years ago, when animals with bones and shells appeared.
It is amazing that these organisms survived in the rock record, considering that they were more than likely soft bodies multicellular organisms that were on the seafloor.
From BBC News.
The fossils, unearthed in Southern China, are of some of the earliest complex lifeforms known to science.
Frondose vendobionts died out before the Cambrian explosion about 540 million years ago, when animals with bones and shells appeared.
It is amazing that these organisms survived in the rock record, considering that they were more than likely soft bodies multicellular organisms that were on the seafloor.
From BBC News.
Footprints of 'first Americans'
Human settlers made it to the Americas 30,000 years earlier than previously thought, according to new evidence.
A team of scientists came to this controversial conclusion by dating human footprints preserved by volcanic ash in an abandoned quarry in Mexico.
They say the first Americans may have arrived by sea, rather than by foot.
The traditional view is that the continent's early settlers arrived around 11,000 years ago, by crossing a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska.
This definately challenges the theory that the Americas were settled by migration over the land bridge over the Bering Strait. Other evidence has been popping up recently like the Topper site in South Carolina, the Burnham Ranch site in Oklahoma, and Monte Verde in Chile.
From BBC News.
A team of scientists came to this controversial conclusion by dating human footprints preserved by volcanic ash in an abandoned quarry in Mexico.
They say the first Americans may have arrived by sea, rather than by foot.
The traditional view is that the continent's early settlers arrived around 11,000 years ago, by crossing a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska.
This definately challenges the theory that the Americas were settled by migration over the land bridge over the Bering Strait. Other evidence has been popping up recently like the Topper site in South Carolina, the Burnham Ranch site in Oklahoma, and Monte Verde in Chile.
From BBC News.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
BREAKING NEWS - NHL HOCKEY
From TSN.ca.
NHL, NHLPA reach tentative deal
And now for the words everyone has been waiting to hear: The deal is done!
The NHL and NHL Players' Association have finally reached an agreement (pending ratification) on a new six-year collective bargaining agreement that - if approved by the NHL board of governors next Thursday and the rank and file membership of the NHLPA next Tuesday - will officially end the stalemate sometime next week.
I can't say how happy I am to finally see that a deal has been reached and that we are going to have hockey next year. Katy and I kept our money in the Nashville Predators organization during the lockout, and this news just made my week. The smell of the rink, the chill in the air, the players on the ice. Now I am going to have to ask off of work for when training camp opens up and go out and support the players as they come back.
Rest of the story can be found at TSN.ca.
NHL, NHLPA reach tentative deal
And now for the words everyone has been waiting to hear: The deal is done!
The NHL and NHL Players' Association have finally reached an agreement (pending ratification) on a new six-year collective bargaining agreement that - if approved by the NHL board of governors next Thursday and the rank and file membership of the NHLPA next Tuesday - will officially end the stalemate sometime next week.
I can't say how happy I am to finally see that a deal has been reached and that we are going to have hockey next year. Katy and I kept our money in the Nashville Predators organization during the lockout, and this news just made my week. The smell of the rink, the chill in the air, the players on the ice. Now I am going to have to ask off of work for when training camp opens up and go out and support the players as they come back.
Rest of the story can be found at TSN.ca.
Settling down
Dear Blog,
I believe that I am finally ready to come back and pay attention to you. The past few months I know I neglected you as I got married, closed on a new house, and got settled into a new position at my job. Unpacking is almost done (except for 1 room, and the hanging of the pictures), the cats are liking the place, and the general neighborhood noise (firewooks every saturday night after the minor league baseball games) is becoming background noise. Now it is time to look forward to the honeymoon, which is going to be a great two week vacation from everything.
So many interesting things have happened in the past months while I was away, and there were so many things I wanted to write about but did not have the time to commit to, like the Deep Impact mission to comet Tempel 1, todays launch of STS-114, or renewed discussion of the New Madrid Fault Zone and the associated risk from earthquakes.
Well, this is enough of a teaser, I will be posting more information soon and hopefully be getting back into the full swing of things.
I believe that I am finally ready to come back and pay attention to you. The past few months I know I neglected you as I got married, closed on a new house, and got settled into a new position at my job. Unpacking is almost done (except for 1 room, and the hanging of the pictures), the cats are liking the place, and the general neighborhood noise (firewooks every saturday night after the minor league baseball games) is becoming background noise. Now it is time to look forward to the honeymoon, which is going to be a great two week vacation from everything.
So many interesting things have happened in the past months while I was away, and there were so many things I wanted to write about but did not have the time to commit to, like the Deep Impact mission to comet Tempel 1, todays launch of STS-114, or renewed discussion of the New Madrid Fault Zone and the associated risk from earthquakes.
Well, this is enough of a teaser, I will be posting more information soon and hopefully be getting back into the full swing of things.
