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I saw the Stars in my cereal this morning [SPACE](NSF ALIENS and 56K)
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Well, you have to understand that our galaxy, the Milky Way consists of about 300 billion stars. The dark galaxy VIRGOHI21 contains enough matter for 100 millions of stars. Since small galaxies have been predicted, but not verified until now, that is. The explaination why we have not found those dwarf galaxies seems to be: because they contain no active stars. So thats settled. Still, its unclear WHY no stars are lit in those dwarf galaxies.
Obviously the emergence of stars is tied to galaxy mass, but the exact mechanism is unclear.
It seems the smaller a galaxy is, the more time is needed to light the candles.
It could be that these are young, forming galaxies - wich is of course a contradiction to the Big Bang model, but to be honest the deeper i delve into astronomy the more faith i loose in the concept. There are too much contradicting observations, aside from the fact that, despite it should be abundant, it was not possible to come up with any concept of Dark Matter. I suspect that is because it doesn't exist. I tend more twoards the 100000-300000 rogue planets for each star model, wich is more in harmony with recent observations.
That means, of course, there are a lot more planets around, if you think about the 300 billion stars in the Milky Way alone. And those planets may be able to support life ("Steppenwolf Concept"). That shifts odds quite a bit.
So yeah, the sun exploded today and then it threw up at us. I, like Acsis, blame the astroengineering alien terrorists.
The simply massive sunspot AR1520 unleashed an X1.4-class solar flare on July 12th at 1653 UT. The X-flare was geoeffective as AR1520 was pointed directly at the Earth at the time it erupted. This caused a strong R3 radio blackout to occur across the sun facing side of the Earth as well as a G1 geomagnetic storm in higher latitudes. The flare also generated a very impressive O type CME which is headed for us here on Earth. Per NOAA's SWPC forecasters the passage of the X-class flare's CME @ 0500 utc (+/- 6hrs), 7/14. In contrast,the Goddard Space Weather Lab said the CME will hit Earth on July 14th around 10:20 utc (+/- 7 hours) and could spark strong geomagnetic storms. Aurora watches be alert as this massive CME will likely cause some very impressive auroral displays. It is these kind of events that also have the potential to push the aurora much farther towards the equator than they normally can be found.
forecasted track of the CME
The flare induced radio blackout.
I will have my camera ready and will likely try to head north Friday night in hopes of catching a glimpse of the aurora. One thing that is really interesting about this event is that AR1520 still is primed for more flares in the possible near future. It would not be out of the question to see a few more flares and CMEs hurled at us before it rotates around to the eastern side of the sun and out of view of the Earth.
at about half four this afternoon, I was at my local wargaming store, and their phones (wireless) could only pick up a shit-ton of static
they called each other a few times, and still static
then it went back to normal
wonder if that was actually the flare? If so, cool
what steps can we take to defend ourselves against this threat
Would appeasement be more feasible
It most likely was! Also..... TROPICAL CYLCONES!
This has no relation, I just thought it was awesome to see three systems ongoing at the same time in the east Pacific, including one Cat-4 hurricane with a massive eye. This is a pretty good indication that we are in an ENSO neutral patter that is starting to lean towards El Niño conditions.
Emilia was becoming an annular hurricane, and even had a pretty annular look to its self but has since started to weaken and lost those characteristics. If it had become a sustained annular storm it would have been able to last much longer than normal as it moved further west into unfavorable conditions.
the weather here in Seattle had been cloudless and warm lately. Let me check for the 14th....hmm, partly cloudy for the 14th. Maybe I'll finally get to see some aurora.
don't take spanish on duolingo!
http://www.nature.com/news/arsenic-loving-bacterium-needs-phosphorus-after-all-1.10971
More pics to come! If it is currently night where you are, race out and look towards the closest pole to you and see if you can spot the aurora!
It's been overcast and rainy for days here because the season's finally started.
I want to see the lights...
"Sandra's favourite movie is escape from new York because she cries when magpie and brain die because they will never be together." HAIL SATAN
Sally Ride died today of pancreatic cancer.
That is awful
because she was awesome
This is the fastest CME (3400 km/s or 7.6 million mph) to have happened in a long time. These speeds are typically seen once every 5 to 10 years. This CME was unleashed by AR1520, the same spot that caused the awesome aurora light show on the 14th and 15th. Sadly AR1520 is not facing the Earth so this will be non-geoeffective. In fact this CME wont hit any of the inner planets.
AR1520 also produced these other non-geoeffective CMEs.
...and this ALMOST X-class flare that was also non-geoeffective. (click the image to see the flare animated)
I never knew until today that she was a lesbian, but that really sucks that her partner won't receive any of the benefits that a spouse normally does.
A real shame all around. Sally Ride was pretty amazing.
"Ya know what, fuck all y'all" -- The Sun
Apparently it was her obituary that first publicly outed her, which is kind of a weird way to go about it but oh well.
Also, from the onion sidebar:
“It’s a shame. No astronaut should outlive their space program.”
Google+
niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice
I like your style Mr. Goats.
oh snap
I know taking the onion seriously in any way is stupid, but that is still a dumb sentiment
(Pictured above, sunspot AR1532 producing a M6 flare at 2056 UT today.)
After a short quiet period the Sun is starting to crackle to life once more! The sunspot, AR1532, has now unleashed one moderately powerful solar flares of the M-class variety for the past two days in a row now. In fact the last one almost was strong enough to be rated as an X-Class, which is the strongest class of flare. The M6 flare that was produced today may be slightly geoeffective. If it did in fact produce a CME the Earth will only receive a glancing blow at the most. This will change in the coming days as AR1532 begins to rotate around to face the Earth. Currently 1532 still has the needed type of magnetic field to produce more moderate and strong flares so it is likely that the Earth could be effected by a flare and a CME in the coming days. It is far to early to tell if we will see a repeat of July 14th's impressive solar storm but I doubt that we will. That said I would not be surprised in the least to have at least one or two days where folks north of I-80 in the US get to see the Aurora if 1532 sends a CME our way. NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center has forecasted a 25% chance of another M-class flare to occur over the next 24 hours, and a 25% chance to see one between the following 48 to 72 hours.
(Pictured above, two M-class flares on the Earth facing side of the sun recorded in the past 48 hours.)
In other news concerning the Sun, a magnetic bridge was discovered between sunspots AR1529 and AR1528. Formally it was thought that sunspots were solely independent of one another and were unable to connect to one another via their magnetic fields. This thinking however has since changed when the SOHO satellite first discovered bridged spots. These bridges are what scientists believe are responsible for some of the Sun's most impressive eruptions. Although rare, these bridged flares can go through a runaway chain reaction when one spot erupts with a flare, causing the others it is connected to it to follow suit. The last example of this was back in 2010when the SDO and STEREO sats were able to capture the event with their array of cameras and sensors. A wonderful article by NASA on this event can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/13dec_globaleruption/
(Pictured above, AR1529 and AR1528 connected via a magnetic bridge.)
Now we turn our attention for a moment away from the Sun and to the night sky as it begins to be peppered with streaks of bright light and the flashes of fireballs. For tonight and tomorrow night in the early AM hours before sunrise, those of you who are awake will be treated to a pleasant surprise as the annual delta Aquarid meteor shower reaches its peak. Although not the most intense of showers, the Aquarid shower can be quite impressive due to the source of the meteors. Comet 96P/Machholz, the source of the shower, is thought by researchers to not be a product of our solar system and to have actually come from another star systems all together. Each of the Aquarids that do disintegrate in our atmosphere pepper us with particles that are not from our Sun. This is significant since everything, even you and I, are products of our Sun. This is why Carl Sagan used to say we are all stardust, because we literally are.
Forecasters expect as many as 15 Aquarids per hour when the shower peaks tonight and tomorrow night. The absolute best time to view this shower, no matter which part of the Earth you live on, is during the darkest hours before the sun rises when the moon has set and the constellation Aquarius is high in the sky as this will be the point from which the Aquarids will come from.
While the Aquarids is a relatively low yield show in the number of meteors per hour. The good news is that one can think of it as the appetizer to the main course. As the Earth traverses the debris belt of Comet 96P/Machholz and we reach the peak of the Aquarids, the earth begins to move into the orbit of the Perseids meteors. These meteors which are the debris of the comet, 109P/Swift-Tuttle, are in a much more dense belt as they orbit around the Sun in the trail of 109P/Swift-Tuttle's path. This leads to the Persieds shower being one of the highest producing annual showers of the year. The Persieds shower will peak in mid-August (12th -15th) and could exceed 100 meteors per hour.
(Picture : a veiwing graphic of where one can find the Aquarids in the night sky. This will be at 1am local time for the viewer. The later in the morning you go, the higher Aquarius will be in the sky to your sse.)
I try my best! <3
In response to this, and to a high-speed solar wind stream buffeting Earth's magnetic field at this present time, NOAA forecasters have said there is now a 45% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on July 29-31st. The storm will start as a minor storm which could intensify moderately when the CME hits the Earth's magnetic field. With any luck the IMF polarity will be in the negative when this happens. Currently it is forecasted to be positive but that could easily change in later forecasts. If so, it will aid the chances that the Aurora will be able to be vibrant and pushed farther south than normal in these relatively minor events when compared to the storm of the 14th. Regardless of that fact, high-latitude sky watchers should be on the alert for vibrant auroral displays in the night sky.
Sunspot AR1532 is just starting to face the Earth directly today, and it still has a high chance of producing more M-class flares which would most certainly be geoeffective. Although AR1532's latitude is a bit further south than I would like to see, we should not have any problems being effected by any future CME's it may or may not produce as it transits the Earth facing side of the Sun.
UPDATE @ 2:07pm CDT: It is confirmed that AR11532 has produced another moderate solar flare. An M2 peaking at 6:20 UT, 7/29/2012. No word yet on whether or not it produced a CME.
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=146903741
Only flag not upright? The Apollo 11 Flag that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted.
I'm excited about Curiosity. Here's hoping the landing goes well.
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