Things Change
When I first arrived in San Antonio, Texas, it was with the intention that I would be leaving in 6 months. I had plans, plans with extended far beyond the great state of Texas. This was in November 2010. At that time I had just returned to The States after a year and a half of travel abroad. The only thing on my mind was more travel. San Antonio was only to be a unique stopping point, just another place I had not experienced in a long list of places I had not experienced. Things change.
Though I did leave San Antonio in May of 2011, as planned, other things were happening. Things which were not planned, but which were very welcomed. I left with the intention of not returning, however shortly later, in August 2011, I found myself returning to Texas, and returning to San Antonio. Again, things change.
Up until this point my life had been about experiences, about the unplanned. I suck at planning. I excel at allowing things to happen, adapting, absorbing, and learning from these happenings. (Though some lessons come much more slowly than others, and at a much dearer price, it’s those which usually are the most profound.) I was the proverbial tumbleweed, going where the wind blew – and going well. My skills of landing on my feet would embarrass a cat. My adaptability would impress Darwin, and my resourcefulness would humble a wolverine.
So, I returned to San Antonio and it was soon after when I discovered blogging. It quickly became added to the list of things I love. But there were other things being added to that list, primarily a love of science, astronomy, cosmology, and space exploration. At the time I had no idea how deeply that love would run. Things change.
As I write this I am, once again, preparing to leave San Antonio. Only this time, I know I’ll be returning. I’m leaving on tomorrow for a 6 week house-sitting job in South Mississippi, followed by 2 weeks of visiting with family in Louisiana and Mississippi. (A family which has grown use to not seeing me for years at a time.) While I’m very much looking forward to this time, I’m even more excited about my eventual return here to Texas. Over the past few months I’ve come to the decision that instead of simply allowing life to happen to me, it was now time to put my adaptability, my resourcefulness, and my love, to work. When I return to San Antonio I will be returning to school to obtain a teacher’s certification in science. This will not be easy for me, and I’m not kidding myself about the difficulty. It will require the exercising of some very flabby skills – particularly those of planning, focus, commitment, and follow-through. (Skills not required of a tumbleweed.) I look forward to the challenge.
To say that I’m easily excited would be a gross understatement. To say that I’m inspired by the passions of others would be even more so. There are those who, though they may not be aware, directly contributed to this completely unexpected path I now find myself on, and to whom I am gratefully indebted. There is someone on the personal level, and he knows who he is. And there are those who have influenced me in the blogging world. Namely: Chica Blanca of White Lady In The Hood, Colline of Colline’s Blog, (both through example) and Smak of Promethean Times (it may have been his wonderfully encouraging comments which first sparked this fire).
In addition to these 3, there are so many more. So many of you whose comments, whose encouragement to write about the things I love, who’s excitement and interest have made me want to dive entirely into the waters in which I now find myself. Thank you. Thank you to anyone who’s ever read a post of mine, who’s ever hit ‘like’, and especially those of you who’ve left comments which led me down this path.
Though I’ve been extremely busy the past couple of weeks, making plans (Yep! I’ve made plans!), closing out what may be the last political campaign I work on, and preparing to leave, I’ve tried my best to keep up with you. I’ve every intention to take you on this journey with me, while at the same time following you on your journeys. My journey doesn’t end with teaching. I intend to continue my own studies and eventually incorporate my loves of travel, science, and writing by teaching abroad – particularly in Latin America. And yep! You’re coming with me!
…what’s up with the Sun?
Ring Around The Sun
Those living near the U.S. East Coast and the lower Great Lakes, were they looking up on Tuesday, May 14, may have caught sight of something really cool. Was it a bird? Nope. A plane? Still, nope. Something much cooler…
Called a halo, these incredibly beautiful rings can, at times, appear circling not only the Sun, but the Moon as well. Though they may appear as a scene out of some sci-fi movie, halos are actually a sign of high thin cirrus clouds drifting along at 20,000 feet or more and made up of millions of tiny 6-sided ice crystals. Light passing through these crystals is deflected, both reflected and refracted, and it separates out into colors. In order for a halo to appear the crystals have to be oriented and positioned just right with respect to your eye. Because of this, halos around the sun (or moon!) are unique to the person viewing it. Which is VERY cool! Your halo made by your ice crystals is different than the halo of your buddy standing with you who’s halo is being formed by his own ice crystals. And since high cirrus clouds often come before a storm, there is some truth to the old saying of “Ring around the moon brings rain soon.”
Image Credit: Desmond Boylan/Reuters, Wikimedia Commons
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Four Powerful X-class Solar Flares
While the halos spotted on Tuesday were of the solar variety, they are caused by atmospheric conditions here on Earth, and are not related to the very cool HOT action on the Sun over the past few days (May 13-15, 2013).
Oh my, but the Sun does like to show off!
This amazing video, from the guys and gals at NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, gives us an intimate look at our Star, aka The Sun, having a bit of a temper tantrum and producing three of its strongest solar flares so far this year on May 13 and 14. There was then a 4th X-class flare reported on May 15!
Solar flares are giant explosions on the Sun which send energy, light and high speed particles into space. Solar flare activity increases approximately every 11 years, and the Sun is currently (2013) in solar maximum which means more flares will likely be coming, some small and some possibly large enough to send their radiation all the way to Earth. The biggest flares, based on strength, are known as ‘X-class’ flares. The smallest ones, A-class, (near background levels), are then followed by B, C, M and finally X. Within each letter class there is a finer scale from 1 to 9.
The above video also gives us a look at the Active Region 1748 which has been producing these flares. Very dramatic! And speaking of drama – that’s some awesomely dramatic music to go along with the breathtaking images! And to add a bit of epic ‘I can’t wrap my head around this’ awe – consider that Active Region 1748 is at this time approximately the size of 8 to 10 Earths… WOW!!
*******For more info from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, check out SDO is GO Blog
Welcome Home, Expedition 35!
Crew Members Arrive Safely Back On Earth
Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)
After traveling nearly 62 million miles, completing 2,336 orbits of planet Earth, spending 146 days in space, 3 members of the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 35 crew undocked from the orbiting laboratory and returned safely home Monday, May 13, ending a nearly 5 month long mission. Their departure marks the beginning of Expedition 36.
Station Commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency, Soyuz Commander Roman Romanenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and NASA Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn undocked their Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft from the space station at 7:08pm EDT, and landed southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, about 10:31pm (8:31am May 14, Kazakh time).
Video highlights:
* :00 to 3:21 – Crew member farewells and closing the hatches between the Soyuz and the ISS Rassveet Module.
* 3:22 to 6:47 – Undocking and physical separation of the Soyuz from the ISS at an altitude of 255 statute miles over Eastern Mongolia. (Particularly breathtaking view of the Soyuz and Earth at 5:27!)
* 6:48 to 7:37 – Soyuz re-entry module approaching landing zone on main parachute and firing its solid-fuel soft landing engines at one meter above the ground.
* 7:38 to – 10:58 – Romanenko, Marshburn, and Hadfield being extracted from the craft and administered to before being moved to medical tent for initial exam.
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Expedition 35 Commander Chris Hadfield’s Mission Reflections
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Current ISS Crew, Expedition 35-36
Currently on the station: Pavel Vinogradov, center, of Roscosmos is in command of Expedition 36. Along with Vinogradov is NASA Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy, left, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, right. Image Credit: NASA
This morning at 6.20am I had the pleasure of watching as this ISS crew made their way across the San Antonio pre-dawn sky. The ISS appeared in the Southwest and traveled quickly across the sky before disappearing a couple of minutes later into the haze towards the North. Just as with any occasion I get to view the station, it was absolutely amazing! Anyone wishing to also view the station from their own backyard can sign up for NASA’s Spot The Station service to receive email or text message notification of when and where to look.
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Expedition 36-37
At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 36/37 Flight Engineer Karen Nyberg of NASA, left, Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, center, and Flight Engineer Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency. The three crew members are set to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in their Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft on May 29. Photo credit: NASA
San Antonio Prickly Pear Cactus
Late Spring in South-Central Texas
Nature happening in the back yard, or the more terrestrial side of …things I LOVE!!
All images: Alex Autin
Hot Gas – It’s What’s For Dinner
Herschel Finds Our Galaxy’s Black Hole Likes Hot Meals!
Artist’s impression of the Galactic Center. Credit: ESA – C. Carreau
In a region near the center of our Milky Way galaxy known as Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*, and yes, the * IS pronounced! - ‘Sagittarius A-Star‘) lurks a Supermassive Black Hole. Apparently this local black hole of ours is preparing for a meal of hot gas.
With a mass of about 4 million times that of our Sun, and lying around 26,000 light-years away from our Solar System, our black hole is still a few hundred times closer to us than any other galaxy with an active black hole at its center. Detailed observations made by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Herschel Space Observatory, (you know, BEFORE it did that whole running out of liquid helium coolant thing, So Long, Herschel), show hot molecular gas which may be orbiting or falling towards our hungry black hole.
Vast amounts of dust lie in the plane of the Milky Way between here and its center. At far-infrared wavelengths it’s possible to peer through the dust allowing Herschel’s scientists the chance to study the innermost region of our Galaxy in great detail. According to ESA (Herschel Reveals The Milky Way’s Warm Heart) new research based on spectroscopic data from Herschel has resolved the innermost portion of the Milky Way, a few light-years around Sgr A*, for the first time at far-infrared wavelengths. The team of astronomers, led by Javier Goicoechea from the Centro de Astrobiología in Madrid, Spain, was able to isolate the far-infrared emission from all the interstellar components that surround Sgr A* – neutral atomic, molecular and ionized gas, as well as dust.
A big surprise found by the team was how hot the molecular gas in the innermost central region of the Galaxy gets. At least some of it is around 1000ºC, much, MUCH, hotter than typical interstellar clouds (usually only a few tens of degrees above the –273ºC of absolute zero). Some of the heating is explained by the intense ultraviolet radiation coming from a cluster of massive stars which hang out very close to the Galactic Center, but they alone aren’t enough to explain the high temperatures. In addition to this stellar radiation, Dr Goicoechea’s team hypothesize that emission from strong shocks in highly-magnetized gas in the region may be contributing to the high temperatures. Shocks such as these may be generated in gas cloud collisions, or in material flowing at high speed from stars and protostars.
‘The observations are also consistent with streamers of hot gas speeding towards Sgr A*, falling towards the very centre of the Galaxy,’ says Dr Goicoechea. ‘Our Galaxy’s black hole may be cooking its dinner right in front of Herschel’s eyes.’
To get a head-wrapping perspective on where this hot action is taking place in relation to our little neighborhood in the Orion Arm of the galaxy, check out this map of the Milky Way provided by Richard Powell. Also check out his web-site, The Atlas of The Universe, for an incredibly awesome and completely addictive interactive version of this map, as well as other equally time-devouring maps!
The Sagan Series – Part 5 – Decide To Listen
Decide To Listen
Today I present Part 5 of Reid Gower‘s YouTube videos titled The Sagan Series. This edition focuses on one of Carl Sagan‘s primary passions; The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program.
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Message To Mars
Phoenix Lander on Mars
While Sagan’s interest in listening for signals from space was no secret, he also was no stranger to sending out messages. ‘Visions of Mars’ was a message sent from our world to future human inhabitants of the planet Mars. The message, encoded on an archival silica-glass mini-DVD, was launched to The Red on Aug 4, 2007 aboard the NASA Mars Lander Phoenix, arriving May 25, 2008.
The ‘Phoenix DVD’ on Mars.
The DVD, provided by The Planetary Society, contains a multimedia collection of literature and art about Mars, including, among others, the text of H.G. Wells‘ War of the Worlds and Ray Bradbury‘s The Martian Chronicles. There are also messages directly addressed to future Martian visitors or settlers from several space visionaries, including Sagan whose Visions of Mars message may be listened to here (It’s AWESOME, btw!). The DVD, claiming to be the ‘first library on Mars’, and rightfully so, also contains the names of a quarter million human space fans collected by The Planetary Society through the Internet. Sounds exciting? (The correct answer would be ‘YES’!!) Do you wish your name was included on that DVD presently sitting on the surface of another world? (Again, the response ‘YES’ works!) If so, then you’ll be excited to know that on May 1 NASA issued an invitation to members of the public to submit their names and a personal message online for a DVD to be carried aboard its Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft scheduled for launch in November of this year! (Umm, the correct response here is ‘OH HELL YES!!!’)
NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft.
According to NASA, the DVD is part of the mission’s Going to Mars Campaign and will carry EVERY name submitted. (Even MINE!!) But, would you like MORE than just your name to be carried to The Red? If you said ‘HELL YES!’ then you’ll be extra excited to know that NASA is also encouraging the public to submit a message in the form of a three-line poem, or haiku. (OH, HELL NO! I suck at haiku!)
For those of you who don’t suck and would like to take part – there are rules, people! Only three (3!) haikus will be selected. The deadline for submissions is July 1. The top three messages will be selected by online vote which will begin July 15. Everyone participating in the Going to Mars campaign will be able to print a certificate of appreciation to document their involvement with the MAVEN mission. I’m thinking this would be an exciting project for classrooms to participate in, and apparently I’m not the only one thinking this…..
‘This new campaign is a great opportunity to reach the next generation of explorers and excite them about science, technology, engineering and math,’ said Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN principal investigator from CU/LASP. “I look forward to sharing our science with the worldwide community as MAVEN begins to piece together what happened to the Red Planet’s atmosphere.”
To find out more and take part visit Going To Mars with MAVEN!!!
MAVEN is the first spacecraft devoted to exploring and understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. The spacecraft will investigate how the loss of Mars’ atmosphere to space determined the history of water on the surface. Go MAVEN Go!!!
All images: NASA
A Saturn Storm and A Herschel Update
A Polar Hurricane
With cloud speeds clocking as fast as 330 miles per hour, and with an eye measuring a mind-blowing 1,250 miles across, the spinning vortex of Saturn’s north polar storm is both beautiful and awesome in its scope and power.
This false-color image from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is among the first sunlit views of Saturn’s north pole captured by the craft’s imaging cameras. In 2004, when Cassini arrived in the Saturnian system, it was northern winter and the north pole was in darkness. The planet’s north pole was previously imaged under sunlight by NASA’s Voyager 2 in 1981, however the observation geometry did not allow for detailed views of the poles. As a result, it’s not known how long this newly discovered north-polar hurricane has been active.
Did he say ‘locked to the north pole’ and ‘no ocean underneath’?!! Ok, WOW!!
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
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So long Herschel, and thanks for all the Coolness….
The Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy in infrared light as seen by the Herschel Space Observatory. Image Credit: ESA/NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI
According to a report yesterday, April 29, from the European Space Agency, the Herschel Space Observatory has exhausted its supply of liquid helium coolant and as such ended more than 3 years of pioneering observations of the ‘cool Universe‘. The event was not unexpected and confirmation came at the beginning of the spacecraft’s daily communication session with its ground station in Western Australia when a clear rise in temperatures was measured in all of Herschel’s instruments.
‘Herschel has offered us a new view of the hitherto hidden Universe, pointing us to a previously unseen process of star birth and galaxy formation, and allowing us to trace water through the Universe from molecular clouds to newborn stars and their planet-forming discs and belts of comets,’ said Göran Pilbratt, ESA’s Herschel Project Scientist.
Though the mission will not be making any more observations, discoveries from Herschel’s rich archives are expected to continue. ‘Herschel has improved our understanding of how new stars and planets form, but has also raised many new questions,’ said Paul Goldsmith, NASA Herschel project scientist at JPL. ‘Astronomers will be following up on Herschel’s discoveries with ground-based and future space-based observatories for years to come.’
For more information check out:
Herschel Closes Its Eyes On The Universe
Herschel Completes Its ‘Cool’ Journey in Space
Or my March 5th post – Herschel: Running On Empty
For a showcase of Herschel images visit OSHI (Online Showcase of Herschel Images)
AMAZING Images From Chris Hadfield
Anyone who’s a regular reader here is aware, without question, of my admiration for Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut and International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 35 commander Chris Hadfield. In addition to all he’s shared with us from space, one of he’s most amazing contributions has been the beautiful images he tweets from his unique vantage point in The Cupola, the European Space Agency (ESA) built observation module on the ISS.
Sunrise over the Great Lakes region of North America, Mar 31, 2013.
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Venezuelan valley framed by misty clouds, Jan 30, 2013.
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“Clouds, shadows and sand, playing with my imagination.” – Cmdr Chris Hadfield, Feb 4, 2013
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Glacial water burping into the Atlantic in deep Southern Argentina, Feb 10, 2013.
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The Richat Structure, in the Sahara, Mar, 25, 2013. “A giant gazing eye upon the Earth.”
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The Australian outback, Jan 24, 2013.
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Clouds and shadows off the China coast, Feb. 9, 2013.
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“If you give wind and sand enough time together, they create art.” – Chris Hadfield, Feb 10, 2013
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Green, lush, wetness of the Amazon basin, Feb 6, 2013.
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Even with all the things he’s seen and tweeted, the commander can sometimes be at a loss for words. This view over Africa seemed to leave him speechless. “My breath was taken away”, Feb 2, 2013.
All images: Chris Hadfield/CSA/NASA
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Other TIL articles featuring Cmdr Hadfield:
* The Inspiring Commander Hadfield
Space Junk – Oh My!
Image Credit: European Space Agency
According to the European Space Agency (ESA) human-made space objects are the result of the nearly 5000 launches since the start of the space age. Nearly 65% of the cataloged objects originate from break-ups in orbit including more than 240 explosions, as well as a hand-full of known collisions. So, just how much junk is up there? Well – A LOT. Scientists now estimate the total number of space debris objects in orbit to be around the following -
* Sizes larger than 10 cm – 29,000
* Sizes larger than 1 cm - 670,000
* Sizes larger than 1 mm (are you sitting down?) – more than 170 million!
And how much damage can this debris cause? Again - A LOT. A collision with a 10 cm object would entail a catastrophic fragmentation of a typical satellite. An object 1 cm could, and most likely would, disable a spacecraft. It could also penetrate the International Space Station (ISS) shields. A 1 mm object could destroy subsystems. Scientists are generally in agreement that, for most satellites, a collision with an energy-to-mass ratio exceeding 40 J/g would be catastrophic….
‘Any of these objects can harm an operational spacecraft,’ says Heiner Klinkrad, Head of ESA’s Space Debris Office. Heiner explains that satellite collisions with fragments larger than 10 cm would also release hazardous debris clouds which could cause further collisions resulting in even more debris in some orbits and potentially leading to unstable debris environments in these regions. The Kessler syndrome, proposed by NASA scientist Donald J. Kessler in 1978, is a scenario in which the density of objects in low Earth orbit become so saturated that collisions between objects could cause a cascading effect. (Kessler was a key adviser in the making of the 2011 educational IMAX film Space Junk 3D.)
Without question the continued growth in space debris poses an increasing threat to economically vital orbital regions. Next week, April 22–25, the 6th European Conference on Space Debris will be held at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC), in Darmstadt, Germany. More than 300 experts from around the globe are expected to attend to share latest research findings and discuss potential solutions.
‘As this is a global task, active removal is a challenge that should be undertaken by joint efforts in cooperation with the world’s space agencies and industry,’ says Thomas Reiter, ESA astronaut and Director of Human Spaceflight and Operations. ‘ESA, as a space technology and operations agency, has identified the development of active removal technologies as a strategic goal.’
Explosions of satellites and rocket bodies. Image Credit: European Space Agency
NASA’s Asteroid Initiative
On April 10, 2013 NASA announced it’s FY2014 budget, a budget which includes a plan, called the Asteroid Initiative, to robotically capture a small near-Earth asteroid and redirect it to a stable orbit in the Earth-moon system where it can be explored and visited by astronauts. Performing the elements required for the proposed initiative integrates current and developing capabilities to find both large asteroids which pose a potential hazard to Earth as well as smaller asteroids which could be candidates for the initiative, and also accelerates technology development on the Space Launch System (SLS), and Orion spacecraft.
As sexy as this initiative is, and it is damn sexy, it’s also important – and important on a grand scale. The primary benefit of this initiative is a better understanding of asteroids as well as improved methods of detecting and locating Near-Earth objects, objects which may well present a danger to the planet as well as humanity’s survival on the planet. One needs not remember any further back than the February 2013 event in Chelyabinsk to realize how important this is. The secondary, and equally important, benefits of this program are the development of new space exploration technologies as well as the continuation of existing programs. For those clamoring for manned missions beyond Low-Earth orbit, to return to the Moon or to Mars, those possibilities begin here.
To better understand the initiative as well as its benefits check out the following video, We’re Going Asteroid Wranglin’!, featured on YouTube’s SciShow hosted by Hank Green.
Yep, what he said…
The Sagan Series – Part 3 – A Reassuring Fable
It being Friday, I’m continuing The Sagan Series with Part 3 – A Reassuring Fable, which can be found below. However, today also being April 12, I would be lacking to not additionally mention a couple of rather significant (HUGE!) historical events in space exploration which took place on this day.
The feeling of weightlessness was somewhat unfamiliar compared with Earth conditions. Here, you feel as if you were hanging in a horizontal position in straps. You feel as if you are suspended. - Yuri Gagarin
April 12, 1961, Russian cosmonaut, then 27 years old, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, making a 108-minute orbital flight in his Vostok 1 spacecraft beginning the era of human spaceflight.
STS-1 Launches – On April 12, 1981, a new era in space flight began when the first shuttle mission soared into orbit from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Commanded by John Young, and piloted by Bob Crippen, the shuttle became humankind’s first re-usable spacecraft having the ability to launch like a rocket and land like a plane. It was also the first time in history a new spacecraft was launched on its maiden voyage with a crew aboard.
And now with these mentions done, today’s continuation of The Sagan Series.
As a reminder The Sagan Series is the work of Canadian science promoter and time-lapse photographer Reid Gower. In the 10 part video series Gower uses bits of narration from Sagan’s TV series, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, edited over contemporary and historical cinematography.
The Epically Awesome Award of Epic Awesomeness!
Compact Payload Test Range at the European Space Agency’s (ESA) space research and technology center (ESTEC). In this zone of silence metal walls form a ‘Faraday cage’ to block all external signals, isolating the facility from TV and radio broadcasts, aircraft and ship radars, and even mobile calls. EPICALLY AWESOME!!
Also EPICALLY AWESOME…
…This past weekend I was given an EPIC surprise when …things I LOVE! was nominated for the The Epically Awesome Award of Epic Awesomeness! And how AWESOME is that?! Well, I’m about to tell ya……
The award, as EPIC as it is in its own right, was made even more AWESOMELY EPICALLY AWESOME because it was presented to me by the AWESOME and brilliantly EPIC photographer, and all-around AWESOME sweetheart, Charlie from the EPIC Charles Schnyder Photography. Thank you VERY much Charlie, and anyone who isn’t familiar with Charlie’s work should definitely head over and check out some of his AWESOME photography in EPIC posts such as Budapest, Potpourri of Zürich, and his most recent Pillow Fight Day Zürich 2013 – which looks like an EPICALLY AWESOME lot of fun!
Now, as with any award, The Epically Awesome Award of Epic Awesomeness does come with rules – and also as with any award I will EPICALLY ignore them. According to Charlie I’m suppose to write 10 AWESOME facts about myself, and also pass the award along to 10 AWESOMELY EPIC blogs….hmmm…
…I’m thinking people want to read 10 AWESOME things about me nearly as much as I want to ‘LIKE’ shit on facebook, which is not at all! So instead, I’ll present 10 things which I think to be AWESOMELY EPIC!
1- APOLLO EPIC!!!!
Today being April 11 (my AWESOME nephew’s birthday!), no post on EPIC AWESOMENESS would be complete if failing to mention Apollo 13. Launched April 11, 1970 Apollo 13, the 7th manned mission of the TRULY EPIC Apollo Program and the third intended lunar landing, was commanded by James A. Lovell, with Jack Swigert as Command Module pilot and Fred W. Haise as Lunar Module pilot. The mission’s lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded crippling the service module upon which the Command Module depended. Despite limited power, loss of cabin heat, shortage of potable water, and the critical need to jury-rig the carbon dioxide removal system, the crew EPICALLY returned safely to Earth on April 17.
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2 – STELLAR AWESOME!!!
VY Canis Majoris – red hypergiant in the constellation Canis Major – truly EPIC and AWESOME in every sense of BOTH words!
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3 – STELLAR-ENVY EPIC!!!
Proving that size doesn’t matter, our own sun fights back with this EPIC March 21, 2013 M-Class eruption unleashed from Active Region 11692. AND! Our sun has EPICALLY AWESOMELY dramatic back-ground music, and VY Canis Majoris does not!
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4- MORE STELLAR EPICNESS!!!
That’s right, I said MORE STELLAR EPICNESS! On yesterday, April 10th, The European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope in northern Chile announced that it’s captured what it calls ‘most detailed picture ever taken‘ of the glowing green planetary nebula IC 1295. AWESOME? Without doubt! The image shows the nebula surrounding a dim and dying star located about 3300 light-years away in the constellation of Scutum, and give us an AWESOME glimpse as to what will eventually happen with our own sun. As stars the size of our Sun make the final transition into retirement their atmospheres are blown away into space. For a few tens of thousands of years they are surrounded by spectacular, colorful glowing clouds of ionized gas. EPIC! And thanks to my AWESOME friend, Mark A, in Arizona for bringing this EPICNESS to my attention!
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5 – EPIC NERD AWESOMENESS!!!
The ‘ESTEC Shake’ on an actual electrodynamic shaker which is normally used to test spacecraft. Filmed at the EPIC, and aforementioned, European Space Agency’s (ESA) technical center, ESTEC, in Noordwijk, the AWESOME Netherlands. Nerdy as fuck? Absolutely. AWESOME? No Doubt!
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6 – EPIC UAVSAR!!!
On Mar 17, 2013, NASA’s EPIC Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) acquired synthetic aperture radar data over the Napo River in Ecuador and Peru. The image colors indicate a likelihood of flooding beneath the forest canopy, which is difficult to determine using traditional optical sensors. The image is a 8.7-mile-wide by 5.6-mile-long segment of an image measuring more than 124 miles long. Data from UAVSAR helps scientists assess the effectiveness of using synthetic aperture radar data to study the flooding dynamics of rivers around the world. AWESOME? Hell, YES!!
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7 – AWESOME CHANDRA!!!
From EPICALLY AWESOME NASA and its EPIC Chandra X-ray Observatory this video shows a fast moving jet of particles produced by a rapidly rotating neutron star. EPIC! The star of this AWESOME show is the Vela pulsar, a neutron star formed when a massive star collapsed. The Vela pulsar is about 1,000 light years from Earth, spans about 12 miles in diameter, and makes over 11 complete rotations every second. EPIC? Hell, YES!
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8 – EPIC SPACE POOP!!!
The AWESOMELY EPIC International Space Station (ISS) commander and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut EPIC Chris Hadfield giving an AWESOME explanation of how toilets work in space. EPICALLY ewww (TMI!), but AWESOMELY funny.
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9 – AWESOMELY EPIC ALMA!!!
10 – EPIC JOHNSON STYLE!!!
Never to be out-geeked by those guys and gals at the European Space Agency, NASA’s Johnson Space Center turns up the nerd-meter with this EPICALLY AWESOME Gangnam Style parody. Forget K-Pop! We got J-Pop! EPIC!!!
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Well, there you have it – 10 EPICALLY AWESOME things I LOVE, and you have to admit they’re much more AWESOME than me telling you 10 facts about myself such as my irrational dislike of cumquats. And to conclude this post, and because it’s grown to EPIC oh-for-fuck’s-sake massiveness already, I’ll now give my shout-outs to 10 TRULY EPICALLY AWESOME fellow bloggers, in no particular orer –
1 – The AWESOMELY and quite EPIC White Lady In The Hood
2 – The EPICALLY AWESOMELY FUNNY Wrong Hands
3 – The AWESOMELY (INSANELY!) EPIC A Window Into The Woods
4 – The EPIC and massively AWESOME Colline’s Blog
5 – The AWESOME EPICALLY MEGA-EPIC Werner Priller
6 – The EPIC and-not-to-mention AWESOME Science Springs
7 – The AWESOMELY EPICALLY EPIC My Beautiful Things
8 – The EPICALLY (squared!) EPIC Silent Astronomer
9 – The AWESOME EPICALLY AWESOME The Future Is Papier Mache
10 – The EPIC and certainly AWESOME Mathematical Mischief
As always, I mention these fellow bloggers simply because they deserve mention, and my mentioning in no way obligates them to accept or pay it forward. And I may even, at some point, get around to mentioning to them that they have been mentioned. Maybe 
You, however, SHOULD check out their EPIC AWESOMENESS ASAP!!
Once again, EPIC thanks to the AWESOMELY AWESOME CHARLIE!!
(Oh, crap! Do I now have to go back and link all of this!? AND TAG TOO?!!! TOO FREAKING EPIC!)
The Sagan Series – Part 2 – Life Looks For Life
As I did last Friday, today I continue The Sagan Series with Part 2 — Life Looks For Life.
As a reminder The Sagan Series is the work of Canadian science promoter and time-lapse photographer Reid Gower. In the 10 part video series Gower uses bits of narration from Sagan’s TV series, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, edited over jaw-dropping cinematography.
To accompany today’s episode here are some (hopefully!) interesting bits of Sagan Trivia!
* Sagan never said the phrase ‘billions and billions’ on Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. The closest he came was in his book Cosmos where he wrote the phrase ‘billions upon billions’, (chap 1, page 3). He did, however, frequently use the word ‘billions’ delivered with a high emphasis on the ‘b’ in order to distinguish it from the word ‘millions’ in the mind of his viewers.
* In honor of Sagan the term ‘Sagan’s number‘ is used to humorously represent the number of stars in the observable universe. This number is reasonably well defined, since we know what a star is, and we know what the observable universe is, but its value is not known with exact certainty. It’s safe to say it’s A LOT!
* Sagan resigned from the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board voluntarily surrendering his top secret clearance in protest over the Vietnam War.
* The Martian landing site of the unmanned NASA Mars Pathfinder spacecraft was renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station on July 5, 1997. Interestingly, an episode of the TV series Star Trek: Enterprise entitled ‘Terra Prime‘, featured a quick shot of the Pathfinder rover, Sojourner, alongside a historical marker at station. The marker displays a quote from Sagan - ‘Whatever the reason you’re on Mars, I’m glad you’re there, and I wish I was with you.‘ Also interestingly, Sagan’s son, writer Nick Sagan, wrote several episodes for the Star Trek franchise, and one of Sagan’s students, Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University Steve Squyres, was a principle member of the team that landed the Spirit Rover and Opportunity Rover successfully on Mars.
Also in this series:
Appetite For Destruction – A Black Hole Has A Snack
…and I thought I over-did it with that Everest-sized plate of nachos yesterday — apparently NOT!
This mind-blowing video animation of a black hole waking up for a light snack, featured April 2, 2013 by the European Space Agency (ESA), shows my indulgence in refried beans, guacamole, and melted cheese served over crisp tortilla chips has nothing on the appetite of a black hole!
Astronomers watched as this black hole, in the galaxy NGC 4845 — 47 million light-years away — woke up from a decades-long slumber to feed on a rogue low-mass object – either a brown dwarf or a giant planet – which strayed a bit too close. According to scientists a similar feeding event on a gas cloud will soon happen at the supermassive black hole at the center of our own Milky Way Galaxy.
The discovery in NGC 4845 was made by ESA’s Integral space observatory, with follow-up observations from ESA’s XMM-Newton, NASA’s Swift satellite, and Japan’s MAXI X-ray monitor on the International Space Station.
Astronomers using Integral to study a different galaxy noticed a strong, hard X-ray flare coming from another location in the same wide field-of-view. Using XMM-Newton the origin was confirmed as NGC 4845 — a galaxy never before detected at high energies. Along with Swift and MAXI, the emission was traced from its maximum in January 2011 when the galaxy brightened by a factor of a thousand before subsiding over the course of the year.
‘The observation was completely unexpected, from a galaxy that has been quiet for at least 20–30 years,‘ says Marek Nikolajuk, research associate in the Division of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Bialystok, Poland, and lead author of the paper in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Analyzing the characteristics of the flare, astronomers determined the emission came from a halo of material around the galaxy’s central black hole as it tore apart and fed on an object of 14 to 30 Jupiter masses. The mass of Jupiter is 1.9 x 1027 kg….
…to wrap your head around that un-head-wrapable number, think that it would take 318 times Earth’s mass to equal Jupiter’s. Jupiter is 2.5 times more massive than all of the other planets in our Solar System COMBINED. Jupiter is actually so massive that if it gained much more mass it would shrink. Now completely brain-screw yourself by trying to conceive that this object is of 14 to 30 Jupiter masses. (I swear my plate of nachos was not NEARLY this massive. 1 to 2 Jupiter masses, tops!) This size range corresponds to brown dwarfs which are substellar objects not massive enough to fuse hydrogen in their core and ignite as stars. However, the authors note that it could have had an even lower mass, just a few times that of Jupiter, placing it in the range of gas-giant planets (and the average mass of a plate of Texas nachos, with jalapenos of course).
As for the black hole at the center of NGC 4845 itself – it’s estimated to have a mass of about 300,000 times that of our own Sun (1.99 × 1030 kg). And it apparently likes to play with its food — the way the emission brightened and decayed shows there was a delay of 2 to 3 months between the object being disrupted and the heating of the debris in the vicinity of the black hole. (By comparison, I devoured the entire plate of nachos in less than 30 minutes. Suck on that, black hole!)
‘This is the first time where we have seen the disruption of a substellar object by a black hole,’ adds paper co-author Roland Walter of the Observatory of Geneva, Switzerland. ‘We estimate that only its external layers were eaten by the black hole, amounting to about 10% of the object’s total mass, and that a denser core has been left orbiting the black hole.’
And what of this year’s expected event of the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way dining on a giant gas cloud? While there are no brown dwarfs or planets on the menu, there is apparently — spaghetti!
The Sagan Series – Part 1 – The Frontier Is Everywhere
The Sagan Series is a brilliant, and quite powerful, collection of videos dedicated to the late astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, and science communicator, Carl Sagan. The series is a project by science promoter, public speaker, and time-lapse photographer Reid Gower of Victoria, Canada.
Utilizing breath-taking cinematography and a hypnotic soundtrack as a backdrop to narration from Sagan’s TV series, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, Gower manages, very nicely, to convey Sagan’s message of awe and wonder at the world, and universe, in which we live, as well as his message of inspiration and hope towards the human race, while at the same time humbly reminding us of our relevant insignificance in the scope of the universe. A message which, for better or worse, places the future of mankind squarely into the hands of mankind. To some this message may be a frightening one, to myself it is an inspiring one.
The Sagan Series is presented in a collection of 10 videos with the 10th being Gower’s TEDxVancouver talk titled Defining The Frontier in which he discusses the development of his video series as well as his passion for promoting scientific literacy in the general population. The 1st video in the collection is titled The Frontier Is Everywhere -
I will be featuring the entire collection of Gower’s Sagan Series videos, 1 video each Friday for the following 9 weeks.
Texas Hill Country – Part 2
The scene outside The Pioneer Museum along Main Street in Fredericksburg, Texas.
After leaving Enchanted Rock and returning to Fredericksburg, and with the Funyuns seriously wearing off, Lucero and I were ready for some hardy eats. Luckily in F-burg there is no shortage of dining options. Lucero expressed a wish for ‘German food’ and within minutes we encountered the Altdorf Biergarten….
The town of Fredericksburg was established in 1846 and has a population of roughly 10,000 — all of whom apparently avoid the Main Street area on a Saturday evening. The Altdorf Biergarten is housed in a landmark limestone building dating to back 1847, so without question, one of the oldest structures in F-Burg. The German community here boasts F-burg as being one of the oldest settlements in Texas, someone should inform those crazy Spanish as they were establishing missions south of here about 140 years prior. (San Francisco de la Espada, 1689) This does not, in any way, negate the food at Altdorf! Lucero, being much more continental than myself, understood the menu, while I mainly focused on the selection of beer! (In fairness, she was driving.) Finding Shiner Bock on the menu, I was happy! Extremely HAPPY!
Shiner, Texas and the Spoetzl Brewery — a whole ‘nother road trip!
After a wonderful meal of German meats, which we started with some Tex-Mex nachos (of course!), we spent some time strolling up and down Fredericksburg’s main street. It was somewhere around this time we encountered the 4 drunk girls — who were, in fact, so drunk they had been thrown out of one restaurant and were hard-pressed to find another who would serve them. Yes, there are few things sadder (and funnier!) than drunk AND hungry Texas girls. After a much-too-long time hanging on Main Street with the girls, I was ready to exit Fredericksburg, and luckily so was Lucero. But not before a cruise around town looking for an open liquor store — for more Shiner Bock, of course! Finding the liquor shop, I also found Enchanted Rock Vodka! (I shit you not!) Apparently, the folks up at E-Rock are making vodka and putting it into clever tourist-eye-catching bottles. And of course, I bought one! But, you know, just the trial-size.
The Admiral Nimitz Museum
Admiral Nimitz National Museum of the Pacific War, established in the old Nimitz Hotel, Fredericksburg, 1852. There were NO drunk girls in here.
Lucero and I headed out of Fredericksburg in the direction of Kerrville along the banks of The Guadalupe River. The river runs from Kerr County southeasterly before emptying out into the Gulf of Mexico. The town itself boasts a population of 20k, and was named after Texas Revolution major James Kerr. However, before arriving in Kerrville, we pulled off the highway onto some long and deserted Texas back-road to engage in a bit of star-gazing. And, indeed the stars at night ARE big and bright deep in the heart of Texas.
IT. WAS. AWESOME!!!
Arriving in Kerrville, where we planned to stay the night, our attention was immediately caught by the lights of a Ferris Wheel! Apparently, we’d stumbled upon a small-town Texas carnival, and there was NO WAY IN HELL we weren’t going!
Folks in Kerrville, Texas enjoying a very pleasant Saturday evening.
After a night’s stay at the lovely Kerville Motel 6, where Lucero was finally able to do a bit of drinking, and we talked till about 3am, we woke to a very CHILLY Texas Hill Country morning. (Ok, it was more like noon.)
Sun rising over the hills from a Motel 6 balcony. Kerrville, Texas
After a breakfast/lunch at the local Cracker Barrel, and much coffee, we headed to the town’s visitor center to find out what was going on in Kerrville. It was then we found….Stonehenge! Or rather — Stonehenge II. It seems in the nearby town of Ingram, Texas, population 1,740, a local farmer, Al Shepperd, with the help of his neighbor, Doug Hill, had constructed a near-replica of the original Stonehenge located in Wiltshire, England. This being the stuff of road-trip glory, we were off and heading towards Ingram! We were SO not disappointed!
In addition to Stonehenge II, which is reputed to be 2/3s the size of the original, Sheppard and Hill also fabricated a pair of awesomely cool looking Moai, or Easter Island, statues.
Realizing that with our encounter with Stonehenge II we’d pretty much hit ‘road-trip nirvana’, Lucero and I headed back to Kerrville to chill out with a hike along the banks of the blue-green waters of the Guadalupe River.
Scenes of the Kerrville Dam of the Guadalupe River.
Cyprus Trees along the river bank.
Texas Wildflowers
After a nice hike, and a HUGE brownie, we were off and back on the road — this time heading for the town of Boerne, population 10k or so.
Crappy Moving Vehicle Photo #5
In Boerne, after cruising up and down the nearly deserted main street, we found out about the Boerne City Park Lake, and decided to head on over.
Campfire remains at Boerne City Park Lake!
After leaving the lake it was time to head back towards San Antonio, and towards more food! Lucero was craving Puerto Rican food, and that was sounding pretty damn good to me! But before reaching SA we encountered more road-side wild flowers and we just had to stop!
Road-side Bluebonnets!
All Photographs: Alex Autin
Texas Hill Country – Part 1
On Saturday morning my friend Lucero and I headed out for a little Texas road trip. We had no REAL destination, as any good road trip should NOT, and only a general idea of wanting to hit The Hill Country.
The Texas Hill Country pretty much applies to a region of Central Texas consisting of tall rugged hills which feature thin layers of soil atop limestone or granite. It includes the Llano Uplift and Enchanted Rock. (More on E Rock in a bit!!) The Hill Country reaches into portions of San Antonio’s northern suburbs, the western half of Travis County, and ends just west of Austin. The terrain’s large number of limestone or granite rocks and boulders plus its thin layer of topsoil makes the region very dry and prone to flash flooding. The Hill Country is also home to a host of cool native Southwestern vegetation including yucca, prickly pear cactus, cedar scrub, and the Texas live oak. And in the early spring — Bluebonnets, the Texas state flower!
Since this was a road trip, and since I’m pretty sure that trips of such nature are meant to be started late, we tried our best to get a late start. And we succeeded wonderfully! Even before leaving San Antonio, in fact less than a mile from my house, we had already made our first stop of the trip for roadside eats. In our defense it was nearly noon…. and who can resist Texas Brisket!!
Sal’s was delicious, and as promised, sloppy!
I had the brisket taco with jalapenos (on the right), Lucero had the brisket sandwich on Texas toast. (And no, I will not be documenting every meal we ate with photos. But only because I forget to take them! I remembered to take these — so I was damn sure gonna use them!)
It’s my thought that any proper road trip should include lots and lots of really crappy photos taken along the way from inside a moving vehicle. If you share this thought, this post WILL SO NOT disappoint! Here we are moving leisurely along I-10, and we’re fairly certain we’re moving in the right direction.
Crappy Moving Vehicle Photo #2
Me: It’s starting to look all hilly!
Lucero: Damn, did I miss my turn? (I heard this A LOT, and loved it each time!)
Crappy Moving Vehicle Photo #3 – Fredericksburg! Our first ‘official’ destination. Fredericksburg is a very cool town in Gillespie County, known as the home of ‘Texas German’, a dialect spoken by the first generations of German settlers who initially refused to learn English. It’s a lovely place, very German-ish-y, and not nearly as out-of-focus as this exit sign would imply.
- Crappy Moving Vehicle Photo #3 Hilly AND Curvy – LOVE it!
We checked out Fredericksburg for a bit, and realizing that Lucero’s a shopper and I’m a hiker — we then knew that compromises would need to be made. And quick!
In F-burg, taking part in the strange activity referred to as ‘Antiquing’. Interesting…. Lucero has Olympic-quality antiquing skills! I mostly walked around texting anyone and everyone I know. In fairness we spent very little time here, and were soon back on the road and heading for ENCHANTED ROCK! The locals at The Red Baron Antique Mall, extremely nice people who showed no signs of refusing to speak English, gave us directions to The Rock, and also a very valuable heads-up — If the road sign on Ranch Road 965 was ‘flashing’ this meant the park was full and no more visitors would be allowed in. Oh no! We now were re-thinking that whole ‘leaving late’ thing. But in true road-trip fashion we decided to give it a shot and headed out to Ranch Road 965 — after a quick stop for water and Funyuns. Hell yeah! (If you don’t have Funyuns — it’s not a road trip!)
Crappy Moving Vehicle Photo #4 — IT’S NOT FLASHING!!!! WOOHOO for us!
Enchanted Rock is one of those ‘must do’ places I learned of when first coming to Texas. So far, I had not been, and this was all about to change! (Thank you, Lucero!) According to Wiki — The Enchanted Rock State Natural Area includes Enchanted Rock, an enormous pink granite pluton rock formation, and 640 acres of surrounding land. E-Rock rises approximately 425 feet above the surrounding terrain to an elevation of 1,825 feet above sea level. It’s the largest such pink granite monadnock in the United States, and was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1936. According to me — 100% pure awesomeness!
Enchanted Rock’s prominent granite dome is visible for many miles in the surrounding Llano Uplift basin. The weathered dome is actually the visible above-ground part of a segmented ridge, the surface expression of a large igneous batholith of middle Precambrian material that intruded into the earlier Packsaddle Schist. The intrusive granite of the rock mass was exposed by extensive erosion of the surrounding sedimentary rock, primarily the Cretaceous Edwards limestone, which is exposed a few miles to the south of Enchanted Rock.
There are more than 500 species of plants inhabiting the rock, such as this White Lace Cactus. Vernal pools on the rock– ecologically threatened depressions of flora and fauna adapted to harsh environments — are said to contain fragile invertebrate fairy shrimp. I saw no evidence of fairy shrimp!
I did, however, see Bluebonnets! : )
Since this post is growing to monster proportions — and with Enchanted Rock how could it not?! — I’ve decided to break it up into 2 posts. Be sure to catch the next installment where Lucero and I return to Fredericksburg for some fine German dining including Shiner Bock (!!!), encounter the ‘drunk girls’, make a last-minute run to a liquor store (more Shiner Bock!), head out for some jaw-dropping middle-of-nowhere star-gazing, stumble upon coolness in another small Texas town, hike along the banks of the Guadalupe River, argue over freedom of expression, and find Stonehenge….
On the way back to F-burg, goats…who were completely unimpressed with E-Rock….
All photographs – Alex Autin
Planck Map of The Universe
Planck Map of The Universe – Image credit: ESA and the Planck Collaboration
The European Space Agency (ESA) has released the most detailed map ever created of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the relic radiation from the Big Bang, revealing new information about the Universe’s age, contents and origins. Acquired by ESA’s Planck space telescope, the image is based on the initial 15.5 months of data from Planck and is the mission’s first all-sky picture of the oldest light in our Universe, imprinted on the sky when it was just 380,000 years old.
The map results suggest the Universe is 13.8 billion years old, 100 million years older than previous estimates, and is expanding more slowly than scientists thought. The data also show there is less dark energy and more matter, both normal and dark matter, in the Universe than previously known. Dark matter can only be seen through the effects of its gravity, while dark energy is pushing our universe apart. The nature of both remains mysterious.
The age, contents and other fundamental traits of our universe are described in a simple model called the standard model of cosmology. New data from Planck have allowed scientists to test and improve the accuracy of this model with the greatest precision yet. However, some curious features are observed that don’t quite fit with the simple picture. For example, the model assumes the sky is the same everywhere, but the light patterns are asymmetrical on two halves of the sky, and there is a spot extending over a patch of sky that is larger than expected.
“On one hand, we have a simple model that fits our observations extremely well, but on the other hand, we see some strange features which force us to rethink some of our basic assumptions,” said Jan Tauber, the European Space Agency’s Planck project scientist based in the Netherlands. “This is the beginning of a new journey, and we expect our continued analysis of Planck data will help shed light on this conundrum.“
Planck is a European Space Agency mission with NASA contributing technology for both of Planck’s science instruments, the High Frequency Instrument (HFI), and the Low Frequency Instrument (LFI). The instrument’s detectors convert the microwave and radio light gathered by Planck’s telescope into very accurate maps of the microwave sky. The detectors are so sensitive they can measure temperature variations in the sky of millionths of a degree, a task similar to measuring from Earth the heat produced by a rabbit sitting on the Moon. To achieve this, some of Planck’s detectors must be cooled to about one-tenth of a degree above absolute zero (-273.15 °C), so their own heat does not swamp the signal from the sky.
European, US, and Canadian scientists work together to analyze the Planck data. One of the most complex aspects of analyzing the data involves the noise from its detectors. To detect the incredibly faint CMB these detectors are made of extremely sensitive materials. When the detectors pick up light from one part of the sky, they don’t reset afterwards to a neutral state, but instead, they sort of buzz for a bit like a ringing bell. This buzzing affects observations made at the next part of the sky.
Under a unique agreement between NASA and the Department of Energy, Planck scientists have been guaranteed access to the supercomputers at the Department of Energy’s National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The bulk of the computations for this data release were performed on the Cray XE6 system, called the Hopper. This computer makes more than a quintillion calculations per second, placing it among the fastest in the world.
Planck’s Super-Duper Computer, the Cray XE6 supercomputer, named for computer scientist and US Navy Real Admiral Grace Hopper, at the Department of Energy’s National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA. Image credit: Lawrence Berkeley Nat’l Lab – Roy Kaltschmidt, photographer.
Source Articles:
Planck Reveals An Almost Perfect Universe
Voyager 1 Has NOT Left The Building…
…nor has it left the Solar System according to NASA.
Despite a press release issued on March 20 by the American Geophysical Union (AGU) stating Voyager 1 appears to have traveled beyond the influence of the Sun and exited the heliosphere, NASA remains skeptical on the spacecraft having left the Solar System.
According to Edward Stone, Voyager project scientist based at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, the Voyager team is aware of the report, however, ‘It is the consensus of the Voyager science team that Voyager 1 has not yet left the solar system or reached interstellar space. In December 2012, the Voyager science team reported that Voyager 1 is within a new region called ‘the magnetic highway’ where energetic particles changed dramatically. A change in the direction of the magnetic field is the last critical indicator of reaching interstellar space and that change of direction has not yet been observed.’
The AGU has since changed the headline on their release to better represent the findings reported in the study.
Voyager 1, and its sister-ship, Voyager 2, were launched 16 days apart in 1977 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. In the 35 years following their launches the twin spacecraft continue to explore where nothing from Earth has flown before. The Voyagers are now thought to be in the Heliosheath, the outermost layer of the heliosphere where the solar wind is slowed by the pressure of interstellar gas. Both spacecraft are still sending scientific information about their surroundings through the Deep Space Network (DSN).
The spacecraft’s primary mission was the exploration of Jupiter and Saturn. After making a string of exciting discoveries there, such as active volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io and intricacies of Saturn’s rings, the mission was extended. Voyager 2 went on to explore Uranus and Neptune, still the only spacecraft to have visited those outer planets. The pair’s current mission, the Voyager Interstellar Mission (VIM), will explore the outermost edge of the Sun’s domain.
In December, 2012, Voyager 1 entered a new region at the far reaches of our solar system referred to as a ‘magnetic highway’. Scientists think this to be the final area the spacecraft has to cross before reaching interstellar space, the physical space within a galaxy not occupied by stars or their planetary systems.
For more information on the Voyager mission and on Voyager 1′s exploration of the magnetic highway see my December 9, 2012 blog post titled Voyager 1 and The Magnetic Highway.
For a live real-time odometer of The Voyagers’ distance from the Earth and the Sun in astronomical units (AU) and kilometers (KM) check out NASA’s Where Are The Voyagers.
Distilled Postcards From The Future
Distilled Art
How do you enjoy your tequila? If you’re anything like me you enjoy it with triple sec, lime juice, and a little salt. (A glass in the shape of a cactus is COMPLETELY optional!) However, if you’re anything like the folks at BevShots you enjoy your tequila crystallized on a slide and photographed under a Polarized Light Microscope. And what would that mix of tequila, triple sec, and lime juice (traditionally referred to as a margarita!) look like through a microscope? It looks something like this:
Stunning? Absolutely! But then again anything containing tequila usually is stunning!
BevShots was founded by research scientist Michael Davidson who, while looking for novel ways to fund his Florida State University lab, decided to take his micro-photographs to businesses for possible commercial opportunities. BevShots is licensed from Florida State University and Michael Davidson, but apparently the main party man is Lester Hutt, president of BevShots MicroArt, LLC. Hutt, while working on his graduate degree in chemistry from UC Berkeley, according to the Bevshot website, also worked on NASA’s Mars probes searching for evidence of past life on our neighboring planet. And that’s just damn cool!
A BevShot Vodka and Tonic! This, and other equally amazing micro-photograped beverages, alcoholic and non, are available on giclee canvas or metallic prints at the BevShot site (where hours can be lost just going through their vast catalog of completely interesting images). Check them out!
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Postcards to Tassie
A recent call out was issued to excite the life of one particular post office worker in Australia. Apparently, Kelly in Woodbridge, Tasmania (population 271) is trying to fill the walls of her office with postcards from around the world. And how COOL is that?!
I became aware of this Postal Project via a post by Heather (aka Kanerva) of A Taswegian in Finland in her Feb, 26 post titled Let’s Get Postal! And apparently Heather was made aware of the project by a post by Jennifer of Coffee, Camera & Kids in her post of the same day titled Postcards for Kelly. Exciting? No doubt! I love how these projects spread like wildfire!
If you’d like to get involved, and I know that you do, just pickup a postcard from your hometown, or when you’re on your Spring Break road trip, or during your summer travels, or preferably all of the above, and post them over to Kelly!
Kelly E
C/- Woodbridge Post Office
Woodbridge, Tas, 7162
Australia
Also, it’ll be really cool if you jot a few words to Kelly, not mandatory, but I’m sure she’d love to hear about you in addition to the places you live and visit! My postcard from ole San Antone is sitting on my desk right now waiting for me to make the trek down to the post office….which I’ll do, right after my 3rd cup of coffee. It’s only a couple of blocks away, but — you know — it’s TEXAS sized blocks so caffeine is required. I’ll probably need my hiking boots too….
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Has The Future Arrived?
with Neil deGrasse Tyson
The Science of…..LOVE!
Springtime Of Love ~ Franz Stuck
In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love. ~ Lord Alfred Tennyson, Locksley Hall
I’m thinking Tennyson’s words do not only apply to men, and certainly not esclusively ‘young’ men. I think we’ve all experienced that rush of springtime ‘I’m in LOVE!‘ euphoria. There are many different explanations of why this happens in spring. According to Dr Frank Bronson, a biologist from The University of Texas at Austin, in his book Mammalian Reproductive Biology, spring fever in mammals is, in part, regulated by sunlight. (Sound damn romantic, doesn’t it?!) Bronson goes on to say there are both direct and indirect photoperiodic cues which increase the amorous air this time of year. Simply put, the change from winter to spring brings more sunlight, longer days, better moods, (less clothing!), and a better all-around climate for romance in mammals, including humans. The change in season also means plants and insects will begin to do their thing again, which has a positive effect up the food chain and creates an environment suitable for procreation. In us humans the procreation part is, of course, purely optional. (And, in my opinion, highly over-rated.)
So this explains why we do it, and why it seems to happen more often in spring. But, why does it make us feel so freaking amazingly good? For this I turned to the guys at AsapScience, a weekly updated YouTube channel featuring fun, interesting, and informative science on a variety of scientificy topics. Here’s what they had to say on the subject…..
Well, THAT certainly explains a lot! And it, without question, puts a wide smile on my face. What’s more — what science CAN’T explain, Louie Armstrong has no problem at all in doing so!
I agree with Louie, let’s do it! Get out there and fall in love!
Don’t Panic…
Happy Birthday Douglas Adams - March 11, 1952 – May 11, 2001
From my (shortish!) tribute to Douglas Adams posted Jan 5, 2012 –
I LOVE…Douglas Adams! I find brilliance, intellect, and cleverness to be absolutely compelling, and Douglas Adams possessed no shortage of these qualities. He’s easily in my top 5, completely-love-to-read, writers, and most importantly, he is a constant reminder to not take any of this ‘life’ crap too seriously. Read more….
So long, and thanks for all the fish…
The Inspiring Commander Hadfield
Anyone with the least bit interest in space is most likely aware of who Chris Hadfield is. The 53 year old Canadian Space Agency astronaut, and International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 35 Commander, is through the use of social media, quickly becoming a low-Earth-orbit icon as he zooms around the planet tweeting, making videos, preforming first-ever Earth-Space music collaboration, interacting with students, and sending us gravity-bound humans some of the most amazing photographs of our planet-from-orbit ever seen. All of this in addition to his rather extensive work-load aboard the ISS. There would be few who are aware of Hadfield and not be impressed with, and inspired by, the man. In addition to his internationally popular ISS activities, Hadfield’s list of accomplishments is as epic as his numbers of Twitter followers and includes such extreme coolness as U.S. Navy Test Pilot of the Year (1991), Honorary Doctorate of Engineering from the Royal Military College (1996), and NASA Exceptional Service Medal (2002).
During a recent Reddit IAmA, Cmdr Hadfield was asked to give advice to young people considering a career in space science. His inspiring reply hit home with Australian artist/cartoonist Gavin Aung Than. Than, the cartoonist behind Zen Pencils, a blog which transforms inspirational quotes into cartoons, is quite inspiring himself. Quitting his unsatisfying work in the corporate graphic design industry after 8 years, he decided to focus on his true passion — illustration and cartooning. Asked by a reader to adapt Cmdr Hadfield’s quote into cartoon form, Than set to work, and the results are nothing less than brilliant. And, I’ll let it speak for itself….
Commander Hadfield’s Advice through the Pencil of Gavin Aung Than: 
This should be printed and posted in every class room, everywhere. The message is clear and simple; You are what you do.
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