Tunguska Event Blast Siberian Explosion Explaination?
June 29, 2009 by James Hewson
Filed under Space
The Tunguska event is the fiercest, but not the only, momentous meteorite air burst in recent history. The Tunguska event is considered as one of the largest natural disasters of present day times. However, first, a brief reminder of what happened: the Tunguska Event is the title given to an enormous explosion, variously calculated to be in the region of two and forty megatons, which flattened upwards of a thousand square miles of near uninhabited Siberian woodland back in June 1908. The origin of the Tunguska event is for the most part accredited to the break up of a comet or meteorite following it entered the Earth’s atmosphere, but there are other people who assert that the source of the Tunguska explosion lies somewhere else. UFO enthusiasts have long alleged that the Tunguska event is the outcome of an exploding alien spacecraft or as some believe an out of this world weapon discharging to “rescue the Earth from an impending danger”.

Tungusta Meteor Blast of 1908
However, almost 101 years on a new interpretation around what really happened has emerged from scientific researchers. Formerly, research workers best theory was that a meteorite collided with the forest, but scientific expeditions failed to identify an collision crater or any pieces of rock. The new theory, to be issued in the publication ‘Geophysical Research Letters’, puts forward that the Earth was stuck by the icy core of a comet, which erupted high in the atmosphere.
The Tunguska event has aroused much discussion, but it remains vague if it was generated by a comet, an asteroid, or a meteoroid. What is recognized is that following the event, bright skies at night were notable in a number of localities, especially Great Britain. Research workers express that clouds which shape in the polar region following space shuttle launches are a consequence of the rough transport of water from shuttle exhaust and records show that interestingly, similar clouds were visible at night long after the Tunguska event.
Night-time or “noctilucent” clouds are the tallest in the Earth’s sky, creating at an height up to 85km. They influence bright night skies when they are lit up by sunshine from past the horizon. These distinctive Noctilucent clouds were prominent in the polar regions by research workers following launches of space shuttle Discovery in 1997 in addition to Endeavour in 2003. Seeing that the shuttle’s main engine blends liquid oxygen with hydrogen, launches manufacture more than Three hundred tonnes of water that is dumped in the upper atmosphere.
However, it was ambiguous how a water vapour path could extend to a 1000km proportions and journey more than 8000km to the poles. At present, Michael Kelley of Cornell Institute and his associates suggest that supposed “planar turbulence” is to blame. The occurrence originates when, rather than being able to manoeuvre openly in three dimensions, liquids are restricted by, for instance, a magnetic field. Correspondingly as a result, they can move much more rapidly in two dimensions in which they are still unrestrained. The group claims that the water vapour may well get caught in such a two-dimensional skin, being funnelled to the poles rapidly while being extended out over enormous distances.
The study of the Tunguska event is significant considering that previous impacts with extraterrestrial bodies have had serious effects on the development of the earth and notwithstanding this new hypothesis one matter remains in that the Tunguska event is the greatest extraterrestrial impact in recent history.
The Secret Picture Lady Figure of Mars
April 23, 2009 by James Hewson
Filed under Planet Mars
This secretive picture taken by the Mars Spirit Rover was taken in 2004 shortly after landing safely on the red planet. However not until January 2008 when it was identified by an amateur astronomer pouring over the images, was the discovery bought to the publics attention.
To some, the image shows what appears to be a female figure with her head turned away from shot with her arm posed across her waist whilst sitting on a martian rock. Also of interest within the image is what appears to be the number ’5′ etched into the nearby martian dust.
Given our interest in the martian landscape and the continued search for extraterrestrial life on the planet it is not surprising that the connection was made. However, past ‘sightings’ of strange structures (1976 photographs of the Cydonia region of Mars) have of course been identified, which following a further fly past by the rover team revealed the ‘face on mars’ to be nothing more than martian rocks distorted through shadows.

Female Figure on The Martian Red Planet?
It is also of note that we draw ‘human’ similarities with the figure. This event, termed ‘pareidolia’, is recognized in psychology groups, and has proven to be the source of many reportedly mystifying and extraordinary occurrences. What do you think the image depicts?
How Far Away is Mars From The Sun?
April 15, 2009 by James Hewson
Filed under Planet Mars
Akin to the remainder of the major planets in our Solar System, Mars journeys across an elliptic orbit encircling the Sun therefore precisely determining how far away is mars from the sun is not an exact science. However, it has a nearest point to the Sun in its orbit in addition to a distant location. When an entity arrives at the nearest point in its orbit, astronomers title this as ‘perihelion’. Mars acquires an elliptical orbit encircling the sun so the distance from mars to the sun in fact alters substantially, the distance spans from roughly 128,000,000 to 154,000,000 miles. In addition the period of Mar’s rotation is around 686 days, practically double the rotation of the planet Earth.
Meanwhile, the group operating NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is inspecting data obtained from Spirit in recent days to study why the rover evidently rebooted its computer at least twice over the Apr 11-12 weekend. “While we don’t have an interpretation yet, we do understand that Spirit’s cells are charged, the solar arrays are manufacturing energy and temperatures are well within permissible scopes. 
We have time to respond cautiously and explore this comprehensively,” said John Callas of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. “The rover is in a stable operations state called auto mode and taking care of itself. It may well stay in this well-balanced mode for some time if required while we determine the problem.”
Spirit reported with controllers Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but some of the transmission periods were inconsistent. One of the computer resets seemingly corresponded in regulating with operation of the rover’s high-gain dish transmitting aerial. The rover crew has the benefit of numerous transmission alternatives. Spirit can talk instantly with Earth by way of either the point able high-gain antenna or, at a reduced data rate, by way of a low-gain antenna which does not move. Moreover, connections can be transmitted by Mars orbiters, using the UHF transceiver, a unconnected radio system on the rover.
Which Planets Are Visible From The Night Sky?
April 3, 2009 by James Hewson
Filed under Stargazing
Five of the major planets in our solar system are adequately bright enough to be visible from the night sky. These planets comprise of Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Mars the Red Planet, along with Saturn. In spite of the fact that their luminosity alters as their locations comparative to the Earth fluctuate, however, they all, with the exclusion of Saturn, come to be clearer in our sky than the clearest star.
At the furthest point, the gradient amongst the Sun and Venus is approximately 45 degrees when Venus can rise or set longer than 3 hours ahead of, or following, the Sun. However, Mercury, which is positioned considerably nearer to the Sun than Venus, continues to be at all periods very close to the Sun in the sky and generally can be viewed with the naked eye, under good environmental conditions for only a handful of days close to each elongation.
Considering that Mercury’s trajectory is more noticeably elliptic than that of any of the additional planets which can be viewed with the naked eye, its largest extension can radiate beginning with as brief as 15 degrees to the largest of around 27 degrees. Jupiter, Saturn and mars the red planet are located further from the Sun than Planet Earth given these planets motions are slower along their trajectories than Earth. Consequently, the planets intermittently apprehends and passes, each of them. When this occurs, the planet that is being passed by the Earth, is positioned on the opposed side of Planet Earth from the Sun. This position which the planets find themselves is referred to as ‘opposition’.
When ‘opposition’ occurs, a planet is observable for the majority of the night-time, ascending close to the period of sunset and setting around the period of sunrise when it is, at its nearest to the Earth.
From then on, as planet Earth manoeuvres in advance of the planet, the planet looks to drift closer to the Sun in the sky, setting in the west increasingly earlier up to the time it is lost in the brightness of the setting Sun. Observed from the Earth, the planet next crosses behind the Sun before starting to develop on its westerly side and becoming noticeable in the easterly sky ahead of the sunrise.
Evidence of Life Existence on Mars ALH84001 Meteorite
March 31, 2009 by James Hewson
Filed under Planet Mars, Space
ALH84001 is a small but very significant meteorite which fell to Earth from space. The meteor landed in a region of Antarctica known as the Allen Hills ice field and was later discovered in December 1984 by an United States meteorite hunting expedition. These fields where the rock was located are regularly explored by researchers watching for asteroids given the ice and snow make a great contrasting backdrop to identifying anomalous substances upon the vast expanses of snow and ice. When it was discovered the space rock weighed around 4.3 pounds and was shaped like a house brick and measured around 6″ long by 4″ x 3″, and was encased within a black glass substance. The glass, named fusion crust, deposits itself on all meteorites when they blaze throughout the Planets atmosphere upon re-entry.

Meteor ALH84001 Life on Mars?
The record of the meteorite can be re-established from the geology and chemical composition of the rock itself. The rock undeniably began life on Mars and gas inclusions comprise gases indistinguishable to those on modern Mars in compound and isotopic structure, which are constructed in no other known planet other than Mars. The meteor is volcanic, and hardened throughout its 4.5 Billion year lifespan. The rock proceeded throughout at least 2 collisions on Mars, most likely neighbouring crashes, about 4 Million tears ago. The carbonates that were interpreted to be fossils developed subsequently, around 3.6 billion years, in grooves in the rock. The specimen was dislodged from the Martian surface around 16 million years ago probably by some form of massive Asteroid collision and continued to drift in space for the majority of interviening the period before descending to Earth approximately 12,500 years ago.
The verification for alien life within the meteor, as claimed by scientists in the late mid 1990′s is principally presented on two levels of evidence; PAH’s, and magnetite beads.
PAH’s
Scientists evidently conceived this was their optimal indication for alien life in the form of fossilised bacteria, however this has been totally dispelled given Science has in the intervening period determined that the presence of PAH which is effectively ‘Soot’, is not relevant within the argument supporting this theory. It has since been revealed that the denseness and compound dissimilarity of the PAHs is wholly coherent with a non biological beginning.
Magnetite
Probably, the best indication that these genuinely are fossils is the attendance of magnetite beads. These appear precisely like the magnetite beads in magnetotactic Micro-organisms in measurement and structure, moreover if created on Earth would be thought over to be noncontroversial “magnetofossils”. Magnetite can be manufactured synthetically, but to our current knowledge is presented naturally, only in a biological form. The bigger particles are known as single domain magnets, the likes of the inner magnetosome particles, and the slighter specimens are known as super magnetic, similar to the periplasmic crystallizations caused by a variety of the magnetotactic family.
Carbonate deposits
The noticeable suggestion for existence in this asteroid is what look to be fossil micro-organisms within the carbonates that were created there 3.6 billion years ago. They appear as rod formed Micro-organisms, and this is almost certainly what gave rise to the great curiosity in this claim. At present there are two serious apprehensions about these alleged Martian fossils; their dimensions, and the source of the carbonates. The fossils are tiny much shorter than conventional Micro-organisms at 20-100nm. The proportion allocation of the fossils is also troublesome given Earth bound microbic communities characteristically are moderately narrow in proportion, however the Martian fossil differ additionally by 100 times in capacity.

Fossilised Micro Organisms?
In spite of the fact that the PAH and carbonate proof has turn out to be less than persuasive, the magnetite information have stood up to scrutiny much better. More recently, successions of magnetite beads that appear exactly like those discovered in the cytol of magneto tactic specimens have been located within other samples from ALH84001 and in additional associated Martian rocks.
Nevertheless, all of the assertions about the magnetite beads in ALH84001 are challenged, and corresponding beads have been integrated by reproducing alternative plausible records of the meteorite in the research laboratory.
One characteristic of the ALH84001 space rock which is evident is the reality that it journeyed from Mars to Earth. Additional asteroids have completed the journey in far less time than ALH84001, and so it looks distinctly possible that if there is life on Mars, it may possibly have been carried here, conceivably living.
Constellations Libra Names of Stars
March 30, 2009 by James Hewson
Filed under Star Constellations
The two constellations Libra names of Stars in Libra, Alpha along with Beta Librae are both astronomical highlights meriting seeing with the naked eye, field glasses and scopes. Furthermore, these two Libran stars are a portion of the romance and secrets of Libra.
Alpha Librae is a colourful twin typically depicted as radiant by viewers. The stars are conventionally characterized as bright white and radiant yellow and Beta Librae has for many periods been specified as the unique single star perceptible in the celestial sphere. Beta Librae for many eras has been referred to as the exclusive green star observable to the naked eye.
The majority of observers and many astronomers conceive there are no perceivable green stars. The agreed wisdom is that the human optical structure will translate ranges climaxing at concise wavelengths as white with a blue shade and ranges culminating at long wavelengths as white with a reddish-orange hue. However, characteristically green stars are practically never referred to. But seasoned astronomers understand that Beta Librae has subsisted as a green star over several eras. This brings us to the occasional green quality of Bea Librae takes leads to the past to a pair of the old enigmas connected with Libra.
In spite of the fact that astronomers understand the two clearest stars of Libra as Alpha and Beta, the stars have been studied for so long that they have favoured titles. Furthermore, their favourite names are two of the most interesting in the heavens.
Alpha Librae is called, “Zubenelgenubi,†and Beta Librae is known as, “Zubeneschamali.†These are both derive from the Arabic language and from a very peculiar age when the Roman empire controlled the known world. Those two designations touch on one of the biggest puzzles of the zodiac. The designation Zubenelgenubi stands for ‘The Southern Claw’ and Zubeneschamali designates ‘The Northern Claw.’ At some spot throughout the supremacy of Rome, the academics of the period agreed to modify the zodiac and for rationales as yet unknown decided to remove the group of stars Libra by uniting the stars of Libra with the stars of Scorpius.
Libra continues to be unequalled amid the zodiac signs and it is the only zodiac symbol that is lifeless, if you analyse all the other characters you will see they are persons, creatures, bugs and so forth – only Libra is not a living object.
clearest stars in Libra, Alpha along with Beta Librae is both astronomical highlights meriting seeing with the naked eye, field glasses and scopes. Furthermore, these two Libran stars are a portion of the romance and secrets of Libra.
Alpha Librae is a colourful twin typically depicted as radiant by viewers. The stars are conventionally characterized as bright white and radiant yellow and Beta Librae has for many periods been specified as the unique single star perceptible in the celestial sphere. Beta Librae for many eras has been referred to as the exclusive green star observable to the naked eye.
The majority of observers and many astronomers conceive there are no perceivable green stars. The agreed wisdom is that the human optical structure will translate ranges climaxing at concise wavelengths as white with a blue shade and ranges culminating at long wavelengths as white with a reddish-orange hue. However, characteristically green stars are practically never referred to. But seasoned astronomers understand that Beta Librae has subsisted as a green star over several eras. This brings us to the occasional green quality of Bea Librae takes leads to the past to a pair of the old enigmas connected with Libra.
In spite of the fact that astronomers understand the two clearest stars of Libra as Alpha and Beta, the stars have been studied for so long that they have favoured titles. Furthermore, their favourite names are two of the most interesting in the heavens.
Alpha Librae is called, “Zubenelgenubi,†and Beta Librae is known as, “Zubeneschamali.†These are both derive from the Arabic language and from a very peculiar age when the Roman empire controlled the known world. Those two designations touch on one of the biggest puzzles of the zodiac. The designation Zubenelgenubi stands for ‘The Southern Claw’ and Zubeneschamali designates ‘The Northern Claw.’ At some spot throughout the supremacy of Rome, the academics of the period agreed to modify the zodiac and for rationales as yet unknown decided to remove the group of stars Libra by uniting the stars of Libra with the stars of Scorpius.
Constellations Libra Names of Stars and Libra in particular continues to be unequalled amid the zodiac signs and it is the only zodiac symbol that is lifeless, if you analyse all the other characters you will see they are persons, creatures, bugs and so forth – only Libra is not a living object.
Saturn Ring Loss
March 20, 2009 by James Hewson
Filed under Space
Some observers have commented that Saturn’s ring loss maybe increasing however recent research suggests the rings may be more enormous than formerly thought, and potentially considerably older, and far from decreasing in size according to computations that imitate impacting particles in Saturn’s rings and their deterioration by meteorites. These outcomes aid in the probability that Saturn’s rings were shaped billions of years ago, conceivably at the time when goliath collisions hollowed out the great basins on the Moon. The discoveries also propose that giant exoplanets may also also have rings.
It is thought that the rings of Saturn are billions of years old which means we as humans are not just lucky to see rings encircling Saturn. This would lead us to anticipate huge rings also to envelop giant planets encircling other stars,’ said Dr Esposito of the University of Colorado.
Further research by Esposito’s colleagues at the University of Colorado, have calculated the gravitational magnetism and clashes amid more than 100,000 particles, representing a example of those in Saturn’s rings. They pursued the orbit and history of each specific particle, and calculated the quantity of starlight that would cross through the ring. These outcomes have been in comparison to Cassini examinations of starlight obstructed by the rings, which has conventionally been used to guess the entire quantity of matter in the ring system. Esposito used this approach in 1983 to appraise that rings of Saturn include as much matter as Saturn’s little moon Mimas, which is around 250 miles in diameter. The brand new simulations reveal Saturn’s ring particles mix into clumps, which would influence the earlier approximation being low by a element of three or more.
Estimations by Esposito and his undergraduate Joshua Elliott disclosed that meteorites steadily crush and crack the fragments within the ring. Progressively, a blanket of dust and particles build up and encases each fragment. This covering contains both ice (from the fragment) and meteoritical fine powder. As time passes, the ring structure becomes more contaminated and blackened by meteoritic dust.
Considering that the rings look so clean and illuminated, it was disputed that the rings of Saturn were considerably younger than Saturn. It was computed from Voyager calculations that the rings are only about 100 million years old, roughly the time when dinosaurs dwelled upon the Earth. The new estimations indicate that if the rings are more immense, they look less contaminated, and consequently could be proportionately older. Recycling of ring matter prolongs their lifespan and diminishes the probable darkening.
One difficulty with this suggestion for more immense and ancient rings is that the Pioneer 11 space operation to Saturn in 1979 calculated the ring mass circuitously by studying charged particles produced by cosmic rays attacking the rings.
These aggregate approximations were similar to the ones from Voyager star occultation’s, evidently strengthening the earlier low mass value. Nevertheless, it is now recognized that the charged fragments are double valued. This means they may possibly appear from either a small or large accumulation and that the larger mass value could be consistent with the disparages due to ring clumpiness. Clearly, Saturn’s ring loss is not considered to be an identifyable concern at this point in time and until further data concerning the true size and mass of the ring is apparent we cannot with any certainty conclude that the rings are encountering any form of ring reduction.
What Are The Names of The Stars That Make Up Aries?
March 19, 2009 by James Hewson
Filed under Space
Aries constellation is formed in the zodiac among Pisces to its west and Taurus to its east but what are the names of the stars that make up Aries?
The title is Latin for ram, through its symbol the Aries constellation represents the horns of a ram. The group of stars does not have a singular bright star to assist observers in identifying it within the night sky and therefore making it considerably difficult to view with the naked eye although two of them are considerably brighter than the remainder within the constellation. Nevertheless if you possess patience and are persistently self-controlled, you sure can discover them in the sky without any visual assistance needed.
In the second century BC, the Greek stargazer Hipparchus determined the method for assessing locations of stars and additional fixed objects in the celestial sphere. He demonstrated as his originating spot the position of one of two positions where the Sun traversed the “heavenly equator,” an extension of Earth’s equator in the sky. Accordingly, the youthful equinox, where the Sun remained at the commencement of spring, came to be the reckoning point for the skies. Throughout Hipparchus’ period this was found in the group of stars Aries, the Ram. This reality of history gave eternal prominence to one of the tiniest and dimmest constellations of the zodiac. As of that time, even though the vernal equinoctial point steadily drifts alongside the ecliptic, it has been related to as the “Original Point of Aries.” This may well be difficult to understand if we overlook its historical source, for the “Original Point of Aries the youthful equinox is at this time in the constellation Pisces, the Fishes, almost west of Aries.

What Are The Names of The Stars That Make Up Aries?
The names of the stars which make up Aries are in fact Botein (Delta), Hamal (Alpha), Sheratan (Beta) and Mesasthim (Gamma) and given that Aries has none of the brightest stars, a little endurance and persistence are needed to learn to pinpoint it. Look to the east after nightfall and locate the dull assembled stars of the Pleiades and, below them, the comrade group in a “V” form, the Hyades. The bright red star at the very end of the “V” is named Aldebaron, which is the clearest star in Taurus constellation, also known as the Bull. Let this position be the commencement of an curve and draw it out through the Pleiades. Carry on going about 25 degrees where the two clearest stars of Aries, close with each other, will shape the West End of the curve.
You will hopefully now notice the less bright star positioned just past the second star of the set of two in Aries let this dim star be the very point of the curve we have just illustrated. Now, backwards along the curve, about midway among the Pleiades and the clearest star of Aries, there is however another very dim star association to Aries. The 4 stars you have discovered, 2 of them substantially clearer than the others, are all there is to view of Aries without a telescope.
From mid April until mid May the Sun is wandering under the stars of Aries that we have just illustrated. Consequently, they are not perceivable throughout spring. We start to pick them up in the early morning in summer, and they rise in the twilight through autumn. In summary therefore the names of the stars which make up Aries are Botein, Hamal, Sheratan and Mesasthim. The image in this post illustrates the positioning of this constellation which may assist you in identifying this exceptional array in the night sky.
Track The Space Shuttle in Real Time!
March 18, 2009 by James Hewson
Filed under Space
If you would like to track the Space Shuttle in real time then we have identified a website which does just that.
Powered through Google ‘n2yo.com’Â provides a unique view of exactly where in the atmosphere the Space Shuttle is at any given time. Using satellite locating technology the results are quite stunning, a graphic of the shuttle is overlaid upon a Google map enabling you to picture the position of the craft in relation to planet Earth.
The site also features the latest news and events undertaken by the shuttle missions taken direct from the NASA site giving accurate and timely updates.
A great site for followers of any Space Shuttle mission and to track the space shuttle missions.
The site can be located a Track The Space Shuttle
NASA IBEX Probe Search For The Edge of The Solar System
March 17, 2009 by James Hewson
Filed under Space
The NASA IBEX probe also known as the Interstellar Boundary Explorer, is a NASA satellite that will manufacture the first map of the boundary amid the Solar System. The operation is part of NASA’s Small Explorer program and the probe was launched on a Pegasus-XL rocket on October 19, 2008. The primary mission will last for approximately 2 years in which it will endeavour to map the complete solar system boundary.
The IBEX mission is being directed by the Southwest Research Institute, with Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Centre serving as Co-Investigator institutions accountable for the IBEX-Hi and IBEX-Lo sensors. Orbital Sciences Corporation supplied the spacecraft bus and was the location for spacecraft environmental examination. NASA masterminds have remotely examined the systems aboard the spacecraft and so far, said Eric Christian, program scientist for NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer program, all systems are fully operational.
The spacecraft will centre its concentration on the ‘interstellar boundary’, the brink of our solar system where the hot solar wind sweeps into the cold expanse of space. The active neutral atom (ENA) generated images IBEX will capture, will expectantly help scientists figure out the fundamental interaction between our sun and the Milky Way galaxy. The interstellar boundary areas are important because they protect the Earth from the huge and extremely dangerous galactic cosmic rays, which otherwise would enter into Earth’s orbit and cause human space flight to be much more hazardous. NASA began collecting data on the outer reaches of the solar system when Voyager 1 and 2, began in 1977, and navigated through our inner solar system for a trip toward the frontier. Officials commented at the time that both Voyagers had obtained “totally unexpected” data from both spacecrafts, and this valuable data refuted many long held ideologies about the region.
Using this information, research workers will inspect the structures and dynamics of the outer hemisphere and address a genuine test facing manned exploration, by investigating the area that shields Earth from the majority of galactic cosmic ray radiations. It has now been 4 months since the original launch, and IBEX Principal Investigator Dr. David McComas commented that they are receiving some ‘fantastic science results’. It is understood the data produced so far have provided some exceptional clear spatial variations in both the fluxes and energies of the neutral atoms travelling in from the edge of the solar system. A significant progress update is expected to be announced this summer following the completion of the first all sky map.










