This might be like the YouTube thread, but for really cool astronomy news.
Like a freaking comet that survived flying through the sun’s million degree hot corona for almost an hour
Fact: Nothing is cool in outer space as a vacuum has no temperature.
Are you high?
I am not discounting that possibility right now.
I am so on your wavelength.
The biggie for me is the report from Chinese observers a few months ago of the violation of the cosmological principle. I have not heard if their data and conclusions have been upheld by peers…but it’s a big deal if true.
Any word back yet on that faster-than-light neutrino thing?
Just that more tests after improving their equipment have confirmed it, no independent testing yet. New scientist has more than a few article on it if you want to look, also a few article on articles talking about papers that had predicted this result back in 1960 or something.
NASA gives us a new, ultra high-res photo of the Big Blue Marble
That seems really weird in terms of scale. I can’t see how the rest of the planet’s landmasses could fit if North America takes up that much room.
This is what a lifetime of staring at maps that are modified by humans to be easier for your eyes to digest will do to you :)
Partially true. While objects in space can have temperatures as low as 3 degrees above absolute zero (due to the cosmic background radiation), space itself has no temperature. You can’t measure the temperature of a vacuum.
It’s not something you’d ever really be able to see from space, more like a fish-eye lens:
“I used the l2gen program written by members of the Ocean Biology Processing Group to generate Earth surface reflectances in bands M5 (662-682 nm), M4 (545-565 nm), and M2 (436-454 nm) from NOAA SDR files collected over four orbits on January 4, 2012. I then mapped the reflectances for each of the orbits to a vertical, near-sided perspective projection with the perspective point 2124 kilometers above 20 North by 100 West and composited the four orbits together into the “marble” that you see.”
The “I” in this case being Norman Kuring, who I occasionally work with. Out of curiosity, how do you think this compares to some of the other NASA images of the Earth, some of which I may have been involved with?
No, I’m well aware of the various distorted map types. This is more a “that doesn’t fit on a sphere” issue. On a realistic globe the landmass of North America is a lot smaller than that in relation to the total surface area of the planet.
On the ISS:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/telerobotics/spheres.html
On Dec. 12 engineers at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., and Johnson Space Center in Houston conducted an experiment using small, free-flying robotic satellites called “Smart SPHERES” aboard the International Space Station.
All I have to say is, TERRIFIC!
H.
p.s. If you got that joke, I have something else to say. “NERRRRRDS!”
Holy shit check out these meteorite videos from Russia. This happened about 930 A.M. local time over Chelyabinsk. Look at how bright it gets!
Sound of it detonating?
Another one with sound
Uhhh:
It is believed that the incident may be connected to asteroid 2012 DA14, which measures 45 to 95 meters in diameter and will be passing by Earth tonight at around 19:25 GMT at the record close range of 27,000 kilometers.
It’s time to call in the world’s best deep-core drillers.
-Tom
That quote is not attributed to anyone. It is just a poorly edited news article. Who said the line? Is it from a qualified scientist? Or is it speculation on the part of the reporter? Or did a random eyewitness fruit vendor say it?
Also, what is up with this quote…?
“Do not panic, this is an ordinary situation we can manage in a couple of days,” the governor said in and address to city residents.
How does this qualify as an ordinary situation? At least that one mentions where the line comes from.
This is how the aliens should have arrived, Spielberg. Not that hide inside lightning strikes into the ground malarky. Now I hope we start seeing reports of giant tripods roaming the Russian steppes.