Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Astronomy

SOHO Marks 10th Year

One of my top 10 things to be thankful for is technology, which gives mankind insights into the unknown. One of these technological wonders is SOHO, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Satellite located at Earth’s inner Lagrangian point.

From SpaceWeather.com:

10 YEARS OF SOHO: Where would we be without SOHO? The orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) keeps a ’round-the-clock eye on the sun and is crucial to space weather forecasting. Thousands of our readers have witnessed auroras only because SOHO spotted an incoming CME [coronal mass ejection] in time for us to issue an alert.

So it is with pleasure and appreciation that we wish a happy 10th anniversary to the SOHO team, whose spacecraft was launched on Dec. 2nd, 1995. Originally planned as a two year mission, SOHO is now entering its second decade. Amazing.

And an article from Astronomy Picture of the Day indicates that operations are planned to continue until 2007, at which time SOHO will have been in position to observe a complete 11-year solar cycle (which, as we all know, is responsible for climate change and other phenomena – not the puny efforts of mankind who the moonbat left blame for the mythical global warming).

01 Dec 2005 by Aerospace Astronomy Environment Global Warming Rocket Science

Hurricanes on Jupiter Must be the President’s Fault

How long before the Democrats blame this on George Bush‘s reluctance to sign the insane Kyoto Pact?

Jupiter’s Massive Winds Likely Generated From Deep Inside Its Interior, Scientists Report

A new computer model indicates Jupiter’s massive winds are generated from deep within the giant planet’s interior, a UCLA scientist and international colleagues report in the journal Nature.

This image shows results from a computer simulation of Jupiter’s winds. The color contours show wind speed with red representing eastward flows and blue representing westward flows. (Credit: Dr. Moritz Heimpel, University of Alberta, Department of Physics)

Jupiter’s powerful winds are very different from those on Earth. They continually circle the planet, and have changed very little in the 300 years that scientists have studied them. Massive east-west winds in Jupiter’s equatorial region reach approximately 340 miles per hour — twice as rapid as winds generated by strong hurricanes on Earth. At higher latitudes, the wind pattern switches to alternating jets that race around the planet.

See “Jupiter’s Massive Winds Likely Generated From Deep Inside Its Interior, Scientists Report” from Science Daily for the complete article.

And, by the way, mankind is not the cause of Global Warming.

16 Nov 2005 by Astronomy Environment Satire Science Whacko Politics

The Sky is Falling!

You may have noticed some fireballs overhead the last few nights. It’s the annual Taurids meteor shower, seen as the Earth passes through the orbit of Comet Encke. This from SpaceWeather.com:

FIREBALL SIGHTINGS: In recent nights, sky watchers have seen some spectacular fireballs. Experts suspect it’s the Taurid meteor shower, a display caused by debris from Comet Encke.
Photo: a Taurid fireball photographed by Hiroyuki Iida of Toyama, Japan on Oct. 28th.

Most years the Taurid shower is weak, producing few meteors, mostly dim. 2005 appears to be different. Earth may be passing through a “swarm” of pebbles and rocks within the larger cloud of Taurid space dust. The pebbles are responsible for the fireballs.

The 2005 Taurid meteor shower is not over. Indeed, it’s just beginning. Forecasters expect the complex shower to peak during the first two weeks of November. So keep an eye on the sky!

Read the full story from Science @ NASA.

03 Nov 2005 by Astronomy Environment Science Space Rocks

Don’t Worry – The Sky Isn’t Falling – Yet

But if it starts to, the European Space Agency will call Don Quixote to the rescue . . .

From Science Daily: ESA Selects Targets For Asteroid-deflecting Mission Don Quijote

Based on the recommendations of asteroid experts, ESA has selected two target asteroids for its Near-Earth Object deflecting mission, Don Quijote.

Don Quijote is an asteroid-deflecting mission currently under study by ESA’s Advanced Concepts Team (ACT). Earlier this year the NEO Mission Advisory Panel (NEOMAP), consisting of well-known experts in the field, delivered to ESA a target selection report for Europe’s future asteroid mitigation missions, identifying the relevant criteria for selecting a target and picking up two objects that meet most of those criteria. The asteroids’ temporary designations are 2002 AT4 and 1989 ML.

Update: Click Here for a visual of the IMPACT!

06 Oct 2005 by Aerospace Astronomy Rocket Science Space Rocks

The Da Vinci Glow

From NASA – The Da Vinci Glow


Da Vinci illustrationWhen you think of Leonardo Da Vinci, you probably think of the Mona Lisa or 16th-century submarines or, maybe, a certain suspenseful novel. That’s old school. From now on, think of the Moon.

Little-known to most, one of Leonardo’s finest works is not a painting or an invention, but rather something from astronomy: He solved the ancient riddle of Earthshine.

You can see Earthshine whenever there’s a crescent Moon on the horizon at sunset. Thursday, Oct. 6, is a good night: sky map. Look between the horns of the crescent for a ghostly image of the full Moon. That’s Earthshine.

06 Oct 2005 by Astronomy

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