Dit is ons nieuw hondje Kira, een kruising van een waterhond en een Podenko. Ze is sinds 7 februari 2024 bij ons en druk bezig ons hart te veroveren. Het is een lief, aanhankelijk hondje, dat zich op een week snel aan ons heeft aangepast. Ze is heel vinnig en nieuwsgierig, een heel ander hondje dan Noleke.
This is our new dog Kira, a cross between a water dog and a Podenko. She has been with us since February 7, 2024 and is busy winning our hearts. She is a sweet, affectionate dog who quickly adapted to us within a week. She is very quick and curious, a very different dog than Noleke.
DEAR VISITOR,
MY BLOG EXISTS ALREADY 12 YEARS AND 11 MONTHS.
ON 06/05/2024 MORE THAN 1.972.210
VISITORS FROM 134 DIFFERENT NATIONS ALREADY FOUND THEIR WAY TO MY BLOG.
THAT IS AN AVERAGE OF 400GUESTS PER DAY.
THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG AND HOPE YOU ENJOY EACH TIME.
The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
Zoeken in blog
Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld In België had je vooral BUFON of het Belgisch UFO-Netwerk, dat zich met UFO's bezighoudt. BEZOEK DUS ZEKER VOOR ALLE OBJECTIEVE INFORMATIE , enkel nog beschikbaar via Facebook en deze blog.
Verder heb je ook het Belgisch-Ufo-meldpunt en Caelestia, die prachtig, doch ZEER kritisch werk leveren, ja soms zelfs héél sceptisch...
Voor Nederland kan je de mooie site www.ufowijzer.nl bezoeken van Paul Harmans. Een mooie site met veel informatie en artikels.
MUFON of het Mutual UFO Network Inc is een Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in alle USA-staten en diverse landen.
MUFON's mission is the analytical and scientific investigation of the UFO- Phenomenon for the benefit of humanity...
Je kan ook hun site bekijken onder www.mufon.com.
Ze geven een maandelijks tijdschrift uit, namelijk The MUFON UFO-Journal.
Since 02/01/2020 is Pieter ex-president (=voorzitter) of BUFON, but also ex-National Director MUFON / Flanders and the Netherlands. We work together with the French MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP.
ER IS EEN NIEUWE GROEPERING DIE ZICH BUFON NOEMT, MAAR DIE HEBBEN NIETS MET ONZE GROEP TE MAKEN. DEZE COLLEGA'S GEBRUIKEN DE NAAM BUFON VOOR HUN SITE... Ik wens hen veel succes met de verdere uitbouw van hun groep. Zij kunnen de naam BUFON wel geregistreerd hebben, maar het rijke verleden van BUFON kunnen ze niet wegnemen...
The Earth’s magnetic field continues to be a source of mystery for geologists and planetary scientists. Thanks to improved techniques of detecting measuring the geomagnetic field, scientists now know that the Earth’s magnetic field is weakening – despite having no explanation for the phenomenon. Other studies have found cracks opening in the magnetic field, potentially allowing more cosmic radiation to bombard us unfortunate saps here on the planet’s surface. To make magnetic matters more mysterious (and terrifying), a massive new magnetic anomaly has been detected in the southern hemisphere under Africa. What does this mean for the Earth’s magnetic field and the living things who depend on it for protection?
And will Santa have to find a new home when the poles reverse?
Unfortunately, we don’t know yet. But no news is better than bad news, right? The region of the Earth’s magnetic field under study is known as the South Atlantic Anomaly and stretches under the southern Atlantic ocean from Chile to Zimbabwe. In this region, the geomagnetic field comes closer to the Earth’s surface than anywhere else on Earth, reaching down to an altitude of 200 kilometres, or 120 miles. This makes it a prime site for studying the magnetic field since the low altitude means the effects of the field can be detected much easier. In the case of discovering this new anomaly, researchers from the University of Rochester examined 1,000-year-old pottery made by the Bantu people to search for magnetic minerals baked into the clay which serve as a type of record. The minerals in the pottery revealed similar magnetic anomalies occurred in 400-450 AD, 700-750 AD, and sometime between 1225-1550 AD.
The South Atlantic Anomaly
University of Rochester Earth and Environmental Sciences professor John Tarduno led this new study of the South Atlantic Anomaly. In a university press release announcing the discovery, Tarduno says while its too early to draw conclusions about pole reversal or any type of cataclysmic event, this anomaly deserves serious study so that scientists and world leaders can be aware of any potential harmful effects:
We were looking for recurrent behavior of anomalies because we think that’s what is happening today and causing the South Atlantic Anomaly. We’re getting stronger evidence that there’s something unusual about the core-mantle boundary under Africa that could be having an important impact on the global magnetic field. The possibility of a continued decay in the strength of the magnetic field is a societal concern that merits continued study and monitoring.
There is a growing body of evidence suggesting Earth’s magnetic poles have reversed many times over the planet’s history, or even that Earth once had more than two magnetic poles. It’s still unknown what effect(s) a pole reversal might have today in an age dependent on electronics.
Over the years UFOs have had various names, depending on the era and the description of the craft. In the latter part of the 19th century there were the “Phantom Airships.” During the Second World War pilots encountered what became known as “Foo Fighters.” In 1946 the skies of Scandinavia were filled with reports of “Ghost Rockets.” In the summer of 1947 the terms “Flying Saucer” and “Flying Disc” were both used. Today,
people talk about the “Flying Triangles.”
Yes, “Foo Fighter” was the primary term used to describe what was seen during the Second World War. But, the term “Disc” was also used during the hostilities with the Nazis. I mentioned this to a certain UFO researcher recently and who practically had a shit fit. I was wrong, he assured me, stating that when it comes to unidentified “things” in the sky, the word “Disc” was not used until 1947. Actually, that’s wrong, as I pointed out. Granted, many people – even within Ufology – may not know just how widely “Disc” was used during the Second World War. I’ll share two examples with you; two of many.
From the latter part of the Second World War (the exact date is missing) comes the following from the in-house newsletter of the British Royal Air Force’s, 115 Squadron: “Under this heading there occur from time to time reports of weird and wonderful apparitions seen during our (and the American) attacks on Germany. We have asked our local Inner Circle bloke to comment on the latest species of wizardry. Here is his story…believe it or not.”
The document continues in slightly humorous fashion: “On the 11th December the Yanks paid one of their daylight visits to Emden. Visibility was good and the weather clear. An unidentified object was seen in the target area. It was about the size of a Thunderbolt and passed 50 – 75 yards beneath the formation. It flew straight and level (No chaps it was not a Lanc.gone mad…) at a terrific speed, leaving a streak like a vapour trail which remained visible for a long time. The object passed so quickly that the observer could not determine it more accurately.
Finally, there is this, also from the same document: “Suggestions will be welcome…serious ones…as to what this Loch Ness Monster of Emden might have been. (Prize… one year’s free issue of this News Sheet…if the publication survives as long.) Another of the attacking aircraft was hit by a length of wire which bit deeply into the nose. Twenty feet were coiled around the nose and something caused the bomb door to open. The wire may have been towed behind a fighter which had just made an attack upon the bomber; some form of explosive charge or weight may have been attached to a parachute fired from a rocket projectile, though no parachute was seen. An examination of the wire is taking place and it is hoped that this will shed some light on the occurrence. In another attack, this time on Bremen, there were many reports of ‘silver and red discs above the formations [italics mine].’ These have been seen before but up to now no-one has been able to decide their purpose. Suggestions please.”
Then, there is a document dispatched to a Colonel Kingman Douglas, to Wing-Commander Smith of Royal Air Force Intelligence, and to a Wing-Commander Heath of the British Air Ministry. We’re told:
“Annexe to intelligence report mission Schweinfurt 16 October 1943. 306 Group report a partially unexploded 20mm shell embedded above the panel in the cockpit of A/C number 412 bearing the following figures, 19K43. The Group Ordinance Officer believes the steel composing the shell is of inferior grade. 348th Group reports a cluster of discs [italics mine] observed in the path of the formation near Schweinfurt, at the time there are no E/A [Authors note: Enemy Aircraft] above. Discs were described [again, italics mine]as silver coloured – one inch thick and three inches in diameter. They were gliding slowly down in very uniform cluster. A/C 026 was unable to avoid them and his right wing went directly through the cluster with absolutely no effect on engines or plane’s surface. One of the discs [again…] was heard striking tail assembly but no explosion was heard. About twenty feet from these discs [and one more] a mass of black debris of varying sizes in clusters of 3 by 4 feet. Also observed 2 other A/C flying through silver discs with no apparent damage. Observed discs [final one] and debris 2 other times but could not determine where it came from.”
These are just two examples of many from the Second World War – and declassified by the British Government – which refer to UFOs as “Discs” several years before the term “Flying Disc” was created in 1947. In some of the declassified wartime files, the “Discs” were described as being mere inches in size. On other occasions, though, pilots reported such “Discs” as being several feet in diameter – and in a few cases even bigger.
And, while we’re still on the game of the name, it’s worth noting that the words “Unidentified Flying Objects” were used as early as just two months after the Kenneth Arnold sighting of June 24, 1947. This was when the words “Flying Disc” and “Flying Saucer” were on the minds of many. The relevant document originated with the U.S. Air Transport Command’s Weekly Intelligence Summary and is dated August 1947. It is titled “Flying Objects in Guam” and the text states, in part, “Unidentified flying objects [italics mine…once again…) have been observed by three enlisted men of the 147th Airways and Air Communications Service Squadron at Harmon Field, Guam.”
Oxforddictionaries.comprovides the following: “According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term ‘unidentified flying object’ goes back at least to the 1950s: it is recorded in 1953, in a book by the US aviator and writer Donald Keyhoe. The OEDalso gives a citation in 1956 by Edward Ruppelt, an officer in the USAF, stating that he’d invented the term as a more general one to replace the earlier description for such objects, flying saucer.”
The dictionary is wrong (as was Ruppelt), as the Guam document of August 1947 demonstrates.
In November 2017, several commercial aircraft flying over the California/Oregon border area encountered an object in the skies the likes of which their pilots had never seen. Like in many UFO cases, the object maneuvered in ways impossible for today’s conventional aircraft and was completely unresponsive to radio and radar systems. The sightings were confirmed by both the FAA and NORAD, and a Freedom of Information Act request just last month uncovered audio recordings between air traffic controls and pilots made during the encounter which add a few details about pilot’s descriptions of the large, white unidentified aircraft flying at a high altitude.
To add to the mystery surrounding that November encounter, new recordings released by the FAA of a separate encounter months earlier seem to be describing an eerily similar object in the skies flying at altitudes much higher than commercial aircraft. The incident occurred on February 24th, 2017 above Southern Arizona. Flight N71PG, a Phoenix Air Learjet 36, and American Airlines Flight 1095, an Airbus A321, were flying above the Sonoran Desert National Monument when crews of both airliners spotted an unidentified, unresponsive aircraft flying over them at an estimated 40,000 feet.
The incident began when the Learjet first spotted the object. After seeing the object pass over his craft, the Learjet pilot told the FAA that something did pass overhead, remarking “I don’t know what it was, it wasn’t an airplane, but it was–the path was going in the opposite direction.” An audio recording of the conversations between pilots and air traffic controllers with the Albuquerque FAA was recently released by Tyler Rogoway at The Warzone. In the recording, pilots can be heard asking the FAA if they knew of any aircraft flying above them, to which of course the FAA responded they didn’t. One pilot can then be heard chuckling “a UFO!” to which another affirms “yeah.”
Air traffic controllers then asked the incoming American Airlines pilot to watch for anything flying overhead, to which the American Airlines pilot responded a few minutes later with “yeah something just passed over us, like a–I don’t know what it was, but it was at least two-three thousand feet above us. Yeah it passed right over the top of us.” Pilots and air traffic controllers then speculate about what the object might have been, with a few suggesting a Google balloon and others merely laughing it off as just a “UFO.”
Sure, it’s just a UFO, but the thought that there could be undisclosed high-altitude flights of any kind is pretty disconcerting. If someone or some group has the ability to operate in U.S. skies with near impunity outside of the scope of the FAA, that person or group must have a vast network of resources and wealth at their disposal. Who knows what they could be up to behind closed doors in the true halls of power? Of course, it could be aliens or some kind of autonomous craft sent from a distant star systems, but the chances are higher that these are some sort of shadowy paramilitary or surveillance activity that They don’t want us to know about.
Google Balloons are the new swamp gas.
Chances are highest, however, that the craft had something to do with one of the many nearby military sites: White Sands Missile Range, Holloman Air Force base, Luke AFB, Monthan AFB, and Fort Huachuca – the home of many the military’s most cutting-edge unmanned aerial vehicles and a hub for clandestine military flights and tests. Who knows what the military industrial complex could be testing above our heads? I know one thing: it’s not Google Balloons.
Enkele dagen geleden schreven wij een artikel met daarin vreemde verschijnselen in de lucht, van een tweede zon tot een vreemd oranje-achtige lucht in Amerika.
Nu zijn er vergelijkbare beelden opgedoken vanuit Engeland, personeel van een televisiestation in Milwaukee weet niet wat ze zien en de bewoners van Hawaï zien vreemde lichtstralen.
Het begint zo regelmatig voor te komen dat er vreemde zaken in de lucht waar te nemen zijn, dat hier zo langzamerhand een dagelijks item van te maken is.
Enkele dagen geleden lieten wij beelden zien van een vreemde oranje lucht in de Amerikaanse staat Utah. Naar aanleiding daarvan kregen we de volgende mail van een lezer (dank!):
Als je praat over wat je heb gezien aan abnormaliteit in de lucht, en je heb geen foto of videootje dan is het moeilijk te plaatsen voor een ander.
Nu ik die video zie die jullie vandaag gepost hebben, kan ik zeggen dat ik dit al drie keer heb gezien in mijn regio, het was ook een lokaal stuk, niet de hele lucht was zo oranje.
Blij dat ik dit nog even kan duidelijk maken.
De foto's die ik later heb gemaakt, en naar jullie heb gestuurd, daar kwam de kleur niet goed over maar zag er zeker zo uit.
Ik ging al twijfelen aan mezelf, ha!
En dan is er de volgende opname die is gemaakt in de Engelse stad Middlesborough door Craig Alderton. Hij is stomverbaasd door wat hij ziet; het zijn geen straatlantaarns of een brand ergens, maar het lijkt alsof de oranje lucht pulseert.
Dat zijn dan mensen in Amerika, Engeland en Nederland die dit soort vreemde oranje luchten hebben gezien.
Op dinsdagmorgen 27 februari 2018 was er in het televisieprogramma van Fox6 in de Amerikaanse staat Milwaukee iets merkwaardigs te zien. Vreemde lichten bewogen over het scherm tijdens de live uitzending. Je hoort de presentatoren die zich afvragen waar ze hier in 's hemelsnaam mee te maken hebben.
Later kwam er een officiële verklaring: het zou een zwerm zeemeeuwen zijn geweest. En dan naar Hawaï, waar via een webcam van een observatorium tijdens de nacht van 13 op 14 februari 2018 een aantal vreemde zaken zichtbaar waren.
Op een gegeven moment verschijnen er een aantal blauwe stralen die er als volgt uit zien.
Even later verschijnt er ook een soort witte straal.
In de volgende video zie je de blauwe stralen rond de 35/36 seconden in de video.
Het atmosferische verschijnsel van een lichtzuil is een bekend fenomeen, maar ook dat schijnt hier niet van toepassing te zijn:
Een lichtzuil is een atmosferisch optisch verschijnsel in de vorm van een verticale lichtkolom die zich boven of onder een lichtbron, zoals de zon of maan, lijkt uit te strekken. Lichtzuilen behoren tot de familie van halo's en worden veroorzaakt door de reflectie van licht tegen zeshoekige ijskristallen (veelal in de vorm van cirrus- of cirrostratuswolken) die min of meer horizontaal door de lucht zweven en aldus als spiegeltjes fungeren.
Representative Rob Wittman (R-Va), a powerful member of the House Armed Services Committee, talked in an unprecedentedly open nature about the shadowy B-21 Raider program during a defense conference in Washington, DC. In his remarks he described the program as largely on track, but did detail a couple notable issues, one in particular having to do with the aircraft's stealthy air inlet system and engine and exhaust configuration. He also noted that an "Iron Bird," basically a non-flying, full-scale, systems configuration model of the aircraft, was being made to ease component integration issues.
Defense News's Aaron Mehta and Valerie Insinna published the initial reportabout Wittman's remarks in which he described a few of the 'hiccups' associated with the bomber's accelerated development, almost all of which remains deeply classified. The development cost alone for the aircraft is slated to run over $20B, with the program cost to build at least 100 of the bombers projected to cost upwards of $100B.
AP
Representative Rob Wittman is the chairman of the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee.
As for the aircraft's 'hiccups,' Wittman noted to reporters:
“This is an extraordinary, complex aircraft... The issue is not that you have these uncertainties. The issue is how you address them.”
But powerplant integration and airflow issues seem to be particularly vexing for the program judging by the Congressman's remarks:
“This is a very, very different design as far as airflow, and there have been some design challenges there... Pratt and Whitney says one thing; if the exhaust, the ducting contractor says another thing and says, ‘There’s only so much air we can move through there,’ and Pratt & Whitney says, ‘No, we need a certain amount of air to go through the front of the engine,’ then the question is, how do you do that?... Do you split [the requirements] between the two? Does Pratt & Whitney say, ‘Well, we can change some of the cowling on the surface face there to be able to do that'... It’s not just the engine, but it’s the ducting on the engine, too. I think all those things are elements that you would normally expect in an aircraft that’s new, that takes a concept from B-2, refines and uses it on this platform.”
Wittman was also fully aware that messing with the B-21's inlet design could have a major impact on its low-observability, and he is very much right for elevating those concerns. The inlet design of a low observable aircraft is among its most finely tuned and critical features. A jet aircraft's radar cross section is largely impacted by its ability to conceal the fan blades of its jet engines from radar waves. At the same time 'burying' jet engines deep behind a complex duct system is not conducive to allowing for the consistent and massive volume of airflow needed to produce high and reliable thrust.
LOCKHEED MARTIN
The F-35 uses a 'Y' shaped inlet to completely hide the F135 turbofan's first stage from line of sight. The bumps you see are part of its Diverterless Supersonic Inlet (DSI) design which solves boundary air layer separation issues through its bulbous shape. You can read more about this concept here.
Even the use of serpentine ducts that conceal a jet engine's fan face from line-of-sight are also usually accompanied by other hidden low observable features. These can include baffles mounted directly in front of the engine's face, radar disruptive structures installed under the intake's skin, and radar absorbent coatings surrounding and lining the intake itself.
Issues with stealthy aircraft designs and airflow to their jet engines are nothing new. In fact it dates back to the dawn of stealth, and Northrop's own progenitor to the B-2—Tacit Blue (aka The Whale)—had major issues even starting due to its dorsal shared inlet design and twin engine configuration.
NORTHROP
Tacit Blue featured a recessed dorsal inlet that housed two engines side-by-side.
The B-21's design is supposedly optimized for broadband stealth from virtually all directions—more so than its B-2 forebear that gave up some low-observability, as well as altitude performance, for a capability it has never used. Fielding the most low-observable engine configuration, to include a stealth optimized inlet and exhaust, is surely a key element of the program, but we know very little about any of it.
We have had good indications for some time that B-21 will likely utilize two engines instead of the B-2's four. A non-afterburning and tweaked variant of Pratt and Whitney's F135 turbofan found on the F-35 fighter is rumored to be the powerplant of choice. That engine, without major tweaks that will surely be made for use on the B-21, puts out 28,000lbs of 'dry' thrust (without afterburner). With modifications, this number would likely climb into the 30,000lb+ thrust category.
In comparison, the B-2A has four General Electric F118 engines that put out 17,300lbs of thrust each. The B-21 will almost certainly be a smaller design, with a payload of about two thirds to half that of the B-2. Thus the twin-engine design with a pair of roughly 30,000lb thrust class powerplants makes some sense.
But regardless of who makes the engines for the B-21, or even if it has two engines instead of four, without a good inlet design that can deliver optimum airflow to the air thirsty engines during various phases of flight, their thrust ratings as advertised will plummet significantly. This can impact range, ceiling, and especially takeoff performance.
USAF
This photo offers a great look at the B-2's complex low observable inlet design which blocks line of sight to the engine face aside from certain elevated angles from the forward hemisphere. Notice how the stealthy intake still features a splitter plane for separating boundary layer air from the fuselage.
From the only concept art we have showing the B-21 the inlet design, it looks to be more seamlessly streamlined and integrated in the aircraft's upper fuselage, as opposed to the B-2's design which uses s-like ducts housed in protruding dome-like inlets to feed air to its engines. If the B-21's inlet is as flush as it looks in the concept art, managing boundary layer airflow will also be an issue and could impact airflow as well.
Clearly de-conflicting inlet configuration and airflow management for such an exotic design would be challenging, but we will have to wait to see just how much of a preference ends up being put on this feature, especially if an extremely low-observable inlet design starts eating into hard performance requirements severely, one of which is very likely a high operating altitude of around 60,000 feet or more.
The B-21's exhaust is a total mystery. We have no idea what it will look like, but it's totally possible that the twin planar type exhausts found on the B-2 will be a thing of the past. Ducting the exhaust out of a larger portion of the bomber's upper trailing edge is a possibility, not just to drastically reduce the aircraft's infrared signature but to also provide better stability during engine-out conditions. Going from four engines to two would complicate scenarios where an engine has to be shut down in flight, especially for a flying wing design with very limited longitudinal stability as it is. It is also possible that the exhausts from both engines will be ducted towards the centerline of the B-21's "V" shaped tail, mitigating engine-out controllability issue to a large degree.
The main point here is that powerplant integration on a very low-observable and exotic aircraft is a very big issue, but at the same time it is hardly unforeseeable that problems would arise in this department considering what we know about the program's ambitions.
Wittman also mentioned that the aircraft's wing design is something of an roadblock, but we don't really have any details as to why. We have posited that one "bleeding edge" stealth technology that could potentially be incorporated into the B-21's design is so called "morphing wing" technology. If this concept is being used to any degree it would drastically complicate the wing design and fabrication process, but the low-observable payoff could be significant. Wittman also mentioned that Northrop Grumman is having issues stacking enough engineers onto the program to keep up with its ambitious timeline, which really isn't a surprise.
Beyond propulsion, bringing in all the subcontractors together to participate efficiently in building out the bomber is also a challenge. The Congressman noted that Northrop Grumman is working on that aforementioned "Iron Bird" full-scale mock up to better stave off major systems integration issues.
This is clearly more information on the B-21's development than we have ever gotten before, and the fact that it is coming from a Congressman and not the USAF or even Northrop Grumman seems very odd. Also the implied timeline conflicts somewhat with recent comments made by the 412th Test Wing commander, who noted just last week that testing will begin of the B-21 at Edwards AFB in the near future.
We don't know exactly what that means, but it seems that the program would need a flying example of the aircraft within the next 24 months or so to have any hope of staying on track developmentally speaking. Then again it's also very possible that the congressman could have been referring to issues in the past that he has been briefed on, we just don't know.
The USAF is counting on the B-21 reaching initial operating capability by roughly 2025, at which time it will begin replacing B-2s and B-1Bs that together currently makeup the majority of the USAF's bomber fleet.
A group of researchers led by Oliver Tschauner, a professor of geoscience from the University of Nevada, have discovered a form of super-dense ice known as ice-VII on Earth for the first time. Though ice-VII was known to form in space, and may make up much of ice worlds like Europa, it had only been created in lab conditions on Earth. Tschauner and colleagues findings were published today in Science.
What we know as ice is just one of many chemical structures that frozen water can take. That ice in your soda is technically known as ice-I in which water molecules are arranged in a hexagonal shape. But as water is compressed, the molecules begins to take on different shapes. Ice-VII, which until now has never been found naturally on Earth, has a cubic molecular shape, and is one and a half times as dense as regular ice.
Some diamonds (like these) are for people who like bling, but others are for scientists who want to know more about the Earth's interior.
(Jack Guez / AFP/Getty Images)
Researchers stumbled onto a native ice-VII sample by accident, inside a diamond formed deep in the Earth's mantle, as much as 400 miles beneath the crust. The pressure in the mantle is intense, causing diamonds to form from carbon. But sometimes other substances, like water, get trapped inside these diamonds, in what's known as an incursion.
The mantle is very hot, so there's no way for ice to form there. In very rare cases, as diamonds travel up through the mantle and crust to the Earth's surface, they maintain their tight lattice structure, and the water inside them is exposed to low enough temperatures that ice-VII can form.
"Usually the extremely deep minerals that come up to the surface are not stable once they experience low pressures," George Rossman, a Caltech mineralogist who worked on the study told the LA Times. "They crack and whatever inclusions they had in them are lost. But if a diamond comes up fast enough, it doesn't change."
As Rossman and the other researchers were X-raying diamonds to examine them for carbon dioxide incursions, they realized they'd actually discovered naturally occurring ice-VII. "We were all very excited about that," Tschauner told the LA Times.
"Water in diamonds is not unknown, but finding this very high pressure form of water ice intact, that was really fortuitous," Rossman told the newspaper. 'That's what you call discovery."
The United States Army is looking into a way to carry heavy weapons that will definitely look familiar to science fiction fans. The Army is testing a weapons mount straight out of the movie Aliens, one capable of taking the weight of a light machine gun.
The Army Research Lab, located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is working on a waist-mounted, articulated arm that can carry a M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. The device consists of an articulated arm connected to a wearable harness, with a total weight of 3.5 pounds. The device can carry items up to 27 pounds, the weight of a loaded SAW, or 20-pound defensive shield to protect the holder from gunfire.
In the movie Aliens, a heavily-armed U.S. Colonial Marine platoon is sent to investigate the colony of Hadley's Hope on planetoid Acheron LV-426 in 2179, and the unit’s machine gunners carry their M56 Smart Guns on a harness nearly identical purpose to the design being refined at ARL. The fictional smart gun, with its high rate of fire is nearly identical in role to today’s M249.
According to ARL, engineers started brainstorming in 2015 looking to increase the lethality of dismounted soldiers. A prototype was completed in 2016. The arm is meant to reduce muscle fatigue and create a stable firing platform for heavy, high recoil weapons. Some other key problems engineers are addressing are making the arm useable by a wide range of body types and balancing the entire harness and arm system against the soldier’s weight. The current version uses carbon fiber to replace component weight.
In 2017, six soldiers tested the arm, fitted with electromyography sensors to measure muscle activity. ARL mechanical engineer Dan Baechle explained on the U.S. Army web site, "We found that it reduced the fatigue and reduced the muscle activation for some Soldiers." The ARL also collected data on how soldiers were using their muscles with the third arm compared to without it.
Oddly enough, ARL scientists have actually improved upon the technology of 2179. In the film, the arm harness is attached to the gunner’s waist. The Army’s arm harness also originally attached to the waist, but soldiers had problems with the device and the harness was moved to the soldier’s back. Even better, the arm is a high-tech item that doesn’t demand a power source, and won't add batteries or a power generation scheme to the soldier’s load.
The 'Alien Movie Arm,' as the harness is undoubtedly destined to be known as, is still undergoing testing to improve ergonomics and aiming accuracy.
It seems likely that some form of the arm will eventually make it out to the troops. When it does, soldiers who carry the Army’s heavy weapons will be able to carry their weapons longer and with less fatigue, staying rested for the the fight—just like the alien-slaying soldiers of 2179.
Species like vestimentiferan tubeworms, Riftia pachyptila, such as these found found near the Galapagos islands, represent the kinds of life that can persist near deep sea hydrothermal vents.
Credit: NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Galapagos Rift Expedition 2011.
Alien life could potentially exist on the undersides of the icy shells of Jupiter’s moon Europa and other frozen worlds thanks to the intersection of chemical energy rising up from hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor and oxidants diffusing down from the surface.
Global oceans exist hidden beneath the icy crusts of bodies such as Jupiter’s moons Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, and Saturn’s moons Enceladus and Titan. Unlike Earth’s oceans, which are heated from above by the Sun, these vast water bodies are likely warmed from below by hydrothermal vents in the seafloor.
One potential source of the key building blocks of life in these hidden oceans could be chemical reactions between the seawater and the seafloor or the hydrothermal vents. Heat from hydrothermal vents would churn these waters, shuffling microbes and nutrients upward.
At the same time, high-energy electrons bombarding the icy surfaces of these frozen worlds from their nearby giant planets would generate chemicals known as oxidants, which could help organisms make use of fuel molecules, just as oxygen helps life on Earth burn nutrients for energy. Churning of the icy crusts could deliver these oxidants into the hidden oceans.
Astrobiologist Michael Russell at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and his colleagues suggest that where an icy crust and a hidden ocean meet in a frozen world such as Europa, these two sources of the building blocks of life could join together and potentially support the evolution of life. At the underside of Europa’s icy crust, they suggest a shallow biosphere – a network of ecosystems – can form.
“All the ingredients and free energy required for life are all focused in one place,” Russell says.
The scientists detailed their research in a published paper in the journal Astrobiology.
Europa’s surface is a shell of ice covering a global ocean and displaying amazing features. Long, linear cracks and ridges crisscross the surface, broken by regions of disrupted terrain where the crust of surface ice has cracked and refrozen into new patterns.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
The scientists noted that the layers where ice and water meet can support a wide variety of life on Earth. Dense communities of multiple species of algae, bacteria, protists and even multicellular invertebrates form annually under the sea ice near Antarctica when ample sunlight fuels the photosynthesis of the algae. Also, runoff from the sulfurous Gypsum Springs on Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian High Arctic is home to streamers of bacteria under the cover of snow and ice.
The researchers suggest their findings could help focus the search for any life on Europa by using robots to explore the undersides of icy crusts. They add that, on Europa, microbes could reach densities comparable to microbial mats on Earth.
“If we were to find life on Europa, then that would strongly support the submarine alkaline vent theory,” which suggests that life on Earth originated near underwater alkaline hydrothermal vents, says Russell.
Russell’s research was supported by the NASA Astrobiology Institute.
Aliens Here? Giant Spherical UFO Orb Spotted in the US (VIDEO)
Aliens Here? Giant Spherical UFO Orb Spotted in the US (VIDEO)
Video footage from Google Earth posted on the YouTube Channel UFOmania may prove that we’ve got company out there in the universe.
In the clip we see a camera zooming in on the globe before taking us to where a strange phenomenon has been spotted.
Floating up in the sky just east of Lake George in New York State is a round gray object. The camera zooms in to get a better picture of the strange object, but it is well-nigh impossible to make out what it really is.
The footage, which has already garnered over 20,000 views, may offer convincing proof of extraterrestrial life.
“Analyzed it and looked at it very closely and can confirm it is a UFO,” one viewer wrote.
“Everyone I know and I know a lot of people, know that UFOs are a fact, not a maybe,” added another.
Many past UFO reports describe round, spherical UFOs. It seems that this is the most common shape of UFOs seen around the world.
Conspiracy Theorists Think They've Found A UFO On Google Maps, But The Actual Explanation Is Hilarious
Conspiracy Theorists Think They've Found A UFO On Google Maps, But The Actual Explanation Is Hilarious
http://www.iflscience.com/technology/
Conspiracy theorists think they have found photographic evidence of an alien spaceship visiting Earth on... Google Maps.
YouTube account UFOmania posted 'evidence' of a UFO sighting on their page yesterday. It has since been viewed thousands of times, with people thinking it's definitive proof that aliens are traveling all the way to Earth, stopping off for a quick photo opportunity, and then flying away without telling us.
Fellow conspiracy theorists, after viewing the footage and parsing it with everything they know about science and space travel, decided that on balance:
"THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE – so why does NASA, & the American military hide this shit @ every opportunity ?? F.T.N.W.O. ?? ??" and "[Everyone] knows UFOs are a fact, not a maybe."
Take a closer look and see if you can guess what it is. Google Maps
So after heading here all the way from some distant star, where did the UFO decide to visit? East Lake George in New York state. The aliens got all this way, made it to New York State, and couldn't even be bothered to check out Manhatten.
So, what actually is it? Some people have suggested, not unreasonably, that it could be a water droplet on the lens. This would explain why it looks greenish – it's just a distortion of the mountain behind it. Others have said it's probably a weather balloon, which is normally a good bet whenever somebody spots a UFO.
However, neither is the explanation. The actual explanation is much, much funnier than that.
Google Photosphere is an app that lets you take panoramic photos. You can then add them to Google Maps yourself. Why are we bringing this up?
Here is the Google Photosphere logo.
Google Photosphere
Notice something, uh, familiar about those contours? Here it is overlaid onto the UFO.
Google Photosphere / Google Maps
"HOLY CRAP!" we hear you cry, "the aliens are here and they've modeled their UFOs on Google logos!"
Settle down there. Before you leap to that conclusion, we'd like to propose an alternative hypothesis – a YouTube conspiracy theorist has mistaken a watermark for alien life, uploaded it, and a hilarious amount of people think it's proof that aliens exist.
The strange object appears to have crash-landed into snow and ice, before sliding across the surface and leaving a trail behind it.
It was found using Google Earth on South Georgia Island, which is located in the Southern Atlantic Ocean about 810 miles from The Falklands.
‘It appears to be some sort of massive elongated or cigar-shaped that at some point – and we don’t know when – came to a screeching halt in the snow,’ said SecureTeam10, the YouTube channel which made the sighting.
‘This could be something which came from the air and crash-landed.’
South Georgia Island is part of the British Overseas territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
(Picture: Google Earth)
SecureTeam10 also suggested the weird ‘mass’ had smashed into a nearby mountain and left a trail of debris.
It also questioned whether the object could be a submarine stuck in the show.
The object is about 63 metres in length, which means it could not be a bobsleigh, SecureTeam10 continued.
Did the ‘mass’ slide down from the mountain?
(Picture: Google Earth)
Now Dave Petley, pro-vice-chancellor (research and innovation) at the University of Sheffield has stepped forward to claim the object broke off a nearby mountain and slid through the snow.
On his blog, he wrote: ‘This is conventional landslide behaviour on snow and ice covered surfaces, and we have seen other large isolated boulders travel long distances.’
Astronomers report no companion found for S2, the star orbiting near our Milky Way’s central black hole. It’s an “all-clear” for an exciting test of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.
Artist’s concept of the orbit of the star S2 (sometimes S0-2), shown in light blue. In the next few months, this star is expected to plunge near a gigantic black hole in our galaxy.
Image via S. Sakai/A.Ghez/Keck Observatory/UCLA Galactic Center Group.
One of the fascinating findings of modern astronomy is that large galaxies, including our home galaxy the Milky Way, have supermassive black holes at their cores. The Milky Way’s central black hole is called Sagittarius A* (pronounced “Sagittarius A star”), or Sgr A* for short, and is known to have a mass of about 4 million suns. Astronomers recently watched a gas cloud plunge near the hole, and now they’re watching several stars orbiting near it, in particular a star called S2 (sometimes S0-2). Thanks to recent observations – published in the peer-reviewedAstrophysical Journal in late February, 2018 – astronomers with UCLA’s Galactic Center Group now say they have an “all-clear” to use S2 for a test of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.
Until now, it was thought that S0-2 might be a double star. Two stars orbiting each other would have complicated the upcoming gravity test.
But a team of astronomers led by Devin Chu of Hilo, Hawaii – an astronomy grad student at UCLA – has found that S2 doesn’t have a companion:
… at least one that is massive enough to get in the way of critical measurements that astronomers need to test Einstein’s theory.
S2 is young and about 15 times more massive than our sun. That’s good; it means it’s bright, helpful because the star is relatively distant from Earth – in contrast to most Milky Way stars we might mention – at 26,000 light-years. Did you catch that number, 26,000 light-years? That’s our approximate distance from the center of the galaxy, and the weird and wonderful physics in play there.
In their recent study, Chu and his colleagues described an analysis of 87 previous measurements of S2, dating back as far as 2000. Of those, 12 were newly reported in this paper, taken between 2014 and 2016.
S2 is expected to make its closest pass by the black hole during 2018, and it’s when the star whips nearest the hole that the relativity test will take place. Astronomers will use the star’s motion to try to confirm the mass of the black hole (now thought to be about 4.15 million solar masses).
And they’ll also use S2’s motion to try to confirm Einstein’s prediction that very strong gravitational fields should “stretch out” wavelengths of light, causing a gravitational red shift.
UCLA grad student Devin Chu is 1st author on the new study, showing that S2 doesn’t have a companion star and clearing the way for the planned relativity tests.
Writing at SciFyWire, Bad Astronomer Phil Plait offered his usual great explanation of what’s about to happen:
[S2] orbits Sgr A* on an ellipse that takes about 15 years to complete. The diameter of its orbit is about 300 billion km [200 billion miles], which may sound like a lot, but we’re talking about a supermassive black hole here! That’s close!
And it gets closer. Because the orbit is an ellipse, the star drops down to a mere 18 billion km [11 billion miles] from the black hole, a positively terrifying close approach. That’s only four times farther from the black hole than Neptune is from our sun.
When it does this, the gravity of the black hole is so fierce it’ll accelerate the star to about 6,000 km [4,000 miles] per second — fast enough to cross the continental U.S. in less than a second …
That close to a black hole, relativistic effects predicted by Einstein’s equations start to become important. For example, the light from the star will have to fight the gravity of the black hole to get to us, losing energy on its way out. This is called a gravitational redshift. When an object approaches or moves away from an observer, the light shifts in wavelength a bit, which is just plain old redshift. The amount of the shift depends on the velocity.
In the case of S2, at closest approach gravitational redshift acts like another 200 kilometers per second added to the star’s motion! That’s enough to measure pretty easily, so astronomers should definitely see that.
Infrared image of the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The position of the Milky Way’s central black hole – Sgr A* – is marked by an orange cross.
Image via ESO/ MPE/ S. Gillessen et al.
Astronomers with UCLA’s Galactic Center Group said they hope to witness the star being pulled at:
… maximum gravitational strength – a point where any deviation to Einstein’s theory is expected to be the greatest.
Tuan Do, deputy director of the Galactic Center Group, said in a statement:
It will be the first measurement of its kind. Gravity is the least well-tested of the forces of nature. Einstein’s theory has passed all other tests with flying colors so far, so if there are deviations measured, it would certainly raise lots of questions about the nature of gravity!
Devin Chu added:
We have been waiting 16 years for this. We are anxious to see how the star will behave under the black hole’s violent pull. Will S0-2 follow Einstein’s theory or will the star defy our current laws of physics? We will soon find out!
Astronomers with UCLA’s Galactic Center Group gather for a photo during a visit to Keck Observatory, located atop Maunakea, Hawaii. Members of the group will return to this site in the spring of 2018 to begin observations of S2 as the star travels towards its closest distance to our Milky Way’s central supermassive black hole.
By the way, in other news about our Milky Way’s black hole, scientists expect the first direct image of Sgr A* soon. So there are big, important research projects in play this year related to the supermassive black hole in the center of our galaxy.
Watch for the results of both, later in 2018.
Bottom line: Astronomers report an “all clear” – no companion found for S2, the star orbiting near our Milky Way’s central black hole. They hope to use this star later in 2018 for a test of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.
Orkanen op Jupiter reiken tot wel 3000 kilometer diep
Orkanen op Jupiter reiken tot wel 3000 kilometer diep
Caroline Kraaijvanger
De winden op de machtige gasreus zijn allesbehalve oppervlakkig.
Jupiter is een gasreus, wat betekent dat deze voornamelijk uit gas bestaat en geen vast oppervlak heeft. De zware planeet – Jupiter heeft ongeveer 2,5 keer zoveel massa als alle andere planeten in het zonnestelsel bij elkaar – is bedekt met een dik wolkendek. Bovendien woeden er op de planeet krachtige orkanen. Die orkanen worden – net als de krachtige straalstromen op de planeet – al een tijdje waargenomen. Onduidelijk was echter altijd tot hoe diep deze reikten.
3000 kilometer diep Dankzij Juno is daar nu meer duidelijkheid over gekomen. De ruimtesonde cirkelt sinds 2016 rond Jupiter en is gemaakt om te onthullen wat zich onder Jupiters dikke wolkendek bevindt. En door de sonde verzamelde gegevens wijzen nu uit dat de orkanen en straalstromen die we in de atmosfeer zien, heel diep reiken: tot wel 3000 kilometer.
Een vloeibaar binnenste dat zich vreemd gedraagt En daaronder bevindt zich dan het binnenste van Jupiter dat voornamelijk uit waterstof en helium bestaat. Dat binnenste is vloeibaar, maar gedraagt zich als een vast object, zo stellen de onderzoekers, waarbij de differentiële rotatie (het verschijnsel dat gas sneller roteert aan de polen dan aan de evenaar) sterk afneemt in vergelijking met de atmosfeer. “Onder die buitenste dynamische ‘huid’ die slechts 1 procent van de massa van Jupiter uitmaakt, bevindt zich de binnenste 99 procent van Jupiters massa en die roteert soepel en gestaag,” stelt professor Andrew Prentice (hij was niet betrokken bij het onderzoek).
Deze prachtige foto maakte Juno tijdens zijn tiende scheervlucht langs Jupiter.
Afbeelding: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Kevin M. Gill.
Stormen op de polen En ook op de polen gebeurt iets vreemds, zo schrijven onderzoekers. Op de noordpool zijn acht cyclonen te vinden die rond één cycloon cirkelen, terwijl op de zuidpool een cycloon te vinden is die omringd wordt door vijf cyclonen. Hoe deze stormen zijn ontstaan en waarom ze niet fuseren, is in dit stadium onduidelijk. “Ook lijkt het erop dat ze stilstaan, terwijl je zou verwachten dat ze langzaam roteren,” aldus Alan Duffy, verbonden aan de Swinburne University of Technology en eveneens niet betrokken bij het onderzoek. “Deze razende stormen zijn net zo mooi als ze mysterieus zijn.”
Belangrijk In totaal publiceren onderzoekers vandaag vier onderzoekspapers in het blad Nature waarin ze onder meer bovenstaande bevindingen uit de doeken doen. Met de publicaties hebben astronomen weer een flinke stap in de juiste richting gezet, stelt Yamila Miguel, sinds kort verbonden aan de Sterrewacht Leiden en betrokken bij drie van de vier papers. “Deze nieuwe kennis is cruciaal voor ons begrip van het inwendige van de planeet, van zijn samenstelling en van de verdeling van materiaal in het binnenste.”
Jupiter is om meerdere redenen een bijzonder interessante planeet. Zo is het de invloedrijkste planeet in ons zonnestelsel en heeft deze nog steeds zijn originele samenstelling. Door de planeet te bestuderen, kunnen we dan ook meer te weten komen over de beginjaren en evolutie van ons zonnestelsel. Daarnaast kan meer informatie over de planeet zelf wellicht ook weer nieuw licht werpen op de manen die deze rijk is, waaronder Europa, één van de betere kandidaten voor buitenaards leven in ons eigen zonnestelsel.
Aliens moeten mogelijk nog ietsje langer op hun ontdekking wachten
Aliens moeten mogelijk nog ietsje langer op hun ontdekking wachten
Caroline Kraaijvanger
Onze beste troef in de zoektocht naar buitenaards leven – de James Webb-telescoop – loopt waarschijnlijk opnieuw vertraging op.
De lancering van de krachtigste ruimtetelescoop die de mensheid ooit heeft gebouwd, is al herhaaldelijk uitgesteld. Zo was het een jaar geleden nog de bedoeling dat de telescoop in oktober 2018 het luchtruim zou kiezen. Maar vorig jaar werd duidelijk dat dat niet ging lukken. NASA kondigde aan nu in te zetten op een lancering in de eerste helft van 2019.
Gaat niet lukken Maar ook dat is te hoog gegrepen, waarschuwt het Amerikaanse Government Accountability Office in een uitgebreid rapport. “Afgaand op de hoeveelheid werk die NASA nog moet verzetten voor JWST (James Webb Space Telescope, red.) klaar is voor lancering, stellen wij dat het waarschijnlijk is dat de lanceerdatum opnieuw vooruit geschoven wordt.”
Problemen Dat de lancering vorig jaar werd uitgesteld naar 2019 kwam voornamelijk doordat het meer tijd kostte dan gepland om de verschillende onderdelen van de telescoop te integreren. Op dit moment is men nog volop bezig met die integratie en daarna moet het complete – complexe – systeem nog getest worden. Het is – zo benadrukt GAO – meestal in deze fase dat ruimtemissies vertraging oplopen, doordat zich problemen voordoen. En daarom verwacht de organisatie ook niet dat NASA voor juni 2019 kan lanceren.
Duurder Het betekent dat de kosten van de missie ook verder op zullen lopen, aldus het GAO. En de kans bestaat zelfs dat de bouw van de telescoop uiteindelijk meer gaat kosten dan de 8 miljard dollar die NASA er bij gratie van het Amerikaanse Congres maximaal aan mocht uitgeven. We hoeven niet bang te zijn dat de complete missie door dat uit de hand gelopen huishoudboekje (ooit dacht men de telescoop nog voor een paar miljard dollar te kunnen bouwen) wordt geschrapt. Daarvoor is al veel te veel geld en tijd in de missie gestopt. Wel kan de hele toestand rond James Webb de Amerikaanse overheid wat huiverig maken voor de bouw van de volgende generatie supertelescopen, zoals WFIRST die de Trump-regering nu al graag van de tekentafel ziet verdwijnen.
Natuurlijk zijn er meerdere manieren om buitenaards leven op te sporen. Je kunt bijvoorbeeld zoeken naar van aliens afkomstige radiosignalen of zelf berichten versturen in de hoop dat aliens ze opvangen. De meeste astronomen zien echter veel meer in de wat gerichtere aanpak van James Webb en daarmee is het misschien wel onze beste troef in de zoektocht naar buitenaards leven. Dat we mogelijk nog langer moeten wachten tot we die troef in kunnen zetten, is zuur. Maar als James Webb alle beloftes waarmaakt, is het het wachten waard.
0
1
2
3
4
5
- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:ALIEN LIFE, UFO- CRASHES, ABDUCTIONS, MEN IN BLACK, ed ( FR. , NL; E )
Hubble maakt prachtige foto van twee botsende sterrenstelsels
Hubble maakt prachtige foto van twee botsende sterrenstelsels
Caroline Kraaijvanger
Deze botsing – op een slordige 350 miljoen lichtjaar afstand – is nog maar net begonnen.
De prachtige foto laat twee balkspiraalstelsels zien die al aardig vervormd zijn. En dat terwijl de échte botsing nog moet beginnen. Want op de foto is goed te zien dat de kernen van de twee sterrenstelsels nog ver van elkaar verwijderd zijn. En toch beginnen de sterrenstelsels elkaar met hun zwaartekracht al aan te tasten.
Jonge sterren Dat zie je niet alleen aan de vreemde vorm van de sterrenstelsels, maar ook aan het feit dat beide sterrenstelsels druk bezig zijn met het produceren van jonge sterren. Die stervormingsgebieden hebben op de foto helderblauwe kleuren en profiteren van de botsing doordat interstellair gas en stof (waaruit sterren voortkomen) flink wordt opgeschud.
Foto: ESA / Hubble, NASA.
Fusie Deze twee sterrenstelsels – Arp 256 genoemd – houden elkaar waarschijnlijk nog miljoenen jaren bezig. In die periode zullen ze langzaam maar zeker naar elkaar toe kruipen om vervolgens te fuseren tot één groot sterrenstelsel.
Wie aan sterrenstelsels denkt, denkt vaak aan grote, machtige schijnbaar onverstoorbare structuren in de ruimte. Maar zelfs sterrenstelsels kunnen van hun à propos worden gebracht. En dat leidt tot vuurwerk in de ruimte! Meer weten over botsende sterrenstelsels en de prachtige foto’s die dat in het verleden heeft opgeleverd? Werp dan eens een blik op het artikel dat we hier eerder over publiceerden!
Bronmateriaal:
"Crash in progress" - Spacetelescope Afbeelding bovenaan dit artikel:
Drie superaardes ontdekt op zo'n 100 lichtjaar van de aarde
Drie superaardes ontdekt op zo'n 100 lichtjaar van de aarde
Caroline Kraaijvanger
De planeten zijn zeer geschikt voor vervolgonderzoek naar onder meer de samenstelling van hun atmosfeer.
Wetenschappers ontdekten de drie superaardes in gegevens die ruimtetelescoop Kepler heeft verzameld. De telescoop is gemaakt om planeten buiten ons zonnestelsel op te sporen en doet dat door langdurig naar sterren te turen, in de hoop de helderheid van sterren regelmatig af te zien nemen. Dergelijke ‘dipjes’ in de helderheid van een ster kunnen wijzen op de aanwezigheid van een planeet die regelmatig voor de ster langsbeweegt.
GJ9827 Zo ontdekte Kepler ook dat er rond de ster GJ9827 meerdere planeten cirkelen. Het gaat om drie superaardes, zo schrijven onderzoekers in dit paper. De planeten hebben een straal die 1,6, 1,3 en 2,1 keer groter is dan de straal van de aarde en hun massa zit tussen die van de aarde en Neptunus in. De superaardes staan heel dicht bij hun ster: ze doen er respectievelijk slechts 1,2, 3,6 en 6,2 dagen over om een rondje rond hun ster te voltooien. Het betekent dat de planeten vrij heet zijn: de temperaturen op het oppervlak lopen naar schatting uiteen van 407 tot 899 graden Celsius.
Atmosfeer Het is een vrij unieke ontdekking, zo benadrukken de onderzoekers. Doordat de planeten relatief dicht bij de aarde staan (GJ9827 is slechts 100 lichtjaar van ons verwijderd), hun moederster zeer helder is en de drie planeten ook nog eens duidelijk voor hun ster langsbewegen, kunnen we in de nabije toekomst gedetailleerd onderzoek gaan doen naar de samenstelling van hun atmosferen (dat doen astronomen door het licht van de moederster dat door deze atmosferen heen sijpelt te analyseren).
Ook de straal van deze planeten maakt de ontdekking bijzonder. Zoals gezegd hebben de planeten een straal van 1,6, 1,3 en 2,1 keer de straal van de aarde. Over het algemeen geldt dat planeten met een straal kleiner dan 1,6 keer de straal van de aarde rotsachtig zijn, terwijl planeten met een straal groter dan 1,6 keer de straal van de aarde gasreuzen zijn. Onduidelijk is nog waarom het kantelpunt rond die 1,6 keer de straal van de aarde ligt. Maar hier hebben we een planetair systeem dat uit drie planeten bestaat die precies rond – en eentje zelfs precies op – dat kantelpunt zitten. Een ideale gelegenheid om te achterhalen hoe de samenstelling en structuur van een planeet afhankelijk van de straal verandert.
With the revolutionary steps made in space exploration, and a whole universe to explore, many questions relating to far off solar systems and galaxies arise; Are any planets other than our own habitable? How many of them have atmospheres? The more our technology advances, the deeper we can see into space, the more our curiosity arises. But one question that has always captured a lot of public interest is whether there is extraterrestrial life. There is a burning desire to know: are we alone?
Scientists keep a look out for ‘biomarkers’ when searching for alien life. Biomarkers are the characteristics of the Earth’s atmosphere that, when present on other planets, indicate the possibility of life. These include the presence of molecular oxygen, water, carbon dioxide and methane. While we don’t know that other planets would display all these signs, it again acts as a good starting place, and a logical indicator of possible life.
The problem faced when attempting to detect biomarkers on distant exoplanets is due to their relative proximity to their star in comparison to Earth. This means the light we observe from these planets is often masked completely by the radiation emitted from the star they are orbiting, making analysis of their light far more complex. Even when a planet is directly observable, an extremely high resolution telescope is required to distinguish between the light from the planet and the light from the star. To a lesser extent, radiation from other distant objects can also make it harder to distinguish what radiation is attributed to the planet, even our own atmosphere can result in interference that can confuse results.
A telescope's resolution is directly related to its size, meaning ground based telescopes are limited by the distance of the atmosphere[2]. Technological progress has allowed for images from ground based telescopes to be improved after capture, but this is still not enough to produce images of exoplanets that we can always draw information from. Space based telescopes require far more funding and, given the challenging environment, are far harder to implement.
Without progress in telescopic imaging, it is not always easy to detect these biomarkers, and consequentially we face a barrier in the search for life. Learn more about The Search for another Earth.
Illustration of the evolution of detecting the early universe, from ground-based space telescopes to the Hubble space telescope and the future James Webb space telescope. Image credit: Public domain
Mysterious Methane
Methane has been detected in the martian atmosphere both by Earth-based telescopes, and by the European Mars Express mission[4]. The lack of a magnetic field around Mars means that this methane can be easily destroyed by cosmic radiation. Therefore the fact that its abundance seems to remain fairly constant implies methane production on Mars.
Methane is usually associated with organic processes (as the output of processes involving life), however there are other means by which it can be produced. These include geochemical mechanisms such as a process known as serpentinisation, as well as the recently demonstrated release of methane from meteorites bombarded with UV radiation under Mars-like conditions.
More data are needed from the regions of the martian surface where this methane has been detected to begin to determine it's source, however the issue is clouded by the fact that these processes are not mutually exclusive, and so even if we can identify one of these occurring, it does not rule out the possibility of methane being produced simultaneously by an alternative process.
Is there life on Mars? Probably not, though if there's water at the poles and possibly underground, it remains a possibility. If there is, it's certainly in the form of microbes rather than anything more advanced.
Perhaps a better question though, is was there ever life on Mars? Since we now believe there was once liquid water on the surface, this is a very strong possibility, but we have no evidence of it yet. This question is a driving force behind several Mars missions from Curiosity (NASA) to ExoMars (ESA).
Artist's impression of the Curiosity landing on Mars. Image credit: Public domain
Just as it has on Mars, methane has been detected in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan[5]. These observations have been confirmed both by Earth-based telescopes, and by the Cassini mission, which has also spotted shallow lakes of methane around the moons tropics. Calculations suggest that this methane ought to have been broken up by cosmic radiation within 50 million years or so (a very short time when compared to the age of the Solar System itself). Therefore it's present abundance seems to indicate that the methane in the atmosphere is being replenished from a source on Titan itself. Methane is usually associated with organic processes (as the output of processes involving life), however there are other potential sources. These include Cryovolcanoes (volcanic type features which release water and other gas/liquids with low melting points, on colder worlds than our own). Titan has a thicker atmosphere than Earth, layers of which are almost entirely opaque to visible light. As a result, we have no good images of the Titanian surface, and are thus unable to say for sure what the source of the methane on Titan is.
Detecting Habitable Planets
Each solar system has a theoretical zone where the atmospheric pressure and temperature of the planets within is sufficient to allow for surface water to be present. These are known as Circumstellar Habitable Zones or, more colloquially, Goldilocks zones. This is used as an indicator for possible alien life, as for life as we know it to exist, water is a necessity.
A planet is determined to be within or outside of the zone depending on its orbit, its mass and the amount of power radiated by the star it’s orbiting. Being within the Habitable Zone does not guarantee the presence of water, just defines whether the conditions are suitable. There are also other factors necessary for an ‘Earth like’ planet such as atmosphere, which this does not consider. However it does rule out celestial bodies with water being found outside a habitable zone, hence acting as a good starting point for the search for alien life.
Since the concept was presented, many stars have been found to have a planet within their habitable zone, in fact some have been observed with multiple planets within the zone. This again seems to support the idea that other ‘Earth like’ planets exist.
Doubts have been raised, however, about the validity of these habitable zones, as surface water is thought to have been detected on celestial bodies outside a zone, most commonly via absorption spectroscopy - a method of analysing the light from a body to determine its composition. The water present on these planets can be maintained by processes such as tidal heating and radioactive decay, or pressurized by other means. It is also thought to be possible for water to be present on rogue planets or their moons[1].
So while these zones may be a good place to start the search for extraterrestrial life, maybe we should not limit ourselves to searching solely within their scope. Learn more about Are Exoplanets Habitable?.
A representation of habitable zones around stars. Image credit: TWDK
Scientists have been discovering planets outside of our own solar system since 1988, and the rate at which these have been found has increased dramatically in recent years, with over ten times as many being found in the second decade of discovery than the first. The nature of these planets is varied and the possibility of any of them supporting life depends upon a myriad factors.
Not all stars have the exact same elemental make-up however, containing different quantities of heavier elements (other than Hydrogen and Helium). The different composition of these stars directly affects the rate at which they burn, and so the lifetime of the star. This will affect the position, and lifetime, of the region around the star in which liquid water could exist. The composition of these stars may also affect the nature of the atmosphere and geological evolution of the planets which form around them, and thus how suitable these may be for life to arise on.
We cannot always measure the complete composition of these stars because some elements are present in quantities too small to be detected by traditional spectroscopic techniques. As for the composition of the planets themselves, we do not know enough about planetary formation to understand exactly how these may be affected yet.
An additional problem to finding evidence of life outside of our solar system is the ability to find the planets (or moons) hosting that life. Although this is difficult, it is not entirely impossible - although so far, only extremely large planets far bigger than Jupiter have been directly imaged. Learn more about Detection and Discovery of Exoplanets.
This image of the young star 1RXS J160929.1−210524 shows a massive planet orbiting at great distance (circled). It was taken in 2008 by astronomers using the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii. Image credit: Gemini Observatory
Is All Life Dependent on Water?
For life as we know it to be viable, water is a necessity. Humans are composed of 60% water and cannot survive without it for more than a few days. This is not to say this is the same for all species on Earth, the level of dependency does vary, however every known organism requires water to live.
So far this article has has explored how scientists try and identify planets they deem capable of supporting life, and the presence of water has been the recurring theme. Now this is an obvious first step, and a logical progression - all life on Earth relies on water, therefore when on the hunt for alien life, we start our search on planets that also have water. However, This does not necessarily mean that life is dependent on water universally. We just don’t know how life might have developed elsewhere. It is possible that other life forms may have evolved with alternative biochemistries, reliant on other elements all together. Scientists are fairly certain that some form of liquid is necessary to life, but again this cannot be ascertained.
So, while beginning our search within the realms of habitable zones or more generally on planets that reveal a presence of surface water, we should by no means rule out the possibility of finding life on a planet completely unlike Earth.
A further puzzle we are yet to answer, is how does life begin on Earth or other planets? While speculations have been made about how life begins, we are yet to find an overruling theory.
Life in the Universe - The Fermi Paradox
The Fermi Paradox states that there is a contradiction between the estimates of probability of civilized alien life, and the lack of supporting evidence. To understand why scientists think there is such a high probability of alien life we must get an idea of scale.
The observable universe is the universe that can, in principle, be viewed from Earth at this point in time. For anything further away, there will not have been time due to the expansion of space (since the Big Bang) for the light to have reached Earth. It spans over 93 billion light years, giving us an estimate of at least 100 billion galaxies within observable range from Earth.
Given that there are billions of stars that are older than our own sun, with orbiting planets far older than our Earth, and assuming that our Earth is by no means extraordinary, we reach the conclusion that it is very likely there will be other Earth-like planets in the observable universe. These ‘Earth-like’ exoplanets would have been capable of supporting life for much longer than our own Earth however, so the evolution of their life forms and their possible civilizations could be leaps and bounds ahead of our own.
Extrapolating our own species' progress in space travel and exploration, we could colonise a galaxy in tens of millions of years, so if these planets are billions of years older, it follows that they could be far further along in the field of space exploration than us, and could quite possibly be fully aware of our existence. And yet we have no evidence for their existence. It is possible that intelligent life arises frequently in the universe, but invariably faces extinction before contact can be made.
The organisation SETI (The Search for Extraterrestrial Life) attempts to explore the origins of life in the universe, the nature of such life, and how widespread alien life is (if at all). Given our interest in what’s out there, many people have attempted to come up with explanations for this paradox, but none have supporting evidence and so the question still stands unanswered.
Artist's logarithmic scale conception of the observable universe with the Solar System at the centre all the way to Big Bang's invisible plasma on the edge. Image credit: Unmismoobjetivo
The Origin of Life
How life began on Earth is still a much debated topic. It is generally accepted that life began in water, but this contradicts with what we know about the necessary building blocks for life; one of the crucial ingredients for life, RNA, is unstable in water, unless the water has a high enough boron content. Boron is necessary for life because it stabilizes ribose, the “R” out of RNA’s three components. However it is believed that when life began on Earth there was hardly any boron in the water. So this leaves us asking, how did life begin?
One hypothesis, Panspermia, considers the possibility that life in fact began outside of our Earth. The most likely scenario for this hypothesis involves life originating on Mars. It is thought that boron was far more plentiful on Mars and this is supported by the fact that boron was found on a martian meteorite[3]. While this may seem far fetched, the idea that basic martian life could have travelled over on an asteroid and evolved on Earth at least answers RNA’s ‘water problem’. So are we in fact the long lost descendants of martians or is there something we’re missing? Learn more about origin of life.
Maybe we are yet to come across alien life, because Earth is fundamentally unique. However, with probability in our favour, it’s likely we will stumble across alien life eventually. The next question will be, do we want to?
This article was written by the Things We Don’t Know editorial team, with contributions from Andrew Rushby, Ed Trollope, Jon Cheyne, and Holly Godwin.
This article was first published on 2017-11-26 and was last updated on 2017-11-26.
[1] Abbot, D,S., Switzer, E,R., (2011) THE STEPPENWOLF: A PROPOSAL FOR A HABITABLE PLANET IN INTERSTELLAR SPACE The Astrophysical Journal 735(2):L27- DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/735/2/L27
[2] Kawahara, H., et al., (2012) CAN GROUND-BASED TELESCOPES DETECT THE OXYGEN 1.27 μm ABSORPTION FEATURE AS A BIOMARKER IN EXOPLANETS? The Astrophysical Journal 758(1):13- DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/758/1/13
[3] Grossman, L., Webb, R., (2013) Martian chemistry was friendlier to life New Scientist 219(2933):14 DOI: 10.1016/S0262-4079(13)62173-9
[4] Formisano, V., (2004) Detection of Methane in the Atmosphere of Mars Science 306(5702):1758-1761 DOI: 10.1126/science.1101732
Beste bezoeker, Heb je zelf al ooit een vreemde waarneming gedaan, laat dit dan even weten via email aan Frederick Delaere opwww.ufomeldpunt.be. Deze onderzoekers behandelen jouw melding in volledige anonimiteit en met alle respect voor jouw privacy. Ze zijn kritisch, objectief maar open minded aangelegd en zullen jou steeds een verklaring geven voor jouw waarneming! DUS AARZEL NIET, ALS JE EEN ANTWOORD OP JOUW VRAGEN WENST, CONTACTEER FREDERICK. BIJ VOORBAAT DANK...
Druk op onderstaande knop om je bestand , jouw artikel naar mij te verzenden. INDIEN HET DE MOEITE WAARD IS, PLAATS IK HET OP DE BLOG ONDER DIVERSEN MET JOUW NAAM...
Druk op onderstaande knop om een berichtje achter te laten in mijn gastenboek
Alvast bedankt voor al jouw bezoekjes en jouw reacties. Nog een prettige dag verder!!!
Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 73 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.
