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 NEARLY 13 YEARS AND 4 MONTH.
ON /30/09/2024 MORE THAN 2.230.520
VISITORS FROM 135 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...
21-07-2018
UFO Shocks Newscaster On TV News Show, June 21, 2018, Video, UFO Sighting News.
UFO Shocks Newscaster On TV News Show, June 21, 2018, Video, UFO Sighting News.
Date of sighting: June 21, 2018 Location of sighting: Buffalo, New York, USA The newscaster caught a UFO on the sky cam and as you can see, it shoots right past the weather cam. The UFO actually zig zags and then shoots off. I moves too fast to be drone and too fast to be a helicopter. The close up screenshot you see above clearly shows a huge square light. No wings, no blades, no aircraft lights or red lights as some drones have. All signs point to this being an alien craft. I believe that aliens are drop feeding the public daily around the world evidence of their existence in hopes to one day prepare humanity for interaction with them. Scott C. Waring
I recorded a UFO last night during sunset over the Taipei 101 building, Taiwan, July 20, 2018, UFO Sighting News.
I recorded a UFO last night during sunset over the Taipei 101 building, Taiwan, July 20, 2018, UFO Sighting News.
Date of sighting: July 20, 2018 Location of sighting: Taipei, Taiwan
Guys I recorded this video myself (Scott C. Waring) from my 16 floor window of my Taipei apartment. It was sunset about 6:15pm and I took a photo for Instagram...then a few minutes later I noticed a bright glowing light flying lower and lower towards the top of the Taipei 101 building. The object moved closer for about 3 minutes and then disappeared. I took the video with my iPhone 7 plus. Below is the Instagram photo I took with no UFO in it, then the UFO just appeared about 5 min later. Thats when I recorded a video of it. Please follow me on Instagram. I'm UFOSIGHTINGSDAILY. Scott C. Waring-Taiwan
One of the most fascinating and curious aspects of the UFO phenomena is the way in which, over the course of the last century, the appearance of both our alleged extraterrestrial visitors and their craft have changed dramatically. For example, in the latter part of the 19th century and early years of the 20thcentury, the skies of the United States (and, to a lesser degree, Britain) were filled with strange-looking flying machines known within ufological circles as “phantom airships.” As their name suggests, many of the aerial devices in question closely resembled the huge Zeppelin airships of the First World War. Essentially, the 19th century UFO invasion mirrored either what was on the drawing-boards, or what had been envisaged within the minds of both the military war-machine and skilled inventors of the time.
Then, in the 1930s, as aviation technology progressed, reports began to surface of so-called Ghost Planes – aircraft that no-one could seemingly identify. A decade later, at the height of the Second World War, the skies of war-torn Europe and the Pacific theater were home to strange invaders known as Foo Fighters: small, glowing balls of light that furiously pursued both Allied- and Axis-aircraft.
By 1946, when rocketry was seen as likely playing a dominant role in the future of warfare and eventually space-travel too, the Foo Fighters had given way to the Ghost-Rockets: missile-like vehicles that were the opening act for the era of the Flying Saucer that was ushered in during the summer of 1947. The true irony, however, is the fact that the one man who can lay claim to having brought the Flying Saucer into being – American pilot Kenneth Arnold – never saw saucer-shaped craft.
Rather, while flying over Washington State on June 24, 1947, Arnold described seeing a fleet of objects that were of a distinctly wedge- or delta-shape. However, when Arnold specifically likened their movements – rather than their shape – to how a saucer would fly if it were skipped, like a pebble, across a body of water – the term Flying Saucer became commonplace; as did, interestingly enough, countless sightings of specifically saucer-shaped craft. In other words, people were seeing objects of a shape that was based around media-hyped terminology, rather than what Arnold actually witnessed. Today, the Flying Saucers of yesteryear are largely gone and have been firmly replaced by the ominous-looking, so-called Flying Triangles: huge, black, triangular-shaped aircraft that might accurately be described as next-generation Stealth aircraft.
Our reported alien visitors have also changed over the decades – and dramatically so. In the 1950s, numerous people all across the world claimed face-to-face contact with eerily human-like extraterrestrials, who generally sported long blonde hair, and who suggested that we should lay down our nuclear weapons and live in peace and harmony with one another. And thus was born the cult of the Contactee.
The most famous of the Contactees was undoubtedly George Adamski, whose book with Desmond Leslie, Flying Saucers Have Landed, forever made his mark in the world of Ufology. Like nearly all of the Contactees, Adamski maintained that his alien friends came from planets within our own solar system, with Venus being a particular favorite.
As science, space-travel and astronomy progressed, however, two things became apparent:
(a) Venus, Mars and the several various other planets in our solar system that the Contactees maintained were inhabited, were in all likelihood – or at least to a highly significant degree – barren and inhospitable wastelands;
and (b) if aliens really did exist, the idea that they would resemble us to such a significant degree was highly unlikely. And, as belief systems changed concerning alien life, and as it became more and apparent that the Earth was probably the only inhabited world in our solar system, lo and behold the aliens and their points of origin changed, too.
The long-haired kindly aliens of the 1950s were kicked into large-scale oblivion by the now-ubiquitous black-eyed dwarfs known as the Greys: emotionless creatures whose points of origin are claimed to be light-years away, and who are motivated by nothing less than the large-scale abduction of human-beings as part of an attempt to create a hybrid species that will ensure the survival of the declining Gray race. The dire warnings of the aliens have changed too: at the height of the Cold War, the long-haired blondes spoke of the perils of atomic weaponry. In today’s world, however, it is global-warming and environmental destruction that the Grays seem so concerned about – something that mirrors exactly our own concerns on such matters.
Only the most hardened skeptic, or those whose belief in literal aliens is driven by an X-Files-like “I want to believe” approach that borders upon religious mania, could deny that there is a distinct pattern at work here. And it’s a pattern that suggests much of the genuinely unexplained facets inherent in the UFO puzzle might well be explainable in a very strange fashion.
It is quite clear from all the above that as our technology changes, and as our knowledge of the universe advances and our beliefs are modified or altered, so our aliens and their craft change too. And why is it that from 1947 onward people were seeing Flying Saucers, when the term actually related to their method of movement rather than their apparent design?
In view of the observations and questions above, I have to seriously consider the very real possibility that humankind’s fascination with the idea of extraterrestrial life and UFOs has – whether consciously, unconsciously or subconsciously – led to the creation of belief-systems of such intensity among the masses that they may well have given birth to literal Tulpas of the alien and Flying Saucer kind. And what might Tulpas be? Well, that depends on your perspective.
In my 2018 book, The Slenderman Mysteries, I addressed the possibility that the Slenderman is a Tulpa. I said: “The phenomenon of the Tulpa has its origins in the ancient teachings of Buddhism and is a Tibetan term that roughly translates into English as ‘manifestation’. It’s a highly appropriate piece of terminology for the Slenderman. In essence, it is the process by which the human mind can allegedly bring some degree of alternative, physical existence to an entity that is created solely within the depths of the imagination – and from within the dream state, too. In other words, and as incredible as it may sound, each and every one of us may well possess the ability to give ‘life’ to certain ‘things’ that don’t exist in the same way that we do.”
It’s very important, too, to note the words of magician and exorcist, Ian Vincent, who told me: “I ended up writing a scholarly paper on the fact that the Western version of the Tulpa has absolutely nothing to do with the actual meaning of the word in Tibet. In the original, the thought-form is just the thing you picture in your head when you are meditating as an offering to the gods, like an apple, as an example. The Tulpa is the visualization of the apple in your mind when you pray; that’s all it has ever been. But, it’s mutated so much to a point where it’s now just this go-to idea of if enough people believe in it becomes a thing.”
Perhaps we really are all alone in the universe. But, maybe our desire to think there is something more out there has inadvertently led us to give various phenomena life. And, now, with belief firmly instilled, it has escaped from the moorings of its creators – that’s us – to terrorize and mystify drivers on lonely stretches of road late at night, or to invade people’s bedrooms after darkness has fallen.
Ghosts, Tulpas, Shades, Shadow People and Phantoms
Ons weer is vreemd geworden, want van natte koele zomers zijn we ineens beland in een lange en vooral ook heel droge zomer.
Dit heeft niets te maken met de door de mens veroorzaakte opwarming, maar is wel een teken dat de mini ijstijd nu echt is begonnen.
De zomer in ons land is misschien net op de helft en nu al dreigen alle droogterecords te worden verbroken, vertonen sommige bomen al herfstkleuren en is alle gras wat niet regelmatig wordt besproeid totaal verdord.
Wat er nu gebeurt is natuurlijk koren op de molen van de klimaatprofeten die nu om het hardst roepen dat de door de mens veroorzaakte klimaatopwarming van de aarde zo langzamerhand desastreuze vormen begint aan te nemen.
Dit alles vormt dan weer een reden om de angstige burgers nog veel meer geld uit de zak te kloppen omdat alles en iedereen zich moet onderwerpen aan de religie van het afgrijselijke woord duurzaam.
Het laatste wat je dan in een dergelijk scenario verwacht is een bericht dat de nieuwe en door ons vijf jaar geleden al voorspelde mini ijstijd is begonnen. Een mini ijstijd houdt niet in dat het land het hele jaar door met ijs is bedekt, maar refereert aan de periodes van enkele honderden jaren geleden dat vooral de winters in ons land en de rest van West Europa extreem koud waren.
De temperatuur op aarde wordt niet door de mens bepaald, maar door de zon. Hoe actiever de zon, des te warmer wordt het op aarde. De activiteit van de zon wordt gemeten door het registreren van het aantal zonnevlekken en wanneer er in een bepaalde cyclus weinig of geen zonnevlekken zijn, dan spreekt men van een Minimum, zoals we vroeger het Dalton en het Maunder Minimum hadden.
De verwachting is dat de komende decennia de activiteit van de zon steeds verder gaat afnemen, zodanig dat er waardes worden bereikt zoals we die hadden rond de eerder genoemde periodes.
Onlangs schreven wij een artikel met daarin het vermoeden dat onze streken wel eens slachtoffer konden zijn van weermanipulatie, simpelweg omdat de jetstream ons land nauwelijks meer bereikt, maar wordt afgebogen naar het noorden, waardoor landen als IJsland en Groenland geen zomer hebben dit jaar en wij eigenlijk permanent wind uit noordelijke streken hebben, soms variërend naar noordwest of noordoost. Terwijl wij eigenlijk hier gewend zijn aan voornamelijk gematigde en vochtige westelijke winden.
En dan stuiten we eigenlijk bij toeval op een heel belangrijk wetenschappelijk onderzoek, uitgevoerd door de Universiteit van Cardiff en dat begin 2014 werd gepubliceerd in het blad Nature Geoscience. Een onderzoek dat waarschijnlijk door de klimaatprofeten zoveel mogelijk wordt genegeerd, want er staan opzienbarende dingen in.
Het onderzoek richtte zich op een periode van 1.000 jaar en de effecten die de zonneactiviteit heeft op ons weer. De wetenschappers komen daarbij tot de conclusie dat zelfs de kleinste verandering in zonneactiviteit een aanzienlijk gevolg op aarde kan hebben en dan met name op de dynamiek tussen oceaan en atmosferische veranderingen in het noorden van de Atlantische Oceaan, hetgeen dan weer een effect heeft op het regionale klimaat.
De onderzoekers kwamen tot de conclusie dat ten tijde van lage of geen zonneactiviteit er heel regelmatig blokkades ontstaan van de jetstream, waardoor je de zogenaamde “polar vortex” verschijnselen krijgt.
In de praktijk betekent dit dat de jetstream wordt afgebogen naar het noorden, waarbij wij dan niet langer onder invloed staan van de relatief zachte en vochtige lucht uit het westen zoals we gewend zijn, maar te maken krijgen met lucht die via de poolstreken naar ons land stroomt. Met andere woorden, langere periodes met wind uit een noordelijke of noordoostelijke richting.
Eind februari dit jaar hebben we een dergelijke periode meegemaakt, waarbij het bij ons ongekend koud werd.
Op dit moment hebben we weer een dergelijk periode, maar dit keer veel langer en zorgt het niet voor vrieskou, maar voor heldere droge lucht en wanneer de wind iets meer richting oosten draait, warm tot heel warme lucht. Deze lucht is niet geschikt voor cloud seeding omdat er te weinig luchtvochtigheid is en daarom zie je hier momenteel ook veel minder chemtrails. Deze geo engineering is weer een ander onderwerp en we zullen daar hier niet verder op in gaan. Via de voorgaande link is er meer over te vinden.
Wanneer ditzelfde verschijnsel van oostelijke of noord oostelijke wind zich de komende winter voordoet, dan krijgen we een winter vergelijkbaar met de periode eind februari dit jaar.
De onderzoekers van Cardiff ontdekten dat hoe minder zonneactiviteit, des te meer kans er ook is op langdurige blokkades in de winter van de jetstream, hetgeen dan zorgt voor wat men noemt de mini ijstijd.
Deze blokkades van de jetstream worden veroorzaakt door permanent hoge druk gebieden in de buurt van Engeland. Soms iets ten westen, soms boven Engeland en soms iets ten oosten van Engeland zoals nu het geval is.
Het onderzoek dat door Cardiff in samenwerking met de Universiteit van Bern werd uitgevoerd zegt dat ze door de voornoemde atmosferische blokkade van de jetstream tijdens periode van lage zonneactiviteit het antwoord hebben op de vraag waarom er zich in het verleden een mini ijstijd voordeed, waarbij alles ’s winters bevroor en mensen honger leden omdat oogsten mislukten. Ook nu dreigen oogsten te mislukken door het extreem droge weer en ook nu eten de koeien op stal al het voer dat eigenlijk bedoeld is voor de winter.
We hebben even gekeken of de zon misschien ondertussen wat actiever is geworden, maar het resultaat wijst op nog veel meer atmosferische blokkades van de jetstream en in de winter een polar vortex.
Wel een heel slim idee om tijdens de komende mini ijstijd iedereen af te sluiten van het gas, waardoor de machthebbers dan zeker weten dat wanneer ze met één druk op de knop de elektriciteit afsluiten, de bevolking absoluut zal doodvriezen of desgevraagd (nog) een stuk gehoorzamer.
One new image from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) shows just how far our star-gazing ability has come.
Image credits: ESO/P. Weilbacher.
The image was snapped using a new adaptive optics mode called laser tomography — a technique which has shown promise in astronomy as well as in medical research. The technology was made possible by the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE), which works with an adaptive optics unit and can correct for the effects of atmospheric turbulence up to one kilometer above the telescope. Using laser tomography, MUSE is able to compensate for almost all of the atmospheric turbulence (which bends incoming light and so distorts images) above the telescope to create much sharper pictures — with the caveat that it does so over a smaller region of the sky than comparable telescopes.
With this approach, astronomers were able to bypass the biggest downside of Earth-based imaging — dealing with the atmospheric disturbances and noise. This is the main reason why we send telescopes like Hubble out in space. However, if we can do that just as well (or almost as well) from Earth, it could be a game changer for future observations.
The image of Neptune on the left was obtained during the testing of the Narrow-Field adaptive optics mode of the MUSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. The image on the right is a comparable image taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The two images were not taken at the same time so they do not show identical surface features.
Image Credits: ESO/P. Weilbacher (AIP)/NASA, ESA, and M.H. Wong and J. Tollefson (UC Berkeley).
Compared to pictures taken from the same telescope without the adaptive optics technique, the difference is even more striking:
These images of the planet Neptune were obtained during the testing of the Narrow-Field adaptive optics mode. The image on the right is without the adaptive optics system in operation and the one on the left after the adaptive optics are switched on.
Image Credits: ESO/P. Weilbacher (AIP).
The combination of exquisite image sharpness and the spectroscopic capabilities of MUSE will enable astronomers to study the properties of astronomical objects in much greater detail than they ever could before. Of course, having sharp images of objects allows you to study them in better detail, and gives astronomers a better chance to understand what they look like and how they were formed.
“It will enable astronomers to study in unprecedented detail fascinating objects such as supermassive black holes at the centers of distant galaxies, jets from young stars, globular clusters, supernovae, planets and their satellites in the solar system and much more,” says the ESO.
The ESO will continuously update with more photos as their instruments capture better and better resolution images. We can only imagine what these next images will look like, but for now, color me impressed.
Protocols Exist to Communicate With Extraterrestrials
Protocols Exist to Communicate With Extraterrestrials
By Greg O’Shalae
• With the October 2017 discovery of the cigar-shaped “asteroid” from another star named Oumuamua, cruising through our solar system, and the December 2017 release by the US Navy video of a “tic tac” shaped UFO off of San Diego and similar videos released in March of 2018, it appears that extraterrestrials are already here. An episode of The History Channel’s Ancient Aliens (S13 E3, aired May 11, 2018) addresses the question of how we should attempt to communicate with them.
• The International Academy of Aeronautics, an informal “study group” endorsed by SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) has adopted a written set of communications protocols called the “Declaration of Principles Concerning the Conduct of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence”. This non-binding set of guidelines for extraterrestrial communication emphasizes process transparency, third party verification, full media disclosure, and submission of findings made to the International Astronomical Union.
• Ancient Aliens suggests that we avoid welcoming parties, international squabbles over who will represent the Earth, and wholesale integration of alien beings into our society.
• The Brookings Report (as usual) advocates releasing information slowly to culturally acclimate the population and avoid widespread paranoia.
• In 1977, the Voyager 1 probe contained “the golden record” which set forth the story of humanity in glowing terms for any extraterrestrial with a golden record player.
• [Editor’s Note] – It is apparent that there is no official representative body or protocol for communicating with extraterrestrial beings. When the time comes, might I suggest that the world turn to Dr Michael Salla and the thirteen years’ worth of study on the subject by the distinguished members of the Exopolitics Institute to form an initial delegation to represent the interests of humanity on Earth in negotiations with extraterrestrial civilizations.
What if aliens visit Earth? Indeed, what if they have already visited? Ancient Aliens explores this concept and links multiple data sources to the conclusion.
Additionally, Ancient Aliens discusses multiple possibilities for future contact. Theoretically, how should humanity interact with aliens? As space exploration continues, this is a subject humanity will have to discuss.
If you’re a frequent watcher of Ancient Aliens, you know the answer to visitation is the same as the age old “Does a bear defecate in the woods”-question. A discovery less than a year ago has propagated this belief.
On October 19, 2017, at the Haleakala Observatory in Maui, a mysterious cigar-shaped object traveling at high speed was detected with a massive telescope and technology that takes a astrophysics Ph.D. to figure out. The object had a unique hyperbolic trajectory like none other, seemingly moving too fast for gravity to force the typical circular or elliptical orbit. It was determined that, for the first time ever, an asteroid entered our solar system from a different star system. It was named Oumuamua, which is Hawaiian for “scout.”
Some leaders in the field – like Avi Loeb, theoretical physicist and Professor of Science at Harvard University – have suggested the ideal shape/environment for an extraterrestrial vessel would be an elongated cylinder not unlike Oumuamua. The classification (i.e. asteroid or comet) of the object, however, has since been debated. Of course, many of the Ancient Aliens crew suggest a third alternative:
The good folks at SETI were very interested in Oumuamua, and have reignited the conversation about how humans should communicate with aliens when we are contacted. Furthermore, the International Academy of Aeronautics, an informal collection of people who deliberated in 1989 on a response to alien visitation, published the “Declaration of Principles Concerning the Conduct of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.”
Since the aforementioned document is not legally binding, which government or scientific community should communicate with aliens? Ancient Aliens suggests the decision and plans have already been made, and they exist deep in the bowels of government obstruction and obfuscation.
Are the ‘Hessdalen Lights‘, strange luminous aerial phenomena (some might even say the word ‘UFOs’…) observed for many years in the Hessdalen Valley of Norway, the equivalent of sparks created by a natural geological battery? That’s one of the theories suggested in a story in this week’s issue of New Scientist, in which reporter Caroline Williams spoke to some of the researchers who have returned year after year to study the anomaly:
Sometimes the lights are as big as cars and can float around for up to 2 hours. Other times they zip down the valley before suddenly fading away. Then therea re the blue and white flashes that come and go in the blink of an eye, and daytime sightings that look like metallic objects in the sky. It is little wonder that when they started appearing up to 20 times a week in the early 1980s, UFOlogists hailed the Hessdalen valley as a portal to other worlds and flocked there to celebrate.
But for an international team that has been studying the mysterious lights since then, the valley harbours something much more exciting than flying saucers. If they can work out what it is about the place that powers such incredible light displays, it may not only help explain mysterious lights in other parts of the world, but also open up the possibility of storing energy in a radical way. It is a big if, but the team will be heading back to Hessdalen in the summer to test out a bunch of theoires on what is generating the lights. Armed with clues from recent lab studies, plus a bank of new instruments and sensors, they could find that this is the year it all starts to make sense.
The small group of Italian, Norwegian and French researchers who have been working together (part-time) on the mystery for the last 14 years have have noticed a few curious things about the Hessdalen Lights: while they make no sound and don’t seem to be overly hot (no evidence of burn marks where they contact trees and the ground), they do seem to sterilise the ground where they land, as there is an absence of soil microbes at areas of contact. Furthermore, the researchers have found that they sometimes get strong radar echoes “from unseen entities” even when no lights are visible.
The combination of all these clues has researchers thinking that the Hessdalen Lights are a kind of plasma, formed from ionised gas. When the gas ionises, it forms “a cloud of ions and electrons which release energy in the form of light when they recombine”. This light is not always in the visible spectrum though, and plasmas can be cool enough to touch. Even more interesting, plasmas are known to kill bacteria. And a plasma cloud would also account for the strange daytime sightings of ‘metallic objects’ flying through the sky – such objects would in fact be very dense plasma clouds beginning to emit light.
However, to ionise gas usually requires temperatures around the 10,000°C mark…something like a lightning strike. Therein lies the problem: in Hessdalen the lights aren’t linked to thunderstorms, and appear on sunny days and clear nights. This has researchers mystified. “There must be an energy source somewhere that has the power of a lighting strike,” electrical engineer Bjorn Gitle Hauge says. “What can electrify and drive a ball of light as big as a car for several hours?”
There are a number of theories. One is that strong winds whipping through the valley might create static electricity on the mountains. Another theory is they are powered by radioactivity – specifically, decay of radon in the atmosphere (though radioactivity tests have failed to find any evidence for this). One other theory is that the valley acts as a giant battery, due to its unique geology: it is literally a “valley of two halves”, as the rocks on one side of the river are rich in zinc and iron, while those on the other side are rich in copper. With the possibility that the river water between has sulphur in it, researchers have asked whether the natural geology of the valley make it “a perfect battery”.
“To test the idea, Jader Monari (of the Institute of Radio Astronomy in Medicina, Italy) and Romano Serra (from the University of Bologna, Italy) set up a pair of rocks from opposite sides of the valley as electrodes, and dunked them in river sediment to mimic a battery. They found that a current flowed between the two. “It was possible to light a lamp,” says Monari.
Monari suggests that this unique geology contributes to the lights in two ways. First, it supplies the bubbles of ionised gas, formed when sulphurous fumes react with the humid air of the valley. Second, it forms electromagnetic field lines in the valley that could move the bubble around. “This electrical field creates a path that could be the ‘main raod’ of the lights inside the valley,” he says.
The amount of theories has some researchers worried though. Computer engineer Erling Strand, who began the scientific study of the lights some three decades ago with ‘Project Hessdalen’, says he thinks “the theories we have now are based on too few hard facts. It can damage the research.” Nevertheless, the idea that the phenomena have some basis in electrical charges is supported by other observations, such as a connection between the aurora and the Hessdalen lights – witnesses have found that they are particularly impressive during auroral displays.
For those that would like to know more about the Hessdalen Lights, watch the documentary below. And of course, check out the feature in the latest issue of New Scientist.
Blood Moon 2018: Longest Total Lunar Eclipse of Century Occurs July 27
Blood Moon 2018: Longest Total Lunar Eclipse of Century Occurs July 27
By Elizabeth Howell, Space.com Contributor
The longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century is less than two weeks away.
The total phase of the "blood moon" eclipse of July 27 will last 1 hour and 43 minutes, during which Earth's natural satellite will turn a spectacular red or ruddy-brown color. From start to finish, the entire celestial event will last nearly 4 hours.
The eclipse won't be visible to viewers in North America, except via webcasts. But observers in much of Africa, the Middle East, southern Asia and the Indian Ocean region will get an eyeful, given cooperative weather, according to lunar scientist Noah Petro, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. [In Photos: The Rare Super Blue Blood Moon Eclipse of 2018]
July's total lunar eclipse occurs on the same day the planet Mars reaches its opposition, when it will shine at its best in the night sky. This month, Mars will be at its closest to Earth since 2003. After opposition, when Mars will be brightest, it will reach that closest point on July 31. You can learn more about that event in our dedicated guide here: Mars at Opposition 2018: How to See It and What to Expect
Unlike with solar eclipses, you need no special equipment to observe lunar eclipses. These latter events, which occur when the moon passes into Earth's shadow, are safe to view directly with the naked eye, telescopes or binoculars.
The moon turns deep red or reddish brown during eclipses, instead of going completely dark. That's because some of the sunlight going through Earth's atmosphere is bent around the edge of our planet and falls onto the moon's surface. Earth's air also scatters more shorter-wavelength light (in colors such as green or blue); what's left is the longer-wavelength, redder end of the spectrum.
Where and when will it be visible?
The timing if this total lunar eclipse means it won't be visible from North America, though much of the Eastern Hemisphere of Earth will see part or all of the eclipse. The entire eclipse will be visible from Africa, the Middle East and countries in central Asia. The eclipse will be visible from eastern South America as it is ending, and from Australia as it is beginning.
The time of greatest eclipse will be 4:21 p.m. EDT (2021 GMT) on July 27, according to EarthSky.org. The total eclipse will last from 3:30 p.m. to 5:13 p.m. EDT (1930 to 2113 GMT). There will also be some time before and after when the moon is in the lighter part of Earth's shadow, which is called the penumbra. Including that penumbral time, the eclipse will last for 3 hours and 55 minutes.
Why is it the longest of the century?
"What controls the duration of the lunar eclipse is the position of the moon as it passes through the Earth's shadow," Petro told Space.com. The darkest part of Earth's shadow is called the umbra. You can picture the umbra as a cone extending from Earth in the opposite direction to the sun, Petro explained.
"The moon can either graze through the cone, or go right through the middle. That [the middle] gets a longer-duration eclipse," he said. "This time, the moon is passing closer to the center of that cone, and it's therefore a little bit longer than the eclipse we had back in January."
Additionally, the moon will be at a farther point from Earth along its orbit, EarthSky pointed out. That means the moon will appear slightly smaller in the sky and will take a little bit longer to go through Earth's shadow.
Petro is also the project scientist for NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter(LRO), which has been orbiting the moon for nine years. It is best-known for obtaining detailed information on water ice and taking high-resolution pictures of spacecraft on the lunar surface. Because LRO is an older probe, most of its components (except for battery warmers and the like) will be turned off during the eclipse, to preserve the solar-powered spacecraft's battery and keep it safe during the greatest part of the eclipse, Petro said.
When is the next lunar eclipse?
The next total lunar eclipse visible from North America will occur on Jan. 21, 2019. Totality on that day will last 1 hour and 2 minutes, and the eclipse will especially favor viewers on the West Coast. That year will also see a partial eclipse, on July 16, 2019 — the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first moon landing mission, Apollo 11. LRO will likely still be operating then, having passed its 10th anniversary of arriving at the moon on June 23, 2019.
Editor's note: If you capture an amazing photo or video of the total lunar eclipse or any other night-sky sight and would like to share it with Space.com for a story or gallery, send images and comments to spacephotos@space.com.
Nog nooit waargenomen structuren ontdekt in de zonne-atmosfeer
Nog nooit waargenomen structuren ontdekt in de zonne-atmosfeer
Caroline Kraaijvanger
Opgepoetste beelden van de zogenoemde corona onthullen dat deze veel complexer en dynamischer is dan gedacht.
De atmosfeer van de zon kun je onderverdelen in verschillende lagen. En de buitenste laag wordt ook wel de corona genoemd. Hier ontspringt de zonnewind: een stroom van geladen deeltjes die zich in alle richtingen van de zon vandaan haast. Met behulp van NASA’s Solar Terrestraial Relations Observatory-A(STEREO-A) hebben onderzoekers de corona al goed in beeld weten te brengen. Maar wetenschappers hebben de kwaliteit van de beelden nu verder opgekrikt, waardoor er nog meer details zichtbaar worden. En dat heeft verstrekkende gevolgen voor ons begrip van de corona. “Elke structuur waarvan we dachten dat we deze begrepen, blijkt te bestaan uit kleinere structuren en veel dynamischer te zijn dan we dachten,” aldus onderzoeker Craig DeForest.
Lussen Een mooi voorbeeld daarvan zijn de magnetische lussen die op de zon ontstaan en coronale massa ejecties voort kunnen brengen (dit zijn gigantische plasmawolken die doorspekt zijn met magnetische veldlijnen). Aangenomen werd dat deze lussen vrij eenvoudig waren. Maar niets is minder waar. “Wat wij ontdekten, is dat het niet één lus is,” stelt DeForest. “De lussen zijn opgebouwd uit een groot aantal fijne strengen.”
Alfvén-oppervlak En de beelden halen ook het idee van een Alfvén-oppervlak onderuit. Een Alfvén-oppervlak is een soort grens in de zonne-atmosfeer en ter hoogte van die grens zou de versnellende zonnewind een “kritieke snelheid” bereiken. Maar de beelden onthullen dus dat het anders zit. “Wat wij ontdekten, was dat er geen duidelijk Alfvén-oppervlak is,” stelt DeForest. “Er is in plaats van één duidelijke grens een breed ‘niemandsland’ of ‘brede Alfvén-zone waar de zonnewind geleidelijk aan loskomt van de zon.”
Iets nieuws Daarnaast hebben de onderzoekers ook compleet nieuwe structuren ontdekt in de corona. Zo ontdekten ze dat het karakter van de zonnewind op een afstand van ongeveer 10 keer de straal van de zon – je bevindt je dan nog steeds in de corona – plotsklaps veranderd. “Hier vindt interessante natuurkunde plaats,” aldus DeForest. “We weten nog niet wat het is, maar we weten wel dat het interessant gaat zijn.”
Naar verwachting zullen we op vrij korte termijn een nog veel beter beeld krijgen van de corona; binnenkort wordt namelijk een ruimtesonde gelanceerd die – en dat is een primeur – metingen in de corona zelf moet gaan uitvoeren. De sonde heeft de naam Parker Solar Probe gekregen.
Deze stofstorm welde in april van dit jaar nabij de noordpool op.
De foto is gemaakt door ESA’s Mars Express en laat maar weer eens zien dat het nooit saai is op de rode planeet.
Opportunity Marsrover Opportunity kan daarover meepraten; de rover bevindt zich al weken in een winterslaap, omdat een stofstorm het de rover onmogelijk maakt om zonne-energie op te wekken en er dus zuinig met de acculadingen moet worden omgesprongen. Die gewraakte stofstorm – die inmiddels vrijwel het hele oppervlak van Mars beslaat – ontstond eind mei, iets ten zuidwesten van de stofstorm die je op de foto van ESA ziet.
Zomer Op de foto van ESA zien we een zogenoemde ‘lokale, kleinschalige stofstorm’. Dergelijke stofstormen ontstaan – met name tijdens de zomer op Mars – regelmatig. Gedurende de zomer is de afstand tussen Mars en de zon kleiner, waardoor deze meer zonlicht opvangt en er op het oppervlak grotere temperatuurverschillen ontstaan. Hierdoor kan ook de lucht op Mars in beweging komen en stofdeeltjes van het oppervlak tillen en meevoeren.
Afbeelding: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin.
Zwak De stofstormen die zo kunnen ontstaan, zijn vaak veel zwakker dan orkanen op aarde. Dat komt doordat Mars een veel dunnere atmosfeer heeft (waardoor de luchtdruk veel beperkter is) en de stormen veel minder snelheid hebben dan op aarde. Tegelijkertijd kunnen de stofstormen echter wel veel langer standhouden op Mars dan op aarde.
Onderzoek Wetenschappers zijn dol op stofstormen en zeker op de vrij zeldzame exemplaren die vrijwel het hele oppervlak bedekken. Onderzoek naar deze stofstormen kan onthullen hoe ze precies ontstaan. En onderzoekers uiteindelijk mogelijk zelfs in staat stellen om het ontstaan van zulke stormen te voorspellen. Dat is met name handig wanneer er in de nabije toekomst mensen naar Mars gaan.
Als het gaat om het onderzoek naar stofstormen kunnen onderzoekers nu dus hun hart ophalen. Het is een maand geleden dat de stofstorm die in mei op Mars ontstond tot een wereldwijde stofstorm werd uitgeroepen. En nog altijd onttrekt deze storm vrijwel het gehele Martiaanse oppervlak aan het zicht. Onderzoekers monitoren de storm met behulp van vijf orbiters en één rover: de niet van zonne-energie afhankelijke Marsrover Curiosity.
Mogelijk voor het eerst gespot: een jonge ster die 1 of zelfs 2 planeten 'opeet'
Mogelijk voor het eerst gespot: een jonge ster die 1 of zelfs 2 planeten 'opeet'
Caroline Kraaijvanger
De ster RW Aur A zou as we speak bezig zijn om de resten van enkele van zijn planeten te nuttigen.
Dat suggereren waarnemingen van röntgenobservatorium Chandra. “Computersimulaties hebben lang voorspeld dat planeten in een jonge ster kunnen vallen, maar we hebben dat nog niet eerder geobserveerd,” stelt onderzoeker Hans Moritz Guenther. “Als onze interpretatie van de data klopt, zou het de eerste keer zijn dat we direct waarnemen hoe een jonge ster een planeet of planeten verorbert.”
OVER RW AUR A
RW Aur A bevindt zich op 450 lichtjaar afstand van de aarde en is nog maar een paar miljoen jaar oud. De ster wordt nog steeds omringd door een gas- en stofschijf. RW Aur A maakt verder deel uit van een dubbelstersysteem: beide sterren hebben ongeveer dezelfde massa als onze zon.
Chandra De jonge ster RW Aur A houdt de gemoederen eigenlijk al sinds 1937 bezig en wel doordat de helderheid van de ster om de paar decennia kort afneemt, om vervolgens weer toe te nemen. En de laatste jaren zijn de onderzoekers er getuige van geweest dat de helderheid van de ster nog frequenter en gedurende langere perioden afneemt. En dat konden ze maar niet verklaren. Tot ze de ster met behulp van röntgenobservatorium Chandra bestudeerden.
IJzer Chandra bestudeerde de ster in 2013, toen deze heel helder was. Maar ook in 2015 en 2017, in perioden waarin de helderheid afnam. Chandra stelde vast dat niet alleen de optische helderheid van de ster afnam; ook de röntgenstraling afkomstig van de ster liep in deze perioden terug. Het suggereert dat iets het licht én de röntgenstraling van de ster tegenhoudt. Maar wat? Om daar achter te komen, bestudeerden de wetenschappers het röntgenspectrum: de intensiteit van de röntgenstraling gemeten op verschillende golflengtes. Op basis van die data – verzameld in perioden waarin de ster heel helder en juist minder helder was – konden de onderzoekers de dichtheid en de samenstelling van het licht en röntgenstraling absorberende materiaal rond de ster afleiden. Het onderzoek wijst uit dat de afnames in röntgenstraling en optisch licht veroorzaakt worden door de aanwezigheid van een dicht gas. Observaties uit 2017 laten bovendien zien dat de gasschijf rond de ster zeker 10 keer meer ijzer herbergde dan in 2013, toen de ster heel helder scheen.
Afbeelding: NASA / CXC / M. Weiss; X-ray spectrum: NASA / CXC / MIT / H. M.Günther.
Planetesimalen Langzaam begonnen de puzzelstukjes op hun plaats te vallen. Volgens de onderzoekers is het overvloedig aanwezige ijzer in de schijf afkomstig van twee planetesimalen – planeten in wording – die met elkaar in botsing zijn gekomen. Zeker één van deze planetesimalen zou reeds de omvang van een planeet hebben gehad. De botsing zou geresulteerd hebben in een enorme hoeveelheid ijzerrijk puin dat vervolgens in de ster is gevallen en een dikke sluier van gas en stof rond de ster heeft gevormd, waar het sterlicht tijdelijk deels door werd tegengehouden.
Alternatief
Een andere mogelijke – maar minder waarschijnlijke – verklaring voor de afnames in helderheid is dat deeltjes, zoals ijzer, in bepaalde delen van de schijf rond RW Aur A gevangen zitten. Wanneer de structuur van de schijf verstoord wordt – bijvoorbeeld doordat de andere ster in het dubbelstersysteem dichtbij komt – zouden die deeltjes vrijkomen, waardoor opeens een overvloed aan ijzer in de ster kan vallen.
Onderzoekers blijven de ster in de gaten houden om te kijken met welke snelheid de hoeveelheid ijzer in de gas- en stofschijf rond de jonge ster afneemt. Als die hoeveelheid ijzer over een paar jaar nog vrijwel even groot is, wijst dat erop dat het afkomstig is van een relatief grote bron. “Op dit moment wordt er veel onderzoek gedaan naar exoplaneten en hoe zij tot stand komen,” stelt Guenther. “Dus het is overduidelijk heel belangrijk om te zien hoe jonge planeten vernietigd kunnen worden door de interactie met hun moederster en andere jonge planeten en welke factoren bepalen of zij in leven blijven.”
Newly Discovered Crop Circle Has A Message For Humanity (July 2018)
Newly Discovered Crop Circle Has A Message For Humanity (July 2018)
(Alanna Ketler) A new crop circle was recently discovered on July 8th in Coneybury Hill, Nr Stonehenge, Wiltshire. This circle is the exact same as the chemical weapons warning symbol.
Interestingly this crop circle was found shortly after the death of Dawn Sturgess who had come into contact with a deadly nerve agent.
While we can’t know for sure, this crop circle certainly appears to be a message to humanity about the dangers of chemical weapons and the catastrophic damage they can cause, regardless of who you believe made it. Perhaps this circle symbolizes the fact that these weapons have no place in our world, and it’s time we got rid of them, for good.
Check out some amazing drone footage of this newly discovered crop circle below.
ET Intervention?
It is not all that surprising to see this message show up in a crop circle, as in the past we have seen deliberate ET intervention when nuclear weapons would have otherwise been used. We have covered this topic before, and the following is an excerpt from an older article,
One of many previously classified reports -out of the thousands in existence -that is now available in the public domain is the intrusion at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, on August 24, 1966. Air Force personnel were concerned about a light in the sky. A team went to check it out and confirmed the object, then saw a second white object while doing so. The object was tracked on radar and moved vertical several times; each time it descended, an air force officer in charge of a missile crew found his radio transmission interrupted by static. The object eventually descended to ground level, and the Air Force sent a team to check it out. They saw the object either on the ground or hovering very low. According to the official report:
“When the team was about ten miles from the landing site, static disrupted radio contact with them. Five to eight minutes later, the glow diminished, and the UFO took off. Another UFO was visually sighted and confirmed by radar. The one that was first sighted passed beneath the second. Radar also confirmed this. The first made for altitude toward the north, and the second seemed to disappear with the glow of red.”
It seems that these extraterrestrials know just how damaging nuclear weapons can be to our planet, and possibly to our entire solar system. There is information that says that UFO’s have been deactivating nuclear weapons since we created them and started to show up a lot more often when we were testing the atomic bomb. Thankfully, someone or something has our back and is helping to stop us, humanity from making a huge mistake.
MUFON Case 92671 Date of event: June 9, 2018 Location of sighting: Dublin, Ireland
Long description of sighting report:
''On Saturday 9th of June 2018 at 18:00 hours I was having a family barbecue. It was a crystal clear sky. This object caught my eye, it was stationery and very high in the sky, it was turning and pulsating, it seem to have three lights at the bottom of it. I observed this object carefully through my binoculars at this stage. My partner and my daughter also witnessed this and my daughter took a video of this. The family next door also came out to witness this as I was observing this object for 45 minutes when I witnessed a smaller orb come out from the side of it. It darted up and down a few times before disappearing again. I then lost sight of the object.
After a while when myself and my partner went to the front of the house the object reappeared in the sky. I showed my partner the object through the binoculars when my partner asked what where the objects beside it. When I looked through the binoculars myself I witnessed 9 orbs in formation of which two were moving. I watched this some time and then returned to the main object, I then saw a small orb around the main object again which appeared and disappeared again. I return outside after a short while and the object was no longer there.''
Milky Way Galaxy Is 'Disturbed' and More Revealed in ESA Gaia Mission Data (Video)
Milky Way Galaxy Is 'Disturbed' and More Revealed in ESA Gaia Mission Data (Video)
ByElizabeth Howell, Space.com Contributor
The European Gaia spacecraft recently released a catalog of the positions of 1.7 billion stars, mapping our stellar neighbors around the Milky Way with unprecedented precision. The star map not only looks stunning but also includes a wealth of information about the evolution of our galaxy, the European Space Agency (ESA) said in a recent video.
The video, posted to YouTube in May, took place at the Paris Observatory. There, in 1887, astronomers attempted to map hundreds of thousands of stars in an effort called the Carte du Ciel (the Map of the Sky). Gaia is therefore part of a long line of star mappers, both on the ground and in space. But for all of our efforts, astronomers said in the video, we still have much to learn about the Milky Way — such as why certain stars' motion is "disturbed," and how the arms were formed.
ESA Euronews: Gaia’s revolution in astronomy
Finnish astronomer Timo Prusti, Gaia project scientist, gestured toward Gaia's new map of the Milky Way and told video viewers what the spacecraft is revealing: "We see a flattened structure," he said. "That's the Milky Way; that's our Milky Way disk. We see some dark patches on top of it. What does it mean? It means that there, we see less stars. There are more stars [in that location], but there is dust in front of them, and that's why we don't see the stars." [Europe's Billion-Star Mapping Spacecraft Snaps 1st Photo (Image)]
But the spacecraft is also revealing some mysteries that will require further investigation. Previously, astronomers thought that the stars rotating around the Milky Way's center did so in an orderly fashion, no matter how far they were from our sun. Gaia, however, shows that some of these stars' motions are "disturbed," particularly for those that are far from the sun, Prusti said. Why that happens is a complete mystery.
Astronomers are also uncertain about how the arms of the Milky Way came to be, added François Mignard, one of the founders of Gaia and an emeritus director of research at French space agency CNRS.
"Were the arms born at the same time?" he asked in French, translated in voiceover to English. "Do the arms have a unique history? Are the arms a result of a merger with an external galaxy? It's these questions that people are going to try to answer, and the Gaia data is absolutely fundamental for this kind of study."
Gaia's April data release mapped 10,000 times more stars than its predecessor mission, Hipparcos. Frédéric Arenou, a senior research engineer at CNRS, said the new Gaia information includes the stars' luminosity, or how much light they produce. With that information in hand, astronomers will be able to learn more about the stars' physical properties, he added.
Gaia's position in space is a huge asset in allowing it to map the sky. It is located 1.5 million kilometers (0.93 million miles) from Earth in the opposite direction to the sun. The spacecraft rotates around itself every 6 hours, and over time it can generate a complete map of the sky. Its three major instruments include an astrometric instrument to measure star positions, a photometer to map star colors and a spectrometer that shows stars' radial velocity — or the speed at which the stars move toward or away from Earth.
Gaia continues to send down measurements 11 hours a day, ESA officials said in the video, and several more data releases are expected in the next decade to address some of these outstanding scientific questions.
Tiny Satellite Begins Hunt for Missing Milky-Way Matter
Tiny Satellite Begins Hunt for Missing Milky-Way Matter
By Meghan Bartels, Space.com Senior Writer
A tiny satellite has set out to investigate the halo of incredibly hot gas surrounding the Milky Way — and it could help scientists track down the huge amount of missing matter in the universe.
NASA deployed the 26-lb. (12 kilograms) satellite, called HaloSat, on July 13 from the International Space Station.
Scientists can't find a whopping one-third of all the matter that should exist in the universe. It's not dark matter; it's just … missing. They've calculated how much matter was in the universe 400,000 years after the Big Bang based on information encoded in the cosmic microwave background. And they've calculated how much mass they see now in galaxies, stars, planets, dust and gas. But the numbers do not add up. [Our Milky Way Galaxy Has Cosmic Halo 11.4 Billion Years Old]
Tiny Satellite Begins Hunt for Missing Milky Way Matter
"We should have all the matter today that we had back when the universe was 400,000 years old," said Philip Kaaret, HaloSat's principal investigator and an astronomer at the University of Iowa, said in a NASA statement. "Where did it go?"
Scientists have made some progress in tracking down chunks of the missing matter, and they've narrowed it down to two hiding places: within galaxies themselves, or spread out in the space between them. So scientists are starting close to home, by searching for the matter that's missing from the Milky Way.
HaloSat will try to find the missing matter by mapping the galaxy's halo of superhot gas, which can reach 3.6 million degrees Fahrenheit (2 million degrees Celsius), according to NASA. That's hot enough for oxygen gas to produce X-rays, which HaloSat will measure across the sky to figure out the shape of the halo and determine whether it's spread evenly around the Milky Way or in a flattened disk, like a fried egg.
"If you think of the galactic halo in the fried egg model, it will have a different distribution of brightness when you look straight up out of it from Earth than when you look at wider angles," Keith Jahoda, a HaloSat co-investigator and a NASA astrophysicist, said in the statement. "If it's in some quasi-spherical shape, compared to the dimensions of the galaxy, then you expect it to be more nearly the same brightness in all directions."
Once scientists know how the halo is arranged, they can estimate its mass and determine whether it's hiding all that missing matter.
But to make those measurements, HaloSat needs to be careful not to fall for an imposter signal. That signal is caused by the solar wind, the constant stream of highly charged particles produced by the sun, which produces X-ray signatures that mimic that of the galactic halo.
To avoid being tricked, HaloSat will switch tasks according to where it is in its orbit around Earth: When it's over the night side, it will gather data, and when it's over the daylight side, it will charge up and send that information home. That should make HaloSat's data much cleaner than other X-ray observations, the researchers think.
Dazzling Views Show Saturn Moon Titan's Surface Like Never Before
Dazzling Views Show Saturn Moon Titan's Surface Like Never Before
By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer
The mysterious surface of Saturn's huge moon Titan comes into gloriously sharp focus in newly released photos captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
Cassini team members created the six-image set using data collected over 13 years by the Saturn-orbiting probe's Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS). As its name suggests, VIMS deals in long-wavelength infrared light, allowing the instrument to see through the thick Titanic haze that obscures visible-light views of the moon's frigid surface.
Cassini scientists have created VIMS mosaics before, but those previous efforts generally had prominent seams, NASA officials said. Such seams naturally result from the stitching together of images snapped during different Titan encounters, which featured different lighting conditions and flyby angles. [Amazing Photos: Titan, Saturn's Largest Moon]
But the new mosaics are pretty much seamless — a breakthrough made possible by a reanalysis of the VIMS data and laborious hand processing of the resulting mosaics, mission team members said.
"With the seams now gone, this new collection of images is by far the best representation of how the globe of Titan might appear to the casual observer if it weren't for the moon's hazy atmosphere, and it likely will not be superseded for some time to come," NASA officials wrote in a statement Wednesday (July 18).
Indeed, the photos give viewers a new appreciation for Titan's complex and varied surface, which boasts dunes of carbon-containing organic compounds, icy deposits and vast seas of liquid hydrocarbons. (Titan is the only extraterrestrial object known to harbor stable bodies of liquid on its surface.)
In visible-light images captured from above Titan's thick, nitrogen-dominated atmosphere, none of this diversity comes through; the 3,200-mile-wide (5,150 kilometers) moon looks like a fuzzy, orange-brown ball.
Scientists might get some sharp, up-close looks at the Titan landscape in the not-too-distant future, however: A mission called Dragonfly would explore the huge moon's surface, and assess its potential to host life, using a robotic minihelicopter. Dragonfly is one of two finalists, along with a comet sample-return effort, for NASA's next New Frontiers mission slot. The agency aims to announce a winner in 2019 and launch the mission by 2025.
The $3.2 billion Cassini mission — a joint effort of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency — launched in 1997 and reached Saturn in the summer of 2004. Cassini zoomed through the gas-giant system for more than 13 years, gathering a wealth of data about the planet, its iconic rings and its many moons. The Cassini mother ship also carried a lander called Huygens, which touched down on Titan in January 2005.
The groundbreaking mission came to an end in September 2017 with an intentional death dive into Saturn — a move designed to ensure that Cassini would not contaminate Titan or the fellow potentially life-supporting satellite Enceladus with microbes from Earth.
The Parker Solar Probe is not only one of NASA’s most ambitious missions, but it seems to defy logic. The spacecraft slated to launch this summer will enter the sun’s corona and travel through material with temperatures greater than a million degrees Fahrenheit. So, why won’t it melt?
Parker Solar Probe will embark August 4 on what NASA calls “a mission 60 years in the making,” coming within four million miles of the surface to collect unprecedented data about the sun’s corona, or outer atmosphere. If successful, it will become the first spacecraft to enter the sun’s corona and enjoy a balmy inside temperature of just 85 degrees while its outer shell is surrounding in the sun’s blaze. The probe will essentially be the embodiment of “this is fine” dog.
NASA revealed the science behind why this space dog will not melt in such an extreme environment on Thursday. To understand why the Parker Solar Probe won’t melt, the space agency explained key concepts of heat versus temperature, its custom heat shield, and the spacecraft’s unique innovation.
Parker Solar Probe’s Temperature vs. Heat
The difference between heat and temperature will help in making the Parker Solar Probe’s mission seem a little more (but not much more) feasible. Temperature is a measurement of how fast particles are moving, while heat refers to how much of that energy is transferred. Thus, in a place that is mostly empty like space, high temperatures don’t always mean high heat. Particles could be moving fast and creating high temperature, but since there are so few of them, they won’t transfer that much heat towards the spacecraft.
While Parker Solar Probe will be traveling through a space with temperatures of several million degrees, it won’t feel most of that heat, and the surface of the heat shield will only reach 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit.
Parker Solar Probe’s Heat Shield
That’s still pretty hot, though. Experiencing 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit is nothing to scoff at, and ensuring an unmelted Parker Solar Probe may have caused some delays in scheduling the launch. To withstand the heat, NASA installed a shield known as the Thermal Protection System, or TPS.
Designed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, TPS is made of a lightweight carbon foam core that is flanked by two carbon-carbon composite panels. The sun-facing panel is sprayed with a white coating that will reflect as much of the sun’s energy away from the spacecraft as possible. It’s just 4.5 inches thick, and yet it’s expected to keep almost all instrumentation safe.
Parker Solar Probe’s Measuring Cup
Not every instrument will be protected by TPS, however. The Faraday cup is a sensor that will poke out over the heat shield to measure the solar wind, and in order to get an accurate read, it could not be sheltered by TPS.
So, why doesn’t Faraday melt?
“Due to the intensity of the solar atmosphere, unique technologies had to be engineered to make sure that not only can the instrument survive, but also the electronics aboard can send back accurate readings,” NASA’s Susannah Darling explained. The cup is made from sheets of Titanium-Zirconium-Molybdenum, an alloy of molybdenum, giving it a melting point of about 4,260 degrees Fahrenheit. The chips that produce an electric field for the Faraday cup are made from tungsten, the metal with the highest known melting point. With a threshold of 6,192 degrees Fahrenheit before melting, Faraday has the wiggle room to collect the solar wind data it needs.
After launching on August 4, Parker Solar Probe will use Venus’ gravitational pull to shrink its orbit around the sun. These flybys will take roughly seven years, eventually bringing the probe as close as 3.7 million miles from the center of the solar system. Its final loop within the sun’s corona is expected in late 2024. But thanks to this slew of innovative technologies, it should keep cool the whole time.
When the Apollo astronauts returned from the moon, the dust that clung to their spacesuits made their throats sore and their eyes water. Lunar dust is made of sharp, abrasive particles, but how toxic is it for humans?
When the Apollo astronauts returned from the moon, the dust that clung to their spacesuits made their throats sore and their eyes water. Lunar dust is made of sharp, abrasive and nasty particles, but how toxic is it for humans?
The “lunar hay fever,” as NASA astronaut Harrison Schmitt described it during 1972’s Apollo 17 mission, created symptoms in all 12 people who have stepped on the moon. From sneezing to nasal congestion, in some cases it took days for the reactions to fade. Inside the spacecraft, the dust smelled like burnt gunpowder.
The moon missions left an unanswered question of lunar exploration – one that could affect humanity’s next steps in the solar system: can lunar dust jeopardize human health?
An ambitious European Space Agency (ESA) research program with experts from around the planet is now addressing the issues related to lunar dust.
Kim Prisk, a pulmonary physiologist from the University of California with over 20 years of experience in human spaceflight, is one of the 12 scientists taking part in ESA’s research. Prisk said:
We don’t know how bad this dust is. It all comes down to an effort to estimate the degree of risk involved.
Nasty dust
Lunar dust has silicate in it, a material commonly found on planetary bodies with volcanic activity. Miners on Earth suffer from inflamed and scarred lungs from inhaling silicate. On the moon, the dust is so abrasive that it ate away layers of spacesuit boots and destroyed the vacuum seals of Apollo sample containers.
Fine like powder, but sharp like glass. The low gravity of the moon, one sixth of what we have on Earth, allows tiny particles to stay suspended for longer and penetrate more deeply into the lung. Prisk explained:
Particles 50 times smaller than a human hair can hang around for months inside your lungs. The longer the particle stays, the greater the chance for toxic effects.
The potential damage from inhaling this dust is unknown but research shows that lunar soil simulants can destroy lung and brain cells after long-term exposure.
Down to the particle
On Earth, fine particles tend to smoothen over years of erosion by wind and water; lunar dust, however, is not round, but sharp and spiky.
In addition, the moon has no atmosphere and is constantly bombarded by radiation from the sun that causes the soil to become electrostatically charged.
This charge can be so strong that the dust levitates above the lunar surface, making it even more likely to get inside equipment and people’s lungs.
Dusty workplace
To test equipment and the behavior of lunar dust, ESA will be working with simulated moon dust mined from a volcanic region in Germany.
Working with the simulant is no easy feat. Erin Tranfield, biologist and expert in dust toxicity, said:
The rarity of the lunar glass-like material makes it a special kind of dust. We need to grind the source material but that means removing the sharp edges.
The lunar soil does have a bright side, explained science advisor Aidan Cowley.
You can heat it to produce bricks that can offer shelter for astronauts. Oxygen can be extracted from the soil to sustain human missions on the moon.
Bottom line: Can lunar dust jeopardize human health?
Extraterrestres : 8 théories pour expliquer le silence
Extraterrestres : 8 théories pour expliquer le silence
Extraterrestres : 8 théories pour expliquer le silence - Aliens : 8 theories to explain silence
Pourquoi les extraterrestres ne se montrent-ils pas ? Plusieurs théories peuvent expliquer le silence des extraterrestres. Futura vous en présente ici 8. Rentrez dans le secret...
Si la vie est fréquente dans l'univers, alors de nombreuses planètes de notre galaxie, la Voie lactée, devraient porter ou avoir porté des civilisations extraterrestres. Or, mis à part de témoignages douteux et jamais vérifiés d'incursions très brèves (et aux objectifs mystérieux), force est de constater qu'aucune observation, sur Terre ou dans le ciel, ne vient prouver l'existence de grandes sociétés technologiquement avancées.
Pourquoi ? La question alimente facilement les discussions entre amis, préférentiellement le soir, idéalement sous un ciel étoilé. On l'appelle le « paradoxe de Fermi », du nom d'Enrico Fermi. Ce spécialiste de physique nucléaire aurait évoqué cette question dans les années 1930, lui aussi au cours d'un dîner. Elle a ensuite été popularisée par Carl Sagan, astronome éclectique, qui a lancé le programme Seti.
Les civilisations E. T. : un très bon sujet de discussion
De multiples réponses sont possibles devant le silence des autres intelligences. Les huit principales sont posées ici mais il en existe d'autres. Lors des discussions, l'impression vient vite que chacun arrive avec ses propres convictions et tente de les imposer aux autres. Cette étape passée, il devient bien plus intéressant de lister, objectivement, toutes les réponses auxquelles on peut penser. L'exercice devient alors un jeu.
Une bonne idée est d'explorer les nombreuses observations réalisées depuis quelques décennies dans le domaine que l'on peut appeler exobiologie ou astrobiologie. De la composition chimique des nébuleuses (où se formeront les étoiles et leurs planètes) jusqu'aux idées sur l'apparition de la vie sur Terre en passant par les océans cachés des satellites de Jupiter et de Saturne sans oublier les exoplanètes, la réalité, souvent, dépasse nos imaginations...
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:ALIEN LIFE, UFO- CRASHES, ABDUCTIONS, MEN IN BLACK, ed ( FR. , NL; E )
Quel est cet ovni filmé depuis l'ISS ?
Quel est cet ovni filmé depuis l'ISS ?
Régulièrement, les caméras de la Station spatiale internationale (ISS) filment des objets volants non identifiés, alias ovnis. Satellites, débris ou étages de lanceurs, quand ce ne sont pas de simples reflets dans les vitres : ces images font le bonheur des ufologues. Ici, on voit un objet allant dans le même sens que l'ISS, un peu plus bas et (logiquement) un peu plus rapide. Rêvons un peu.
Non, l'espace n'est pas rigoureusement vide. Juste au-dessus de l'atmosphère, il est même assez fréquenté, surtout par des objets créés de main d'Homme. Ce peut être des satellites ou des débris spatiaux mais aussi des étages de lanceurs en train de retomber dans l'atmosphère. Ces apparitions plus ou moins fugaces sont aussi, parfois, des phénomènes lumineux dans la haute atmosphère et il est arrivé qu'il ne s'agisse que de reflets sur un hublot ou dans l'optique de la caméra.
Qu'importe. Chaque évènement de ce genre fait le bonheur des amateurs de l'étude des ovnis, qui y voient facilement la preuve de l'existence de vaisseaux extraterrestres patrouillant dans le secteur. Mieux, la molle réaction de la Nasa, qui est le plus souvent « bon eh bien c'est un débris, comme d'habitude ; on va tâcher de voir ce que c'est, comme d'habitude », conforte les convictions de ces passionnés, qui pensent fréquemment que l'agence spatiale dissimule des preuves de tourisme d'extraterrestres. La Nasa est même régulièrement accusée de couper le flux vidéo au moment crucial.
Débris, satellite, ombre ou Surfeur d'argent
L'exercice d'identification est tout de même amusant, voire intéressant. Ici, on voit un objet, de dimension inconnue, filant à peu près dans la même direction que l'ISS et un peu plus rapidement. Il ne peut donc s'agir d'un avion. Sa distance est impossible à déterminer mais l'objet évolue au-dessus de la couverture nuageuse. Celui-ci est clairement en orbite, sur une altitude plus faible que celle de l'ISS. Sa vitesse plus élevée est donc logique. En effet, plus l'orbite est éloignée de la Terreplus la vitesse de satellisation est faible : elle est d'environ 8 km/s au niveau de l'ISS et de 1 km/s à la distance de la Lune (laquelle, bonne connaisseuse des lois de Newton, a d'ailleurs adopté cette vitesse).
Il reste en lice trois hypothèses :
un satellite en orbite très basse ;
un débris ;
l'ombre d'un satellite (l'éclairage des nuages indique que la lumière solaire vient d'en haut à droite, ce qui exclut qu'il s'agisse de l'ombre de l'ISS elle-même).
Une quatrième hypothèse, bien sûr, est qu'un vaisseau spatial d'exploration venu d'une autre planète soit en train d'étudier la météorologie terrestre, qui serait encore mystérieuse pour les concepteurs de cet engin. Une cinquième est celle, tout simplement, du passage de Norrin Radd, le Surfeur d'argent, profitant des vagues atmosphériques au-dessus d'une formation cyclonique...
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...
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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 74 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.