{ https://sputniknews.com/ }

22-09-2019 om 21:44 geschreven door peter  

SpaceX Seeks Property Buyouts Near Starhopper Launch Site in Texas: Report

By Elizabeth Howell 

SpaceX launched its Starhopper rocket prototype on its highest flight ever on Aug. 27, 2019. The reusable hopping rocket flew from one pad to the other, with a targeted 500-foot (150 meters) ceiling at SpaceX's South Texas test site near Boca Chica Village.

(Image: © SpaceX)

SpaceX wants to buy out the properties of residents in a community located only a few miles away its Starhopper launch site in south Texas, according to a report.

The company's Starhopper flights made headlines this summer as the rocket prototype flew as high as 500 feet (about 150 meters) in altitude. Starhopper fits in well in with SpaceX's Mars exploration plans, as Starhopper is supposed to be an early prototype for the Starship vehicle that SpaceX hopes will bring people to the Red Planet in the coming decades. 

But that testing has also produced an unintentional 100-acre brush fire and even explosion warnings in the launching region, which lies nearby the tiny hamlet of Boca Chica, according to Business Insider. 

So, SpaceX sent buyout offers to at least 10 households in the community — which has a predominantly elderly population of only about 20 people — saying the company is concerned about "increased disruption to Boca Chica residents and our commitment to complying with public health and safety guidelines," according to the letter, which is written with SpaceX letterhead.

• Related: SpaceX's Starship and Super Heavy Mars Rocket in Pictures

"We did not anticipate that local residents would experience significant disruption from our presence," SpaceX explains of its reasoning to use Cameron County as a potential spaceport location. "However, it has become clear that expansion of spaceflight activities, as well as compliance with Federal Aviation Administration and other public safety regulations, will make it increasingly more challenging to minimize disruption to residents of the village."

SpaceX is offering each household a fixed buyout price of three times the appraised property value, saying that it favors giving an identical deal to residents because it is "the fairest approach." The letter, which is dated Thursday (Sept. 12), adds that the offer is good for two weeks — or until Sept. 26.

To anyone who will accept the offer, SpaceX also plans to give those residents exclusive access to more Starship development events, through "future private VIP launch viewing events that are unavailable to the public."

A few residents told Business Insider they have no interest in accepting the buyout. For example, Maria Pointer, who runs a Facebook group about SpaceX that generally supports its work, said that the company does not understand that most residents cannot afford to buy properties nearby, even with SpaceX's offer to triple property values.

"They need to understand that most of this community has very limited income," she said. "We want to move on, just give us what we need to move on. I'm not going to go to a trailer or an apartment. I gave my life to this property. I gave it everything I had. Nobody else wanted to tame it."

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a Business Insider request for comment. On Sept. 28 — two days after the offer deal closes — the company reportedly plans to give a presentation in an area nearby to provide an update about the Starship development program.

Since SpaceX is not a publicly owned company, outsiders can only get a partial view of its financial situation. The company's valuation was appraised at $33.3 billion in May, according to CNBC. SpaceX is engaged in multiple spaceflight projects, including Starship, creating a vast network of 5G satellites called Starlink, developing a Crew Dragon commercial crew vehicle for NASA, making cargo runs to the International Space Station, and hefting satellites using its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.

• SpaceX's Next Starship Prototype Taking Shape (Photos)
• SpaceX Is Building a 'Starship' Rocket Prototype in Florida, Too
• SpaceX's Next Starship Prototype Launch Will Be a 12-Mile-High Test Flight

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.  

{ https://www.space.com/ }

22-09-2019 om 21:10 geschreven door peter  

Ruim 2.000 ‘UFO-gelovers’ bijeen, maar bestorming geheime Area 51 blijft uit - HLN.be

Bron: AD.nl

Op het zwaarbewaakte terrein zouden stiekem buitenaardse ruimteschepen en hun bemanning verstopt zijn. De initiatiefnemer van het evenement had mensen opgeroepen het complex gisteren te bestormen. In totaal zegden online ruim 2 miljoen mensen toe, maar in realiteit kwamen ‘maar’ ongeveer 2.300 mensen opdagen, aldus lokale media. Een bestorming bleef uit.

Lees ook

“Ufo’s met aliens? Ultrageheime projecten van grootmachten, ja”

“Mensen droegen gekke kostuums bij de ingang van de basis”, zei een bezoeker. “Waarom zou je dat willen missen? Het is een ervaring die je maar één keer in je leven meemaakt.” Sommige feestgangers droegen ruimtepakken en maskers van buitenaardse wezens. Ook hadden sommigen spandoeken bij zich.

De festiviteiten zijn niet uitgelopen op een chaos, iets waar de Amerikaanse autoriteiten op voorhand bang voor waren. Zij waarschuwden mensen juist níet naar Area 51 te komen. Eén vrouw wist de streng beveiligde toegangspoort te passeren en werd tijdelijk vastgehouden, maar ze is inmiddels weer vrijgelaten. Twee bezoekers werden aangehouden voor aanstootgevend gedrag en alcoholmisbruik. “De mensen zijn hier vooral om te kijken wat er aan de hand is”, zei een veiligheidsagent. “Ze komen om plezier te hebben.”

De mysterieuze basis wordt volgens het Amerikaanse leger gebruikt voor het ontwikkelen van geheime militaire projecten. Maar er doen al decennia theorieën de ronde dat de VS op de basis de restanten van een UFO (en haar bemanning) verborgen houdt, en er ook op andere wijze contact onderhoudt met buitenaards leven. In 1947 zou bij de basis een vliegende schotel zijn neergestort. Het gebied is daarom uitgegroeid tot bedevaartsoord voor mensen die in UFO’s en aliens geloven. De weg die naar het gebied leidt, Highway 375, is omgedoopt tot de Extraterrestrial (buitenaardse) Highway.

Storm Area 51

Vanwege een uit de hand gelopen grap verzamelen zich uiteindelijk dus meer dan 2.000 mensen in de woestijn van Nevada, vlakbij Las Vegas. In juli maakte een Amerikaan op facebook het ‘Storm Area 51’-evenement aan om ‘de aliens te gaan zien’. Het motto was ’They Can’t Stop All of Us. Met andere woorden: als we met zoveel mogelijk mensen de basis bestormen, kunnen ze ons niet allemaal tegenhouden. Binnen de kortste keren gaven 2,1 miljoen mensen vanuit de hele wereld aan te komen voor de geplande bestorming op 20 september. Wat het Amerikaanse leger er toe bracht in een officiële verklaring te stellen “iedereen te ontraden de basis te betreden”. “We staan altijd klaar om de eigendommen van Amerika te beschermen.”

“We bereiden ons voor op het ergste”

Het weerhield de eerste Amerikanen zich er niet van zich eerder deze week alvast te melden. Verslaggevers van de Las Vegas Revie Journal zagen al meerdere ‘kampen’ langs snelweg 375 bij het plaatsje Rachel. Bezoekers zetten er hun tenten of campers neer, en lieten vlaggen met ‘alien-thema’s’ wapperen. Ken Faulhaver (64) zei tegen de krant: “We zijn hier voor het spektakel. We kopen wat bier en wat merchandise.” En: “Ik hoop dat de aliens komen om mee te feesten.” Bewoners van de dorpjes in het gebied vreesden dat er een massa mensen zou opdagen, zo vertelden ze aan verschillende persbureaus. “We bereiden ons voor op het ergste”, aldus een bewoner.

Dat is onder meer omdat festivalorganisatoren en andere commerciële partijen op het idee van de bestorming zijn gedoken. Op meerdere plekken in de regio zijn dezer dagen (muziek)evenementen onder namen als Area 51 Base Camp en Alienstock. Naast muziek staan er lezingen (over aliens) en films (ook over aliens) gepland.

Bier en vlaggen

Biermerk Budweiser sponsort een van de feesten en verkoopt ‘buitenaardse’ hoofddeksels. Ook maakte het merk een vlag (voor 75 dollar) die de aandacht moet trekken van UFO’s en hun bemanning. Fastfoodgigant Arby’s verkoopt vanuit een special opgezet restaurant “het beste vlees voor buitenaards leven”.

“Dit fenomeen is een perfecte combinatie van onze interesse in aliens, het buitenaardse, overheidssamenzweringen en de wens om te weten wat we nog niet weten”, zegt socioloog Michael Ian Borer van de Universiteit van Nevada tegen persbureau AP.

{ https://www.hln.be/ )

22-09-2019 om 20:47 geschreven door peter  

Jamie Carter - Contributor

Are there relic alien spacecraft on asteroids close to Earth that may have been observing the planet for longer than humans have existed?

A thought-provoking, if unlikely-sounding new theory that near-Earth ‘companion’ asteroids may contain live or ancient robotic probes sent from faraway civilizations comes from Dr. James Benford at Microwave Sciences in Lafayette, California, whose paper "Looking for Lurkers: Co-Orbiters as SETI Observables," is published this week in the Astronomical Journal.

Before we dismiss it as crazy talk, consider that Benford thinks that by ruling-out the presence of alien probes and extraterrestrial archeology on rocks that are often close to Earth would bring us to a profound conclusion: there is no-one out there and we’re truly alone.

What are co-orbital objects?

In this context, a co-orbital is an asteroid that goes around the Sun on the same, or similar, orbital path to Earth. Co-orbital objects approach Earth very closely every year at distance is much shorter than anything except the moon.

Consequently, co-orbitals could be a great place to watch Earth from. Not only would any alien probes on co-orbital objects be concealed, but they would also be anchored and able to access solar energy. They could possibly sustain themselves for many thousands of years.

What are ‘lurkers?’

According to Benford, a lurker is a hidden, unknown and unnoticed observing probe, and they could have been sent to observe Earth long ago. “They may respond to an intentional signal and may not, depending on unknown alien motivations,” reads a news release covering Benford’s new paper. “Lurkers would likely be robotic, like our own Voyager and New Horizons probes.” The space probes currently the furthest from us, Voyagers 1 and 2 (launched in the late 1970s) and New Horizons (launched in 2006 and the fastest man-made object ever launched from Earth) have gotten much further than the outskirts of our own solar system.

There’s also obviously a limit to how long any alien space probes sent to study Earth could last. “Perhaps probes are waiting on these objects, listening to us and waiting for us to find them” reads the paper. “They may remain silent and simply report back to wherever they communicate to”. Benford suggests that if we did find such a “lurker” we could simply photograph it and send it in a message simply to say “we see you” and wake the probe from its passive state.

The idea is loosely inspired by the concept of using a Bracewell probe for allowing widely separated civilizations to communicate.

How crazy is this theory?

At first glance, it’s way out there, but Benford thinks that the process of looking for relic alien spacecraft in Earth’s cosmic backyard is critical in us understanding the possibility of extra-terrestrial intelligence in our galaxy. “If we find nothing there, this gives us a profound result: no one has come to look at the life of the Earth, which has been evident in our atmosphere in spectral lines over interstellar distances for over a billion years.” Spectral lines from light are used by astronomers to identify atoms, molecules and elements present in a planet.

Benford is arguing that if we find nothing on the co-orbital objects around Earth, then the chances of there being more advanced alien civilisations anywhere in our galaxy become more remote.

What is 2016 HO3?

Between 120 and 300 ft. in diameter and also known as ‘Earth's Constant Companion' by NASA, 2016 HO3 is the smallest, closest, and most stable known quasi-satellite of Earth. Discovered on April 27, 2016, by the Pan-STARRS 1 asteroid survey telescope on Haleakala, Hawaii, 2016 HO3 loops around the Earth every year during Earth’s orbit of the Sun. It’s been stable for at least 100 years and will remain so for many hundreds of years to come. However, 2016 HO3 is always at least nine million miles away, so never a threat to Earth.

Benford thinks we should study co-orbital objects both in the electromagnetic spectrum of microwaves and light, and also using planetary radar.

China’s plan to visit 2016 HO3

Getting to 2016 HO3 from Earth orbit requires relatively little rocket propulsion, so it’s no surprise that the China National Space Administration (CNSA) has announced plans to send a probe. A robotic mission that would return samples could launch in 2024.

The search for extraterrestrial life is currently focused on distant exoplanets. It’s a sobering thought that asteroids in our own celestial backyard may have hosted alien probes sent to study Earth many thousands of years ago by extraterrestrial civilizations. Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.

{ https://www.forbes.com/ }

22-09-2019 om 18:29 geschreven door peter  

Inner Earth Civilizations? Unraveling The Mystery Behind Our Planet’s Massive Inner Ocean

One of my all-time favorite books is without a doubt Journey to the Center of the Earth, written by world-famous Author Jules Verne.

The story written by Verne involves a German professor called Otto Lidenbrock who was convinced that there are volcanic tubes that lead toward the center of our planet.

Lidenbrock, his nephew Axel, and their guide Hans descend into the Icelandic volcano Snæfellsjökull and encounter many adventures along the way, including prehistoric animals and dangers. Eventually, they resurface in southern Italy, at the Stromboli volcano.

In the book, Verne describes a MASSIVE ocean that exists inside our planet.

He explains how: a vast expanse of water, the beginning of a lake or an ocean, extended beyond the limits of sight.

Further, the view followed its mass outlined on the misty background of the horizon. It was a true ocean, capriciously contoured by the terrestrial shores, but deserted and with a terribly wild aspect.

The book was a science fiction bestseller, and despite many people believing that something like this may be possible, the idea remained firmly a science fictional idea.

Now, what if what was once thought to be a mere fantasy of the writer, was, in fact, closer to reality?

Is it even possible that there really is an underground ocean beneath or feet?

An article published in the journal Nature points in that direction.

As it turns out, scientists discovered a while ago, a diamond-rich in water with traces of a mineral called ringwoodite (in honor of its discoverer, the geochemist Alfred Ringwood).

The diamond originally came from an area that separates the upper terrestrial mantle from the lower one, that is, between four and six hundred kilometers beneath our feet.

So, what does that has to do with Verne, Inner Earth, and an ocean beneath our feet?

The fact is that the diamond found was associated with water molecules in a significant proportion (1.5%), which leads experts to propose the theory that this zone of transition of the mantle is very rich in water.

In fact, scientists have proposed that there is so much water beneath the surface of our planet, that we can cover the surface of our planet entirely in water. The existence of this ‘underground ocean’ would explain the great volcanic and tectonic dynamism of the planet.

Graham Pearson, a researcher from the University of Alberta (Canada) says that the ringwoodite found “provides confirmation that there really are pockets of water in the depths of the Earth.”

That, however, is a theoretical confirmation, of course, since due to lack of equipment and technology it would be impossible to obtain physical evidence from the mantle directly.

That kinda’ sucks since, despite the fact that humans have made it to space, landed on the moon and explored distant alien worlds, we’ve still not explored what exactly lies beneath our ocean, and what mysteries may be hidden beneath the surface of our planet.

Alfred Ringwood proposed that the mineral that bears his name could be found in the transition zone of the mantle, originated by the high pressures and temperatures that are found beneath deep beneath the surface.

But if we can’t go down there, how did scientists find the diamond?

Experts believe that the diamond surfaced in a volcanic eruption in a kimberlite wash (an igneous rock formed from magma and that is the deepest).

It was only three millimeters wide and lacked commercial value, but it was sold to scientists who were looking for other types of rocks, and who came up with something that was priceless: inside the diamond, there was a microscopic trail of ringwoodite.

But not everyone is convinced that a massive underground ocean exists and not all scientists believe that the result of the diamond analysis should be extrapolated to the theory of a massive underwater ocean based on such a small sample of ringwoodite.

Moreover, some scientists even admit that even if there is an ocean beneath our feet, it would not be in liquid form but under a molecular variant called hydroxyl, with only one atom of oxygen and another of hydrogen instead of the two.

David Wilcock and Earth’s Inner Civilizations

In 2015, an article appeared on Coast To Coast AM, where author and researcher David Wilcock discusses Earth’s Inner Civilizations.

Wilcock told C2C that an alliance of ancient civilizations currently resides inside the Earth, and they may soon reveal themselves to the ‘outer’ world.

During the formation of all watery planets in the universe, he explained, hollow cavities form below the surface of the crust and have their own biome that features bacteria which gives off natural light.

“What this means is that you can actually live inside caverns in the Earth that have visible light,” he marveled.

Based on his research, Wilcock said, “it appears that these cavities are used so that more advanced civilizations have a place they can live while they’re managing what takes place on the surface.”

Over the span of the planet’s history, he explained, various advanced societies, such as the Atlanteans, took refuge underground in order to survive tumultuous times and ultimately settled in their new subterranean location.

While the presence of these civilizations has been a part of UFO lore for decades, he contended that the government has direct knowledge of their presence due to accidentally discovering them via clandestine projects aimed at building secret underground bases.

“They’ll have these tunnel boring machines and sometimes they break through into someplace they’re not supposed to go,” Wilcock claimed, “and there’s already people there.”

• For the full interview with David Wilcock click here.
• Featured image by Leon Tukker. Image Posted with permission.

{ https://www.ancient-code.com/ }

22-09-2019 om 18:17 geschreven door peter  

Inner Earth Civilizations Exist: the Science and Evidence of Habitable Underground Civilizations

Stillness in the Storm Editor: Why did we post this?

The preceding information discusses a scientific discovery that might provide evidence for the existence of large caverns within the earth capable of human habitation. Several alleged insiders and whistleblowers claimed that there are indeed advanced civilizations below the surface of the earth. While concrete evidence of such locations have yet to emerge, the preceding article offers evidence for existence of the so-called inner earth. The fact that this question of inner earth remains difficult to confirm means it is an excellent tool for exercising the discerning mind, which is an essential skill for the development of a truly wise and sovereign individual.

– Justin

{ https://stillnessinthestorm.com/ }

22-09-2019 om 18:07 geschreven door peter  

For the sake of their study, Dr. Way and Dr. Del Genio created a series of five simulations that considered what the environment of Venus would be like based on different levels of water coverage. This consisted of adapting a 3D general circulation model that took into account changing atmospheric compositions and the gradual increase in solar radiation as the Sun became warmer over the course of its lifetime.

In three of the five scenarios, Way and Del Genio assumed that the topography of Venus was much as the same as it is today, the ocean ranged from a minimum depth of 10 m (~30 ft) to a maximum of about 310 m (~1000 ft) and a small amount of water was locked in the soil. They also considered a scenario with Earth’s topography and a 310-meter ocean, and another where Venus was entirely covered in an ocean 158 m (~500ft).

In the end, all five simulations indicated the same thing: that Venus would have been able to maintain stable temperatures – from a low of 20 °C (68 °F) to a high of 50 °C (122 °F) – for about three billion years. Were it not for a series of event that caused 80% of the planet’s surface to be resurfaced (which led to the outgassing of CO² contained within the crust), it might even be habitable today. As Way explained it:

“Our hypothesis is that Venus may have had a stable climate for billions of years. It is possible that the near-global resurfacing event is responsible for its transformation from an Earth-like climate to the hellish hot-house we see today.

It all started about 4.2 billion years ago, a few hundred million years after Venus formed and had just finished a period of rapid cooling. At this point, assuming Venus underwent a similar process as Earth, it’s atmosphere would have been dominated by carbon dioxide. This would have slowly been absorbed by silicate rocks to form carbonates that were then locked into the planet’s crust.

By about 715 million years ago, according to Way and Del Genio’s study, the atmosphere would have been similar to what Earth’s is like today – composed predominantly of nitrogen gas with trace amounts of CO² and methane. These conditions could have remained stable up until present times were it not for a massive outgassing event.

The cause of this remains a mystery; however, scientists believe it was due to a geological event that caused 80% of the planet to resurface. This could have involved large amounts of magma bubbling up and releasing massive amounts of CO² into the atmosphere. The magma would have then solidified before reaching the surface, thus creating a barrier that prevented the CO² from being reabsorbed. As Way explained:

“Something happened on Venus where a huge amount of gas was released into the atmosphere and couldn’t be re-absorbed by the rocks. On Earth we have some examples of large-scale outgassing, for instance the creation of the Siberian Traps 500 million years ago which is linked to a mass extinction, but nothing on this scale. It completely transformed Venus.”

This would explain how Venus’ atmosphere was thickened to the point where it was over 90 times as dense as Earth’s (92 bar compared to 1 bar). Combined with the high concentrations of CO², this would have led to a runaway Greenhouse Effect that would explain how the planet became the hellish place we know today, where surface temperatures average 462 °C (864 °F).

This flies in the face of conventional notions of habitability, which state that Venus’ orbit places it beyond the inner edge of our Sun’s habitable zone (HZ). Within this “Venus Zone”, according to conventional wisdom, a planet absorbs too much solar radiation to ever be able to maintain liquid water on its surface. But as Way indicated, their simulations all indicated otherwise:

 “Venus currently has almost twice the solar radiation that we have at Earth. However, in all the scenarios we have modelled, we have found that Venus could still support surface temperatures amenable for liquid water.”

These findings are in line with a similar study that Way and Del Genio conducted in 2016 with colleagues from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the Planetary Science Institute (PSI), Uppsala University and Columbia University. For this study, their team created a suite of 3D climate simulations using data from the Magellan mission that examined how the presence of an ocean on ancient Venus would affect its habitability.

From this, they determined that if Venus had a rotational period slower than about 16 Earth days, its climate would have remained habitable until 715 million years ago. However, there are still two major unknowns that need to be addressed before scientists can say with confidence that Venus was habitable until very recently.

First, scientists will need to determine how quickly Venus cooled and if it was able to condense liquid water on its surface in the first place. Second, it remains unknown whether the global resurfacing event that led to Venus’ transition was a single event or merely part of a series that had been taking place for billions of years.

“We need more missions to study Venus and get a more detailed understanding of its history and evolution,” said Way. “However, our models show that there is a real possibility that Venus could have been habitable and radically different from the Venus we see today. This opens up all kinds of implications for exoplanets found in what is called the ‘Venus Zone’, which may in fact host liquid water and temperate climates.”

Think of it… had Venus not undergone a massive resurfacing event (or a series of them), humanity would have only needed to look next-door for proof of extra-terrestrial life. For that matter, had Mars not lost its magnetosphere 4.2 billion years ago, it could have produced life of its own that would still be around today. Our one Solar System could have had not one, but three life-bearing planets (neighboring at that)!

These findings are likely to be encouraging for those who believe that Venus should be terraformed someday. Knowing that the planet once had a stable climate, and could maintain it despite its orbit, effectively means that any ecological engineering we do there would stick.

That means that Venus could someday be made into a balmy world that’s mostly covered with oceans with few large continents and extensive archipelagos. Sound like any pl }ace you know?

• Further Reading: Europlanet Society, EPSC

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

22-09-2019 om 17:59 geschreven door peter  

Topographic context

Two main regions are shown here: Arabia Terra (towards the upper left) and Terra Sabaea (to the middle and lower right, forming the main bulk of the highlands visible in this slice).

The light region stretching out of frame to the bottom right is Hellas Planitia, a plain that is home to the Hellas basin: one of the largest basins identified on Mars – and, in fact, in the Solar System – at 2300 km across. 

The split between Mars’ two hemispheres is known as the martian dichotomy, and remains one of the greatest mysteries about the planet.

Was it formed due to geological processes within Mars’ mantle? Did the planet’s crust once comprise various moving tectonic plates, as we see on Earth, that pushed against one another to form the dichotomy? Could it have been created by one or more colossal past impacts – or by another process entirely? 

Terra Sabaea and Arabia Terra in context

Observations of the boundary zone between the two hemispheres show that this region has been altered over time by wind and water, including by glaciers. Mars is thought to have seen various bursts of glacial activity over the years, where deposits of ice – sometimes hidden beneath layers of soil or dust – form viscous flows that slowly move across the surface, altering it as they go.

Mars Express was recently joined at Mars by the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), which arrived in 2016 and has since been analysing the martian atmosphere and mapping the planet’s surface. Mars Express and the TGO will soon welcome the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover and its accompanying surface science platform, which are scheduled for launch in July of 2020.

This growing fleet will continue ESA’s long-standing presence at Mars, and further our understanding of the planet and its many remaining scientific mysteries – including the martian dichotomy.

{ http://www.esa.int/ESA }

22-09-2019 om 17:31 geschreven door peter  

Is our solar system being visited by another interstellar object? Comet spotted by amateur astronomer may come from elsewhere in space

• Another interstellar object may be passing through our solar system
• The Minor Planet Center have keyed in on a recently identified comet 
• Object  C/2019 Q4 appears to be a traveler from another galaxy they say
• Estimates show that it could stay in our solar system for up to a year
• It would be the second identified interstellar object after Oumuamua

By JAMES PERO FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

An amateur astronomer says our solar system may have another visitor from deep space.

According to an announcement from the Minor Planet Center, an object spotted at the end of August by amateur astronomer, Gennady Borisov, in Crimea, is likely the second known interstellar object to make a pit stop in our corner of the galaxy.

Astronomers say the object, preliminarily dubbed C/2019 Q4, appears to be a comet given what they have identified as a tail streaking behind the interstellar visitor while it moves through space.

Estimates on C/2019 Q4 project that the object could remain within our solar system for between six months to a full year, meaning astronomers may be able to get a particularly good look at its features, on its brightness

On Thursday, the center released an official 'circular' -- a document detailing information on the object's orbit -- which highlighted the apparent comet's eccentric pattern.  

'Based on the available observations, the orbit solution for this object has converged to the hyperbolic elements shown below, which would indicate an interstellar origin.' reads document.  

While that hyperbolic pattern -- which differs from the elliptical shape of objects in our solar system -- shows that the object will likely leave our solar system for good, it also portends a longer stay and much more in-depth look than previous interstellar travelers.

Estimates on C/2019 Q4 project that the object could remain within our solar system for between six months to a full year, meaning astronomers may be able to get a particularly good look at its features, on its brightness.

On Thursday, the center released an official 'circular' -- a document detailing information on the object's orbit -- which highlighted the apparent comet's eccentric pattern. The faint object is circled above 

'We don’t know how bright it’s going to be. That’s always an issue with comets, so you’ve got that unpredictability, combined with the fact that it is interstellar. And this is the first interstellar comet we’ve seen,' astronomy-software developer Bill Gray, told Forbes.

Previously, astronomers identified an asteroid-like rock known as Oumuamua, the first known interstellar object to pass through our solar system.

The mysterious cigar-shaped projectile, formally named object 1I/2017 U1, resembles both a comet and an asteroid, however, it doesn't conform to many of the other defining features usually associated with these objects, including its direction of spin and lack of a tail.

Previously, astronomers identified an asteroid-like rock known as Oumuamua, the first known interstellar object to pass through our solar system. An artist's impression of Oumuamua is pictured

Conversely, when astronomers spotted Oumuamua, they had just three weeks to observe it before it left our solar system.  

Professional stargazer Robert Weryk first spotted the interstellar traveler in October, 2017 at the University of Hawaii's Haleakala Observatory.

Researchers had just weeks to collect as much data as possible before the strange visitor traveled beyond the reach of Earth's telescopes.

The object is now out of sight but could take up to 20,000 years before it leaves our solar system onto its next destination.

Interstellar objects like the ones recently discovered are particularly exciting for astronomers since they offer a rare, glimpse of what other parts of the galaxy may look like. 

Astronomers will now be able to compare their findings on Oumuamua with the most recent specimen.

Alien hunters at SETI – the Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence based at Berkeley University, California said there was a possibility the rock was ‘an alien artefact’.

But scientists from Queen’s University Belfast took a good look at the object and said it appears to be an asteroid, or ‘planetesimal’ as originally thought. 

Researchers believe the cigar-shaped asteroid had a 'violent past', after looking at the light bouncing off its surface. 

They aren't exactly sure when the violent collision took place, but they believe the lonely asteroid's tumbling will continue for at least a billion years.

{  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

22-09-2019 om 17:18 geschreven door peter  

'Alien Megastructure' Star May Not Be So Special After All

By Charles Q. Choi

More mysteriously dimming stars have been spotted.

This artist's illustration depicts a hypothetical dust ring orbiting KIC 8462852, also known as Boyajian's Star or Tabby's Star.

(Image: © NASA/JPL-Caltech)

A mysterious star whose repeated bouts of darkening might be due to "alien megastructures," according to some researchers' conjectures, may now have more than a dozen counterparts that display similarly mystifying behavior, a new study finds.

Further research into all of these stars might help solve the puzzle of their bewildering flickering, the study's author said.

In 2015, scientists noticed unusual fluctuations in the light from a star named KIC 8462852. This otherwise-normal F-type star, which is slightly larger and hotter than Earth's sun, sits about 1,480 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Cygnus.

Related: 13 Ways to Hunt Intelligent Aliens

When the researchers analyzed data from NASA's Kepler space telescope, astronomer Tabetha "Tabby" Boyajian, then at Yale University, and her colleagues found dozens of odd instances of KIC 8462852 dimming by up to 22%, with such dips lasting anywhere from a few days to a week. These events did not appear to follow any pattern and seemed far too substantial to be caused by planets or dust crossing the star's face.

These analyses of KIC 8462852 — now nicknamed "Boyajian's star" (formerly Tabby's star) after its discoverer — raised the possibility that astronomers had detected signs of intelligent alien life. Specifically, researchers have suggested that the star is surrounded by a Dyson sphere, a hypothetical megastructure that is built around a star to capture as much of its light as possible. Mathematician and physicist Freeman Dyson suggested that such megastructures could help power an advanced civilization. (Science fiction often depicts Dyson spheres as solid shells around stars, but the megastructures also could be globular swarms of giant solar panels.)

The megastructure hypothesis is near the bottom of most astronomers' lists these days when it comes to Boyajian's star, however; further analyses have pointed to more prosaic explanations, such as clouds of dust or comet fragments. Still, scientists have not yet nailed down the precise cause of the odd dimming.  The answer remains elusive in part because Boyajian's star seemed unique; there were no known counterparts to provide additional clues that might help researchers solve this cosmic mystery.

Now, study author Edward Schmidt, an astrophysicist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, suggests that he may have discovered more than a dozen stars like Boyajian's star.

Schmidt looked for counterparts of Boyajian's star using software that searched for analogous dimming events from about 14 million objects with varying brightness monitored in the Northern Sky Variable Survey from April 1999 to March 2000. He then followed up on promising candidates by examining their long-term behavior, using data from the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae, ruling out sources whose dimming could be caused by conventional explanations such as an eclipsing companion star or some intrinsic variability in brightness.

Schmidt identified 21 stars that showed possibly unusual dimming. These fell into two distinct categories: 15 were "slow dippers" that dimmed at rates similar to Boyajian's star, and six were "rapid dippers" that showed even more extreme variability in their dimming rates.

"The thing that surprised me the most were these stars that had so many dips, the ones I called 'rapid dippers,'" Schmidt told Space.com. "I expected more occasional dips like Boyajian's star."

Further analysis using data from the European Space Agency's Gaia space observatory found that these potential dippers tended to be either conventional "main-sequence" stars with about the same mass as the sun or red giant stars with about twice the sun's mass. The slow and rapid dippers are seen in both groups, which may suggest that they represent varying degrees of the same mechanism, Schmidt said.

Schmidt noted that the Northern Sky Variable Survey he searched for potential counterparts of Boyajian's star did not contain records of Boyajian's star itself darkening during the year of data in that catalog. This highlights how astronomers may easily miss stars that can darken in this manner if they look only at catalogs that monitor stars for relatively short intervals of time.

"We're obviously missing some of these stars because of the catalogs we have," Schmidt said. "By looking at more catalogs, we may get a better picture of what's going on, even though it won't be a complete picture."

Future research that combs through more catalogs of stellar activity may turn up even more analogues of Boyajian's star, he said.

"I intend to try and follow up on the rapid dippers," Schmidt said. "One thing I noticed about them is that at least one seemed to be slowing way down in its dipping rate over the five years of coverage we have of it. It'd be interesting to find out what happened in its past, which may help give a better idea of what's going on with these stars."

Schmidt detailed his findings July 18 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

• 'Alien Megastructure' Ruled Out for Some of Star's Weird Dimming
• 10 Exoplanets That Could Host Alien Life
• 5 Bold Claims of Alien Life

Follow Charles Q. Choi on Twitter @cqchoi. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

{ https://www.space.com/news }

22-09-2019 om 15:25 geschreven door peter  

On September 20, 2019 Bigelow Aerospace posted a strange video on their Twitter account showing a floating Orb and probably 'something' else and it's entitled "our small contribution"

When asked what the video is about, they responded "It is an orb recorded in a highly secure Bigelow Aerospace facility in Las Vegas. Absolutely nothing could get in or out of that particular structure but yet, something did…”

But something strange is going on with this video recorded in Bigelow's research and development facility in Las Vegas which is said to be the location for the storage of metal alloys and other materials recovered from unidentified aerial phenomena.

At first it is a grainy video something you don't expect from a recording made in 2011 except if the video was intentionally blurred to hide some details.
Was the room a sealed one and why does that look like a prison table inside the room?
Beside the floating Orb in the small room it is as if 'something' is sitting at the table.

Absolutely nothing could get in or out of that particular structure!

Bigelow Aerospace

✔@BigelowSpace

Our small contribution

https://twitter.com/i/status/1175164725815959552

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11:47 PM - Sep 20, 2019

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{ http://ufosightingshotspot.blogspot.com/ }

22-09-2019 om 14:44 geschreven door peter  

In his wonderful account of the rocket that never was (Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship, 2002), George Dyson discusses his father’s thoughts on taking the craft to the moons of Saturn. Freeman Dyson and other Orion colleagues wanted to land on a moon to pick up propellant, but thought the moons of Jupiter were trickier than Saturn’s because of the depth of the Jovian gravity well. Anyway, Enceladus was a kind of beacon, and it was there Dyson fixed his attention. 

George Dyson quotes Freeman on the matter:

“We knew very little about the satellites in those days. Enceladus looked particularly good. It was known to have a density of .618, so it clearly had to be made of ice plus hydrocarbons, really light things; which were what you need both for biology and for propellant, so you could imagine growing your vegetables there. Five-one-thousandths g on Enceladus is a very gentle gravity, just enough so that you won’t jump off.”

As George noted, Enceladus was a long way from La Jolla, CA (where General Atomic had moved in 1958 to a 300-acre facility above the beaches near Torrey Pines), some 9 astronomical units, but the views would be spectacular. Imagine standing on Enceladus, where Saturn would appear vastly larger than Earth’s moon appears to us. Planet and rings would fill the sky, “changing phase from hour to hour, illuminated by the pale light of a distant sun.”

Image: Mosaic of the surface of Enceladus captured by Cassini on 9th October 2008 from an altitude of 25 kilometres.

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.

We now know just how prescient Freeman Dyson was about the virtues of Enceladus, armed with Cassini data about geysers and an internal ocean. I always keep an eye on further insights from Cassini about this intriguing moon, and notice that at the EPSC-DPS joint meeting in Geneva this week, a team of researchers under Alice Le Gall (LATMOS-UVSQ, Paris) has analyzed some 60 radar observations of Saturn’s inner moons taken by Cassini. The result: Previous reports from these data underestimated their radar brightness by a factor of two.

All of Saturn’s inner moons show high radar reflectivity, with Enceladus itself being twice as bright as Europa, which is the brightest of Jupiter’s satellites. Significant variation turns up among the moons of Saturn, with Enceladus having the highest radar albedo, Titan the lowest.

Image: This is Figure 1 from the precis of Dr. Le Gall’s presentation. Caption: Averaged 2.2-cm disk-integrated radar albedos of Saturn’s major satellites. The error bars show the dispersion of the dataset for each satellite.

Credit: Alice Le Gall.

What we’re witnessing among these inner moons is a fascinating interplay of material being pumped from the internal ocean of Enceladus into nearby space, affecting Tethys and Mimas. These three moons also interact with Saturn’s E-ring, which delivers water ice to their surfaces. The dazzling reflectivity that attracted the Orion team is largely the result of fresh water-ice particles from Enceladus, which acts as what Dr. Le Gall calls a ‘snow-cannon’ to coat all three surfaces. In other words, it snows on these worlds, in the sense that the particles fall back onto Enceladus and precipitate onto the surfaces of the other moons as well. Says Le Gall:

“The super-bright radar signals that we observe require a snow cover that is at least a few tens of centimetres thick. However, the composition alone cannot explain the extremely bright levels recorded. Radar waves can penetrate transparent ice down to [a] few meters and therefore have more opportunities to bounce off buried structures. The sub-surfaces of Saturn’s inner moons must contain highly efficient retro-reflectors that preferentially backscatter radar waves towards their source.”

Just what these ‘structures’ are is not known, though radar observations of Enceladus have shown subsurface features including pinnacles and ice blocks, along with fractured terrain. Le Gall’s team has developed models to test what specific shapes can act as effective reflectors, also testing whether enhanced reflection is a matter of random scattering events. This is a work in progress:

“So far, we don’t have a definitive answer,” adds Le Gall. “However, understanding these radar measurements better will give us a clearer picture of the evolution of these moons and their interaction with Saturn’s unique ring environment. This work could also be useful for future missions to land on the moons.”

The presentation is Le Gall et al., “Saturn’s inner moons: why are they so radar-bright?” in EPSC Abstracts Vol. 13, EPSC-DPS 2019-454-2, 2019 EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2019 (abstract).

 { https://www.centauri-dreams.org/ }

22-09-2019 om 01:51 geschreven door peter  

Mysterious magnetic pulses & evidence of groundwater discovered on Mars

There may be liquid water on Mars after all – dozens of miles inside the planet, according to magnetic measurements from the InSight lander, which has been exploring Mars since landing in November. The probe’s magnetometer seems to register an electrically conductive layer up to 62 miles beneath the surface, appearing similar to how water deep within the Earth appears using terrestrial magnetometers.

• ALSO ON RT.COM Ridged red planet: Sand dunes of Mars revealed in stunning new detailed PHOTO

Unfortunately for would-be Martian colonists eager to find out whether there really is water down there, InSight can only drill 16 feet beneath the surface, leaving a potential oasis woefully out of reach.

In another intriguing discovery, the red planet’s magnetic field wiggles mysteriously at midnight, according to measurements from InSight’s magnetometer, which found that field to be 20 times stronger than what had been predicted based on previous orbital measurements. The pulses last as long as two hours.

• ALSO ON RT.COM

China reveals new PHOTOS of strange substance from dark side of the moon

Scientists suspect a protrusion in the weak magnetic envelope surrounding the planet is “plucking” the surface magnetic field to cause the eerily-timed pulsations, suggesting the anomaly aligns with InSight’s perch in Elysium Planitia every night at midnight, causing the magnetometer to go wild as if on a timer.

{ https://www.rt.com/news/ }

22-09-2019 om 01:37 geschreven door peter  

Putting Astronauts on the Moon in 2024 Is a Tall Order, NASA Says

By Mike Wall 

But nobody said it was supposed to be easy.

Artist's illustration of a moon lander capable of ferrying humans to the lunar surface.

(Image: © NASA)

If you're skeptical that NASA can put boots on the moon by 2024, you're not alone.

During a hearing of the space subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives' Science, Space and Technology Committee on Wednesday (Sept. 18), multiple representatives voiced concerns about the agency's progress toward the ambitious 2024 lunar-landing goal. And one of the key witnesses, Ken Bowersox, NASA's acting associate administrator for human exploration and operations, didn't exactly put their deadline doubts to rest. 

When Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., asked how confident he was that NASA would meet the 2024 target, for example, Bowersox responded, "I wouldn't bet my oldest child's upcoming birthday present or anything like that."

Related: Home On the Moon: How to Build a Lunar Colony

The 2024 target is a good thing, Bowersox added, saying that aggressive goals help focus the agency's efforts and attention. But he stressed that meeting the deadline is not the agency's main objective.

"We're going to do our best to make it. But, like I said, what's important is that we launch when we're ready, that we have a successful mission when it launches," he said.

"And I'm not going to sit here and tell you that, just arbitrarily, we're going to make it," said Bowersox, a former NASA astronaut. "We have to have a lot of things come together to make it happen. We have to get our funding, we have to balance our resources with our requirements, and then we've got to execute it really well. And so, there's a lot of risk to making the date, but we want to try to do it."

NASA is doing this work via a lunar-exploration program called Artemis, which envisions using the moon as a steppingstone to the ultimate human-spaceflight destination: Mars. 

If all goes according to plan, NASA will build a small moon-orbiting space station called the Gateway in the early 2020s. Gateway is key to the overall Artemis effort, because it will serve as a hub for surface missions. Landers, both crewed and uncrewed, will depart from the Gateway to the lunar surface and return to the ministation when their work on the ground is done. Astronauts will also operate moon rovers from this orbital perch, NASA officials have said.

The space agency aims to land two astronauts — including the first-ever female moonwalker — near the lunar south pole in 2024 and establish a sustainable, long-term presence on and around the moon by 2028. 

This latter date was the original target for the first crewed lunar landing since the Apollo era. But in March, Vice President Mike Pence moved the timeline up four years.

"Urgency must be our watchword," Pence said at the time, invoking a space race with Russia and China. "The United States must remain first in space in this century as in the last, not just to propel our economy and secure our nation but, above all, because the rules and values of space, like every great frontier, will be written by those who have the courage to get there first and the commitment to stay."

NASA plans to achieve the Artemis goals using the Orion capsule and a huge rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS). Orion has flown once, on an uncrewed test mission to Earth orbit in 2014, but the oft-delayed SLS has yet to get off the ground.

• Related: Photos: NASA's Space Launch System for Deep Space Flights

The first flight of SLS, known as Artemis 1, will send an uncrewed Orion around the moon. That test mission is targeted for late 2020, Bowersox said. Artemis 2, scheduled for 2022, will launch four astronauts on a lunar flyby mission. Artemis 3 will deliver four astronauts to the Gateway in 2024; two of these pioneers will then make their way down to the lunar surface aboard a privately built lander.

Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, who chairs the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, voiced considerable skepticism that this plan will come together in time.

"It has been almost a decade since an American spacecraft sent astronauts into space at all. Yet the Administration's plan requires our astronauts to attempt a lunar landing on only the second crewed flight beyond low-Earth orbit after what by then will have been a 50-year hiatus, with no real plans for prior crewed preparatory flights in low-Earth orbit," Johnson wrote in her prepared statement for Wednesday's hearing, which was called "Developing Core Capabilities for Deep-Space Exploration: An Update on NASA's SLS, Orion and Exploration Ground Systems."

The paucity of crewed test flights is apparently an area of concern for Johnson, who noted that the 2024 lunar landing attempt will come as part of the first crewed mission to Gateway. And that surface mission might mark the first flights of the lander and the ascent vehicle that gets astronauts back up to the Gateway, she added.

"Rhetoric about American leadership in space and advancing the role of women in spaceflight is all well and good, but it is not a substitute for a well-planned, well-managed, well-funded, and well-executed exploration program," Johnson said in her written statement. "To date, Congress has not been given a credible basis for believing that the president’s Moon 2024 program satisfies any of those criteria. In short, if Congress is to support such a program, the Administration is going to have to do a lot more to provide such evidence."

• NASA Plans to Build a Moon-Orbiting Space Station: Here's What You Should Know
• In Photos: President Trump Aims for the Moon with Space Policy Directive 1
• Presidential Visions for Space Exploration: From Ike to Trump

Mike Wall's book about the search for alien life, "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook. 

{ https://www.space.com/ }

22-09-2019 om 00:54 geschreven door peter  

Area 51 Gate Crashing: Storm of Controversy

22-09-2019 om 00:32 geschreven door peter  

NASA deelt gedetailleerde en adembenemende foto van Mars - HLN.be

Bron: CNN, NASA

Bovenste afbeelding werd genomen door NASA’s ruimtesonde Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, en toont een deel van de Danielson-krater. Die heeft een diameter van 66 kilometer en werd “miljoenen of miljarden jaren geleden” gevormd, aldus de Amerikaanse ruimteorganisatie. De krater bestaat uit rotsen vermengd met zand (blauwe gebieden), die bevroren raakten. Bepaalde delen op de kraterbodem vielen makkelijker ten prooi aan erosie dan andere, wat dan weer de trapachtige, uitspringende structuur verklaart.

Lees ook

NASA geeft steen op Mars de naam ‘Rolling Stones’

Ook de Europees-Russische sonde ExoMars stuurde deze week een gedetailleerde foto van de rode planeet naar de aarde. Daarop zijn duinen op de noordpool van Mars te zien. De witte kleur op onderstaande afbeelding wordt veroorzaakt door droogijs, de vaste vorm van koolstofdioxide. In de lente, wanneer de zon schijnt, barst het ijs en ontsnapt er gas uit de duinen. Donker zand wordt dan omhoog gestuwd, zoals op de afbeelding duidelijk te zien is.

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

21-09-2019 om 23:44 geschreven door peter  

Dark Disk Seen Passing Over Our Moon, Over 5km Long! UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: March 15, 2019, but reported today

Location of sighting: Earths moon

Source: MUFON #103464

 

An eyewitness caught a dark circular UFO with his camera. The cameras today often come with zooms of up to 200X so they even beat a lot of telescopes, especially for the convenience of getting photos or video. Dark circular objects have been recorded for the last decade passing over the surface of our moon. This is nothing new, but its should be a warning to the public...if NASA doesn't tell us about these unidentified flying objects on our moon...then NASA must be too frighted causing a panic in the public. Honestly...how would you feel emotionally if you heard on world news that NASA has spotted an alien craft that is 5km across near our moon? Yeah...it would cause a bit of worry. 

Scott C. Waring

Eyewitness states:

Was taking pics of moon in succession. My last pic has dark looking object in the front of the bottom of the moon. 

{ https://www.etdatabase.com/ }

21-09-2019 om 23:01 geschreven door peter  

Dark Disk In Daytime Over Doolin, Ireland On Aug 19, 2019, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: August 19, 2019
Location of sighting: Doolin, Ireland
Source: MUFON #103466

The eyewitness took a photo of his car in Ireland on a hill, and when he got home he noticed a thick disk near the clouds. The disk is wider at its center and thiner at is ends. To top it off, the disk is tilted, which Area 51 scientist Bob Lazar said is necessary if a disk is moving. UFOs can be seen anywhere in the world, although some locations seem to have a higher change of seeing one than others. In a world where everyone is looking down at their phone, its no wonder why sightings are down this year...few people bother looking up at the sky. 
Scott C. Waring

{ https://www.etdatabase.com/ }

21-09-2019 om 22:55 geschreven door peter  

'Storm area 51' raid brings crowds of ‘alien believers' to Nevada

For those who follow 'Storm Area 51' here is the latest news on this event... but what do you think is in Area 51?

According to RT-Ruptly - Live, visitors from around the country are trekking to the Alien Research Center in Hiko on the outskirts of the top-secret US military installation known as Area 51 in the Nevada Desert where the ‘Storm Area 51 Basecamp’ will take place Friday and Saturday.

The event, titled ‘Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us’, was called for on social media, with millions of people RSVPing. Organisers intend to raid Area 51 to “see them Aliens.”

Area 51 has long been a topic of fascination for conspiracy theorists and paranormal enthusiasts who believe it to be the location where the US government stores and hides alien bodies and UFOs.

Its existence was only acknowledged by the US government in 2013 after citizens filed a Freedom of Information Act request that called for the release of information regarding the government's activities in the area.

The 38,400-acre land area has been restricted to the public since 1958 and has armed guards patrolling the perimeter. It's also impossible to enter the airspace above without permission from air traffic control. The facility’s official name is Nevada Test and Training Range. It is a unit of the Nellis Air Force Base, located at Groom Lake, 120 miles (193 km) northwest of Las Vegas.

  

{ http://ufosightingshotspot.blogspot.com/ }

21-09-2019 om 22:49 geschreven door peter  

'Alien Megastructure' Star May Not Be So Special After All

This artist's illustration depicts a hypothetical dust ring orbiting KIC 8462852, also known as Boyajian's Star or Tabby's Star.

(Image: © NASA/JPL-Caltech)

When the researchers analyzed data from NASA's Kepler space telescope, astronomer Tabetha "Tabby" Boyajian, then at Yale University, and her colleagues found dozens of odd instances of KIC 8462852 dimming by up to 22%, with such dips lasting anywhere from a few days to a week. These events did not appear to follow any pattern and seemed far too substantial to be caused by planets or dust crossing the star's face.

These analyses of KIC 8462852 — now nicknamed "Boyajian's star" (formerly Tabby's star) after its discoverer — raised the possibility that astronomers had detected signs of intelligent alien life. Specifically, researchers have suggested that the star is surrounded by a Dyson sphere, a hypothetical megastructure that is built around a star to capture as much of its light as possible. Mathematician and physicist Freeman Dyson suggested that such megastructures could help power an advanced civilization. (Science fiction often depicts Dyson spheres as solid shells around stars, but the megastructures also could be globular swarms of giant solar panels.)

The megastructure hypothesis is near the bottom of most astronomers' lists these days when it comes to Boyajian's star, however; further analyses have pointed to more prosaic explanations, such as clouds of dust or comet fragments. Still, scientists have not yet nailed down the precise cause of the odd dimming.  The answer remains elusive in part because Boyajian's star seemed unique; there were no known counterparts to provide additional clues that might help researchers solve this cosmic mystery.

Now, study author Edward Schmidt, an astrophysicist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, suggests that he may have discovered more than a dozen stars like Boyajian's star.

Alien Megastructure Star Being Investigated By UC Berkeley | Video

Schmidt identified 21 stars that showed possibly unusual dimming. These fell into two distinct categories: 15 were "slow dippers" that dimmed at rates similar to Boyajian's star, and six were "rapid dippers" that showed even more extreme variability in their dimming rates.

"The thing that surprised me the most were these stars that had so many dips, the ones I called 'rapid dippers,'" Schmidt told Space.com. "I expected more occasional dips like Boyajian's star."

Further analysis using data from the European Space Agency's Gaia space observatory found that these potential dippers tended to be either conventional "main-sequence" stars with about the same mass as the sun or red giant stars with about twice the sun's mass. The slow and rapid dippers are seen in both groups, which may suggest that they represent varying degrees of the same mechanism, Schmidt said.

Schmidt noted that the Northern Sky Variable Survey he searched for potential counterparts of Boyajian's star did not contain records of Boyajian's star itself darkening during the year of data in that catalog. This highlights how astronomers may easily miss stars that can darken in this manner if they look only at catalogs that monitor stars for relatively short intervals of time.

"We're obviously missing some of these stars because of the catalogs we have," Schmidt said. "By looking at more catalogs, we may get a better picture of what's going on, even though it won't be a complete picture."

Future research that combs through more catalogs of stellar activity may turn up even more analogues of Boyajian's star, he said.

"I intend to try and follow up on the rapid dippers," Schmidt said. "One thing I noticed about them is that at least one seemed to be slowing way down in its dipping rate over the five years of coverage we have of it. It'd be interesting to find out what happened in its past, which may help give a better idea of what's going on with these stars."

Schmidt detailed his findings July 18 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

• 'Alien Megastructure' Ruled Out for Some of Star's Weird Dimming
• 10 Exoplanets That Could Host Alien Life
• 5 Bold Claims of Alien Life

Follow Charles Q. Choi on Twitter @cqchoi. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

{https://www.space.com/news }

21-09-2019 om 01:33 geschreven door peter