Scientists in Europe have found that some features on Mars that were thought to be lava flows may actually have been flows of muddy water.

We know that Mars used to be volcanically active in the past. The planet is dotted with enormous now-dormant volcanoes, and the remains of old lava flows can still be seen today. Now, it seems, some of those lava flows weren’t composed of lava at all, but rather mud, according to researchers in Europe. The finding is evidence for what are called sedimentary volcanism, where liquid mud – water-rich sediments – ruptured from Mars’ subsurface, flowing like lava before refreezing. These features have often been seen on Earth, in association with smaller conical hills that resemble mud volcanoes.

The intriguing peer-reviewed results were published in the journal Nature Geoscience on May 20, 2020.

A possible mud volcano on Mars, just one of thousands. Ancient flows from such features and other volcanic spots had previously been assumed to be lava, but a new study suggests that at least in some cases, it was mud instead. That would mean these landforms really are mud volcanoes, not smaller magmatic volcanoes.

Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ University of Arizona/ DLR.

From the paper:

Large outflow channels on ancient terrains of Mars have been interpreted as the products of catastrophic flood events. The rapid burial of water-rich sediments after such flooding could have led to sedimentary volcanism, in which mixtures of sediment and water (mud) erupt to the surface.

Tens of thousands of volcano-like landforms populate the northern lowlands … on Mars. However, it is difficult to determine whether the edifices are related to igneous or mud extrusions …

Here we investigate the mechanisms of mud propagation on Mars using experiments performed inside a low-pressure chamber at cold temperatures. We found that low viscosity mud under Martian conditions propagates differently from that on Earth, because of a rapid freezing and the formation of an icy crust. Instead, the experimental mud flows propagate like terrestrial pahoehoe lava flows, with liquid mud spilling from ruptures in the frozen crust, and then refreezing to form a new flow lobe.

We suggest that mud volcanism can explain the formation of some lava-like flow morphologies on Mars, and that similar processes may apply to cryovolcanic extrusions on icy bodies in the solar system.

The low-pressure vacuum chamber used in the experiments.

Image via CAS/ Petr Bro¸/ CC BY-SA 4.0/ DLR.

An example of mud frozen in simulated Mars conditions. The mud froze on the outside but remained liquid on the inside, and formed cavities and shapes similar to lava on Earth.

Image via Bro¸ et al./ Nature Geoscience/ CNRS.

The new study was led by researchers from the Institute of Geophysics at the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS). It involved Lancaster University, the Open University and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the U.K., CNRS in France, DLR and Münster University in Germany, and CEED in Norway.

Ernst Hauber of the DLR Institute of Planetary Research in Berlin-Adlershof said in a statement:

We have long been aware that in the early history of Mars, several billion years ago, large amounts of water were released over a short period of time, eroding very large valleys in the landscape, which have long since dried up. Extensively eroded masses of fragmented rock were transported through these outflow channels and into the northern lowlands of the planet, where they were quickly deposited. Later, these rocky masses were covered by younger sediments and volcanic rocks.

An active mud volcano in Azerbaijan.

Image via CAS/ Petr Bro¸/ CC BY-SA 4.0/ DLR.

Many of the mud flows are found in locations where massive channels were carved by water a few billion years ago. These floods were huge, comparable to the largest floods known on Earth. Water would then seep back into the subsurface, where it could then re-emerge as mud.

How did the researchers determine that some of the lava flows were not really lava, but mud? Lionel Wilson, Emeritus Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Lancaster University, explained:

We performed experiments in a vacuum chamber to simulate the release of mud on Mars. This is of interest because we see many flow-like features on Mars in spacecraft images, but they have not yet been visited by any of the roving vehicles on the surface and there is some ambiguity about whether they are flows of lava or mud.

What they found was quite interesting. Flowing mud on Mars didn’t behave at all like flowing mud on Earth, due to the very thin atmosphere and cold temperatures. The vacuum chamber re-created current Martian conditions. The flowing mud on Mars would freeze quickly and form an icy crust. In the vacuum chamber, the mud flows formed shapes similar to pahoehoe lava, which is common in Hawaii and Iceland. After the mud spilled out of ruptures in the ground, it refroze and formed smooth, undulating surfaces. The outer surface of the mud would freeze on contact with the air, while the inner core remained liquid. This liquid can break the frozen crust to form a new flow lobe that then refreezes.

More conical hills thought to be mud volcanoes, in Coprates Chasma on Mars.

Image via Petr Bro¸/ Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter/ NASA/ JPL/ University of Arizona/ The Conversation.

Rock slab called Old Soaker, found by the Curiosity rover in Gale Crater on Mars, which is covered with what are thought to be mud cracks from when a layer of mud dried out about 3 billion years ago.

Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ MSSS.

In another test where the atmospheric pressure was the same as Earth’s, the mud did not form those shapes, even though it was just as cold in the vacuum chamber. Petr Bro¸, lead author of the new study, said:

Under the low atmospheric pressure of Mars, the mud flows behave in much the same way as pahoehoe, or ‘ropy’, lava, which is familiar from large volcanoes on Hawaii and Iceland. Our experiments show that even a process as apparently simple as the flow of mud – something that many of us have experienced for ourselves since we were children – would be very different on Mars.

Hauber added:

However, the impact of this familiar effect on mud has never been investigated in an experiment before. Once again, it turns out that different physical conditions must always be taken into account when looking at apparently simple surface features on other planets. We now know that we need to consider both mud and lava when analyzing certain flow phenomena.

There are tens of thousands of small conical hills in the northern highlands of Mars that may be mud volcanoes. It isn’t clear whether any of them may still be pumping out mud today, but the findings overall show that mud and wet sediments were common on the planet, at least in the past. In Gale Crater, the Curiosity rover has also found cracked, dried rock slabs that look exactly like dried out mud from the bottom of the lake that used to exist there.

Petr Bro¸ of the Czech Academy of Sciences, lead author of the new study.

Image via CAS.

Mars isn’t the only place where this kind of sedimentary volcanism is thought to occur. There is also evidence for a similar process on the dwarf planet Ceres, which may have once had a muddy ocean beneath its outer icy crust. According to Bro¸:

We suggest that mud volcanism can explain the formation of some lava-like flow morphologies on Mars, and that similar processes may apply to eruptions of mud on icy bodies in the outer solar system, like on Ceres.

Last year it was reported that Ceres likely had subsurface salty muddy meltwater reservoirs that lasted millions of years. The bright spots on Ceres’ surface are now thought to be salt deposits left over from when cryovolcanoes – ice volcanoes – erupted, with the water quickly sublimating away due to the almost complete lack of an atmosphere. Similar features thought to be cryovolcanoes were also discovered on Pluto by the New Horizons spacecraft, and on Saturn’s moon Titan by Cassini. If the flows and conical hills on Mars are really also related to Martian mud, then that would show such processes are common in our solar system (including Earth of course), and could potentially provide valuable clues as to how life originated and evolved on our own planet.

• Bottom line: Some features on Mars that were thought to be lava flows may actually be mud flows, according to a new study.
• Source: Experimental evidence for lava-like mud flows under Martian surface conditions
• Via Lancaster University
• Via DLR

{ https://earthsky.org/ }

29-05-2020 om 23:51 geschreven door peter  

Scientists studying data from the Curiosity rover have found evidence for an ancient ice-covered lake in Gale Crater on Mars. The findings support the theory of alternating warmer and colder climates on early Mars.

Artist’s concept of Gale Crater when it was filled by a lake a few billion years ago. The Curiosity rover had previous evidence for the lake or series of lakes over time. Now a new study suggests that the lake could have been covered by ice during colder climate periods.

Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ ESA/ DLR/ FU Berlin/ MSSS.

A few billion years ago, Gale Crater on Mars held a lake or series of lakes. There was even a river that once fed into this lake. That’s the conclusion of scientists working with data from NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars, which landed inside Gale Crater in August 2012 and has been exploring the region ever since. Now, a new study of Curiosity data by NASA scientists has added more pieces to the puzzle of what conditions on ancient Mars were like.

NASA announced the study on May 19, 2020. The peer-reviewed paper detailing these findings was published on January 27 in the journal Nature.

The results come from a comprehensive analysis of data from a multi-year experiment onboard the rover, in a chemistry lab called Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM). SAM has been analyzing the chemistry and minerals in rock samples, including organic compounds – the building blocks of life – to determine the habitability of this part of Mars early in its history. This testing has previously confirmed abundant liquid water in the past, as well as a variety of organic molecules preserved in Martian rocks.

Diagram of the proposed carbon cycle on Mars. With little water and no abundant surface life on the planet, the cycle is quite different from the one on Earth.

Image via Lance Hayashida/ Caltech/ NASA.

The SAM instrument at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), before it was placed on Curiosity for the trip to Mars.

Image via NASA/ GSFC.

The latest analysis has found evidence for a previous ice-covered lake in Gale Crater, thought to have possibly existed in a colder period between two warmer periods of time. Heather Franz, a geochemist at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) who led the new study, said in a statement:

At some point, Mars’ surface environment must have experienced a transition from being warm and humid to being cold and dry, as it is now, but exactly when and how that occurred is still a mystery.

The evidence supports the idea that Mars’ climate alternated between warmer and colder before finally becoming permanently cold and dry as we see it today. Changes in the axial tilt of the planet and volcanic activity could have played a major part in that instability. Indeed, chemical and mineralogical changes in Martian rocks also show this, with some rock layers being formed in warmer conditions, but others in colder climates.

The Quisquiro salt flat in Altiplano, South America. Scientists think this may be similar to the lake(s) that once existed in Gale Crater on Mars.

Image via Maksym Bocharov/ NASA.

So how did Franz and her team find the evidence for an ice-covered lake?

Over five years, Curiosity collected 13 rock and dust samples. From these, the gases carbon dioxide and oxygen were extracted inside SAM. Each sample was heated to 1,650 degrees Fahrenheit (900 degrees Celsius), in order to liberate the trapped gases. The temperatures of the SAM oven at the time provided clues as to the kinds of minerals the gases were coming from. This provided insight into Mars’ carbon cycle, where the gas is exchanged between Mars’ subsurface, surface rocks, polar caps, water and atmosphere. While Mars still has a carbon cycle today, it is a lot different than Earth’s, since it has little water and no abundant surface life. As Paul Mahaffy, principal investigator on SAM, explained:

Nevertheless, the carbon cycling is still happening and is still important because it’s not only helping reveal information about Mars’ ancient climate. It’s also showing us that Mars is a dynamic planet that’s circulating elements that are the buildings blocks of life as we know it.

Mars doesn’t seem to have a lot of carbonates left – minerals composed of carbon and oxygen – which would be evidence for Mars once having a much thicker atmosphere, probably mostly carbon dioxide like today. Such an atmosphere would be needed to help explain how the planet could have once had long-lasting lakes and rivers. But, even though the carbonates may be sparse where Curiosity landed, the ones it has found so far have provided valuable clues about the ancient Martian climate.

Comparison of a carbonate molecule and an oxalate molecule.

Image via James Tralie/ NASA/ Goddard Space Flight Center.

By examining the isotopes of the oxygen and carbon dioxide – versions of each element with different molecular masses – scientists can learn what chemical processes were involved in the formation of the rocks, including whether any biological activity might have been involved, as happens on Earth. The analysis showed that in some of the carbonates, the oxygen isotopes were lighter than those found in the Martian atmosphere.

Why is that significant? It suggests the carbonates formed in a cold, likely ice-covered lake. If the carbonates had formed in a warmer lake, then the isotopes should have actually been slightly heavier than the ones from the air. The researchers say that the ice might have sucked up the heavy oxygen isotopes, leaving behind the lighter ones that would eventually be found in the carbonates.

This is puzzling though, because it might mean the atmosphere was still thinner than thought. But without a thicker, warmer atmosphere, how could there have been lakes, rivers and maybe even a northern hemisphere ocean back then, as other other studies have shown?

The answer may be in the form of minerals called oxalates. Franz and her team suggest that some of the carbon may have been stored in oxalates rather than carbonates. The temperatures at which the carbon dioxide was released from some samples inside SAM was too low for carbonates, but just right for oxalates. The ratios of carbon and oxygen isotopes found also support this hypothesis.

Heather Franz at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, who led the new study.

Image via NASA/ GSFC.

If it could be proven that oxalates were involved, that would be intriguing, since they are the most common mineral produced by plant life on Earth, synthesized by the incomplete oxidation of carbohydrates. That in itself wouldn’t prove life on early Mars, however, since they can also be produced by the interaction of carbon dioxide with surface minerals (inorganic or organic catalysts), water and sunlight. This is a process that “mocks” photosynthesis, called abiotic photosynthesis. It may even have paved the way for actual photosynthesis to be used by microbes on Earth.

Additional analysis of these and future SAM samples will be necessary to further figure out what role oxalates played, if any. The upcoming Perseverance rover mission to  Jezero Crater, scheduled to launch this summer, should be able to shed more light on the Curiosity findings. Jezero Crater is similar to Gale Crater in that it also used to contain a lake, and an ancient delta is still clearly visible where a river once emptied into the lake. Perseverance is designed to specifically look for evidence of ancient microbial life on Mars, so it will be very interesting to see what it finds.

• Bottom line: A new study of results from the Curiosity rover provides evidence for an ice-covered lake once existing in Gale Crater on Mars.
• Source: Indigenous and exogenous organics and surface–atmosphere cycling inferred from carbon and oxygen isotopes at Gale crater
• Via NASA

This animation demonstrates the salty ponds and streams that scientists think may have been left behind as Gale Crater dried out over time. The bottom of the image is the floor of Gale Crater, with the peak being the side of Mount Sharp.

Credit:ASU Knowledge Enterprise Development (KED), Michael Northrop > Download larger gif

{ https://earthsky.org/ }

29-05-2020 om 23:33 geschreven door peter  

Why SpaceX has to wait until Saturday for its next try to launch astronauts for NASA

By Mike Wall 

Blame orbital dynamics.

This SpaceX diagram shows the many steps it takes to get Crew Dragon to the International Space Station on the Demo-2 mission.

(Image: © SpaceX)

If you're frustrated that you now have to wait until Saturday (May 30) to see SpaceX's first crewed launch, you can blame Mother Nature and orbital mechanics.

Elon Musk's company was poised Wednesday afternoon (May 27) to launch Demo-2, a crucial test mission that will send NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Crew Dragon capsule. But the weather didn't cooperate, forcing SpaceX to cancel Crew Dragon's planned liftoff atop a Falcon 9 rocket with less than 20 minutes left in the countdown.

The next available launch opportunity doesn't come until Saturday, at 3:22 p.m. EDT (1922 GMT). That's when the space station will be in the desired place relative to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Demo-2's launch site, explained Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX's vice president of mission assurance.

• Full coverage: SpaceX's historic Demo-2 astronaut launch explained

"The two days in between — it's just a matter of phasing and how the orbital mechanics work out," Koenigsmann said during a news conference on Monday (May 25). "And there are some other factors that play into that, too — traffic on the station, and so on and so forth." 

The weather looked like it was clearing up in the late stages of the countdown Wednesday, and the mission likely could have gotten off the ground if the launch team had about 10 more minutes to work with, SpaceX representatives said. But such leeway isn't available for Demo-2, which has an instantaneous launch window. 

"We do the flight analysis assuming that the temperatures of the propellants are below a certain amount, so that we know how much performance is available to the rocket — how much margin we're going to have," SpaceX principal integration engineer John Insprucker said during Wednesday's launch webcast. 

"Once you get into propellant loading at T-35 minutes, you have to go as soon as you get to zero," Insprucker said.

Even waiting for a few minutes past T-0 would cause propellant temperatures to rise slightly, he added, "and that changes how much performance you get carrying into orbit. And we don't want to cut into those margins."

You probably don't want to contemplate yet another scrub, but there's good news if that does indeed come to pass: The next launch opportunity after Saturday is Sunday (May 31), at 3:00 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT). 

Whenever Demo-2 launches, you can watch it here at Space.com.

Demo-2 will be the first crewed orbital flight to launch from the U.S. since NASA's space shuttle fleet was grounded in 2011. Since then, American astronauts have flown to and from the ISS aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft, the only available option.

NASA, SpaceX and Boeing have been working for years to end that dependence. In 2014, the two companies signed multibillion-dollar contracts with NASA's Commercial Crew Program to finish development of their astronaut taxis and fly six operational crewed missions to and from the orbiting lab.

SpaceX will be able to start flying those contracted missions after Demo-2 is in the books. Boeing has a bit more work to do, however; the company's CST-100 Starliner capsule still needs to ace an uncrewed mission to the ISS, a milestone Crew Dragon notched in March 2019.

Starliner launched on such a mission this past December but suffered a glitch with its onboard timing system and ended up stranded in an orbit too low to meet up with the space station. Starliner will refly the uncrewed ISS flight before taking astronauts aboard.

.Visit Space.com for complete coverage of SpaceX's Crew Dragon Demo-2 flight. 

• Meet the NASA astronauts launching on SpaceX's historic Crew Dragon test flight 
• Here's what SpaceX's 1st spaceship to carry astronauts looks like from space (satellite photos)
• SpaceX's Crew Dragon Demo-1 test flight in pictures

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

{ https://www.space.com/ }

29-05-2020 om 23:08 geschreven door peter  

Meteor that blasted millions of trees in Siberia only 'grazed' Earth, new research says

A mysterious blast in 1908, thought to have been caused by a meteor, flattened a Siberian taiga forest. This photo was taken in 1938, during an expedition by Russian mineralogist Leonid Kulik, investigating the event.

(Image: © Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

On the morning of June 30, 1908, the sky above Siberia flared so bright and hot that a witness standing dozens of kilometers from the site thought that his shirt had caught fire, said Vladimir Pariev, co-author of the new Tunguska study and a researcher with the P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. 

Following the bright light, which lasted for about 1 minute, was an explosion that smashed windows and knocked people off their feet in a town more than 35 miles (60 km) away, the BBC reported. "The sky was split in two, and high above the forest the whole northern part of the sky appeared covered with fire," another witness said in a testimonial. Energy released by the blast was later estimated by scientists to be 185 times greater than that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, according to NASA.

Initial explanations for the blast included volcanic eruptions and mining accidents, according to NASA, but those claims were not supported by physical evidence. Other later suggestions were more far-fetched, such as a crashed UFO or a black hole collision with Earth — a study describing the black hole hypothesis was published in the journal Nature in 1973 (and was soundly debunked in another Nature study published just a few months later).

The most widely accepted scientific explanation is that a rocky asteroid or comet entered Earth's atmosphere and then disintegrated with a bang about 3 to 6 miles (5 to 10 km) above the ground, Pariev told Live Science in an email. But such an explosion should have strewn the ground with rocky debris, which no one has ever found. By comparison, a meteor that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in February 2013 broke into fragments that were discovered within a week, Pariev said.

What if, the researchers questioned, the Tunguska meteor were made of iron rather than rock? Could a massive iron meteor "graze" Earth's atmosphere, approaching close enough to generate a powerful shock wave, then yank free of the planet's gravitational pull and escape without fragmenting?

• Related: Top 10 ways to destroy Earth

To test that hypothesis, the scientists calculated meteor paths using computer models. They looked at objects that were as small as 164 feet (50 meters) across and as large as 656 feet (200 m) in diameter. Objects were made of rock, ice or iron, and approached in a trajectory that brought them within 6 to 10 miles (10 to 15 km) of Earth's surface. 

The scientists' calculations showed that space bodies made of rock and ice would completely disintegrate under the enormous pressures generated by their passage through the tropospheric altitudes. "Only asteroids made of iron larger than 100 m [328 feet] in diameter can survive and not get cracked and fragmented into many separate pieces," they said. 

The researchers estimated that the Tunguska meteor likely measured between 328 and 656 feet (100 and 200 m) in diameter, and hurtled through Earth's atmosphere at roughly 45,000 mph (72,000 km/h). During its fiery passage, the meteor would lose some of its mass. But iron shed by a meteor traveling at such speeds would have escaped as gas and plasma, oxidized in the atmosphere and then dispersed on the ground, becoming nearly indistinguishable from terrestrial iron oxides, according to the study.

Prior studies have calculated the power of shock waves produced by meteors based on the object entering Earth's atmosphere at a very steep angle "and either hitting the ground or exploding in midair," Pariev said. 

In the case of the Tunguska meteor, the iron-rich space object could have entered Earth's atmosphere at a very shallow angle — about 9 to 12 degrees tangential to the surface. It then would have grazed through the atmosphere, creating a shock wave at an altitude of around 6 to 10 miles (10 to 15 km) above the ground, capable of flattening trees for hundreds of kilometers and scorching the surface. But because of the meteor's mass and momentum, it didn't break up; it then exited the atmosphere and returned to space, the researchers reported.

• Related: Space-y Tales: The 5 strangest meteorites

Boslough, who was not involved in the study, told Live Science in an email that if an object "skimmed through the atmosphere" and didn't blow up, the resulting shock wave would be significantly weaker than an explosion's blast wave.

"An object that survived such a transit through the atmosphere could not have descended close enough to the surface for a sonic boom to do the kind of damage that was observed at Tunguska," Boslough said. 

What's more, the pattern of felled trees at the site is radial — emanating from a single point of tremendous energy release, he said. That's something you'd expect to see after an explosion rather than a sonic boom, "even if it had been strong enough to blow trees over." Boslough added that eyewitness accounts at the time of the incident "are consistent with an object that was descending toward the surface before it exploded." 

While the study authors didn't numerically calculate the impact of a shock wave that a "grazing" iron meteor of this size could produce, their estimates still suggest that such a wave would be powerful enough to flatten trees and damage the ground as the Tunguska event did, Pariev said in the email.

"Detailed calculations of the shock waves from a grazing asteroid is the subject of our ongoing research," he added.

The findings were published online in the March issue of the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

• Fallen stars: A gallery of famous meteorites
• In photos: The impact craters of North America
• When space attacks: The 6 craziest meteor impacts

Originally published on Live Science.

Videos, selected by peter2011

{ https://www.space.com/ }

29-05-2020 om 22:45 geschreven door peter  

6 wild things we spotted during SpaceX's 1st astronaut launch attempt

By Chelsea Gohd

A small stuffed animal hitched a ride on the Demo-2 mission, strapped in next to NASA astronaut Bob Behnken on May 27, 2020.

(Image: © NASA TV)

We spotted some wild and wacky details leading up to SpaceX's now-delayed Demo-2 test flight today (May 27).

Today's mission scrubbed and was delayed for this Saturday at 3:22 p.m. EDT (1922 GMT). However, today's events, which served as a sort of "wet dress rehearsal" for the actual launch, had some interesting highlights. From the minute that veteran NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley arrived this morning, ready to strap into their spacesuits and launch to the International Space Station, to the moment the launch was called off, today's events were chock-full of excitement. 

Full coverage: SpaceX's historic Demo-2 astronaut launch explained

1. A hearty breakfast

During a preflight news conference Monday (May 26), it was revealed that no one knew yet what the astronauts would eat for breakfast before the launch. Since the earliest days of human spaceflight, the preflight breakfast has been a tradition, with the Apollo astronauts famously eating steak and eggs before lifting off. 

The internet lit up with guesses as to what the astronauts would eat before launching and, starting out early in the morning on launch day, Hurley put this mystery to rest: "Steak and eggs. Question answered!" he tweeted. 

2. Kelly Clarkson

Pop stardom and spaceflight collided on launch day as Grammy award-winning pop artist Kelly Clarkson sang the national anthem. Her gorgeous belt rang clear and true, even though she wasn't actually at NASA to sing. That's right, like many things right now, Clarkson's performance was conducted virtually through a live video broadcast. 

Still, while she may not have been on-site for the launch, her voice was a perfect note to start the day off on. 

3. Tesla to the launch pad

After breakfast and in their spacesuits, the pair of astronauts said goodbye to their families and hopped into a Tesla Model X, modified with NASA's iconic Worm logo. But, as many people noticed online, the logo, plastered across the back of the vehicle, wasn't the only space touch. 

The vehicle's license plate read "ISSBND," or ISS (International Space Station) bound. The plate is a cheeky nod to the fact that the astronauts are set to launch from Florida to the space station. 

4. Rock out with AC/DC

Now, this drive to the launch pad wasn't some silent, stoic drive. The astronauts had a perfectly curated playlist to amp them up as they rode to board Crew Dragon, which was placed high atop the Falcon 9 rocket. 

According to SpaceX commentator Lauren Lyons during May 27 live launch coverage, the pair started their drive off with AC/DC's classic song "Back in Black." She shared that the reason they chose to start off their drive with this song is that "they are back," on launch pad 39A, which the astronauts haven't launched from since the end of NASA's space shuttle program in 2011. 

Following the heavy metal tune, the pair listened to "the elevator music from the Blues Brothers film," Lyons shared, the song "The Girl from Ipanema," a Brazilian bossa nova standard written by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes in 1962. 

Rounding out their playlist, the astronauts blasted (it can only be assumed) the Star-Spangled Banner, "the army French horns version," Lyons said, adding that this is "for very obvious reasons," because astronauts both served in the U.S. military.

5. May I have your autograph?

Once at the launch pad, before strapping into Crew Dragon, the pair started a brand new tradition: They signed their names on the walls of the white room with a sharpie. 

The white room, which was painted white and nicknamed as such during NASA's Gemini program, is the last place that the astronauts visit before entering the spacecraft for launch. 

"Yeah, we didn't do that," retired NASA astronaut Leland Melvin said during live commentary.

6. Hitchhiking dino

The fun didn't stop once the astronauts strapped into Crew Dragon. The capsule can fit up to four passengers but because this is the craft's first crewed test flight, only two astronauts will fly aboard this mission. However, if you looked close enough, you might've spotted a third crew member buckled into the capsule.

The astronauts brought along a small stuffed animal that appears to be a plush dinosaur (or maybe dragon? how fitting), which they buckled into one of the astronaut passenger seats. This fuzzy little astronaut isn't just for fun, however. Astronauts typically bring up items, like this plush dino, as a measure to show the effects of zero gravity to signify that the astronauts have reached space. 

• SpaceX Crew Dragon reaches launch pad for historic NASA astronaut launch
• See the Evolution of SpaceX's Rockets in Pictures
• In photos: SpaceX's historic Demo-2 test flight with astronauts

Email Chelsea Gohd at cgohd@space.com or follow her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

{ https://www.space.com/ }

29-05-2020 om 22:23 geschreven door peter  

Many people, even those who nothing about the paranormal or New Age beliefs, are probably aware of the concepts of auras. They are supposedly extensions of our spiritual energy that surrounds us with a glow that people who are attuned to such things claim they can see. These auras can be different colors depending on one’s mood or personality, and this is sometimes referred to as one’s “life color,” with common colors for adults being blue or violet. Then, in the 1970s a psychic claimed to have discovered a new color of aura, which it was believed marked someone as a highly evolved soul with amazing mental abilities and in some cases paranormal powers.

It began in the mid-1970s, when a psychic specializing in reading auras by the name of Nancy Ann Toppe began to claim that she was finding more and more children with auras that were Indigo in coloration, a color that she had never seen before. She believed that these “Indigo Children” were special souls who had been perfected and reborn on Earth at the time in order to help the earth and start a spiritual evolution in human beings to lead them to enlightenment and expand their consciousness. These Indigo Children displayed numerous exceptional personality traits, and heightened psychic abilities including telepathy, clairvoyance, and astral projection, as well as superior intellect and creativity, and Toppe predicted that, considering the rate in which she was noticing this new color of aura, Indigo Children would become the new norm with just a few generations. The idea was pretty fringe and obscure at the time, but it was picked up and dusted off by authors and self-help lecturers Lee Carroll and Jan Tober, with a little help from a channeled spirit they call Kyron, who wrote a popular book on it in 1998 called The Indigo Children: The New Kids Have Arrived, and another book followed in the 2000s by a famous psychic Doreen Virtue, The Care and Feeding of Indigo Children, further propelling it into the mainstream and gained it a good deal of popularity.

So, you might be wondering just what traits an Indigo Child has, and it is a bit complicated as their traits and abilities have undergone changes from author to author in the many books and articles written on them since, but there are a few tendencies that remain fairly standard. One of their main characteristics is their extreme capacity for empathy, sensitivity, curiosity, and creativity, as well as their very strong will. They are also fiercely independent, proud, and highly intelligent, quite often wise beyond their years, leading them to often be described as “old souls.” They have very good, sometimes photographic memories, are supposedly very intuitive, and are very good at figuring out ways to do things and thinking outside of the box. They are very often described as having at least some sort of psychic abilities or the potential for it.

Indigo Children supposedly have quite a few negative traits as well. They are often described as self-important and self-absorbed. They are often rebellious against authority, impatient, easily bored and easily frustrated. Indigo Children are also usually seen as eccentric loners, and do not make friends easily, with antisocial tendencies, although they easily bond with animals. They have an inflated sense of self-worth and can often be narcissistic. Their self-sufficiency and clear sense of purpose can also make them very stubborn and headstrong, and they are often resistant to change. A lot of these negative aspects are said to be direct side effects of their gifts in other areas, for instance they are often frustrated and annoyed that other normal people can’t keep up with their sharp minds and different ways of thinking, which can also make them seem arrogant. Authority bothers them because they often truly believe they have a better way of doing things, and their unconventional views of how things work alienate them from others who are not on the same page.

The whole concept of Indigo Children has really taken off in the mainstream and in popular culture, with numerous books, articles, and even films made about the phenomena, and it is common for celebrities to claim they have an Inigo Child or claim to be one themselves. Despite there being no real evidence of Indigo Children actually existing, the notion has become such a popular New Age belief that it is sometimes labelled as being almost like a religious movement, but of course there is much skepticism in the idea of spiritually awakened people that are presented as the next step of human evolution.

One of the most popular ideas is that this is simply a misdiagnosis of a mental disability such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism. After all, back when the term “Indigo Child” was first coined there was very little understanding of these disorders, and as the movement grew it would be seen by most parents as better to view their child as a special chosen one with magical powers rather than suffering from a disability and a neuro-biological condition. They are not suffering a disorder; they are gifted and special. Belief in the Indigo Child phenomenon could even be making things worse, since making this claim robs the kid of a proper diagnosis and medication, leaving them without the help they really need and raised with a false sense of security. Are these people really just misunderstood people with behavioral defects that have been marked as something more? Or are the Indigo Children actually real? Either way, it is a concept that has really caught on, and will likely be discussed for some time to come.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/}

29-05-2020 om 21:56 geschreven door peter  

At the time of this writing, Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket had not yet launched humans into space, but even a successful mission probably won’t quell the wrath of the head of Russia’s space agency. No, he’s not just mad about losing the business of taking astronauts to the ISS and back – it’s much worse than that.

“We understand that one thing stands behind all this demagogy: this is a cover for deployment of nuclear weapons in space. We see such attempts, we consider them unacceptable and we will oppose them as much as we can.”

In an interview on the YouTube podcast “Solovyov LIVE” (watch it here in Russian), Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russian state space agency Roscosmos, told host Vladimir Solovyov that he believes Musk is serious about detonating 10,000 nuclear warheads on Mars to terraform the planet into one with an atmosphere and climate that can support humans, and Musk’s SpaceX partnership with NASA is proof that the U.S. government approves of it.

“We have commented on each and every such anti-Russian attack which are all nothing but the United States’ attempt to divert public attention from real threats in space and to justify its moves to deploy weapons in outer space and obtain extra financing for such causes.”

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS last month that Russia is not happy with the Space Force, especially with its announcement of the unveiling of its first weapon (a satellite jammer) and its first mission with the mysterious X-37B space plane – both occurring within the past month. And now … SpaceX and its CEO and founder’s grandiose nuclear plans for Mars, with no denunciation by NASA or the U.S. government. In fact, President Trump had this to say about Elon Musk back in February:

“He likes rockets. And he does good at rockets, too, by the way.”

So does Roscosmos, which has managed to shuttle crews and cargo reliably to the ISS ever since NASA shut down the space shuttle program. Roscosmos has announced that it is lowering its costs for launches, which are already less that SpaceX, so it knows this escalation of a Cold War in space is not about money.

“We see such attempts, we consider them unacceptable and we will hinder this to the greatest extent possible.”

“Hinder” … what could that entail? Deploying its own space weapons – both known and secret? Cyberwarfare? Accelerating Russia’s own plans to send humans to Mars? For now, it’s a battle of words where Russia is taking the human rights side for a change.

“It is absolutely obvious that the idea to bomb Mars with nuclear charges is absolutely abhorrent from a humanitarian standpoint. Who gave him right to destroy a planet?”

That’s a good question, Dmitry Rogozin. Does Earth money talk on Mars?

If the first launch of humans by SpaceX is successful, we may soon find out

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

29-05-2020 om 21:30 geschreven door peter  

Asteroids Ryugu and Bennu that both orbit between Earth and Mars may be chunks of the same giant space rock that was smashed apart in a collision

• Mathematical modelling suggests a possible relationship between the asteroids
• Astronomers at University of Arizona and Laboratoire Lagrange made prediction
• But tests on samples from both rocks will be needed in order to confirm this

By LUKE ANDREWS FOR MAILONLINE

The asteroids Ryugu and Bennu which orbit between Earth and Mars formed after a much larger rock was split apart, scientists have claimed.

Mathematical modelling suggests the pair - measuring 3,280-foot and 1,610-foot in diameter - formed after two centres of gravity were created.

But rock pulled from both will need to be tested to confirm the theory.

Samples from Ryugu are already onboard Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft and expected to touchdown on Earth in late 2020.

And NASA's OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to land on its suspected-sister by October 20, to collect further samples which will also be flown to Earth.

Mathematical modelling revealed Ryugu (left) and Bennu (right) may have formed from a larger asteroid that broke apart

The model showed after an asteroid shattered its pieces came together at two points

It was based on observations of asteroids in the Mars-Jupiter belt, where Bennu and Ryugu may have originated

Astronomers at the University of Arizona and Laboratoire Lagrange, Ivory Coast, modelled collisions in the Mars-Jupiter asteroid belt before making the proposal.

Their study, published in Nature Communications, showed fragments are ejected but then re-accumulate into a spinning-top shape - like that of both asteroids. 

They also noted a difference in hydration between the possible-siblings, but said this did not discount the proposed relationship.

The team hopes to be able to measure the composition and age of formation of the samples from both asteroids to confirm their theory.

OSIRIS-REx has beamed images of Bennu's rocky surface back to Earth, revealing the barren lunar surface.

The pictures show its chosen landing site - dubbed 'Nightingale' - which is located in a crater high up the asteroids northern hemisphere.

The spacecraft will cut chunks 0.8 inches in diameter from the asteroid before beginning the journey home. 

NASA has sent pictures of Bennu back to Earth. The image above shows the proposed landing site on the asteroid for its spacecraft OSIRIS-REx

OSIRIS-REx will collect small (less than 0.8 inches in diameter) rocks from the surface before beginning the journey back to Earth.

(Artists impression)

Hayabusa2, not to be outdone, sent images of Ryugu's lunar-surface back to Earth in February.

Its pictures revealed reddening in some of the rocks, leading scientists at the University of Tokyo to conclude that it once passed much closer to the sun.

'Immediately after touchdown, Hayabusa2’s thrusters disturbed dark, fine grains that originate from the redder materials,' wrote planetary scientist Tomokatsu Morota of the University of Tokyo and colleagues in their paper,

'The stratigraphic relationship between identified craters and the redder material indicates that surface reddening occurred over a short period of time.'

'We suggest that Ryugu previously experienced an orbital excursion near the Sun.'  

Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft has captured this picture of Ryugu's surface. It revealed reddened rocks, which suggests at one point the asteroid may have passed near the Sun

Ryugu

Wikipedia Privacy Policy

Scientific number: 162173

Discovery date: 10 May 1999 by astronomers in Socorro, New Mexico

Name: It refers to a magical underwater palace in Japanese folklore

Size: 3,280-foot in diameter

Shape: Spinning-top 

Orbit: Around the sun between Earth and Mars once every 16 months

Danger to Earth: Not at present 

Visited?: Yes

Visit description: Hayabusa2 arrived in June 2018. It has now left and is returning to Earth 

 Bennu

Wikipedia Privacy Policy

Scientific number: 101955

Discovery date: 11 September 1999 by astronomers in Socorro, New Mexico

Name: Bird in Egyptian myth linked to the sun, creation and re-birth

Size: 1,610-foot in diameter

Shape: Spinning-top

Orbit: Around the sun between Earth and Mars

Danger to Earth?: Yes. Crosses our planet's orbit. Eight potential Earth impacts are predicted between 2169 and 2199. It will pass near Earth in 2060.

Visited?: No

Visits planned?: Yes. OSIRIS-REx is expected to touch down this month. 

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

29-05-2020 om 21:16 geschreven door peter  

Astronomers are convinced that asteroids Bennu and Ryugu came from the same much bigger space rock that split apart. Both of these asteroids, which orbit between Earth and Mars, are believed to have been formed following the creation of two centers of gravity.

Bennu was discovered in September of 1999 by astronomers in Socorro, New Mexico. The asteroid measures 1,610 feet in diameter. Astronomers in Socorro also discovered Ryugu a few months before in May of 1999 and that asteroid measures 3,280 feet in diameter.

Rock samples from both of these asteroids will need to be analyzed in order to know for sure if they came from the same space rock. Samples have already been taken from Ryugu and are currently on their way back to Earth on Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft which is scheduled to return to our planet later this year.

Bennu

No samples have been taken yet from Bennu, although NASA’s OSIRIS-REx is expected to land on the asteroid on October 20^th of this year to collect the specimens. The spacecraft will land on a site called “Nightingale” located in the northern hemisphere of the asteroid and it will then collect samples about 0.8 inches in diameter.

Astronomers from the University of Arizona and Laboratoire Lagrange, Ivory Coast, simulated different collisions that could have taken place in the Mars-Jupiter asteroid belt. In their models, they found that pieces of asteroids would be ejected from the rock but would assemble back together in a spinning-top shape which is similar to both Bennu and Ryugu.

Even though the asteroids are different in regards to their hydration levels, they could very well still be from the same space rock. Once the samples from both asteroids come back to Earth, experts will be able to verify for certain if they’re related by determining their age as well as what they are composed of. Pictures of both asteroids can be seen here.

Ryugu

A really interesting fact about the pictures that Hayabusa2 took of Ryugu is that some of the rocks on its surface are reddish in color, suggesting that at some point it traveled pretty close to the sun.

In their paper, planetary scientist Tomokatsu Morota from the University of Tokyo as well as his colleagues wrote in part, “Immediately after touchdown, Hayabusa2’s thrusters disturbed dark, fine grains that originate from the redder materials.” They went on to say, “The stratigraphic relationship between identified craters and the redder material indicates that surface reddening occurred over a short period of time,” adding, “We suggest that Ryugu previously experienced an orbital excursion near the Sun.” The study was published in Nature Communications and can be read here in full here.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

29-05-2020 om 21:06 geschreven door peter  

I Found A Plane Crash Using Google Earth Map, Video, UFO Sighting News.

Date of discovery: May 28, 2020
Location of  discovery: Yukatan
Google Coordinates:  20°58'18.24"N   90°17'0.13"W

I was using Google Earth to look for UFOs and alien bases, when I accidentally came across this plane crash. One wing is partly buried under the trees but its clear that its a plane. The plane measures 20 meters from nose to tail and 28 meters from wing tip to wing tip. The plane appears to be whole and could probably fly again if it was retrieved and repaired. However I do believe that the pilot may be dead in side since it hit the trees and branches may have broken through the cockpit windows. I don't see any trials going in or out of that area, so I believe this crash to be unknown or undiscovered until now. 

Its not the only plane crash I have discovered. I found flight MH370 under 3 meters of water off the coast of Cape of Good Hope, South Africa on Google Earth Map. I reported it to the Airline that lost it, but they didn't respond, probably because if the flight is found, they will be forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the families. If its not found, they they only pay a tiny sum. Therefore they don't wont to find it. 
Scott C. Waring 

{ https://www.etdatabase.com/ }

29-05-2020 om 20:33 geschreven door peter  

Triangle-shaped craft over Lemoore, California

This triangle-shaped craft was filmed in the night sky above Lemoore, California back in June 2019. What do you think about this footage?

Witness report: 

My girlfriends family were driving from Lemoore and started recording as soon as they seen the craft. It flew away and then made a turn, and hovered right over the car. The car was shaking a lot and was very scary lol. The craft didn’t even make loud noise which was very strange.

{ https://www.latest-ufo-sightings.net/ }

29-05-2020 om 20:23 geschreven door peter  

Niet meteorietinslag, maar klimaatverandering aan de basis van massa-extinctie 359 miljoen jaar geleden - HLN.be

Bron: BGR, Science Advances

De bekendste massa-extinctie in de geschiedenis van de aarde is die van 66 miljoen jaar geleden, toen de dinosauriërs werden uitgeroeid. De minder gekende Laat-Devonische massa-extinctie vond veel vroeger plaats: de belangrijkste uitsterving toen gebeurde vlak voor de Devoon-Carboon-grens, ongeveer 359 miljoen jaar geleden. De Laat-Devonische massa-extinctie had vooral fatale gevolgen voor dieren die in het water leefden en voor planten.

Lees ook

Bot van zeldzame dinosaurus zonder tanden opgegraven in Australië

Meestal wordt uitgegaan van een meteorietinslag die net voor de overgang van het Devoon naar het Carboon de enorme extinctie van heel wat mariene en plantensoorten veroorzaakte. Maar sommige microscopisch kleine sporen (voortplantingscellen) van varenachtige planten, ontdekt in gesteenten uit het oosten van Groenland, bleken misvormd te zijn, zo stelt het nieuwe onderzoek dat gepubliceerd is in Science Advances. Volgens de wetenschappers bewijst de beschadiging van het DNA van de planten dat “de hele ozonbescherming verdwenen was”. De verhoogde UV-B-straling wijst immers op een snelle en dramatische verdunning van de ozonlaag, de laag die het leven op aarde beschermt tegen schadelijke stralingen van de zon, zoals tegen UV-straling. Door het wegvallen van die beschermende ozonlaag werd het leven op onze planeet blootgesteld aan een explosie van ultraviolette straling die mutaties veroorzaakte.

Wetenschappers gaan doorgaans uit van twee mogelijke oorzaken van uitroeiingsgebeurtenissen: enorme vulkaanuitbarstingen of meteorietinslagen. Uit kwikgegevens leidt de nieuwe studie af dat er in dit geval geen vulkaanuitbarstingen op planetaire schaal plaatsvonden, in tegenstelling tot bij andere massa-extincties. De massa-extinctie van 359 miljoen jaar geleden zou wél te maken hebben gehad met de grote klimaatopwarming, die een einde maakte aan de intense laatste ijstijdcyclus in het Devoon. De onderzoekers waarschuwen dan ook voor mogelijk gelijkaardige, dramatische gevolgen van de huidige snelle klimaatverandering, waarvoor de mens zélf verantwoordelijk is. “Ozonverlies tijdens de snelle opwarming van de aarde is een proces dat inherent is aan het systeem, met de onvermijdelijke conclusie dat we alert moeten zijn voor zo’n gebeurtenis in de toekomst van onze opwarmende wereld”, klinkt het.

• Lees ook: Nu de mensenwereld stilstaat, leeft de natuur wereldwijd op (+)

Video's, gekozen door peter2011

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

29-05-2020 om 18:03 geschreven door peter  

Unieke gebeurtenis: Europese zonneverkenner vliegt door staarten van komeet ATLAS - HLN.be

Bron: Belga

De Solar Orbiter werd gelanceerd op 10 februari. Sindsdien hebben wetenschappers en ingenieurs, met uitzondering van een korte onderbreking als gevolg van de coronapandemie, een reeks tests en opstellingsroutines uitgevoerd die bekendstaan als ‘ingebruikname’.

Lees ook

Tot zaterdag wachten op een nieuwe lanceerpoging, test hier alvast je kennis over de ruimtevaart

Onverwachte ontmoeting

De einddatum voor deze fase is 15 juni, zodat het ruimtetuig twee dagen later volledig functioneel kan zijn tijdens zijn eerste passage vlakbij de zon ofwel perihelium. De ontdekking van deze onverwachte ontmoeting met de komeet maakte de zaken echter dringender.

Rustig vliegen door de staart van een komeet is volgens ESA een zeldzame gebeurtenis voor een ruimtemissie, iets waarvan wetenschappers weten dat het nog maar zes keer eerder is gebeurd voor missies die niet specifiek op kometen jagen. Al deze ontmoetingen zijn pas achteraf ontdekt met behulp van de data van het ruimtetuig. De aankomende doorsteek van Solar Orbiter is de eerste die van tevoren wordt voorspeld. 

De eigenlijke missie van de Solar Orbiter is nieuwe informatie te vergaren over de zon, onder meer door beelden te maken van de noord- en zuidpool van die ster. Vermoed wordt dat die polen een rol spelen in het ontstaan van zonnevlammen, die de elektronica hier op Aarde kunnen verstoren. 

Het gaat om een gezamenlijk project van de NASA en het Europese ruimtevaartagentschap ESA, waarbij ook een prominente rol is weggelegd voor de Koninklijke Sterrenwacht van België. De sonde omvat immers de EUI-telescoop van de Koninklijke Belgische Sterrenwacht en het Centre spatial de Liège.

• Lees ook: Belgisch getinte ruimtevaartmissie naar kant van de zon die we nog nooit zagen (+)
• Bekijk ook:

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

29-05-2020 om 17:40 geschreven door peter  

In Planet Formation, It's Location, Location, Location

Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope are finding that planets have a tough time forming in the rough-and-tumble central region of the massive, crowded star cluster Westerlund 2. Located 20,000 light-years away, Westerlund 2 is a unique laboratory to study stellar evolutionary processes because it’s relatively nearby, quite young, and contains a large stellar population.

The brilliant tapestry of young stars flaring to life resembles a glittering fireworks display in this Hubble Space Telescope image. The sparkling centerpiece of this fireworks show is a giant cluster of thousands of stars called Westerlund 2. The cluster resides in a raucous stellar breeding ground known as Gum 29, located 20,000 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Carina. Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 pierced through the dusty veil shrouding the stellar nursery in near-infrared light, giving astronomers a clear view of the nebula and the dense concentration of stars in the central cluster. The cluster measures between six light-years and 13 light-years across.

Credits: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), A. Nota (ESA/STScI) and the Westerlund 2 Science Team

A three-year Hubble study of stars in Westerlund 2 revealed that the precursors to planet-forming disks encircling stars near the cluster’s center are mysteriously devoid of large, dense clouds of dust that in a few million years could become planets.

However, the observations show that stars on the cluster’s periphery do have the immense planet-forming dust clouds embedded in their disks. Researchers think our solar system followed this recipe when it formed 4.6 billion years ago.

So why do some stars in Westerlund 2 have a difficult time forming planets while others do not? It seems that planet formation depends on location, location, location. The most massive and brightest stars in the cluster congregate in the core, which is verified by observations of other star-forming regions. The cluster’s center contains at least 30 extremely massive stars, some weighing up to 80 times the mass of the Sun. Their blistering ultraviolet radiation and hurricane-like stellar winds of charged particles blowtorch disks around neighboring lower-mass stars, dispersing the giant dust clouds.

“Basically, if you have monster stars, their energy is going to alter the properties of the disks around nearby, less massive stars,” explained Elena Sabbi, of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore and lead researcher of the Hubble study. “You may still have a disk, but the stars change the composition of the dust in the disks, so it’s harder to create stable structures that will eventually lead to planets. We think the dust either evaporates away in 1 million years, or it changes in composition and size so dramatically that planets don’t have the building blocks to form.”

The Hubble observations represent the first time that astronomers analyzed an extremely dense star cluster to study which environments are favorable to planet formation. Scientists, however, are still debating whether bulky stars are born in the center or whether they migrate there. Westerlund 2 already has massive stars in its core, even though it is a comparatively young, 2-million-year-old system.

Using Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3, the researchers found that of the nearly 5,000 stars in Westerlund 2 with masses between 0.1 to 5 times the Sun’s mass, 1,500 of them show fluctuations in their light as the stars accrete material from their disks. Orbiting material clumped within the disk would temporarily block some of the starlight, causing brightness fluctuations.

However, Hubble detected the signature of such orbiting material only around stars outside the cluster’s packed central region. The telescope witnessed large drops in brightness for as much as 10 to 20 days around 5% of the stars before they returned to normal brightness. They did not detect these dips in brightness in stars residing within four light-years of the center. These fluctuations could be caused by large clumps of dust passing in front of the star. The clumps would be in a disk tilted nearly edge-on to the view from Earth. “We think they are planetesimals or structures in formation,” Sabbi explained. “These could be the seeds that eventually lead to planets in more evolved systems. These are the systems we don’t see close to very massive stars. We see them only in systems outside the center.”

Thanks to Hubble, astronomers can now see how stars are accreting in environments that are like the early universe, where clusters were dominated by monster stars. So far, the best known nearby stellar environment that contains massive stars is the starbirth region in the Orion Nebula. However, Westerlund 2 is a richer target because of its larger stellar population.

“Hubble’s observations of Westerlund 2 give us a much better sense of how stars of different masses change over time, and how powerful winds and radiation from very massive stars affect nearby lower-mass stars and their disks,” Sabbi said. “We see, for example, that lower-mass stars, like our Sun, that are near extremely massive stars in the cluster still have disks and still can accrete material as they grow. But the structure of their disks (and thus their planet-forming capability) seems to be very different from that of disks around stars forming in a calmer environment farther away from the cluster core. This information is important for building models of planet formation and stellar evolution.”

This cluster will be an excellent laboratory for follow-up observations with NASA’s upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, an infrared observatory. Hubble has helped astronomers identify the stars that have possible planetary structures. With Webb, researchers can study which disks around stars are not accreting material and which disks still have material that could build up into planets. This information on 1,500 stars will allow astronomers to map a path on how star systems grow and evolve. Webb also can study the chemistry of the disks in different evolutionary phases and watch how they change, and help astronomers determine what influence environment plays in their evolution.

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, another planned infrared observatory, will be able to perform Sabbi’s study on a much larger area.​ Westerlund 2 is just a small slice of an immense star-formation region. These vast regions contain clusters of stars with different ages and different densities. Astronomers could use Roman Space Telescope observations to start to build up statistics on how a star’s characteristics, like its mass or outflows, affect its own evolution or the nature of stars that form nearby. The observations could also provide more information on how planets form in tough environments.

Sabbi’s team’s results appeared in The Astrophysical Journal.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington, D.C.

Contacts and sources:

• Claire Andreoli
  NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
• Donna Weaver / Ray Villard
  Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore
• Elena Sabbi
• Space Telescope Science InstitutePublication: Time-domain Study of the Young Massive Cluster Westerlund 2 with the Hubble Space Telescope The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 891, Number 2
  http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab7372

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

29-05-2020 om 16:47 geschreven door peter  

Secret Space U.S. Fleet Being Built In Utah... ET Experiences and Advanced Technology!

Secret Space U.S. Fleet Being Built In Utah… ET Experiences and Advanced Technology!

The evidence of an extraterrestrial presence is forever growing, with new information coming forward in regards to dramatic engagements between these strange beings and the United States military and naval forces. Are we obtaining advanced technology from them? Information is now coming forward in regards to the huge construction of space craft built by human hands in Utah.

Highly Top Secret! Presented by Frank Chille Filmed by MUFON PA All content on this channel is licensed, and or produced by Zohar Entertainment Group/Awakening Expo/Phenomena Magazine.

Videos, selected by peter2011

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

29-05-2020 om 16:23 geschreven door peter  

New Earth Found Orbiting Proxima Centauri, Our Closet Neighbor Star

The existence of a planet the size of Earth around the closest star in the solar system, Proxima Centauri, has been confirmed by an international team of scientists including researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE). The results, which you can read all about in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, reveal that the planet in question, Proxima b, has a mass of 1.17 earth masses and is located in the habitable zone of its star, which it orbits in 11.2 days. 

Artist’s impression of the exoplanet Proxima Centauri b shown as of a arid (but not completely water-free) rocky Super-Earth. This appearance is one of several possible outcomes of current theories regarding the development of this exoplanet, while the actual look and structure of the planet is known in no ways at this time. Proxima Centauri b is the closest exoplanet to the Sun and also the closest potentially habitable exoplanet as well. It orbits Proxima Centauri, a red dwarf with a surface temperature of 3040 K (thus hotter than light bulbs and therefore whiter, as depicted here). The Alpha Centauri binary system is shown in the background.

In the meantime, the precision of the measurements made by ESPRESSO could result in another surprise. The team has found evidence of a second signal in the data, without being able to establish the definitive cause behind it. “If the signal was planetary in origin, this potential other planet accompanying Proxima b would have a mass less than one third of the mass of the Earth. It would then be the smallest planet ever measured using the radial velocity method”, adds Professor Pepe.

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

29-05-2020 om 16:06 geschreven door peter  

What Did Steven Spielberg and U.S. Presidents Really Know About The UFO Phenomena?

It has been speculated that director Steven Spielberg had obtained inside information pertaining to UFOs and E.T.s from high ranking government officials. Stories of secret meetings with other worldly beings had taken place and even U.S. presidents were involved with signing agreements with them in hope of obtaining advanced technology, but could we really trust them?

Film by Steve Mera, Phenomena Magazine

{ https://www.youtube.com/ }

29-05-2020 om 15:36 geschreven door peter  

Biblical Passages Found on the Walls of Ancient Egyptian Temples are Mystifying

Biblical Passages Found on the Walls of Ancient Egyptian Temples are Mystifying

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

29-05-2020 om 15:20 geschreven door peter  

Anunnaki Pole Shift History! The Earth’s Magnetic Field is Weakening Rapidly... Could The Unthinkable Happen?

Videos, selected by peter2011

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

29-05-2020 om 15:11 geschreven door peter  

On November 16, 1986, laden with wine, JAL1628 took off from Paris and flew the first leg of the trip, to Reykjavik. The next day, they continued, flying over Greenland and then across northern Canada without event.

Just after they crossed into Alaska, at 5:09 PM local time, Anchorage Air Traffic Control contacted them on the radio to report initial radar contact. The Anchorage flight controller asked them to turn 15 degrees to the left and head for a point known as Talkeetna on a heading of 215 degrees. They were at 35,000 feet and traveling at a ground speed of about 600 mph.

At about 5:11 PM local time, Captain Terauchi noticed the lights of some sort of aircraft about 2000 feet below and 30 degrees to the left front of them. He decided that the aircraft was probably an American jet fighter from nearby Eielson or Elmendorf Air Force Bases patrolling Alaskan airspace, so he ignored them at first.

However, after a few minutes, he noticed that the lights were keeping pace with his own aircraft, which would be an unusual thing for patrolling jets to do.

It was about seven or so minutes since we began paying attention to the lights (when), most unexpectedly, two spaceships stopped in front of our face, shooting off lights. The inside cockpit shined brightly and I felt warm in the face.

Terauchi said that it was his impression that the two objects he had seen below them minutes before had suddenly jumped in from of him. The craft, one above the other, kept pace with the 747 for several minutes, moving in unison with an odd rocking motion.

After about seven minutes, they changed to a side-by-side arrangement.

Terauchi said that the “amber and whitish” lights were like flames coming out of multiple rocket exhaust ports arranged in two rectangular rows on the craft. He felt that they fired in a particular sequence to stabilize the craft, much like the small maneuvering thrusters on the Space Shuttle.

He also reported seeing sparks like a fire when using gasoline or carbon fuel.

Co-pilot Tamefuji described the lights as “Christmas assorted” lights with a “salmon” color. He said: I remember red or orange, and white landing light, just like a landing light. And weak green, ah, blinking. He also described the lights as pulsating slowly. They became stronger, became weaker., became stronger, became weaker, different from strobe lights.

The lights were “swinging” in unison as if there were “very good formation flight… close” of two aircraft side by side.

He described the appearance of the lights as similar to seeing “night flight head-on traffic,” where it is only possible to see the lights on an approaching aircraft and “we cannot see the total shape.”

He said, I’m sure I saw something. It was clear enough to make me believe that there was an oncoming aircraft.

Flight engineer Tsukuba, who sat behind the copilot, did not have as good a view of the lights. He first saw them “through the L1 window at the 11 o’clock position,” and he saw “clusters of lights undulating.”

These clusters were “made of two parts… shaped like windows of an airplane.”

He emphasized that “the lights in front of us were different from town lights.”

He described the colors as white or amber.

Tamefuji decided to call Anchorage Air Traffic Control, and for the next thirty minutes the 747 and AARTCC were in constant contact regarding the UFO.

During this time, Captain Terauchi asked Tskububa to hand him a camera so that he could attempt to take a photograph of the lights. However, Terauchi was unfamiliar with the camera and could not get it to operate. Tsukuba also could not get his camera to operate due to problems with the auto-focus and finally gave up trying to take a photo.

At this point they began experiencing some radio interference and were asked by Anchorage to change frequencies. Terauchi later said that Anchorage kept asking him about clouds in the immediate area:

They asked us several times if there were clouds near our altitude. We saw thin and spotty clouds near the mountain below us, no clouds in mid-to-upper air, and the air current was steady.

Soon after the exchanges about clouds, the objects flew off to the left. Terauchi said later: “There was a pale white flat light in the direction where the ships flew away, moving in a line along with us, in the same direction and same speed and at the same altitude as we were.”

Terauchi decided to see whether they could see anything on the 747’s own radar:

“I thought it would be impossible to find anything on an aircraft radar if a large ground radar did not show anything, but I judged the distance of the object visually and it was not very far.

“I set the digital weather radar distance to 20 (nautical) miles, radar angle to horizon (i.e., no depression angle). There it was on the screen. A large green and round object had appeared at 7 or 8 miles (13 km to 15 km) away, where the direction of the object was.

” We reported to Anchorage center that our radar caught the object within 7 or 8 miles in the 10 o’clock position. We asked them if they could catch it on ground radar, but it did not seem they could catch it at all.”

At 5:25:45, after spending two minutes looking, the military radar at Elmendorf Regional Operational Control Center also picked up something. The ROCC radar controller reported back to the AARTCC that he was getting some “surge primary return.” By this he meant an occasional radar echo unaccompanied by a transponder signal.

As the 747 neared Fairbanks:

“The lights (of the city) were extremely bright to eyes that were used to the dark. (The cockpit lights had been turned off to eliminate window reflections of internal lights.) We were just above the bright city lights and we checked the pale white light behind us.

” Alas! There was a silhouette of a gigantic spaceship.

“We must run away quickly! Anchorage Center.”

The JAL1628 is requesting a change of course to right 45 degrees.” It felt like a long time before we received permission.”

Just after the plane turned to the right, the AARTCC controller called the Fairbanks Approach Radar controller to find out whether or not the short-range radar had a target near the JAL. The approach radar reported no target other than JAL1628.

The plane came out of the turn and flew toward Talkeetna at an altitude of 31,000 ft, with the object still following.

At about 5:40, a United Airlines passenger jet took off from Anchorage and headed north to Fairbanks. The AARTCC controller decided to ask the UA pilot to try to see the object that was following the JAL flight.

The UA pilot said he would look when he got closer. The controller asked the JAL flight to stay at 31,000 ft, and the UA flight to stay at 29,000 ft. He then directed the UA flight to turn some more so that the planes would pass within five miles of one another.

As the United Airlines jet got closer, the UFO apparently dropped behind, allowing the JAL plane to get far ahead. The United pilot asked the AARTCC to have the JAL pilot flash the headlights on the JAL aircraft so he could locate the plane.

At 5:49:45 the JAL pilot did that. At this point the planes were about 25 miles apart.

When the planes were about 12 miles apart, the UA plane reported seeing the JAL plane and nothing else. But by this time the UFO had apparently disappeared, not being seen by JAL1628, either.

At about 5:51, the AARTCC requested that a military TOTEM flight in the area also fly toward the JAL plane for a look. During the next several minutes TOTEM viewed the JAL plane, but couldn’t see any other traffic. JAL1628 proceeded to Anchorage and landed at 6:20 PM. NOTE: The above image is CGI.

KEN PFEIFER WORLD UFO PHOTOS AND NEWS

HTTP://WWW.WORLDUFOPHOTOS.ORG

HTTP://WWW.WORLDUFOPHOTOSANDNEWS.ORG

HTTP://WWW.UFOCASEBOOK.COM

Source: 

• http://worldufophotosandnews.org/?p=26406

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

29-05-2020 om 12:15 geschreven door peter