Dit is ons nieuw hondje Kira, een kruising van een waterhond en een Podenko. Ze is sinds 7 februari 2024 bij ons en druk bezig ons hart te veroveren. Het is een lief, aanhankelijk hondje, dat zich op een week snel aan ons heeft aangepast. Ze is heel vinnig en nieuwsgierig, een heel ander hondje dan Noleke.
This is our new dog Kira, a cross between a water dog and a Podenko. She has been with us since February 7, 2024 and is busy winning our hearts. She is a sweet, affectionate dog who quickly adapted to us within a week. She is very quick and curious, a very different dog than Noleke.
DEAR VISITOR,
MY BLOG EXISTS NEARLY 13 YEARS AND 4 MONTH.
ON /30/09/2024 MORE THAN 2.230.520
VISITORS FROM 135 DIFFERENT NATIONS ALREADY FOUND THEIR WAY TO MY BLOG.
THAT IS AN AVERAGE OF 400GUESTS PER DAY.
THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG AND HOPE YOU ENJOY EACH TIME.
The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
Zoeken in blog
Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld In België had je vooral BUFON of het Belgisch UFO-Netwerk, dat zich met UFO's bezighoudt. BEZOEK DUS ZEKER VOOR ALLE OBJECTIEVE INFORMATIE , enkel nog beschikbaar via Facebook en deze blog.
Verder heb je ook het Belgisch-Ufo-meldpunt en Caelestia, die prachtig, doch ZEER kritisch werk leveren, ja soms zelfs héél sceptisch...
Voor Nederland kan je de mooie site www.ufowijzer.nl bezoeken van Paul Harmans. Een mooie site met veel informatie en artikels.
MUFON of het Mutual UFO Network Inc is een Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in alle USA-staten en diverse landen.
MUFON's mission is the analytical and scientific investigation of the UFO- Phenomenon for the benefit of humanity...
Je kan ook hun site bekijken onder www.mufon.com.
Ze geven een maandelijks tijdschrift uit, namelijk The MUFON UFO-Journal.
Since 02/01/2020 is Pieter ex-president (=voorzitter) of BUFON, but also ex-National Director MUFON / Flanders and the Netherlands. We work together with the French MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP.
ER IS EEN NIEUWE GROEPERING DIE ZICH BUFON NOEMT, MAAR DIE HEBBEN NIETS MET ONZE GROEP TE MAKEN. DEZE COLLEGA'S GEBRUIKEN DE NAAM BUFON VOOR HUN SITE... Ik wens hen veel succes met de verdere uitbouw van hun groep. Zij kunnen de naam BUFON wel geregistreerd hebben, maar het rijke verleden van BUFON kunnen ze niet wegnemen...
20-11-2020
Elon Musk says the first human colony on Mars will live in 'glass domes' and one million people will live there by 2050 after the poles are blasted by nuclear weapons to melt ice caps and induce warming
Elon Musk says the first human colony on Mars will live in 'glass domes' and one million people will live there by 2050 after the poles are blasted by nuclear weapons to melt ice caps and induce warming
Elon Musk has shared more details for his plan to build a city on Mars
He suggests the first city will involve ‘life in glass domes at first'
The planet will be terraformed, but it will not happen in our lifetime, he said
The domes will be ruins for future settlers to discover once Mars it habitable
Musk proposed nuking Mars to make it habitable for one million people by 2050
Elon Musk has not been shy about his strategy to build a colony on Mars – from sending three Starship rockets a day to constructing a Starlink constellation and now, the billionaire has shared a housing plan.
The SpaceX CEO explained on Twitter that the first Martian city would involve ‘life in glass domes at first,' but the planet would eventually be terraformed – just not in our lifetime.
‘We can establish a human base there in our lifetime. At least a future spacefaring civilization – discovering our ruins – will be impressed humans got that far,’ Musk shared in a tweet.
Musk has previously referred to Mars as a ‘fixer-upper of a planet’ and to terraform the distant world, the CEO has proposed we ‘nuke Mars.’
And after bombs are dropped and Mars is habitable, Musk plans to send one million people to live on Mars - which he says will happen by 2050.
Scroll down for video
Musk explained on Twitter that the first Martian city would involve ‘life in glass domes at first,' but the planet would eventually be terraformed – just not in our lifetime
He first revealed the master plan back in 2015 on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, stating that Mars could be made by Earth-like if it were warmer.
Musk explained this could be achieved slowly, as gradual release of greenhouse gases would fill the atmosphere with carbon dioxide - with the help of nuclear bombs.
These weapons of mass destruction emit large amounts of thermal radiation as visible, infrared and ultraviolet light, known as 'flash' when detonated.
Heat accounts for between 35 and 45 percent of the energy released by the explosion, meaning a massive amount of heat is generated incredibly fast, which could potentially be harnessed to heat up the Martian atmosphere, according to Musk's fledgling theory.
Elon Musk has not been shy about his strategy to build a colony on Mars – from sending three Starship rockets a day to constructing a Starlink constellation and now, the billionaire has shared a housing plan - glass domes
(pictured is artist's impression)
Musk has previously referred to Mars as a ‘fixer-upper of a planet’
To terraform the distant world, the CEO has proposed we ‘nuke Mars.’ And after bombs are dropped and Mars is habitable, Musk plans to send one million people to live on Mars - which he says will happen by 2050
However, his 2015 plan hit a road block when NASA released a study in 2018 that found ‘Mars terraforming is not possible using present-day technology’ – this includes nuclear bombs.
NASA’s statements have not deterred Musk from his path to the Red Planet, which he is now eyeing 2026 for when he plans to send the first crewed Starship rocket.
Once they land on the dusty world, the first settlers will get to work constructing a self-sustaining city.
SpaceX engineer Paul Wooster explained in September 2018 the initial focus of these individuals would be establishing life support systems, enabling surface power, developing habitats and building greenhouses – along with Musk’s glass domes.
In the recent tweet thread, after discussing the glass domes, a user asked the billionaire: ‘What would you say about the Laws you will have on Mars that you don't have on Earth?’ Musk simply replied: ‘Let the Martians decide their own future'
Not only does Musk have a plan for constructing the new world, but he also has an idea of how it should be governed.
In the recent tweet thread, after discussing the glass domes, a user asked the billionaire: ‘What would you say about the Laws you will have on Mars that you don't have on Earth?’
Musk simply replied: ‘Let the Martians decide their own future.’
This statement falls in line with wording in Starlink's beta consumer service term.
Buried in the text is a section titled ‘Governing Laws,’ which states SpaceX will not abide by international laws beyond Earth and the moon, but instead adopt self-governing principles 'established on good faith.’
Musk has taken it upon himself to declare Mars a ‘free planet.’
ALL RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has some ambitious plans to turn humanity into an multiplanetary species.
With the aid of a fleet of Starship spacecraft, the intrepid billionaire wants to establish a permanent foothold on Mars, one million people strong, by 2050.
Now, Musk is publicly fleshing out his vision further.
“Life in glass domes at first,” Musk wrote in a Thursday tweet, responding to a question about what life on Mars will look like early on. “Eventually, terraformed to support life, like Earth.”
Scientists and science fiction authors have long suggested that terraforming could allow humans to breathe on the open Martian surface. But that vision is still a distant dream — far beyond the first Martian bases, according to Musk.
“Terraforming will be too slow to be relevant in our lifetime,” Musk wrote in a follow-up tweet. “However, we can establish a human base there in our lifetime. At least a future spacefaring civilization — discovering our ruins — will be impressed humans got that far.”
Terraforming Mars is indeed a massive undertaking. An analysis last year concluded that it may require 3,500 nuclear warheads every single day to increase Mars’ atmospheric pressure to breathable levels and melt the planet’s ice caps in order to release carbon dioxide, which will then be trapped in the form of greenhouses gases.
But there’s one big snag with that plan. The ensuing radiation would also turn the surface completely inhabitable.
And a 2018 study also concluded that there simply isn’t enough trapped carbon dioxide on the Red Planet to sufficiently raise enough atmospheric pressure to sustain humans on the surface.
But those limitations aren’t going to stop Musk from going after his dream of establishing a permanent presence there.
Musk has previously claimed that with the help of “a thousand” Starship spacecraft, massive rockets he says will be capable of carrying to 100 tons of cargo or 100 passengers between planets, “a sustainable Mars city” could be established. About 100 vehicles would each have to carry 100 tons of cargo every two years, according to Musk’s calculations.
Early settlements might look a little rough around the edges.
“Getting to Mars, I think, is not the fundamental issue,” he said during a September virtual Humans to Mars summit. “The fundamental issue is building a base, building a city on Mars that is self-sustaining.”
“I want to emphasize, this is a very hard and dangerous and difficult thing,” he added at the time. “Not for the faint of heart. Good chance you’ll die. And it’s going to be tough, tough going, but it’ll be pretty glorious if it works out.”
The ambition lies very close to the entrepreneur’s heart — or at least his marketing strategy.
“If we don’t improve our pace of progress, I’m definitely going to be dead before we go to Mars,” Musk said during the Satellite 2020 conference in Washington back in March.
His space company has come a long way in turning Starship a reality. Several early prototypes have already taken to the skies, albeit only to a height of roughly 500 feet. In the following weeks, the first prototype will attempt fly to an altitude to nine miles.
If everything goes according to Musk’s ambitious plan, the first Starship will make its way to Mars as soon as 2024.
the Nov. 21 launch of the U.S.-European Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite
The Nov. 21 launch of the U.S.-European Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite
NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration5.050.995 volgers1 d • 1 dag geleden
🛰 🌊 We’re getting closer to the Nov. 21 launch of the U.S.-European Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite, that will monitor sea levels worldwide! Join the global virtual NASA Social event: https://fb.me/e/1B5BQg5sH
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Satellite Prepared for Launch
This illustration shows the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket's nose cone, with the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite inside, shortly before launch. Credits: NASA/JPL-CaltechSpaceX
The newest satellite to monitor global sea level is ready for its journey into space. Here's what to expect.
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, the latest in a series of spacecraft designed to monitor our oceans, is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020. The satellite will be followed in 2025 by its twin, Sentinel-6B. Together, the pair is tasked with extending our nearly 30-year-long record of global sea surface height measurements. Instruments aboard the satellites will also provide atmospheric data that will improve weather forecasts, climate models, and hurricane tracking.
Launch Timeline
Named after former NASA Earth Science Division Director Michael Freilich, the U.S.-European satellite will be carried into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with liftoff targeted for 9:17:08 a.m. PST (12:17:08 p.m. EST) from Space Launch Complex 4 East. If needed, backup launch opportunities are available on subsequent days, with the instantaneous launch window falling about 12 minutes earlier each day.
A little more than two minutes after the Falcon 9 rocket lifts off, the main engine will cut off. Shortly after, the rocket's first and second stages will separate, followed by second-stage engine start. The reusable Falcon 9 first stage will then begin its automated boost-back burn to the launch site for a propulsive landing.
The first cutoff of the second stage engine will take place approximately eight minutes after liftoff. It will fire a second time 45 minutes later, at which point the launch vehicle and the spacecraft will be in a temporary "parking" orbit. Several minutes later, the launch vehicle and the spacecraft will separate. The satellite will begin solar panel deployment about one hour and seven minutes post-launch and is expected to make first contact about 25 minutes after that.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
More About the Mission
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich and Sentinel-6B make up the Sentinel-6/Jason-CS mission, which was developed by ESA (European Space Agency) in the context of the European Copernicus program led by the European Commission, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), NASA, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with funding support from the European Commission and technical support from France's National Centre for Space Studies (CNES).
JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, built three science instruments for each Sentinel-6 satellite: the Advanced Microwave Radiometer, the Global Navigation Satellite System - Radio Occultation, and the Laser Retroreflector Array. NASA is also contributing launch services, ground systems supporting operation of the NASA science instruments, the science data processors for two of these instruments, and support for the international Ocean Surface Topography Science Team. The launch is managed by NASA's Launch Services Program, based at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Where to Find Launch Coverage
On launch day, Nov. 21, 2020, NASA TV coverage will begin at 8:45 a.m. PST (11:45 a.m. EST).
For live NASA TV programming on NASA's public channel, visit:
Heartbreaking news. After 57 years as a world-class resource for astronomy, the iconic Arecibo telescope is to be decommissioned, or withdrawn from service, the NSF announced today. The dish-type radio telescope – built into a natural depression in the landscape in Puerto Rico – appears to be headed for a “controlled disassembly.”
The following is a statement from the U.S. National Science Foundation, issued November 19, 2020:
Following a review of engineering assessments that found damage to the Arecibo Observatory cannot be stabilized without risk to construction workers and staff at the facility, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) will begin plans to decommission the 305-meter (1,000 foot) telescope, which for 57 years has served as a world-class resource for radio astronomy, planetary, solar system and geospace research.
The decision comes after NSF evaluated multiple assessments by independent engineering companies that found the telescope structure is in danger of a catastrophic failure and its cables may no longer be capable of carrying the loads they were designed to support. Furthermore, several assessments stated that any attempts at repairs could put workers in potentially life-threatening danger. Even in the event of repairs going forward, engineers found that the structure would likely present long-term stability issues.
‘NSF prioritizes the safety of workers, Arecibo Observatory’s staff and visitors, which makes this decision necessary, although unfortunate,’ said NSF DirectorSethuraman Panchanathan. ‘For nearly six decades, the Arecibo Observatory has served as a beacon for breakthrough science and what a partnership with a community can look like. While this is a profound change, we will be looking for ways to assist the scientific community and maintain that strong relationship with the people of Puerto Rico.’
Engineers have been examining the Arecibo Observatory 305-meter telescope since August, when one of its support cables detached. NSF authorized the University of Central Florida, which manages Arecibo, to take all reasonable steps and use available funds to address the situation while ensuring safety remained the highest priority. UCF acted quickly, and the evaluation process was following its expected timeline, considering the age of the facility, the complexity of the design and the potential risk to workers.
The engineering teams had designed and were ready to implement emergency structural stabilization of the auxiliary cable system. While the observatory was arranging for delivery of two replacement auxiliary cables, as well as two temporary cables, a main cable broke on the same tower Nov. 6. Based on the stresses on the second broken cable – which should have been well within its ability to function without breaking – engineers concluded that the remaining cables are likely weaker than originally projected.
‘Leadership at Arecibo Observatory and UCF did a commendable job addressing this situation, acting quickly and pursuing every possible option to save this incredible instrument,’ said Ralph Gaume, director of NSF’s Division of Astronomical Sciences. ‘Until these assessments came in, our question was not if the observatory should be repaired but how. But in the end, a preponderance of data showed that we simply could not do this safely. And that is a line we cannot cross.’
The scope of NSF’s decommissioning plan would focus only on the 305-meter telescope and is intended to safely preserve other parts of the observatory that could be damaged or destroyed in the event of an unplanned, catastrophic collapse. The plan aims to retain as much as possible of the remaining infrastructure of Arecibo Observatory, so that it remains available for future research and educational missions.
The decommissioning process involves developing a technical execution plan and ensuring compliance with a series of legal, environmental, safety and cultural requirements over the coming weeks. NSF has authorized a high-resolution photographic survey using drones, and is considering options for forensic evaluation of the broken cable – if such action could be done safely – to see if any new evidence could inform the ongoing plans. This work has already begun and will continue throughout the decommissioning planning. Equipment and other materials will be temporarily moved to buildings outside the danger zone. When all necessary preparations have been made, the telescope would be subject to a controlled disassembly.
After the telescope decommissioning, NSF would intend to restore operations at assets such as theArecibo Observatory LIDAR facility– a valuable geospace research tool – as well as at the visitor center and offsite Culebra facility, which analyzes cloud cover and precipitation data. NSF would also seek to explore possibilities for expanding the educational capacities of the learning center. Safety precautions due to the COVID-19 pandemic will remain in place as appropriate.
Some Arecibo operations involving the analysis and cataloging of archived data collected by the telescope would continue. UCF secured enhanced cloud storage and analytics capabilities in 2019 through an agreement with Microsoft, and the observatory is working to migrate on-site data to servers outside of the affected area.
Areas of the observatory that could be affected by an uncontrolled collapse have been evacuated since the November cable break and will remain closed to unauthorized personnel during the decommissioning. NSF and UCF will work to minimize risk in the area in the event of an unexpected collapse. NSF has prioritized a swift, thorough process with the intent of avoiding such an event.
NSF recognizes the cultural and economic significance of Arecibo Observatory to Puerto Rico, and how the telescope serves as an inspiration for Puerto Ricans considering education and employment in STEM. NSF’s goal is to work with the Puerto Rican government and other stakeholders and partners to explore the possibility of applying resources from Arecibo Observatory for educational purposes.
‘Over its lifetime, Arecibo Observatory has helped transform our understanding of the ionosphere, showing us how density, composition and other factors interact to shape this critical region where Earth’s atmosphere meets space,’ said Michael Wiltberger, head of NSF’s Geospace Section. ‘While I am disappointed by the loss of investigative capabilities, I believe this process is a necessary step to preserve the research community’s ability to use Arecibo Observatory’s other assets and hopefully ensure that important work can continue at the facility.’
Engineering summary
Arecibo Observatory’s telescope consists of a radio dish 1,000 feet (305 meters) wide in diameter with a 900-ton instrument platform hanging 450 feet (137 meters) above. The platform is suspended by cables connected to three towers.
On August 10, 2020, an auxiliary cable failed, slipping from its socket in one of the towers and leaving a 100-foot (30 meter) gash in the dish below. NSF authorized Arecibo Observatory to take all reasonable steps and use available funds, which amounted to millions of dollars, to secure the analysis and equipment needed to address the situation. Engineers were working to determine how to repair the damage and determine the integrity of the structure when a main cable connected to the same tower broke Nov. 6.
The second broken cable was unexpected – engineering assessments following the auxiliary cable failure indicated the structure was stable and the planning process to restore the telescope to operation was underway. Engineers subsequently found this 3-inch (7.6 cm) main cable snapped at about 60% of what should have been its minimum breaking strength during a period of calm weather, raising the possibility of other cables being weaker than expected.
Inspections of the other cables revealed new wire breaks on some of the main cables, which were original to the structure, and evidence of significant slippage at several sockets holding the remaining auxiliary cables, which were added during a refit in the 1990s that added weight to the instrument platform.
Thornton Tomasetti, the engineering firm of record hired by UCF to assess the structure, found that given the likelihood of another cable failing, repair work on the telescope – including mitigation measures to stabilize it for additional work – would be unsafe. Stress tests to capture a more accurate measure of the remaining cables’ strength could collapse the structure, Thornton Tomasetti found. The firm recommended a controlled demolition to eliminate the danger of an unexpected collapse.
‘Although it saddens us to make this recommendation, we believe the structure should be demolished in a controlled way as soon as pragmatically possible,’ said the recommendation for action letter submitted by Thornton Tomasetti. ‘It is therefore our recommendation to expeditiously plan for decommissioning of the observatory and execute a controlled demolition of the telescope.’
UCF also hired two other engineering firms to provide assessments of the situation. One recommended immediate stabilization action. The other, after reviewing Thornton Tomasetti’s model, concurred that there is no course of action that could safely verify the structure’s stability and advised against allowing personnel on the telescope’s platforms or towers.
‘Critical work remains to be done in the area of atmospheric sciences, planetary sciences, radio astronomy and radar astronomy,’ UCF President Alexander N. Cartwright said. ‘UCF stands ready to utilize its experience with the observatory to join other stakeholders in pursuing the kind of commitment and funding needed to continue and build on Arecibo’s contributions to science.’
After receiving the contracted assessments, NSF brought in an independent engineering firm and the Army Corps of Engineers to review the findings. The firm NSF hired concurred with the recommendations of Thornton Tomasetti and expressed concern about significant danger from uncontrolled collapse. The Army Corps of Engineers recommended gathering additional photographic evidence of the facility and a complete forensic evaluation of the broken cable.
Given the fact that any stabilization or repair scenario would require workers to be on or near the telescope structure, the degree of uncertainty about the cables’ strength and the extreme forces at work, NSF accepted the recommendation to prepare for controlled decommissioning of the 305-meter telescope.
Bottom line: The National Science Foundation announced on November 19, 2020, that the big-dish Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico is to be dismantled, following engineering reports suggesting it is unsafe, due to damage from hurricanes and other factors.
Here we go again with another UFOsighting in which the aliens (or time travelers, perhaps human) involved are making little to no effort at concealment.
While Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates hasn’t been one of the more recent UFO hotspots, it definitely would have to be on these visitors’ must visit list as it is probably the most futuristic looking of all the nations on the the planet.
The eyewitness to this UFO sighting in the U.A.E. states, “I saw a white ball moving slowly across the horizon. It was moving in a straight line. I could hear no noise.
“It moved past a hotel, over a small island, and I believe eventually out over the water past the island. It moved in a straight line.
“We see many helicopters out there and this was nothing like a helicopter.
“It eventually disappeared from sight. I am guessing it turned to moved across the island, out towards the water where we could no longer see it.”
Prolific UFO and alien expert Scott Waring addressed the unique sighting on his website.
Guys check out this white object as its passing over the Abu Dhabi area.
The craft is following the land area. Its kind of big, about the size of a car.
This is very cool and flying very low. This alien craft has zero fear of being seen. 100% alien!
Love this raw footage so much. It shows us its movement, its actions of following the land, its speed, color and shape. Wow!
Wow, indeed.
“I see them at night. Looks like a star for awhile, then it’ll just fly away slowly,” wrote one viewer.
Inscriptions found on an ancient Egyptian temple revealed constellations that were previously unknown. In addition to the inscriptions, the original colors that were painted onto the 2,000-year-old temple were still present.
The researchers were very careful in removing the dirt and soot from around the temple (occasionally with an alcohol and distilled water mixture) and that’s when they found several carvings and hieroglyphics that “looks like it was painted yesterday,” as described by Christian Leitz who is a professor of Egyptology at the University of Tübingen in Germany and the project leader. In an interview with Live Science, he made it clear that they were not going to repaint anything and that they were only removing the dirt and soot from around the temple.
As for the constellations, the researchers found inscriptions of those we are already familiar with, such as the Big Dipper (or Mesekhtiu) and Orion (or Sah). However, they did find other inscriptions of those that were previously unknown, like the “Apedu n Ra” constellation (also known as “the geese of Ra”) in reference to the ancient Egyptian sun god. Unfortunately, there were no pictures accompanying the inscriptions so it’s impossible to know for sure which stars they were referring to.
As for the temple itself, it is located in the town of Esna which is approximately 40 miles south of Luxor. The Temple of Esna was once a sanctuary that turned into a storage warehouse for cotton in the early part of the 19th century. But after many years of neglect, it is now covered with dirt and soot with only the vestibule remaining.
This large sandstone building measures 120 feet in length by 65 feet in width and 50 feet in height. It has 24 support columns and 18 free-standing columns that contained beautifully painted carvings of plants. Leitz estimated that it would have taken approximately 200 years for the ancient Egyptians to complete its construction and finish all the carvings and decorations.
The restoration project started in 2018 and it was only recently that they found the inscriptions of the previously unknown constellations. Leitz explained that when the temple was decorated, the ancient Egyptians would have drawn the images in black ink first, and then an artisan would have created the carvings before a painter colored them. Interestingly, several of the inscriptions on the ceiling were only drawn in black ink and they were never carved or even painted.
Pictures of the temple and some of the decorations can be seen here.
This 2019 photo shows the temple of Esna from the east.
(Image credit: Ahmed Amin)
Here is the ancient Egyptian depiction of the Big Dipper, seen here in the shape of a bull's leg. It includes seven stars and is tied to a stake by a goddess in hippo form (right). The Big Dipper is considered the manifestation of the evil god Seth, who murdered his brother Osiris. The goddess prevents Seth from reaching Osiris in the underworld — a myth made possible because the constellation never dips below the horizon.
A close up look at a frieze taken in autumn 2019. The cartouche has the name of Hadrian, framed by the local god Khnum (left) and the solar god Behedeti (right).(Image credit: Ahmed Amin)
A column before restoration
(Image credit: Ahmed Amin)
The same column, after restoration. The name of Trajan is written in the cartouche.
(Image credit: Ahmed Amin)
Workers found vibrant colors under the soot and filth.
(Image credit: Ahmed Amin)
The constellation Orion as Osiris (left) and Sothis as Isis (right).
(Image credit: Ahmed Amin)
The representation of a constellation in form of a mummy.
(Image credit: Ahmed Amin)
A column with plant designs that has been fully restored.
The Day The Soviets Captured A UFO - USSR UFO Secrets
The Day The Soviets Captured A UFO - USSR UFO Secrets
Russian documents leaked from the government claim to report a crashed UFO in the north-western region of Siberia sparking a military retrieval operation and scientific investigation of the strange craft. Details of its high performance and incredible advanced technology stunned scientists who had been investigating the craft from a secret military location.
The authenticity of such a report is still under investigation but the information within the pages of this document could be the most relevant release of data to date.
The border region between Kazakhstan and Russia has been a UFO hotspot for years and the nearby area of Arkaim is known as Russia’s Twilight Zone. The surrounding areas in both countries have shown up evidence of ancient settlements and some people attribute these to the strange activity that is reported in skies above. Secret Russian government programs were launched to investigate the strange aerial phenomena. The mysterious sightings of strange craft throughout the region continues to date with very little explanation as to what they could be.
The Prophecy of Enoch You Have Never Heard Of - You Might Want to Watch This Right Away
The Prophecy of Enoch You Have Never Heard Of - You Might Want to Watch This Right Away
The Prophecy of Enoch You Have Never Heard Of – You Might Want To Watch This Right Away
The text of the Book of Genesis says Enoch lived 365 years before he was taken by God. The text reads that Enoch ”walked with God: and he was no more; for God took him” (Gen 5:21–24), which is interpreted as Enoch’s entering Heaven alive in some Jewish and Christian traditions.
*This is an original narration recorded specifically for this video in the Lion of Judah studio* Footage licensed through: Filmpac/Videoblocks Music licensed through Audiojungle/ Artlist
This month, mysterious lights startled some people looking to the skies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Readers of this website will already know there is no mystery; the UFO lights at Maier Festival Park were just drones practicing for aChristmas Pageant light show.
But there’s a long history of alarming lights in the sky and earthlings assuming it just can’t be good.
Actor/ Director Orson Welles frightened many listeners in 1938 with his Halloween prank radio broadcast of War of the Worlds. It’s controversial just how many people actually feared Martian invasion. But a lot of listeners felt silly once the hoax was revealed, and CBS fought at least one lawsuit. For years after that, the skies remained more or less clear of extraterrestrial menace.
Orson Welles: Fake news before the term was coined
Until 1947. That’s when pilot Kenneth Arnold says he spotted flying objects skipping like saucers over the Cascade Range near Seattle. This time there was no Orson Welles to ‘fess up. UFOs were with us and became part of the cultural landscape.
Kenneth Arnold: 9,000 hours of flying time and never seen anything like this.
Most turn out to be sightings of the planet Venus, aircraft, oddball reflections or swamp gas. (Really? Who’s fooled by swamp gas?)
Still, there was always a tiny minority of reports that defied easy explanation.
UFO? It’s just a drone, dude
But now the skeptic has a likely and dismissive UFO explanation at hand: It’s just a drone ma’am.
“A significant amount of UFOs that we investigate are hobby drones,” Ken Jordan told the Victoria Advocate. He served as the Texas chief of investigations for Mutual UFO Network, an organization that investigates UFO sightings internationally. And this was last year. Since then, the factories of Shenzhen and Hong Kong have filled the skies with hundreds of thousands more identifiable flying objects. We reported on people reporting UFOs to New Jersey police — only to learn it was a police drone.
Drone Light Show : Perfectly terrestrial explanation
A high-flying aircraft moving at impossible speeds can be mistaken for a low-flying drone puttering along at 20 k/h. Acrobatics that seem to defy the laws of physics are now on routine display at drone airshows, no extraterrestrial technology needed.
“Keep watching the skies”
When the New York Times published U.S. navy videos of strange objects flying off the east coast of the U.S., even the pilots had a familiar explanation.
Us Navy vdeo of something….something.. that defies easy explanation
“That’s an [expletive] drone, bro,” says one.
They don’t especially look like drones, but really what else could they be?
Perhaps the mothership is parked ominously just behind the Moon and is sending its vile horde of drone-shaped legions toward our unsuspecting planet. Perhaps we should be vigilant like the character Ned Scott in The Thing from Another World: “Keep watching the skies”
End-Triassic Mass Extinction Occurred Slightly Later Than Previously Thought
End-Triassic Mass Extinction Occurred Slightly Later Than Previously Thought
An analysis of biomarkers and their stable isotopic compositions from the Bristol Channel Basin at St. Audrie’s Bay and Lilstock, United Kingdom, has shed new light on when one of the largest mass extinction events on Earth occurred.
Schematic diagram showing the factors driving global ecological change in the modern day and at the end of the Triassic period.
Image credit: Victor Lesh.
Most of the major mass extinctions of the last 300 million years, as well as some of the lesser biotic turnover events, are associated with reorganizations or perturbations of the Earth’s natural carbon cycle.
The end-Triassic mass extinction began after a volcanic eruption spewed carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, disrupting the carbon cycle and sparking a chain reaction of environmental events.
That carbon disruption led to acidic ocean waters which then affected delicate marine ecosystems, and led to other unfavorable planetary changes.
The extinction event resulted in the demise of some 76% of all marine and land species.
In a new study, a research team led by Curtin University scientists analyzed biomarkers (molecular fossils) extracted from rocks collected in the United Kingdom’s Bristol Channel and found evidence of ancient microbial mats, which are complex communities of microorganisms.
“Through our analysis of the chemical signature of these microbial mats, in addition to seeing sea-level change and water column freshening, we discovered the end-Triassic mass extinction occurred later than previously thought,” said first author Calum Peter Fox, a Ph.D. student in the Western Australia Organic & Isotope Geochemistry Centre at Curtin University and the Department of Earth Sciences at Khalifa University of Science and Technology.
“Previous research suggests the extinction took place where we now know microbial mats flourished and the chemical signatures left by these ancient microbes complicated the rock record, leading others to believe this is where the extinction took place.”
“The microbial mats recorded in UK samples are comparable to extant microbial mats such as in Shark Bay of Western Australia,” he said.
“It’s amazing to consider that similar microbial communities that confounded the timing of one of Earth’s largest extinctions millions of years ago are on our shorelines and so easy to observe for ourselves.”
“The findings not only presented a new theory of what started the end-Triassic extinction, but also provided a type of warning for future potential mass extinction events on Earth,” said senior author Professor Kliti Grice, also from the Western Australia Organic & Isotope Geochemistry Centre at Curtin University.
“Our recent research shows that microbial mats played important functions in several mass extinction events as well as a role in preserving remains of life including soft tissue of dead organisms under exceptional circumstances.”
“Knowing more about the carbon dioxide levels present during the end-Triassic mass extinction event provides us with important details that could help protect our environment and health of our ecosystems for future generations.”
The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
_____
Calum P. Fox et al. Molecular and isotopic evidence reveals the end-Triassic carbon isotope excursion is not from massive exogenous light carbon. PNAS, published online November 16, 2020; doi: 10.1073/pnas.1917661117
The Colossi of Memnon: Why Did the Giant Statue Sing at Dawn?
The Colossi of Memnon: Why Did the Giant Statue Sing at Dawn?
The Colossi of Memnon are a pair of giant statues made of stone that are located in theTheban Necropolisin Luxor, Upper Egypt. The statues were made during the 14th century BC, during the period in ancient Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom. The best-known legend about the Colossi of Memnon is that of the ‘ Vocal Memnon,’ in which one of the statues was reputed to ‘sing’ every morning at dawn.
The Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Who Created the Colossi of Memnon
The Colossi of Memnon were built during the reign of Amenhotep III , a pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty who ruled Egypt during the 14th century BC. The statues, which are each about 20 meters (65.62 ft.) in height, are made of quartzite sandstone. The stone is thought to have been quarried either from El-Gabal el-Ahmar (near Cairo) or from Gebel el-Silsileh (near Aswan), and then transported by land to Luxor. The statues depict Amenhotep III in a seated position, with their hands resting on their knees, and their faces facing the Nile in the east.
The Name and Purpose of the Egyptian Colossi of Memnon
The original function of the colossi was to serve as guardians at the entrance of the pharaoh’s mortuary temple. When it was completed, this temple complex was one of the largest and most luxurious in the land. Today, however, little is left of the mortuary temple, and its foundations were gradually damaged by the annual flooding of the Nile , which led to the temple being demolished, and its stone blocks re-used for other structures. The colossi were spared this fate, though they also suffered extensive damage over the millennia.
The Colossi of Memnon in front of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III's mortuary temple.
The colossi were named ‘Memnon’ towards the end of the 1st century BC. Memnon was a hero who lived during the time of the Trojan War . As the King of Ethiopia, Memnon led his soldiers to Troy, where they fought against the Greeks on the side of the Trojans. He was eventually slain by Achilles.
According to legend, Memnon was the son of Eos, the goddess of dawn. On learning of her son’s death, Eos wept, which is said to form the morning dew.
‘Statues of Memnon at Thebes during the flood,’ David Roberts. (1848) ( Public Domain ) The statues in Luxor, Egypt have been impacted by the annual flooding of the Nile.
The Ancient Egyptian Statue Sings at Dawn
Eos’ weeping was associated with the sound said to have been produced by one of the colossi at dawn. According to the Greek geographer Strabo, in 27 BC, a strong earthquake caused the top half of the northern colossus to collapse, and its lower portion to crack. As a consequence of this, the statue began to ‘sing,’ i.e. emitted a light moaning or whistling sound each morning as the Sun rose.
In order to explain this phenomenon, the ancient Greek and Roman travelers to the site began to associate the colossi with the legendary Memnon. The ‘singing’ of the colossus, therefore, was said to have been made by Eos mourning for her dead son. Alternatively, it was believed that the sounds were the cries of Memnon greeting his mother.
Ahmed Osman notes that “Whether associating the Colossi with his name was just whimsy or wishful thinking on the part of the Greeks – they generally referred to the entire Theban Necropolis as the “Memnonium” – the name has remained in common use for the past 2000 years.”
A natural explanation for the signing or wailing phenomenon has been put forward. It has been suggested that due to the increase in temperature at dawn, the dew inside the porous rock evaporates, thus causing the statue to ‘sing.’
Silencing ‘Memnon’
Some believed that it was good luck to hear the statue ‘sing,’ while others were of the opinion that the statue was an oracle. With this in mind, the Colossi of Memnon was a popular tourist attraction and many ancient travelers visited it, including several Roman emperors. One of these was Septimius Severus, who reigned between the end of the 2nd century AD and the beginning of the 3rd century AD.
Drawing of the ancient Egyptian Colossi of Memnon.
According to local tradition, the emperor visited the Colossi of Memnon in 199 AD. During his visit, Septimius Severus decided to repair the broken statue by having the two halves re-connected. This caused the statue to stop ‘singing’ forever. Nevertheless, the Colossi of Memnon still remain a tourist attraction even today.
Top Image: One of the seated statues known as the Colossi of Memnon. Source: danheller /Adobe Stock
The Walls of Jericho: How Accurate Was The Biblical Account?
The Walls of Jericho: How Accurate Was The Biblical Account?
Jericho is famous both to prehistorians and Biblical scholars. It is likely the oldest continuously inhabited permanent settlement in the world, known for ancient astronomical observatories, plastered skulls, and impressive walls, and it is these walls that the city is probably most famous for. The walls of Jericho are the subject of much discussion and research due to their importance for evaluating the historicity of the Biblical narrative of the ancient Israelite invasion of Canaan.
Before the Bible
Early archaeological work was done on Jericho in the late 1950s by investigators, such as Dame Kathleen Kenyon . Among many other things, they found evidence of walls and a city that had been attacked. This has made Jericho a place of great importance for those interested in Biblical studies.
The earliest evidence of settlement comes from 12,000 years ago when hunter-gatherers settled in the area. Although they were hunter-gatherers, the area seems to have been abundant enough that they were able to live a sedentary lifestyle. They lived in oval stone structures that were partially underground. By about 10,500 years ago, or around 8,500 BC, the people of Jericho had adopted agriculture and Jericho had become a major Neolithic settlement engaging in long distance trade. It was during this time that the famous tower of Jericho was built.
The tower of Jericho was originally discovered by Dame Kathleen Kenyon who suggested that it might have formed part of the original fortification of the town. Modern archaeologists have suggested that it is an ancient astronomical observatory . Within the tower is a staircase that leads to a position where, on what was the summer solstice at the time, the sun could be seen setting behind Mount Quruntul within the Judaean mountains.
The 8000 BC Tower of Jericho at the site of Tell es-Sultan, 2009.
In addition to the tower, mysterious plastered skulls have been found, where the skulls were taken out of their graves and given plastered facial features and shell eyes. They are believed to be related to ancestor worship.
By about 7,000 BC, there was a cultural shift where the population in Jericho was reduced and architectural styles changed from round to rectangular houses. Jericho continued to exist as a small village but did not become a large settlement again until around 3,000 BC. After 3,000 BC, extensive fortifications, consisting of walls and towers, were constructed around Jericho. Large cemeteries were also built. Around 2300 BC, Jericho became occupied by the Amorites. During the Amorite period, Jericho appears to have declined as an urban center. By about 1900 BC, the site was occupied by the Canaanites and once again became a major city. It is this Canaanite Jericho that was encountered by the ancient Israelites in the Book of Joshua.
The Walls of Jericho
The Biblical narrative describes the city as having nearly impregnable walls, which were intimidating to anyone who tried to take the city. There is archaeological evidence that the city was once fortified and that it was subsequently attacked and burned sometime in the middle or late Bronze Age between 1550 BC and 1400 BC.
The city of Jericho sat atop a mound or hill, which was surrounded by an embankment. The embankment was supported by an enormous stone retaining wall. Above the retaining wall was an 8-10 meter tall and 2 meter thick mudbrick wall. The wall was directly above the retaining wall and lined the edges of the embankment.
At the perimeter of the summit of the flat-topped hill on which the city was built was another mudbrick wall, which contained the upper city. There is evidence that houses were also built on the embankment and people lived on the lower part of the hill between the inner wall and the outer wall. Since this part of the city would have been less safe in times of war, it has been suggested that this was likely the poorer part of the city. The upper city may have been inhabited by the elites, while commoners lived in the lower city.
Although the inner and outer walls were only mudbrick, they would have been impressive for the time and would have made Jericho a mighty fortress to which people from surrounding towns and villages could flee in times of invasion.
Jericho and Bronze Age Fortifications
The city of Jericho appears to follow a Bronze Age tradition in which cities were built on top of artificial embankments or mounds surrounded by walls. This style of defense is found outside of Jericho at locations such Hazor, Megiddo, and Shechem. Typically, the site would consist of a mound with an artificial embankment surrounding it. Around the embankment would be a stone retaining wall. Settlements with this type of defense structure also had a mudbrick wall built atop the retaining wall as well as another wall surrounding the crest of the mound. This type of fortification is referred to as a glacis and is found all over Palestine and in large portions of the Middle East.
Citadel of Allepo, Syria, showing an example of a glacis fortification, 2007.
Scholars have speculated about the origin of the glacis. When research into these structures began in the early to mid-20 th century, these fortifications were originally associated with the Hyksos. Originally, the Hyksos were thought to be Indo-European chariot warriors . The fortification was postulated to represent the original fortifications that they used in their homeland.
Since the mid-20 th century, this theory has been abandoned and the glacis fortifications are no longer considered to be associated with chariot warfare. Today, the Hyksos are known to have spoken a Semitic language and were likely more closely related to the ancient Hebrews than they were to Indo-European steppe warriors.
Although archaeologists had abandoned the idea that the fortification design came from the steppes of the Indo-European homeland, they were still convinced that the fortification must have come from the north, such as from Anatolia or Syria. By 1968, archaeologists had begun to suggest that the glacis was a native design invented by the Palestinians themselves. This appears to be the predominant view currently.
Another point of contention has been the use of the fortifications. Archaeologists in the mid-20 th century, originally believed that the glacis-fortifications were primarily military forts. It is now known that they were simply fortified towns and that at their summits and on the embankments were houses, temples, and other civilian structures.
The glacis first came in to use in the late 18th century BC and was widespread through the middle Bronze Age. By the Iron Age, the glacis appears to have fallen out of use. The legacy of the glacis, however, is reflected in the mound or hill-shaped structure of many archaeological sites across the Levant.
For a while, Jericho presented a problem in Biblical studies. On a broader level, there appears to be a discrepancy between the account of the Israelite settlement of Canaan in the Book of Joshua and what is known from archaeology. An initial reading of the Book of Joshua gives the impression that Canaan was taken in a sudden conquest. This is not what is reflected in the current archaeological record that suggests a more gradual settlement, which is more consistent with the account given in the Book of Judges.
However, a closer reading of the Book of Joshua shows that not all of Canaan was conquered by Joshua. Only three cities were specifically described as being burned and destroyed by the ancient Israelites, Ai, Hazor, and Jericho.
As can be seen, evidence of a swift invasion is not necessary to reconcile the Book of Joshua’s account with the archaeological record. Nonetheless, the story of the destruction of Jericho, Ai, and Hazor, around 1400 BC, is consistent with what is known from archaeological excavations.
When the Bible speaks of the walls of Jericho falling down, the original Hebrew wording carries the idea of the walls falling “below themselves.” This is consistent with the design of the glacis since the outer wall would probably be a mudbrick wall sitting atop the stone retaining wall. Thus, if the outer wall was toppled, it would fall below to the base of the retaining wall.
During early archaeological excavations by the British archaeologist Dame Kathleen Kenyon, a stone retaining wall was found at the base of the tell associated with Jericho, but a mudbrick wall wasn’t found. However, a deposit of collapsed mudbrick was found at the base of the retaining wall at certain locations around the tell. This is surprisingly consistent with the account in the Book of Joshua. This collapsed wall would have also created a ramp for the Israelite warriors to march up the embankment to take the city. In this way, the archaeological record makes the Biblical account surprisingly believable. It supports the idea that the walls tumbled “below themselves” as well as the statement that the Israelites went “up” to take the city.
Birdseye view of the unearthed foundations at Tell es-Sultan in Jericho and the surrounding area, 2008.
Another specific part of the narrative that is also made plausible by the archaeological record is the account of Rahab’s house being spared. In the Biblical narrative, two spies were sent into the city and they were harbored by a prostitute named Rahab. For helping the spies, Rahab was promised that she and her family would be spared when the city was destroyed. It is implied in the Biblical text, when the walls collapsed that her house was not destroyed even though it was connected to the wall.
During an early excavation in 1907-1909, German archaeologists found that, although most of the wall had collapsed, a portion of the wall had not entirely collapsed and appeared to have been preserved. They also found evidence that houses had been built along the wall. These houses typically had a thickness of only one brick, suggesting they were built for the poorer inhabitants of the city. Although this may not have been the location of Rahab’s house, it is consistent with the Biblical narrative.
Another detail that is also of interest in the archaeological site of Jericho is the presence of pots of charred grain that were burned from when the city was attacked and destroyed. What is unusual about these grain pots is that grain would probably have been eaten during a siege if it had been prolonged over a long period of time. The siege of Jericho by the ancient Israelites is said to have lasted only seven days. The fact that the grain pots were still full is consistent with a short siege. This also supports another part of the Biblical narrative, which mentions that the battle of Jericho happened in the spring, shortly after harvest time.
These details do not prove that the Bible is true necessarily, but they do demonstrate that the Biblical narrative is plausible and makes sense. This is consistent with other archaeological finds that increase confidence in the Biblical narrative as being at least archaeologically and historically realistic.
Although there are still unanswered questions and discrepancies between the Biblical account and the archaeological record, the Bible can be thought of as a basically reliable document that does provide some useful details for archaeologists and historians interested in understanding the lifeways and societies of the ancient Levant, even if it turns out to not be true or accurate in its entirety.
An analogy is Homer’s Iliad. The archaeological site now considered to be the site of ancient Troy was first excavated by Heinrich Schliemann in the 1870s. Schliemann was in search of the Troy of Greek legend. During this excavation, Schliemann discovered artifacts, which he believed to be the treasures of King Priam, although this idea was later discredited. Nonetheless, in the century and a half since the initial excavations by Heinrich Schliemann, scholars have noted that the topographic descriptions of the land and city in the Iliad do seem to match what is known of the ancient city from archaeology. This is interesting in light of the fact that Hisarlik, the current Turkish name for the archaeological site, has been associated with the legendary city for thousands of years. Although it is far from clear how much of the Trojan war is history and how much is legend, it does appear plausible that there is truth to the narrative.
The Ramayana is another possible example. Although Rama, the main character, is not mentioned on any monuments or coinage, as would be expected of a historical monarch, most of the cities and places mentioned in the Ramayana are known to exist or have been discovered through archaeological investigation. This does not necessarily mean that the events in the Ramayana happened as described, but they do make the story of the Ramayana more plausible.
In the same way, these archaeological findings at Jericho do not necessarily prove that the Biblical narrative happened exactly as described, but they do lend credence to the story described on the pages of the Bible. Although sometimes archaeology casts doubt on traditional stories about the past, other times it confirms them in surprising ways.
Top Image: Bible Old Testament: Joshua and the walls of Jericho.
Stratolaunch has started construction on a prototype hypersonic vehicle designed to launch from the world's biggest airplane.
Recent pictures the company shared on Twitter show a prelude of the sleek StratolaunchTalon-A reusable hypersonic vehicle coming together in a manufacturing facility.
"The upper skin layup tool and prototype upper skin are giving us a peek at what's to come. One. Step. Closer," Stratolaunch said on Twitter Oct. 20. In a separate missive, Stratolaunch thanked their employees for the ongoing hard work. "Maybe we're biased, but we think we have some of the coolest jobs on the planet … and beyond," the company tweeted Oct. 22.
The construction is a promising start after months of uncertainty for Stratolaunch, the future of which came into question after founder Paul Allen (also co-founder of Microsoft) died in October 2018 and the company was sold a year later.
"Our hypersonic testbeds will serve as a catalyst in sparking a renaissance in hypersonic technologies for our government, the commercial sector and academia," Stratolaunch CEO W. Jean Floyd said in a statement on the company website.
Stratolaunch's Talon-A will be 28 feet (8.5 meters) long with a mass of 6,000 lbs. (2,700 kilograms) and will fly as fast as Mach 6, the company has said. Key components for the plane appear to be well under way, too.
Stratolaunch also signed an agreement with Draper, a decades-old engineering nonprofit, last month to provide guidance, navigation and control software for the hypersonic vehicle.
"Under the multi-year contract, Draper will design, develop and deliver a guidance, navigation and control system for the Stratolaunch reusable hypersonic vehicle," Draper representatives wrote in a statement. "The vehicle is designed for use by government, the Department of Defense, the commercial sector and academia, which will contract for payload capacity for space or Earth applications."
Four orange laser beams blaze through the Milky Way while an angry purple nebula transfixes us with its death-stare. Happily (or sadly, depending on how much news you've consumed this week), Earth is not doomed; in fact, it's an Earthly telescope that's launching the lasers in this epic image from the European Southern Observatory (ESO).
Dubbed ESO's picture of the week, this shot looks like a cosmic battle to the death, but it actually captures a clever astronomical trick that scientists use to peer across time and space. The purple star system pictured here is the Carina Nebula, sometimes called the Eta Carinae nebula in honor of its most famous star system. Eta Carinae — actually a pair of two giant stars — has been steadily exploding in a spectacular eruption of gas and dust for nearly 200 years. Though the system is located about 7,500 light-years from Earth, this ever-brightening explosion has rendered it one of the most luminous star systems in the Milky Way.
The Carina Nebula sits roughly 7,500 light-years from Earth. (Image credit: ESO/G. Hüdepohl)
Seeing that far into space can be tricky, even when gazing at one of our galaxy's brightest objects through one of Earth's mightiest telescopes (in this case, the ESO's Very Large Telescope, located in Chile). One niggling problem: Earth's gassy atmosphere always gets in the way, blurring and distorting the view of celestial objects.
That's where the lasers come in. According to the ESO, scientists fire these lasers from one of the Very Large Telescope's component pieces to simulate distant stars. (Sodium particles in the atmosphere cause the beams to glow orange.) Astronomers then focus on these artificial stars to measure how much the beams are being blurred by Earth's atmosphere. By practicing with fake stars, astronomers can more effectively calibrate the telescope to correct for atmospheric blurring when looking at real stars, galaxies and explosive objects like Eta Carinae, according to the ESO.
So, to summarize: Earth scientists are actively shooting lasers into the heart of an exploding star system — but only so they can get to know it better. In our strange and beautiful Milky Way, it's just the neighborly thing to do.
The nebula, which looks like a spectral blue eye when observed in ultraviolet light, was first discovered in 2004. Now, researchers believe they finally understand how it was formed.
False-color image of the nebula. A shockfront interacted with hydrogen atoms, causing them to glow in visible light (shown in pink here). Image credits: Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/NASA/JPL-Caltech/M. Seibert (Carnegie Institution for Science)/K. Hoadley (Caltech)/GALEX Team.
When stars collide
The blue ring nebula surrounds the dully-named star TYC 2597-735-1 but while its name lacks excitement, its structure more than makes up for it.
Initially, it looked like a quirky little porblem that could be solved by a brief study and some observations, but the more astronomers looked into it, the more the mystery deepened
“Every time we thought we had this thing figured out, something would tell us, ‘No, that’s not right,'” Mark Seibert, an astrophysicist with the Carnegie Institution for Science, a member of the GALEX team and a co-author on the new research, said in a statement. “That’s a scary thing as a scientist. But I also love how unique this object is, and the effort that so many people put in to figure it out.”
Seiberg and colleagues used data from the now-defunct Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) space telescope that was used to discover the nebula, but they also combined it with data from the W. M. Keck Observatory, the Hobby-Eberly Telescope in Texas, and space-based telescopes like NASA’s retired Spitzer, to get a better picture of the entire structure.
The data was weird. For starters, the team found that it wasn’t a planetary nebula, which was their original hypothesis, because there was simply too much debris around. The only plausible alternative was a stellar collision. But a stellar collision also didn’t seem to fit, as the data showed an accretion disk around the star, which is commonly found around young stars — while TYC 2597-735-1 is pretty old.
That’s when astrophysicist Brian Metzger from Columbia University entered the stage. Metzger had been building mathematical and computational models of cosmic mergers. When he started sharing his data with the rest of the team, everything began falling into place.
“Like catching sight of a baby when it first walks”
The Blue Ring Nebula consists of two hollow, cone-shaped clouds of debris which from the Earth, look like two circles that partially overlap. Image Credits: Mark Seibert
The ring that surrounds the nebula is not actually a ring or even a sphere, Metzger’s models suggested. It’s actually the base of a cone, with the tip pointing at the bright dot in the middle. The nebula is facing Earth almost directly, which hides the rest of the cone from us.
Armed with the observational data and the theoretical models, the team concluded that the nebula is indeed a stellar collision, but an extremely new one.
An animation showing the geometry of the Blue Ring Nebula, thought to be the product of two stars merging into one. Image credits: Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC).
Stellar mergers are fairly common, in cosmic terms. Astronomers predict that they occur in the globular clusters of our galaxy about once every 10,000 years, which may seem like a long time to us, but it’s the blink of an eye in astronomy. But they’re hard to see because they are quickly obscured by the dust and debris, says Keri Hoadley, the David and Ellen Lee Postdoctoral Scholar in Physics at Caltech in a statement. Astronomers caught it at just the exact moment, it seems.
“We think this object represents a late stage of these transient events, when the dust finally clears and we have a good view,” says Hadley, who is the lead study author, for Caltech. “But we also caught the process before it was too far along; after time, the nebula will dissolve into the interstellar medium, and we would not be able to tell anything happened at all.”
“It’s like catching sight of a baby when it first walks,” adds Don Neill, a research scientist at Caltech and a GALEX team member. “If you blink, you might miss it.”
The history of a mysterious nebula
The Mira star and its glowing ultraviolet tail were also imaged with the GALEX telescope in 2007. It’s a similar process to what’s happening in the Blue Ring Nebula but from a different angle. Image credits: Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/C. Martin (Caltech)/M. Seibert(OCIW)
Because it’s such a rare sighting, it can also be used as a blueprint for this type of process. Astronomers are much more likely to find this type of merger at different stages, and this data could help interpret other nebula observations.
But this particular nebula is interesting in its own right, and unraveling its story is well worth it.
Astronomers say the story of the Blue Ring Nebula began a few millennia ago, possibly after the first human civilizations had been established. It started with two stars: a larger one, about the mass of our sun, and a smaller one orbiting around it. The larger star grew closer and closer to the smaller one, which started siphoning off material from the larger one. But it couldn’t syphon enough and was ultimately devoured — which sent a cloud of debris flying all around. The cloud of debris was then sliced in half by the small star’s remaining disk of gas, producing the two cone clouds astronomers described in the new study.
It’s worth noting that the nebula isn’t technically blue. It was photographed in ultraviolet light, so it’s not technically any color, it’s just that blue is commonly used to depict ultraviolet and this is what astronomers went with. The pink around the nebula also isn’t technically pink. The shockwave from the merger excited hydrogen molecules in the debris, which caused them to fluoresce, also in ultraviolet light. This process was also observed around a star called Mira, also imaged by GALEX in 2007.
The Blue Nebula has puzzled scientists for more than a decade, but new findings suggest it may be the youngest known example of two stars merging into one.
Astronomers first discovered the mysterious object in 2004, leading them on a mission to uncover what caused a circle of blue light to form around the star, named TYC 2597-735-1.
In a new study, the team suggests that the ring is actually a cone and the glowing debris formed after a sun-like star engulfed a smaller stellar companion.
A massive cloud of hot debris shot into space when they merged that was sliced in two by the gas disc, and because only one of the cones is facing Earth, it appears as a central blue ring.
Astronomers first discovered the mysterious object in 2004, leading them on a mission to uncover what caused a circle of blue light to form around the star, named TYC 2597-735-1
The Blue Nebula was discovered by scientists with NASA's space-based Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) 16 years ago who said it was 'unlike anything the'd seen before in our Milky Way galaxy.'
The images showed a large, faint blob of gas with a star shining brightly in the center.
And although it looks blue in images, it does not actually give off light visible to the human eye.
For more than a decade, the team worked tirelessly to unravel its mystery.
A massive cloud of hot debris shot into space when they merged that was sliced in two by the gas disc, and because only one of the cones is facing Earth, it appears as a central blue ring
Mark Seibert, an astrophysicist with the Carnegie Institution for Science and a member of the GALEX team, said: 'Every time we thought we had this thing figured out, something would tell us 'No, that's not right.'
'That's a scary thing as a scientist. But I also love how unique this object is, and the effort that so many people put in to figure it out.'
In a new study published online on November 18 in the journal Nature, the team suggests they have finally solved the puzzle.
The nebula was determined to be a relatively fresh stellar merger, just some thousand years old, of a star the size of our Sun and another that had about 100 times the mass as Jupiter.
When the sun-like star was dying, it began to swell, pushed its towards the smaller stellar object and eventually engulfed it.
Although the result of this violent event ended in two cones, there is an area where they overlap that appears as a circle when observed from Earth.
The light was produced after the collision, which excited the hydrogen molecules, causing them to radiate with ultraviolet light and overtime the glow became bright enough for GALEX to see (pictured is the star Mira, which went through the same process)
The light was produced after the collision, which excited the hydrogen molecules, causing them to radiate with ultraviolet light and overtime the glow became bright enough for GALEX to see.
Lead study author Keri Hoadley, from David and Ellen Lee Postdoctoral Scholar in Physics at Caltech, said 'The merging of two stars is fairly common, but they quickly become obscured by lots of dust as the ejecta from them expands and cools in space, which means we can't see what has actually happened.'
'We think this object represents a late stage of these transient events, when the dust finally clears and we have a good view.
'But we also caught the process before it was too far along; after time, the nebula will dissolve into the interstellar medium, and we would not be able to tell anything happened at all.'
Side by side pictures of brain cells and a cosmic web of galaxies make it difficult to tell the two apart. So it can seem that the universe is like one giant brain or vice-versa, there’s a tiny universe in each of our brains. That’s not merely some entertaining thought. In a new study, an astrophysicist and a neurosurgeon have documented the striking similarities between cosmic networks of galaxies and neural networks of brain cells.
The mini-cosmos inside the brain
Alberto Feletti, a neurosurgeon at the University of Verona, and Franco Vazza, astrophysicist at the University of Bologna, performed a quantitative analysis of neural and cosmic networks, showing that the natural physical processes lead to similar structures even when differences in scale can be greater than 27 orders of magnitude.
The human brain contains approximately 69 billion neurons, whereas the observable universe consists of a web of at least 100 billion galaxies. In both galactic and neural networks, just 30% of their masses are composed of ‘working’ masses, such as galaxies and neurons. The rest of the 70% of matter plays an apparently passive role: water in the brain and dark energy in the observable cosmos, the authors wrote in Frontiers in Physics.
The pair of Italian researchers also performed side by side comparisons between simulations of galactic and neural networks in order to see how matter fluctuations scatter over the two scales.
“We calculated the spectral density of both systems. This is a technique often employed in cosmology for studying the spatial distribution of galaxies,” Vazza said in a statement. “Our analysis showed that the distribution of the fluctuation within the cerebellum neuronal network on a scale from 1 micrometer to 0.1 millimeters follows the same progression of the distribution of matter in the cosmic web but, of course, on a larger scale that goes from 5 million to 500 million light-years.”
Next, the researchers computed the average number of connections in each node for both neural and cosmic networks, and analyzed their tendency to cluster together in relevant central nodes with the network.
“Once again, structural parameters have identified unexpected agreement levels. Probably, the connectivity within the two networks evolves following similar physical principles, despite the striking and obvious difference between the physical powers regulating galaxies and neurons,” adds Alberto Feletti. “These two complex networks show more similarities than those shared between the cosmic web and a galaxy or a neuronal network and the inside of a neuronal body”.
Left: section of cerebellum, with magnification factor 40x, obtained with electron microscopy. Right: section of a cosmological simulation, with an extension of 300 million light-years on each side.
Credit: Dr. E. Zunarelli, University Hospital of Modena / Vazza et al. 2019 A&A.
Fractals are everywhere
These similarities are truly striking, but what can explain them? The cosmos has been shaped by the laws of physics and the forces that govern it, such as gravity and dark matter. The brain is shaped by biological processes, most important of which is evolution. Over the course of many generations, the human brain has adapted to a certain structure that is most adapted to our environment. But the brain is ultimately made of atoms and molecules, just like the rest of the universe.
What ties the brain and the cosmos at large together are fractals, which are mathematical structures that look the same regardless of how close or far away you observe them. Besides the brain and galaxies, other naturally occurring fractal structures include the path taken by rivers down to the ocean or the delicate shape of a snowflake. Even our cities look a lot like fractals, showing that we inadvertently follow the laws of nature simply because that’s the efficient way to go about things.
Lying practically in the center of Australia, sitting out among the dry and dusty forbidding landscape around 11 miles from the remote desert outpost town of Alice Springs, is the somewhat jarring sight of an installation of squat buildings and satellite dishes ensconced within odd-looking white balls dotting the area, called radomes. Sitting out in this remote, inhospitable land of sun scorched earth as it is, it is easy to conjure up the image that this is a mysterious base on some alien world, but it is in fact a top secret joint American-Australian run military installation officially called the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap (JDFPG), or more commonly just Pine Gap, also known by its unclassified cover name RAINFALL. Although its official function is to track and monitor satellites, the isolated location out in the middle of nowhere and the complete secrecy surrounding it have made sure that this place has attracted plenty of conspiracies and tales of secret experiments, UFOs, and all manner of strangeness.
The base itself began operations in 1970, established by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Agency (NSA), and the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in conjunction with the Australian government. Originally described as a facility for “space research,” its main purpose, or at least what they tell us, is satellite surveillance, its location and remote moonscape of an area perfect for watching vast expanses of the skies, as well as hiding from any spy ships passing in international waters that might try intercept the signals from its array of spherical tracking systems. Since the Cold War it has also been utilized as a missile detection and tracking station, as well as for intercepting and recording weapons and communications signals from hostile nations such as North Korea. The base employs around 1,000 people, sprawls out over at least 20,000 square meters of floor space, and houses a massive expanse of supercomputers and a spider web of tunnels beneath it all, however, its exact layout and the extent of its subterranean facilities are hidden behind a wall of classified top secrecy. Since it is a secret, reclusive desert base completely off limits to outsiders, patrolled by armed security and surrounded by fences generously festooned with “Keep Out” signs, it is perhaps no surprise that over the years strange tales have gravitated towards Pine Gap, ranging from the weird to the totally outlandish.
Pine Gap
Perhaps the most well-known, publicized, and plausible stories surrounding the facility are that it has been instrumental in coordinating and carrying out lethal drone strikes in warzones such as Afghanistan, rumors which angered many Australians who did not want to be complicit in illegal targeted strikes and objected to having that blood on their hands. The accusations of Pine Gap being used to coordinate these killer drone strikes have been categorically denied by military officials for years, even though declassified NSA documents have shown that similar facilities, such as Menwith Hill Station in the UK, have indeed been used for launching targeted drone strike missions, so these documents heavily suggest that Pine Gap, with its cutting edge technology, is also used for these purposes. There has been some confirmation in that the NSA has admitted to using Pine Gap for intelligence sharing and for missions concerning the war on terror, whatever that may entail.
Similarly nefarious and unethical are claims made by famed whistleblower Edward Snowden, who has said that Pine Gap is heavily used for intercepting communications not only from enemies of the state, but also from private communications over phone, emails and faxes, essentially allowing the military to eavesdrop and spy on anyone in the world at any time, monitoring everyone at all times. Making this more ominous still is that there have been claimed to be at least two areas of the base that are completely off-limits to Australian personnel. Of course both the governments of Australia and the United States dismiss all of these allegations, but still they persist. After all, that the government would be involved with this will probably be not that big a stretch of the imagination for many, yet this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Pine Gap, and other claims start to veer off into the bizarre. Yes, I’m talking about UFOs and aliens.
Pine Gap has for years been ground zero for all sorts of claims of UFO activity in and around the base. It has gained a reputation as a hotspot of UFO sightings, and has even gained the reputation as “Australia’s Area 51,” furthering its cred as a decidedly oddball place. One strange type of report that has popped up frequently is that of all the hidden camouflaged doors in the surrounding area of the base that strange flying craft come and go through. In as early as 1980 there was a report from two police officers that were in the vicinity helping with a search for a missing child, combing through the desert scrub when right in front of them a door opened in the ground to disgorge several bizarre craft described as “flying bathtubs.” These mysterious objects then flew across the base to enter some sort of portal that appeared in the hills not far away, after which it and the craft vanished. A similar report occurred in 1989, when three hunters saw a hidden door open in the hillside they were on, from which emerged a large metallic gray disc. The door then closed to blend perfectly into the environment as if it never existed. This flying object then reportedly silently flew out across the base to hover right above it before shooting straight up in the sky at breathtaking speed.
Other strange UFO activity has been reported from the base as well. Back in 1975 the pilot and passengers of a private plane flying not far from Pine Gap witnessed a huge white light take off from the base and shoot off into the distance at speeds far exceeding a normal aircraft. Interestingly, when they tried to file a report of the sighting they were told in no uncertain terms to forget what they had seen. Perhaps even stranger than this was an incident that supposedly happened in 1984, when a group of five UFO watchers were staking out the area after apparently receiving an anonymous tip that something big was going to go down at the base, and it seems they would not be disappointed. They claim that there was a sudden flurry of activity by personnel at the base, after which a beam of light shot into the sky and formed some sort of cloud-like portal, from which flew five UFOs that flew around the base shooting down green pillars of light at the domed radomes for several minutes before entering the cloud again and vanishing into thin air. There have indeed been numerous other reports of UFOs hovering over the radomes, and these domed radar installations seem to be of particular interest to these mystery craft.
The mention of the portal in this case fits in very well with some of the other off-the-wall conspiracies about the Pine Gap base. It has long been rumored that among the many secret experiments allegedly carried out at the base are those concerned with opening up doorways to other planets and even other dimensions. Other experiments said to happen at the base are those involving time travel, teleportation, reverse engineering alien technology, controlling the weather, and creating super soldiers. You name it, there has probably been a conspiracy claiming that it is an experiment being carried out at Pine Gap. It is hard to know just how many of these rumors are true and how much of it is just conspiracy theory nonsense, but considering that it is such a top secret place that no one can get near, out in the middle of a forsaken wasteland, it is not hard to see why it has managed to attract so much weirdness. What is with this place? We will perhaps never know what really goes on there, but as long as something is going on there the stories will likely continue to swirl, and if you want tales of UFOs, weird experiments, and high strangeness, you can do worse than Pine Gap.
ALL RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011
Beste bezoeker, Heb je zelf al ooit een vreemde waarneming gedaan, laat dit dan even weten via email aan Frederick Delaere opwww.ufomeldpunt.be. Deze onderzoekers behandelen jouw melding in volledige anonimiteit en met alle respect voor jouw privacy. Ze zijn kritisch, objectief maar open minded aangelegd en zullen jou steeds een verklaring geven voor jouw waarneming! DUS AARZEL NIET, ALS JE EEN ANTWOORD OP JOUW VRAGEN WENST, CONTACTEER FREDERICK. BIJ VOORBAAT DANK...
Druk op onderstaande knop om je bestand , jouw artikel naar mij te verzenden. INDIEN HET DE MOEITE WAARD IS, PLAATS IK HET OP DE BLOG ONDER DIVERSEN MET JOUW NAAM...
Druk op onderstaande knop om een berichtje achter te laten in mijn gastenboek
Alvast bedankt voor al jouw bezoekjes en jouw reacties. Nog een prettige dag verder!!!
Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 74 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.
Elon Musk's Neuralink and other brain chips spark ethical...
Tesla Model S and Y cars are dropped from Consumer Reports'...
.jpg)
(3).jpg)
NASA's Victor Glover becomes the first black astronaut to...
First fast radio burst to be discovered in the Milky Way is...
Find out all the ways to follow the journey of #SeeingTheSeas: go.nasa.gov/3feBY0g