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...
08-04-2023
Hubble Sees Possible Runaway Black Hole Creating a Trail of Stars
Hubble Sees Possible Runaway Black Hole Creating a Trail of Stars
There's an invisible monster on the loose, barreling through intergalactic space so fast that if it were in our solar system, it could travel from Earth to the Moon in 14 minutes. This supermassive black hole, weighing as much as 20 million Suns, has left behind a never-before-seen 200,000-light-year-long "contrail" of newborn stars, twice the diameter of our Milky Way galaxy. It's likely the result of a rare, bizarre game of galactic billiards among three massive black holes.
Rather than gobbling up stars ahead of it, like a cosmic Pac-Man, the speedy black hole is plowing into gas in front of it to trigger new star formation along a narrow corridor. The black hole is streaking too fast to take time for a snack. Nothing like it has ever been seen before, but it was captured accidentally by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
This is an artist's impression of a runaway supermassive black hole that was ejected from its host galaxy as a result of a tussle between it and two other black holes. As the black hole plows through intergalactic space it compresses tenuous gas in front to it. This precipitates the birth of hot blue stars. This illustration is based on Hubble Space Telescope observations of a 200,000-light-year-long "contrail" of stars behind an escaping black hole. For more details,read the Extended Text Description. Credits: NASA, ESA, Leah Hustak (STScI)
"We think we're seeing a wake behind the black hole where the gas cools and is able to form stars. So, we're looking at star formation trailing the black hole," said Pieter van Dokkum of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. "What we're seeing is the aftermath. Like the wake behind a ship we're seeing the wake behind the black hole." The trail must have lots of new stars, given that it is almost half as bright as the host galaxy it is linked to.
The black hole lies at one end of the column, which stretches back to its parent galaxy. There is a remarkably bright knot of ionized oxygen at the outermost tip of the column. Researchers believe gas is probably being shocked and heated from the motion of the black hole hitting the gas, or it could be radiation from an accretion disk around the black hole. "Gas in front of it gets shocked because of this supersonic, very high-velocity impact of the black hole moving through the gas. How it works exactly is not really known," said van Dokkum.
"This is pure serendipity that we stumbled across it," van Dokkum added. He was looking for globular star clusters in a nearby dwarf galaxy. "I was just scanning through the Hubble image and then I noticed that we have a little streak. I immediately thought, 'oh, a cosmic ray hitting the camera detector and causing a linear imaging artifact.' When we eliminated cosmic rays we realized it was still there. It didn't look like anything we've seen before."
This Hubble Space Telescope archival photo captures a curious linear feature that is so unusual it was first dismissed as an imaging artifact from Hubble's cameras. But follow-up spectroscopic observations reveal it is a 200,000-light-year-long chain of young blue stars. A supermassive black hole lies at the tip of the bridge at lower left. The black hole was ejected from the galaxy at upper right. It compressed gas in its wake to leave a long trail of young blue stars. Nothing like this has ever been seen before in the universe. This unusual event happened when the universe was approximately half its current age.
Credits: NASA, ESA, Pieter van Dokkum (Yale); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Because it was so weird, van Dokkum and his team did follow-up spectroscopy with the W. M. Keck Observatories in Hawaii. He describes the star trail as "quite astonishing, very, very bright and very unusual." This led to the conclusion that he was looking at the aftermath of a black hole flying through a halo of gas surrounding the host galaxy.
This intergalactic skyrocket is likely the result of multiple collisions of supermassive black holes. Astronomers suspect the first two galaxies merged perhaps 50 million years ago. That brought together two supermassive black holes at their centers. They whirled around each other as a binary black hole.
Then another galaxy came along with its own supermassive black hole. This follows the old idiom: "two's company and three's a crowd." The three black holes mixing it up led to a chaotic and unstable configuration. One of the black holes robbed momentum from the other two black holes and got thrown out of the host galaxy. The original binary may have remained intact, or the new interloper black hole may have replaced one of the two that were in the original binary, and kicked out the previous companion.
When the single black hole took off in one direction, the binary black holes shot off in the opposite direction. There is a feature seen on the opposite side of the host galaxy that might be the runaway binary black hole. Circumstantial evidence for this is that there is no sign of an active black hole remaining at the galaxy’s core. The next step is to do follow-up observations with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory to confirm the black hole explanation.
There’s an invisible monster on the loose! It’s barreling through intergalactic space fast enough to travel from Earth to the Moon in 14 minutes. But don’t worry, luckily this beast is very, very far away! This potential supermassive black hole, weighing as much as 20 million Suns, has left behind a never-before-seen 200,000 light-year-long trail of newborn stars. The streamer is twice the diameter of our Milky Way galaxy. It’s likely the result of a rare, bizarre game of galactic billiards among three massive black holes.
Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center; Lead Producer: Paul Morris
NASA's upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will have a wide-angle view of the universe with Hubble's exquisite resolution. As a survey telescope, the Roman observations might find more of these rare and improbable "star streaks" elsewhere in the universe. This may require machine learning using algorithms that are very good at finding specific weird shapes in a sea of other astronomical data, according to van Dokkum.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA. 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.
Voices of Ancestors: Listen to the Sound of 14 Ancient Languages (Video)
Voices of Ancestors: Listen to the Sound of 14 Ancient Languages (Video)
Language is a powerful tool that allows us to communicate with one another across time and space. Through language, we are able to share our stories, our ideas, and our cultures with others. In this fascinating video, we are transported back in time to hear the sounds of 14ancient languages spoken once again. From the Ancient Egyptians to the Sumerians, Aztecs, Celts, and Vikings, these languages are a window into the past and offer us a glimpse of the cultures and societies that once existed. While many of these languages have long since disappeared, hearing them spoken again brings to life the imagined voices of our ancestors.
Object shoots past Fuego volcano live cam, Guatemala on April 5, 2023, UFO Sighting News.
Object shoots past Fuego volcano live cam, Guatemala on April 5, 2023, UFO Sighting News.
Date of sighting: April 5, 2023 Location of sighting: Fuego volcano, Guatemala
This object was caught in front of the live cam at Fuego Volcano. Its located in Central America at Guatemala. The object turns slightly as it moves forward and takes on a disk-like appearance as it tilts. Many alien bases are made under volcanos in order to keep unwanted humans from stumbling upon aliens coming and going from the base. These live cams are an essential tool for UFO researchers worldwide and I am confident more sighting will come from this volcano as researchers take notice.
Scott C. Waring - Taiwan
Eyewitness states:
At approximately 10pm local time from a live camera view of Fuego Volcano near Puebla, Mexico, a glowing orb was witnessed flowing from the south to the north of the viewable screen area on the east side of the volcano. No flutter, no blinking of light, a solid form.
Solar Warden: Unraveling the Mystery of America’s Secret Space Program
Solar Warden: Unraveling the Mystery of America’s Secret Space Program
The enigma of the Solar Warden, an alleged top-secret space program shrouded in mystery, has captured the imaginations of conspiracy theorists and UFO enthusiasts alike for decades. Stemming from a mix of leaked information, unverifiable whistleblower accounts, and an overarching suspicion of governmental secrecy, the Solar Warden project continues to be a tantalizing puzzle for those seeking the truth about extraterrestrial contact and hidden space programs.
Gary McKinnon: The Man Behind the Revelation:
In the year 2000, a British hacker named Gary McKinnon became obsessed with the idea that governments were covering up the existence of UFOs. McKinnon, a computer expert, decided to dig into US government computers to uncover the truth. The information he claimed to have found was so alarming that it sent the US government into a full-blown panic, leading to a decade-long pursuit to prosecute him.
Gary McKinnon
McKinnon’s Discovery:
Gary McKinnon allegedly discovered evidence of a highly classified space program known as Solar Warden. According to the information he found, this program involved a fleet of spacecraft designed to guard the Earth from potential extraterrestrial threats. Additionally, McKinnon claimed to have seen a list of “non-terrestrial officers” and details of secret space transfers. Although McKinnon has admitted to hacking into US government computers, the specific details of what he saw have never been fully verified.
Some believe that Solar Warden has connections to another top-secret government project called Aurora. Aurora is rumored to be a triangular-shaped space plane that could potentially be linked to the increased sightings of triangular UFOs since the 1980s. Speculations about the existence of Aurora have been fueled by coverage in aviation magazines and alleged sightings by civilian witnesses.
The Controversy Surrounding Solar Warden:
Skeptics of Solar Warden argue that it would be nearly impossible to keep such a large program secret, as those involved would eventually talk. However, some whistleblowers have indeed come forward, claiming to have been part of the secret space program. Individuals such as Laura Eisenhower (great-granddaughter of President Dwight Eisenhower) and Andrew Basiago have shared their stories, which include accounts of teleportation, time travel, and even armed conflicts with alien species.
Nevertheless, the credibility of these whistleblowers is often questioned, as their stories seem to resemble plotlines from popular science fiction shows and books. Furthermore, some of these individuals, like Corey Goode, have been exposed as frauds when forced to testify under oath.
The Reality of Solar Warden:
The existence of Solar Warden remains a subject of debate and controversy, with only Gary McKinnon’s testimony and the unverifiable accounts of alleged whistleblowers as evidence. The logistics of such a program would require immense international cooperation and secrecy. Yet, the allure of a hidden space program designed to protect humanity from extraterrestrial threats continues to captivate the imagination.
VIDEO:
America’s Secret Space Program and the Alien Connection: Solar Warde
Solar Warden is a captivating and enigmatic tale that highlights the ongoing curiosity and fascination with the possibility of secret space programs and extraterrestrial life. While the truth about Solar Warden may never be definitively proven, the mystery surrounding it will undoubtedly continue to intrigue and inspire those who believe in the existence of UFOs and hidden government projects.
Scientists have discovered “unexpected physics” by opening up “slits” in time, a new study reports, achieving a longstanding dream that can help to probe the behavior of light and pioneer advanced optical technologies.
The mind-boggling approach is a time-based variation on the famous double-slit experiment, first performed by Thomas Young in 1801, which opened a window into the weird probabilistic world of quantum mechanics by revealing the dual nature of light as both a particle and a wave.
The new temporal version of this test offered a glimpse of the mysterious physics that occur at ultrafast timescales, which may inform the development of quantum computing systems, among other next-generation applications.
In the original version of the double-slit experiment, light passes through two slits that are spatially separated on an opaque screen. A detector on the other side of the screen records the pattern of the light waves that emerges from the slits. These experiments show that the light waves change direction and interfere with each other after going through the slits, demonstrating that light behaves as both a wave and particle.
This insight is one of the most important milestones in our ongoing journey into the quantum world, and it has since been repeated with other entities, such as electrons, exposing the trippy phenomena that occurs at the small scales of atoms.
Now, scientists led by Romain Tirole, a PhD student studying nanophotonics at Imperial College London, have created a “temporal analogue of Young’s slit experiment” by firing a beam of light at a special metamaterial called Indium Tin Oxide, according to a study published on Monday in Nature Physics.
Metamaterials are artificial creations endowed with superpowers that are not found in nature. For instance, the Indium Tin Oxide used in the new study can change its properties in mere femtoseconds, a unit equal to a millionth of a billionth of a second. This incredible variability allows light waves to interact with the metamaterial at key moments in ultrafast succession, called “time slits,” which produces a time-based diffraction pattern that is analogous to the results returned in the spatial version of the experiment.
“Showing diffraction from a double slit in time requires to flick a switch extremely fast, on time scales comparable to how fast the light field oscillates, about a few femtoseconds,” said Tirole in an email to Motherboard. “If the entire history of the universe from the Big Bang to the moment you read this was a second, an oscillation of light would only take the equivalent of a single day!”
“Switching at this speed has long been difficult, but a few years ago a new material, Indium Tin Oxide, which already covers the screens of our mobile phones or televisions, was shown to switch very fast when you shine an intense laser beam on it,” he continued. “This has enabled a rapid progress of the field—see for example a conference we are organizing.”
IMAGE: THOMAS ANGUS, IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON
In other words, the super-speedy changeability of Indium Tin Oxide finally made a time slit experiment possible, after many years of eluding scientists. To bring this vision to reality, Tirole and his colleagues used lasers to switch the reflectance of the material on and off at high speeds.
When the material was turned on, it essentially became a mirror that allowed the team to record the diffraction patterns of light beams that interacted with the highly reflective surface. The brief moments when light was reflected off the metamaterial’s mirror state were the so-called time slits that form the basis of the experiment. The separation between these slits determined the pattern of oscillations that were observed by the researchers.
To the team’s astonishment, the results of the experiment revealed more oscillations than predicted by existing theories, as well as far sharper observations, which points to “unexpected physics” in the findings, according to the study.
“When we measured the spectra, we were very surprised by how clear they showed up on the detectors,” Tirole said. “How visible these oscillations are depends on how fast we can switch our metasurface on and off [and] this means that the speed at which our metamaterial changes is much faster than what was previously thought and accepted. This is exciting as it implies that new physical mechanisms are still to be uncovered and exploited.”
“In our experiment we show that this wonder material has an even faster switching speed, 10-100 times faster than previously thought, which enables a much stronger control of light,” he also noted.
This temporal version of the double-slit experiment altered the frequency of the light, changing its color, which created distinctive patterns in which some colors were enhanced while others were canceled out. The results are similar to the patterns created by the traditional spatial version of the test, which produces light waves that bolster and nullify each other after they have passed through the slits.
The breakthrough paves the way toward new research into the enigmatic properties of light, and the many emerging technologies that rely on optical phenomena. Tirole and his colleagues are especially eager to try to repeat the experiment with a time crystal, a very strange quantum system that has revolutionized many fields in physics.
“A double slit experiment is the first brick on the road to more complex temporal modulations, such as the much sought time-crystal where the optical properties are temporally modulated in a periodic fashion,” Tirole concluded. “This could have very important applications for light amplification, light control, for example for computation, and maybe even quantum computation with light.”
Het is opwindend, omdat het leven op aarde mede mogelijk gemaakt wordt door het aardmagnetisch veld en dus ook aliens er hoogstwaarschijnlijk in sterke mate van afhankelijk zijn.
Onze planeet heeft een magnetisch veld dat ervoor zorgt dat alle kompassen naar het noorden wijzen en tal van dieren (zoals vogels en vissen) hun weg over de wereld weten te vinden. Maar wat we ons misschien te weinig realiseren, is dat het leven er zonder dat aardmagnetische veld misschien wel helemaal niet was geweest. Het aardmagnetisch veld doet namelijk ook dienst als een soort schild en beschermt onze atmosfeer – nog een vereiste voor het ontstaan en instandhouden van leven – tegen hoogenergetische deeltjes en plasma afkomstig van onze moederster. “Of een planeet zijn atmosfeer weet te behouden of niet kan afhankelijk zijn van de vraag of deze een krachtig magnetisch veld heeft of niet,” aldus onderzoeker Sebastian Pineda.
Aardachtige planeet met magnetisch veld? Geen wonder dat astronomen zich al enige tijd afvragen of onder de talloze aardachtige planeten die in de afgelopen jaren buiten ons zonnestelsel zijn aangetroffen ook exemplaren te vinden zijn die over een magnetisch veld beschikken. “De zoektocht naar potentieel leefbare of leven herbergende werelden in andere zonnestelsels hangt deels af van het feit of we in staat zijn om te bepalen of rotsachtige, aardachtige exoplaneten een magnetisch veld hebben,” legt onderzoeker Joe Pesce uit.
YZ Ceti b En nu denken onderzoekers dus een planeet buiten ons zonnestelsel te hebben gevonden die over een magnetisch veld beschikt. Het gaat om YZ Ceti b, een rotsachtige planeet die op slechts 12 lichtjaar afstand van de aarde te vinden is en rond een rode dwergster (genaamd YZ Ceti) cirkelt.
Radiogolven Het idee dat deze nabije aardachtige planeet weleens een magnetisch veld kan bezitten, ontstond nadat astronomen een opmerkelijk radiosignaal uit de omgeving van de planeet opvingen. “En toen we het nog eens opvingen, wees dat er heel sterk op dat we hier iets op het spoor waren,” aldus Pineda. Het vermoeden bestaat dat de radiosignalen ontstaan door de interactie tussen het magnetisch veld van YZ Ceti b en de ster waar deze omheen cirkelt. “Als de planeet een magnetisch veld heeft en door genoeg materiaal afkomstig van de ster heen beweegt, zorgt dat ervoor dat de ster heldere radiogolven afgeeft,” aldus onderzoeker Jackie Villadsen.
Heel concreet moet je je voorstellen dat de moederster – YZ Ceti – plasma afgeeft. De planeet YZ Ceti b reist – terwijl deze zijn baantjes rond de moederster trekt – door die plasma heen. Daarop wordt het materiaal afkomstig van de ster door het magnetisch veld van de planeet afgebogen. En die interactie tussen het plasma en het magnetisch veld van de planeet verstoort op zijn beurt weer het magnetisch veld van de ster en daarbij worden radiogolven gegenereerd.
Aurora Ook het aardmagnetisch veld van de aarde buigt met enige regelmaat materiaal afkomstig van de zon af. En de interactie tussen dat materiaal van de zon, het aardmagnetisch veld van de aard en de atmosfeer kan soms ook een fraai noorderlicht teweegbrengen. Ook in het systeem waar YZ Ceti b resideert, ontstaan waarschijnlijk aurora’s, zo stellen de onderzoekers. Er is echter één belangrijk verschil; die aurora’s ontstaan niet op de planeet, maar op de moederster. “We zien in feite een aurora op de ster – dat is wat deze radio-emissie is,” legt Pineda uit. “Er zouden ook aurora’s op de planeet kunnen ontstaan als deze zijn eigen atmosfeer heeft.”
Leven? Hier op aarde speelt het aardmagnetisch veld een belangrijke rol: het beschermt onze atmosfeer en maakt daarmee het leven op aarde mede mogelijk. Hoewel er nu sterke aanwijzingen zijn dat YZ Ceti b ook een magnetisch veld bezit, wil dat zeker niet zeggen dat deze planeet ook leefbaar is. Sterker nog: waarschijnlijk is op de planeet geen leven mogelijk. Dat heeft alles te maken met het feit dat de planeet heel dicht bij de moederster staat; YZ Ceti b heeft slechts 2 dagen nodig om een rondje om de moederster te voltooien. Even ter vergelijking: de binnenste planeet in ons zonnestelsel – Mercurius – doet er 88 dagen over om een baantje om de zon te trekken. Grappig genoeg is die geringe afstand tussen YZ Ceti en YZ Ceti b tegelijkertijd de reden dat het onderzoekers gelukt is om een potentieel magnetisch veld rond de planeet te detecteren; door die geringe afstand beweegt de planeet door veel meer materiaal afkomstig van de moederster heen. En het is de interactie tussen dat materiaal en het magnetisch veld van de planeet dat de aanwezigheid van dat magnetisch veld verraadt.
Voor nu gaat YZ Ceti b volgens onderzoekers de boeken in als het meest overtuigende voorbeeld van een aardachtige planeet die mogelijk een magnetisch veld bezit. Er is echter veel meer onderzoek nodig om met zekerheid te kunnen stellen dat de planeet over een magnetisch veld beschikt. Maar wanneer toekomstig onderzoek de bevindingen van de wetenschappers bevestigt, hebben ze niet alleen een rotsachtige planeet met een magnetisch veld ontdekt, maar klaarblijkelijk ook een veelbelovende manier gevonden om zo’n magnetisch veld te detecteren. En dat kan er dan weer toe leiden dat er in de nabije toekomst veel meer aardachtige planeten met magnetische velden worden gevonden. “Zodra we aantonen dat dit echt gaande is (en de radiogolven dus het resultaat zijn van een magnetisch veld rond YZ Ceti b, red.) kunnen we er ook systematischer (in andere stelsels, red.) naar gaan zoeken,” aldus Pineda. “Dit is nog maar het begin.”
NASA's James WebbSpace Telescope (JWST) has shared its first look at Uranus, revealing invisible glowing rings around the ice giant and its 27 moons.
The $10 billion telescope captured 11 of the 13 planet's rings in the new image, which are so bright they seem to blend into one illuminated loop.
Astronomers are also astounded by JWST's power, as it snapped the two faintest dusty rings not discovered until the 1986 flyby by Voyager 2.
The main rings are made of ice boulders several feet across, while the others are mainly of icy chunks darkened by rocks.
The rings are thin, narrow, and dark compared to those of other planets, such as Saturn.
Webb also captured many of Uranus’s 27 known moons, most of which are too small and faint to be seen here, but the six brightest are identified in the wide-view image that was only a 12-minute exposure.
NASA's NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) shared its first look at Uranus, revealing 11 of the planet's 13 rings, its unique solar cap and bright clouds
Uranus is a stunning shade of blue caused by a thick layer of haze in its atmosphere.
University of Oxford-led researchers termed this the Aerosol-2 layer, which they said would look whitish at visible wavelengths.
It lightens the appearance of the seventh planet from the sun, similar to how tracing paper over a picture makes vibrant colors seem milkier.
JWST's image was made possible through its
Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), which captures light from the edge of the visible through the near-infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum, has brought distant galaxies into sharp focus in the new image.
Tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters – groups of hundreds to millions of stars that share a common origin, all gravitationally bound for as long as several billions of years.
'When Voyager 2 looked at Uranus, its camera showed an almost featureless blue-green ball in visible wavelengths,' the European Space Agency (ESA) shared in a statement.
'With the infrared wavelengths and extra sensitivity of Webb we see more detail, showing how dynamic the atmosphere of Uranus really is.'
Uranus is a stunning shade of blue caused by a thick layer of haze in its atmosphere. The image was only a 12-minute exposure
The pristine image also highlights Uranus's unique polar cap, which appears when the pole enters direct sunning in the summer and then vanishes in the fall.
JWST captured it as a birth region in the northern region, which scientists said can help them better understand the mysterious mechanism.
'Webb revealed a surprising aspect of the polar cap: a subtle enhanced brightening at the center of the cap,' ESA said.
'The sensitivity and longer wavelengths of Webb’s may be why we can see this enhanced Uranus polar feature when it has not been seen with other powerful telescopes like the NASA/ESA and NASA’s Keck Observatory.'
There is also a bright cloud at the edge of the polar cap and a second one in the southern region, which are typical for Uranus in infrared wavelengths, and likely are connected to storm activity.
Webb also captured many of Uranus’s 27 known moons, most of which are too small and faint to be seen here, but the six brightest are identified in the wide-view image
'It is just the tip of the iceberg of what Webb can do when observing this mysterious planet,' ESA said.
'Additional studies of Uranus are happening now, and more are planned in Webb’s first year of science operations.'
NASA scientists recently announced a bid to push space agencies to launch a probe to Uranus and Neptune in the 2030s.
Very little is known about the makeup of the two blue planets as the only spacecraft to visit them was Voyager 2, making a fly-by in the 1980s.
Launching the probes in the 2030s makes sense because they will receive a boost from Jupiter as it is 'perfectly aligned' with Neptune and Uranus.
The rare celestial alignment would allow the spacecraft to slingshot around Jupiter to build up speed and reduce the time it takes to reach the outer worlds.
HOW DOES URANUS'S MAGNETIC FIELD COMPARE TO EARTH'S?
A recent study analyzing data collected more than 30 years ago by the Voyager 2 spacecraft has found that the Uranus's global magnetosphere is nothing like Earth’s, which is known to be aligned nearly with our planet’s spin axis.
A false-color view of Uranus captured by Hubble is pictured
According to the researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology, this alignment would give rise to behaviour that is vastly different from what’s seen around Earth.
Uranus lies and rotates on its side, leaving its magnetic field tilted 60 degrees from its axis.
As a result, the magnetic field ‘tumbles’ asymmetrically relative to the solar wind.
As a result, the magnetic field ‘tumbles’ asymmetrically relative to the solar wind.
When the magnetosphere is open, it allows solar wind to flow in.
But, when it closes off, it creates a shield against these particles.
The researchers suspect solar wind reconnection takes place upstream of Uranus’s magnetosphere at different latitudes, causing magnetic flux to close in various parts.
This wider view of the Uranian system with Webb’s NIRCam instrument features the planet Uranus as well as six of its 27 known moons (most of which are too small and faint to be seen in this short exposure). A handful of background objects, including many galaxies, are also seen. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI. Image processing: J. DePasquale (STScI)
Mysterious Map Emerges at the Dawn of the Egyptian Civilization and Depicts Antarctica Without Ice – Who Made it?
Mysterious Map Emerges at the Dawn of the Egyptian Civilization and Depicts Antarctica Without Ice – Who Made it?
On a chilly winter day in 1929, Halil Edhem, the Director of Turkey's National Museum, was hunched over his solitary task of classifying documents. He pulled towards him a map drawn on Roe deer skin. As Halil opened the chart to its full dimensions (two feet by three feet wide or 60 X 90 cm) he was surprised by how much of the New World was depicted on a map which dated from 1513.
The document was the legacy of a pirate turned Turkish Admiral, Piri Reis ( circa 1470-1554). He was born in Gallipoli, a naval base on the Marmara Sea and was the nephew of Kemal Reis, a pirate who had reinvented himself as a Turkish Admiral adventurer who had made his name in naval warfare. At the time, the distinction between pirate and Admiral was more flexible than might be expected from looking back through a Hollywood lens.
Map of the world by Ottoman admiral Piri Reis, drawn in 1513.
Piri Reis sailed with his famous uncle from 1487 to 1493. During these voyages, he was introduced to the lucrative spoils of piracy. The fleet fought pirates and captured and plundered enemy ships. In 1495, Kemal Reis’ great skill in the art of battle earned him an invitation to join the Imperial Turkish Fleet. His nephew accompanied him to his new assignment. The pirates were transformed into respectable Admirals.
After Kemal was killed during a naval battle in 1502 Piri Reis turned his back on the seafaring life and began a second career as a map maker. A perfectionist - Piri Reis would not tolerate the slightest error in his drawings - he created his famous map in 1513 using older source maps; including charts captured from Christopher Columbus. The Turks had boarded one of Columbus’s ships before the crew had a chance to throw the charts into the sea; standard practice in a time when the contours of the planet remained veiled in mystery and maps held secrets that were invaluable to pirates, admirals, kings and queens.
‘Christopher Columbus on Santa Maria in 1492’ (1855) by Emanuel Leutze.
The general public first learned of the existence of the Piri Reis map in the 27 February 1932 issue of the Illustrated London News . Entitled, “A Columbus Controversy: America – And Two Atlantic Charts”, the article noted that: “... Columbus got little further than the mouth of the Orinoco, in Venezuela, in his voyage along the coast of South America in 1498, so that the stretches of the South American coast given in the Piri Reis's chart must have been copied from other sources.”
In the July 23rd edition of the magazine Akcura Yusuf, President of the Turkish Historical Research Society, wrote a more detailed account. The author pointed out a significant fact: “...the map in our possession is a fragment. If the Other fragments had not been lost, we should have had in our possession a Turkish chart drawn in 1513 representing the Old and New Worlds together.”
U.S. Navy's Hydrographic Office.
An amateur scientist by the name of Captain Arlington Mallery made it his mission to determine the age of the source maps used by Piri Reis. So radical were Mallery's conclusions that he hesitated to reveal them. In August 1956, he finally decided to reveal his findings on a radio show sponsored by Georgetown University. He explained that in June 1954 he was working in the map room of the Library of Congress when his friend "... the Chief Engineer of the Hydrographic Office handed me a copy of a map which had been sent to him by a Turkish naval officer. He suggested that I examine it in the light of the information we already had on the ancient maps. After making an analysis of it, I took it back to him and requested that the Officer check both the latitude and longitude and the projection. When they asked why, I said, 'There is something in this map that no one is going to believe coming from me, and I don't know whether they will believe it coming from you.' That was the fact that Columbus had with him a map that showed accurately the Palmer Peninsula in the Antarctic continent.”
1753 world map by the French cartographer Philippe Buache.
Mr. Warren, the host of the radio show, interviewed Mallery and M.I. Walters of the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office:
“HOST: You say that these maps have been checked by the Hydrographic Office of the U.S. Navy? WALTERS: Yes. HOST: As far as you are concerned, are they accurate? WALTERS: Yes, they are. HOST: How old are the maps? WALTERS: These maps go back 5,000 years and even earlier. But they contain data that go back many thousands of years previous to that.”
Walters remarked on the comparisons between the Piri Reis Map and the newly (1954) discovered sub-glacial features of the Queen Maud region of Antarctica:
“We have taken the old charts and the new charts that the Hydrographic Office produces today and made comparisons of the soundings of salient peaks and mountains. We have found them to be in astounding agreement. In this way, we have checked the old work very closely. We put very much confidence in what Captain Mallery has disclosed.
Charnockitic rock needle, northern Holtedahlfjella (Kurze Mountains), Queen Maud Land, aerial photograph in SSE direction. (Wilfried Bauer/ CC BY SA 3.0 )
HOST: Mr. Mallery, this must then lead to the conclusion that there were competent explorers and map makers along the coast of the Atlantic long before Columbus.
MALLERY: Several thousand years before. Not only explorers, but they must also have had a very competent and far-flung hydrographic organization, because you cannot map as large a continent as Antarctica as we know they did - probably 5,000 years ago. It can't be done by any single individual or small group of explorers. It means an aggregation of skilled scientists who are familiar with astronomy as well as the methods required for topographic surveying.”
Hapgood and the US Air Force Cartographic Office
One of Charles Hapgood’s students told him about the radio broadcast. The Professor was immediately fascinated and decided to: “…investigate the map as thoroughly as I could… 4
Since Mallery had used the US Navy for his investigations Hapgood decided to get a second opinion from the Cartographic staff of the Strategic Air Command (SAC). The U.S. Air Force investigation came to the same conclusions as the US Navy. They determined that the southern part of the map did in fact depict portions of sub-glacial Antarctica.
Subglacial lakes identified beneath the Antarctic continent.
Conventional wisdom dictated that the island continent hadn’t been discovered until 1818.
USAF Lt. Colonel Harold Z. Ohlmeyer wrote to Hapgood on the 6th of July 1960.
“Dear Professor Hapgood, Your request for evaluating certain unusual features of the Piri Reis World Map of 1513 by this organization has been reviewed. The claim that the lower part of the map portrays the Princess Martha coast of Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, and the Palmer Peninsula is reasonable. We find this the most logical and in all probability the correct interpretation of the map. The geographic detail shown in the lower part of the map agrees very remarkably with the results of the seismic profile made across the top of the ice cap by the Swedish-British-Norwegian Expedition of 1949. This indicates the coast line had been mapped before it was covered by the ice cap. The ice cap in this region is now about a mile thick. We have no idea how the data on this map can be reconciled with the supposed state of geographic knowledge in 1513. (signed) HAROLD Z. OHLMEYER Lt. Colonel, USAF Commander”
Painting of James Weddell's second expedition to Antarctica in 1823, depicting the brig Jane and the cutter Beaufroy.
Our adventure with the study of ancient maps began in the summer of 1977 when Charles Hapgood replied to an article we wrote outlining our belief that Antarctica was once the site of Atlantis. We’d concluded that Hapgood's theory of earth crust displacement was the missing link that could unravel the mystery of the lost island continent. Charles replied:
“August 3 rd, 1977
Dear Rose and Rand,
I am astonished and delighted by your article which arrived here today. Believe it or not, it is the first truly scientific exploration of my work that has ever been done. You have found evidence for crust displacement that I did not find.
However, it would seem that you are not aware of a book I published in 1966 entitled Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings. Since you are considering presenting your article to the Royal Geographical Society (of which I was a member until I stopped paying my dues), you should examine this book, and I am mailing a copy of it to you.
Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings: Evidence of Advanced Civilization in the Ice Age.
What I found, after long research, was that many maps considered of medieval or Renaissance origin are in fact copies of copies of maps drawn in very remote antiquity, and among them is one showing a deglacial Antarctica. I was able to solve the projections of these maps with the help of a mathematician, and have them confirmed by the Cartographic staff of the Strategic Air Command at Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts. …
A week later a copy of Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings arrived. Far from dampening our enthusiasm for the idea that Atlantis may have once been Antarctica, the book had the opposite effect. We concluded that the ancient maps of sub-glacial Antarctica provided stunning evidence in support of our theory.
After the publication of the first edition of When the Sky Fell in January 1995, we returned to the Piri Reis map to determine if there were grounds to support Mallery and Hapgood’s claim that the source maps used in the construction of the Piri Reis map were hundreds of years older than the 1513 date of its construction.
Sources for the Piri Reis Map: How old?
One of the oddities about the Piri Reis map was that it had been drawn using an extremely sophisticated projection. An “equidistant projection” depicts the features of the earth from a single point on its surface. This projection can be calculated from any spot on the globe. Perhaps the most familiar equidistant projection is the blue and white flag of the United Nations, centered on the North Pole.
The United Nations Flag is an equidistant projection as seen from the North Pole.
The equidistant projection was one that was very familiar to the cartographic staff of the Strategic Air Command at Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts. It was used to target Soviet military and economic assets. For example, a map drawn using Moscow as its center allowed the military to calculate the quickest delivery time for a missile to travel from any NATO base to the Soviet capital. The closest NATO missile base to Moscow was in Turkey. In November 1962 when Soviet missiles were introduced to Cuba, an equidistant projection map centered on Castro’s island revealed in stark detail how much United States territory could be targeted. The “Cuban Missile Crisis” was only resolved when JFK (secretly) proposed a delayed withdraw of NATO missiles from Turkey in exchange for Khrushchev’s removal of the USSR missiles in Cuba.
Charles Hapgood explained to Arch C. Gerlach (Chief of the Map Division at the Library of Congress) that the Piri Reis map: “…required more astronomy than was known in the Renaissance. The mathematics require that whoever constructed it had to know the linear distance from Syene to the North Pole to within a degree of accuracy. Piri Reis did not know that, neither did Columbus…”
Syene or the Tropic of Cancer?
Hapgood and his students (notably Frank Ryan) spent months trying to determine the exact center of the Piri Reis Map. At first, Hapgood was convinced that it was the city of Syene where Eratosthenes, the librarian and father of geography, had made his famous calculations about the size of the earth. Hapgood submitted this suggestion to the cartographic crew at Westover Air Force Base. Captain Burroughs concurred. He wrote: “...Piri Reis' use of the portolano projection (centered on Syene, Egypt) was an excellent choice...”
We see below how the complete map must have looked based on the same projection used by Piri Reis in 1513. The chart Christopher Columbus carried on his voyage would have resembled this projection.
The 1513 Piri Reis projection is just a fragment of the secret map that Columbus may have possessed. If the lost map of is ever found it should depict the entire globe using an equidistance projection centered on the ancient Egyptian city of Syene.
(Author provided)
Despite the fact that professionals had verified Syene as the center of the map, Hapgood remained skeptical. He thought that the ancients would have been more likely to use the Tropic of Cancer which divides the tropical from the temperate climatic zones. Hapgood was certain that such an important global marker would have been highly significant to the ancient navigators.
Today, the Tropic of Cancer lies near Syene but not precisely over it. The difference in distance is small but Hapgood and his students wanted to be exact in their calculations. There was considerable debate whether or not to use the measurement from the ancient city or from the climatic marker. Hapgood mistakenly assumed that it had to be an either/or choice between Syene and the ‘Tropic of Cancer. It was a false choice because there was a time when the Tropic of Cancer lay directly over Syene. The clue to that synchronicity of time and place lies within the very projection of the Piri Reis Map. But first a critical question must be answered. When did the Tropic of Cancer and Syene last share the same latitude?
Astronomers have concluded that it takes a century for the Tropic of Cancer to drift 40 seconds of latitude. This gives us a formula for our calculations and enables us to bulls-eye the date when the original mapmakers were at work. Syene is 38 minutes and 30 seconds from today's Tropic of Cancer. This is 2280 (38 x 60 to convert minutes to seconds) plus the 30 seconds give us a total of 2310 seconds difference. We then divide these seconds by 40 to find that the Syene was last on the Tropic of Cancer some 57.75 centuries ago. By calculating the difference in distance from the latitude of today's Tropic of Cancer (23:27N) to that of Syene (24:05:30N) we discover the answer – about 5775 years ago –that is, circa 3760 BC. It’s noteworthy that the Jewish calendar begins on this date.
The projection of the Piri Reis points like an arrow at a pivotal turning point in human history. Archaeology teaches that Egyptian civilization dawned circa 3800 BC. Can it really be mere coincidence that the Piri Reis Map looks to date from the dawn of Egyptian civilization? Far more likely that the sophisticated source maps used by Piri Reis are remnants passed on by the survivors of a lost Ice Age civilization – a seafaring civilization that had mapped the world (including parts of Antarctica’s coastline when it was ice-free) long before the first Egyptian pyramids were built.
Rand Flem-Ath is a Canadian writer, librarian and independent scholar. He has co-authored several books with his wife, writer, Rose Flem-Ath. She is a novelist and two-time winner of the Canada Council grant for Fiction. They live in British Columbia, Canada. In 1995, Rand and Rose published the book ‘ When the Sky Fell: In Search of Atlantis ’, and in 2012 they co-authored ‘ Atlantis Beneath the Ice ’, which updated and expanded the seventeen years of research found in When the Sky Fell. http://www.flem-ath.com/
From Babylon to Christianity: Feeding into the Eucharist
From Babylon to Christianity: Feeding into the Eucharist
There can be no doubt that the Christian sacrament of the Eucharist was derived from Jewish, Babylonian, Assyrian and Egyptian traditions of sun veneration and sun baking methods.
The custom seems to have been widespread in the middle east, an example being the Babylonian practice of offering to their gods a number of different kinds of cakes/bread ( akalu). The Hebrew term for showbread, Lehem ha Panim , is exactly translated by the Assyrian phrase akal pânu , which refers to the Babylonian cake/bread offerings. The Israelites were of course prisoners in Babylon for many decades.
The immediate and obvious parent of the Christian Eucharist was the Israelite ritual of baking “showbread” in their temple.
Table of Showbread, in a full-size replica of the Israelite Tabernacle (Mishkan) in Timna valley, Israel.
On each sabbath day, twelve newly kneaded loaves made from ground sprouted grains were placed on a special table, decorated with gold in honor of the sun god, against the northern wall of the unroofed sanctuary where they would receive maximum heat from the sun’s rays. Gold cups and utensils were also used. The loaves were known as “Presence Bread” ( Leḥem ha Pānīm ) because they were required to be constantly in the presence of the solar deity. (Exodus 25:30).
Unsurprisingly the bread was described as always warm and sweet – warm because of the sun’s heat and sweet because dough made from sprouted grains develops nutritious enzymes and sugars in the malting process.
The loaves were stacked in two piles but separated from each other by a nest of 48 hollow golden tubes, which allowed warm air to circulate between them.
After a week of being thus slowly cooked the loaves were eaten by the priests on the next sabbath and replaced by new loaves.
The Jewish and Christian Incarnations of Showbread
The Torah gave detailed instructions:
“Take the finest grade of wheat flour and bake it into 12 loaves. Each loaf will be made from two-tenths of an eifah (2.7 liters; 1 gallon). Arrange these loaves in two stacks, six loaves to a stack, on the pure table, before God. Put pure frankincense beside these stacks. This will be the memorial portion, a fire-offering to God. Every Sabbath these loaves should be placed before God—it is an eternal covenant that this must come from the children of Israel. The bread will be given to Aaron and his descendants to eat in a holy place, since it is a most holy fire-offering to God. This is an eternal law.”
The Essene Gospel of John also describes a similar process:
“Let the angels of God prepare your bread. Moisten your wheat, that the angels of water may enter it. Then set it in the air, that the angel of air may embrace it. And leave it from morning to evening beneath the sun, that the angel of sunshine may descend upon it. And the blessings of the three angels will soon make the germ of life to sprout in your wheat. Then crush your grain, and make thin wafers, as did your forefathers when they departed out of Egypt, the house of bondage. Put them back again beneath the sun from its appearing, and when it is risen to its highest in the heavens, turn them over on the other side that they may be embraced there also by the angel of sunshine, and leave them there until the sun sets. For the angels of water, and air and of sunshine fed and ripened the wheat in the field, and they likewise must prepare also your bread. And the same sun which, with the fire of life, made the wheat to grow and ripen, must cook your bread with the same fire. For the fire of the sun gives life to the wheat, to the bread, and to the body. But the fire of death kills the wheat, the bread, and the body. And the living angels of the living God serve only living men. For God is the God of the living, and not the God of the dead.”
Like most ancient nations in the Middle East, the Jews worshipped the Sun as a god. The Bible is full of references to the Sun, such as “ Let his Light shine upon you”.
In the Hebrew text of Exodus 33:20, Moses was warned of the risk to eyesight of staring at the Sun when he was told: " You will not be able to see my face, for no human can see Me and live”.
Instructions in the old testament state that the Israelites’ mobile sanctuary was to be aligned east-west such that the sun’s light could enter, and Christian churches have continued to respect this orientation in the design of their churches. Traditionally there was a large circular window at the east end through which light from the rising sun could pour down upon the priest as he elevated the unleavened wafer which was miraculously re-animated to become “ the body of Christ .”
Jesus was perhaps acknowledging the solar deity when he prayed to “ Our Father which art in heaven ”.
St Matthew’s gospel suggests that he inaugurated the Christian eucharist at the springtime Jewish Passover festival. It is reported that:
“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’
Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom. ”
A Tradition of the Egyptians?
The miracle whereby grain sprouts and comes back to life again has been celebrated almost universally and for thousands of years. Grain (still viable) has been found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs and the threshing flail combined with a shepherd’s crook comprised their royal insignia which were originally associated with Osiris who was a god of fertility and resurrection. Egyptian religion undoubtedly influenced Jewish traditions. It has even been plausibly suggested that Moses was actually the pharaoh Akhenaten who demoted all the Egyptian gods other than Ra – the Sun God.
The crook and flail on the coffinette of Tutankhamun.
The Green Man , who frequently adorned medieval churches, is also a widespread image in ancient folklore. Like Osiris, he was said to have been cut into pieces and resurrected in the springtime.
One ancient mystery cult involved a priest plastered with grains who would emerge from a cave when the seeds began to sprout, to the joy of his congregation.
In Greece the springtime resurrection of the goddess Persephone, daughter of Ceres, also celebrated the annual rebirth of nature in general and the sprouting of cereals in particular.
A Symbolic Eating of Flesh
In the Eucharist, Jesus equated his flesh with bread, and his blood with wine. Roman Catholics are required to believe that their communion wafers are actually converted into the flesh of Jesus which they are invited to consume.
Other denominations take a more symbolic interpretation of the words of Jesus. There would have been twelve loaves for the twelve disciples at the “last supper”. The number twelve also reflects the twelve signs of the zodiac which calibrated time for ancient peoples.
The reported words of Jesus make it clear that he was preparing for death as an act of atonement for the sins of his people. The Jewish god was a capricious god who could be jealous and angry if his commandments as communicated via Moses were disobeyed. He spoke in thunder and could inflict storms, lightning, floods, pestilence and death if he was displeased. But it was believed that his anger could be appeased by means of sacrifice, usually of animals, but occasionally of humans. In a biological sense all living creatures survive and thrive by consuming other living creatures. So this was reflected in God being thought of as a hungry god who needed to eat too.
Symbolism With Very Real Roots
Jesus was apparently anticipating his own imminent crucifixion and death at his last supper. Seasonal human sacrifice of community leaders – sometimes voluntary - was not unknown in ancient societies. The patriarch Abraham is said to have been preparing to sacrifice his own son until God told him to kill a ram instead.
The Indian Khonds continued to sacrifice their human meriahs (victims) until the nineteenth century in order to appease the earth goddess and induce a successful growing season.
In prehistoric Malta stone altars decorated with cereals were used to sprout grains that were moistened and exposed to the sun. Carved stone models of the cereal goddess were used by the priests to encourage the sprouting of grains .
(Author provided)
Some early Gnostic Christian groups may have practiced ritual cannibalism in blind obedience to an interpretation of the words of Jesus. The Carpocratians were a sect which were alleged to consume unwanted babies in underground catacombs. Circular stone altars known as agape tables carved perhaps for this very purpose may be seen underground in Maltese catacombs. They feature a rim to contain the blood of the sacrifice with a lip out of which the blood could have poured into a drinking vessel.
Images of cereal goddess and stone altar from Malta.
(Author provided)
In prehistoric Malta stone altars decorated with cereals were used to sprout grains that were moistened and exposed to the Sun. Carved stone models of the cereal goddess were used by the priests to encourage the sprouting of grains.
Top image: Hands of priest raise sacramental bread or the Eucharist under light.
Scientists have devised an exercise in which a hypothetical asteroid 2023 PDC strikes Earth, calculating the kind of devastation that could ensue from such an impact.
Engineers could stop an incoming asteroid if they knew about it well in advance.
(Image credit: Tobias Roetsch/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Scientists have explained what would happen if an asteroid was on a collision course with Earth to emphasize the need for planetary defense. The hypothetical asteroid scenario illustrates how an asteroid threat might evolve over several years and the potential devastation such a strike could cause.
The team led by the manager of NASA's Near Earth Object (NEO) Program Office Paul Chodas presented the exercise at the 8th Planetary Defence Conference(opens in new tab) in Vienna, Austria on Monday, April 4.
The hypothetical situation laid out by Chodas begins on January 10, 2023, with the discovery of a new asteroid that receives the name 2023 PDC. The object is initially designated a "potentially hazardous asteroid" (PHA), which NASA defines as any asteroid that intersects Earth's orbit at a distance from the planet of around 4.6 million miles (7.4 million kilometers) or less and that has a magnitude of 22.0 when discovered, which is only a little brighter than the faintest stars visible to the Hubble Space Telescope.
The impact probability of 2023 PDC is initially just 1-in-10,000, but Chodas explained that this steadily increases, as asteroid tracking facilities on Earth continue following the rock, better constraining its orbit around the sun. The scenario becomes serious on April 3, 2023, at a point designated "Epoch 1" by Chodas.
"Today is Epoch 1, the impact probability has now reached 1%," Chodas said. "The potential impact is 13 years from now, so it's not imminent, but we already can predict the date at which the impact is possible."
The potential impact date is calculated as October 22, 2036, and despite this decade-plus preparation time, the NEO program manager explains that important decisions have to be made now. But, there are still several uncertain aspects, some of which are characteristics of the 2023 PDC asteroid itself, that will be key to how humanity deals with the threat.
Assessing the size of the asteroid 2023 PDC problem
One of the first things astronomers will do with their 13-year lead time is to calculate the size of the asteroid better.NASA says(opens in new tab) that this is done by measuring the amount of light reflected by the asteroid back into space, a quality called the albedo. The more light reflected, then, in principle, the larger the asteroid is.
The difficulty with this measurement(opens in new tab) comes from the fact that the albedo is also determined by the reflectivity of the asteroid's surface. That means a small light-colored asteroid could have a greater albedo than a large darker one. As a result, there can be a large uncertainty in the size of asteroids.
The size of 2023 PDC is calculated as being between 720 and 2,200 feet (220 to 660 meters), but it could be as wwide as 1.3 miles (2 km) if the surface of the asteroid is dark.
The size of the asteroid is important because not only will it determine how much damage it does, but it will also determine what measures need to be taken to divert it, or whether this would be possible at all.
"When you have a huge object, even as large as 2 kilometers [1.2 miles], and there's a very, very small chance of that, then nuclear is really a primary method on the table," Chodas said. That means that for a large asteroid heading to Earth a kinetic impactor like that demonstrated by NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) recently wouldn't be a diversion option,
Chodas explains that 2023 PDC is too close to the sun to use infrared astronomy to help determine its size, as this light would be "washed out" by bright light from the sun. As a result, space-based telescopes that rely mainly on infrared observations like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Hubble Space Telescope won't be much help observing this rock. Likewise, the asteroid will be too far away during the early stages of its approach to be measured with radar.
According to Chodas that means we will be initially limited to optical observations to determine the asteroid's size. This limits the amount of data that astronomers can collect regarding 2023 PDC, data that could better constrain the asteroid's size and orbit.
One option decision makers will have during the 13-year lead time would be to dispatch a reconnaissance spacecraft to 2023 PDC.
Not only would this help us better ascertain the size and mass of the asteroid, but such a mission would help better constrain another crucial aspect of the asteroid that is vital to mitigating its impact on Earth: its orbit.
At the time of its discovery in this hypothetical scenario, 2023 PDC is around 124 million miles (200 million km) from Earth, too far to properly assess its orbit.
"It's distant and faint, but it has a very similar orbital period to Earth, in fact, is slightly shorter, which means the asteroid will slowly catch up to Earth and in 13 years, there's a possibility that both will meet in a little red box [representing the intersection, of the orbit of Earth and 2023 PDC]," Chodas said. "There's great uncertainty in where the asteroid will be 13 years from now. As we continue to track the asteroid that uncertainty will shrink until it has actually become smaller than Earth."
The reduction of the red "hitbox" in the team's calculation to less than the size of the Earth means that 2023 PDC is going to hit the planet. Astronomers can then begin to predict exactly where on Earth the asteroid will make contact with the planet.
So… What's the damage?
NASA Advanced Supercomputing expert Lorien Wheeler explained that evaluating the potential damage of 2023 PDC involves building an asteroid impact risk assessment model and considering a lot of different factors, such as asteroid size and other properties, from limited observational data.
"There are three main types of impact hazards that we model. These include local ground damage due to an explosive blast or fireball," Wheeler said. "There's also tsunami potential for large ocean impacts, and for the very largest cases, there's a potential for global climate effects.
"We model all of these cases and then combine the results to look at the probabilities of different damage sizes and damage severities, how many people that damage could affect, and what regions could potentially be at risk."
For the potential sizes of 2023 PDC, the lower size estimation of around 1,000 feet (300 m) in diameter represents devastation on the scale of a continent with as much as 2,000 megatons of energy being released. That is equivalent to 133,000 times the estimated energy released by the bomb that demolished Hiroshima at the end of the Second World War. As the size of 2023 PDC increases, the potential disaster its impact triggers grows significantly. At 2,000 feet (600 m) in diameter, the impact would border on a global catastrophe scale. The strike of 2023 PDC of this size would release as much as 20,000 megatons of energy meaning a doubling in size has caused an increase in devastation power of around 10 times.
At 3,330 feet (1 km) wide, the 2023 PDC impact scenario becomes exceptionally grim. At this size, the team calculates that 2023 PDC is much more likely to trigger a global catastrophe. Such an impact would release around 100,000 megatons of energy, equivalent to 6.6 million Hiroshima nuclear detonations.
Wheeler explains that there are other factors other than size such as the asteroid's angle of entry to the atmosphere that contribute to uncertainty in the range of potential impact energies, and thus the resulting damage severity.
"The most likely hazard is going to be a large ground impact or low airburst causing a highly destructive blastwave and fireball," Wheeler added. "Given the size of the objects that we have on hand here, the damage severities are expected to reach unsurvivable levels with larger areas of damage extending to areas around it, experiencing fires structural damage and extending out to areas of shattered windows "
Wheeler continued that for smaller impacts, outer damage areas are a band that could extend to diameters of between 62 miles to 124 miles (100 to 200 km) outside the main impact zone. This extended damage zone could stretch out to diameters as great as 372 miles (600 kilometers) for scenarios in which the hypothetical asteroid approaches sizes of 2,000 feet (600 m).
"There is a potentially high number of people that could be affected all along the swath, mostly in the range of hundreds of thousands to millions of people," Wheeler said. "Impacts over land cause the most population damage with averages between 10,000 and 10 million people depending on the location. And if the impact is on the larger size, those ranges could go up to 10s of millions to the 100s of millions range."
She continued by explaining that should 2023 PDC hit any ocean it would trigger a tsunami, but the most harm to populations would come from the asteroid touching down in the Atlantic Ocean with such a strike carrying the greatest risk of triggering a tsunami that could reach populated areas. The eventual climate change effects of a larger 2023 PDC asteroid strike could eventually affect anywhere from millions to billions of people across the globe.
"So the bottom line here is that there's a very huge range of potential damage," Wheeler concluded. "If it impacts Earth, it could be extremely damaging because the potential consequences are so extreme."
How worried should we be?
It's important to stress that 2023 PDC is a purely hypothetical object and it isn't on course to impact Earth. In fact, currently, there are no large asteroids predicted to hit Earth for the next 100 years. The object with the highest probability of colliding with Earth was the 1,100 feet (340 m) wide asteroid 99942 Apophis, which was predicted to get dangerously close to Earth in 2068. NASA ruled out this impact in 2021, however, and 99942 Apophis will instead harmlessly pass the planet.
Of course, that doesn't mean there couldn't be an object out there waiting to be discovered that is on an orbit that intersects Earth's path around the sun. Even so, the scenario that Chondas and Wheeler describe for 2023 PDC is quite extreme. In fact, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Director of Operations Rolf Densing congratulated the scientists for developing a challenging and dramatically unfolding scenario for decision-makers to consider.
To consider how likely such a scenario is, the team laid out the probability of Earth being bombarded by objects from space of various sizes, suggesting impacts involving larger bodies should be rarer. The average time between impacts by objects with diameters of around 1,000 feet (300 m) is around 70,000 years, while asteroids with diameters of around 2,000 feet (600 m) are predicted to hit the planet roughly once every 200,000 years.
Massively devastating global catastrophe-causing asteroids with diameters of around 3,300 feet (1 km) are estimated to hit the planet around once every 700,000 years. Even larger 3-mile (5 km) wide asteroids are predicted to strike Earth around just once every 30 million years.
If you're concerned about asteroid impacts, NASA maintains a log of potential brushes with asteroids in the form of theSentry Risk Table. (opens in new tab)
The two black holes lie just 1,560 and 3,800 light-years from our planet, respectively.
An image of the Milky Way showing the location of two newly discovered black holes that are the closest to Earth yet found.
(Image credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)
Astronomers have discovered two new black holes that are the closest ones to Earth known, and also represent something that astronomers have never seen before.
The black holes, designated Gaia BH1 and Gaia BH2, were discovered in data collected by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Gaia spacecraft.
Gaia BH1 is located just 1,560 light-years away from Earth in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus, while Gaia BH2 lies 3,800 light-years away in the constellation Centaurus. In cosmic terms, both black holes are therefore situated in Earth's backyard.
It isn't just the proximity of these black holes to Earth that makes them extraordinary, however. They are orbited by stars at much greater distances than has previously been observed in other black hole-companion star pairings.
"What sets this new group of black holes apart from the ones we already knew about is their wide separation from their companion stars," discovery team leader Kareem El-Badry, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts and the Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany, said in a statement(opens in new tab).
"Normal" black hole-companion star systems are called X-ray binaries and are usually bright in high-energy X-ray and radio emissions. This makes them easier to find than black holes that aren't swallowing matter and thus aren't emitting powerful bursts of energy. Gaia BH1 and Gaia BH2 are completely dark and were detected via the gravitational effect they have on their companion stars.
"These black holes likely have a completely different formation history than X-ray binaries," El-Badry explained. "We suspected that there could exist black holes in wider systems, but we were not sure how they would have formed. Their discovery means that we must adapt our theories about the evolution of binary star systems, as it is not clear yet how these systems form."
Gaia is ideal for spotting 'invisible' black holes
Gaia is equipped to make such discoveries because it can accurately measure the position and motion of billions of stars against the background sky. Tracking this stellar movement so precisely hints at the gravitational influences exerted on these stars from other stars, orbiting planets and black holes, researchers said.
"The accuracy of Gaia's data was essential for this discovery," said ESA Gaia project scientist Timo Prusti. "The black holes were found by spotting the tiny wobble of its companion star while orbiting around it. No other instrument is capable of such measurements."
The Gaia observations were backed up by measurements of each companion star's motion made by other observatories. For example, follow-up investigations of Gaia BH2 with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the South African MeerKAT radio telescope on the ground revealed no detectable light coming from this black hole.
"Even though we detected nothing, this information is incredibly valuable because it tells us a lot about the environment around a black hole," said discovery team member Yvette Cendes, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
"There are a lot of particles coming off the companion star in the form of stellar wind," Cendes said. "But because we didn't see any radio light, that tells us the black hole isn't a great eater and not many particles are crossing its event horizon. We don't know why that is, but we want to find out!"
The team will now attempt to discover more widely separated black hole binary systems in the next data dump from Gaia, set to release in 2025. This new data will be based on 66 months of observations from the spacecraft and feature more detailed information on the movement of stars.
"This is very exciting, because it now implies that these black holes in wide orbits are actually common in space — more common than binaries where the black hole and star are closer. But the trouble is detecting them," Cendes concluded. "The good news is that Gaia is still taking data, and its next data release will contain many more of these stars with mystery black hole companions in it."
Schrijver en uitgever Julien Weverbergh overleden: "Heel rijk en gevarieerd leven gehad, ik heb nergens spijt van"
Schrijver en uitgever Julien Weverbergh overleden: "Heel rijk en gevarieerd leven gehad, ik heb nergens spijt van"
Schrijver en uitgever Julien Weverbergh is overleden op 92-jarige leeftijd. Hij werd begin jaren zeventig directeur van uitgeverij Manteau en richtte later ook uitgeverij Houtekiet op. Weverbergh werkte in zijn lange carrière samen met schrijvers als Jeroen Brouwers, Walter Van den Broeck en Louis Paul Boon.
Joris Vergeyle
Criticus, auteur, dichter, correspondent in Roemenië, ufo-deskundige, leerkracht: Julien Weverbergh was het allemaal. Maar het bekendst werd Weverbergh als uitgever.
Hij volgde begin jaren zeventig de legendarische Angèle Manteau op aan het hoofd van uitgeverij Manteau. Toen Weverbergh daar in 1986 werd ontslagen, richtte hij uitgeverij Houtekiet op. Die uitgeverij bestaat vandaag nog steeds, maar is ondertussen deel geworden van Veen Bosch & Keuning Uitgeversgroep.
Ik ben geen believer en ook geen disbeliever
In 1956 zette Julien Weverbergh de eerste stappen in de literaire wereld, hij was toen 26 en debuteerde als dichter. Het werd het begin van een lange carrière. Zo schreef hij zelf meer dan 20 boeken, zoals "De ufo-carrousel", over zijn fascinatie voor ufo's.
"Ik ben geen believer en ook geen disbeliever", vertelde hij daarover in De Parelduiker. "Ik geloof wel in het verschijnsel. Want wat is een ufo? Mij ging het vooral over deze vraagstelling: wat is waar(heid), wat niet?". Weverbergh schreef niet alleen boeken, maar ook heel wat literaire kritieken en hij was een van de eersten in de jaren zestig die de romans van Louis Paul Boon publiekelijk verdedigde. Voor zijn inzet voor het oeuvre van Boon ontving hij in 2011 nog de Isengrimusprijs.
“Ik heb nooit auteurs bestreden om persoonlijke redenen. Ik kon rustig over een boek van Ward Ruyslinck schrijven dat het zeer slecht was en de moeite van het uitgeven niet waard. Maar ik kon tegelijk toch een goede relatie hebben met de persoon Ruyslinck”, zo beschreef Julien Weverbergh zijn rol als criticus in "Het beste moet nog komen" op Radio 1.
Nochtans waren weinig schrijvers hem dankbaar voor zijn (zeer) kritische opmerkingen. Dat zorgde soms voor problemen, wanneer hij begin jaren zeventig "van kamp wisselde". Toen werd hij als directeur bij uitgeverij Manteau de uitgever van diezelfde auteurs die hij eerder bekritiseerde. Enkele jaren later werd een meningsverschil tussen Jeroen Brouwers en hem breed uitgesmeerd in vileine commentaren. Brouwers verliet de uitgeverij en de ruzie tussen de twee vrienden werd pas jaren later bijgelegd.
Enkele boeken van Jeroen Brouwers zijn zelfs langdradig
"Jeroen schrijft schitterend goed. Zijn taal zit vol fantastische vondsten. Er gaan geen tien regels voorbij of je lacht om een taalvirtuositeit. Ik heb wel altijd gevonden dat in het literaire werk van Brouwers een wereldbeeld ontbreekt. Enkele boeken zijn zelfs langdradig."
Julien Weverbergh in gesprek met auteur Walter Van den Broeck.
Liefde voor Roemenië
Julien Weverbergh was ook de schoonvader van dichter Jotie T’Hooft, de betreurde dichter was getrouwd met zijn dochter Ingrid. Zelf vond Weverbergh de liefde in Roemenië.
Weverbergh woonde in de jaren zestig een tijd in het land en werkte er ook kort als correspondent, voor Vrij Nederland en de krant Le Monde. Naar eigen zeggen schreef hij te kritisch over het communistisch regime toen, en werd hem het werken onmogelijk gemaakt. Hij schreef later ook enkele non-fictieboeken over Roemenië.
Julien Weverbergh samen met zijn vrouw, in 2022.
Hij hoopte in goede gezondheid 96 te mogen worden, zo verklaarde hij in 2006 bij Friedl’ Lesage op Radio 1. Dat laatste is hem niet gegund, Julien Weverbergh werd 92. “Maar ik heb nergens spijt van, ik heb een heel rijk en gevarieerd leven gehad.”
These local fishermen from Brazil were almost pulled downwards into a sinkhole
These local fishermen from Brazil were almost pulled downwards into a sinkhole
Two fishermen from Franca, Brazil had a frightening experience when a sinkhole suddenly opened up beneath their jon boat, pulling it down into the murky depths of the water. The incident was caught on video, showing the men struggling to keep their boat from sinking as everything around them was pulled downward.
Image credit: LPE360
Remarkably, the size of the boat proved to be just right, with the front and back staying on land and spanning the length of the sinkhole. After the boat became stuck in the mud and debris rescuers used a crane to lift the fishermen to safety.
These two men were lucky to survive, it could also have ended worse, like what happened to a 36 year-old Florida man who fell into a sinkhole that opened suddenly at night beneath the bedroom of his suburban Tampa home, in 2013, calling out to his brother for help as he fell and although the brother of the man, frantically tried to help his brother, he did not survived the fall into the sinkhole
Today in UFO history: the Mysterious Westall UFO Encounter
Today in UFO history: the Mysterious Westall UFO Encounter
On this day, April 6, 2023, we commemorate the 57th anniversary of one of Australia’s most puzzling and intriguing UFO encounters. The Westall UFO incident, which transpired on April 6, 1966, remains an enigma that has captivated enthusiasts and researchers for decades.
The Westall UFO encounter took place in the suburban area of Clayton South in Melbourne. What sets this event apart from other UFO sightings is the number of witnesses who claim to have seen the object. Over 200 students and teachers from Westall High School and Westall State School, along with other bystanders, reported observing an unusual, silvery object in the sky that morning.
According to witness accounts, the mysterious object appeared to descend into a nearby open paddock before taking off again. Some witnesses also reported seeing smaller objects in the vicinity, as well as the presence of unmarked aircraft that arrived shortly after the event. The object remained in sight for approximately 20 minutes, leaving everyone present bewildered and curious.
In the aftermath of the encounter, there were attempts to dismiss the sighting as a weather balloon or an experimental military aircraft. However, the sheer number of witnesses, the peculiar flight patterns of the object, and the lack of any concrete explanations continue to fuel speculation about the true nature of the incident.
Over the years, the Westall UFO encounter has been the subject of numerous investigations, documentaries, and media coverage. Yet, despite these efforts, the event remains shrouded in mystery, with no definitive answers to satisfy the curiosity of those who have followed the case.
As we mark the 57th anniversary of this enigmatic event, the Westall UFO encounter serves as a reminder of the enduring allure of unexplained phenomena. The incident continues to pique the interest of UFO enthusiasts, researchers, and the general public, sparking debates and discussions about the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the secrets that may still be waiting to be uncovered.
In a world where scientific discoveries and technological advancements are made daily, the Westall UFO encounter invites us to ponder the mysteries that persist beyond our current understanding. This 57th anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on the enduring fascination with the unknown and to appreciate the sense of wonder it evokes in us all.
Unveiling the Enigma: Whistleblowers Reveal Covert UFO Reverse Engineering Programs in Washington D.C.
Unveiling the Enigma: Whistleblowers Reveal Covert UFO Reverse Engineering Programs in Washington D.C.
The mysterious world of UFOs has captured the imagination of people for decades. In recent years, the U.S. government has shown a renewed interest in unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), leading to the creation of the Advanced Aerial and Anomalous Research Organization (AARO). Now, a series of whistleblowers have come forward, shedding light on covert reverse engineering programs happening right under our noses in Washington D.C. In this exclusive exposé, we delve into the astonishing claims made by these insiders.
The AARO Task Force
The bipartisan UAP legislation passed in late 2022 marked a significant step in addressing the UFO phenomenon. This legislation led to the establishment of the AARO task force, headed by Sean Kirkpatrick. The task force’s primary objective is to investigate and understand UAPs and their potential implications on national security. Notably, the legislation also explicitly acknowledges the existence of UFO crash material, indicating a growing willingness to investigate such incidents.
In a surprising twist, multiple whistleblowers have come forward to testify to the AARO. These individuals, some of whom are still actively employed in their respective programs, have chosen to remain anonymous for the time being. Their testimonies provide a rare glimpse into the highly secretive world of UFO reverse engineering programs, revealing the existence of such initiatives within the heart of Washington D.C.
The insiders claim to have first-hand knowledge of the programs, including their names, locations, and the individuals involved. If given the appropriate security clearance, they have offered to personally escort interested parties into the labs where this groundbreaking work is being conducted.
What Lies Ahead?
The revelations brought forth by these whistleblowers have left the public with a burning question: What will Sean Kirkpatrick do with this information? Will he share it with others or keep it under wraps?
As the situation unfolds, it is evident that we are standing at the precipice of a new era in UFO research and understanding. The testimonies from these whistleblowers could potentially unveil long-hidden secrets and lead to groundbreaking discoveries.
VIDEO:
James Fox on what’s going on behind the scenes in D.C “UFO reverse engineering programs exist!”
The unmasking of covert UFO reverse engineering programs in Washington D.C. is a game-changer for the UFO community and the world at large. With the support of the U.S. government and the courage of whistleblowers, we may finally be on the verge of unlocking the enigma that has fascinated and perplexed us for generations. As we continue to investigate these astonishing claims, we can only wonder what fascinating revelations lie ahead.
Steven Spielberg is among the few commercially successful movie directors who has a great interest in the UFO phenomenon. He probably knows something intriguing about aliens and UFOs, and that is why he did the 1982 blockbuster “E.T.” and the 1972 “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”
Spielberg expressed his thoughts on UFOs and extraterrestrials during a 2023 interview on “The Late Show with Steven Colbert.” While he admitted to never having seen a UFO himself, he stated his belief in those who have experienced unexplainable encounters:
“I think what has been coming up recently is fascinating, absolutely fascinating. And I think the secrecy that is shrouding all of these sightings and the lack of transparency… I think there is something going on that just needs extraordinary due diligence.”
When it comes to the possibility of extraterrestrial life, Spielberg firmly believes that we are not alone in the universe. He stated: “I don’t believe we’re alone in the universe. I think it’s mathematically impossible that we are the only intelligent species in the cosmos. I think that’s totally impossible.”
However, he is skeptical about the idea of interstellar travel: “At the same time, it also seems impossible that someone would visit us from 400 million lightyears from here — except in the movies, of course — unless it figures out some way of jumping the shark, so to speak, and getting here through wormholes.”
While he doubts that any beings have yet mastered faster-than-light travel, he believes that time travel may be a possibility for humans. Spielberg shared an engaging theory: “What if it’s us, 500,000 years in the future, that is coming back to document the second half of the 20th century and into the 21st century because they’re anthropologists? And they know something we don’t quite know yet that has occurred, and they’re trying to track the last hundred years of our history.”
Spielberg believes that the 1982 film had a valid point and suspects that the US government is hiding information about UFOs from the public. “I think the secrecy that is shrouding all of these sightings and the lack of transparency until the Freedom of Information Act compels certain materials to be released publicly, I think that there is something going on that simply needs extraordinary due diligence,” he said on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”
In 2009, filmmaker James Fox, an advocate for government transparency on the subject of UFOs released a documentary titled “I Know What I Saw,” which explores reasons behind government secrecy and features credible witnesses from around the world testifying at the National Press Club event in November 2007. (Source)
Spielberg viewed the documentary and commented on it in a letter, but did not give permission for the comments to be made public at this time. Fox stated that Spielberg is an advocate of government transparency on the UFO phenomena. However, in 2013, Fox finally revealed the contents of a letter to Larry King regarding his UFO documentary.
With great curiosity, I watched the documentary you sent over and found it compelling. Personally, I would like to think we are not alone, and even though I have devoted a generous percentage of my movies to extraterrestrial related themes, I for one have never seen a UFO. That is so unfair! (sic)
I hope you will continue to pursue this topic on your program, and that some day our government will offer a total disclosure about what they know about unidentified flying objects and their true and natural origins.
I continue to enjoy watching you and all your guests.
All my best,
Signed: Steven
Fox expressed his disappointment in Spielberg’s lack of public endorsement for his film. According to him, Spielberg is someone who is aware of a cover-up and holds significant influence in the entertainment industry. In the movie “Close Encounters,” Spielberg included Dr. J. Allen Hynek as a nod to those familiar with the topic, suggesting that it was based on actual events. Despite this, Fox felt that Spielberg did not make a small effort to support an independent filmmaker like himself and help his movie succeed.
Very few people know about the secret conversation that happened between Spielberg and President Ronald Reagan about extraterrestrials and close encounters. According to Journalist Alejandro Rojas, during a special screening of ET at the White House in 1982, President Reagan did make a comment about everything in the movie being true.
Ronald and Nancy Reagan speaking with Spielberg after the screening of ET. image credit: Ronald Reagan Library
Reagan whispered to Spielberg that everything shown in the movie was real. It was confirmed by Spielberg while giving an interview to Quint (aka Eric Vespe).
Spielberg said:
“No, he wasn’t ushered out of the room. He was the President of the United States! Nobody could usher Ronald Reagan out of the room! It was in the White House screening room and Reagan got up to thank me for bringing the film to show the President, the First Lady, and all of their guests, which included Sandra Day O’Connor in her first week as a Justice of the Supreme Court, and it included some astronauts… I think Neil Armstrong was there, I’m not 100% certain, but it was an amazing, amazing evening.
He just stood up and he looked around the room, almost like he was doing a headcount, and he said, “I wanted to thank you for bringing E.T. to the White House. We really enjoyed your movie,” and then he looked around the room and said, “And there are a number of people in this room who know that everything on that screen is absolutely true.”
And he said it without smiling! But he said that and everybody laughed, by the way. The whole room laughed because he presented it like a joke, but he wasn’t smiling as he said it.
The room did laugh and then later on I’ll never forget my conversation with the President. He pulled me aside, he said… and I can’t do Reagan. I wish I could do that breathy, wonderful voice of his… And Nancy Reagan was standing right next to him and the President said to me, “I only have one criticism about your movie,” and I said “What’s that?” He said, “How long were the end credits?” I said, “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe three, three and a half minutes?” He said, “In my day, when I was an actor, our end credits were maybe 15 seconds long.”
He said, “Why don’t you let everybody get a credit… three and a half, four minutes, that’s fine, but only show that inside the industry, but throughout the rest of the country reduce your credits to 15 seconds at the end?” Nancy Reagan turned to him and said, “Oh, Ronny, they can’t do that. You know that.” And he went, “Oh, yes, yes. I suppose.” (laughs) That was the extent of my conversation about that. That was his only criticism, he felt the end credits were too long!
Spielberg was skeptical that President Reagan accidentally revealed anything important. He thought Reagan made a deliberate joke without any indication of humor. Although the joke was successful and garnered laughter from the audience, Spielberg, who called himself a UFOlogist, was hoping that there was a deeper meaning behind it. However, Spielberg ultimately concludes that Reagan was only trying to tell a joke.
The China National Space Agency (CNSA) has made considerable progress in recent years with the development of itsLong March 5 (CZ-5) rocket and the completion of its Tiangong-3 space station. The agency also turned heads when it announced plans in June 2021 to create an International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) that would rival the Artemis Program. On top of all that, China upped the ante when it announced later that month that it also had plans to send crewed missions to Mars by 2033, concurrent with NASA’s plans.
As part of their growing efforts to become a major power in space, which includes human exploration, China recently announced the completion of the first in-orbit test of a Stirling thermoelectric converter. The Shenzou-15 mission crew performed the test aboard Tiangong-3, and it was the first successful verification of the technology in space. This technology is also being investigated by NASA and is considered a technological solution to the challenges of space exploration, especially where long-duration stays and missions to locations in deep space are concerned.
Similar to how hydroelectric dams generate power, a Stirling unit converts heat into electrical energy through a series of piston-driven magnets. These pistons rely on a fuel source to generate heat, pushing the magnets back and forth through a coil of wire, generating electrical current. This process is known as the Stirling Cycle, which is more efficient than solar-powered systems and conventional batteries. Compared to other power systems, it is also lightweight, has a simple structure, a quick start-up cycle, and produces minor vibrations and low noise.
All of this makes the technology appealing to spacecraft engineers and mission planners, who see it as a more sustainable means for providing power to spacecraft and surface habitats. On the one hand, it can reduce their dependence on solar energy, which is limited by solar cell efficiency and is not always accessible in certain environments. Around the Moon’s South Pole-Aitken Basin, where multiple agencies plan to build research stations before the end of the decade (including China’s ILRS), a lunar night lasts fourteen days.
The Stirling power converter was developed by the Lanzhou Institute of Physics at the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST). It was transported aboard the space station by the Shenzou-15 crew and installed in the equipment cabinet in the Mengtian lab module. As the China Global Television Network (CGTN) reported, three in-orbit experiments were carried out in the lab module before the test run. The converter produced a stable power supply throughout, reportedly achieving a level of thermoelectric conversion efficiency that reached “an advanced international level under the same isothermal ratio.”
When paired with a nuclear reactor as a power source, Sterling engines could allow for long-duration stays on the Moon and Mars, augmenting solar power, batteries, fuel cells, and other conventional power sources. NASA is currently researching the technology as part of its Kilopower Reactor Using Sterling Technology (KRUSTY) experiment, which evolved from previous efforts to develop nuclear power applications for space exploration. NASA and DARPA recently announced a partnership to test a prototype nuclear thermal propulsion system in space (scheduled for 2027).
Artist’s impression of four KRUSTY generators providing power to an outpost on the surface of Mars. Credit: NASA/STMD
Shortly after that, the UK Space Agency (UKSA) announced they had contracted with Rolls-Royce to develop nuclear systems for space exploration, which could power a future lunar base. These and other attempts to realize next-generation power and propulsion systems are part of a growing effort to realize the next great leap in space exploration. They also reflect an undeniable truth about the modern space age: it’s an international affair characterized by competition and cooperation.
The capped device of Stirling thermoelectric converter. /China Manned Space Agency
The Stirling thermoelectric converter. /China Manned Space Agency
The uncapped Stirling thermoelectric converter. /China Manned Space Agency
We Now Have a Map of all 85,000 Volcanoes on Venus
A new map created with decades-old radar imagery from NASA’s 1990’s Magellan mission shows the locations of a whopping 85,000 volcanoes on Venus. The detailed map shows where the volcanoes are, how they’re clustered, and how their distributions compare with other geophysical properties of the planet such as crustal thickness.
This comprehensive study of Venus will help planetary scientists answer many outstanding questions about the planets’ geological history, such as why doesn’t it have plate tectonics like Earth? Was it ever habitable, and if so, for how long?
Sapas Mons, a large volcano on Venus, is about 400 km in diameter. It was imaged by the Magellan spacecraft, with a light source coming from the left side of the image. (Image courtesy of JGR Planets)
This is the second major finding from archival Magellan mission data, as just a few weeks ago scientists announced they found evidence of recent active volcanism on Venus. The authors of this new paper, graduate student Rebecca Hahn, and Paul Byrne, an associate professor of earth and planetary sciences, both from Washington University in St. Louis, say their new map can help locate the next active lava flow on Venus, and more.
“This paper provides researchers with an enormously valuable database for understanding volcanism on that planet — a key planetary process, but for Venus is something about which we know very little, even though it’s a world about the same size as our own,” said Byrne, in a press release.
It has long been known that volcanism has been a major, widespread process on Venus. And even if 85,000 volcanoes on Venus sounds like a large amount, Hahn said it is probably a conservative number. She believes there are hundreds of thousands of additional geologic features that have some volcanic properties lurking on the surface of Venus. However, they’re just too small to have been picked up by Magellan’s synthetic-aperture radar (SAR).
Building this global map was tedious work, as Hahn pored through planetary radar scans captured by Magellan. On Twitter, Byrne said this took years of work by Hahn. But she also took advantage of new technology.
“It was tedious, but I had experience using ArcGIS software, which is what I used to build the map,” Hahn said. “That tool wasn’t available when these data first became available back in the ’90s. We came up with this idea of putting together a global catalog because no one’s done it at this scale before.”
Image of “pancake volcanoes” located in the Eistla region, taken by the Magellan space probe. Credit: NASA/JPL
In building this global map, the researchers found that Venus is home to thousands of volcanic landforms, distributed across virtually the entire planet. The volcanoes range in size from much less than 5 km (3 miles) to well over 100 km (60 miles) in diameter. However, 99% of Venus’ volcanoes are smaller than 5 km (3 miles) in diameter.
“Although there are volcanoes across almost the entire surface of the planet, there seem to be relatively fewer volcanoes in the 20–100 km [12-60 mile] diameter range, which may be a function of magma availability and eruption rate,” the researchers wrote in their paper — (which is free to read online until early May 2023.)
While Venus is nearly the same size and composition of Earth, it doesn’t have plate tectonics so all Venus’ internal heat likely emerges through its volcanoes.
How does the amount of volcanoes on Venus compare with Earth? Right now, there are about 1,350 potentially active volcanoes on Earth, but the amount under the ocean is not well known. We also don’t know how many volcanoes have been active over Earth’s history. Of course, Venus is without oceans and without weathering to change planet’s surface. But we do know that more than 80 percent of the Earth’s surface–above and below sea level–is of volcanic origin.
“We’ve already heard from colleagues that they’ve downloaded the data and are starting to analyze it — which is exactly what we want,” Byrne said. “Other people will come up with questions we haven’t, about volcano shape, size, distribution, timing of activity in different parts of the planet, you name it. I’m excited to see what they can figure out with the new database!”
I found this pink and green plant growing from a rock on Mars, its one of the latest Mars Perseverance rover photos so its 100% news stuff. I have reported a white rose on Mars I found back in 2020, but this one being two colors and close up is just mind-blowing. Now you know why NASA puts most photos into false-color. To hide the truth from the public. 100% proof that life exists on planet Mars right now!
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:Ruins, strange artifacts on other planets, moons, ed ( Fr, EN, NL )
Mysterious portal appears above the Arabian Sea
Mysterious portal appears above the Arabian Sea
Two days ago the ISS live stream captured an unknown object that suddenly appeared above the Arabian Sea.
The strange object not only turns into a what looks like a portal or planet but it rotates and it moves through space until it slowly disappears again.
Could this object be an interdimensional portal that gave a glimpse of a parallel universe or could it have been a UFO or a small celestial body that cloaked and uncloaked itself?
While is unknown what the object may have been, one commenter questioned: "Could the ISS be layering an image to block out any UFO we may see and that was a spot that the real view got thru?
Whatever it was, it remains a mystery what exactly happened above the Arabian Sea.
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 74 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.
