Bizarre moment RADAR picks up a structure above 'UFO hotbed' during rocket experiment

• Scientists experienced a radar anomaly at Utah's Skinwalker Ranch
• The area is notorious for UFO sightings and paranormal activity
• Ground radar and rockets have found electromagnetic disturbances 

By JAMES GORDON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM 

A group of scientists have been trying to understand what is causing a radar blip in the middle of Utah wilderness that is a notorious 'UFO hotbed'.

In a series of experiments that see the group using both ground-penetrating radar and rockets, they try to determine what may also be causing the electromagnetic disturbance from above. 

The experiments were set at the 512-acre Skinwalker Ranch in northeastern Utah in the Uinta Basin.

The area is notorious for UFO sightings and other paranormal-related mysteries. 

A group of scientists have been trying to understand what is causing a radar blip in the middle of Utah wilderness

In a series of experiments that see the group using both ground penetrating radar and rockets, they try to determine what may also be causing the electromagnetic disturbance from above

The scientists used radar in order to detect what may be behind a specific anomaly they're repeatedly experienced at a specific area of the ranch called The Triangle. 

The ground penetrating radar (GPR) they used sends radio signals into the ground, but some are also sent up into the sky, enabling the detection of objects that might be lingering above. 

The team noted how in the past, when they were scanning the area using GPS, there were times when all data would suddenly be lost, and the GPS signal would give readings that were below the surface of the ranch. 

So far, the team have been unable to identify what is behind the sudden blocking of the GPS signal. 

The history of Skinwalker Ranch is steeped in mystery. It's been called a supernatural place while others say it's 'cursed'

The team used ground penetrating radar to analyze both above and below the ground

Rockets were fired into the sky in an attempt to detect any objects overhead

The ground penetrating radar (GPR) sends radio signals into the ground, but some are also sent up into the sky, enabling the detection of objects that might be lingering above

Rockets were fired into the sky only for the same GPS dead spots to appear as in previous experiments

In a curious result, the rocket appeared to head directly into the mesa despite being fired upwards

In this latest episode of The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch, the scientists attempt to uncover more of the mysteries of the area. 

Rockets were fired into the sky only for the same GPS dead spots to appear as in previous experiments. 

While a second team conducted GPR surveys, a similar phenomena was uncovered with major blips picked up at the exact same time as the rocket launch, some 40ft in the air.

Although the team had been attempting to uncover an underground tunnel that may lie below, the scientists were perplexed when the data they received appeared to have been altered by an unknown force. 

The scientists used all manner of equipment including rockets, cameras and radars

Despite the rockets being fired directly upwards, the readings showed it being fired into the mesa

The readings surprised scientists who were analyzing the results in real time

A radar blip appeared to occur at a spot that had been pinpointed previously, 40ft in the air

There appeared to be a disturbance in the radar and GPS readings for no obvious reason

The point where the rocket appeared to go inside the mesa is where a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon) was seen entering and exiting the area on a previous occasion

Only seconds after launch the data produced some unusual readings appearing to show that the rocket had gone directly into the mesa, despite them witnessing from the ground that the rocket had fired straight up, to a height of around 2000ft. 

However, the point where the rocket appeared to go inside the mesa is where a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon) was seen both entering and exiting the area on a previous occasion. 

The team at first believe they may have uncovered some sort of electromagnetic disturbance, but others in the group say an object was discovered that appears and disappears if only for a few seconds.

Earlier this month, the team believed they had exposed a possible 'portal' on the haunted ranch, where the team has witnessed a mutilated cow who died under mysterious circumstances. 

The discovery adds to the mystique surrounding Skinwalker Ranch, where past events have included encounters with mutilated cattle and other unexplained phenomena.

This discovery adds to the mystique surrounding Skinwalker Ranch, where past events have included encounters with mutilated cattle and other unexplained phenomena

Rancher Terry Sherman, who bought the property in the 90's became so spooked that he sold the property and moved his family of four away. Sherman found several heads of his cattle mutilated after purchasing the land in 1996

The history of Skinwalker Ranch is steeped in mystery. It's been called a supernatural place while others say it's 'cursed.'

Rancher Terry Sherman, who bought the property in the 90's became so spooked that he sold the property and moved his family of four away. 

Sherman found several heads of his cattle mutilated after purchasing the land in 1996.

Additionally, Sherman witnessed unexplainable encounters, one in which Sherman saw a wolf-like creature three times the size of a normal wolf. 

Another researcher saw an bizarre creature with piercing yellow eyes surveilling him from a tree, among other mysterious instances. 

The ranch later became the focus of Pentagon investigations into UFOs through programs like the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). 

In 2020, a bombshell report in Popular Mechanics describes the Pentagon's UFO program on 'Skinwalker Ranch.' 

Using black-budget money under the auspices of the Defense Intelligence Agency, in 2008 AATIP contracted private space technology company Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) to provide the government with technical reports and research into UFOs, according to the magazine.

The ranch later became the focus of Pentagon investigations into UFOs through programs like the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP)

BAASS controlled 'Skinwalker Ranch' in Utah - which the company proposed as a 'possible laboratory for studying other intelligences and possible interdimensional phenomena.'

Two previously unreleased technical reports submitted through the contract were published in full or in part by Popular Mechanics, revealing research into the medical effects of contact with anomalous flying objects and the frequency of unexplained phenomenon near nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile silos. 

In 2008, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) awarded a $10 million contract to BAASS under a contracting program known as the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP).

A lifelong enthusiast of space travel and the paranormal, Bigelow purchases the Skinwalker Ranch, after various strange and paranormal events were reported there.

Bigelow proposed to use the ranch to study paranormal phenomenon, and a visit to the ranch by a DIA scientist in 2007 may have inspired the creation of the AATIP, according to Popular Mechanics.

Former AAWSAP contractor and astrophysicist Eric Davis shared what colleagues had told him of the DIA scientist's experience in an interview with researcher Joe Murgia.

A lifelong enthusiast of space travel and the paranormal, Bigelow (pictured left next to NASA astronaut Mike Gernhardt) purchased the Skinwalker Ranch, after various strange and paranormal events were reported there

Bigelow proposed to use the ranch to study paranormal phenomenon, and a visit to the ranch by a DIA scientist in 2007 may have inspired the creation of the AATIP

'In the living room of the former NIDS double wide observation trailer/staff quarters. A 3D object appeared in mid-air in front of him and changed shape like a changing topological figure. It went from pretzel-shaped to Möbius strip shaped. It was 3D and multi-colored. Then it disappeared,' he said.

According to former Senator Harry Reid, whatever happened at Skinwalker was enough to convince the DIA to seriously investigate paranormal and UFO phenomena.

'Something should be done about this. Somebody should study it.' I was convinced he was right,' Reid told New York Magazine.

A 2009 BAASS report commissioned by the Pentagon mentions Skinwalker Ranch in Utah as a 'possible laboratory for studying other intelligences and possible interdimensional phenomena.'

In 2016, Bigelow sold Skinwalker Ranch for $4.5 million to 'Adamantium Holdings', a shell corporation whose true owners have never been traced.

After this sale, all roads leading to the ranch were blocked, the perimeter was secured with cameras and barbed wire, and signs went up warning strangers not to approach.

Anyone who approached the ranch after reported being immediately confronted by guards and ordered to leave.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

22-06-2024 om 20:56 geschreven door peter  

Inside the mystery of one of America's deadliest roads - as experts find 'evidence' of UFOs and portals at spot where 15 people have died

• READ MORE: Four 'UFOs' are captured on camera at Skinwalker Ranch 

By WILL POTTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

A team of investigators have claimed to have discovered evidence of interdimensional portals under a bridge where a staggering number of drivers have been killed. 

Ex-CIA agent Andy Bustamante and journalist Paul Beban, who delve into paranormal and extraterrestrial activity on their show Beyond Skinwalker Ranch, alleged that they found the cause of the mysterious motor deaths. 

The bridge, found on the Miller Ranch in Colorado, has seen at least 15 drivers lose their lives, alongside 16 cattle mutilations across the past 25 years. 

Using LIDAR ground laser technology, they claimed to find evidence of underground vacuums under the bridge that were highly strange.

In fact, by the end of the episode, a 3-D model of the bridge constructed from the LIDAR had some points located completely underground - something the investigators say might be due to time-slowing anomaly. 

A bridge nearby to the Miller Ranch in Colorado has seen over a dozen deaths just a short walk from mysterious cattle mutilations - which a team of investigators claim may be linked to secret 'portals' underground 

A 3-D model of the bridge constructed from the LIDAR had some points located completely underground - something the investigators say might be due to time-slowing anomaly

Read More

• Bizarre moment RADAR picks up a structure above 'UFO hotbed' during rocket experiment 

In the show, the team of investigators said the bridge at the ranch is 'one of the deadliest stretches of road in the country, and we just have no idea why.' 

They claimed that after using LIDAR technology to survey the ground underneath the bridge, they potentially found 'portals' that could lead to another dimension. 

The team also used electromagnetic pulses through the bridge, which they claim were interrupted by radio waves. 

Describing the radio waves as 'data packets', they alleged that the frequent pulses may form part of an encrypted message from beyond. 

'What's fascinating is that one is electrical energy, one is radio frequency, so there should be no relationship here,' one investigator pointed out. 

The bridge came under scrutiny not only because of the high number of deaths, but also its proximity to the cattle ranch where a number of livestock have been mutilated. 

At least 16 cattle have been killed and dismembered over the past 25 years, with no explanation. The cows are often found without any blood or tracks around them, missing organs and limbs that have been cut with neat precision.  

The experiment came as part of the show's delving into the UFO-hotbed site Skinwalker Ranch in Utah, and claim that unexplained phenomena in other parts of the country are linked to the site.  

Scientists found strange radio wave pulses emanating from the bridge when they ran electromagnetic current through it 

Describing the radio waves as 'data packets', the investigators alleged that their tests may have uncovered an encrypted message from beyond

In another recent experiment at the Skinwalker Ranch, the group attempted to understand what is causing a radar blip in the middle of Utah wilderness where a number of 'UFOs' have been reported. 

The ground penetrating radar (GPR) they used sends radio signals into the ground, but some are also sent up into the sky, enabling the detection of objects that might be lingering above.

The team noted how in the past, when they were scanning the area using GPS, there were times when all data would suddenly be lost, and the GPS signal would give readings that were below the surface of the ranch.

Although the team had been attempting to uncover an underground tunnel that may lie below, the scientists were perplexed when the data they received appeared to have been altered by an unknown force. 

In a series of experiments at Skinwalker Ranch, the group used both ground penetrating radar and rockets, they try to determine what may also be causing the electromagnetic disturbance from above

The testing at the ranch comes as Skinwalker Ranch has grown in infamy in recent decades, particularly due to eerie UFO sightings and cattle mutilations. 

Rancher Terry Sherman, who bought the property in the '90s, has revealed several mysterious phenomena at the ranch, that spooked him so much that he eventually sold the property and moved his family of four away.

In one instance, Sherman found several heads of his cattle mutilated after purchasing the land in 1996.

Additionally, Sherman witnessed unexplainable encounters, one in which Sherman saw a wolf-like creature three times the size of a normal wolf.

Another researcher saw an bizarre creature with piercing yellow eyes surveilling him from a tree, among other mysterious instances.

The ranch later became the focus of Pentagon investigations into UFOs through programs like the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP).

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

22-06-2024 om 20:38 geschreven door peter  

Structures In Crater On Moon In NASA Map! Link Below. June 2024, UFO Sighting News. 

Date of discovery: May 9, 2024, but video made June 21, 2024

Location: Earths moon

 

Guys I found this on May 9, 2024, but finally got my things unpacked so that I can make a video of it. There are two structures about 250 meters across in the center of this crater. If you want a clear focused screenshot, then watch this video carefully or you wont be able to get it. When you enlarge the map, NASA blurs and pixelates your image so it's no longer clear. In this video, I teach you how to beat that. 100% proof of intelligent life on Earths moon. 

 Scott C. Waring 

 

Map location: 

https://wms.lroc.asu.edu/lroc/

projection=SINU&c_lon=0&c_lat=0&x=589279.0660258001&y=-320626.66061455&resoluti

n=73.05454999604635&layers=LUNA_WAC_GLOBAL

 { https://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ }

22-06-2024 om 20:25 geschreven door peter  

Fragment van een papyrus met verhalen over Jezus' kindertijd ontdekt: het onthult nieuwe details

Door Janine

Biblioteca statale e universitaria di Amburgo

Jarenlang bewaarde een bibliotheek in Hamburg, Duitsland, een oude papyrus, in de veronderstelling dat het een onbelangrijk document was. De waarheid is echter heel anders, althans volgens de twee experts die het fragment lange tijd hebben bestudeerd en de inhoud ervan hebben onthuld. Het zou de oudst bekende kopie zijn van een van de apocriefe evangeliën, die vertelt over de wonderen die Jezus verrichtte toen hij nog een kind was.

Het oudste exemplaar van het Kindheidsevangelie van Thomas bevindt zich in Hamburg: niemand wist het

We zijn in de Carl von Ossietzky Staats- en Universiteitsbibliotheek in de stad Hamburg, in Noord-Duitsland. Jarenlang werd gedacht dat een van de bewaard gebleven papyri niets anders was dan een alledaags document, een privébriefje of een boodschappenlijstje. In werkelijkheid, zeggen twee experts die de gelegenheid hebben gehad om het fragment van de papyrus te analyseren, zou het een van de belangrijkste documenten zijn om de eerste eeuwen van het christendom te begrijpen.

De studie, gepubliceerd in de Journal of Papyrology and Epigraphy, beweert dat dit fragment de oudste kopie is die ooit is gevonden van het Kindheidsevangelie van Thomas. Terwijl de eerdere versie dateert uit de 9e eeuw, zou de papyrus die in Hamburg bewaard werd minstens 1600 jaar oud zijn en geschreven zijn tussen de 4e en 5e eeuw. Toch bewaarde de bibliotheek het document jarenlang en niemand realiseerde zich ooit het belang ervan, totdat prof. Lajos Berkes het woord “Jezus” in de tekst opmerkte. En hij besloot op onderzoek uit te gaan.

Dit is wat de papyrus zegt over de kindertijd van Jezus

Het fragment bevat 13 regels geschreven in het Grieks en komt uit het laat-oude Egypte, toen het christendom al een wijdverspreide en waarschijnlijk staatsreligie was geworden. Zoals bevestigd door de twee geleerden die de papyrus analyseerden, Lajos Berkes en Gabriel Nocchi Macedo, gaat de inhoud niet over boodschappen of andere alledaagse zaken. In plaats daarvan vertelt het een verhaal uit de kindertijd van Jezus dat bekend staat als het levend maken van mussen van klei.

De episode is al bekend, omdat hij voorkomt in recentere kopieën van het Kindheidsevangelie van Thomas, en vertelt over het tweede wonder van de jonge Jezus. Op 5-jarige leeftijd is Jezus aan het spelen aan de oever van een rivier en maakt hij kleine musjes met klei. Jozef berispt hem omdat hij op een ongepaste dag werkt, waarop Jezus in zijn handen klapt en leven geeft aan de musjes, die wegvliegen van de rivier.

Een deel van de apocriefe evangeliën

Er wordt weinig gesproken over het Kindheidsevangelie van Jezus, dat wordt toegeschreven aan de apostel Thomas maar in werkelijkheid in de 2e eeuw is geschreven. Het is in feite één van de apocriefe evangeliën, teksten die zijn uitgesloten van de officiële bijbelse canonvorming van de Katholieke Kerk omdat ze vaak als onbetrouwbaar werden beschouwd of in ieder geval in tegenspraak zijn met de vier testamentaire evangeliën. Het Kindheidsevangelie vertelt bijvoorbeeld over een reeks wonderen die Jezus tussen zijn 5e en 12e levensjaar verrichtte, maar andere evangelies verzamelen gezegden, weer andere episoden uit het leven, enzovoort.

Het belang van de Hamburgse ontdekking ligt niet alleen in de oudheid van het handschrift, dat hoe dan ook een essentieel element is. Naast dit aspect stelt het bestuderen van een papyrus uit de 4e tot 5e eeuw ons in staat de verspreiding van deze evangeliën in de eerste eeuwen van het christendom te begrijpen. De ontdekking schuift de oudste kopie van het Kindheidsevangelie van Thomas daarom niet simpelweg enkele eeuwen terug, maar biedt nieuwe informatie over de context van het kopiëren en bestuderen van deze teksten. Die toen al buiten de traditionele canon werden beschouwd, maar die ons op de een of andere manier hebben bereikt.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

22-06-2024 om 18:46 geschreven door peter  

The observations of the Crab Nebula, particularly the high rotational speed of the pulsar, seemed to conflict with current supernova theory. In the model for lower mass stars like that which was the progenitor star of the Crab Nebula, the oxygen in the core ignites as the core collapses. This process does not have sufficient energy to generate such a fast rotating pulsar. 

A team of astronomers have addressed this curiosity using MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) and NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) onboard the James Webb Space Telescope to collect data from the Crab Nebula. The team was led by Tea Temim from the Princeton University in New Jersey. They report that the gas composition of the cloud suggests the star may have been more evolved with some iron in the core which could have led to a higher energy supernova than previously thought.

With Webb’s sensitive infrared instruments, the iron and nickel emission lines can be seen with more clarity than ever before. Studying the bright lines in the spectrum of the nebula has allowed a much more reliable estimate of the iron and nickel ratio to be deduced. They found it was a higher percentage compared to the Sun which was expected for a more energetic supernova. 

The results are promising but the readings were taken from two small regions of the nebula so to rule out variations across the entire 11 light years further readings are needed. If the data from Webb is representative from the entire nebula then it’s possible one of the mysteries of the nebula may finally be solved.

Source  : 

• Investigating the Origins of the Crab Nebula With NASA’s Webb

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

22-06-2024 om 18:32 geschreven door peter  

Distant Titan is an oddball in the Solar System. Saturn’s largest moon—and the second largest in the entire Solar System—has an atmosphere denser than Earth’s. It also has stable lakes and seas of liquid hydrocarbons on its surface.

New research shows that waves on these seas are eroding Titan’s coastlines.

The research is “Signatures of Wave Erosion in Titan’s Coasts,” and it’s published in Science Advances. The lead author is Rose Palermo, an MIT graduate and research geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey.

In 2007, the Cassini spacecraft spotted lakes and seas of liquid hydrocarbons, mostly methane and ethane, on Saturn’s moon Titan. Titan and Earth are the only two bodies in the Solar System known to have surface liquids. Scientists have only Cassini data from Titan to work with, and they’ve been poring over the data in an effort to understand this strange world.

The moon’s seas are one of the most intriguing features throughout the entire Solar System. But they’re difficult to observe because of the thick atmosphere. Researchers have wondered if waves shape the coastlines, but there are conflicting signs about the nature of the seas. They could be rough, or they could be smooth. A paper from 2014 suggested that transient features in Titan’s northern sea, Ligeia Mare, could be waves.

But there’s no certainty.

“We found that if the coastlines have eroded, their shapes are more consistent with erosion by waves than by uniform erosion or no erosion at all.”

Rose Palermo, lead author, U.S. Geological Survey

“Some people who tried to see evidence for waves didn’t see any, and said, ‘These seas are mirror-smooth,'” lead author Palermo said in a press release accompanying the research. “Others said they did see some roughness on the liquid surface but weren’t sure if waves caused it.”

It seems likely that there would be waves on Titan. To investigate this question, researchers at MIT compared Titan’s shorelines to shorelines on Earth to see if they match.

The seas and lakes on Titan look much like some on Earth. They appear to be flooded valleys and depressions. But scientists are uncertain if these bodies of water are eroding their coastlines like those on Earth. “Spacecraft observations and theoretical models suggest that wind may cause waves to form on Titan’s seas, potentially driving coastal erosion, but the observational evidence of waves is indirect, and the processes affecting shoreline evolution on Titan remain unknown,” the authors write in their paper.

The problem is that there’s no reliable way to connect shoreline morphology directly to the mechanisms that shape it, even on Earth. To try to understand how erosion affects Titan’s coastlines, the researchers started with Earth. They examined how different coastal erosion mechanisms shape Earth’s coastlines, then applied the framework to Titan.

There are basically two types of coastal erosion: wave-driven erosion and uniform erosion. Each type produces different coastlines.

Wave erosion is driven by wind and produces a change proportional to the strength of the waves. Waves are usually stronger the farther they travel before they hit a coast. Wave erosion creates long, smooth stretches of coast where the coast is fully exposed and bays in protected areas where less erosion occurs. The distance the wind can blow to generate waves on a particular water body before striking a coast is called ‘fetch.’

“Wave erosion is driven by the height and angle of the wave,” Palermo explained. “We used fetch to approximate wave height because the bigger the fetch, the longer the distance over which wind can blow and waves can grow.”

Uniform erosion is different. It doesn’t rely on mechanical wave action. The compositional differences between Earth and Titan are apparent when it comes to uniform erosion. “Titan’s crust consists mainly of water ice, but its surface solids may also include heavy hydrocarbon molecules, such as benzene, that are soluble in liquid methane and ethane, such that the liquid lakes and seas may slowly dissolve the solid coasts of the north polar terrain,” the authors explain in their research.

Over a long enough period of time, uniform erosion occurs at the same rate in all locations, producing distinct morphological features: shorelines that are generally smooth even inside bays with sharp headlands that punctuate them.

“Here, we test the hypothesis that coastal erosion has shaped Titan’s seas by investigating whether coastline shapes are most consistent with wave-driven erosion, uniform erosion, or no coastal erosion,” the authors write.

The different morphological features produced by wave-driven erosion and uniform erosion are obvious. Wave-driven erosion tends to smooth exposed sections of the coastline where fetch is large and preserve the coastline where fetch is small inside embayments.

Uniform erosion is different. It widens embayments and smooths out small-scale roughness on the coastline regardless of fetch. Headlands are the exception, which sharpen into thick-necked points that stick out into the main basin.

“We had the same starting shorelines, and we saw that you get a really different final shape under uniform erosion versus wave erosion,” said co-author Taylor Perron, Professor of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT. “They all kind of look like the Flying Spaghetti Monster because of the flooded river valleys, but the two types of erosion produce very different endpoints.”

“We found that if the coastlines have eroded, their shapes are more consistent with erosion by waves than by uniform erosion or no erosion at all,” Perron said.

But these are just simulations, and they have to be tested rigorously. The team’s next step was to quantify these differences in the real world. The researchers explain that they “developed a technique focusing on local relationships between shoreline roughness and fetch area” to understand and quantify the differences. Specifically, they quantified what they call “roughness” to differentiate wave-driven erosion from uniform erosion. “Simply put, a lower roughness means a smoother stretch of shoreline compared to the rest of the lake, and a higher roughness means a comparatively rough stretch of shoreline,” they write.

The researchers say that “… shoreline roughness and normalized fetch area can be used to fingerprint wave-driven and uniform erosion and distinguish them from a coastline consisting only of flooded river valleys,” as shown in the first image.

So, what does this all boil down to?

“Our results suggest that the coastlines of Titan’s largest liquid bodies are most consistent with shorelines that have been modified by wave erosion and river incision,” the researchers write in their paper. They analyzed four coastlines and found a less than 5% probability of uniform erosion in a saturation-limited scenario and a less than 20% probability of uniform erosion in a fetch-limited scenario. That leaves wind-driven erosion as the most likely cause of erosion, which seems to confirm that Titan’s lakes and seas experience waves. “Therefore, our results suggest that the largest seas and lakes are not consistent with erosion by uniform processes (i.e., dissolution), as previously hypothesized for some of Titan’s landscapes,” they conclude.

That’s the scientific way of presenting their results, and their paper is like part of a long conversation with other scientists. In the press release, they state their conclusion more plainly for the rest of us.

“We can say, based on our results, that if the coastlines of Titan’s seas have eroded, waves are the most likely culprit,” said Perron, Professor of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT. “If we could stand at the edge of one of Titan’s seas, we might see waves of liquid methane and ethane lapping on the shore and crashing on the coasts during storms. And they would be capable of eroding the material that the coast is made of.”

“Waves are ubiquitous on Earth’s oceans. If Titan has waves, they would likely dominate the surface of lakes,” says Juan Felipe Paniagua-Arroyave, associate professor in the School of Applied Sciences and Engineering at EAFIT University in Colombia, who was not involved in the study.” It would be fascinating to see how Titan’s winds create waves, not of water, but of exotic liquid hydrocarbons.”

The next step is to determine how strong Titan’s winds have to be to create coastal erosion. The researchers also hope to decipher which directions the wind is predominantly blowing from.

“Titan presents this case of a completely untouched system,” Palermo said. “It could help us learn more fundamental things about how coasts erode without the influence of people, and maybe that can help us better manage our coastlines on Earth in the future.”

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

22-06-2024 om 18:21 geschreven door peter  

Mars holds a very special place in our hearts. Chiefly because of all the other planets in the Solar System Mars is probably the place we are going to find some tantalising clues or maybe even evidence of prehistoric life. NASA Perseverance Rover has been trundling around the Jezero Crater looking for evidence that it was once hospitable to life. To that end it has not only been collecting rock samples but air samples too and scientists can’t wait to get their hands on them. 

The Mars Perseverance Rover is part of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission. It launched on 30 July 2020 and landed in the Jezero Crater successfully on 18 February 2021. The site was picked because it’s a dried up river bed and if there is any evidence of ancient primitive life on Mars, it is a likely location. Perseverance is equipped with a host of instruments including a drone named Ingenuity to survey the planet. 

One exciting element of the mission is the collection of rock samples as part of the Mars Sample Return Campaign. Twenty four core samples have been collected to date and deposited on the surface ready for collection by a future mission. It’s not just rock samples that have been collected though. Known as ‘headspace’ there is air in the space around the rock samples and it is this that has got scientists excited. 

Not only do the rocks hold secrets about Mars but the atmosphere does too. It’s an atmosphere rich in Carbon Dioxide but is expected to have trace amounts of other gasses  too. Information about the current climate can be gained from the trapped gasses but it’s also possible to learn about the evolution of the atmosphere through analysis of the rocks. There is one particularly important tube that has been filled entirely with gas from the atmosphere. 

With the sample sat on the surface of Mars potentially for many years, the gas trapped will interact with the rock in the sample tube. It will only be when the tubes are opened up when they arrive back here on the Earth that the interaction will cease. It’s hoped to understand more about the levels of water vapour near the Martian surface. 

It isn’t just the water vapour that is of interest but the levels of trace gas too are of interest. Through analysing the gas samples we can tell if there are gasses like neon, argon and xenon which are non reactive gasses. Because these gasses do not react then there presence in the tube samples may suggest that Mars stated with an atmosphere. We know that it had a much thicker atmosphere in the past but we don’t know whether it has always been there or whether it developed later.  

There are many benefits that will come from analysing the samples even, the prevalence of dust that will help future human exploration. As Justin Simon from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston said “The gas samples have a lot to offer Mars scientists, even those who don’t study Mars would be interested because it will shed light on how the planet forms and evolves.”

Source : 

• Why Scientists Are Intrigued by Air in NASA’s Mars Sample Tubes

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

22-06-2024 om 18:04 geschreven door peter  

Existence of lost temple dedicated to the Greek goddess of war is discovered in 2,500-year-old graffiti

• READ MORE: 'Miracle plant' used by the ancient Greeks rediscovered in Turkey

By MATTHEW PHELAN SENIOR SCIENCE REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Archeologists have discovered a lost ancient Greek temple dedicated to the goddess of war, after translating a newly found case of 2,500-year-old graffiti. 

Among over 2,000 remnants of ancient Greek graffiti, one scholar has uncovered a diagram of this lost temple to Athena, ancient Greece's goddess of war and wisdom.

The graffiti, which experts said was made by a shepherd or herder, depicts a now bygone temple on the very same site as Athens' historic, still-standing Parthenon.

'The structure,' according to the University of Tennessee classics professor who made the discovery, 'is identified by its inscription as 'the Hekatompedon' and was produced by an individual named Mikon.'

Among over 2,000 remnants of ancient Greek graffiti, one scholar has uncovered a diagram (above) of a lost temple to Athena, ancient Greece's goddess of war and wisdom 

'The structure,' according to the University of Tennessee classics professor who made the discovery, ' is identified by its inscription as 'the Hekatompedon' and was produced by an individual named Mikon.' Above, the professor's sketch of Mikon's 2,500-year-old graffiti

Hekatompedon was once the official ancient name for the temple to Athena, but it translates literally to '100-footer' in ancient Greek, a reference to the temple's size.

Crucially, however, the alphabet used in this graffiti dates it back to the 6th century BC — at least 50 years before the construction of the Parthenon structure, also dedicated to Athena, even began.

'Mikon's graffito supports the scenario that the Hekatompedon in the decree was an operational temple on the south side of the Acropolis,' classics professor Merle Langdon wrote in his new study, published in the American Journal of Archaeology.

This earlier temple would have been dismantled, and many of its columns and other structures could have been reused, for the ancient Greek structures still standing atop the hill where the Parthenon rests today, within the Acropolis of Athens. 

Translated from this ancient Greek alphabet, the engraved inscription simply reads 'the Hekatompedon [—] of Mikon,' according to Langdon who was the first to discover the graffiti.

The professor noted that there are two possible temple 'candidates' known to archeologists that could match the diagram that Mikon drew in his graffiti.

One nicknamed 'the Bluebeard Temple' by archeologists and another called 'the Gigantomachy Temple,' a neutral temporary term used while scholars still debate what the remnants of these historic structures might have once really been.

The Bluebeard Temple, which is theorized to have been built on the north side of the Acropolis around the second quarter of the 6th century, was named by archeologists for a prominent three-headed serpent with a blue beard, found among in its ruins.

The Gigantomachy Temple, also called the Old Temple of Athena by some scholars, dates back to roughly the same 6th century period. 

It's remnants were also found on the Acropolis in Athens, but its exact original location is still debated by scholars.

Langdon and his co-author, archeologist Jan van Rookhuijzen, said they would stop short of trying to definitively identify 'the drawn temple' any further, as 'the debate on the architectural history of the Archaic Acropolis has not come to a resolution.'

Hekatompedon, ancient Greek for '100-footer,' was the official ancient name for the temple to Athena. But the alphabet used in this graffiti dates it back to the 6th century BC, over 50 years before construction on the Parthenon even began. Above, on the hill, the Parthenon today

Above, a closer look at the Parthenon today - sitting atop the Acropolis in Athens, Greece

In other words, the complete history of the lost temple to Athena, that Mikon called 'the Hekatompedon' is still shrouded in mystery and remains yet to be written. 

For years, the team has studied the 6th century BC sketches, scrawlings and graffiti made by the ancient Greek's in this region — drawings that include ships, horses, and 'erotic scenes.'

'Why the shepherds produced so many graffiti is not known,' van Rookhuijzen wrote in an article at The Conversation, discussing he and Langdon's new study.

'It may have simply been a form of escapism during the dull moments of their job.'

The hill where Mikon's graffiti was located, along the north and east of Vari, Attica, is now a southern suburb of Athens. 

The landscape has become a boon to scholars as it is literally covered in ancient shepherd graffiti.

Langdon and van Rookhuijzen employed high-resolution photographs and detailed reproductions to analyze the long-dead shepherd's writing style, hunting for clues in his letter forms, handwriting, and spelling to better date and authenticate the find.

Above, the site where Langdon and his co-author found Mikon's ancient graffiti (red arrow). the shepherd's inscription - made on the exposed marble of Vari's Barako Hill near Athens - has now suffered from two millennia's worth of erosion

The team compared the Mikon drawing and its writing style to other previously discovered architectural drawings and inscriptions from the wider Athens area.

Mikon's sketch of the temple, they concluded is 'the earliest known testimony of admiration of the architecture of the Acropolis,' based on its faithful and favorable depiction of the structure's columns and roof-like entablature.

They also noted that Mikon's graffiti is now the earliest recorded instance of a person using 'Hekatompedon' to mean a large temple or building.

'Our occurrence is earlier than the 37 other known examples of this name in the Greek world,' the team wrote in their new study, 'including 12 from Attica.'

But the ancient graffiti still has some mysteries left to decode, as the shepherd's inscription — made on the exposed marble of Vari's Barako Hill — has now suffered from over two millennia's worth of erosion

'This impedes a full appraisal of both the drawing and the inscription,' the researchers noted, 'of which some letters are illegible.'

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

22-06-2024 om 00:23 geschreven door peter  

“Mikon is not otherwise known, but he was most likely a shepherd who made the graffito while grazing his flocks,” explained Janric van Rookhuijzen, an archaeologist and co-author of the study, in a recent article. “The version of the Greek alphabet used is very ancient, making it clear that the drawing was made as early as the 6th century BCE.”

Photograph of the graffiti 

(American Journal of Archaeology/Langdon et al)

Close-up view of the words τὸ hεκατόµπεδον.

Credit: Langdon et al., American Journal of Archaeology (2024)

Sketch of the graffiti, indicating reasonably secure lines and letters 

(American Journal of Archaeology/Langdon et al)

The graffito (a term sometimes used to describe a singular piece of graffiti) was found among over 2,000 ancient engravings on marble outcrops in the hills north and east of Vari. These engravings, typically created by local herders, include simple drawings of animals, ships, and buildings, as well as short inscriptions. The particular graffito in question looks like a building facade, showing at least five

The term “Hekatompedon” refers to a structure approximately 100 feet in length. In ancient Greek architecture, this term was often used to describe large temples. But, it also means something else.

“The term is known to be the official ancient name of the famous temple dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena – later known as the Parthenon,” van Rookhuijzen explained. “It is likely that Mikon wanted to depict a building on the Acropolis of Athens.”

However, the inscriber, Mikon, pre-dated the Parthenon by several decades.

Patch of bedrock where the graffito is located (arrow); the earthen road is visible in the background 

(American Journal of Archaeology/Langdon et al)

“Because the alphabet he used can be firmly dated to the 6th century BCE, the drawing must be at least 50 years older than the Parthenon, which was begun around 450 BCE,” van Rookhuijzen wrote.

According to the researchers, they believe that the graffito likely depicts an archaic temple on the Acropolis of Athens, possibly the so-called Bluebeard Temple or the Gigantomachy Temple. These temples are thought to have stood on the Acropolis at the end of the sixth century BCE, but were destroyed by the Persians in 480 BCE.

The Acropolis of Athens.

(Image: Unsplash)

Utilizing high-resolution photographs and detailed sketches, the work of this long-dead shepherd was analyzed for the various letter forms, orthography, and layout to determine its authenticity. The team compared this drawing and writing style to other known examples, as well as other known architectural drawings and inscriptions from the area.

Based on their research, they note this is the earliest written record of the term “Hekatompedon” being used to describe a large temple or building. Moreover, noting the style of the graffito, as it features lines for columns and a cross line that represents an entablature (the horizontal lintel that sits on top of the columns), the study argues that this was probably some kind of symbolic gesture of admiration for the temple.

In simple terms, Mikon probably just dug big buildings, and shepherds and herders were notorious for their graffiti. The hill where this drawing was discovered is covered in ancient shepherd graffiti, including images of horses, boats, and, of course, ancient erotica.

“Why the shepherds produced so many graffiti is not known – it may have simply been a form of escapism during the dull moments of their job,” van Rookhuijzen mused.

“However, the graffito made by Mikon shows how a small scribble may be the key to tackling the historical riddles behind one the world’s most iconic archaeological sites.”

• MJ Banias covers space, security, and technology with The Debrief. You can email him at mj@thedebrief.org or follow him on Twitter @mjbanias.

{ https://thedebrief.org/category/science/ }

21-06-2024 om 23:53 geschreven door peter  

Footage Of UFO Landing At Holloman AFB With Aliens Walking Out Exists, Producer Told James Fox

There is a UFO/alien controversy surrounding Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, where one of three UFOs allegedly landed in May 1971. The incident has been recently discussed by “Moment of Contact” filmmaker James Fox, who says the full  video of the UFO landing exists, including the alien entities walking out of the craft.

However, as it is so often in such cases, instead of the government releasing a film of the entire incident to author/filmmaker Robert Emenegger as promised, it only released 8 seconds of this special footage that ultimately made it into the film. Holloman Air Force Base is the United States Air Force base established in 1942 and located six miles southwest of the central business district of Alamogordo, New Mexico.

The story begins in 1971 when Emenegger and producer/director Allan Sandler were invited by US intelligence to Norton Air Force Base in California to discuss the significant UFO phenomenon that had occurred previously and create a documentary film about it.

Apparently, Mr. Fox recalls the Holloman incident on Julian Dorey Podcast, published on February 25, 2023. He says that he interviewed Sandler and Emenegger about it and they as well believe the UFO landing film footage exists. He points out this happened not far from Socorro, where Lonnie Zamora had his famous sighting roughly a year prior of a similarly shaped “tic tac” white craft and beings walking around the UFO.

There is no official record of the reason why the US government allowed giving secret UFO footage for a documentary film. It is believed that the administration of President Nixon did it to look strong in the science field for the upcoming 1972 re-election campaign.

Emenegger said that he was promised by the USAF officials to get the authentic UFO landing footage that happened at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico in 1971. It showed the alien visitors emerging out of the craft that met with the US military. Even though Emenegger was skeptical about it, the Air Force assured him that the footage was authentic.

One of the military’s officials named Paul Shartle, who was in charge of the audio-video department, said in a 1988 national television broadcast with Mike Farrell that he had watched the 16mm film of three disc-shaped craft. One of them landed and the others flew away.

“I saw footage of three disc-shaped crafts one of the crafts landed and two of them went away. It appeared to be in trouble because it oscillated all the way down to the ground. However, it did land on three pods, a sliding door open a ramp was extended, and out came three aliens. They were human-sized. They had an odd gray complexion and a pronounced nose. They wore tight-fitting jumpsuits, thin headdresses that appeared to be communication devices, and their hands in their hands they held a translator I was told.”

Mr. Fox revealed on the podcast that Allan Sandler told him on the phone call that he had seen three discs escorted by a military jet. “He was not sure of the altitude, but he estimated that they were at roughly 10 to 12,000 feet,” Mr. Fox said. He continued: “Paul Shartle (One of the military’s officials at Norton Air Force Base in California who was in charge of the audio-video department) admitted that he had seen it and that it was not of Earth origin.”

Sandler told Mr. Fox that two of the discs peeled away while one wobbled to the ground. He said it was like a leaf floating down from the sky, and it looked like it was in trouble. Mr. Fox said that the wobbling movement was similar to the footage he had seen of a UFO before. He does not think that Allan knew how the UFO hovered. The disc eventually went to the ground.

“He said James, just like in a sci-fi movie, the seamless door opens and out come these beings that had very large noses, slits for mouths, and their eyes were almost like a vertical slit, like a cat’s eye, very, very big. They had… I’m just like… I [Fox] need to make this abundantly clear to your audience. I’m not saying what’s true or what’s not true, or if it happened or if it’s alien or whatever it is. I’m just telling you what I was told by people who saw it, and claimed to have seen it. They came out and they met with the base commanders, and then they either got into a Jeep or were about to get into a Jeep or do something and then the film footage just cuts.”

Emenegger claimed that he personally visited the landing site and inspected the area where the extraterrestrial craft had been stored, and that the US military and the alien visitors had held meetings that lasted for several days.

Additionally, Emenegger’s production team was granted access to highly classified documents at DoD facilities, and they received assistance from military officials who had expertise in UFO-related matters, such as Col. William Coleman of Project Blue Book and Col. George Weinbrenner, who headed Foreign Technology at Wright Patterson Air Force Base.

Paul Shartle, who showed the footage to Allan Sandler, faced some men in dark suits that showed up from an unknown location and warned him not to speak of the incident. They confiscated the footage, stating that it was not supposed to have happened. Sandler did not inform Emenegger for over 40 years.

Emenegger completed extensive research and film production only to feel cheated when the authorization to use real footage was withdrawn. Despite this setback, he went ahead and released his documentary “UFOs: Past, Present, and Future,” which was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1974. The documentary was groundbreaking because it provided information from the Department of Defense (DoD).

The United States Air Force (USAF) required Emenegger to add animated footage of the alleged Holloman UFO landing. According to Emenegger, some frames from the original footage were used during the editing stage with USAF authorization, which was not entirely missing from the frames. The viewers spotted a genuine bright disc coming down slowly in the distance against the backdrop of Holloman’s surrounding landscape.

David Cameron, a UFO researcher, shared in an interview that he was involved in confirming that the Pentagon was not covering up UFO sightings. He recounted the story of the Holloman Air Force Base film, where the government allowed producers to use eight seconds of footage of a landed alien ship in a documentary, but the classified part where an alien got out was removed.

Mr. Fox explains that the point of the story is that there is compelling evidence of an event occurring involving an unidentified object and that there may be film footage of the incident. Despite the existence of this evidence, the story has been overshadowed by other sensational claims, such as secret meetings between President Eisenhower and aliens.

While it is unclear what exactly happened, there is substance to the story and it should not be dismissed outright. However, the addition of other claims has muddied the waters and made it difficult to investigate the case of the president making contact with extraterrestrial life.

{ https://www.howandwhys.com/ }

21-06-2024 om 22:51 geschreven door peter  

“Imagine you’ve been observing a distant galaxy for years, and it always seemed calm and inactive,” explained Paula Sánchez Sáez, an astronomer at ESO in Germany and lead author of the study accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. “Suddenly, its [core] starts showing dramatic changes in brightness, unlike any typical events we’ve seen before.”

Follow-up analysis by a host of the most advanced space observatories confirmed the incredible event while pointing to a likely culprit: a massive black hole lying at the heart of galaxy SDSS1335+0728, which is located 300 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo, had seemingly awakened from a long slumber and was devouring the gas in its immediate surrounding. This activity resulted in the massive and growing glow witnessed by astronomers.

Of course, people in this field regularly observe unexpected changes in the cosmos. However, events like supernova explosions or other tidal disruption events which generate large amounts of light typically last for a very short time, ranging from a few days to a few hundred days, before their brightness runs out. In this case, the researchers behind the discovery say they knew something was different when the increase in brightness first spotted in 2019 not only persisted but began to increase over time.

Since then, they have spent half a decade pouring through archived data collected by other space observatories, including the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), to search for an explanation. That analysis found that SDSS1335+0728 was emitting more light in the visible spectrum and ultraviolet, optical, and infrared wavelengths. Then, in February 2024, the galaxy started emitting X-rays. According to Sánchez Sáez, who is also affiliated with the Millennium Institute of Astrophysics (MAS) in Chile, such behaviour is “unprecedented.”

The team followed up on their findings by studying archival data from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), and the eROSITA instrument on IKI and DLR’s Spektr-RG space observatory. That work, along with supporting data collected by the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR), the W. M. Keck Observatory, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, confirmed the original findings: astronomers had indeed witnessed a black hole appear out of nowhere.

“The most tangible option to explain this phenomenon is that we are seeing how the [core] of the galaxy is beginning to show (…) activity,” says co-author Lorena Hernández García from MAS and the University of Valparaíso in Chile. “If so, this would be the first time that we see the activation of a massive black hole in real-time.”

This artist’s impression shows two stages in the formation of a disc of gas and dust around the massive black hole at the centre of the galaxy SDSS1335+0728. The core of this galaxy lit up in 2019 and keeps brightening today — the first time we observed a massive black hole become active in real-time.

Image Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

“These giant monsters usually are sleeping and not directly visible,” added study co-author Claudio Ricci, from the Diego Portales University, also in Chile. “In the case of SDSS1335+0728, we were able to observe the awakening of the massive black hole, [which] suddenly started to feast on gas available in its surroundings, becoming very bright.”

Hernández García says this process was so rare that it had “never been observed before.” Some previous studies had reported galaxies that were thought to be inactive suddenly becoming active, but this was the first time astronomers had seen it unfolding in real-time.

While the team of astronomers admits they don’t exactly know what makes a black hole appear out of nowhere, they believe it is unlikely to be a one-time event. They even believe it could happen much closer to home, at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy.

“This is something that could happen also to our own Sgr A*, the massive black hole (…) located at the centre of our galaxy,” said Ricci.

Moving forward, the team says that additional observations and data analysis should shed even more light on their discovery. They also believe that collecting more data on SDSS1335+0728, which the Chilean-led Automatic Learning for the Rapid Classification of Events (ALeRCE) broker has classified as having an ‘active galactic nucleus’ (AGN), could benefit other researchers trying to understand the life cycle of black holes.

“Regardless of the nature of the variations, [this galaxy] provides valuable information on how black holes grow and evolve,” Sánchez Sáez said. “We expect that instruments like [MUSE on the VLT or those on the upcoming Extremely Large Telescope (ELT)] will be key in understanding [why the galaxy is brightening].”

• Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.

{ https://thedebrief.org/category/space/ }

21-06-2024 om 22:28 geschreven door peter  

Eind 2019 begon het tot dan toe onopvallende sterrenstelsel SDSS1335+0728 plotseling helderder te stralen dan ooit tevoren. Om te begrijpen waarom, hebben astronomen gegevens van diverse instrumenten in de ruimte en op de grond, waaronder de Very Large Telescope (VLT) van de Europese Zuidelijke Sterrenwacht (ESO), gebruikt om bij te houden hoe de helderheid van het stelsel is veranderd. In een vandaag gepubliceerd onderzoeksartikel komen ze tot de conclusie dat ze getuige zijn van veranderingen die nog nooit eerder in een sterrenstelsel zijn waargenomen – waarschijnlijk als gevolg van het plotselinge ontwaken van het enorme zwarte gat in diens kern.

Nog nooit zijn astronomen er getuige van geweest dat een zwart gat ontwaakt. Tot nu, zo lijkt.

Want onlangs hebben onderzoekers mogelijk gezien hoe het zwarte gat in het hart van het verder heel onopvallende sterrenstelsel SDSS1335+0728 opeens actief werd. Dat is te lezen in het blad Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Helderheidsverandering
“Stel je voor dat je een ver sterrenstelsel al jaren waarneemt en dat het altijd rustig en inactief leek te zijn,” vertelt onderzoeker Paula Sánchez Sáez. “En dan begint zijn kern plotseling dramatische helderheidsveranderingen te vertonen – op een manier die je nog nooit eerder hebt gezien.” Het klinkt misschien als het begin van een spannende sciencefictionfilm, maar voor Sánchez Sáez en collega’s was het het begin van een opwindend onderzoek. Want de helderheidsveranderingen die de onderzoeker beschrijft, zagen zij in werkelijkheid plaatsvinden.

Lastig te duiden
En die helderheidsveranderingen waren in beginsel niet zo gemakkelijk te duiden. Want hoewel onderzoekers sterrenstelsels wel vaker zien oplichten – bijvoorbeeld door toedoen van een supernova-explosie of een tidal disruption event (waarbij een ster zich te dicht bij een zwart gat in de buurt waagt en uit elkaar wordt getrokken) – was de helderheidsverandering die SDSS1335+0728 onderging, duidelijk anders. Want waar een supernova of tidal disruption event de helderheid doorgaans enkele tientallen of hooguit honderden dagen beïnvloedt, duurde de helderheidsverandering in SDSS1335+0728 maar voort. Zelfs zo’n vier jaar nadat de onderzoekers de helderheid van het sterrenstelsel voor het eerst zagen toenemen, nam de helderheid nog steeds toe!

Ongekend
Ook spotten de onderzoekers nog niet eerder waargenomen helderheidsvariaties. Zo blijkt SDSS1335+0728 nu veel meer licht op ultraviolette, optische en infrarode golflengten af te geven dan een paar jaar geleden. En in februari van dit jaar begon het sterrenstelsel ook röntgenstraling uit te zenden. “Dit gedrag is ongekend,” stelt Sánchez Sáez.

Primeur
En eigenlijk is er maar één verklaring voor. Namelijk dat het zwarte gat in het hart van dit sterrenstelsel actief begint te worden. “Als dat inderdaad zo is, zou het voor het eerst zijn dat we een enorm zwart gat zien ontwaken,” stelt onderzoeker Lorena Hernández García.

Zwarte gaten: hoe zit het ook alweer?
Een zwart gat is een gebied in de ruimte waar de zwaartekracht zo immens sterk is dat niets – zelfs licht niet – eraan kan ontsnappen. Hierdoor zijn zwarte gaten volslagen donker en in feite dus onzichtbaar. Dat verandert echter als zo’n zwart gat ‘actief’ wordt, oftewel gas naar zich toe gaat trekken. En dat is wat onderzoekers in SDSS1335+0728 – een sterrenstelsel op zo’n 300 miljoen lichtjaar afstand – gezien denken te hebben. “In het geval van SDSS1335+0728 waren we er getuige van hoe het centrale zwarte gat zich plotseling tegoed begon te doen aan gas dat in zijn omgeving voorhanden was, waar het heel helder van werd,” legt onderzoeker Claudio Ricci uit. Dat gat verdwijnt namelijk niet direct in het zwarte gat, maar begeeft zich eerst in een baan rond het zwarte gat en vormt daar een zogenoemde accretieschijf. Het gas in zo’n accretieschijf wordt heel heet en begint te gloeien. Hierdoor neemt de helderheid van het sterrenstelsel waarin het zwarte gat zich bevindt, toe. Eerder hebben onderzoekers wel vastgesteld dat zwarte gaten die eerder inactief waren, actief zijn geworden. Maar tot voor kort waren ze nog nooit daadwerkelijk getuige geweest van het actief worden – of ontwaken – van een zwart gat.

Hoewel de waargenomen helderheidsverandering van SDSS1335+0728 het beste te verklaren is door het feit dat het zwarte gat in het hart van dit sterrenstelsel is ontwaakt, houden de onderzoekers nog een kleine slag om de arm. En dat komt doordat er ook nog andere – maar wellicht minder plausibele – verklaringen denkbaar zijn voor de helderheidsverandering die SDSS1335+0728 ondergaat. Zo zou er bijvoorbeeld ook een ongekend traag verlopend tidal disruption event aan ten grondslag kunnen liggen. Of misschien wel een ander proces dat we op dit moment helemaal niet kennen. Vervolgwaarnemingen zijn dan ook nodig om met zekerheid te kunnen stellen dat onderzoekers zojuist – voor het eerst – getuige zijn geweest van het ontwaken van een zwart gat. “We verwachten dat instrumenten zoals MUSE van de VLT (Very Large Telescope, red.) of die van de komende Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) van cruciaal belang zullen zijn om te begrijpen waarom de helderheid van dit sterrenstelsel toeneemt,” zo stelt Sánchez Sáez.

Alsof het nooit anders is geweest: wetenschappers geven mensen een extra duim - en die wennen daar vervolgens bizar snel aan.

Bronmateriaal

• "Astronomen zien een enorm zwart gat ontwaken" - ESO
  
• Afbeelding bovenaan dit artikel: ESO / M. Kornmesser

{ https://scientias.nl/ }

21-06-2024 om 22:04 geschreven door peter  

Infrared astronomy is necessary when studying particularly dusty nebulae since the clouds of dust and gas obscure most of the visible light of the stars within them. Thanks to its advanced infrared optics, Webb was able to detect slightly longer wavelengths using its MIRI instrument. Mary Barsony, an astronomer with the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe (part of the SETI Institute), was the lead author of a new paper that describes the results. As she related in a recent NASA press statement.

“Our jaws dropped. After studying this source for decades, we thought we knew it pretty well. But we would not have known this was two stars or that these jets existed without MIRI. That’s really astonishing. It’s like having brand new eyes.”

Radio telescopes are another way to study nebulae, though they are not guaranteed to reveal the same features as infrared instruments. In the case of WL 20S, the absorbed light was visible in the submillimeter range, making ALMA the ideal choice for follow-up observations. However, the high-resolution mid-infrared data was needed to discern WL 20S as a pair of stars with individual accretion disks. This allowed the team to resolve stellar jets composed of ionized gas that is not visible at submillimeter wavelengths.

“The power of these two telescopes together is really incredible. If we hadn’t seen that these were two stars, the ALMA results might have just looked like a single disk with a gap in the middle. Instead, we have new data about two stars that are clearly at a critical point in their lives, when the processes that formed them are petering out.”

The combined MIRI and ALMA results revealed that the twin stars are nearing the end of their formation period and may already have a system of planets. Future observations of these stars with Webb and other telescopes will enable astronomers to learn more about how young stars transition from formation to their main sequence phase. “It’s amazing that this region still has so much to teach us about the life cycle of stars,” said Ressler. “I’m thrilled to see what else Webb will reveal.”

Further Reading: 

• NASA

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

21-06-2024 om 20:40 geschreven door peter  

There have been numerous, almost fanciful ideas proposed from great big balloons covered in sticky stuff like giant fly paper in orbit to pickup bits and bobs floating around. Nets have also been proposed even lasers to piece by piece destroy the offending objects. If I were a betting man I would go for something along the lines of a net travelling through space at similar velocity, scooping up the debris and controlling its gentle deorbit until either landed safely for collection or burnt up in the atmosphere. 

The ideas are there, what we are lacking, is data to assess their feasibility. Enter Astroscale, a company that was founded in 2013 and develops in-orbit solutions. They have been selected by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency – JAXA – for the first phase of Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration. The purpose to demonstrate how the technology for removing large pieces of debris. This has led to the development of ADRAS-J (Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan.)

ADRAS-J was launched on 18 February and started its rendezvous phase four days later. On 9 April it began its approach from a few hundred kilometres and from 16 April it began its automated relative navigation approach taking it to within a few hundred metres using the onboard infrared camera. On 23 May it approached to 50 metres, a first for any spacecraft to arrive in such proximity to a large piece of debris. 

The item is the upper stage of a Japanese rocket that measures 11 metres long and 4 metres in diameter. Now the two are so close, ADRAS-J will demonstrate proximity operations and collect images of the rocket to assess its movements. This is a particularly interesting object for ADRAS-J to study becausey it has no technology or infrastructure to enable docking or servicing so is a challenging piece of debris to remove.

Source : 

• Historic Approach to Space Debris: Astroscale’s ADRAS-J Closes in by 50 Meters

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

21-06-2024 om 20:32 geschreven door peter  

A tardigrade, or water bear.

DR. DIANE R. NELSON Getty Images

{ https://scientias.nl/ }

21-06-2024 om 18:35 geschreven door peter  

Jaime Maussan, a Mexican journo and UFO boffin who reckons he's got the extraterrestrial cadavers, is on the hunt for Yank and Euro scientists to prove they're real.

Jaime Maussan reckons he's got the extraterrestrial cadavers 

(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Two unearthed 'alien' mummies from Peru have sparked a firestorm of debate after x-ray and ultrasound data was revealed in March, with experts worried they might be ancient humans nicked by grave robbers.

Jaime Maussan, a Mexican journo and UFO boffin who reckons he's got the extraterrestrial cadavers, is on the hunt for Yank and Euro scientists to prove they're real.

Chatting to the Daily Mail, Maussan spilled the beans that more "analyses are being done", and he's taking the Peruvian Government to court for the rights to cart the bodies off to top-notch labs in the States.

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• Conjoined twins slam evil trolls after one gets married in fairytale wedding

Maussan, no stranger to controversy and having ruffled feathers for the best part of ten years, is floating the theory that these mummies could be alien-human "hybrids", with his team claiming the new finds are packing "30 percent unknown" DNA.

But the sceptics aren't buying it, with history buff Christopher Heaney telling the Daily Mail: "Personally, I am not convinced that they are humanoid. I think they're human".

Over the past twelve months, Maussan and his squad have been banging the drum for more scientific eyeballs on the remains, even causing a stir with a contentious showcase to Mexico's bigwigs in Congress and butting heads with Peru's Ministry of Culture.

In April, the drama hit fever pitch when cops busted into a press conference hosted by Maussan in Peru, aiming to nick one of the bodies on show known as "Montserrat".

Now, Maussan is hitting back with a whopper of a lawsuit against Peru's government, demanding damages and the right to cart the strange specimens off to the States for some poking and prodding by independents.

"The lawsuit is already in for $300 million (£235.5 million)," Maussan dished out to the Daily Mail.

On his Sunday show "No Humano", Maussan let slip it's going to be an eight-month wait for any news on the courtroom front. This isn't about lining his pockets though, he's keen to splash the cash on a museum showcasing the mummies.

{ https://www.dailystar.co.uk/ }

21-06-2024 om 18:02 geschreven door peter  

Expert Claims Test On Roswell Metal Fragment Yielded Proof UFO Crash In 1947

BY CASS ANDERSON

I’m typically an extreme skeptic when it comes to evidence of extra terrestrial life on earth. But evidence from a new Discovery channel show has at least piqued my curiosity and bolsters the theory that a UFO crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico back in 1947.

In a short clip released from the show (video below), they reveal that they tested the metal allegedly found at the crash in Roswell in 1947 which people have for generations claimed to be a UFO. The man on camera claims the test results came back as 100% aluminum.

Why is this important? Because no matter how hard we’ve tried, humans have simply been unable to make 100% pure aluminum. We consider ‘pure aluminum’ to be 99% aluminum and our highest possible purity is 99.9999% but for aluminum to be 100% suggests it came from a UFO at Roswell.

Skeptic as I am, I’m inclined to think that whatever test was used to evaluate this aluminum was highly accurate but probably not accurate enough to test out to the .0001%.

{ https://brobible.com/ }

21-06-2024 om 17:43 geschreven door peter  

UFOs Are Invading Japan's Airspace—and Authorities Are Digging Deep to Find the Truth

ktsimage//Getty Images

Members of the Japanese government will investigate recent sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), to determine if the sightings are credible. The group will work to determine if the spotted craft are in any way a threat to Japan’s security.

While the Japanese group is open to exploring all sightings, their focus is very much on the possibility of earthbound threats, especially from neighboring China, rather than extraterrestrial ones.

A High-Level Effort

US Air Force

Japanese F-15J pilot scramble to their planes during an air defense exercise, 2017.

According to Jiji Press, the group consists of approximately 80 Japanese lawmakers, including the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s parliamentary affairs leader, and three former defense ministers. The group, mostly drawn from Japan’s legislative body, or Diet, believes the UAP phenomenon is under-scrutinized by the government, especially in light of recent sightings of unidentified objects in and around Japan.

The as-yet-untitled group has decided to include the term “unidentified anomalous phenomena” in its name. “UAP” is a term recently promulgated by the U.S. Department of Defense to differentiate its own investigative effort from past efforts to study unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, which have strong associations with flying saucers and possible extraterrestrial sightings.

So far, the group lacks any direct government or agency support, like the Ministry of Defense or the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Japanese equivalent of NASA. That said, as lawmakers, the investigators can approve spending to involve those agencies in UAP analyses.

A New Threat?

SOPA Images//Getty Images

A television at Seoul’s Yongsan Railway Station displays news about North Korea conducting a drill to launch the Hwasal-2 strategic cruise missile off its west coast. A low-flying, subsonic cruise missile like Hwasal-2 could be mistaken for a UFO.

Like most countries, Japan has traditionally not paid a lot of attention to UFO sightings. A number of factors have boosted awareness of UAPs: a number of high-profile sightings reported by U.S. military pilots, radar operators, and other personnel; the development of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones; and China’s use of balloons to collect intelligence regarding foreign countries.

The broad concern is that China or Russia could be behind the sightings. The greatest concern is that either country might have experienced a technological breakthrough that allows its aircraft to conduct aerial maneuvers that are impossible by today’s standards. In 2004, for example Navy personnel reported monitoring craft that could fly up to 7,200 miles an hour, faster than the fastest-known aircraft, and quickly changing altitude, going from 20,000 feet to 80,000 feet in a matter of moments. Any military aircraft capable of such maneuvers would have a decisive advantage over an American or Japanese aircraft.

Another possibility is that a foreign power might conduct espionage against Japan using drones or balloons, and that sightings of such devices could be chalked up to sightings of alien craft—and as a result, not be taken seriously. A Chinese drone could literally operate in plain sight, with eyewitnesses ridiculed by the authorities, as it gathered sensitive intelligence about Japanese political, military, and economic targets.

In 2020, the Ministry of Defense ordered the Self Defense Forces to create a reporting protocol for UAPs. In February 2023, shortly after a Chinese spy balloon flew over the United States, the Japanese government reported that three previous sightings of unidentified flying objects were “strongly suspected” to have been of Chinese origin. The sightings, in 2019, 2020, and 2021, took place across Japan and involved overflying Japanese airspace, a breach of international law under the Chicago Convention on International Aviation.

After the incidents were made public, Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told the press that the Self-Defense Forces, Japan’s armed forces, will be allowed to use weapons, including air-to-air missiles, in dealing with craft that violate Japanese airspace. In 2021, the Asahi Shimbun reported that members of the Air Self Defense Force had on at least two occasions reported seeing unusual flying craft.

Japan vs. the Flying Saucers

U.S. Navy Photo

An SM-3 missile is launched from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer JS Kirishima, October 2010. The SM-3 is capable of intercepting targets in low Earth orbit.

Japan is an island archipelago of 14,125 islands, and relies on air and sea routes for trade with the outside world. It also imports most of its food and energy from abroad, vital to keeping the world’s fourth largest economy humming. As a result, Japan maintains strong air and naval forces to keep those routes open, and its alliance with the United States means it has a powerful partner against aggressive neighbors such as China, Russia, and North Korea.

The Self Defense Forces of Japan are some of the most technologically advanced in the world. Japan is set to purchase 147 F-35 Lightning II fighter jets, which will be the second largest F-35 fleet outside of the United States. Meanwhile, the two countries co-fund the SM-3 exoatmospheric ballistic missile interceptor, which shoots down incoming missile warheads, and Japan operates what is generally considered the most advanced non-nuclear powered attack submarines in existence, the Taigei class. Japan is also set to double its spending on security, including defense spending, by 2027.

All of that spending is focused on countering known, specific threats, such as North Korean Hwasong ballistic missiles, Chengdu J-20 fighters of the Chinese Air Force, and missile submarines of the Russian Navy. If, like the balloons that flew over Japan from 2019 to 2021, there are other threats that are being reported, but disregarded because they are catalogued as “UFOs”, that creates a blind spot for the Self Defense Forces that an adversary can continue to exploit.

As UAP study group chairman and former Defense Minister Hamada said, “Leaving something unknown is a problem for national security.”

The new Japanese effort to study UAPs is several steps behind the United States, whose All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, or AARO, is currently investigating UAP sightings. Like the U.S., Japan is more interested in the possibility of enemies from China piloting mysterious craft instead of little green men from Mars.

{ https://www.popularmechanics.com/ }

21-06-2024 om 15:56 geschreven door peter  

UFO over Gastonia, North Carolina on May 14, 2024, UAP Sighting News.

{ https://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ }

21-06-2024 om 15:26 geschreven door peter  

From UFO Disclosure to UAP Transparency: Richard Dolan Explores the Evolution

Richard Dolan, a prominent UFO historian, delves into the evolving terminology and its implications in his insightful analysis on “The Richard Dolan Show.” The shift from “UFO” to “UAP” and from “Disclosure” to “Transparency” is more than mere semantics; it reflects broader societal and institutional attitudes toward these phenomena and attempts at narrative control.

The Evolution of Terminology

In the early days of UFO sightings, the term “flying saucers” was commonly used. This term carried connotations of science fiction and public hysteria, which often overshadowed serious investigations. Over time, the term evolved to “unidentified flying objects” (UFOs), a phrase coined by the United States military to bring a veneer of scientific objectivity and bureaucratic stability to the study of these phenomena.

In recent years, however, there has been a notable shift toward the term “unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAP) and more recently, “unidentified anomalous phenomena.” This transition reflects an ongoing effort to rebrand and destigmatize the subject, making it more palatable for scientific study and public discussion. Dr. Richard Haynes, a NASA scientist and active UFO researcher, is credited with popularizing the term UAP in the 1990s, aiming to strip away the cultural baggage associated with UFOs and encourage serious investigation.

From Disclosure to Transparency

For decades, the UFO community has championed the concept of “disclosure,” which implies a revealing of hidden or secret information about UFOs by an established authority, often envisioned as a dramatic, definitive revelation by the President or another high-ranking official. This notion of disclosure suggests a moment of truth, where the existence and nature of UFOs would be laid bare for public scrutiny.

In contrast, the term “transparency” has recently come into vogue, particularly in political and military circles. Transparency implies an ongoing process of openness and accountability but lacks the promise of a complete or final revelation. This shift from “disclosure” to “transparency” can be seen as a form of virtue signaling, providing a semblance of accountability while still allowing those in power to control the narrative and the extent of information released.

The Role of Language in Shaping Perception

Dolan emphasizes the power of language in shaping public perception and controlling narratives. He draws parallels with George Carlin’s critique of “soft language,” which dilutes the truth and makes serious issues seem less immediate and real. Similarly, George Orwell’s exploration of political jargon and euphemisms in “Politics and the English Language” highlights how language can obscure harsh realities and manipulate public thought.

The rebranding of UFOs to UAPs and the shift from disclosure to transparency can be seen as modern examples of these linguistic strategies. By changing the terminology, authorities can influence how the public perceives and discusses these phenomena, often reducing the urgency and altering the nature of the conversation.

Implications for the Future

While the shift to UAP and the emphasis on transparency have opened the door to broader discussions and bipartisan support in Congress, they also come with potential pitfalls. The term UAP encompasses a wide range of phenomena, including any airborne objects that cannot be immediately identified. This broad definition can dilute the focus on truly unexplained phenomena and make it easier for authorities to dismiss or downplay significant sightings.

• https://youtu.be/Frn7yppD0is

Moreover, the promise of transparency without the commitment to full disclosure may lead to continued obfuscation and control of the narrative. As Dolan notes, the institutional structures that have grown around the UFO secret over the past 80 years are deeply entrenched, involving significant financial interests and powerful players. Genuine disclosure, if it ever comes, is likely to be disruptive and challenging to the status quo.

In conclusion, Richard Dolan’s analysis on “The Richard Dolan Show” sheds light on the significant shifts in language and terminology surrounding UFOs and UAPs. Understanding these changes is crucial for anyone interested in the study of unidentified phenomena and the broader societal and institutional forces at play. The transition from UFO disclosure to UAP transparency reflects deeper efforts at narrative control and highlights the ongoing challenges in achieving true openness and understanding in this enigmatic field.

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

21-06-2024 om 15:18 geschreven door peter