New Map Reveals Impressive Megastructures in Local Universe

The newly-developed map of the local Universe is based on the motions of 56,000 galaxies, according to a team of astrophysicists from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam.

This map shows the distribution of matter in the local Universe; it shows how matter flows, i.e. along which trajectories (thin lines) the galaxies move.

Image credit: Valade et al., doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02370-0.

“Mapping the Universe has always been one of the most challenging tasks in astronomy,” said lead author Dr. Aurelien Valade and colleagues.

“Inaccurate observations, observational errors and incomplete data make this work extremely difficult.”

“In addition, the observed galaxies make up only a small part of the total mass in the Universe, as much of the matter exists in the form of invisible dark matter.”

“Furthermore, galaxies are not bound to be formed in such a way that they accurately trace the underlying matter well, which makes them an uncertain indicator of the matter distribution in the Universe.”

“Therefore, in order to create a map of our cosmic environment, we also look at the motion of galaxies.”

“On the one hand, galaxies move away from us with the expansion of the Universe, but on the other hand they also attract each other due to gravity.”

“These movements can be mapped and reveal the cosmic currents — the rivers and gulf-streams throughout the cosmos on which galaxies move.”

“Since the motion is caused by gravity, it can thus be used to see the invisible.”

To create a map of the local Universe, the authors used data on the motions of 56,000 galaxies from the Cosmic Flows-4 catalogue.

“Since the measurements of each galaxy’s velocity are error prone and fairly uncertain, there are various possible cosmographic maps that would fit the observational data,” they explained.

“Thus, we developed a new approach: a ‘probabilistic’ map of the Universe.”

“Such a map indicates how likely it is that a certain feature, such as a ‘basin of attraction,’ actually exists.”

“A basin of attraction is a region which, absent the cosmic expansion, would collapse to a single point.”

With this new method, the researchers obtained a reliable picture of the large-scale distribution of matter and revealed astonishing structures of our cosmic neighborhood.

“Laniakea, the supercluster to which many believed that our Galaxy belongs, is probably merely an appendage of the much larger Shapley basin. It may not even exist as a separate entity,” they said.

“Even more astonishing is the fact that the Sloan Great Wall — an immense wall composed of hundreds of thousands of galaxies — at around a thousand trillion trillion cubic light years is currently the largest known structure in this cosmic network of galaxies.”

“It is perhaps unsurprising that the further into the cosmos we look, we find that our home supercluster is more connected and more extensive than we thought,” said Dr. Noam Libeskind, co-author on the study.

“Discovering that there is a good chance that we are part of a much larger structure is exciting.”

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

30-09-2024 om 21:52 geschreven door peter  

Earth to Pass Through the Same Taurid Meteor Stream in 2032 That May Have Triggered a Mass Extinction 12,800 Years Ago

Earth will travel right in front of the same Taurid meteor stream in 2032 that caused a mass extinction and worldwide flood ~12,800 years ago, plunging Earth into a mini-Ice Age for 1,300 years. Graham Hancock was right all this time but we did not listen to him.

Our solar system is a dangerous place, and every month Earth inches closer to one of its riskier places, the “Taurid swarm” of meteors. Our planet is predicted to pass directly through the “Taurid swarm” in November 2032.

An ancient monument found in Turkey might be more than just a monument—it could be the world’s oldest solar calendar. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh studied symbols carved on the pillars of Göbekli Tepe, a large, ancient site in southern Turkey. They think these carvings were used to track days, seasons, and years, like a calendar. (Source)

The team noticed that each “V” shape carved on the pillars might represent one day. One pillar even had 365 “V”s, the same number as days in a year. They also found that a special “V” around the neck of a bird-like figure could represent the summer solstice—the longest day of the year. This might explain why the “V” symbol shows up on many other statues in the area, often around the necks of figures connected to time and creation.

Mini Ice Age

The ancient calendar focused on tracking day, night, and seasonal changes, which might have become more important after a major comet hit Earth around 10,850 B.C. This event likely caused a mini-ice age that wiped out many species. According to Martin Sweatman, a researcher from the University of Edinburgh, the people at Gobekli Tepe were careful observers of the sky, possibly because the comet strike had changed their world.

This disaster may have sparked the beginning of civilization by starting new religious beliefs and pushing people to develop agriculture to survive the colder climate. Their carvings might be some of the earliest attempts at writing. These carvings also tracked the cycles of the Moon and Sun, long before similar calendars were made. They may have even shown for the first time that comet strikes are more likely to happen when Earth crosses the path of comet fragments, something that modern scientists have confirmed.

To help support this theory, the team points to another pillar at the site appearing to picture the Taurid meteor stream lasting 27 days, which was quite possibly the source of the ancient comet strike. The researchers believe that the temple carvings show the ancient civilization was recording dates precisely, noting how the movement of constellations across the sky differed based on the time of the year. This would be 10,000 years before Hipparchus of ancient Greece documented the wobble in the Earth’s axis in 150 BC, making this newfound calendar well ahead of its time.

The Younger Dryas boundary (YDB) cosmic-impact hypothesis suggests that around 12,800 years ago, Earth was hit by pieces of a large comet, which broke apart as it entered the inner solar system. This event likely caused a chain reaction, leading to an “impact winter” (a period of intense cold) and a climate change episode called the Younger Dryas (YD). (Source)

The collision is also believed to have caused massive wildfires, the extinction of large animals like mammoths, and changes in human cultures and population decline. Evidence of this impact includes unusually high levels of platinum found at 26 sites across the Northern Hemisphere, including in ice cores from Greenland, which show platinum deposits over a 21-year period.

The start of the Younger Dryas also shows an increase in dust and chemicals linked to wildfires, like ammonium and other burning aerosols, found in ice cores from Greenland, Antarctica, and Russia. These signs point to one of the biggest wildfire events in over 120,000 years, with about 9% of Earth’s forests burned, covering 10 million square kilometers.

This large-scale burning and the cooling effect of the impact may have triggered the Younger Dryas climate change, according to the theory.

A 2021 study (Taurid complex smoking gun) found that 88 near-Earth asteroids, hidden in the debris that creates the Taurid Meteor Shower, likely came from the breakup of a single comet about 20,000 years ago. Astronomers at the University of Antioquia in Colombia studied the ‘Taurid complex’ to learn more about where these objects came from.

In the 1980s, scientists William Napier and Victor Clube noticed large asteroids in the Taurid stream. They suggested these asteroids had the same origin as Comet Encke, which orbits the Sun every three years. However, some asteroids are over a mile wide, meaning they couldn’t have come from Comet Encke itself. Scientists Ignacio Ferrín and Vincenzo Orofino reviewed old research and measured light reflected from the larger asteroids.

They found more evidence that both Comet Encke and the big asteroids came from the breakup of a huge ice comet, 62 miles wide, about 20,000 years ago. The team warned that these asteroids could be dangerous to Earth, and others from the ancient comet might have already hit our planet in the past. Every year, Earth passes through a stream of debris, causing shooting stars to appear in October in the southern hemisphere and November in the north.

Comet Encke, first seen in 1786, left a trail of debris as it got closer to the sun, like other comets. This trail, made up of rocks, dust, and debris, sometimes comes close to Earth, leading to lots of scientific study. Some studies focus on larger asteroids.

Experts think impacts from the Taurid stream may have contributed to the extinction of ancient cultures and global cooling during the Younger Dryas period. The 1908 Tunguska event, where a small asteroid exploded above Russia, destroying millions of trees, is believed to be connected to this debris stream.

In 2013, the Chelyabinsk meteor, which injured over 1,500 people in Russia, may have also come from the Taurid stream. In 2005, NASA astronomer Rob Suggs observed a flash from a meteor hitting the moon, which was part of the Taurid meteor shower.

A team of Colombian researchers, along with astronomers from Italy’s University of Salento, reviewed many studies on space impacts. They confirmed that a group of space objects contains up to 88 large pieces. Using a method called secular light curves, they noticed changes in the brightness of these objects and found that 67% showed signs of “comet-like” activity. This supported the idea that these objects came from a common origin.

Napier, another scientist, supported their findings. He said that these asteroids, which have orbits like Comet Encke, could either be affected by unknown forces or are pieces of a larger, older comet that lost its gases. This original comet may have been a “rubble pile” – a mix of rocks and other materials held together by ice. Over time, this pile could have broken apart, possibly due to forces from the Sun or another object, creating smaller fragments.

One asteroid, Oljato, is an example of a rubble pile. It’s still held together by ice, which gives it comet-like activity, but it’s much smaller than its parent. Bigger inactive objects like Morpheus are similar, but their ice is trapped inside. Smaller objects, like 2006 SO198, might be the original rocky pieces. The team explained that even if an object looks like a regular asteroid, it could still have a comet-like origin.

Taurid meteors, part of this group, are usually larger than normal meteors. They shine brightly and go deeper into the Earth’s atmosphere, sometimes creating fireballs. While this is mostly harmless, the discovery of larger asteroids in one “dangerous” part of the meteor stream could be a real threat.

Earth passes through this risky area every few years, leading to more shooting stars and possibly large objects hitting Earth instead of burning up in the atmosphere. Future encounters are expected in 2022, 2025, 2032, and 2039.

In 2021, David Asher, Armagh Observatory astronomer predicted that in 2032 and 2036 we are likely to pass through the centre of the Taurid complex, where there will be a ‘noticeable enhancement of fireballs.’ According to study [Taurid complex smoking gun] authors Ignacio Ferrín and Vincenzo Orofino, outgassing from comet-like objects within the complex could be hiding smaller, but still potentially dangerous, asteroids that might hit the Earth.

‘The Tunguska cosmic body was 60 to 90 meters in diameter,’ he told Discover Magazine, adding that we ‘now believe the complex may contain many more objects of that size. It is not the tame, simple and innocent complex we thought it was.’

{ https://howandwhys.com/ }

30-09-2024 om 21:11 geschreven door peter  

Are we living in a simulation? Scientist claims we're simply characters in an advanced AI world - and says the proof is hidden in the BIBLE

• Passages from the Bible support the simulation hypothesis, physicist claims
• READ MORE: These everyday clues seem to suggest we're living in a simulation 

By Jonathan Chadwick For Mailonline 

If you feel like you're living in a convincing virtual reality akin to The Matrix, a scientist thinks you may well be right.

Melvin Vopson, an associate professor in physics at the University of Portsmouth, claims our entire universe may be an advanced computer simulation. 

And the proof that this so-called simulation hypothesis is correct may be hiding in plain sight in the Bible.

Professor Vopson told MailOnline: 'The bible itself tells us that we are in a simulation and it also tells us who is doing it.

'It is done by an AI – an artificial intelligence.' 

Professor Vopson points to the Gospel of John, one of the first four books of the New Testament, the second part of the Christian Bible

Professor Vopson points to the Gospel of John, one of the first four books of the New Testament, the second part of the Christian Bible. 

Gospel of John opens with the powerful statement: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.'

The professor says this verse has 'deep theological significance in Christian doctrine', but it also carries 'intriguing implications' when considered in the context of the universe as a simulation. 

He argues that 'the Word' in this famous sentence refers to the underlying computer code that governs and controls the simulation. 

As anyone who has seen The Matrix will know, any computer simulation, big or small, consists of letters and numbers that write the rules for the entire creation. 

The academic further argues that 'the Word was God' could mean that God is part of the simulation, rather than separate from it. 

In other words, the entity that is controlling the whole thing – God – is written into the code too. 

Professor Vopson explains: 'The code running the simulation is not separate from the divine, but rather an integral part of it, perhaps an AI.'

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Are we in a simulation? Scientist claims proof is hidden in the BIBLE

If we are living in a simulation then I want to know who to speak to to upgrade my package. I appear to be on the budget plan.

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In the blockbuster movie The Matrix, protagonist Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, discovers we're living in a simulated reality. By the end of the film, Neo is able to see the simulated world for what it is - computer code (pictured)

The simulated universe hypothesis proposes that what humans experience is actually an artificial reality, much like a computer simulation, in which they themselves are constructs. It formed the basis for the 1999 film The Matrix starring Keanu Reeves (pictured as his character wakes up in the real world)

Gospel of John goes on to say: 'All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made...'

Again, this statement supports the simulated universe theory, the professor suggests. 

'It implies a Creator who brought the simulated universe into existence through the Word (i.e. the code)' he says.

'It suggests that the act of creation, as described in the Bible, could be analogous to a divine act of programming and simulation.' 

Arguably, the theory offers an answer to a question that many Christians struggle with – how did God create the universe in six days?

If the theory's to be believed, he did so by creating a simulated reality encapsulated in a computer programme – something we know to be possible. 

The simulation theory 

Professor Vopson has outlined his hypothesis in his new book, 'Reality Reloaded: The Scientific Case for a Simulated Universe'. 

He says it is not even something he necessarily believes in, but a 'extraordinary observation that deserves attention'. 

'What is truly remarkable is that the interpretation given is fully aligned to the events of our times: the emergence of the AI, and also it is exactly what 'The Matrix' was projecting,' he told MailOnline. 

While the professor's thoughts may seem sacrilegious to some, he says it could have 'profound implications for Christian theology'. 

He believes there's an overlap where a belief in the simulated universe theory and the religious need for a almighty creator 'can coexist harmoniously'.  

'This perspective aligns with religious beliefs that hold human life to be meaningful and purposeful, even within the context of a larger design,' he says. 

'Instead of viewing the simulated universe hypothesis as antagonistic to religious beliefs, one can see it as offering a complementary perspective.'  

The professor has already said our lives contains several clues that suggest we're merely characters in an advanced virtual world. 

Melvin Vopson, an associate professor in physics at the University of Portsmouth, has outlined the clues that suggest we live in a simulated reality  

Professor Vopson thinks the prevalence of symmetry in the universe (pictured) suggests we are in a simulated reality because it's a way to save computational power 

For example, the fact there's limits to how fast light and sound can travel suggest they may be governed by the speed of a computer processor. 

The laws of physics that govern the universe are also akin to computer code, he says, while elementary particles that make up matter are like pixels. 

He also thinks the abundance of symmetry in the world – from flowers to butterflies and snowflakes – is a power-saving technique the machines use to render the digitally constructed world. 

The simulation theory is not unique to Professor Vopson; in fact, it's popular among a number of well-known figures including Tesla founder Elon Musk and American astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson. 

At a 2016 conference, Musk said the odds that we're living in a 'base reality' – the real universe as opposed to a simulated one – are 'one in billions'. 

The term 'base reality' is part of an expansion on the theory that there are layers upon layers of fake realities that we need to somehow wake up from, akin to the film 'Inception'.

But as French philosopher René Descartes pointed out in 1637, 'Cogito, ergo sum', translated from the Latin as 'I think, therefore I am'. 

In other words, the ability to doubt the nature of our reality is essentially proof that we exist, in some shape or form. 

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

30-09-2024 om 20:37 geschreven door peter  

China transformeerde maangrond in water: de eerste stap naar echte kolonisatie?

door Janine

NASA

Dat China plannen heeft om de maan en haar grondstoffen te gebruiken is zeker geen mysterie. Tegelijkertijd heeft het Aziatische land de afgelopen jaren verschillende sondes naar onze satelliet gestuurd, waaronder naar de verborgen kant. Meer recent is echter het nieuws dat een team van Chinese wetenschappers enkele monsters die door de Chang'e 5-missie naar de aarde zijn teruggebracht, heeft gebruikt om water te produceren. Zou dit de eerste stap kunnen zijn naar een toekomstige menselijke aanwezigheid op de maan? Laten we het samen uitzoeken!

Chang'e 5 en de maanmonsters teruggebracht naar de aarde

Zoals de naam al doet vermoeden, is de Chang'e 5-missie zeker niet de eerste die op de maan is gearriveerd. Het bijzondere aan deze missie is dat er voor het eerst in 44 jaar monsters van de maanbodem naar de aarde zijn teruggebracht. Ondanks de daaropvolgende Chang'e 6-missie, waarbij in plaats daarvan de verborgen kant van onze satelliet werd betrokken, zijn de resultaten van Chang'e 5 simpelweg buitengewoon. Zoals te lezen is in een recente studie gepubliceerd in het tijdschrift The Innovation, hebben Chinese wetenschappers ontdekt dat de mineralen waaruit de bodem van de maan bestaat rijk zijn aan waterstof en kunnen worden gebruikt om ter plekke water te produceren. Maar hoe?

De methode waarmee je water uit eenvoudige grond kunt halen, vereist het verwarmen van de mineralen waaruit het bestaat tot extreem hoge temperaturen, om een ​​chemische reactie van de elementen met waterstof te veroorzaken en daardoor tot de vorming van waterdamp te leiden.

Hoe je water van de Maan krijgt

Chen et al./The Innovation - 2024

Dankzij de innovatieve methode van Chinese wetenschappers kan uit elke ton maangrond ongeveer 50 liter water worden gewonnen. Het lijkt misschien niet veel, en het is ongetwijfeld een proces dat om verschillende redenen op aarde geen zin zou hebben. Op de maan verandert dit echter: 50 liter water kan voorzien in de dagelijkse behoeften van de leden van een hypothetische menselijke missie op een hypothetische maanbasis. De maanbasis vormt een concreet doel van de Chinese ruimteverkenning: het ter plekke kunnen produceren van water zou een enorm voordeel betekenen.

In feite wil China vòòr 2035 een permanent onderzoeksstation op de maan bouwen, terwijl China vòòr 2045 een ruimtestation in een baan rond de satelliet wil bouwen. Als Chang'e 5 na 44 jaar de eerste missie was die maanmonsters terugbracht, is de Chang'e 6-missie de eerste die monsters van de andere kant van de maan terugbracht. Kortom: China lijkt het serieus te nemen.

Naar een toekomstige maanbasis... en verder

Dat het mogelijk is om water rechtstreeks uit de maanbodem te halen is buitengewoon nieuws dat echter ook een aantal overwegingen met zich meebrengt. Allereerst moeten we begrijpen hoeveel energie er nodig is om de bodem te verwarmen en welke andere elementen betrokken zijn bij het proces van waterdampvorming. Ten tweede mogen we de geopolitieke implicaties niet vergeten van de belangstelling die China toont voor onze satelliet: de concurrentie om maanbronnen zal in de toekomst steeds levendiger worden. En mogelijk ook heviger.

Kortom, de resultaten van de Chinese Academie van Wetenschappen laten zien hoe het mogelijk is om steeds dichter bij het idee van een permanente aanwezigheid van de mens op de maan te komen. Aan de andere kant zijn er tientallen jaren verstreken sinds de laatste keer dat een astronaut een wandeling maakte op onze satelliet. De volgende zou wel eens een ruimtestation op de maan kunnen bewonen, op haar grond kunnen lopen... en haar water kunnen drinken.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

30-09-2024 om 18:48 geschreven door peter  

Artikel door businessam.be

 

Revolutie in de ruimtevaart: nieuw aandrijfsysteem maakt oneindige ruimtereizen mogelijk

Key takeaways

• Super Magdrive gebruikt direct beschikbare metalen in de ruimte als brandstof.
• Traditionele raketmotoren zijn afhankelijk van schaarse bronnen zoals xenon of krypton.
• Dit nieuwe systeem maakt gebruik van metalen zoals ijzer, aluminium en koper.

Onderzoekers van de Universiteit van Southampton ontwikkelen een baanbrekend aandrijvingssysteem dat direct beschikbare metalen uit de ruimte gebruikt als brandstof. Deze innovatieve technologie, bekend als Super Magdrive, zou ruimtetuigen in staat kunnen stellen om oneindige reizen door de kosmos te maken.

Traditionele raketmotoren zijn afhankelijk van schaarse grondstoffen zoals xenon of krypton, die overvloedig aanwezig zijn op aarde maar moeilijk te verkrijgen zijn in de diepe ruimte. Dit nieuwe systeem maakt daarentegen gebruik van metalen zoals ijzer, aluminium en koper, die in overvloed aanwezig zijn in ons zonnestelsel. Hoofdonderzoeker Dr. Minkwan Kim benadrukt in een gesprek met Sky News dat dit een revolutionaire benadering van ruimteverkenning is, waardoor ruimtetuigen zich ver in de kosmos kunnen wagen en gedurende langere perioden kunnen werken.

Kritische ontwikkelingen en samenwerkingsverbanden

Het team van Dr. Kim werkte samen met het Britse ruimtevaartbedrijf Magdrive aan de ontwikkeling van Super Magdrive. De Britse overheid heeft 1 miljoen pond beschikbaar gesteld om dit project te ondersteunen. Dr. Kim ziet deze technologie als een hoeksteen voor toekomstige missies in de diepe ruimte, die mogelijk tot ongekende ontdekkingen kunnen leiden.

Toekomstige implicaties en verwachtingen

Hij gelooft dat het een revolutie teweeg kan brengen in ons vermogen om nieuwe planeten te verkennen, naar buitenaards leven te zoeken en de grenzen van menselijke verkenning te verleggen door reizen mogelijk te maken die verder gaan dan eerder bedachte grenzen.

De ruimtevaart van de toekomst documentaire fragment

{ https://www.msn.com/nl-be/ }

30-09-2024 om 18:01 geschreven door peter  

SpaceX launches mission to rescue astronauts stranded at ISS

A SpaceX spacecraft has lifted off to rescue two astronauts stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) due to technical issues.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian astronaut Aleksandr Gorbunov took off on Saturday from Cape Canaveral, Florida to bring back Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore.

The Dragon spacecraft, operated by SpaceX, the private company founded by billionaire Elon Musk, is set to arrive at the ISS on Sunday.

Originally, astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson were set to be part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission.

However, they gave up their spots to accommodate Williams and Wilmore, astronauts stranded on the ISS due to technical issues with the Starliner spacecraft.

Williams and Wilmore were originally scheduled to return to Earth on June 13, after their Boeing Starliner capsule launched its first crewed flight from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on June 5. But the Starliner had been plagued with issues, even before the June 5 launch. A previous launch attempt was scrapped on June 1 just moments before launch because of a ground control computer performance issue.

During the 25-hour flight to the International Space Station, the spacecraft experienced several helium leaks and a malfunctioning thruster. Then, when the Starliner arrived on June 6 and attempted to dock at the ISS, four more of the 28 thrusters malfunctioned causing the ship’s arrival to be delayed.

Saturday’s launch of NASA’s mission had been delayed for several days due to the effects of Hurricane Helene. Weather concerns persisted until the last minute, with rain and storms posing risks to the mission.

“The crewmates will conduct more than 200 scientific investigations, including blood clotting studies, moisture effects on plants grown in space, and vision changes in astronauts during their mission,” read a NASA statement.

Williams and Wilmore are expected to return to Earth in February 2025, along with Hague and Gorbunov.

Related video:

{ https://www.msn.com/en-us/ }

29-09-2024 om 23:51 geschreven door peter  

Story by Joe Hindy

 

29-09-2024 om 23:14 geschreven door peter  

29-09-2024 om 22:43 geschreven door peter  

Canadian authorities have released an image of an unidentified object that was shot down over the country's Yukon Territory by a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighter in February 2023.

Canadian authorities have released an image of an unidentified object that was shot  by a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighter in February 2023. This is the first image of any of a trio of still-unidentified objects that were downed over the United States and Canada that month, details about which remain scant. The new disclosure continues to raise more questions about those incidents given that the picture appears to have been declassified within days of the shootdown, but was then withheld from release until now.

Canada’s CTV News first published the image of what is also known as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) 23, seen at the top of this story and below, along with an accompanying string of partially redacted internal emails from members of the Canadian armed forces earlier today. UAP is the term U.S., Canadian, and other authorities currently use to refer to what have been commonly described as unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in the past. The outlet said it independently verified the records after recieving them from an unnamed source who had obtained them via an Access to Information request. Canada’s Access to Information Act is similar in many respects to the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but the former is only accessible to Canadian citizens.

Canadian DND via Access to Information Request Via CTV News

UAP 23 was downed over the Yukon on February 11, 2023. This came two days after another unidentified object, also known as UAP 20, was shot down in U.S. airspace off the northern coast of Alaska. A shootdown of a third unidentified object as it passed over Lake Huron came on February 12. This all followed U.S. and Canadian authorities tracking a Chinese spy balloon passing through their airspace for days before deciding to destroy it as it soared out over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina on February 4.

The very low-resolution and grainy image we now have of UAP 23 shows a broadly doughnut-like shape with an open center, as well as an apparent notch or gap in its circumference on one side. It is possible that what is seen is light reflecting only from certain parts and that what is visible is not truly representative of its full shape.

The quality of the picture, which CTV News notes “appears to be a photocopy of an email printout,” makes it impossible to discern any definitive details. “The image appears to have been taken from an aircraft below it, although that has not been confirmed,” CTV News‘ report adds.

“The best description we have is: Visual – a cylindrical object. The top quarter is metallic, remainder white. 20 foot wire hanging below with a package of some sort suspended from it,” one of the associated emails, dated February 11, 2023, says. Looking at the released picture again with this description in hand it looks like it might show a balloon catching the sun with a payload underneath.

At the time, Canadian authorities described what had been shot down over the Yukon as a “small, cylindrical object.”

An F-22 Raptor stealth fighter, like the one seen here, shot down UAP 23 over the Yukon on February 11, 2023. 

USAF Senior Airman Julia Lebens

“It is unknown whether it [UAP 23] poses an armed threat or has intelligence collection capabilities,” according to a memo provided to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on February 15, 2023, says. “The area in which the impact [after shootdown] occurred is a known (caribou) migration route, which opens the possibility of future accidental discovery by Indigenous hunters.”

CTV News published the heavily redacted document, which it also received from an unnamed source who obtained it first via an Access to Information request, in September 2023. The release of the memo had already raised new and still largely unanswered questions about what Canadian and U.S. authorities may or may not know about the trio of downed objects, as well as what other UAPs had been monitored in either country’s airspace before then, as you can read more about here.

No remains of any of the three still-unidentified objects brought down in February 2023 are known to have been recovered. The owners and/or operators of those objects, and whatever their purposes might have been, remain unknown, at least publicly. Past reports have suggested UAP 23, specifically, may have been a so-called “pico” balloon often launched by amateur radio enthusiasts.

U.S. officials subsequently said that the trio of objects appeared to be benign, which looks to have been a direct factor in withholding the image of UAP 23 from the public. The unredacted portions of the newly disclosed Emails, which you can find here, show a clear push between February 11 and February 15, 2023, including from then-Canadian Chief of the Defense Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre, to not only declassify the image, but also proactively release it, including on social media. However, by the end of February 15, the emails have taken a decidedly different tone.

Then-Canadian Chief of Defense Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre, at left, walks with Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David Thompson, at right, during a visit to the Pentagon in November 2023. 

USAF Eric Dietrich

“Should the image be released, it would be via the CAF [Canadian Armed Forces] social media accounts,” Taylor Paxton, then-acting Assistant Deputy Minister for Public Affairs with Canada’s Department of National Defense, writes in one Email. “Given the current public environment and statements related to the object being benign, releasing the image may create more questions/confusion, regardless of the text that will accompany the post.”

Major Doug Keirstead, Public Affairs Officer to Chief of the Defense Staff, subsequently sent another Email to his boss, Gen. Eyre, reiterating advice from acting Assistant Deputy Minister Taylor, as well as others, to hold off on releasing the image “pending U.S. engagement.”

The War Zone has reached out to the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense and the U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) for more information.

If the goal behind not releasing this image and any others from the Febraury 2023 shootdowns was to avoid confusion and speculation, it only appears to have had the opposite impact. The War Zone, along with others, has tried to obtain imagery from these incidents from the U.S. side on multiple occasions to no avail and we have called into question the puzzling optics of not doing so in the past.

Even before February 2023, many members of Congress in the United States with access to classified information had criticized and otherwise called into question the U.S. military’s attitude towards UAP issues, broadly. The Department of Defense did establish an All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) in 2022 as a focal point for tracking and investigating all things UAP, but significant questions have been raised since about its resourcing and authorities. There have also been as yet unsubstantiated accusations of AARO and others within the U.S. government engaging in more active coverups.

“Data release and footage is prioritized based on the geopolitical environment at the time,” then-head of AARO Sean Kirkpatrick said in response to a question from The War Zone about why imagery from the February shootdowns had not been released at a press briefing in October 2023. “So engagements with Chinese fighters, Russian fighters have a much larger priority in getting it through the review process or declassification than UAPs or other similar engagements.”

“We are however, working through those processes, which all exist and we’ve got several of them actually already declassified and ready to update on our website [which] we’ll be doing on the next update to the website,” Kirkpatrick, who left AARO in December 2023, added at that time. “And we’re putting them out as quickly as we can get them through their proper steps.”

In a report released earlier this year, the Department of Defense’s own Office of the Inspector General (DODIG) went so far as to warn that a continued “lack of a comprehensive, coordinated approach to address” UAP issues “may pose a threat to military forces and national security.” The War Zone has repeatedly highlighted the significant evidence that a substantial number of UAP sightings are not only explainable, but are likely drones, high-altitude balloons, and other uncrewed aerial assets that hostile actors are using to gather intelligence on critical capabilities and installations in and round the United States.

A more recent Congressional effort to push for more UAP transparency through an amendment to the annual defense policy bill, or National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), for the 2025 Fiscal Year looks to have collapsed, at least for now.

It will be interesting now to see whether or not the Canadian government’s decision to release the image of UAP 23, such as it is, and the accompanying emails, will lead to further disclosures about the February 2023 shootdowns by that country or the United States.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

{ https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone }

29-09-2024 om 21:42 geschreven door peter  

Image of Mysterious Object Shot Down Over Yukon Finally Released

In September 2024, a long-anticipated image of the mysterious object shot down over Yukon, Canada, in February 2023 was obtained by CTVNews.ca through a freedom of information request. The image, which has sparked significant public interest, shows a grainy, black-and-white representation of the object that was downed by a U.S. F-22 fighter jet after it crossed into Canadian airspace.

The object in question was one of three unidentified aerial objects shot down over North America within a short period, following the more widely reported downing of a Chinese surveillance balloon earlier that month. The object shot down over Yukon has been described in official documents as a “cylindrical” or “metallic” object with a tethered payload below it, although details have remained scarce, fueling speculation and public curiosity.

The Incident

The sequence of events leading to the downing of the object began when NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) tracked the unidentified object as it entered North American airspace. After moving through Alaskan airspace, the object entered Canadian territory on February 11, 2023, prompting swift action from NORAD. Following discussions between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Defence Minister, and U.S. authorities, the order to engage was issued.

At 15:41 Eastern Time, the object was shot down over the Yukon, and Canadian military personnel, in coordination with the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police), were deployed to recover the debris. However, due to challenging winter conditions in the remote and mountainous region, the recovery mission was ultimately called off just days later.

Description of the Object

Documents obtained by CTVNews.ca revealed some details about the object. In a memo dated February 11, 2023, a Canadian brigadier-general described the object as cylindrical, with a metallic upper portion and a long wire hanging beneath it, supporting a suspended package. Some officials speculated that it could be a balloon with a tethered payload, similar to other unidentified aerial objects encountered during that period.

Interestingly, these objects, including the one shot down over the Yukon, were described as being much smaller than the towering Chinese surveillance balloon that had drawn global attention just days before. Although there was much speculation about the nature of the Yukon object, U.S. President Joe Biden later stated that these unidentified objects were likely private or research balloons and posed no significant threat.

The Image and Public Reaction

The image obtained by CTVNews.ca, which was part of a heavily redacted set of documents, appears to be a low-resolution photocopy, making it difficult to discern specific details. Despite being cleared for public release shortly after the incident, the image was withheld due to concerns from public affairs officials, who believed its release could raise more questions than it answered. The image was discussed internally, with some military officials advocating for its release on social media. However, the public release was delayed, partly due to the lack of clarity in the image and its potential to fuel further speculation.

This image has now been made public, and while it adds a visual element to the mystery, it does little to clear up the questions surrounding the object’s origin or purpose. The shape of the object in the image has drawn comparisons to a balloon, with a horseshoe or crescent-like shape visible, but the lack of detail makes definitive conclusions difficult.

Secrecy and Speculation

The secrecy surrounding the object, its brief tracking, and the lack of debris recovery have all contributed to an air of mystery and speculation. While officials have publicly stated that the object posed no significant threat, the minimal information provided has led to various conspiracy theories and concerns about North American air defense vulnerabilities.

Experts have suggested that the U.S. and Canadian governments’ hesitation to release more information could be due to the sensitive nature of NORAD operations and a reluctance to disclose potential defense weaknesses. Iain Boyd, the director of the Center for National Security Initiatives at the University of Colorado, noted that withholding details may reflect concerns about how adversaries could exploit knowledge of such incidents.

Broader Context of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena

The Yukon object, referred to as “UAP 23” in some documents (with UAP standing for Unidentified Aerial Phenomena), was the 23rd such object tracked over North America in early 2023. The term UAP has largely replaced “UFO” (Unidentified Flying Object) in official circles, reflecting the shift toward a more scientific and data-driven approach to such sightings.

The February 2023 incidents of unidentified aerial objects prompted further scrutiny of UAPs by governments around the world. In Canada, the Sky Canada Project, led by the Office of the Chief Science Advisor, is expected to release its own report on UAPs later this year, as public interest in such phenomena continues to grow. In the U.S., the Pentagon and NASA have been more transparent about their investigations into UAPs, signaling a shift toward more open dialogue on the issue.

VIDEO:

• https://youtu.be/vuFzjRaOwRA

The F-22 shooting down the Chinese balloon on Feb. 4, 2023, as seen from the ground. In the boxes: the F-22 and the balloon seen few seconds after being hit by an AIM-9X. (

Photos: @astroqv, @casual_Photoholic)

The release of the Yukon object’s image provides a glimpse into one of the more mysterious defense incidents of 2023. While the image adds to the body of evidence surrounding the event, the low quality and lack of detail leave many questions unanswered. As investigations into UAPs continue on both sides of the border, the public remains eager for further information about these objects and the implications they may have for air defense systems and international security.

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

29-09-2024 om 21:27 geschreven door peter  

Since Earth and the Moon have similar geological history, it made sense to look around on our planet for materials to simulate lunar dust. For LUNA, the agency partners created something called EAC-1. It’s based on volcanic powder spread out over the Eifel region in Germany some 45 million years ago. ESA has been working with this material for some years now, creating “moon bricks” that lunar colonists could use to build roads, launch pads, and habitats. Not only that, but lunar soil (like the EAC-1) contains a high percentage of oxygen. If astronauts can practice “cracking” that soil at LUNA, that would provide them with experience doing the same thing to tap in situ sources of oxygen they can use to survive.

Two astronauts simulate a training session in the new Luna Hall as part of the opening ceremony at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne.

Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Benjamin Westhoff

More about LUNA

The LUNA main hall isn’t just a soil pit, however. It also has a specialized illumination simulator. That allows astronauts to recreate and practice their work under lunar day-and-night cycles. The Moon’s “day” is 14 Earth days long and a lunar night is the same length. Future astronauts and colonists will need to adapt their living and working conditions to those cycles.

Eventually, LUNA will also incorporate gravity off-loading systems. These are simulations of reduced gravity environments. Since the Moon’s gravity is one-sixth that of Earth’s, it’s important for astronauts to train in lower-gravity environments. Plans include a system similar to the Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) gravity system that NASA uses. It’s a device that suspends an astronaut trainee in a special trainer and uses sensors and other feedback that provide a simulated low-gravity environment.

In addition to astronaut training for low gravity and working with soil, LUNA will act as a testbed for operating robotic systems such as rovers and other tools. It will enable advanced science testing and activities, and teach astronauts how to build, manipulate, and operate energy systems. For example, researchers at the facility will test the regolith to understand the effects of moon dust on equipment space agencies plan to bring to the moon.

Preparing for Artemis and Beyond

All these activities should help future astronauts and mission planners develop solutions to challenges the Artemis and other explorers will face on the Moon. LUNA will also contain a unique habitat training area called FLEXHab. It is planned as a simulated habitat that will connect to the main facility.

Finally, ESA and DLR plan to repurpose a food production facility called EDEN-ISS. It’s actually a greenhouse that hosted a five-year-long food cultivation experiment. It will become part of the LUNA laboratory and is aimed at helping astronauts figure out how to grow and prepare food during their stay on the Moon.

Building accurate replicas of the lunar environment is a big training step toward permanent habitation on the Moon. The Artemis project will be one mission to take advantage of LUNA. Its mission timeline has slipped, but astronauts will still likely be headed toward the Moon within the decade. Test sites such as LUNA will play an important role in their training and eventual colonization activities.

For More Information

• New LUNA Facility Will prepare Astronauts for Moon Landings
• Full-Size Reduced Gravity Simulator For Humans, Robots, and Test Objects
  Bricks from Moon Dust

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

29-09-2024 om 00:47 geschreven door peter  

A mosaic of the images of 378 satellites across 101 Milky Way-like systems.

Credit: Yao-Yuan Mao (Utah), with images from the DESI Legacy Surveys Sky Viewer

This would seem to indicate that the Milky Way is rather typical. But then the team looked at those galaxies with a large companion, like the Large Magellanic Cloud we see in the southern hemisphere. For those galaxies the number of satellites is typically much larger than four. The Milky Way has an unusually low number of satellites. One reason for this may be that the Large Magellanic Cloud entered our sphere of influence rather recently on the cosmic timeline.

A second study based on the SAGA data looked at star formation in the satellite galaxies. It found that the closer a satellite is to the main galaxy the more likely it is to still be producing stars. This is similar to what we see among the Milky Way satellites. So it seems that while the Milky Way is a little unusual, it isn’t unique among galaxies of similar mass.

But it will always be our special spiral galaxy.

Reference: 

• Mao, Yao-Yuan, et al. “The SAGA Survey. III. A Census of 101 Satellite Systems around Milky Way-mass Galaxies.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2404.14498 (2024).

Reference: 

• Geha, Marla, et al. “The SAGA Survey. IV. The Star Formation Properties of 101 Satellite Systems around Milky Way-mass Galaxies.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2404.14499 (2024).

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

29-09-2024 om 00:25 geschreven door peter  

Breakthrough flying saucer technology could soon harness the power of waves: 'A competitive solution in our global energy mix'

The unit can provide air-pollution-free electricity 24/7, even in stormy waters.

Photo Credit: Carnegie Clean Energy

The ancient Greeks knew Ceto as a sea goddess, cited by the History Cooperative as having power over monsters from the deep. But the modern-day incarnation might end up being better known for the power of ocean waves. 

That's because Carnegie Clean Energy's version of CETO is a sea-based contraption that can turn wave power into grid-ready electricity, according to the Australian firm. 

Wave-energy tech isn't new. Other iterations include buoy and raft designs. CETO is a submerged, flying saucer-shaped unit, according to CleanTechnica. 

The report noted that Carnegie received a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy in January to test marine-based energy production. Now, a Carnegie subsidiary has approval to place CETOs off the Spanish coast, and company leaders are pursuing various certifications to pave the way for expansion, all per CleanTechnica. 

"By aligning CETO with international standards, the company is moving toward wider adoption of the technology and a future where wave energy is a competitive solution in our global energy mix," Carnegie CTO Alexandre Pichard said in the story. 

CETO works with a fairly simple concept. Waves move in a circular motion, and CETO tracks and captures the energy generated by the movement. As the saucer-shaped unit rocks with the moving water, belts inside turn generators to make electricity. Artificial intelligence is used to help manage underwater operations, all per a video clip provided by Carnegie. 

What's more, the unit can provide air-pollution-free electricity 24/7, even in stormy waters. CETO simply submerges below the turbulence to continue its function. The tech has been proven during "tens of thousands" of testing hours, according to the company. 

It's part of a global renewable energy switchover leveraging abundant sun, wind, and waves. The United Nations reports that about 29% of the world's electricity comes from renewables. 

Wave energy has serious potential, too, with the U.S. Department of Energy estimating that kinetic waves could provide around 60% of the nation's electricity demand, as CleanTechnica observed.

If fascinating programs from other energy developers reach full vision, captured wave and wind power at sea could be collected at offshore artificial "energy islands" and efficiently sent to the coast. 

Importantly, the breakthroughs can help reduce the production of planet-warming air pollution, which NASA has linked to marine heat waves. The hotter water can harm coral and other sea life, according to the experts. 

Inspired inlanders can help to cut pollution with some simple changes around the house. Cleaning the lint out of filters on washers, dryers, and other appliances can save you 10% on the cost to run them, while also removing a fire hazard. Importantly, the machines will then use less energy, producing less heat-trapping fumes. 

For CETO's part, its developers are touting a scalable, modular design. Interestingly, the company-provided details even list a desalination ability.

Now, Carnegie seems poised to take CETO beyond myth, working toward a world powered by the "consistent rhythm of the sea," as the clip's narrator puts it.  

{ https://www.thecooldown.com/ }

28-09-2024 om 23:52 geschreven door peter  

Chilling video shows' 'horseshoe-shaped' UFO defying laws of physics after photo of similar craft shot down over Yukon is declassified

By James Cirrone For Dailymail.Com

UFO enthusiasts are attempting to draw parallels between a old video that appears to show a flying aircraft zooming through the clouds and the recently declassified image of the UFO that was shot down near Alaska last year.

The photo shows a seemingly glowing horse shoe-shaped object with ill-defined edges over the Yukon territory in northwest Canada on February 11, 2023. 

An internal email obtained by CTVNews had a Canadian brigadier-general describing it as such: 'Top quarter is metallic, remainder white. 20-foot wire hanging below with a package of some sort suspended from it.' 

It was shot down by a US Air Force F-22 stealth fighter on a joint mission with the Canadian Armed Forces following the now infamous Chinese spy balloon drama that made international news that month.

A former officer with the Royal Canadian Air Force told DailyMail.com that based on his conversations with three active-duty staff who were involved with the shootdown, the object was a balloon similar to the Chinese craft shot down days earlier.

Nonetheless, a user on Reddit said they were able to stabilize a different UFO video from over 12 years ago, claiming it is similar to the object that was shot down.

The declassified image of the UFO that was shot down in Yukon territory by US fighter jets on February 11, 2023. Canadian authorities suspect it was a balloon similar to the Chinese spy craft shot down in US airspace days earlier

This is photo of a supposed UFO that some on social media believe looks similar to the horseshoe-shaped craft shot down in Yukon territory. This photo comes from an alleged UFO sighting video that's 12 years old

'I recently stabilized this footage, which has drawn interesting comparisons to the “horseshoe” object reportedly shot down over the Yukon in 2023,' the poster wrote. 'After stabilizing the video, the object’s crescent or horseshoe shape becomes much clearer, along with its curious flight dynamics.'

They said the stabilization was done with Adobe After Effects and Premiere, software packages for editing motion graphics and video.

The video was originally posted by a YouTube channel called 'xxxdonutzxxx', which claimed the footage was shot over Busan, South Korea. 

The reactions to the stabilized footage were all over the place, with some people showing their excitement and others showing skepticism.

'A better way to avoid confusion would be to publish a color, high-res photo or video, as they did with that jet intercept and the Chinese spy balloon. Amazing how transparency actually works,' one user wrote.

A picture taken on February 1, 2023, shows the suspected Chinese spy balloon flying over Billings, Montana

The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast in Surfside Beach, South Carolina on February 4, 2023

Another took issue with the entire idea that aliens are flying around in spacecrafts that always seem to look different in every UFO video.

They wrote: 'Serious question; why does every UFO look different? Do aliens hate mass production? Have they never heard of cost reduction through standardization? What does that say about their economy? Are they idiots?' 

Those who are more inclined to believe aliens are out there offered a number of explanations for this. There could many many different alien races with different vehicles, some said. Others thought their space crafts could probably shape shift.

Elsewhere on social media, people are claiming all of the videos on the now abandoned 'xxxdonutzxxx' are fake and were made by two CG artists named Nico and Marco Kaschuba.

A person posted an alleged UFO sighting in Monument Valley, Arizona, from the 'xxxdonutzxxx' channel to a UFO forum on April 5, 2012. 

At the bottom of the post, there is a copyright that belongs to 'Kaschuba Ufology.' 

DailyMail.com approached Marco Kaschuba for comment, but he didn't immediately respond.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

28-09-2024 om 23:27 geschreven door peter  

Ceres is Former Ocean World, Planetary Scientists Say

Ceres is a key object in understanding the evolution of small bodies and is the only dwarf planet to have been orbited by a spacecraft, NASA’s Dawn mission. Dawn data paint an inconclusive picture of Ceres’ internal structure, composition and evolutionary pathway. New research shows that a crust with nearly 90% ice near the surface, which gradually decreases to 0% at 117 km depth, simultaneously matches the Dawn observations. This crustal structure results from a frozen ocean that became more impurity rich as it solidified top-down. Therefore, the Dawn data are consistent with an icy Ceres that evolved through freezing of an ancient, impure ocean.

This false-color image shows the dwarf planet Ceres. Scientists use false color to examine differences in surface materials. The color blue on Ceres is generally associated with bright material, found in more than 130 locations, and seems to be consistent with salts.

Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

“Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt, and a dwarf planet. I think sometimes people think of small, lumpy things as asteroids (and most of them are!), but Ceres really looks more like a planet,” said Purdue University researcher Mike Sori.

“It is a big sphere, diameter 950 km or so, and has surface features like craters, volcanoes, and landslides.”

“We think that there’s lots of water-ice near Ceres surface, and that it gets gradually less icy as you go deeper and deeper.”

“People used to think that if Ceres was very icy, the craters would deform quickly over time, like glaciers flowing on Earth, or like gooey flowing honey.”

“However, we’ve shown through our simulations that ice can be much stronger in conditions on Ceres than previously predicted if you mix in just a little bit of solid rock.”

This discovery is contradictory to the previous belief that Ceres was relatively dry.

The common assumption was that Ceres was less than 30% ice, but Sori’s team now believes the surface is more like 90% ice.

“Our interpretation of all this is that Ceres used to be an ocean world like Europa (one of Jupiter’s moons), but with a dirty, muddy ocean,’” Dr. Sori said.

“As that muddy ocean froze over time, it created an icy crust with a little bit of rocky material trapped in it.”

The authors used computer simulations to model how relaxation occurs for craters on Ceres over billions of years.

“Even solids will flow over long timescales, and ice flows more readily than rock,” said Purdue University Ph.D. student Ian Pamerleau.

“Craters have deep bowls which produce high stresses that then relax to a lower stress state, resulting in a shallower bowl via solid state flow.”

“So the conclusion after NASA’s Dawn mission was that due to the lack of relaxed, shallow craters, the crust could not be that icy.”

“Our computer simulations account for a new way that ice can flow with only a little bit of non-ice impurities mixed in, which would allow for a very ice-rich crust to barely flow even over billions of years.”

“Therefore, we could get an ice-rich Ceres that still matches the observed lack of crater relaxation.”

“We tested different crustal structures in these simulations and found that a gradational crust with a high ice content near the surface that grades down to lower ice with depth was the best way to limit relaxation of Cerean craters.”

“To me the exciting part of all this, if we’re right, is that we have a frozen ocean world pretty close to Earth,” Dr. Sori said.

“Ceres may be a valuable point of comparison for the ocean-hosting icy moons of the outer Solar System, like Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus.”

“Ceres, we think, is therefore the most accessible icy world in the Universe. That makes it a great target for future spacecraft missions.”

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

28-09-2024 om 23:05 geschreven door peter  

De Aarde had ook zijn planetaire ringen, net als Saturnus: dat stelt een onderzoek

door Janine

Kevin M. Gill/Wikimedia Commons - CC BY 2.0

We kennen allemaal Saturnus, een van de meest iconische planeten in het zonnestelsel vanwege zijn spectaculaire planetaire ringen. Natuurlijk hebben Uranus en Neptunus ook iets dergelijks, en hetzelfde kan gezegd worden van Jupiter, maar deze structuren hebben niet dezelfde charme. Onlangs is er echter een onderzoek gedaan dat suggereert dat ook de aarde zo'n 460 miljoen jaar geleden haar eigen ringenstelsel kan hebben gehad. Laten we eens kijken hoe dit mogelijk is!

Had de Aarde ook planetaire ringen?

Een team onderzoekers van de Monash University in Melbourne stelt deze hypothese voor in een studie die is gepubliceerd in het tijdschrift Earth and Planetary Science Letters. De wetenschappers analyseerden inslagkraters die werden gecreëerd door asteroïden tijdens het Ordovicium, tussen 485 en 443 miljoen jaar geleden. Het probleem is dit: er werden 21 kraters geïdentificeerd die zich binnen 30 graden van de evenaar bevonden, maar de verdeling is te afwijkend om in traditionele theorieën te passen. Kortom, waarom zijn alle kraters geconcentreerd in deze gordel als meer dan tweederde van de aardkorst daarbuiten ligt?

Volgens de onderzoekers is het antwoord duidelijk: zo'n 460 miljoen jaar geleden zou een grote asteroïde de aarde hebben benaderd tot hij de limiet van Roche passeerde, waarna hij werd beïnvloed door getijdenkrachten. Als gevolg daarvan zou de asteroïde zijn gaan fragmenteren en deze fragmenten zouden hebben geholpen bij het vormen van een ring van puin rond de aarde. Net als bij Saturnus en andere gasreuzen.

Planeetringen en ijstijden

Oliver Hull/Monash University

Wat is het verband tussen de vorming van planetaire ringen en de concentratie inslagkraters die Australische onderzoekers hebben ontdekt? Simpel: na de vorming zouden de brokstukken die de ring vormden in de loop van miljoenen jaren beetje bij beetje op de aarde zijn gevallen en zo de piek in kraters hebben veroorzaakt. Maar dat is nog niet alles, want de studie probeerde ook bewijs te vinden voor de klimatologische gevolgen die een ringsysteem zeker zou hebben gehad op de aarde.

Vanuit dit perspectief zouden de planetaire ringen een deel van het zonlicht hebben kunnen tegenhouden en hebben bijgedragen aan de wereldwijde afkoeling. En in feite vindt precies aan het einde van het Ordovicium de Hirnatien-ijstijd plaats, die wordt beschouwd als een van de koudste periodes van de afgelopen 500 miljoen jaar. Bovendien is het deze ijstijd die de massa-uitsterving in het Ordovicium veroorzaakte, de eerste van de vijf grote massa-uitstervingen in de geschiedenis van de aarde. Gebeurde dit allemaal door 'onze' planeetringen?

Perspectieven van het onderzoek

De ontdekking door Australische onderzoekers kan veel bredere gevolgen hebben dan verwacht. In de praktijk gaat het niet alleen om het idee dat de Aarde ook een eigen planetair ringenstelsel kan hebben gehad, maar om overwegingen van complexere aard:

• ten eerste, wat er in het laatste deel van het Ordovicium gebeurde, zou ook gebeurd kunnen zijn in de 4 miljard jaar van de vorige geschiedenis van de Aarde;
• ten tweede kan de vorming en het daaropvolgende verval van een planetaire ring belangrijke gevolgen hebben gehad voor het klimaat op aarde;
• ten slotte spelen astronomische gebeurtenissen, waaronder de vorming van planeetringen, een veel belangrijkere rol in de geschiedenis van een planeet dan verwacht.

Kortom, als de hypothese van het onderzoek gegrond blijkt te zijn, staan we mogelijk aan het begin van een geheel nieuw onderzoeksgebied over de interactie tussen de aarde en de kosmos. Met gevolgen voor de hele evolutionaire geschiedenis van onze planeet.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

28-09-2024 om 22:04 geschreven door peter  

A photo recently captured by NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars has revealed a surprising object that stands out from the planet's natural landscape. 

The object in question looks like an artificial piece of glass or eventual a mirror, (the contours of the glass/mirror are clearly visible), partially located behind a rock formation. 

The fact that it could be a mirror is because the reflection in the mirror seems to show a part of what appears to be a metallic rectangular object what lies in front of the mirror. 

Both the glass/mirror and the metallic object seem to be remnants of something either abandoned or wrecked long ago. They clearly do not belong to the rover's equipment or any known NASA gear.  

This discovery joins a growing list of mysterious objects found on Mars hinting at the possibility that intelligent civilizations may have once existed on the planet potentially wiped out due to a catastrophic event which made life on the planet impossible. 

Link to the photo uploaded by Neville Thompson on his Gigapan page.

• http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/236036

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

28-09-2024 om 21:46 geschreven door peter  

We spent 45 days in a simulated Mars habitat built by NASA - this is the brutal reality of life on Red Planet

• READ MORE: New map of Mars reveals hidden 'structures' below the surface

By Ellyn Lapointe For Dailymail.Com

Four volunteer scientists have just emerged from a 45-day stay inside NASA's most realistic Mars simulation yet.

The crew remained completely isolated inside the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) - a 650-square-foot habitat at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas - until Monday, when the hatch opened and they finally 'returned to Earth.'

While inside, they completed 18 different studies that will help NASA and other space agencies learn how humans respond to the confinement, demanding work-life conditions and remote environments of deep-space missions, according to NASA

NASA has set a goal to get humans to Mars by the 2030s. With that deadline fast approaching, simulated missions like HERA provide key insights into how astronauts might survive the farthest crewed space mission ever attempted. 

The four person crew - comprised of Sergii Iakymov, Sarah Elizabeth McCandless, Erin Anderson, and Brandon Kent (L to R) - was the third to enter the HERA habitat

Above, a 3D-rendered image of the red planet Mars - as virtual as the team's HERA experience

The four person crew - comprised of Erin Anderson, Sergii Iakymov, Sarah Elizabeth McCandless and Brandon Kent - was the third to enter the HERA habitat.

Their mission was unique in that it included the more detailed assignments designed to closely replicate the living and working experience on Mars.

During the month-and-a-half-long simulation, the crew performed a wide range of tasks.

Their assignments included harvesting plants from a hydroponic garden, growing shrimp, deploying a small satellite, conducting a virtual 'walk' across the surface of Mars and flying simulated drones over Martian terrain. 

'These activities are designed to immerse the crew in the task-focused mindset of astronauts,' NASA wrote in a statement.

NASA even simulated the communication delays that real astronauts could one day face on Mars. During a real Mars mission, communications from Earth could take up to 20 minutes to reach astronauts on the red planet, and vice versa. 

All the while, the crew was being monitored by NASA scientists to assess how their day-to-day tasks, routine, and the isolation and confinement of their habitat affected their behavior and performance. 

When they weren't hard at work, the crew read books, played cards, built Legos and listened to music. 

The HERA mission three crew entered the habitat on August 9

Their mission was unique in that it included the more detailed assignments designed to closely replicate the living and working experience on Mars, including growing hydroponic plants

The volunteers also grew shrimp, deployed a small satellite, conducted a virtual 'walk' across the surface of Mars and flew simulated drones over Martian terrain

On Monday afternoon, the crew finally emerged from their tiny habitat, marking the end of their mission. 

'Following our safe passage to Mars, and our safe return to Earth, as the crew of Campaign 7, Mission 3, we hereby officially transfer this exploration vessel to the flight analogs operations team,' said Kent upon exiting HERA.

'We hope this vessel continues to serve as a safe home for future HERA crews,' he added. 

NASA also runs another, bigger simulated Mars habitat called the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog, or CHAPEA. This 1,700-square-foot is large enough to sustain volunteers for up to a year. 

The first CHAPEA volunteer crew emerged from their habitat in July. 

If you think you have what it takes to spend weeks inside cramped Mars simulation, NASA is actively seeking non-smoking volunteers between the ages of 30 and 55 for the next HERA mission. 

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28-09-2024 om 21:31 geschreven door peter  

The legendary SR-71 Blackbird, as soon as it has its successor, may certainly redefine the way aerial reconnaissance and strike capabilities are to be perceived because it is given its unparalleled speed and altitude. Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works team is working on the SR-72 "Darkstar," a hypersonic aircraft that aims to reach Mach 6.0. This would be twice the capability of the predecessor./

The SR-71 was unveiled to the world over half a century ago and could reach an altitude of 85,000 feet and Mach 3.2.

The SR-71 was unveiled to the world over half a century ago and could reach an altitude of 85,000 feet and Mach 3.2.

Its retirement in the late 1990s meant it would never be challenged for this record, but the supposed SR-72 has promised much more.

Popularized by its appearance in the latest Top Gun movie, it promises to transcend feats that would never have been seen or imagined in this aircraft's lifetime.

Firm Lockheed Martin partnered with Aerojet Rocketdyne for the new engine for the SR-72; it would take advantage of technology from the now-canceled HTV-3X.

The turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine that the SR-72 will be using is a dual-mode ramjet engine, which will enable take-off at conventional jet speeds and then zoom up to hypersonic speeds of potentially over Mach 6.0.

It has not been an easy ride to develop the SR-72. The latest reports show that in Q2 2024, the program overspent by an additional $45 million, leaving it with a comprehensive loss since 2022 to $335 million.

Still, hope for the SR-72 remains alive. Lockheed Martin will continue to be extended with the program as shrouded in secrecy, marching toward operational status, perhaps to meet future U.S. Air Force needs.

Hence, the SR-72 would be an ISR asset with strike capability; whereas the SR-71 aircraft could only be used for reconnaissance missions, the SR-72 aircraft would engage the target directly.

Based on this feature added to hypersonic missiles, it would be possible for a weapon system to breach any airspace and strike any point on a continent within sixty minutes.

It would be an entirely new kind of strategic advantage, said Lockheed Martin's program manager, as such a machine "penetrates denied airspace and strikes at nearly any location across a continent in less than an hour."

It's a capability no other weapon in the U.S. Air Force's inventory can especially with rising tensions between Washington and Beijing continuing unabated.

The SR-72 has been classified, but Lockheed Martin upped its advanced development programs unit by 75 percent and hired more than 2,300 new employees since early 2018.

That kind of investment means that the production will be of a new classified aircraft for use in operational service.

The SR-72 is taking shape as an aircraft that will revolutionize the air reconnaissance and strike capabilities, permitting the United States Air Force to achieve unprecedented speed and strategic advantage.

VIDEOS

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28-09-2024 om 01:00 geschreven door peter  

Story by And¸elika

©And¸elika

NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
With all of the worrying things happening here, on earth, one way to take your mind off them is to look at the beauty of the cosmos. Luckily, NASA is still out there exploring outer space and providing us with the latest wonders. Recently The National Aeronautics and Space Administration released the brand new imagery of Jupiter. The captivating display of the stormy southern hemisphere of the planet which exists 484 million miles away from us, prompted us to share a list of most fascinating photos NASA has taken of the planet.
Nasa's Juno spacecraft has been taking snaps of the planet since it's first close pass by Jupiter in 2016. Since then, Juno took stunning images of and it, helping scientists learn the important information about the gas giant.

©NASA

#1 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
NASA’s Juno spacecraft was a little more than one Earth diameter from Jupiter when it captured this mind-bending, color-enhanced view of the planet’s tumultuous atmosphere.

©NASA

#2 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
A multitude of swirling clouds in Jupiter's dynamic North North Temperate Belt is captured in this image from NASA's Juno spacecraft. Appearing in the scene are several bright-white “pop-up” clouds as well as an anticyclonic storm, known as a white oval.

©NASA

#3 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This image captures the swirling cloud formations around the south pole of Jupiter, looking up toward the equatorial region.

©NASA

#4 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
See Jovian clouds in striking shades of blue in this new view taken by NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

©NASA

#5 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
During its 24th close flyby of Jupiter, NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured this view of a chaotic, stormy area of the planet’s northern hemisphere known as a folded filamentary region. Jupiter has no solid surface in the same way Earth does. Data collected by Juno indicate that some of the giant planet’s winds run deeper and last longer than similar atmospheric processes on Earth.

©NASA

#6 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
Jupiter’s volcanically active moon Io casts its shadow on the planet in this dramatic image from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. As with solar eclipses on the Earth, within the dark circle racing across Jupiter’s cloud tops one would witness a full solar eclipse as Io passes in front of the Sun.

©NASA

#7 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
NASA’s Juno mission captured this look at Jupiter’s tumultuous northern regions during the spacecraft’s close approach to the planet on Feb. 17, 2020.

©NASA

#8 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This striking view of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and turbulent southern hemisphere was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft as it performed a close pass of the gas giant planet.

©NASA

#9 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This image of Jupiter’s turbulent southern hemisphere was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft as it performed its most recent close flyby of the gas giant planet on Dec. 21, 2018

©NASA

#10 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
Thick white clouds are present in this JunoCam image of Jupiter's equatorial zone. These clouds complicate the interpretation of infrared measurements of water. At microwave frequencies, the same clouds are transparent, allowing Juno's Microwave Radiometer to measure water deep into Jupiter's atmosphere. The image was acquired during Juno's flyby of the gas giant on Dec. 16, 2017.

©NASA

#11 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This image captures swirling cloud belts and tumultuous vortices within Jupiter’s northern hemisphere.

©NASA

#12 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This image shows Jupiter’s south pole, as seen by NASA’s Juno spacecraft from an altitude of 32,000 miles (52,000 kilometers). The oval features are cyclones, up to 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) in diameter. Multiple images taken with the JunoCam instrument on three separate orbits were combined to show all areas in daylight, enhanced color, and stereographic projection.

 

©NASA

#13 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This view from NASA's Juno spacecraft captures colorful, intricate patterns in a jet stream region of Jupiter's northern hemisphere known as "Jet N3."

©NASA

#14 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured this view of an area within a Jovian jet stream showing a vortex that has an intensely dark center. Nearby, other features display bright, high altitude clouds that have puffed up into the sunlight.

©NASA

#15 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
A dynamic storm at the southern edge of Jupiter’s northern polar region dominates this Jovian cloudscape, courtesy of NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

©NASA

#16 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This image of Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot and surrounding turbulent zones was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

©NASA

#17 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This image of Jupiter’s swirling south polar region was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft as it neared completion of its tenth close flyby of the gas giant planet.

©NASA

#18 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
See Jupiter’s southern hemisphere in beautiful detail in this new image taken by NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The color-enhanced view captures one of the white ovals in the “String of Pearls,” one of eight massive rotating storms at 40 degrees south latitude on the gas giant planet.

©NASA

#19 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This view of Jupiter’s atmosphere from NASA’s Juno spacecraft includes something remarkable: two storms caught in the act of merging.

©NASA

#20 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
Colorful swirling cloud belts dominate Jupiter’s southern hemisphere in this image captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

 

©NASA

#21 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This color-enhanced image of a massive, raging storm in Jupiter’s northern hemisphere was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft during its ninth close flyby of the gas giant planet.

©NASA

#22 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
See intricate cloud patterns in the northern hemisphere of Jupiter in this new view taken by NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

©NASA

#23 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
Dramatic atmospheric features in Jupiter’s northern hemisphere are captured in this view from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The new perspective shows swirling clouds that surround a circular feature within a jet stream region called "Jet N6."

©NASA

#24 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This image captures the intensity of the jets and vortices in Jupiter’s North North Temperate Belt.

©NASA

#25 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
Small bright clouds dot Jupiter’s entire south tropical zone in this image acquired by JunoCam on NASA’s Juno spacecraft on May 19, 2017, at an altitude of 7,990 miles (12,858 kilometers). Although the bright clouds appear tiny in this vast Jovian cloudscape, they actually are cloud towers roughly 30 miles (50 kilometers) wide and 30 miles (50 kilometers) high that cast shadows on the clouds below. On Jupiter, clouds this high are almost certainly composed of water and/or ammonia ice, and they may be sources of lightning. This is the first time so many cloud towers have been visible, possibly because the late-afternoon lighting is particularly good at this

©NASA

#26 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
Colorful swirling clouds in Jupiter's North Equatorial Belt practically fill this image from NASA's Juno spacecraft. This is the closest image captured of the Jovian clouds during this recent flyby of the gas giant planet.

©NASA

#27 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
See swirling cloud formations in the northern area of Jupiter's north temperate belt in this new view taken by NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

©NASA

#28 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
NASA’s Juno mission captured this look at the southern hemisphere of Jupiter on Feb. 17, 2020, during the spacecraft’s most recent close approach to the giant planet.

©NASA

#29 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
This extraordinary view of Jupiter was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft on the outbound leg of its 12th close flyby of the gas giant planet.

©NASA

#30 NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter
A swirling, oval white cloud in Jupiter’s South South Temperate Belt is captured in this image from NASA's Juno spacecraft. Known as White Oval A5, the feature is an anticyclonic storm. An anticyclone is a weather phenomenon where winds around the storm flow in the direction opposite to those of the flow around a region of low pressure.

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27-09-2024 om 23:15 geschreven door peter