The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
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Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
12-12-2020
NASA Says Mysterious Nearby Exoplanet May Help Find Planet Nine
NASA Says Mysterious Nearby Exoplanet May Help Find Planet Nine
It’s not every day that NASA uses the term “Planet Nine” in a press release, so when it did in a recent one about new Hubble telescope observations of a massive exoplanet orbiting a nearby young binary star system, it garnered a lot of attention from Planet Nine proponents. Why is NASA interested in HD 106906 b and why have they linked it with the potential existence of Planet Nine in our solar system?
“This system draws a potentially unique comparison with our solar system. It’s very widely separated from its host stars on an eccentric and highly misaligned orbit, just like the prediction for Planet Nine. This begs the question of how these planets formed and evolved to end up in their current configuration.”
Meiji Nguyen of the University of California, Berkeley, is the lead author of a paper in The Astronomical Journal describing the strange orbit of HD 106906 b, an exoplanet 11 times the size of Jupiter orbiting binary stars a mere 336 light years from Earth. Discovered in 2013 by astronomers using the Magellan Telescopes in Chile, its orbit was unknown until the more powerful Hubble telescope picked it up. The HD 106906 binary system is only 15 million years old – a newborn when compared to 4.5 billion-year age of our solar system. That means whatever happened to put HD 106906 b in its current weird and far-flung orbit happened recently. Could the same thing have happened to our own rumored Planet Nine shortly after its birth?
The 11-Jupiter-mass exoplanet called HD 106906 b is shown in this artist’s illustration.
Credits: NASA, ESA, and M. Kornmesser (ESA/Hubble)
“The prevailing theory is that it formed much closer to its stars, about three times the distance that Earth is from the Sun. But drag within the system’s gas disk caused the planet’s orbit to decay, forcing it to migrate inward toward its stellar pair. The gravitational effects from the whirling twin stars then kicked it out onto an eccentric orbit that almost threw it out of the system and into the void of interstellar space. Then a passing star from outside the system stabilized the exoplanet’s orbit and prevented it from leaving its home system.”
Paul Kalas, another Berkeley professor and co-author, explains in the university’s press release how HD 106906 b started out in a tight orbit around its two stars before being flung like an Olympic hammer throw on a path that would take it out of the system completely. However, a passing star’s gravity caught it and pushed it back into a new orbit more than 730 times the distance of Earth from the Sun. In addition, this new extreme orbit is misaligned, elongated and external to the debris disk of the twin host stars – a disk similar to our own solar system’s Kuiper Belt. That disk itself is distorted, which helped the team define HD 106906 b’s orbit.
This graphic shows how the exoplanet HD 106906 b may have evolved over time, arriving at its current, widely separated, eccentric and highly misaligned orbit.
(Graphic courtesy of NASA, ESA, and L. Hustak/STScI)
“The idea is that every time the planet comes to its closest approach to the binary star, it stirs up the material in the disk. So, every time the planet comes through, it truncates the disk and pushes it up on one side. This scenario has been tested with simulations of this system with the planet on a similar orbit — this was before we knew what the orbit of the planet was.”
Team member Robert De Rosa describes why this phenomena made the astronomers think of Planet Nine – not only do some scientists believe it was violently kicked out of a close solar orbit early in its life and saved by a passing star, this could explain the strange clusterings of space rocks in the Kuiper Belt.
“What I really think makes HD 106906 unique is that it is the only exoplanet that we know that is directly imaged, surrounded by a debris disk, misaligned relative to its system and is widely separated. This is what makes it the sole candidate we have found thus far whose orbit is analogous to the hypothetical Planet Nine.”
Meiji Nguyen says HD 106906 b is real and makes the connection to Planet Nine. As we’re finding so often when it comes to new discoveries in astronomy – if there’s one, there’s more. Knowing how HD 106906 b came into existence and moved to its current eccentric location and orbit gives astronomers a better roadmap to proving the existence of Planet Nine and finding it. NASA scientists are already planning to use the James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to be launched in 2021, to further observe HD 106906 b and also look for other similar oddball exoplanets.
The sun has awakened in an explosive manner after a prolonged dormant period, and has unleashed a massive amount of plasma and electromagnetic energy toward our planet.
And while that may sound daunting – and likely teases the imagination with Hollywood-like scenarios of electromagnetic pulses raining down on our cities – the practical effect could be a disruption of some communication as well as a brilliant display of northern lights (aurora borealis) as far south as New York, Oregon, Illinois, Pennsylvania and maybe even parts of Australia.
On Monday, a massive solar flare erupted from the massive star, producing a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the sun’s atmosphere that will interact with the Earth’s own atmosphere through Thursday.
CNNdescribed the event as “the equivalent of a massive solar belch” that comes after months of a hiatus and marks the start of a new period of heightened solar activity, which could result in some anomalies in our own skies.
The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center issued a Geomagnetic Storm Watch until Dec. 11, which could see some gorgeous, dancing northern lights occur far south of where they normally happen – such as in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Portland, and Seattle.
The awakening of the sun marks the beginning of “Solar Cycle 25,” a period of 11 years in which solar storms and stormy activities on the sun’s service will be come more routine.
While the sun lies a distant 93 million miles away, such disturbances can have major effects across the solar system. Solar scientists and meteorologists who forecast space weather rely on sunspots – those cool, discolored regions that appear on the solar disk – to know whether solar flares will occur, and potentially disrupt or cut off radio communications on earth.
So one possible effect of the heightened solar activity could be increased static on the radio, a drag on low-Earth-orbit satellites, and even some major GPS positioning errors. NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado, has even warned that there is a potential for strong storm levels “if the magnetic field carried with the CME connects well with Earth’s magnetosphere.”
However, the center was also careful to warn that the storm isn’t a catastrophic event by any means.
“This is NOT a major space weather event,”SpaceWeather.com wrote.“But after 3 years of uber-quiet Solar Minimum, it is noteworthy.”
Even the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) issued a geomagnetic warning for Wednesday and Thursday, explaining that the global geomagnetic activity could result in some isolated major storms – and auroras – in the skies above parts of the land down under.
“Auroras may be observed during local nighttime hours in Tasmania and on the coastline of Victoria,”said the BOM’s Space Weather Service (SWS). “There is a chance to observe aurora on the southwest coast of Western Australia.”
The solar particles and magnetic fields unleashed toward us by the sun force particles trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere o be released, triggering reactions that force photons of light activated by oxygen and nitrogen molecules into the upper atmosphere.
“After a trip toward Earth that can last two to three days, the solar particles and magnetic fields cause the release of particles already trapped near Earth, which in turn trigger reactions in the upper atmosphere in which oxygen and nitrogen molecules release photons of light,”notes NASA.“The result: the Northern and Southern lights.”
While the forecast peak of auroras was on Wednesday at 10 p.m., some activity remains possible through Dec. 10.
An extraordinary event in 1967 would practically put the small fishing village of Shag Harbor on the map. Located at the southern tip of Nova Scotia, this rural community would be host to one of the best documented UFO events of the past 40 years.
Named after the “shag,” a bird of the cormorant family, the harbor was literally left off most maps of the time, but that would be changed once and for all.
The tiny fishing community has always had its stories… stories of giant sea serpents, man-eating squid, and ghost ships. The list of local color would see one more addition to its list: a story of a visit of a mysterious flying craft of unknown origin. This craft would visit the waters of Shag Harbor, permanently stamping the village’s name in the public eye.
The first indication of this mysterious occurrence would come from local residents who noticedstrange orange lights in the sky on the night of October 4, 1967. Most witnesses agreed that there were four orange lights that evening. Five teenagers watched these lights flash in sequence, and then suddenly dive in a 45 degree angle toward the water’s surface. The witnesses were surprised that the lights did not dive into the water, but seemed to float on the water, approximately one-half mile from the shore.
Witnesses at first thought they were watching a tragic airplane crash, and quickly reported as much to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which was located at Barrington Passage. Coincidently, RCMP Constable Ron Pound had already witnessed the strange lights himself as he drove down Highway 3 in route to Shag Harbor. Pound felt that he was seeing 4 lights, all attached to one flying craft. He estimated the craft to be about 60 feet long.
Constable Pound made his way to the shore to get a closer look at the phenomenal sight. He was accompanied by Police Corporal Victor Werbieki, Contable Ron O’Brien, and other local residents. Pound clearly saw a yellow light slowly moving on the water, leaving a yellowish foam in its wake. All eyes were glued on the light, as it slowly either moved too distant to be seen, or dipped into the icy waters.
Coast Guard Cutter #101 and other local boats rushed to the spot of the sighting, but by the time they arrived, the light itself was gone. However, the crewmen could still see the yellow foam, indicating that something had possibly submerged. Nothing else could be found that night, and the search was called off at 3:00 AM.
The RCMP ran a traffic check with the Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifac, and NORAD radar at Baccaro, Nova Scotia. They were told that there were no missing aircraft reported that evening, either civilian, or military.
The following day, the Rescue Coordination Center filed a report with Canadian Forces Headquarters in Ottawa. This report stated that something had hit the water in Shag Harbor, but the object was of “unknown origin.”
The HMCS Granby was ordered to the location, where divers searched the bottom of the ocean for several days, but without positive results.
Soon, the story of the mysterious crash at Shag Harbor died as quickly as it had begun. That is, until 1993. As the original story faded from papers and newscasts, several theories were put forward. One explanation was that a Russian spacecraft had crashed, which would explain the presence of a Russian submarine in the area. There was also the rumor of American involvement in the follow-up investigation, but there was no official statement from the United States.
The Shag Harbor incident would have new life breathed into it through the efforts of MUFON investigator Chris Styles. The case intrigued him so much that he decided to search for more details. Styles found the names of many of the original witnesses through newspaper clippings, and was able to interview many of them.
Styles was assisted by MUFON investigator Doug Ledger. These two men would uncover some extremely compelling evidence through their interviews. They discovered that when the divers of the Granby finished their work, the case was not over, after all.
The divers, along with other witnesses related these events: The object that dove into the waters of the harbor had soon left the Shag area, traveling underwater for about 25 miles to a place called Government Point, which was near a submarine detection base. The object was spotted on sonar there, and Naval vessels were positioned over it. After a couple of days, the military was planning a salvage operation, when a second UFO joined the first. Common belief at the time was that the second craft had arrived to render aid to the first.
At this time, the Navy decided to wait and watch. After about a week of monitoring the two UFOs, some of the vessels were called to investigate a Russian submarine which had entered Canadian waters. At this point,the two underwater craft made their move. They made their way to the Gulf of Maine, and putting distance between themselves and the chasing Navy boats, they broke the surface, and shot away into the skies.
These extraordinary events were corroborated by many witnesses, both civilian and military. Unfortunately, the reports were given “off the record.” Ex-military personnel feared the loss of their pensions, and civilian witnesses feared ridicule, and their privacy being invaded. The unusual events of Shag Harbor command an important place in the study of UFOs. There is little doubt that something “unknown” crashed into the waters of Shag Harbor on October 4, 1967.
Anonymous: Linda Moulton Howe - "You Need to Hear This, They Are Already Here!"
Anonymous: Linda Moulton Howe - "You Need to Hear This, They Are Already Here!"
Anonymous: You Need to Hear It, They Are Already Here!
“It’s called the American Dream, because you need to be asleep to believe it”
– George Carlin
Anonymous is the most famous ‘hacktivist’ group in the world. The informal nature of the group makes its mechanics difficult to define. Subsequently, without a formal organizational hierarchy, it’s difficult to explain Anonymous to the general public and the media. In this article, I’ll explain the history of the group, and offer some clarity on what’s misunderstood about them.
‘Hacktivist’ is a portmanteau of ‘hacker’ and ‘activist’. When people have technical skills, have access to the Internet, and understand how network infrastructure and servers work, it can be tempting to put that knowledge into having some effect on the world. The ‘activist’ part of ‘hacktivist’ means that they don’t do their hacking and cracking without a cause.
The various people behind Anonymous worldwide are united in the belief that corporations and organizations they consider to be corrupt should be attacked. If you’re an administrator for a network that has little reason to be a target for social activists, your network and servers are unlikely to become a target for Anonymous.
If for some reason you believe your network might become a target, I recommend testing it for handling DDoS attacks, as that’s the most common method Anonymous uses to bring down web servers.
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:ALIEN LIFE, UFO- CRASHES, ABDUCTIONS, MEN IN BLACK, ed ( FR. , NL; E )
Tictac UFO Seen Over City In Mexico On Dec 3, 2020, Video, UFO Sighting News
Tictac UFO Seen Over City In Mexico On Dec 3, 2020, Video, UFO Sighting News.
Date of sighting: Dec 3, 2020
Location of sighting: Cuautepec, Mexico
The eyewitness was outside recording chem trails and he noticed a long white UFO in the shape of a tictac. The UFO was very near the area of the chem trail and my have either been investigating the chem trail or it had made it earlier itself. The object has no wings, no tail no lights, no landing gear no insignias of any kind. It cloud be a blimp, but moves incredibly fast for a blimp and doesn't have the right shape for a blimp. This is an alien ship.
Scott C. Waring - Taiwan
Eyewitness states:
I stopped to record chemtrails that appear in the background of the video and UFO appears at very high speed. UFO in Cuautepec, Chemtrails in the Sky.
Black Disk Moving Slowly Over Belfast, Ireland During Evening, Nov 27, 2020, Video, UFO Sighting News.
Black Disk Moving Slowly Over Belfast, Ireland During Evening, Nov 27, 2020, Video, UFO Sighting News.
Date of sighting: Nov 27, 2020
Location of sighting:Belfast, Ireland
The eyewitness was lucky enough to catch a black disk flying over Belfast, Ireland two weeks ago. The UFO moved slowly during the evening. The object is a disk, it's not a balloon because it would be rotating or flipping end over end. This however is keeping the flat side down. Very interesting, looks 100% alien technology to me. Awesome catch.
Ring UFO Over Highway at Irvine, California On Dec 9, 2020, UFO Sighting News.
Ring UFO Over Highway at Irvine, California On Dec 9, 2020, UFO Sighting News.
Date of sighting: Dec 9, 2020 Location of sighting: Irvine, California, USA
Listen to the eyewitnesses surprise as they soon resize the glowing light ahead of them is a glowing ring UFO. You can really hear the surprise in their voices and I have to admit...I was a bit excited too because white rings are a rare event. Very cool, and seen over the freeway in Irvine...there should be more reports coming in over the next few days. 100% proof that UFO are buzzing over Irvine.
Scott C. Waring - Taiwan
Eyewitness states:
I first spotted it when we are halfway back from Long Beach entering Irvine over the 405 there was three I initially spotted and the total went up to nine. My daughter who is four years old, my boyfriend who is in the passenger seat and I all saw the crafts and watched them move very erratically and descend closer to us. My boyfriend became very afraid at this point as we could all see the lights in a circular pattern around the Circumference of the crafts and the one that descended very close to us in particular but they all seem to descend closer in unison heading inland and south.
My boyfriend was recording this on his phone and we both saw a orb pass right through Our eyeline as we are watching the crafts. They followed us all the way until we got home and then there was only one left and it too disappeared. It was very strange almost like they were trying to communicate with us. This isn’t my first foray into UFO spotting‘s but it was my boyfriend and my daughters first actual sighting although they’ve been with me when I’ve seen them.
Orb Follows Guy Recording It, Over Port Orchard, Washington On Dec 9, 2020, UFO Sighting News.
Orb Follows Guy Recording It, Over Port Orchard, Washington On Dec 9, 2020, UFO Sighting News.
Date of sighting: Dec 9, 2020 Location of sighting: Port Orchard, Washington, USA
The eyewitness believes that the UFO was actually watching the it being recorded. Often times UFOs do that. Its been recorded in dozens of Project Blue Book reports. So when he said that...it clicked. This is a real UFO over Washington.
Scott C. Waring - Taiwan
Eyewitness states:
I believe this sighting to be a possible drone, it seemed to take notice of me filming it and then follow me around where I was walking in the evening. At one point it appeared that the luminous ball was aflame. It continued to move slowly over and near where I was walking. I watched it move about for about 30 minutes. I did see a group of younger people a good distance from me looking at something together, drone controller? I left the area after about thirty minutes so I don’t know where it went.
Two Black UFOs Over Washington DC On Dec 11, 2020, UFO Sighting News. MUFON.
Two Black UFOs Over Washington DC On Dec 11, 2020, UFO Sighting News. MUFON.
Date of sighting: Dec 11, 2020 Location of sighting: Washington DC, USA Source: MUFON
The eyewitness stated that they noticed some black objects in the sky and began recording. The two objects were moving slightly and seemed to be following one another. Similar UFOs have been recorded by the US military in recent released videos in infrared. These black UFOs look very similar to one of those UFO videos. Aliens over Washington DC...the most powerful city in all America...thats kind of expected right? Aliens want an insight into how the government officials are thinking right now...and tapping into our communication networks is the fast track to such information.
Glowing UFO Over Bronx, New York On Nov 2020, UFO Sighting News.
Glowing UFO Over Bronx, New York On Nov 2020, UFO Sighting News.
Date of sighting: Nov 2020 Location of sighting:Bronx, New York, USA
Watch as this person catches a glowing orb at night passing over the home in the Bronx a few weeks ago. The eyewitness said he noticed it but was slow to begin to record it. It does look like an orb and also seems to be interested in the people watching it since it passes very close to them. John Lennon himself had a UFO sighting in New York, and so have thousand of other regular folks. Aliens fly over all cities some time or other and New York is especially interesting since the pandemic and spread of covid is so widespread.
Cylindrical UFO moving slowly at low altitude near El Paso, Texas
Cylindrical UFO moving slowly at low altitude near El Paso, Texas
The next video posted byUfo contactados Mexicali V.I.P on their Facebook page was captured in El Paso Texas on December 8, 2020, the witness while driving noticed a strange flying object that was at low altitude very close to the road.
He immediately took out his cell phone and began to record, the huge object which was moving slowly. Apparently it appears to be a cylindrical UFO.
It seems that UFOs like this one are common in that area.
Daytime UFO sighting over Washington, DC YESTERDAY
Daytime UFO sighting over Washington, DC YESTERDAY
This daytime UFO video was filmed on 11th December 2020 over Washington DC.
Witness report:
I was sitting in tree stand facing southeast deer hunting. At 5:38 pm cst a light was noticed approx 70 degrees overhead traveling east. I struggled for about 20 seconds to get rifle rested, gloves off, and cell phone out of my pocket. Light immediately changed direction of travel to southeast and I started recording video. Light continued moving southeast for approx 36 seconds before going out.
An enormous supervolcano may be hiding under Alaskan islands
An enormous supervolcano may be hiding under Alaskan islands
A geologic game of connect the dots reveals hints of a giant undersea crater
The multiple volcanoes in the Islands of the Four Mountains (shown), part of the chain that make up the Aleutian Islands in southwestern Alaska, appear to be connected by one large caldera created when a supervolcano erupted, a new study suggests.
A mysterious, previously undiscovered supervolcano may be lurking beneath Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.
A new study suggests a wide crater, created when the supervolcano exploded, connects at least four existing volcanoes. It’s so big that if the supervolcano erupted during the last few thousand years, it could have disrupted civilizations around the world, says John Power, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Alaska Volcano Observatory. Power presents the findings at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union on December 7.
The discovery, not yet confirmed, emerged from several pieces of evidence that at first glance seem unrelated, says Diana Roman, a volcanologist at Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C. “There’s no one smoking gun,” she says. And in fact, the mythical-sounding Islands of the Four Mountains, actually six volcanoes located near the center of the island chain, look like an ordinary volcanic cluster.
But taken together, the data point convincingly to the existence of a caldera about 20 kilometers across. The volcanoes’ peaks are arranged in a ring and bathymetric seafloor mapping, mostly from the 1950s, shows arc-shaped ridges and a 130-meter-deep depression in the center of the ring. Both are clues that the volcanoes are connected by one big caldera, a massive crater that forms when a very large magma chamber in a volcano explodes and empties.
Gravity data from satellites echo the look of other calderas. And analysis of such volcanic gases such as sulfur dioxide, as well as patterns of microearthquakes also suggest the presence of a caldera.
Searching for a supervolcano
Some of the clues that a supervolcano may lurk under the Islands of the Four Mountains, in the Aleutian Islands chain in southwest Alaska, come from seafloor topography mapping, like this bathymetry map compiled by NOAA. Gray areas mark the existing volcanoes. The orange zones show shallow volcanic areas apparently connected below the surface in a roughly circular pattern.
Seafloor mapping around Mount Cleveland
HÉLÈNE LE MÉVEL
“We weren’t surprised there were microearthquakes,” says Roman, considering one of the volcanoes, Mount Cleveland, is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutians. But, she says, those microearthquakes extended farther east and north than they would expect just based on the volcanoes seen at the surface. “That makes more sense in the context of the caldera.”
One hallmark of many calderas is still-active volcanoes on their rims that tap into the same magma chamber, even long after the caldera itself formed. Mount Cleveland fits that scenario. It has “erupted 60 or 70 times since 2001,” says Power. Besides blasting out sky-high ash plumes that disrupt air travel (SN: 11/27/18), this level of constant activity is typical of volcanoes rimming other known calderas, he says. One such volcano is Indonesia’s Rinjani, whose eruption around the year 1257 dumped enough sulfur particles into the atmosphere to cool the entire planet (SN: 6/14/12).
Piecing the evidence together has been challenging, thanks to the extremely remote location, a largely underwater setting and newer volcanic deposits which obscure older ones. In addition, separate studies provided different lines of evidence for a supervolcano caldera, but none connected the dots. Roman likens the team’s approach to “looking under the couch cushions.”
“It’s a neat example of how lots of threads come together to make a bigger story,” says Michael Poland, a volcanologist with the USGS’s Yellowstone Volcano Observatory who was not involved in the study. “We’re starting to get the datasets we need to make these sorts of discoveries.”
The Aleutians site is accessible only a short time each year, Poland says, so “it’s a mad rush to collect data.” But that’s exactly what the team hopes to do to confirm the caldera’s existence. It also plans to search for matching ash in ice cores collected in other parts of the world to determine when the supervolcano would have erupted. “These very large calderas have very large impacts globally,” says Power. “This potential identification helps us understand what we might expect, why Cleveland is so active, and understand the hazards.”
Japanese scientists are thrilled to finally have asteroid samples arrive Monday (Dec. 7) after a long flight from Australia — and a much longer journey through the solar system.
Those rocks originate on a near-Earth asteroid called Ryugu; the Hayabusa2 spacecraft snagged them in 2019 before a yearlong journey to deliver them to Earth in a small sample-return capsule. The capsule landed on Dec. 5 in the Woomera Prohibited Area in South Australia, creating a stunning fireball in the pre-dawn skies. Japanese scientists on site successfully tracked down the capsule and collected the precious cosmic delivery to begin the final leg of its journey.
"The dream has come true," Hitoshi Kuninaka, director general of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which runs the Hayabusa2 mission, said during a news conference held Dec. 5 in Japan.
The Hayabusa2 spacecraft left Ryugu in November 2019 after snagging samples from the asteroid's surface and interior. The main spaceship parted ways with the return capsule just two days before the delivery was complete and retreated to begin work on its extended mission, which will feature encounters with two more asteroids, in 2026 and 2031.
Meanwhile, scientists in Australia waited for the distinctive fireball the capsule would create on its way in through the atmosphere. "The weather was crystal clear," Yuichi Tsuda, project manager for Hayabusa2, said during the news conference of the weather at the capsule's arrival. The fireball streaked through the Southern Cross and near Alpha Centauri, according to officials during the news conference.
But the stunning re-entry fireball images that observers were able to capture nearly didn't exist. A storm passed through the area the day before, and scientists worried that the weather would make the retrieval process more difficult. "One day before there was heavy rain; we were very lucky," Satoru Nakazawa, recovery manager for the mission, said during the news conference.
Although the weather cleared, there was still a tense moment during the recovery, he said. The sun hadn't yet risen when the capsule landed, which made its beacon signal less clear to waiting receivers. "I was very, very, very nervous and uneasy," Nakazawa said. "We had to spend a very jittering frustrating time until the sun rose."
Once the sun rose, the scientists could see the capsule for themselves, perfectly within the planned landing area and crashed next to a bush on Woomera's red soil. JAXA personnel carefully untangled the parachute, bush and capsule, Nakazawa explained, cautious in case any explosive parachute triggers remained loaded.
After the initial inspection, about two dozen staff jumped into action, ferrying the spacefaring capsule into a box for safekeeping, then to a helicopter that carried it to the team's headquarters. There, scientists attempted to draw a gas sample from the capsule, which may still contain gases from Ryugu itself.
But the clock was ticking: The Hayabusa2 team wanted the sample in Japan within 100 hours of its return to Earth in order to keep the space rock pristine. So the capsule's next destination was an airplane for a nine-hour flight from Australia to Japan on Monday.
"There the sample will start to tell its stories and reveal to us some wonderful science," Megan Clark, head of the Australian Space Agency, said during the news conference. "2020 has been a difficult year all around the world, but Hayabusa2 and the safe return of the capsule reminds us to renew our faith in the world and our trust and appreciation and awe in the science of our universe."
Even before setting eyes on the sample themselves, scientists with the mission are thrilled about the successful collection procedure and the scientific discoveries that will result.
"Hayabusa2 is home. It has finished six years of voyage and we landed in the Woomera and we could collect the treasure box," Tsuda said. (The mission launched in December 2014.) "Hayabusa2 is still in perfect shape and the capsule is also perfect … We're really looking forward to seeing that capsule."
Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or follow her on Twitter @meghanbartels.
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured an image of China's Chang'e 5 lander on the moon just hours after its historic landing.
The Chang'e 5 lander set down on the lunar surface last Tuesday, Dec. 1. Thanks to China's prompt release of the stunning Chang'e 5 landing video, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) team were able to locate the roughly 4-ton spacecraft in Oceanus Procellarum, the "Ocean of Storms," and prepare for when LRO would pass overhead the next day.
The image shows the Chang'e 5 lander in the center of three craters. Automated systems had helped the spacecraft avoid these hazards to land safely.
The relatively flat area near the Chang'e 5 lander was created by basaltic lavas. While over a billion years old, this unit of basalt is thought to be much younger than the Apollo landing areas, which are aged at over 3 billion years. Samples are therefore of great interest to scientists, who want to know why this region was volcanically active much more recently than most other places on the moon.
The image was taken before the Chang'e 5 ascent vehicle blasted off from the surface with the collected samples. The ascent vehicle has since performed a spectacular rendezvous and docking with the Chang'e 5 orbiter and handed over the samples. Chang'e 5 will begin its journey to Earth later this week.
A wider view of the Chang'e 5 landing area taken by LRO. (Image credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University)
The Chang'e 5 sample return mission is expected to last just 23 days, ending with a landing in Inner Mongolia around Dec. 17.
LRO meanwhile has been mapping the moon in high definition for more than 11 years while also hunting for signs of water.
Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
Any alien intelligence capable of traveling to Earth would likely have some secrets to share about the laws of physics.
KTSIMAGE/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES PLUS
Any science journalist would rejoice at the revelation of aliens on Earth. It would be the story of a lifetime. So it’s not surprising that a former Israeli space official’s claim that a Galactic Federation is known to the U.S. government has made a few headlines and trended on Twitter.
Of course, most science journalists have already been alerted to the presence of aliens by any number of readers who would like to testify about their personal E.T. encounters.
Yet despite how desperately some science journalists wish for alien visitation to be real, few among us ever believe any such reports. Proper policy is to decline to interview any would-be informant about their alien experience and instead insist on interviewing the aliens themselves.
And so I would be willing to come out of retirement and conduct such an interview if any Galactic Federation alien monitoring Science News would be willing to submit to some tough questions. Only condition would be the alien must wear a high-quality mask, covering its damn nose if it has one.
Now, it’s a pretty safe bet that such an interview isn’t going to happen. It’s more likely that the Washington Football Team wins the next Super Bowl. Or even the New York Jets. But just in case, it’s a good idea to start preparing the questions. Here are my Top 10, followed by my best guesses at the alien’s answers.
The questions:
Q1. How do you spell your name?
Q2. Using Earth astronomical terminology, where are you from?
Q3. Have you not seen The War of the Worlds?
Q4. What is your favorite interpretation of quantum mechanics?
Q5. Are you in any way responsible for COVID-19 or any other serious disease-causing agent, and are you sorry?
Q6. When you looked at that dress, did it look black and blue or white and gold?
Q7. What particular scientific theoretical breakthrough enabled the technology you have exploited for interstellar travel?
Q8. Can you define P value correctly and explain its limitations for drawing scientific inferences?
Q9. What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
Q10. Why in the world haven’t you provided us with sufficiently sophisticated algorithmic artificial intelligence to neutralize the damage to our civilization perpetrated by social media?
And the possible answers:
Q1. How do you spell your name?
A1. “Spell? There is no spell. There is name or not name.”
Hard to argue with that.
Q2. Using Earth astronomical terminology, where are you from?
A3. “Saw both versions. Tom Cruise is no Gene Barry. Galaxy Quest was a more realistic movie, though.”
Q4. What is your favorite interpretation of quantum mechanics?
A4. “Quantum mechanics needs no particular interpretation if it is formulated without the preexisting prejudice that nature should exhibit cause-and-effect determinism. It’s all about understanding the nature of time as a source of novelty rather than a continuous parameter dictating the evolution of a function. What you call randomness or indeterminism is what we call information creation. A few of your earthling scientists have begun to catch on a little bit to this idea. Check out arxiv.org/abs/2002.01653.”
Q5. Are you in any way responsible for COVID-19 or any other serious disease-causing agent, and are you sorry?
A5. “Possibly we brought in a disease or two, but on the other hand, you hooked us on tobacco.”
Q6. When you looked at that dress, did it look black and blue or white and gold?
A6. “Hah! We invented that dress to keep you guys distracted from some other stuff we had going on.”
Q7. What particular scientific theoretical breakthrough enabled the technology you have exploited for interstellar travel?
A7. “Well, that’s related to the quantum question. The key insight came from the Vulcans, who realized that continuum mathematics at the foundation of calculus was not the only possible logical mathematical system. You need what you call intuitionistic math — as I mentioned, read arxiv.org/abs/2002.01653. And also this paper. Once you get rid of that unwieldy infinity of real numbers lots of things are easier to solve, like quantum gravity. Technology takes off from there.”
Vulcans? Well, right, this is the Galactic Federation.
Q8. Can you define P value correctly and explain its limitations for drawing scientific inferences?
A8. “Oh, we’ve been trying for years to feed you guys clues about how worthless P values are. We don’t allow any new worlds into the federation until their scientists stop using P values. A P value is the probability of getting an observed result or a more extreme result if the hypothesis of getting a null result is true, given the mathematical model of the data and all other assumptions built into your experiment. Doesn’t tell you a damn thing about whether the null hypothesis is true or not. Just gives a hint about whether your result is surprising or not. It could be surprising and therefore wrong or could be surprising and right. Go read this paper.”
I did.
Q9. What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
A9. “What do you mean?”
Only half credit for that — it’s not the whole answer.
Q10. Why in the world haven’t you provided us with sufficiently sophisticated algorithmic artificial intelligence to neutralize the damage to our civilization perpetrated by social media?
Alien runs off.
OMG, I just realized the answer to that one is that Zuckerberg is one of the aliens.
Coronal mass ejections – CMEs for short – are powerful eruptions near the surface of the sun that ripple through our solar system and can interfere with satellites and power grids on Earth.
Coronal mass ejection of February 27, 2000. A disk is being used to block out the light of the sun. The white circle indicates the sun’s surface.
Every so often, the sun burps, with the power of 20 million nuclear bombs. These hiccups are known as coronal mass ejections or CMEs. They are powerful eruptions near the surface of the sun, driven by kinks in the solar magnetic field. The resulting shocks ripple through the solar system and can interrupt satellites and power grids on Earth.
During a CME, enormous bubbles of superheated gas – called plasma – are ejected from the sun. Over the course of several hours, a billion tons of material are lifted off the sun’s surface and accelerated to speeds of a million miles per hour (1.6 million kilometers per hour). This can happen several times a day when the sun is most active. During its quieter periods, CMEs occur only about once every five days.
The underlying cause of CMEs is not well understood. Astronomers agree, however, that the sun’s magnetic field plays a major role. Because the sun is a fluid, turbulence tends to twist the magnetic field into complex contortions. Twist the field too much, and it kinks, much like a phone cord or toy Slinky. These kinks snap the magnetic field and can potentially drive vast amounts of plasma into space.
The plasma itself is a cloud of protons and electrons carried aloft by the solar wind. Traveling at a million miles per hour (1.6 million kph), the ejecta can cross the 93-million-mile (150-million-km) distance to Earth in just a few days.
A jet moving that fast would get you from Los Angeles to New York in 18 seconds.
Because CMEs get blown off the sun in all directions, most don’t come anywhere near Earth. But every so often, an eruption is aimed right at us. When the plasma cloud hits our planet, a geomagnetic storm follows. The shock wave of charged particles compresses the Earth’s dayside magnetic field while the nightside gets stretched out. Like an elongated rubber band, the terrestrial magnetic field eventually snaps back with the same amount of energy as a bolt of lightning.
The video below shows the particle flow around Earth as solar ejecta associated with a coronal mass ejection strike:
The onslaught of charged particles and the temporary restructuring of the Earth’s magnetic field has observable effects. Auroral lights, usually only seen near the poles, can drift to lower latitudes and become more brilliant. The disturbance of the magnetic field can also expose Earth to deadly cosmic rays. The atmosphere still provides enough protection for everyone on the ground. But astronauts in space may receive lethal doses of radiation. During a solar storm in 1989, cosmonauts aboard the Mir space station received their maximum yearly radiation dose in just a few hours!
The real long-lasting danger comes from the storm’s effect on technology. The flurry of magnetic activity and induced electric currents has the potential to severely disrupt power grids, satellites, communication networks, that is, anything that uses electricity. When the sun aimed a CME at us in that 1989 event I just mentioned, the resulting storm collapsed the Hydro-Québec power grid. Six million people were without power for nine hours.
But the 1989 storm is nothing compared to the geomagnetic storm of 1859. Known as the Carrington Event, after amateur astronomer Richard Carrington, who observed the flares that triggered the storm, it was the most powerful geomagnetic storm ever recorded. Auroras were observed as far south as Hawaii and the Caribbean. Witnesses at higher latitudes reported being able to read newspapers by the light of the aurora alone. Telegraph networks around the globe catastrophically failed; operators received shocks and telegraph paper caught on fire.
A repeat of the Carrington Event in today’s far more interconnected world would be devastating. Cascading failures could quickly shut power down to millions of people in a matter of minutes. Communication networks would fail and GPS satellites, upon which the entire air traffic system relies, would shut down.
A repeat of 1859 could be truly catastrophic!
Obviously, we don’t want to be surprised by a powerful Earth-bound CME. That’s why astronomers study the sun. Besides the joy of discovering how stars work, a better understanding of solar activity can help us be better prepared. With even just a few hours warning before an impending CME strike, we could safely shut down and protect essential services. Disruptions may then only last a few hours, rather than the days, weeks, and months that might otherwise occur.
CMEs are just another reminder of how fragile our pale blue dot is as it races around the sun.
On August 31, 2012, the Solar Dynamics Observatory caught the sun launching streams of plasma into space at nearly 900 miles (about 1,400 km) per second.
Image via NASA/GSFC/SDO.
Bottom line: Coronal mass ejections – also knowns as CMEs – are powerful eruptions on the sun’s surface. Caused by instabilities in the sun’s magnetic field, they can launch a billion tons of superheated gas into space. Most drift harmlessly across the solar system, but occasionally one is aimed at Earth. When that happens, the resulting magnetic storm can severely disrupt electrical systems and produce brilliant auroral displays.
KOMENDE ZONDAG ZIJN BIJ HELDER WEER TOT WEL 100 VALLENDE STERREN PER UUR TE ZIEN
KOMENDE ZONDAG ZIJN BIJ HELDER WEER TOT WEL 100 VALLENDE STERREN PER UUR TE ZIEN
Vivian Lammerse
De Geminiden lijken een mooie show weg te gaan geven.
Het koude en gure weer is zondag alles behalve een reden om binnen te blijven. In de nacht van zondag op maandag zijn namelijk weer de befaamde geminiden te aanschouwen; één van de mooiste jaarlijkse meteorenzwermen. Volgens Marc van der Sluys van Hemel.waarnemen.com zijn de omstandigheden dit jaar bijzonder gunstig. En dus kunnen we bij helder weer tot wel 100 vallende sterren per uur spotten!
Geminiden Geminiden kenmerken zich door hun grote aantallen, de helderheid, gelige kleur en de korte sporen die ze achterlaten. Bovendien kunnen ze snelheden van wel 125.000 kilometer per uur bereiken. Dat klinkt misschien heel wat, maar voor meteoren is dit niet heel snel of langzaam.
Naam De meteorenzwerm heeft de naam de Geminiden gekregen omdat de sterrenregen uit het sterrenbeeld Tweelingen (Gemini) lijkt te komen. Dit sterrenbeeld vind je ‘s avonds boven de oostelijke en ‘s ochtends boven de westelijke horizon. Maar in werkelijkheid is het te danken aan planetoïde Phaethon. Deze heeft puin in zijn baan achtergelaten en elk jaar beweegt de aarde rond dezelfde tijd door die met puin gevulde baan heen.
Lichtflits Hoewel meteoren in de volksmond ook wel vallende sterren worden genoemd, hebben de lichtflitsjes die je langs de hemel ziet schieten helemaal niets met sterren te maken. De lichtflitsjes ontstaan doordat ruimtepuin – vaak gaat het dan om vrij kleine deeltjes – in de aardatmosfeer belanden. Het ruimtepuin dringt de aardatmosfeer met hoge snelheid binnen, waardoor het wordt afgeremd en verhit. Ook de lucht rond het puindeeltje wordt verhit en gaat gloeien. En zo ontstaat het lichtflitsje dat wij vanaf de aarde zien.
Van zondag op maandag zijn er rond middernacht zo’n 75 tot 90 meteoren – afkomstig uit oostelijke richting – per uur te zien, zo voorspelt Hemel.waarnemen.com. Naarmate de nacht vordert, neemt dat aantal toe. Zo wordt verwacht dat er rond 2.00 uur ’s nachts – in het zuiden – zo’n 100 tot 120 Geminiden per uur verschijnen.
De afbeelding toont een kaartje van de sterrenhemel in zuidwestelijke richting op 14 december om 1:45 uur, wanneer de meeste Geminiden te zien zijn. De (groene) balk onderin is de horizon. De (gele) cirkel geeft het punt aan de hemel aan waar de meteoren vandaan lijken te komen; de sporen stellen meteoren voor (schematisch). De figuurtjes zijn de sterrenbeelden; de naam is in het sterrenbeeld vermeld. Hieronder zijn kaartjes in zwart-wit en/of PDF/vectorformaat beschikbaar. Credit: hemel.waarnemen.com
Zoals gezegd lijken de omstandigheden dit jaar heel gunstig. Dat komt doordat het maanlicht geen storende factor zal zijn. Het hoogtepunt van de Geminiden zal laat in de avond plaatsvinden en de maan komt vervolgens pas in de ochtend op. Daarom zul je de Geminiden prachtig met het blote oog aan de nachtelijke hemel kunnen zien pronken.
Tenminste… …Als de weersomstandigheden natuurlijk goed zijn. Het huidige weerbericht voor zondagavond is niet heel veelbelovend. Maar geen nood. Want de Universiteit van Amsterdam organiseert samen met de Koninklijke Nederlandse Vereniging voor Weer- en Sterrenkunde vanaf 21.00 uur een livestream. Bij slecht weer gebruikt de organisatie beelden van radiotelescopen. En met die telescopen kunnen onderzoekers door de wolken heen turen. Sterrenkundehoogleraar en radioastronoom Ralph Wijers (UvA) en meteorenexpert Felix Bettonvil (Universiteit Leiden en KNVWS) geven tijdens de livestream de nodige uitleg. Na de livestream kunnen liefhebbers samen virtueel verder kijken met de Werkgroep Meteoren.
Wil je liever je eigen geluk beproeven, dan kan dat natuurlijk ook. Want als de wolken wegblijven, kun je de meteorenzwerm ook op eigen houtje bewonderen. Je hebt hier namelijk geen speciale apparatuur voor nodig. Het blote oog en een heldere hemel volstaan. Zoek wel even een donkere plek op, want dan kun je ook de zwakkere meteoren aan de hemel zien prijken. En oh, denk ook even aan warme kleding.
A captured the images to create this composite on December 14, 2018. He wrote of the 2018 Geminid shower, “I witnessed 200+ meteors, most of them very faint.”
If you had to pick one morning for watching the 2020 Geminid meteor shower, it’d probably be Monday morning, December 14. But Saturday and Sunday mornings might be good as well. At their peak, on a dark, moonless night, the Geminids have been known to produce 120 meteors per hour – or more – in the wee hours after midnight. Any and all meteors are fun to see! Plus, the moon is at and near the new phase for this year’s shower, giving us a dark, moonless sky for this year’s Geminid shower. Not sure where to watch? Try EarthSky’s Best Places to Stargaze page.
Not sure how to watch? Here are 10 tips.
1. Watch late night to dawn.
Geminid meteor numbers tend to intensify as evening deepens into late night, with the greatest number of Geminids likely falling an hour or two after midnight, when the meteor shower’s radiant point appears highest in the sky as seen from around the globe. That time holds true no matter your time zone.
A farmer’s field? A stretch of country road? A campsite with a clear view in one or more directions? An open sky will increase your chances of seeing some meteors.
4. Watch for an hour or more.
The 2020 Geminid meteor shower will be better if you let your eyes adapt to the dark. That can take as long as 20 minutes. Plus the meteors tend to come in spurts, followed by lulls. Be patient! You’ll see some.
5. Don’t worry about the radiant point.
You don’t need to look in a single direction – or locate the Geminid’s radiant point – to have fun watching the shower. The meteors will appear all over the sky. The radiant point is interesting, though. If you track Geminid meteors backwards on the sky’s dome, you’ll find them streaming from this point, within the constellation Gemini the Twins. Hence this shower’s name.
In December 2020, there’s no moonlight to ruin the show. New moon is December 14. But – in the weekend mornings, just prior to the Geminids’ peak morning (also December 14), you can catch the waning crescent moon moon and Venus in the east before sunup. They would be a grand way to end a meteor shower!
As the predawn darkness begins to give way to morning twilight, watch for the waning crescent moon and the dazzling planet Venus rise into your eastern sky. What a wonderful way to cap a night of meteor watching!
7. Think about the Geminids’ parent object.
Most meteors in annual showers originate in comets. But the parent of the Geminid meteor shower is a mysterious body named 3200 Phaethon. This solar system object is termed an Apollo (near-Earth) asteroid, and it might be a dormant comet. How does that help you watch the shower? It doesn’t. But it’s fun to contemplate on a dark night under the stars.
Both of you watch different parts of the sky. If one of you sees one, shout out “meteor!” Again, don’t worry about which direction to look. Just let your eyes rove casually in all parts of the sky.
9. Special equipment? Not necessary.
You only need a dark sky, a reclining lawn chair and the warmth of a sleeping bag. A hot drink and a snack can also be good.
10. Enjoy nature.
As a wise man once said, meteor watching is a lot like fishing. You go outside. You hope you catch some!
Bottom line:We anticipate 2020 will be a great year for watching the Geminid meteor shower! Here are 10 tips.
Oldest mammal hair ever discovered is found preserved in amber dating back 110MILLION years - as experts say its owner probably got stuck to a tree while snoozing
Oldest mammal hair ever discovered is found preserved in amber dating back 110MILLION years - as experts say its owner probably got stuck to a tree while snoozing
Scientists uncovered dinosaur feather at site in Teruel, Aragon, eastern Spain
Three strands of mammal hair and dinosaur feathers found at Santa María mine
Both pieces 'exceptionally preserved' and date back to Early Cretaceous period
The oldest piece of mammalian hair ever discovered has been found preserved in amber that could be 110 million years old.
Scientists also found a dinosaur feather at the same site in Teruel, Aragon, eastern Spain, and say the remains date from between 105 and 110 million years ago.
The two pieces of resin containing three strands of mammal hair and dinosaur feathers were uncovered the Santa María mine near Teruel's capital Ariño.
Although mammal hair has been found imprinted in 160 million year old fossils, the previous oldest piece actually preserved dates from 100 million years ago.
The two pieces of resin containing three strands of mammal hair and dinosaur feathers (pictured) were uncovered the Santa María mine in Teruel, Aragon, eastern Spain
Both pieces date back to the Early Cretaceous period and have been 'exceptionally preserved' through a process dubbed 'pull off vestiture'.
This suggests the animals came into contact with the resin while resting or sleeping in a tree over 100 million years ago.
The feathers and hair would have then been 'torn off' when the animals woke up and tried to move as the amber had dried.
Microscopic scale patterns on the three hairs, their parallel predisposition and similar proportions, allowed the researchers to identify them as belonging to a mammal.
While Spain is a known hot spot for Cretaceous fossils, the researchers were not expecting to find animal remains preserved in amber.
Co-author doctoral student Sergio Álvarez-Parra from the University of Barcelona said: 'The determination of both findings is very complex, but it is likely for the feather remains to correspond to the extinct birds Enantiornithes, like other feathers in amber.
'Regarding the lock of hair, we should consider that the surface scale pattern is similar to the current mammalian hair.
'Ariño was already known for its vertebrate fossils, such as the dinosaurs Proa valdearinnoensis and Europelta carbonensis, but no-one thought we could find remains from vertebrates included in amber.'
While Spain is a known hot spot for Cretaceous fossils, the researchers were not expecting to find animal remains preserved in amber
(pictured)
The dinosaur feathers were discovered in a piece of amber shaped like a stalactite in Saint Just near the municipality of Utrillas a few years ago.
Both pieces were formed between 105 and 110 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous period.
Senior author Professor Xavier Delclòs, also at the University of Barcelona said: 'The feature of the process described in this research is that a somewhat long time must pass between the animal's contact with the resin and the pulling off of the vestiture.
'Thus, the findings of this study and the new process shed light on the complexity of ecosystems during the Cretaceous.'
The Cretaceous period began 145 million years ago and ended 66 million years ago with the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Both pieces of amber are in the Palaeontological Museum of Aragon, Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel - Dinópolis.
The findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports.
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