Space News/UFO's Etc...(Discussion/Pics/Vids)

[ilan]

The planet hunter searching for another Earth

By Jacopo Prisco, for CNN
Updated 12:18 PM ET, Mon April 11, 2016

I want to find another Earth. That's what I'm living for."

MIT astrophysicist Sara Seager has been looking at planets beyond our solar system, known as exoplanets, for almost 20 years.

When the first ones were discovered in the 1990s, many questioned the finding and didn't think it was real. But since then, with better technology, we have observed more than 6,000 of them, most of which are giant balls of gas.

Today, the list grows every week.

With so many planets now coming out of hiding, the race is on to identify one that resembles Earth: a rocky world with liquid water just like ours, and suitable to host life.

Seager believes she knows how to make that discovery.

'These aren't planets!'

It's not easy to see exoplanets as you can't just look at them through a telescope. This is due to the blinding light coming from their host stars, which can be very different in size and features compared to our sun. The process is often described as trying to spot a firefly circling a lighthouse, from thousands of miles away.

"As many as one in five stars like the sun could have a planet with liquid water."
Prof. Sara Seager, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

The first ones were discovered indirectly, in 1995, by just looking at stars to see if they would wobble slightly, responding to the pull of another object's gravity

At this time, Seager was a graduate student at Harvard searching for a topic for her Ph.D. and she was intrigued by the newborn field of faraway planets.

"Since the planets were discovered indirectly, most people didn't believe that the discoveries were real. They'd say to me 'Why are you doing this? These aren't planets!'," says Seager.

The contrarians weren't entirely wrong: the wobble can be caused by other factors such as another star and several planet discoveries have been retracted over time for this reason.

But then a different technique was found to make their hunt easier, called transit. This is when a planet moves in front of its host star and causes the star's light to dim slightly.

"One of the planets from the wobble technique showed transit: it went in front of the star at exactly the time it was predicted to and that was basically incontrovertible," says Seager.

Exoplanets were real.

[Marley]

Scientists are preparing for a solar superstorm that could cause $2 trillion in damages

http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/wonder/scientists-are-preparing-for-a-solar-superstorm-that-could-cause-dollar2-trillion-in-damages/vi-BBrERdr

[ilan]

That would be a mess and would give new meaning to the term "storm damage." Interesting post, asft!

[Marley]

Russian billionaire and Internet investor Yuri Milner, together with physicist Stephen Hawking, announced a plan Tuesday to send tiny robotic spacecrafts into deep space using lasers.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/wonder/stephen-hawking-and-yuri-milner-unveil-nanocrafts-plan/vi-BBrGNfW

[ilan]

APRIL 12, 1961: THE FIRST HUMAN IN SPACE
12 Apr , 2016 by Evan Gough


Yuri Gagarin, the first human to break free of Earth's gravity and enter space. Credit: Russian Archives

On April 12th, 1961, the first human being broke free of the gravity bond with Earth, and orbited the planet.

Though most everyone is familiar with the American Apollo astronauts who walked on the Moon, what it took to get there, and the “One small step…” of Neil Armstrong, fewer people are familiar with Yuri Gagarin, the Soviet cosmonaut who was the first human in space. He orbited Earth in his Vostok 1 spacecraft for 108 minutes.

Gagarin became an international celebrity at the time. He received the USSR’s highest honor, the Hero of the Soviet Union. Quite an honor, and quite an achievement for someone who, as a child, survived the Nazi occupation of Russia by living in a tiny mud hut with those members of his family who were not deported for slave labour by the Germans.

The Space Race between the USA and the USSR was in full swing at the time of Gagarin’s flight, and only one month after Gagarin’s historic journey, American astronaut Alan Shepard reached space. But Shepard’s journey was only a 15 minute sub-orbital flight.

Gagarin only has one space flight to his credit, aboard the Vostok 1 in 1961. He did serve as back-up crew for the Soyuz 1 mission though. Gagarin was a test pilot before becoming a cosmonaut, and he died while piloting a Mig-15 fighter jet in 1968.

Space travel in our age is full of ‘firsts.’ It’s the nature of our times. But there can only ever be one first person to leave Earth, and that accomplishment will echo down the ages. Scores of people have been into space now. Their accomplishments are impressive, and they deserve recognition.

But this day belongs to Yuri Gagarin.

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Thanks ilan.
Happy Anniversary Yuri, you changed our world.

[ilan]

Yes, a heroic effort on Yuri's part. There were many theories/conspiracy theories surrounding his very early demise.

Yuri Gagarin death mystery solved after 40 years
By Andrew Osborn in Moscow
6:00AM GMT 08 Jan 2010

Independent Russian investigators say they have uncovered crucial new evidence which finally reveals how the world's first man in space died aged just 34.

The study claims Gagarin's death during a routine training flight in 1968 was caused by his panicked reaction after realising an air vent in his cockpit was open.

He threw his MiG-15 fighter jet into such a steep dive that he blacked out and crashed into a forest below killing himself and his co-pilot.

Igor Kuznetsov, a retired Soviet air force colonel, believes his findings will end years of conspiracy theories ranging from claims Gagarin was drunk to allegations the accident was staged by jealous Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.

He has spent the past nine years with a group of aviation specialists, piecing together the circumstances using modern accident investigation techniques.

Gagarin died on a routine flight seven years after he shot to global fame by orbiting the Earth for 68 minutes. His mission handed the Soviet Union a spectacular propaganda coup and Gagarin quickly became the USSR's biggest star.

But the findings of the original investigation into his death have never been published and are known to have been vague.

Investigators were only able to conclude that "the most probable cause" was a sudden in-flight manoeuvre made to avoid a weather balloon or cloud cover.

But after studying hundreds of documents relating to the incident, Col Kuznetsov has concluded that an air vent in the cockpit was left partially open.

He said Gagarin and his co-pilot realised the cockpit was not hermetically sealed as they were approaching 10,000ft and took emergency action to descend to a safer altitude.

But according to Col Kuznetsov, the two men dived far too quickly and lost consciousness as a result – the plane then ploughed into a forest killing Gagarin and his trainer, Vladimir Seryogin, instantly.

Medical knowledge at the time meant the pilots would not have known it was dangerous to descend at such speed.

The operating instructions for the MiG-15 were also flawed, he adds, and did not specify how the pilots were supposed to use the fateful air vent.

Col Kuznetsov also raises the suggestion a careless pilot who used the same plane in the days leading up to crash may have been to blame for the open vent.

Until now, it had been thought that Gagarin himself was the last person to use the plane two days previously.

But Kuznetsov says he has now learnt that other pilots simulated a flight in the same plane prior to Gagarin's fatal flight. He believes they may have tampered with the air vent and wants to determine their identity and what kind of training they were doing.

"Nobody knows what really happened except us," said Col Kuznetsov. "We need to tell our people and the international community the real reason why the world's first cosmonaut died.

"This part-open vent triggered the entire sequence of events that followed. These new facts need to be checked independently and by a government commission. Or even by foreign specialists."

Col Kuznetsov says he wants space and aviation experts around the world to get involved to confirm his findings.

==========

Ilan: Lets hope he rests in peace and is regarded in high esteem. He was a hero regardless of your nationality! I'm not Russian but I respect his effort!

[Capt.Kangaroo]

^^^^^Like^^^^^

[nada233]

very interesting piece of information Ilan,thank you.

[ilan]

How to Spot Mercury in the Evening Sky
By: Kelly Beatty | April 15, 2016

If you've never seen this fleet-footed planet, now is a great time to look for it in the evening sky after sunset.

Right now Jupiter reigns supreme in the evening sky after sunset. But it's not the only bright planet in view. For the next week you can spot Mercury low in the west about 45 minutes after sunset. If you're never seen the innermost planet before, this is a good month to look for it.

Because it's the innermost planet, Mercury is never far from the Sun in the sky. This proximity makes it tricky to spot — when Mercury is above the horizon, the Sun usually is too; when the Sun has dropped from sight enough for the sky to be dark, it's usually dragged the planet along as well. Even in the very best of geometric circumstances, Mercury and the Sun can never appear more than 28° apart in the sky.

If your sky is clear after sunset, Mercury is easy to spot low in the west during mid-April.

Moreover, this fast-moving planet orbits the Sun so quickly, once every 88 days, that it can't stay put for very long. Instead, it jumps between the morning and evening sky multiple times each year.

But some times are better than others for trying to glimpse this celestial speedster — and this is one of those times. Mercury is in the midst of its best evening-sky appearance of the year. And its angular separation from the Sun will reach 20°, what astronomers call greatest elongation, on April 18th.

So if you've got an unobstructed view toward west and it's clear at sunset, step outside for a few minutes to track down this elusive planet. Bring along binoculars if you have them, so you can take in one last view of the Pleiades, somewhat higher up in the western sky, before they sink out of view in the coming weeks.

But don't wait too long! Mercury is getting a little dimmer with each passing day, and by early May it will be too low and faint to spot.