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

[ilan]

Can the moon make an earthquake worse?
Nathaniel Scharping, Astronomy.com | September 14, 2016

Danshutter/Shutterstock

When an earthquake occurs, it represents the release of years, sometimes decades or centuries, of pent-up stress. Somewhere along the fault line, a section of rock can take the strain no longer and gives way, allowing a tectonic plate to jerk into motion in a series of spasmodic shudders.

The factors that determine when, where and why earthquakes happen are numerous, and we’re still a long way from figuring out how to reliably predict them. But, it turns out that one of the many small stresses leading up to an earthquake may be extraterrestrial.

Moon Pushes and Pulls

In a study published Monday in Nature Geosciences, a team of Japanese researchers say that they have found a statistical correlation between periods of excessive tidal forces and large earthquakes.

The tides, of course, are a consequence of the moon’s gravitational tug. As it orbits the Earth, the moon pulls a small bulge of water with it, sloshing the oceans back and forth. And, just as the oceans move with the moon, so too does the land. The Earth’s crust actually moves by about a foot every day due to the motion of the moon, a so-called “land tide.”

The subtle flexing of the Earth’s crust could be another factor in determining when the critical points along fault lines give way. As the moon tugs on the rock, it could provide that final nudge that sets a cascading series of larger slips into motion, creating an earthquake.

The researchers say that several major earthquakes in recent history happened during full or new moons, when the sun, Earth and moon line up, and tidal stress is at its highest. In addition, the ratio of large earthquakes to smaller temblors appears to increase during that time.

Interestingly, however, there appears to be no correlation between tides and smaller earthquakes — the relationship only holds for the largest rumbles.

In all, nine of the 12 biggest quakes on record happened near new or full moons, a number that appears to exceed chance. This included the 2004 Indonesian earthquake and ensuing tidal wave, and the 2011 earthquake in Japan that caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Old Idea, New Analysis

The idea that the moon’s gravitational tug may kickstart earthquakes is not new. The researchers cite papers going back to the 19th century that examined the link between lunar cycles and earthquakes.

More recently, a paper from researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey found that a specific kind of deep earthquake at the San Andreas fault was more likely to occur when tidal forces were increased during the two-week fortnightly tide cycle. Scientists have never been able to find any conclusive evidence of a link, however.

Both papers stop far short of saying the Moon is causing earthquakes, though. Instead, it seems that the tidal forces the moon exerts may cause what could have been a small quake to grow much larger.

The mechanism by which this happens is still unclear, however. Tidal forces are just one of many, many factors all working together to push, pull and twist the Earth’s crust, all of which combine to occasionally produce a quake. Somewhere along that chain of events, the moon could provide the extra nudge needed to set the earth in motion.

Knowing that the movements of the moon affect how earthquakes happen gives us a better idea of when and where they’ll strike.

[ilan]

Is There Intelligent Life Out There?
Kim LaCapria, Snopes | Updated 19 Sep 2016

A conspiracy site republished a satirical claim that NASA admitted alien contact but failed
to disclose that information, presuming everyone already knew about it.

Claim: NASA admitted that they were in contact with aliens but failed to officially disclose that information, presuming everyone already knew about it.


False


Example: [Collected via e-mail, September 2016]

A few articles have claimed that a NASA spokesperson admitted that there have been aliens visiting the Earth for thousands of years, and NASA assumed that everybody already knew that aliens were real because of all of the science fiction about them.

Origin:On 19 September 2016, the conspiracy web site disclose . tv published an article reporting that NASA, the federal agency that oversees the U.S. civilian space program, had casually admitted they were in contact with aliens but had never formally announced that information because they believed everyone was already aware of it:

According to reports, Trish Chamberson, an official spokesperson from NASA has confirmed the existence of extra-terrestrial life and has claimed that aliens have been visiting planet Earth for thousands of years.

NASA SPOKESWOMAN CONFIRMS THE EXISTENCE OF ALIENS

During the two-hour briefing, Chamberson confirmed that a number of theories which had previously been dismissed as groundless speculation from fringe enthusiasts are actually grounded in reality. Chamberson made various sensational allegations in the course of the interview, claiming that the alien species known as the Greys have been visiting Earth for thousands of years and that they may have had a hand in the construction of megastructures such as the ancient pyramids of Giza and various other buildings dotted around the world.

There are so many films, documentaries and TV programs on aliens, that we thought everyone was aware of them by now[.]

Chamberson went on to confirm various theories about alien mining operations in the solar system. She claimed one of the mines was on the far side of the Moon and that various planets in the solar system were being assessed for minerals. Recently, she claimed aliens have begun to mine Jupiter, which is why observers have been able to see several apparently new rings appearing around the gas giant.

Sorry. We just kinda assumed everyone knew about it[.]

Disclose.tv didn't provide any sources for the attention-grabbing claim, but it was easily traced back to an article published by satirical web site Waterford Whispers a month earlier:

“We do apologise for this mix up, the whole thing just slipped our mind,” another scientist explained, “we were so busy back-engineering their technology, we simply forgot all about it. They even have a base on the far side of the moon, and are currently mining several planets in our solar system for minerals. They’ve only started on Jupiter recently, hence the new rings around it. It’s all good though, they’re a nice enough bunch. They don’t talk much though, but always complaining about our Nuclear weapons, claiming they affect parallel universes every time they’re triggered”.

The disclosure comes after 70 years of countless sightings and abductions, raising questions as to why it is they are here.

“The aliens are actually harmless and only interested in the planet’s natural resources,” the briefing concluded, “which shouldn’t cause us any problems whatsoever”.

In their disclaimer notice, Waterford Whispers, states that the site is a about "fabricated satirical newspaper":

Waterford Whispers News is a fabricated satirical newspaper and comedy website published by Waterford Whispers News.

Waterford Whispers News uses invented names in all its stories, except in cases when public figures are being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental.

Waterford Whispers is largely recognized as an Irish counterpart to The Onion among its primary reader base (in the UK and Ireland). However, previous items from the site have been confused for real news, including reports that the Pope commissioned J.K. Rowling to rewrite the Bible, the Muppet known as "Animal" had died, and that the Vatican decreed Jesus was not returning. Disclose.tv has passed on a decent share of fake news items, including claims a baby in the Philippines was born with Stigmata and Edward Snowden had been "reported dead by his girlfriend."

[ilan]

Hubble Watches as Comet 332P Breaks Apart
Kelly Beatty, Sky & Telescope | September 19, 2016

Back in January, a team of observers had a hunch that Comet 332P/Ikeya-Murakami was rapidly falling apart — and they were right!

When astronomers turned the Hubble Space Telescope on Comet 332P/Ikeya-Murakami in January 2016, they found two large fragments (dubbed C and A) and more than a score of smaller pieces. To get these images, astronomers used HST's Wide Field Camera 3 and a broadband red filter (the blue tint isn't real). Total exposure: 100 minutes. The box around fragment C corresponds to the portion shown in the animation below. NASA / ESA / D. Jewitt

Pity the unfortunate fate of Comet 332P/Ikeya-Murakami. It quietly drifted in the Kuiper Belt for 4½ billion years, minding its own business. But about 10 million years ago something happened — perhaps a close brush with another object — and this icy little body found itself redirected on a path toward the inner solar system. Over time repeated tugs from Jupiter locked it into a tight, 5½-year-long orbit around the Sun, where it was spotted on November 3, 2010, by Japanese amateurs Kaoru Ikeya and Shigeki Murakami.

Comet 332P might have lived out its days peacefully. But it was suspiciously too bright (8th magnitude) when discovered, and astronomers soon realized it must have undergone some kind of disruptive outburst. Its coma quickly faded from view.

Then, on December 31, 2015, the PanSTARRS 1 telescope captured the comet on its next return to perihelion — except this time around the comet had split into two large fragments. A team led by David Jewitt (University of California, Los Angeles) quickly obtained observing time with the Hubble Space Telescope and found that Comet Ikeya-Murakami had completely disintegrated into at least 25 pieces.

The Hubble Space Telescope tracked more than two dozen fragments of Comet 332/Ikeya-Murakami's disrupted nucleus over 3 days in January 2016. Fragment C is at far left; another bright piece, fragment A, is well off to the right of this close-up view. NASA / ESA / D. Jewitt

Over three days in January (26–28) and two more in April (12–13), Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 captured the comet's demise. Although it's impossible to know for sure, Jewitt's team suspects that the individual pieces must have been roughly 20 to 60 meters (65 to 200 feet) across. How and why it broke apart isn't certain, but a likely cause is that amorphous water ice in the comet's nucleus spontaneously converted to its crystalline form — a runaway reaction that not only generates heat but also releases any trapped gas. (The same scenario might have led to the amazing outburst of Comet 17P/Holmes in November 2007.)

However, as the team details in Astrophysical Journal Letters for September 20th (a full preprint is available here), there's a problem with that interpretation. "No direct evidence for amorphous ice in comets exists," they write, "and it is not clear that gas drag forces could be sufficient to expel fragments 10s of meters in size, as observed, even against the low gravity of [small] parent nucleus."

One thing seems certain: we're unlikely to see much of Comet 332P — if anything of it remains — during its next perihelion in late 2021.

[ilan]

Daily Alert for Asteroid Flybys
Camille M. Carlisle, Sky & Telescope | September 22, 2016

A new e-digest from the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center gives the public a head’s up on passing asteroids.

The IAU's Minor Planet Center, in collaboration with volunteers from the Oracle Corporation, has put together a daily e-alert for passing near-Earth asteroids. This is the "classic" view of the website. Daily Minor Planet

Asteroids buzz Earth all the time. Most you never hear about. But for those folks itching with curiosity — or who want a level-headed take on whatever object has blazed its way into the news — the Minor Planet Center’s new initiative is for you.

It’s called the Daily Minor Planet. (No, it’s not staffed by mini versions of Clark Kent.) The Daily Minor Planet is an alert service that sends an e-mail once a day to your inbox with information about any passing near-Earth objects. It includes the object’s name, time of closest approach (in Universal Time), speed, size, distance (compared with the Moon), and an orbit diagram. It also includes “asteroid fast facts” — stuff like how scientists calculate an asteroid’s orbit. A link takes you to the object’s entry in the Minor Planet Center’s database, where the data-enthused can find more details.

On days when there’s no interplanetary visitor whizzing past Earth, the report will feature a recently discovery asteroid and highlight an article in the popular press. (Pick mine, pick mine!)

The web version lets you view the Daily Minor Planet in two modes: minimalist web style (“modern”) and old-timey newspaper style (“classic”).

"Modern" view of the Daily Minor Planet.

The idea behind the project is to provide the public with no-nonsense info about passing asteroids, to counter hype in the media. However, currently there’s no public archive, so you’ll need to either check the website daily or save your e-mails to keep up. If you’re not looking too much in the past, you can use the table that’s tucked away on the right side of the Asteroid Hazards video page. It’s at the bottom of the column labeled Running Tallies. This table lists close approaches within the last week and those upcoming in the next couple of weeks, but it only includes the name, date/time, distance, and size.

The digest isn’t designed for observers; it doesn’t include things like apparent magnitude. For those looking to spot these objects, you’ll need an ephemeris generator. The Minor Planet Center has one, as does JPL and the European NEODys-2 site.

Read more about the new initiative in the press release from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics:

https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/2016-24

[ilan]

Cosmologists show that universe is expanding uniformly
Astronomy Now | 24 September 2016

This simulation of the large-scale structure of the universe reveals the cosmic web of galaxies and the vast, empty regions known as voids. Image credit: Nico Hamaus, Universitäts-Sternwarte München, courtesy of The Ohio State University.

The universe is expanding uniformly according to research led by University College London (UCL) which reports that space isn’t stretching in a preferred direction or spinning.

The new research, just published in Physical Review Letters, studied the cosmic microwave background (CMB) which is the remnant radiation from the Big Bang. It shows the universe expands the same way in all directions, supporting the assumptions made in cosmologists’ standard model of the universe.

First author, Daniela Saadeh (UCL Physics & Astronomy), said: “The finding is the best evidence yet that the universe is the same in all directions. Our current understanding of the universe is built on the assumption that it doesn’t prefer one direction over another, but there are actually a huge number of ways that Einstein’s theory of relativity would allow for space to be imbalanced. Universes that spin and stretch are entirely possible, so it’s important that we’ve shown ours is fair to all its directions.”

[Kimbo]

I have spend all morning reading the above articles, our planet is kust a micro organism of the universe how we know it, Aliens are real they just don't want to pick up the phone!!

[ilan]

Yes, apparently we're not on their speed dial. Maybe they know a little bit too much about us, and they've decided to take a pass!

[Kimbo]

I'm completely with Stephen Hawking, it would be a potential disaster to communicate with Alien civilizations. The possibilities of back firing out weight those of benefiting humanity in my humble opinion!!

[ilan]

Unless, of course, they do a pinky promise that they're good guys. And on all 7 of their pinkies, that is...

[Kimbo]

LOL...I guess better than a spit promise!!