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

[Kimbo]

Scary that it could happen anywhere!!

[nada233]

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Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015: Astronauts study the medaka fish on the International Space Station to examine the impact of microgravity on its bones. The fish, also known as the Japanese rice fish (Oryzias latipes), may give insights into the loss of astronaut bone density during spaceflight, as they participate in a study called the Medaka Osteoclast investigation. The fish have transparent bodies, allowing scientists to view their internal structure while they swim in space. Image released Sept. 1, 2015.

— Tom Chao

[Capt.Kangaroo]

The solar system built to scale on a dry lakebed in Nevada




A group of friends build the first scale model of the solar system with complete planetary orbits on a dry lakebed in Nevada.

[Capt.Kangaroo]

IT'S NOT A SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE (WE HOPE)


As you gaze toward the sky on Sunday night, the cooling fall air around you, perhaps a few leaves crunching beneath your feet, and--WAIT the moon is giant and red. Don't worry, it's not a sign of the end times. You're witnessing a rare and exciting event.

On September 27, sky spectators in North America, South America, the Atlantic Ocean, Greenland, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East will be able to see the moon at its closest point to Earth (known as its perigee). The moon reaches its perigee (and the apogee, which is its furthest point from Earth) about once a month. However, it does not always reach that point when it's full. This week, we're in luck. The full moon will appear about 14 percent larger in diameter than usual, and is thus called a super moon. At the same time, the Earth will pass between the sun and the moon, creating a total lunar eclipse.

To make it even more exciting (or scary, depending on how you look at it), it's also what is know as a Blood Moon. It's the fourth full lunar eclipse in a row (a.k.a. a tetrad), with no partial eclipses in between.
According to a fun investigation by EarthSky.org, the menacing "blood moon" moniker comes from biblical prophecy. It also pretty accurately describes the color of the moon during the eclipse. The moon appears red during a total lunar eclipse mostly because of the Earth's atmosphere. When the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, our home planet casts its shadow over the moon. If the Earth had no atmosphere, the moon would be dark, and basically invisible to the non-existent humans who would definitely not survive without the atmosphere.

The last time a super moon eclipse took place was 1982, and if you miss this one, there won't be another until 2033. NASA has a nice detailed set of videos to show when the magic happens in different time zones, so be sure to find your area and get your eyes on the sky.

popsci.com

[Kimbo]

Milky Way's supermassive black hole shows increased X-ray action as mystery object passes by

Scientists are puzzled by an increased rate of X-ray flares from the giant black hole at the centre of our Milky Way Galaxy.

They are trying to determine whether it is the result of closer monitoring, or whether the flare were triggered by the close approach of a close approach of a mysterious object called G2.

The new study reveals that the black hole – Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A* for short – has been producing one bright X-ray flare about every 10 days.

In the past year, however, there has been a tenfold increase and now there is one nearly every day.

The increase took place after G2 appeared, passing close to Sgr A* in late 2013.

Originally, astronomers thought G2 was an extended cloud of gas and dust, but, apart from some stretching as it neared the black hole, its appearance did not change as expected. Some scientists now believe G2 could a star swathed in an extended dusty cocoon, but no ones really sure.

“There isn’t universal agreement on what G2 is,” said Mark Morris of the University of California at Los Angeles.

“However, the fact that Sgr A* became more active not long after G2 passed by suggests that the matter coming off of G2 might have caused an increase in the black hole’s feeding rate.”

The data has been collected by three orbiting X-ray space telescopes – NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton, with observations by the Swift satellite.

Astronomers are not all convinced the behaviour has anything to do with G2 and say the increased chatter from Sgr A* may be a common trait among black holes. For example, the increased X-ray activity could be due to a change in the strength of winds from nearby massive stars that are feeding material to the black hole.

“It’s too soon to say for sure, but we will be keeping X-ray eyes on Sgr A* in the coming months,” said co-author Barbara De Marco, also of Max Planck. “Hopefully, new observations will tell us whether G2 is responsible for the changed behaviour or if the new flaring is just part of how the black hole behaves.”

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[Marley]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/hubble-captures-a-fantastical-view-of-the-veil-nebula/ar-AAeN8xw?li=BBgzzfc

[Capt.Kangaroo]

NASA Confirms Evidence That Liquid Water Flows on Today’s Mars

New findings from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) provide the strongest evidence yet that liquid water flows intermittently on present-day Mars.

Using an imaging spectrometer on MRO, researchers detected signatures of hydrated minerals on slopes where mysterious streaks are seen on the Red Planet. These darkish streaks appear to ebb and flow over time. They darken and appear to flow down steep slopes during warm seasons, and then fade in cooler seasons. They appear in several locations on Mars when temperatures are above minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23 Celsius), and disappear at colder times.

“Our quest on Mars has been to ‘follow the water,’ in our search for life in the universe, and now we have convincing science that validates what we’ve long suspected,” said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “This is a significant development, as it appears to confirm that water -- albeit briny -- is flowing today on the surface of Mars.”

These downhill flows, known as recurring slope lineae (RSL), often have been described as possibly related to liquid water. The new findings of hydrated salts on the slopes point to what that relationship may be to these dark features. The hydrated salts would lower the freezing point of a liquid brine, just as salt on roads here on Earth causes ice and snow to melt more rapidly. Scientists say it’s likely a shallow subsurface flow, with enough water wicking to the surface to explain the darkening.


Garni crater on Mars
Dark narrow streaks called recurring slope lineae emanating out of the walls of Garni crater on Mars. The dark streaks here are up to few hundred meters in length. They are hypothesized to be formed by flow of briny liquid water on Mars. The image is produced by draping an orthorectified (RED) image (ESP_031059_1685) on a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) of the same site produced by High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (University of Arizona). Vertical exaggeration is 1.5.
Credits: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
"We found the hydrated salts only when the seasonal features were widest, which suggests that either the dark streaks themselves or a process that forms them is the source of the hydration. In either case, the detection of hydrated salts on these slopes means that water plays a vital role in the formation of these streaks," said Lujendra Ojha of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, lead author of a report on these findings published Sept. 28 by Nature Geoscience.

Ojha first noticed these puzzling features as a University of Arizona undergraduate student in 2010, using images from the MRO's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE). HiRISE observations now have documented RSL at dozens of sites on Mars. The new study pairs HiRISE observations with mineral mapping by MRO’s Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM).

The spectrometer observations show signatures of hydrated salts at multiple RSL locations, but only when the dark features were relatively wide. When the researchers looked at the same locations and RSL weren't as extensive, they detected no hydrated salt.

Ojha and his co-authors interpret the spectral signatures as caused by hydrated minerals called perchlorates. The hydrated salts most consistent with the chemical signatures are likely a mixture of magnesium perchlorate, magnesium chlorate and sodium perchlorate. Some perchlorates have been shown to keep liquids from freezing even when conditions are as cold as minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 70 Celsius). On Earth, naturally produced perchlorates are concentrated in deserts, and some types of perchlorates can be used as rocket propellant.

Perchlorates have previously been seen on Mars. NASA's Phoenix lander and Curiosity rover both found them in the planet's soil, and some scientists believe that the Viking missions in the 1970s measured signatures of these salts. However, this study of RSL detected perchlorates, now in hydrated form, in different areas than those explored by the landers. This also is the first time perchlorates have been identified from orbit.

MRO has been examining Mars since 2006 with its six science instruments.

"The ability of MRO to observe for multiple Mars years with a payload able to see the fine detail of these features has enabled findings such as these: first identifying the puzzling seasonal streaks and now making a big step towards explaining what they are," said Rich Zurek, MRO project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

For Ojha, the new findings are more proof that the mysterious lines he first saw darkening Martian slopes five years ago are, indeed, present-day water.

"When most people talk about water on Mars, they're usually talking about ancient water or frozen water," he said. "Now we know there’s more to the story. This is the first spectral detection that unambiguously supports our liquid water-formation hypotheses for RSL."

The discovery is the latest of many breakthroughs by NASA’s Mars missions.

“It took multiple spacecraft over several years to solve this mystery, and now we know there is liquid water on the surface of this cold, desert planet,” said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “It seems that the more we study Mars, the more we learn how life could be supported and where there are resources to support life in the future.”

Nasa.gov

[Capt.Kangaroo]

SO, NASA Got Sick of all that Conspiracy Thing and Released over 10,000 Photos from the Apollo Moon Mission

Some say it was a giant leap for humanity, some say it was fake, some even say Stanely Kubrick directed it. However, the landing on the moon is still a subject that evokes mixed emotions.

Recently, NASA uploaded just about every image captured by Apollo astronauts on lunar missions, which you can find here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/

Good Stuff, Enjoy!!
Amazing pics....check em out

[Farmer1]

NASA has laid out a detailed plan for how it intends to send humans to Mars in the next few decades. The 36-page report explains the technology and infrastructure that will be needed to make missions to Mars a reality
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http://www.iflscience.com/nasa-unveils-its-plan-send-humans-mars-permanently

[Kimbo]

In the data of the NASA Space Telescope Kepler civilian members of the project "Planet Hunters" have discovered a star that is orbited by numerous objects. which - although it already is a mature star - orbiting the star only been comparatively few thousand years. Exactly this feature might point to a technologically sophisticated civilization around the star. Astronomers at the SETI project, the search for signals of extraterrestrial civilizations are, take the star already in the coming months with large telescopes targeted. - The Most Mysterious Star in Our Galaxy
Astronomers have spotted a strange mess of objects whirling around a distant star. Scientists who search for extraterrestrial civilizations are scrambling to get a closer look!!

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