JT's World » Space http://www.jtsworld.org A dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind Thu, 03 Nov 2011 07:34:30 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Life Destroying Comet Misses Earth By less than 200 Miles! http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/10/18/life-destroying-comet-misses-earth-by-less-than-200-miles/ http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/10/18/life-destroying-comet-misses-earth-by-less-than-200-miles/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 18:42:43 +0000 JT http://www.john-thompson.net/?p=268 Read the rest of this entry →]]> CometOK, so it was way back in 1883 but an interesting story never the less…

On 12th and 13th August 1883, an astronomer at a small observatory in Zacatecas in Mexico made an extraordinary observation. José Bonilla counted some 450 objects, each surrounded by a kind of mist, passing across the face of the Sun.

Bonilla published his account of this event in a French journal called L’Astronomie in 1886. Unable to account for the phenomenon, the editor of the journal suggested, rather incredulously, that it must have been caused by birds, insects or dust passing front of the Bonilla’s telescope. (Since then, others have adopted Bonilla’s observations as the first evidence of UFOs.)

Today, Hector Manterola at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City, and a couple of pals, give a different interpretation. They think that Bonilla must have been seeing fragments of a comet that had recently broken up. This explains the ‘misty’ appearance of the pieces and why they were so close together.

Read the rest at Technology Review.

]]> http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/10/18/life-destroying-comet-misses-earth-by-less-than-200-miles/feed/ 0 How Big Are Solar Flares? http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/08/09/how-big-are-solar-flares/ http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/08/09/how-big-are-solar-flares/#comments Tue, 09 Aug 2011 16:55:35 +0000 JT http://www.john-thompson.net/?p=231 Very cool video that shows just how small and insignificant we really are.

Click here to view the embedded video.

]]> http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/08/09/how-big-are-solar-flares/feed/ 0 NASA Spacecraft Snaps 1st Photo of Mercury from Orbit | Space.com http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/03/30/nasa-spacecraft-snaps-1st-photo-of-mercury-from-orbit-space-com/ http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/03/30/nasa-spacecraft-snaps-1st-photo-of-mercury-from-orbit-space-com/#comments Wed, 30 Mar 2011 05:38:30 +0000 JT http://www.john-thompson.net/?p=199 Read the rest of this entry →]]> Messenger Mercury Photo

The first spacecraft ever to circle Mercury has beamed home the first-ever photo taken of the small rocky planet from orbit, showing a stark landscape peppered with craters.

NASA’s Messenger spacecraft snapped the new Mercury photo today (March 29) at 5:20 a.m. EDT (0920 GMT). The photo shows the stark gray landscape of southern Mercury, a view that is dominated by a huge impact crater.

Read More: Space.com

]]> http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/03/30/nasa-spacecraft-snaps-1st-photo-of-mercury-from-orbit-space-com/feed/ 0 Major Solar Flare Erupts, May Make Auroras Visible in Northern U.S. | Space.com http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/03/10/major-solar-flare-erupts-may-make-auroras-visible-in-northern-u-s-space-com/ http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/03/10/major-solar-flare-erupts-may-make-auroras-visible-in-northern-u-s-space-com/#comments Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:26:39 +0000 JT http://www.john-thompson.net/?p=169 Read the rest of this entry →]]> northern-lights-aurora-alas The sun unleashed another major solar flare Wednesday (March 9), a solar storm so powerful it could spawn dazzling northern lights displays that could be visible from even New York City.

The solar flare erupted at 6:23 p.m. EST (2323 GMT), letting loose a wave of charged particles that is aimed straight at Earth and should arrive in the next few days.

When it does, it could super charge the Earth’s aurora borealis – also known as the Northern Lights – when the particles interact with the planet’s magnetic field and atmosphere.

Read More: Space.com

]]> http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/03/10/major-solar-flare-erupts-may-make-auroras-visible-in-northern-u-s-space-com/feed/ 0 Solar System ‘Nemesis’: Nearby Stars Could Pose Threat | Space.com http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/02/15/solar-system-nemesis-nearby-stars-could-pose-threat-space-com/ http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/02/15/solar-system-nemesis-nearby-stars-could-pose-threat-space-com/#comments Wed, 16 Feb 2011 04:57:35 +0000 JT http://www.john-thompson.net/?p=155 Read the rest of this entry →]]> Red DwarfThis looks like the updated post from the previous one. :)

Astronomical detectives have assembled a stellar lineup, identifying a handful of nearby stars that may come close enough to disturb our solar system in the next billion years or so.

Researchers calculated the orbits of 40,000 low-mass M-dwarf stars and found 18 that may come dangerously close to our cosmic neighborhood in the next billion years. While the chances of this actually happening are probably slim, researchers said, the results could be dramatic.

Read More: Space.com

]]> http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/02/15/solar-system-nemesis-nearby-stars-could-pose-threat-space-com/feed/ 0 Sun’s Nemesis Pelted Earth with Comets, Study Suggests | Space.com http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/02/15/suns-nemesis-pelted-earth-with-comets-study-suggests-space-com/ http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/02/15/suns-nemesis-pelted-earth-with-comets-study-suggests-space-com/#comments Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:51:36 +0000 JT http://www.john-thompson.net/?p=137 Read the rest of this entry →]]> Brown DwarfThis is about a year old but noticed it pop back up on CNN today, more than likely to drive hysteria about the looming ‘end of the world’ scenarios.

A dark object may be lurking near our solar system, occasionally kicking comets in our direction.?

Nicknamed “Nemesis” or “The Death Star,” this undetected object could be a red or brown dwarf star, or an even darker presence several times the mass of Jupiter.

Why do scientists think something could be hidden beyond the edge of our solar system? Originally, Nemesis was suggested as a way to explain a cycle of mass extinctions on Earth.?

Read More: Space.com

]]> http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/02/15/suns-nemesis-pelted-earth-with-comets-study-suggests-space-com/feed/ 0 Mysterious Night-Shining Clouds Getting Brighter | Space.com http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/01/28/mysterious-night-shining-clouds-getting-brighter-space-com/ http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/01/28/mysterious-night-shining-clouds-getting-brighter-space-com/#comments Fri, 28 Jan 2011 05:30:15 +0000 JT http://www.john-thompson.net/?p=48 Read the rest of this entry →]]> Mysterious Night-Shining Clouds Getting BrighterClouds bright enough to see at night are not as hard to find as they once were.

These so-called night-shining clouds are still rare — rare enough that Matthew DeLand, who has been studying them for 11 years, has seen them only once. But his odds are increasing.

Read More: Space.com

]]> http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/01/28/mysterious-night-shining-clouds-getting-brighter-space-com/feed/ 0 Symphony of Science: ‘We Are All Connected’ (Sagan, Feynman, Tyson & Nye) http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/01/28/symphony-of-science-we-are-all-connected-sagan-feynman-tyson-nye/ http://www.jtsworld.org/2011/01/28/symphony-of-science-we-are-all-connected-sagan-feynman-tyson-nye/#comments Fri, 28 Jan 2011 05:01:17 +0000 JT http://www.john-thompson.net/?p=58 Read the rest of this entry →]]> Repost from Youtube:  “We Are All Connected” was made from sampling Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, The History Channel’s Universe series, Richard Feynman’s 1983 interviews, Neil deGrasse Tyson’s cosmic sermon, and Bill Nye’s Eyes of Nye Series, plus added visuals from The Elegant Universe (NOVA), Stephen Hawking’s Universe, Cosmos, the Powers of 10, and more. It is a tribute to great minds of science, intended to spread scientific knowledge and philosophy through the medium of music.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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