This is a wow-level video of a solar flare on May 1, 2013:
Spectacular Solar Flare!
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Category Archives: The Solar System
Argentine Meteor Show
And this one is just as cool:
The disappointing sunspot count of 2013
Two headlines making the circuit right now:
Something unexpected is happening on the Sun. 2013 was supposed to be the year of “solar maximum,” the peak of the 11-year sunspot cycle. Yet 2013 has arrived and solar activity is relatively low. Sunspot numbers are well below their values from 2011, and strong solar flares have been infrequent.
AND:
Global temperatures are warmer than at any time in at least 4,000 years, scientists reported Thursday, and over the coming decades are likely to surpass levels not seen on the planet since before the last ice age.
Related in Opinion
As usual, there is no connection made between the sun and global warming stories. They WILL tell you it’s all man-made and that the sun does not affect the Earth’s climate. As usual, we are just expected to believe this is just another coincidence.
News flash people, driving electric cars and using more expensive light bulbs will barely mitigate the Sun’s impact on Earth’s climate. And, the Sun has been noticeably hotter the last thirty years. It’s at a maximum in it’s cycle and NOTHING is happening. Those sunspots and solar storms COOL the sun. And, I would guess, cool the Earth as well.
When someone presents an argument that includes all of the obvious impacts on Earth’s climate and what we can do to exist within those parameters, I’ll buy into it. Ignoring the most obvious impact and blaming it all on man is just stupid, and in most cases so far, is doing more harm than good.
Comet C/2013 A1 and Mars
First, check this out:
See those two dots that intersect? That’s Comet C/2013 A1 and Mars.
Now, right now, with very little data, they are projecting it will miss Mars by about 650,000 miles. That’s a close shave, but not real exciting. The key words however, are being “with very little data”. That leaves a LOT of room for error. Additionally, from what I’ve read so far, this comet is BIG. Big enough to do some serious damage. Possibly would destroy one of Mars’ moons ( they’re not much more than big rocks anyway ). And, it would permanently alter the appearance of Mars. As well as, destroy our rovers and give us a remarkable first-person view of what it would be like getting hit by a comet. This stuff is really cool!
If it survives it’s pass with Mars, it will come pretty close to Venus, and even closer to Mercury. Now, from the orbit guessing I’ve seen so far, they’re not sure how close exactly it’s going to get to Mars. Then, they don’t seem to adjust it’s orbit at all when it does pass Mars. So, watch out Mercury and Venus in December 2014!
If this thing does hit Mars or any other planet, it won’t mean the end of life as we know it on Earth, but it could create some serious problems ala February 15, 2013 times 1,000.
Tossing all the conspiracy theories aside, this will make for one spectacular view in Fall 2014 for sure!
A couple of good links:
- A good discussion at iceinspace.
- The JPL simulator which will be current when you go there.
Plasma Rain
OK, first, let’s fire up some Prince
Then kick this video into full screen and loop it.
Once Purple Rain has finished, do it again with some Peter Gabriel
Then, for the finale
Asteroids are nature’s way of saying “How’s that space program coming along?”
First of all, I’m doing this:
So don’t judge me.
But given all the references to Bruce Willis in Armageddon
Which makes this little poster I found today all that much more perfect:
Russian meteorite
This is just too cool!
ABC however, ran the story that it was the result of “solar wind”. I’m not buying that with an asteroid almost in our atmosphere today. Coincidence? I don’t think so. I’m more inclined to think asteroid 2012 DA14 gave it a nudge in our general direction.
Comet Pan-Starrs
First off, John Drummond took this fantastic shot of Comet Pan-Starrs:
Starting sometime in March 2013, we should be able to see this comet unaided. NASA has put together a video on how to spot it:
And don’t forget Ison and Lemmon too!
Scientists to announce discovery of new Earth-like planet
That’s the story. Apparently it’s pretty close to us, AND, it has a red dwarf sun ( that’s what we got ). In other words, it could be just like Earth in all the ways it takes to support human-like life. That’s the good news. The chances of that happening, in my opinion, are about 100% eventually. We just don’t have the technology right now to do it reasonably. We can guess with as much supporting information as we can get. But, we won’t know for sure for a while. This video explains the chances pretty good. It’s a cool video.
The bad news is IF it’s this place:
The planet being Alpha Centauri Bb, it would be JUST 4.3 light years away. That would mean once we get a telescope powerful enough to zoom in on that planet, what we would see would be stuff occurring 4.3 years ago. Not too bad folks. Not too bad. So, if we sent a microwave transmission to them, it would take about 8.6 years to get an answer. If, there was anyone there at all. That’s doable I suppose. Then, the problem gets a little more complicated. IF we did find someone was there and intelligent enough to understand what we sent them and we wanted to visit, we’d have to travel a lot slower. At this time, Voyager I should be traveling at about 39,000 mph. That’s pretty dang fast. At that rate, it took it about 18 years to exit our solar system. At that same rate, it would take about 661,538,461.5 years.
That’s just to get there.
And, this story comes from articles written by space.com. NASA released a report today that studied the temperature of rooftops in cities. We’ll never get anywhere soon.
February 15, 2013 Asteroid fly-by
Or, better named probably, that really big rock for Valentine’s Day your babe always wanted?
There is no risk of it hitting Earth. BUT, this flyby will be so close it will mess up any future predictions of where it might go. People are already speculating it will hit Earth the next time. But, chances are MUCH more likely it will go spinning out into space or simply get eaten by the Sun. Even IF it did hit Earth, it’s not a life-ending sized rock. Maybe Tunguska sized blast, but even that is doubtful.