Refresh Panel Current Related Links

"Solar Watcher" New Solar Activity Updates  Solar Scope   Space Weather  SW Analysis

Current Global Ionospheric Map Radio Spectrum Analyzer   Latest Meteorite News New

Commentary: "Sun Causes Climate Change Shock" [02/03/12] "The science is now all-but-settled on global warming, convincing new evidence demonstrates, but Al Gore, the IPCC and other global warming doomsayers won’t be celebrating. The new findings point to cosmic rays and the sun — not human activities — as the dominant controller of climate on Earth. The research, published with little fanfare this week in the prestigious journal Nature, comes from über-prestigious CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, one of the world’s largest centres for scientific research involving 60 countries and 8,000 scientists at more than 600 universities and national laboratories. CERN is the organization that invented the World Wide Web, that built the multi-billion dollar Large Hadron Collider, and that has now built a pristinely clean stainless steel chamber that precisely recreated the Earth’s atmosphere. In this chamber, 63 CERN scientists from 17 European and American institutes have done what global warming doomsayers said could never be done — demonstrate that cosmic rays promote the formation of molecules that in Earth’s atmosphere can grow and seed clouds, the cloudier and thus cooler it will be. Because the sun’s magnetic field controls how many cosmic rays reach Earth’s atmosphere (the stronger the sun’s magnetic field, the more it shields Earth from incoming cosmic rays from space), the sun determines the temperature on Earth. [...]"  

MSM: "USGS Monitors Earth’s Magnetic Field To Prepare Citizens For Magnetic Storms" [02/01/12] " Large magnetic storms, for example, can interrupt radio communication, interfere with global-positioning systems, disrupt oil and gas well drilling, damage satellites and affect their operations, and even cause electrical blackouts by inducing voltage surges in electric power grids. Storms can also affects airline activity — as a result of last weekend’s storm, both Air Canada and Delta Air Lines rerouted flights over the Arctic bound for Asia as a precautionary measure. Although the storm began on the 19th of January, it did not peak until January 24th. While this particular storm had minor consequences on Earth, other large storms can be crippling, Love said. He noted that the largest storm of the 20th century occurred in March, 1989, accompanied by auroras that could be seen as far south as Texas, and sent electric currents into Earth’s crust that made their way into the high-voltage Canadian Hydro-Quebec power grid. This caused the transformer to fail and left more than 6 million people without power for 9 hours. The same storm also damaged and disrupted the operation of satellites, GPS systems, and radio communication systems used by the United States military. While large, the 1989 storm pales in comparison to one that occurred in September 1859 and is the largest storm in recorded history. Scientists estimate that the economic impact to the United States from a storm of the same size in today’s society could exceed $1 trillion as a result of the technological systems it could disrupt. The USGS, a partner in the multi-agency National Space Weather Program, collects data that can help us understand how magnetic storms may impact the United States. Constant monitoring of Earth’s magnetic field allows us to better assess the impact of these phenomena on Earth’s surface. [...]" 

MSM: "Stunning Photos of Our Milky Way Galaxy" [01/31/12] Note: 43 Photos.

MSM: "S2 Radiation Storm Generated By X1.7 Solar Flare In Progress" [01/29/12] [1:16] "Active Region 11402 located on the northwestern limb, unleashed a major X1.7 Solar Flare at 18:35 UTC. S2 level Radiation Storm threshold has been exceeded, R3 Level Radio Blackout, 100 MeV proton spike is in progress and a 10cm Radio Burst (TenFlare) was reported. Immediately after this flare a Full Halo coronal mass ejection (CME) was observed and components may brush the earths magnetic field Jan 30th. [...]" 

MSM:"X1.7 Solar Flare Today – The 7th Largest In Solar Cycle 24" [01/27/12] [0:22] "Earth-orbiting satellites detected a powerful X1.7 solar flare today, Jan. 27th, at 18:37 UTC. The source was departing sunspot 1402 which rotate onto the far side of the sun, so the blast site was not Earth directed. Goddard Space Weather Lab’s analysists say the CME cloud raced away from the sun at 2500 km/s or 5.6 million mph. An R3 Level Radio Blackout resulted, which led to the fading of HF signals on the sunlit side of Earth. Signals have since recovered but proton levels are on the rise again and the Moderate S2 level Radiation Storm threshold has been reached. Most proton storms take two or more hours from the time of visual detection to reach Earth’s orbit. This event generated Type II and Type IV sweep frequency events. A 10cm Radio Burst (TenFlare) lasting 37 minutes was observed and measured 810 pfu. Let’s not forget, last year we had 8 X-class solar flare events. SolarHam made the top 10 list of Solar Flares during Solar Cycle 24. Today’s X1.7 ranks #7.  [...]" The CME is not heading toward Earth, although it is too soon to rule out some kind of glancing blow on Jan. 28-29. 

MSM: "Close Flyby Of Asteroid 2012 BX34" [01/27/12] "Newly-discovered asteroid 2012 BX34 will fly past Earth on Jan. 27th only 77,000 km (0.2 lunar distances) away. There is no danger of a collision with the 14-meter wide space rock. Advanced amateur astronomers might be able to observe the flyby as the asteroid brightens to 14th magnitude just before closest approach on Friday at 15:30 UTC. Named 2012 BX34, this 14 meter space rock will skim Earth less than 60,000 km  [...]"  

MSM: "Huge Solar Eruptions Spark Strongest Radiation Storm In 7 Years..." [01/23/12] "A powerful solar eruption is expected to blast a stream of charged particles toward Earth tomorrow (Jan. 24), as the strongest radiation storm since 2005 rages on the sun. Early this morning (0359 GMT Jan. 23, which corresponds to late Sunday, Jan. 22 at 10:59 p.m. EST), NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory caught an extreme ultraviolet flash from a huge eruption on the sun. The solar flare spewed from sunspot 1402, a region of the sun that has become increasingly active lately. Several NASA satellites, including the Solar Dynamics Observatory, the Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), and the Stereo spacecraft observed the massive sun storm.  [...]" 

MSM: "Northern Lights: Aurora Borealis Lights Up The UK" [01/24/12] "The Northern Lights are expected to continue their sporadic illumination of the UK skies tonight. Stargazers were able to feast their eyes on the green and purple hues of the Aurora Borealis in parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland and the North East over the weekend and the show could continue for several days. The phenomena is normally only visible in the Arctic Circle but increased solar activity means the lights are more visible further south.  [...]"  

MSM: "Researchers Estimate Milky Way Galaxy Has At Least 75 Billion Planets Like Earth" [01/12/12] "Just 20 years ago, astronomers had no direct evidence that planets orbited other stars. Now, researchers estimate the Milky Way galaxy contains a huge number of planets, with Earth-sized worlds vastly outnumbering the rest. “We find that, on average, every star has a planet, and since there are at least 100 billion stars, there are at least 100 billion planets,” said astronomer Kailash Sahu of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, who co-authored the new study, appearing Jan. 11 in Nature. The team looked at roughly 30 different microlensing events and found that extrasolar planets caused three of them. Because microlensing observations are known to miss a certain percentage of planets, the researchers could use statistical analysis to get the true number of exoplanets in the galaxy. “We think about one-sixth of stars should have a Jupiter-like planet, half have a Neptune-sized planet, and two-thirds should have an Earth,” said Sahu. [...]"  

MSM: "Meteor Showers in 2012" [01/04/12]   "No matter what your level of interest in astronomy, everyone seems to enjoy the brief and sometimes dazzling streaks of light from meteors, sometimes called "shooting stars." These can occur at any time on any night. On most nights a half dozen of these sporadic (random) meteors appear hourly. However, several times each year Earth encounters a stream of debris left by a passing comet, and the result is a meteor shower. You'll notice the difference if you watch the sky for a half hour or so: not only do the number of meteors you'll see go up, but also the meteors seem to fly away from a common point in the sky called the radiant. [...]" 

MSM: "New Year’s Meteoroid Fireball Seen Over New Mexico, Arizona And Colorado, US" [01/02/12] "The bright fireball streaked over the southwestern USA on Jan. 1st at 03:15 UTC. It was visible from Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. Thomas Ashcraft manage to take some images and video from his rural observatory outside of Santa Fe by operating a combination all-sky camera/forward-scatter meteor radar system. NASA’s All-Sky Fireball Network cameras also recorded the fireball from multiple locations. An orbit calculated from those data show that the fireball was a random meteoroid hailing from the asteroid...An orbit calculated from those data show that the fireball was a random meteoroid hailing from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It hit Earth’s atmosphere at 26 km/s (58,000 mph), which is relatively slow compared to other meteoroids, and disintegrated 82 km above Earth’s surface. [...]"  Related: "NASA’s All Sky Fireball Network"

Commentary: "Seasonal Stalactites: The Sharp End Of Icicle Science" [01/01/12]   "It is not often Stephen Morris helps save a life - he is a physicist, after all, not a physician. But when an architect telephoned him in his office at the University of Toronto, Canada, last year, with a potentially lethal problem, his advice was to the point. The architect's problem was icicles. He had designed a building whose windowsills accumulated snow in bad weather. Worried about a passer-by being engulfed by a sudden avalanche and suing, he had installed heaters on the windowsills. Consequently meltwater was dripping off the sill and forming enormous icicles that loomed dagger-like overhead. The architect was still worried, and with good reason. Falling icicles reportedly killed five and injured 150 in St Petersburg, Russia, last winter. Fortunately, Morris understands icicles. In fact, he is the world's leading expert on their formation. Perhaps that's a matter of location. "I live in a cold country," he says. Although Toronto's location on Lake Ontario gives it one of Canada's balmier climates, the surrounding area can seem like one big ice slab in winter. There is more at stake with icicles than just the risk of an impaling.   

MSM: "Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance Reported Over Europe As Sun Unleashes More Flares" [01/01/12] "Today around 1320 UT, a wave of ionization swept through the high atmosphere over Europe after sunspot AR1389 unleashed another M2-class solar flare. “There was a very clear sudden ionospheric disturbance on my VLF radio instruments,” reports Rob Stammes, who sends these data from the Polar Light Center in Lofoten, Norway. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of more M-flares during the next 24 hours. There is also a 5% chance of X-flares. Solar winds from the coronal hole seen below should hit Earth on Jan. 2.  [...]"  

MSM: "Twin NASA Probes Set for New Year's Moon Rendezvous" [01/01/12]   "NASA's twin Grail spacecraft are closing in on the moon to map its gravitational field like no other mission has before. The first probe is slated to fire its rocket engine on Saturday (Dec. 31) at 4:21 p.m. EST (2121 GMT) to enter lunar orbit. The second spacecraft should follow with an engine burn of its own on Sunday (Jan. 1) at 5:05 p.m. EST (2205 GMT), NASA officials said. The $496 million spacecraft, which are known as Grail-A and Grail-B for now, are expected to perform their lunar orbit entry maneuvers autonomously, without help from their mission control centers on Earth. But a team of about 40 Grail mission scientists is spending the New Year's weekend hovering over computers — at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., and the Colorado offices of aerospace firm Lockheed Martin, which built the spacecraft — just to be sure. [...]"  

Astronomy: "January 2012 Skywatching Events" [01/01/12]   [0:00] Astronomical events and observations for the month.

Report: "CME Impact / Solar Watch Dec 29, 2011" [12/29/11] [4:52] "New active active region 11389 rotated into view off the south eastern limb on Wednesday. This region is crackling with C-Class flares, the largest being a C7.2 today. Strong CME impact was detected by the ACE Spacecraft Thursday morning. A possible geomagnetic storm may be in progress. The auroral ovals show strong agitation from impacts of Coronal Mass Ejection's (CMEs) the last 6 hours, those at high latitudes should be on alert for auroras. [...]" Related: See "Solar Watcher" YouTube site, linked at the top of this panel, for continuing reports.

MSM: "NASA Probes to Reach Moon Over New Year's" [12/29/11] "Two NASA probes are poised to reach the moon over the New Year's holiday. After a journey of more than three months, the $496 million Grail probes—short for Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory—will soon be in place, reports AP. Grail A is set to arrive on New Year's Eve and Grail B the following day. The twin probes will not land on the moon's surface but rather fly 34 miles above it. One of the quandaries scientists hope to answer is why the moon's far side is more hilly than its Earthward side. "We actually know more about Mars ... than we do about our own moon," says the mission's chief scientist. [...]"  Note: A waste of resources with no feasible and timely benefit.

Report: "New Sunspot 1387 Unleashed an M4.0-Class Flare/CME" [12/27/11] [4:38] "New sunspot 1387 erupted during the late hours of Christmas Day, producing an M4-class flare and hurling a CME toward Earth. The CME is expected to deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on Dec. 28th at 1200 UT and a direct hit to the planet Mars on Dec. 30th at 1800 UT. Using onboard radiation sensors, NASA's Curiosity rover might be able to sense the CME when it passes the rover's spacecraft en route to Mars. Here on Earth, NOAA forecasters estimate a 30-to-40% chance of geomagnetic storms on Dec. 28th when the CME and an incoming solar wind stream (unrelated to the CME) could arrive in quick succession. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras on Wednesday night. [...]" 

Report: "Significant Earth Directed Filament Eruption/Hyder Flare/CME" [12/25/11] [4:38] "CHRISTMAS EVE AND DAY ERUPTIONS: A filament of magnetism connected to sunspot AR1386 erupted during the early hours of Dec. 24th. Extreme UV-wavelength cameras onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the picturesque blast: Also note the Earth directed eruption at the end of the video(Hyder flare). [...]"  

MSM: "Russian Probe Meant For Mars To Crash Back To Earth Next Month" [12/19/11] A Russian spacecraft bound for Mars but stuck in Earth's orbit will crash next month, the Russian space agency said on Friday. The $170m (£109m) Phobos-Ground probe was to have landed on the Martian moon Phobos and brought soil samples back to Earth in a 2½-year mission. Roscosmos said the 13.2-tonne craft – including 11 tonnes of highly toxic fuel – would fall back to Earth between 6 and 19 January. But only 20 to 30 fragments weighing a total of up to 200kg (440lb) will survive the fiery plunge and shower the Earth's surface. Where they will land could only be calculated a few days beforehand, Roscosmos said in a statement. [...] The mission was the latest in a series of recent Russian launch failures that have raised concerns about the condition of the country's space industries." 

MSM: "NASA Loses Moon Rocks, Other Space Materials" [12/09/11] "Nasa Inspector General Paul Martin issued a report detailing foibles such as the US space agency making loans to researchers who never used the samples, or simply losing track of rare pieces dating back to the first US trip to the Moon in 1969. "According to Nasa records, 517 loaned astromaterials have been lost or stolen between 1970 and June 2010," said the report. Astromaterials include moon rocks and soil; meteorites from asteroids, Mars, and the Moon; ions from the outer layers of the Sun; dust from comets and interstellar space; and cosmic dust from Earth's stratosphere. "These samples constitute a rare and limited resource and serve an important role for research and education," it added. "Specifically, we found that Nasa records were inaccurate, and that researchers could not account for all samples loaned to them and held samples for extended periods without performing research or returning the samples to Nasa."  [...]" 

MSM: "Bullet-Proof" Evidence Of Past Water Found On Mars" [12/09/11] "NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity has found what scientists believe is the most convincing evidence to date that water may have flowed on the Red Planet. The rover, which has been crawling along the Martian surface for 90 months, found what appears to be veins of the mineral gypsum, a hydrated calcium sulfate that on Earth is used to make drywall. [...]"  

Buffoonery: "SETI Resumes Search for Alien Life" [12/09/11] "Thanks to the help of 2,700 independent supporters and a new deal with the U.S. Air Force, the SETI Institute's Allen Telescope Array went back online Monday. For the first time since April, the group of 42 giant radio telescopes built to monitor the universe full time for radio waves that might be sent out by life forms on other planets, is listening once again. And the timing couldn't be better. On Monday, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced that its Kepler Mission had confirmed the existence of a planet in a "habitable zone," meaning it is close enough (and far away enough) from its sun that water could exist on its surface. The planet, called Kepler-22b, is located 600 light years away. And in the past 18 months the mission has discovered 2,236 planets that might also be in a similar "habitual region." [...]"  Note: Rampant incompetence of the civilization with regard to space travel, due to social bickering and other factors, seems to leave the reincarnated retreads with no option other than to speculate about things that 'could be' ... even if they found anything out there to soothe their intellect, nothing would ever come of it. Not on this world.  

MSM: AFSPC Explores Allen Telescope Array For Space Surveillance" [12/08/11] "An important and high visibility mission of the United States Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) is Space Surveillance. Knowing exactly where orbiting objects are located in space at any given instant is key to ensuring safe space operations. The significance of the mission has become even more acute with the recent collision of an Iridium Satellite and an inoperable Russian Cosmos Satellite, which destroyed both satellites and created two large fields of space debris. This debris will be a risk to other satellites for years to come as the debris fields expand and their orbits degrade toward Earth. [...]" 

MSM: "VFTS 102: The Fastest Rotating Star Discovered" [12/07/11] "Astronomers have found the fastest rotating star ever spotted. Young and very bright, VFTS 102 is rotating at more than two million kilometres per hour - more than three hundred times faster than the Sun. It is around 25 times the mass of the Sun and about one hundred thousand times brighter. The super star lies in the Large Magellanic Cloud, about 160 000 light-years from Earth. VFTS 102 is spinning to fast that it has almost reached the point where it could be pulled apart by centrifugal forces. [...]"

MSM: "Rapidly Growing Earth-Faced Sunspot 1363 Harbors Energy For M-Class Solar Flares" [12/05/11] "Sunspot AR1363 is growing rapidly, more than doubling in size since Friday. A 48-hour movie from NASA’s SOlar Dynamic Observatory shows the expansion: The active region has a “beta-gamma” magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class solar flares. Because of AR1363′s location near the center of the solar disk, any such eruptions in the days ahead would be Earth-directed. [...]" 

MSM: "Super-Sized Eclipse: Saturday Morning, Dec. 10th, 2011" [12/03/11] [4:14] "On Saturday morning, Dec. 10th, sky watchers in the western United States and Canada will witness a total lunar eclipse swollen to super-sized proportions by the Moon illusion.  [...]"  

Flashback: "Sun's Strange Behavior Baffles Astronomers" [06/14/10] "An expected minimum of solar activity, between 2008 and 2009, was unusually deep. And while the sun would normally ramp up activity by now, heading into its next cycle, the sun may be on the verge of a weak solar cycle instead, astronomers said at the 216th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Miami last month. "We're witnessing something unlike anything we've seen in 100 years," said David Hathaway of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.  [...]"  Related: "Strange Emissions By Sun Are Suddenly Mutating Matter" [08/28/10]   "Something impossible has happened. Yet the “impossible” has been proven to be true. Laboratories around the globe have confirmed that the rate of radioactive decay—once thought to be a constant and a bedrock of science—is no longer a constant. Something being emitted from the sun is interacting with matter in strange and unknown ways with the startling potential to dramatically change the nature of the very Earth itself. Exactly what has scientists so on edge is the fact that the natural rate of decay of atomic particles has always been predictable. Indeed, using the decay rate of Carbon-14 has been a method to date archeological artifacts. The process, known as carbon dating, measures the quantity of Carbon-14 within organic objects. According to the numbers, Carbon-14 has a specific half-life of 5,730 years. Physicists have proven through exhaustive observation and experimentation over the course of a century that it takes 5,730 years for Carbon-14 atoms to decay into a stable Nitrogen-14. The values don't change—or at least they never have in the past. With certain evidence that radioactive decay can be significantly affected by an unknown effect from the sun, much of science is turned on its head. Rate of decay speeding up. Worst of all, if the decay rates of matter are being mutated then all matter on Earth is being affected including the matter that makes up life. [...]" 

Analysis: "CME Solar Storm On The Way -- Several Links To Monitor Situation" [11/28/11] [7:40]   

Resource: "A Guide For Solar Watchers” [11/20/11] "For all those who don’t quit understand what is happening with our Sun and what is space weather we decided to make A Guide for Solar Watchers. We will start with solar basics – structure, characteristics, solar activity etc. In addition we will present spacecrafts and observatories which task is to observe solar activities. And at the end we will show you how to read solar charts, diagrams and other solar data to make sure you understand what you are reading here in our post regarding the Sun activities. So, let’s start from the beginning. [...]"  

MSM: "Colossal Storm Rages Over Saturn's Surface" [11/18/11] "The largest storm seen on Saturn in more than 21 years has now been encircling the planet for a record-breaking 200 days. First appearing as a tiny blemish on Dec. 5, 2010, the storm is still going strong today, surpassing the ringed giant's previous longest tempest, which lasted 150 days back in 1903. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, in orbit around Saturn, has given astronomers a front-seat view of this enormous maelstrom and provided valuable data. From its humble beginnings, the storm has grown to engulf the entire area between Saturn’s 30th and 51st north latitudes. From north to south, the tempest stretches about 9,000 miles — greater than diameter of the Earth — and covers two billion square miles, or eight times the surface area of our planet. [...]"  

MSM: "Sun’s Convulsive Behavior Dismays Scientists Across The Globe" [11/14/11]   "There haven’t been any strong solar flares in days. Nevertheless, some impressive activity is underway on the Sun. For one thing, an enormous wall of plasma is towering over the Sun’s southeastern horizon. Stephen Ramsden of Atlanta, Georgia, took this picture on Nov. 11th. Solar forums all over the world are buzzing with solar astronomers proclaiming this to be the biggest prominence that many of them had ever witnessed,” he says. Remarkably, though, this is not the biggest thing. A dark filament of magnetism is snaking more than halfway around the entire Sun. See SDO images below. From end to end, it stretches more than a million km or about three times the distance between Earth and the Moon. If the filament becomes unstable, as solar filaments are prone to do, it could collapse and hit the stellar surface below, triggering a Hyder flare. No one can say if the eruption of such a sprawling structure would be Earth directed. “I can’t help but wonder what could possibly come next since we are still over a year away from the forecasted Solar Maximum,” adds Ramsden.  [...]" 

Explorations: "Mystery of the Lunar Ionosphere" [11/12/11]   [3:37] "How can a world without air have an ionosphere? Somehow the Moon has done it. Lunar researchers have been struggling with this mystery for years, and they may have finally found a solution. [...]"  

MSM: "Stricken Mars Probe Stays Silent" [11/12/11] "The Phobos-Grunt spacecraft was put in orbit on Wednesday, but failed to fire the engine that was designed to take it on to the Red Planet. Engineers have been using tracking stations around the globe in an attempt to talk to the probe and diagnose its problems - but without success. Europe has offered Russia its assistance. The European Space Agency Spacecraft Operations Centre (Esoc) in Darmstadt, Germany, is now involved in trying to establish a link, using its antennas in French Guiana, the Canary Islands and on the Spanish mainland. The US space agency (Nasa) has also offered to do anything that might bring the wayward craft under full control. [...]"  Related:"Mars Probe Gets Stuck In Orbit" [11/11/11] "Russian scientists were working against the clock last night to save the country's first Mars mission for over a decade after an engine failure left the spacecraft stranded in orbit above Earth. Phobos-Grunt, which is supposed to be destined for the Mars moon of Phobos, blasted off on from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan late on Tuesday night, but after reaching orbit and separating successfully from its Zenit launch vehicle, disaster struck and an engine failure left the craft trapped orbiting Earth, rather than the Red Planet's moon. "Neither the first nor the second engine fired. That meant it was unable to orientate itself with the stars," Russian space agency chief Vladimir Popotkin told journalists at Baikonur. The Russian space agency said in a statement yesterday that it had no more than two weeks to reboot the spacecraft's systems in order to allow the engines to conduct the two-stage manoeuvre out of earth's orbit and on to a trajectory to Mars. Earlier Mr Popotkin had suggested scientist had just three days to fix the problem before the unmanned craft's batteries run out. With the craft stuck in a relatively low orbit, technicians at Baikonur were last night suffering an agonising wait to find out exactly what has gone wrong. "It will come into the zone of visibility from Baikonur at 11 pm Moscow time," the agency said in statement yesterday. Only then will scientists be able to get the data they need to identify the problem and write new software to transmit to the probe and, hopefully, put the engines back on course. [...]" Related: MSM: "White House: No Life On Mars" "The White House says it has no evidence that extraterrestrial creatures exist. The Obama administration made the unusual declaration on Monday, in response to demands on its website. [...]"  Note: Cartoon fools inhabit the White House. Actually, there is plant life on Mars, water and alien artifacts, although not as many as litter the moon. "How To Stay Grounded On An 18-Month 'Mission To Mars'"   "Staying inside cramped, windowless modules for nearly a year-and-half was a tough challenge for an international crew of six simulating a Mars mission under 24-hour surveillance by scientists. [...]"  Note: More 'space theatre' meant to conceptually replace the result of absolute incompetence.

MSM: "Eruptions This Weekend Could Be Earth-Directed As Sunspot 1339 Turns Toward Our Planet" [11/06/11] "Sunspot 1339 has quieted since Nov. 3rd when it unleashed an X2-class solar flare. Nevertheless, it still poses a threat for powerful eruptions. The behemoth sunspot has a “beta-gamma-delta” magnetic field that harbors energy for more X-flares. Eruptions this weekend could be Earth-directed as Sunspot 1339 turns toward our planet. AR1339 is one of the largest sunspots in years, and it looks spectacular though backyard solar telescopes.  [...]"  Related: "Raging: Giant Filament Erupts On The Sun’s Northern Pole" Image "A magnetic filament curling around the Sun’s north pole erupted during the early hours of Nov. 5th. Material propelled by the blast is heading out of the plane of the solar system and will not impact any planet.  [...]"  "Storm Activity on Sun Heats Up in Area Called ‘Benevolent Monster’ by Scientists" [11/03/11] "... this active region is now slowly turning toward Earth, and scientists say it will be directly facing Earth in about five days. (Nov 8) ...The region will be facing Earth for about two weeks as it rotates " Note: Of course, near the North Pole on Earth is the Graduation Key, which just had the recent object described in a recent segment, which was tied into the complex, awaiting triggering. Interesting timing for mutual energetic dynamics.

Commentary: "2012: Worldwide Nuclear Meltdown, And Worse, Can Come From Solar Event" [11/08/11] [5:55] " The 1859 Carrington Event, caused by a solar flare, reportedly knocked out telegraph operations around the world. A solar Super Storm of the size and duration of the 'Carrington Event' of 1859 will down the world's power grid infrastructure for years... Think about that for a minute... No food... water... gasoline... radio... internet... In short: almost nothing will be left... Hundreds of millions in Europe and the US would surely die. But this is not all... All nuclear reactors will melt down... because the cooling of the reactors fails.... Thus, a Super Solarstorm has the potential to cause a Fukushima type accident at every nuclear power plant in the world. [...]" Note: It's not a question of if ... but only when. This is one of the 'extra' wildcards beyond what is going to happen here as a result of the fact that this temporary civilization (learning environment) is about over.

MSM: "NASA Downgrades Condition Code of Asteroid YU55 – Unsure of Trajectory" [11/06/11]   [1:15] "Condition codes are on a scale of 1-9 and are used to determine the accuracy of the known or calculated flight path. The higher the number (lets use 9 as an example) would mean that NASA is very unsure of the path the object might fly or deviate to — a zero would be a for sure calculation. Back in June of 2011 the condition code for 2005 YU55 was a 7, in August it was a six. For the past few months the condition code of 2005 YU55 has been “0″ (zero), which meant a for sure miss of the moon and planet. As of now the condition code has been downgraded to a 2 — meaning that after calculating the gravitational effects of the moon and earth on 2005YU55 NASA is unsure what the outcome might be — or at least publicly. [...]"  

MSM: "NASA Satellite Spots New Behemoth Sunspot" [11/04/11] "NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory has spotted one of the largest new sunspots to appear on the' surface of the sun in years. It is nearly 25,000 miles wide, or more than three times larger than the Earth. The enormous sunspot was seen rotating over the sun's northeastern limb on Nov. 3. Any backyard astronomers with solar telescopes should be able to see the gigantic sunspot over the next few days. NASA reported that the region has already experienced about eight solar flares, including an M-class flare, the second-largest type of solar flare, on Nov. 2. The agency also said that X-class flares are possible, even up to X10 or greater events, the largest possible solar flares.[...]"  Related: "Large Sunspot Group Turning Earthward" "One of the largest sunspots in years is rotating over the sun’s northeastern limb. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory took this picture of AR1339 during the early hours of Nov. 3rd: Measuring some 40,000 km wide and at least twice that in length, the sprawling sunspot group is an easy target for backyard solar telescopes. Two or three of the sunspot’s dark cores are wider than Earth itself. Naturally, such a large sunspot has potential for strong flares. NOAA forecasters estimate a 50% chance of M-class solar flares during the next 24 hours. One such eruption has already occurred: An M4-flare at 2200 UT on Nov. 2nd produced a bright flash of extreme UV radiation and hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space. The CME is not heading our way. Future CMEs could have greater effect as AR1339 turns toward Earth in the days ahead. [...]"  

MSM: "Laws Of Physics 'Are Different' Depending On Where You Are In The Universe" [11/03/11] "The laws of physics may not be as set in stone as previously imagined. One of the laws of nature seems to vary depending on where in the universe you are, research suggests. The new analysis of data from Hawaii's Keck telescope and Chile's Extremely Large Telescope, could have profound implications for our understanding of the universe. The 'constancy' of physics is one of the most cherished principles in science - but the scientists say that the 'laws' we know may be the galactic equivalent of 'local by-laws' and things may work quite differently elsewhere. The discovery - if true - violates one of the underlying principles of Einstein's theory of General Relativity, and has profound implications for our understanding of space and time. The findings could mean that the universe is far bigger than we thought - possibly even infinite. It also means that in other parts of the universe, the laws of physics might be hostile to life - whereas in our small part of it, they seem fine-tuned to supporting it.  [...]"  

MSM: "Large Sunspot Group Harbors Energy For M-Class Solar Flares" [11/03/11] "A large sunspot group is rotating over the sun’s northeastern limb, possibly signaling an uptick in solar activity. Measuring some 40,000 km wide and at least twice that in length, the behemoth active region is an easy target for backyard solar telescopes. Astronomers are encouraged to monitor the region: NOAA forecasters estimate a 60% chance of M-class solar flares during the next 24 hours. Eruptions today would not be Earth directed, but future eruptions could be as the sunspot... [...]" 

MSM: "G1 Geomagnetic Storm In Progress" [11/02/11] [4:22] "Solar activity picking up: sunspot is emerging over the sun’s NE limb. Yesterday it unleashed three M-class solar flares and hurled a coronal mass ejections into space. Geoeffective solar activity could increase in the days ahead as the sun’s rotation turns the sunspot toward Earth. Solar activity has increased to moderate levels with atleast 3 M-Class flares taking place around an active region now rotating into view on the northeast limb. [...]"  

Research: "Impact Earth: Simulation Interface" Purdue University [11/02/11] Text Version "Developed by ITaP for Purdue University. 

Media and Culture: "Richard Hoagland: Asteroid YU55 May Hit the Moon on November 9th" [11/02/11] [42:53] "YU55, an asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier is set to pass startling close to Earth between the 9th and 11th which is right around the exact time that numerous drills are set to commence, including a FEMA/FCC takeover simulation as well as a massive tsunami drill. Appearing on the Collision Course radio show hosted by Francis Walsh, Richard Hoagland revealed his belief that YU55 will actually either make direct impact with the moon or make a close pass, within a couple hundred miles, of the moon. He also stated that YU55 is NOT on track to hit the earth. During the broadcast Hoagland revealed many startling facts, including the possibility that YU55 is artificial. Hoagland also puts forward the idea that people within the secret space program have possibly changed the trajectory of YU55. [...]"  Related: Commentary:  "Large Asteroid To Pass Nov. 8 – But What If It Didn’t?" "An asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier will fly near Earth on Nov. 8. While there is no danger of it hitting the planet, a Purdue asteroid impact expert says a similar-sized object hitting Earth would result in a 4,000-megaton blast, magnitude 7.0 earthquake and, should it strike in the deep ocean, 70-foot-high tsunami waves 60 miles from the splashdown site. NASA scientists reported this week that the asteroid 2005 YU55 will pass between the Earth and the moon and come within 201,000 miles of Earth on its closest approach. Jay Melosh, an expert in impact cratering and a distinguished professor of earth and atmospheric sciences, physics, and aerospace engineering at Purdue, said the asteroid’s orbit and trajectory mean there is no chance of an impact. “What is unique about this asteroid flyby is that we were aware of it well in advance,” Melosh said. “Before about 1980 we wouldn’t know about an asteroid of this size until it was already making a close pass, but now it is unlikely that such an asteroid will approach the Earth without our knowledge.” NASA’s Near Earth Object, or NEO, program celebrated a milestone earlier this year by announcing that current search programs have discovered more than 90 percent of near-Earth objects more than six-tenths of a mile in diameter. A larger number of smaller objects have yet to be found, however. Spacewatch, a program created to discover and track all large asteroids crossing the Earth’s orbit, discovered YU55 in 2005. This close approach has been expected since then, he said. [...]"

MSM: "Missile Defense, Asteroids, and Deadlock" [11/01/11] "Russian Ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin has proposed creating a joint U.S.-Russia missile defense system, which in addition to its defense capabilities, would also protect the Earth against asteroids. The recent unexpected proposal could help the two countries break a vicious cycle. The project is code-named Strategic Defense of the Earth. It has been introduced to President Dmitry Medvedev who called it “interesting.” The president tasked Rogozin and foreign policy advisor Sergei Prikhodko with finalizing the project. Aside from this proposal, the Russian-U.S. standoff over missile defense is looking increasingly like a never-ending saga. In 2001, shortly after withdrawing from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missle Treaty, the George W. Bush administration announced plans to deploy interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar defense system in the Czech Republic, which Moscow saw as a threat to its strategic security. Now, 10 years later, international experts admit that negotiations on missile defense have reached an impasse. [...]"  

MSM: "Astronomers Discover Complex Organic Matter Exists Throughout The Universe" [11/01/11] "Astronomers report in the journal Nature that organic compounds of unexpected complexity exist throughout the Universe. The results suggest that complex organic compounds are not the sole domain of life but can be made naturally by stars. [...]"  Note: It's got to be the biggest 'DUH' there is.

LPAC: "Auroras: Beautiful Warnings" [10/30/11] [7:21] "Over a planet steeped in the greatest financial collapse in modern history and perhaps even a greater geopolitical crisis, on Monday, October 24th, the continental United States was treated to a beautiful solar show when red auroras lit up the night time sky reaching as far south as the states of Texas and Alabama. However, these auroras, as stunning as they are, really serve more as a warning sign as to what profound changes may be going on out here in our planet’s true environment: space. And frankly, by referring to it as ‘space’ lets on just how little we know about what is going out here. [...]"  Note:  Nice video of aurora curtains from the International Space Station.

MSM: "Solar Filament Eruption/Earth Bound CME" [10/28/11] [4:38] "A new sunspot is emerging just north of AR1330. This could destabilize the region's overall magnetic topology and make a flare more likely. [...]"  

MSM: "NASA In Final Preparations For Nov. 8 – 10 Asteroid Flyby" [10/28/11] "...The trajectory of asteroid 2005 YU55 is well understood. At the point of closest approach, it will be no closer than 201,700 miles (324,600 kilometers) or 0.85 the distance from the moon to Earth. The gravitational influence of the asteroid will have no detectable effect on anything here on Earth, including our planet’s tides or tectonic plates. Although 2005 YU55 is in an orbit that regularly brings it to the vicinity of Earth (and Venus and Mars), the 2011 encounter with Earth is the closest this space rock has come for at least the last 200 years. [...]" 

MSM: "Red Night Aurora Burst Over U.S. Skies" [10/26/11] "A coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth on Oct. 24th at approximately 1800 UT (2:00 pm EDT). The impact strongly compressed Earth’s magnetic field, directly exposing geosynchronous satellites to solar wind plasma, and sparked an intense geomagnetic storm. As night fell over North America, auroras spilled across the Canadian border into the contiguous United States. Indeed, the display spread all the way down to Arkansas. “When I saw the alert, I ran outside and immediately saw red auroras,” reports Brian Emfinger from the city of Ozark. “Within a few minutes the auroras went crazy! ” Auroras were seen or photographed in more than half of all US states including Alabama, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska, Kentucky, North Carolina, Indiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Maryland, New York, Montana, Ohio, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Washington, Minnesota, Maine, Michigan, Oregon, Arkansas and California. Many observers, especially in the deep south, commented on the pure red color of the lights they saw. These rare all-red auroras sometimes appear during intense geomagnetic storms. They occur some 300 to 500 km above Earth’s surface and are not yet fully understood. The storm is subsiding now. Nevertheless, high-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras as Earth’s magnetic field continues to reverberate from the CME impact.  [...]" Related: "PHOTOS: Stunning Northern Lights Display Dazzles In Over 20 States" | "Freak Solar Activity Creates Incredible Northern Lights Which Are Seen As Far South As Arkansas"  

MSM: "Gamma Rays Coming From Directions In The Sky Where There Are No Obvious Objects Likely To Produce Gamma Rays" [10/19/11] [3:09] "NASA's Fermi team recently released the second catalog of gamma-ray sources detected by their satellite's Large Area Telescope (LAT). Of the 1873 sources found, nearly 600 are complete mysteries. No one knows what they are. "Fermi sees gamma rays coming from directions in the sky where there are no obvious objects likely to produce gamma rays," says David Thompson, Fermi Deputy Project Scientist from Goddard Space Flight Center. [...]" 

Commentary:  "On Gravity-Centric Cosmology And The Implications Of A Universe Awash With Plasma" [10/19/11] PDF  "The following article by Thunderbolts Project principal Dave Smith offers an introduction to the plasma universe, emphasizing the essential role of electricity in the cosmos. [...]" 

MSM: "Doomed German Space Telescope To Plunge To Earth On October 23rd" [10/18/11] "The massive ROSAT X-ray space telescope continues to descend toward Earth. Latest estimates place the re-entry around noon Universal Time on Oct. 23rd. Uncertainties exceed 10 hours, which makes it impossible to say exactly where ROSAT will re-enter. In February 2011, it was reported that the 2,400 kg satellite was unlikely to burn up entirely while re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere due to the large amount of ceramics and glass used in construction.* Parts as heavy as 400 kg could impact the surface intact. Many sky watchers are seeing ROSAT in the night sky shining about as brightly as a 1st magnitude star. [...]"  

MSM: "Elenin To Swing By Earth Today" [10/17/11]   "The 'Doomsday Comet' Elenin will make its closest approach to earth today, something conspiracy theorists have long feared. The comet started breaking up in August after being blasted by a huge solar storm so tomorrow, when it comes to within 22 million miles of earth, it will be a stream of debris rather than an intact comet. [...]"  

MSM: "Microcosmic Threads Weave Fabric of Our Universe Together" [10/16/11] "Our Milky Way galaxy appears to be connected via a vast filament to nearby galaxy clusters, which in turn are interconnected with the rest of the universe, according to new research from Australia. Evidence for the existence of this invisible fabric comes from the arrangement of cosmic bodies in space. “By examining the positions of ancient groupings of stars, called globular clusters, we found that the clusters form a narrow plane around the Milky Way rather than being scattered across the sky,” said astronomer Stefan Keller at the Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, in a press release. “Furthermore, the Milky Way’s entourage of small satellites are seen to inhabit the same plane." Galaxies grow by sucking in hydrogen and helium to fuel star formation. The Milky Way is thought to have reached its current size by consuming hundreds of much smaller galaxies. “The filament of star clusters and small galaxies around the Milky Way is like the umbilical cord that fed our galaxy during its youth," Keller explained. The cosmos seems to have a structure comprising long filaments of galaxies interspersed with gigantic voids that reach millions of light-years across. [...]" See Graphic

Astronomy: "Energy Burst: Crab Pulsar Gamma Ray Intensification Baffles Scientists" [10/08/11] "Scientists say the Crab Pulsar is blasting out gamma rays at a higher rate than can be explained by current scientific models. It’s emitting the highest-energy gamma rays ever observed from a pulsar – a highly magnetized and rapidly spinning neutron star – at more than 100 billion electron volts. That’s more than 50 billion times more energy than the visible light from the Sun. “This is the highest energy pulsar system ever detected,” said Rene Ong, a UCLA professor of physics and astronomy and spokesperson for the VERITAS collaboration at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “It is a completely new and surprising phenomenon for pulsars.” All previous observations of pulsars have indicated that the radiation cuts off at the high energies the team observed. “It means the radiation we detect must be a new component that was completely unexpected,” says Ong. The Crab Pulsar spins at about 30 times a second, emitting gamma rays through ‘curvature radiation’, an effect that creates a lighthouse-like beacon that winks on and off. When the gamma rays reach Earth, they smash into our atmosphere, causing what Ong describes as the electromagnetic equivalent of a sonic boom. he collision creates a shower of visible light more than six miles above the ground that can be recorded by VERITAS. ...We are bombarded by high-energy particles from all over the cosmos that reach unimaginable energies,” he says. “These cosmic rays are an important energy source in our galaxy, yet we have no clue where they are coming from.” [...]"  

MSM: "Weekend Meteor Shower Could Be Meteor Storm" [10/07/11] "The normally tame Draconid meteor shower is expected to be unusually intense on Saturday, but viewers in North America look to be largely out of luck. As of now, the shower is expected to peak in daylight hours from 3 to 5pm ET, though a NASA forecaster suggests looking skyward during the evening in case the timing is off, reports AP. (Europe may not have much better viewing because of a full moon.) It will be shame if so because the Draconids—which typically have rates of 10 to 20 meteors an hour—might have hundreds or perhaps thousands an hour this year, an astronomer tells National Geographic. That has scientists casting a wary eye toward the International Space Station. "However, other than avoiding spacewalks, there isn't much the space station can do to avoid such hazards, aside from hoping the damage is minimal," adds the astronomer. [...]"  

Astronomy: "Massive Unnamed Comet Hits The Sun" Dutch Sinse [10/04/11] [2:35] Note:  Wow.

MSM: "Two Small Asteroids Zoom Within The Moon's Orbit" [10/03/11] "A small asteroid zipped by Earth well inside the orbit of the moon on Friday, marking the second known space-rock encounter for our planet over the past week. Neither of the two asteroids posed any threat to Earth, scientists say. "Small asteroid 2011 SM173 just passed Earth at a safe distance of 180,000 miles (290,000 km or .8 lunar distance)," scientists with NASA said. Asteroid 2011 SM173 was discovered on Thursday by astronomers and is about 56 feet (17 meters) wide, making it about the size of a house. Its flyby came just four days after the pass of another space rock - the asteroid 2011 SE58 - which actually came even closer to Earth. [Photo of asteroid 2011 SM173"s orbit] That 33-foot-wide (10-meter-wide) asteroid slipped within 147,000 miles (236,573 kilometers) of Earth during an evening flyby on Monday, according to Asteroid Watch.  [...]"  

MSM: "Double Eruption Reported On Solar Surface- Geomagnetic Storm Alert" [10/02/11]   " On October 1st around 10:17 UT, widely-spaced sunspots 1302 and 1305 erupted in quick succession, revealing a long-distance entanglement which was not obvious before. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) recorded the double blast: Since it was launched in 2010, SDO has observed many “entangled eruptions.” Active regions far apart but linked by magnetic fields can explode one after another, with disturbances spreading around the stellar surface domino-style. Yesterday’s eruption appears to be the latest example. The part of the eruption centered on sunspot 1305 hurled a coronal mass ejection toward Earth. The relatively slow-moving (500 km/s) cloud is expected to reach our planet on Oct. 4th, possibly causing geomagnetic storms when it arrives. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras. – [...]"  

MSM: "Comet Elenin Heads Towards Earth" [10/02/11]   [6:12] "The ancient Mayan calendar predicts that we will be coming to an end of a cycle in the year 2012. The winter solstice is believed to be the date that the world will end. Lately there has been a lot of buzz about the comet Elenin. The comet is set to come close to earth on October 16th of this year and many believe this will have atrocious affects on the planet. Brooks Agnew, author and host of X-squared radio, tells us why we should care. [...]" 

MSM: "More Comets Entering Interplanetary Space: Sun To Swallow Yet Another New Comet" [10/02/11] "A quartet of amateur comet hunters (M. Kusiak, S. Liwo, B. Zhou and Z. Xu) independently noticed a comet in SOHO coronagraph images. The icy visitor from the icy solar system is diving toward the sun–probably a one-way trip. Kusiak expects the doomed comet to brighten to first magnitude between now and the early hours of Oct. 1st [...]"  

MSM: "CNN: A Massive Brown Dwarf Star Hurling Through Our Solar System" [10/02/11] [0:33] "CNN has now openly admitted a massive brown dwarf star 4 times the size of Jupiter is in our solar system. [...]"  Note: Huh.

MSM: "CME Impact Sets Amazing Auroras" [09/29/11] "A coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth’s magnetic field around noon Universal Time on Sept. 26th. The impact set the stage for a night to remember. As soon as darkness fell over Scandinavia, auroras filled the sky with such intensity that they were visible through rain clouds. Fredrik Broms photographed the scene from Kvaløya, Norway: Minor Geomagnetic activity persists heading into early Wednesday morning. Minor Storm levels of G1 (Kp=5) may be possible overnight. SUBSIDING STORM: A severe geomagnetic storm (Kp=7 to 8) that began yesterday when a CME hit Earth's magnetic field is subsiding. At the peak of the disturbance, auroras were sighted around both poles and in more than six US states including Michigan, New York, South Dakota, Maine, Massachusetts and Minnesota: [...] MAGNETIC AFTERSHOCKS: A minor geomagnetic storm erupted earlier today, Sept. 28th, causing beautiful Wednesday-morning auroras in Canada and some northern-tier US states. These are, essentially, aftershocks of the severe storm on Sept. 26th. More reverberations are possible tonight. "  Related: "September 2011 Aurora Gallery" Very nice.

MSM: "Military Rocket Blasts Off From Alaska’s Largest Island" [09/28/11] Video clip  [5:19] "An 'experimental military communications satellite' was blasted into orbit Tuesday morning aboard a Minotaur IV rocket from the Kodiak Launch Complex on Narrow Cape, according to the latest update posted by the Naval Research Laboratory. The $75 million TacSat-4 spacecraft lifted off at 7:59 a.m. Alaska Daylight Time into red-dawn sky over the North Pacific Ocean, and was 574 miles out and 231 miles above the sea within the first four minutes of its flight, according to a live launch blog. A ground tracking map posted by Spaceflightnow.com showed the spacecraft flying southeast over the Pacific, roughly parallel to the North and South American continents. Within two hours, the satellite was flying nearly 13,000 miles per hour about 7,000 miles above the surface of the planet. [...]"  

MSM: "Hyper-Active Sun Raises Fear Of A Catastrophe In Russia" [09/27/11] "A frightening report circulating in the Kremlin yesterday prepared by the Federal Atomic Energy Agency (FAAE) states that “emergency notices” have gone out to all of Russia’s nuclear power plants warning them that a potential “blast” from our Sun could cause “massive power blackouts” and could even result in “spontaneous atomic explosions.” Prompting this unprecedented warning was our Sun’s unleashing of a massive X1.9 solar flare from the behemoth Sunspot 1302 yesterday, and that is just days away from putting our Earth squarely in its sights, that this FAAE report is blaming for the near total blackout that hit the entire South American nation of Chile within minutes of this event occurring. This FAAE report further warns that the blackout that occurred in Chile due to yesterday’s solar blast was forewarned about by a similar event that occurred earlier this month in the United States after their Southern California and Arizona regions were hit by a massive power blackout on 8 September. Even more concerning to the FAAE about these solar blasts were their being connected by Russian atomic scientists to the nuclear explosion at a nuclear-waste facility in southern France that occurred on 12 September and a Michigan nuclear plant “cooling failure” that occurred on 16 September, both of which were quickly followed by at least six more massive solar blasts occurring in less than 24 hours from 18 September until 19 September. The FAAE also states in their report that the fall from low-space orbit of NASA’s UARS climate satellite yesterday can, likewise, be blamed on these solar blasts too, a position supported by US space scientists who recently discovered that 90 minutes after these solar blasts die down, they spring to life again producing an extra surge of extreme ultraviolet radiation, and which, according to NASA scientist Rachel Hock: “The extra energy from the late phase can have a big effect on Earth. Extreme ultraviolet wavelengths are particularly good at heating and ionizing Earth’s upper atmosphere. When our planet’s atmosphere is heated by extreme UV radiation, it puffs up, accelerating the decay of low-orbiting satellites.” Interesting to note of all of these events is how unprepared people in the West are to face what the FAAE terms as the “worst events to come” and have, also, been warned about by American experts and scientists too, including the World Net Daily article titled U.S. warned of threat worse than Katrina, plague, WWII that, in part, said: “More horrifying than the plague of Black Death across Europe. More costly in lives than World War II. Financially, it could make the Katrina repairs look like a pocketful of change. And it’s not a matter of if, but when. That’s the alarming warning issued by John G. Kappenman, owner of Storm Analysis Consultants and an expert on the dangers of electromagnetic pulse damage to modern society, with a list of qualifications after his name as long as a phone book. The issue of EMP dangers to the Earth – either from a CME, a coronal mass ejection, which is an eruption of power from the sun, or from a nuclear-triggered EMP wave intended to destroy a society – have been the subject of multiple reports in recent months.  [...]"  

Astronomy: "Earth Blasted By One Of The Most Intense Geomagnetic Storms Seen In Years" [09/27/11] "A strong-to-severe geomagnetic storm occurred today following the impact of a coronal mass ejection (CME) at approximately 12:15 UT on Sept. 26th. The Goddard Space Weather Lab reports a “strong compression of Earth’s magnetosphere. Simulations indicate that solar wind plasma has penetrated close to geosynchronous orbit starting at 13:00UT.” Geosynchronous satellites could therefore be directly exposed to solar wind plasma and magnetic fields. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for Northern and Southern Lights after nightfall [...]"  

MSM: "Burning Object Fell - Reported Source Of Texas Grass Fire" [09/27/11] "An object falling from the sky could be to blame for a Saturday grass fire. “When the call came in to the dispatcher, the person said that something fell from the sky and started the fire,” Jeff Pittman, chief of the San Leon Fire Department, said. The chief said an investigation will be conducted to determine the cause of the blaze at 18th Street and Broadway. “It could be awhile before we figure out what happened,” he said. “It could be (today) because of the lighting.” The call came in at 5:36 p.m. Saturday and the fire was under control by 7 p.m. Along with San Leon, firefighters from Texas City, Dickinson, League City and Kemah responded to the call. Galveston County sheriff’s deputies and Galveston Area Emergency Medical Services personnel also were on the scene. Pittman said about 60 acres of grass and brush burned. After the fire was out, firefighters conducted a grid patrol using metal detectors to determine if something did fall from the sky, according assistant fire Chief Scott Lyons. “There was no property damage,” he said. “It was an unimproved field. There were no injuries, either, just a lot of tired firemen. [...]"   Related: "Burning Object Fell From The Sky In Argentina" " One woman died and six others were injured in the incident. A neighbor told Radio 10 that the outbreak was caused by a burning object that fell from the sky and completely destroyed a house and several cars. “It was a tremor,” said one witness. The incident occurred minutes before 2 am, in a building located on the intersection of Luis Vernet and Los Andes, a town of Monte Grande, of Esteban Echeverría. The causes of the explosion are still unknown, but locals say they witnessed the fact that “a ball of fire fell from heaven. It began to feel and smell like gunpowder,” recalled one person who lives in the area told C5N. “There is no explanation for what happened,” said Cayetano, a local resident, told Radio 10, then adding, “a neighbor ran because he saw a fireball falling blue.” The commander of the local fire department, Guillermo Pérez, remarked that he still do not know the cause of the incident, but acknowledged that the first version is aimed at an “object that fell from heaven.” Perez did confirmed that two trade houses ” were completely destroyed.” In fact, a woman who was trapped under the rubble was killed while six others were rescued and were taken for care at a local hospital, said a C5N firefighters who was on site. The victim is one of the people who lived in the building where the explosion was generated. As for the wounded, three belong to that house and three adjoining the house, hit by the blast. According to the story of neighbors, the explosion was felt even in adjoining towns as Ezeiza and Temperley, south of Buenos Aires. [...]"  Note:  Now we know where some of those pieces of the large NASA satellite went.

MSM: "Six Coronal Mass Ejections In 24 Hour Period" [09/24/11] "The sun let loose with at least six coronal mass ejections (CMEs) -- solar phenomena that can send solar particles into space and affect electronic systems in satellites -- from 7 PM ET on September 18, 2011 until 1 PM on September 19.  The ejections appear to come from points scattered over the surface of the sun. Two CME's dissipated quickly, but four continue to spread outward from the sun. NASA models suggest that the leading edge of one CME will pass by Earth at around 5 PM ET on Sep 21, at which point sky watchers should be on the lookout for auroras. [...]"  

MSM: "Turbulent Region Of The Sun Turning Earthward- X-Class Flare Unleashed By Large Sunspot" [09/23/11]   [0:00] "Earth-orbiting satellites have detected a long-duration X1.4-class solar fare coming from a new sunspot on the sun’s eastern limb. The region is encircled in the picture above. The blast, which peaked at 1100 UT, produced a significant CME. However, the cloud is not heading in our direction. [...]"  Note:  Turn volume OFF.

MSM: "NASA Issues Reentry Alert For September 23 For Plunging Satellite" [09/19/11] "NASA reports that UARS, an atmospheric research satellite the size of a small bus, will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere on Sept. 23, plus or minus one day. Not all of the spectacularly-disintegrating spacecraft will burn up in the atmosphere; debris could be scattered along a ground track some 500 miles long. Because of the rapid evolution of UARS’s decaying orbit, the location of the debris zone is not yet known. A NASA risk assessment places the odds of a human casualty at 1:3200. [...]"  

MSM: "Solar Flare-Caused Blackouts Could Jeopardize Nuclear Plants Worldwide" [09/14/11] " the global tidal wave threatening all the nuclear power plants of the world isn’t made of water but solar emissions. The Sun, you see, is acting up again. NASA recently warned that solar activity is surging, with a peak expected to happen in 2013 that could generate enormous radiation levels that sweep across planet Earth. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has even issued an urgent warning about solar flares due to strike in 2012 and 2013. IBtimes wrote, “With solar activity expected to peak around 2013, the Sun is entering a particularly active time and big flares like the recent one will likely be common during the next few years. …A major flare in the mid-19th century blocked the nascent telegraph system, and some scientists believe that another such event is now overdue.” [...] Several federal government studies suggest that this extreme solar activity and emissions may result in complete blackouts for years in some areas of the nation. Moreover, there may also be disruption of power supply for years, or even decades, as geomagnetic currents attracted by the storm could debilitate the transformers.” Every nuclear power plant operates in a near-meltdown state. All nuclear power plants are operated in a near-meltdown status. They operate at very high heat, relying on nuclear fission to boil water that produces steam to drive the turbines that generate electricity. Critically, the nuclear fuel is prevented from melting down through the steady circulation of coolants which are pushed through the cooling system using very high powered electric pumps. If you stop the electric pumps, the coolant stops flowing and the fuel rods go critical (and then melt down). This is what happened in Fukushima, where the melted fuel rods dropped through the concrete floor of the containment vessels, unleashing enormous quantities of ionizing radiation into the surrounding environment. The full extent of the Fukushima contamination is not even known yet, as the facility is still emitting radiation. It’s crucial to understand that nuclear coolant pumps are usually driven by power from the electrical grid. They are not normally driven by power generated locally from the nuclear power plant itself. Instead, they’re connected to the grid. In other words, even though nuclear power plants are generating megawatts of electricity for the grid, they are also dependant on the grid to run their own coolant pumps. If the grid goes down, the coolant pumps go down, too, which is why they are quickly switched to emergency backup power — either generators or batteries. [...]"  

MSM: "Amazing Photographs Taken Of Saturn Courtesy Of The Cassini-Huygens Spacecraft" [09/08/11] "There have been some amazing photographs taken of Saturn over the years, but none quite like this. The stunning image comes courtesy of the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft while it was in orbit around the planet, which is the sixth furthest from the sun and lies around 800million miles from Earth. It was taken at night as the probe looked back at the eclipsed sun, resulting in a picture that one Nasa astronomer described as ‘like no other’. Saturn's rings light up so much that new rings were discovered, although they are hard to see in the image. Seen in spectacular detail, however, is Saturn's E ring, the ring created by the newly discovered ice-fountains of the moon Enceladus and the outermost ring visible above.’ [...]" 

Update: "Solar Activity Update: Near And Far Eruptions" [09/04/11] [3:28] "A solar wind stream flowing from the a coronal hole could reach Earth on or about Sept. 5th. [...]"  

MSM: "Solar Wind Speed Drops To Near 50-Year Low" [09/02/11] "What has happened to the Sun? The solar winds have fallen to a low speed: 280.3 km/sec with a proton density event of 0.9 protons/cm3. The average solar wind speed should be 400 km per second. The diminishing solar activity, despite a plethora of sunspots painted across the surface of the Sun, led Space Weather to declare: “The solar disk is peppered with sunspot groups, at least eight of them. None of them, however, is producing strong flares. Solar activity remains generally low.” The last time the solar wind speed was this low was in 2008 when the solar wind velocity fell to 290.0 km with a proton density of 3.3 protons/cm3 but today’s reading is even lower than 2008. The dismal output of solar activity in 2008 led NASA scientists to conclude: “A wind of charged particles that stream constantly from the sun is at its lowest level ever recorded in the 50 years since spacecraft have made the measurement possible. The Ulysses spacecraft observed the weak solar winds, the constant, high-speed stream of particles that races from the sun, during a quiet period in the sun’s activity. The solar weather cycle affects Earth and other planets in the solar system. “We know that the sun has been this cool before, this inactive before,” said Nancy Crooker, a physicist at Boston University in Boston, Mass., during a NASA teleconference on Tuesday. “But that was prior to the Space Age, so we didn’t have actual physical measurements until now.” The solar wind’s charged particles blow out from the sun at a blistering 1 million mph, sweeping away background radiation and colliding with incoming galactic cosmic rays from distant stars. It effectively encloses our solar system in a protective bubble called the heliosphere.”  [...]" Related: "More Cosmic Rays Hitting Earth" "The solar wind isn’t inflating the heliosphere as much as it used to,” says McComas. “That means less shielding against cosmic rays.” In addition to weakened solar wind, “Ulysses also finds that the sun’s underlying magnetic field has weakened by more than 30% since the mid-1990s,” says Posner. “This reduces natural shielding even more.” [...]"  Note: And this also affects the cloud cover and weather on Earth.

Commentary: "An Elegy for the Age of Space" [09/01/11] "The orbiters are silent now, waiting for the last awkward journey that will take them to the museums that will warehouse the grandest of our civilization’s failed dreams. There will be no countdown, no pillar of flame to punch them through the atmosphere and send them whipping around the planet at orbital speeds. All of that is over. In Houston, the same silence creeps through rooms where technicians once huddled over computer screens as voices from space crackled over loudspeakers. The screens are black now, the mission control rooms empty, and most of the staff have already gotten their pink slips. On the Florida coast, where rusting gantries creak in the wind and bats flutter in cavernous buildings raised for the sake of a very different kind of flight, another set of lauch pads sinks slowly into their new career as postindustrial ruins. [...]"  

MSM: "Comet Elenin Disintegrating And Breaking Up As It Approaches The Sun" [08/30/11] "Comet Elenin (C/2010 X1), widely known for inaccurate reports of its threat to Earth, appears to be breaking apart. Observations by amateur astronomer Michael Mattiazzo of Castlemaine, Australia show a rapid dimming and elongation of the comet’s nucleus akin to that of Comet LINEAR (C/1999 S4), which also disintegrated when it approached the Sun in 2000. [...]"  Note: Just as I have maintained all along, it's not relevant, which is why there has been no 'story' posted about this before.

MSM: "Suspected Meteorite Lights Up Peru Sky" BBC News [08/26/11] "A suspected meteorite streaked across the sky over the city of Cusco in Peru. Local officials were trying to determine where the object may have landed. [...]" 

MSM: "Russian Spaceship Fails to Orbit, Crashes to Earth" [08/25/11] " A Russian space station supply ship failed to reach orbit and crashed with a thunderous boom into Siberia today, rattling NASA and others in this new era without any shuttles to bail out the orbiting outpost. The Soyuz rocket soared right on time from Kazakhstan, and everything seemed to be going perfectly until just over five minutes into the flight. The third-stage ignited, but the rocket commanded the engine to shut down because of a problem, said NASA's space station program manager. All contact with the spacecraft was lost. Russian space officials declared it a total failure after reports of wreckage falling with a deafening roar in a remote area of Siberia.  [...]"  

MSM: "Double Coronal Hole Spewing High Speed Stream Toward Earth" [08/22/11] "A double-barreled hole has opened up in the sun’s atmosphere and it is spewing a split-stream of solar wind toward Earth. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this composite UV image of the double coronal hole on August 20th: Sky watchers should be alert for auroras when the solar wind arrives on August 22-24. NOAA forecasters estimate a 35% to 50% chance of high-latitude geomagnetic activity. (SpaceWeather) Solar activity continues at very low levels with only... [...]" 

MSM: "Solar Flare Activity Prompts NASA News Briefing In Washington" [08/18/11] " Increasing solar activity and the threat that coronal mass ejections (CME) pose to Earth has prompted NASA to convene a news briefing at its Headquarter building in Washington on Thursday afternoon. Thursday’s briefing has been arranged, space agency officials say, in light of new information coming from NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), spacecraft and other NASA probes. The briefing will feature new details about the structure of solar storms and the impact they have on Earth. The briefing panellists are Madhulika Guhathakurta, STEREO program scientist; Craig DeForest, staff scientist, Southwest Research Institute, David Webb, research physicist, Institute for Scientific Research, Boston College; and Alysha Reinard, research scientist, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Colorado. The briefing will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website at 2:00 PM EDT (7:00 PM GMT).  [...]"  

Commentary: "Perseid Meteor Shower On August 12th And 13th" [08/10/11] "Earth is entering a stream of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, source of the annual Perseid meteor shower. International observers are now reporting more than a dozen Perseids per hour, a number that will increase as the shower reaches its peak on August 12-13. Full moonlight will reduce visibility on peak night, but not enough to completely spoil the show – especially when the ISS is scheduled to make an appearance among the meteors. The meteor shower is already underway. Earth is passing through a broad stream of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, and specks of comet dust are hitting the top of Earth’s atmosphere at 140,000 mph. These disintegrating meteors stream out of the constellation Perseus – hence the name “Perseids.” According to the International Meteor Organization, worldwide observers now are counting more than a dozen Perseids per hour with more to come on August 12-13 when Earth passes near the heart of the debris stream. [...]"  

Commentary: "Sun Unleashes Largest Solar Flare in Years" [08/10/11] "An extremely powerful solar flare, the largest in over four years, rocked the sun early Tuesday (Aug. 9), but is unlikely to wreak any serious havoc here on Earth, scientists say. "It was a big flare," said Joe Kunches, a space scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Space Weather Prediction Center. "We lucked out because the site of the eruption at the sun was not facing the Earth, so we will probably feel no ill effects. ... While all X-class solar eruptions are major events, they pose the greatest threat to Earth when they are aimed directly at the planet. During those events the sun often releases a cloud of plasma called a coronal mass ejection into space, and sometimes toward Earth. This ejection hurls charged particles that can damage satellites, endanger astronauts in orbit, and interfere with power systems, communications and other infrastructure on the planet.  "The cloud will probably miss Earth," SpaceWeather.com wrote. "At this time, however, we cannot rule out a glancing blow from the flank of the CME on or about August 11th."" [...]"  

MSM: "Antimatter Belt Around Earth Discovered" [08/09/11] "A thin band of antimatter particles called antiprotons enveloping the Earth has been spotted for the first time. The find, described in Astrophysical Journal Letters, confirms theoretical work that predicted the Earth's magnetic field could trap antimatter. The team says a small number of antiprotons lie between the Van Allen belts of trapped "normal" matter. The researchers say there may be enough to implement a scheme using antimatter to fuel future spacecraft. [...]"  

Commentary: "New Study Finds Giant Impacts Aren’t Periodic" [08/09/11] "There are about 180 impact craters known on our planet, ranging from tens of millennia in age to billions of years. They also vary in size from a few kilometers across to monsters so big they can only be detected from space. Sometimes it’s hard to measure their size (they can have multiple concentric rings, or be underground — covered up due to extreme age — making definite sizes hard to figure out) or hard to get their age. But we do have some statistics on them, and there have been many studies about them.  [...]"  

Commentary: "Sunspot 1263 Unleashed an M3-Class Flare" [08/09/11] [0:56] "Sunspot 1263 poses a continued threat for X-class solar flares. 3-day Solar-Geophysical Forecast issued Aug 08 22:00 UTC Solar Activity Forecast: Solar activity is expected to remain low to moderate for the next three days (09-11 Aug) with Region 1263 being the most likely source of activity. A slight chance for an isolated X flare and/or proton event remains through the forecast period. Geophysical Activity Forecast: The geomagnetic field is expected to be predominantly quiet for the next three days in the wake of the coronal hole high speed stream. Further analysis of the CME observed in STEREO and SOHO imagery is underway to determine its geoeffective potential. [...]"  

MSM: "Solar Storms Could Debilitate Earth this Decade: NOAA" [08/08/11]   "The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a federal agency that focuses on the condition of the oceans and atmosphere, said that a severe solar storm could cause global chaos, debilitating satellite communications and taking down the most important global power grids.  [The NOAA predicted four extreme solar emissions which could threaten the planet this decade. Similarly, NASA warned that a peak in the sun's magnetic energy cycle and the number of sun spots or flares ... could enable extremely high radiation levels. Government studies revealed that extreme solar flare emissions could cause blackouts, possibly for years, in large portions of the U.S. This type of storm could also induce geomagnetic currents that could debilitate transformers on the power grid. Electric power would be out for years or even decades. Nuclear plants would also be negatively affected as supplying power systems with enough fuel despite main power grids being offline for years would be a grave problem. Furthermore, spent fuel rods losing connection to the power grid could cause pools to boil over, fueling fires and releasing deadly radiation. ...]"  

"Massive Flaring On The Sun And Double CME’s Headed To Earth" [08/06/11]   Video clip  [0:20] "For the third day in a row, active sunspot 1261 has unleashed a strong M-class solar flare. The latest blast at 0357 UT on August 4th registered M9.3 on the Richter Scale of Flares, almost crossing the threshold into X-territory (X-flares are the most powerful kind). The number of energetic protons around Earth has jumped nearly 100-fold as a result of this event. Stay tuned for updates. INCOMING CLOUDS: At least two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are now en route to Earth, propelled toward us by eruptions in the magnetic canopy of sunspot 1261 on August 2nd and 3rd. - [...]" 

MSM: "Scientists Spot Signs of 'Shadow' Universes" [08/05/11] "Scientists who believe our universe is just one of many have found a way to put their theory to the test. The "multiverse" theory holds that our universe is in a bubble of space and time drifting in a sea of other "bubble universes." Cosmologists say that the cosmic background radiation left over from the Big Bang shows tantalizing signs of collisions with other bubbles, the BBC reports. The European Space Agency's Planck space telescope is expected to provide data that will either back up the theory or refute it. "The work represents an opportunity to test a theory that is truly mind-blowing: that we exist within a vast multiverse, where other universes are constantly popping into existence,” the lead researcher says. But even if the existence of bubble universes —where the laws of nature may be utterly different—is confirmed, it will be impossible to learn more about them, he warns. "It would be wonderful to be able to go outside our bubble, but it's not going to be possible," she says. [...]"  

Commentary: "Extinction Threats From Deep Space May Be Random Events" [08/02/11] "Giant impacts by comets or asteroids have been linked to several mass extinction events on Earth, most famously to the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Nearly 200 identifiable craters on the Earth’s surface, some of them hundreds of kilometers in diameter, bear witness to these catastrophic collisions. Understanding the way impact rates might have varied over time is not just an academic question. It is an important ingredient when scientists estimate the risk Earth currently faces from catastrophic cosmic impacts. Since the mid-1980s, a number of authors have claimed to have identified periodic variations in the impact rate. Using crater data, notably the age estimates for the different craters, they derive a regular pattern where, every so-and-so-many million years (values vary between 13 and 50 million years), an era with fewer impacts is followed by an era with increased impact activity, and so on. One proposed mechanism for these variations is the periodic motion of our Solar System relative to the main plane of the Milky Way Galaxy. This could lead to differences in the way that the minute gravitational influence of nearby stars tugs on the objects in the Oort cloud, a giant repository of comets that forms a shell around the outer Solar System, nearly a light-year away from the Sun, leading to episodes in which more comets than usual leave the Oort cloud to make their way into the inner Solar System – and, potentially, towards a collision with the Earth. A more spectacular proposal posits the existence of an as-yet undetected companion star to the Sun, dubbed “Nemesis.” Its highly elongated orbit, the reasoning goes, would periodically bring Nemesis closer to the Oort cloud, again triggering an increase in the number of comets setting course for Earth. For MPIA’s Coryn-Bailer-Jones, these results are evidence not of undiscovered cosmic phenomena, but of subtle pitfalls of traditional (“frequentist”) statistical reasoning. Bailer-Jones: “There is a tendency for people to find patterns in nature that do not exist. Unfortunately, in certain situations traditional statistics plays to that particular weakness.” [...]"  

Astronomy: "Cosmic Journeys: The Largest Black Holes in the Universe" Most Popular [08/01/11] [18:48] "How big can they get? What's the largest so far detected? Where does an 18 billion solar mass black hole hide? We've never seen them directly... yet we know they are there [...]" Related: "Cosmic Journey's Series" 

MSM: "NASA Warns Of Global Catastrophe Post Upcoming 'Huge Space Storm'" [07/31/11] "NASA has warned of a once-in-a-lifetime ‘space storm’ after the sun wakes ‘from a deep slumber’ sometime around 2013, causing ‘20 times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina’. Senior space agency scientists believe that the super storm would hit like ‘a bolt of lightning’ and damage everything from emergency services’ systems, hospital equipment, banking systems and air traffic control devices, through to “everyday” items such as home computers, iPods and Sat Navs. And unless precautions are taken, it could cause catastrophic consequences for the world’s health, emergency services and national security. [...]"  Note: Since they know very little and cannot predict exactly when this will occur ... it may occur during 2012..

"Scientists Find Small Asteroid Shares Orbit With Earth" [07/28/11] "The discovery of this companion, which measures only about 300 yards across, makes Earth the fourth planet in the solar system that’s known to share its orbit with an asteroid. Imagine Earth and the asteroid traveling around a clock face, with the Sun in the middle. Generally, the asteroid runs about two numbers ahead. However, the asteroid sometimes ranges so far ahead that it’s on the opposite side of the sun from Earth, said Martin Connors of Canada’s Athabasca University in Alberta. He reports the work with colleagues in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature. Asteroids are giant space rocks that orbit the sun, and ones that share an orbit with a planet are called Trojans. Scientists had previously found a few for Mars and Neptune and nearly 5,000 for Jupiter. Spotting one in Earth’s orbit is difficult from the ground because the potential locations are generally in the daytime sky. The newfound object, called 2010 TK7, was discovered last year by NASA’s WISE satellite. Connors and colleagues were able to focus a ground-based telescope in Hawaii on it in April, determining its orbit with enough precision to show it was a Trojan. Donald K. Yeomans, manager of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office, who didn’t participate in the discovery, agreed that the asteroid is a Trojan. Most scientists suspected Earth had them, he said, and “I would guess there’s others. [...]" 

"Russia Launches Telescope With 10,000 Times the Resolution of the Hubble Telescope" [07/28/11] "Russian scientists are jubilant at news that the Spektr-R, a powerful space telescope conceived in the depths of the cold war, was finally lofted into orbit aboard a Zenit rocket Monday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Once it is fully operational, the new radio telescope will sync up with ground-based observatories to form the biggest telescope ever built. It will be known as RadioAstron, with a “dish” spanning 30 times the Earth’s diameter. Experts say it will be able to deliver images from the remote corners of the universe at 10,000 times the resolution of the US Hubble Space Telescope. [...]" 

"A Profusion of Sunspots: July 19th, 2011" [07/19/11] [1:06] "A profusion of sunspots growing across the solar disk suggests a possible break from the quiet could be in the offing. [...]"  

"Asteroid Vesta Photographed By NASA's Orbiting Dawn Craft " [07/19/11] "NASA's Dawn spacecraft was captured into orbit around the massive asteroid Vesta after a 1.7 billion-mile journey and is preparing to begin a study of a surface that may date to the earliest era of the solar system, the space agency said Monday. [...]"  

Commentary: "Shuttle Atlantis Docks With Space Station For Last Time" [07/11/11] [1:14] "Atlantis has docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on the final mission of the US space shuttle programme. It will spend at least seven days at the ISS and, on its return to Earth, will be retired along with the other shuttles in Nasa's fleet. Atlantis is taking vital supplies to the space station, including more than a tonne of food, ensuring astronauts there have enough to last a year. Daniel Griffiths reports. [...]" Related: "NASA STS-135 Final Space Shuttle Launch Photos" 

Report: "Behemoth Sunspots Evolve" [07/11/11] "...Sunspot group 1247 is expanding rapidly and in an interesting way. The active region is organizing itself as a linear chain of sunspots, denoted by the rectangle in this July 10th image from the Solar Dynamics Observatory: [...] From end to end, the chain stretches more than 200,000 km, which makes it an easy target for backyard solar telescopes. Some observers prefer H-alpha telescopes tuned to the red glow of solar hydrogen, but for watching behemoth sunspots evolve, nothing beats a white light observing system. Monitoring is encouraged. "  Just when you thought the Sun was going away quietly; it throws us a few new surprises. This is nothing ominous but it does indicate our unpredicatable our star can be. Sunspot group 1247 is expanding rapidly and in an interesting way. The active region is organizing itself as a linear chain of sunspots, denoted by the rectangle in this July 10th image from the Solar Dynamics Observatory: From end to end, the chain stretches more than 200,000 km, which makes it an easy target for backyard solar telescopes. Some observers prefer H-alpha telescopes tuned to the red glow of solar hydrogen, but for watching behemoth sunspots evolve, nothing beats a white light observing system. Meanwhile, a coronal mass ejection (CME) that billowed away from sunspot 1247 on July 9th could hit Earth’s magnetic field on July 12th. Because the CME was not squarely Earth-directed and is not traveling at great speed, only minor geomagnetic storming is expected when the cloud arrives. 

Flashback:  "Washington Post 1983 – Planet X Discovered" [07/10/11] "A heavenly body possibly as large as the giant planet Jupiter and possibly so close to Earth that it would be part of this solar system has been found in the direction of the constellation Orion by an orbiting telescope aboard the U.S. infrared astronomical satellite. So mysterious is the object that astronomers do not know if it is a planet, a giant comet, a nearby “protostar” that never got hot enough to become a star, a distant galaxy so young that it is still in the process of forming its first stars or a galaxy so shrouded in dust that none of the light cast by its stars ever gets through. “All I can tell you is that we don’t know what it is,” Dr. Gerry Neugebauer, IRAS chief scientist for California’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and director of the Palomar Observatory for the California Institute of Technology, said in an interview. [...] The most fascinating explanation of this mystery body, which is so cold it casts no light and has never been seen by optical telescopes on Earth or in space, is that it is a giant gaseous planet as large as Jupiter and as close to Earth as 50 trillion miles. While that may seem like a great distance in earthbound terms, it is a stone’s throw in cosmological terms, so close in fact that it would be the nearest heavenly body to Earth beyond the outermost planet Pluto. “If it is really that close, it would be a part of our solar system,” said Dr. James Houck of Cornell University’s Center for Radio Physics and Space Research and a member of the IRAS science team. “If it is that close, I don’t know how the world’s planetary scientists would even begin to classify it.” The mystery body was seen twice by the infrared satellite as it scanned the northern sky from last January to November, when the satellite ran out of the supercold helium that allowed its telescope to see the coldest bodies in the heavens. The second observation took place six months after the first and suggested the mystery body had not moved from its spot in the sky near the western edge of the constellation Orion in that time. “This suggests it’s not a comet because a comet would not be as large as the one we’ve observed and a comet would probably have moved,” Houck said. “A planet may have moved if it were as close as 50 trillion miles but it could still be a more distant planet and not have moved in six months time.” Whatever it is, Houck said, the mystery body is so cold its temperature is no more than 40 degrees above “absolute” zero, which is 456 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. The telescope aboard IRAS is cooled so low and is so sensitive it can “see” objects in the heavens that are only 20 degrees above absolute zero. When IRAS scientists first saw the mystery body and calculated that it could be as close as 50 trillion miles, there was some speculation that it might be moving toward Earth. “It’s not incoming mail,” Cal Tech’s Neugebauer said. “I want to douse that idea with as much cold water as I can.” Then, what is it? What if it is as large as Jupiter and so close to the sun it would be part of the solar system? Conceivably, it could be the 10th planet astronomers have searched for in vain. It also might be a Jupiter-like star that started out to become a star eons ago but never got hot enough like the sun to become a star. While they cannot disprove that notion, Neugebauer and Houck are so bedeviled by it that they do not want to accept it. Neugebauer and Houck “hope” the mystery body is a distant galaxy either so young that its stars have not begun to shine or so surrounded by dust that its starlight cannot penetrate the shroud. “I believe it’s one of these dark, young galaxies that we have never been able to observe before,” Neugebauer said. “If it is, then it is a major step forward in our understanding of the size of the universe, how the universe formed and how it continues to form as time goes on.” The next step in pinpointing what the mystery body is, Neuegebauer said, is to search for it with the world’s largest optical telescopes. Already, the 100-inch diameter telescope at Cerro del Tololo in Chile has begun its search and the 200-inch telescope at Palomar Mountain in California has earmarked several nights next year to look for it. If the body is close enough and emits even a hint of light, the Palomar telescope should find it since the infrared satellite has pinpointed its position. (ITEM 123) December 31, 1983, Saturday, Final Edition"  [...]" Related: "1987 New Science and Invention Encyclopedia"  

Report: "Incoming Coronal Mass Ejection" [07/10/11] "During the early hours of July 9th, a coronal mass ejection (CME) billowed away from new sunspot 1247. A preliminary analysis of data from NASA’s twin STEREO-A and -B spacecraft suggests that the flank of the CME could hit Earth’s magnetic field sometime on July 11th or 12th. This is not a major CME, but it could spark polar geomagnetic storms when it arrives. [...]"  

MSM: "Shuttle's Last Flight Leaves Russia With Space Monopoly" [07/08/11] "After the last US space shuttle flight blasts off tomorrow, Russia will officially have a monopoly on outer space. The 40-year-old Soyuz capsule will be the only vessel capable of reaching the International Space Station, and Russia can charge dearly for rides, the Wall Street Journal reports. “We are not in a very comfortable situation, and when I say uncomfortable, that is a euphemism,” says the director of the European Space Agency. “We made a collective mistake.” Already, Russia has increased its asking price 175% since George W. Bush announced the end of the shuttle program in 2004—and it’ll rise again later this summer, to $43.4 million per seat. NASA officials are hoping private companies will eventually fill the shuttle gap, but they’re not holding their breath. The companies “will take a little longer to get online than they tell us,” an ISS manager says. “I would not expect to see anybody until late 2016.” [...]" 

"Saturn’s Superstorm: Earth Not The Only Planet Climate Becoming More Turbulent" [07/07/11] "It began as a bright white dot in Saturn’s northern hemisphere. Within days, the dot grew larger and stormier. Soon the tempest enveloped the ringed planet, triggering lightning flashes thousands of times more intense than on Earth. The international Cassini spacecraft and ground telescopes have been tracking the turbulence since last December, visible from Earth as a type of storm known as a “Great White Spot.” “It’s still going like crazy,” said Cassini project scientist Linda Spilker of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Such planet-wide weather disturbances are rare on Saturn, where the atmosphere is typically hazy and calm. Since 1876, astronomers have observed only five other mega-storms on Saturn. “This is a one-of-a-kind storm,” said Andrew Ingersoll, a self-described planetary weatherman at the California Institute of Technology, who was part of the discovery team. An instrument aboard Cassini, which is orbiting Saturn, first picked up radio outbursts on Dec. 5, 2010 from a lightning storm. Around the same time, amateur astronomers peering through telescopes saw a bright point in Saturn’s northern half. Further observations confirmed it was a brewing storm. The storm system, which occurred during the start of Saturn spring, grew in size and intensity, eventually stretching around the planet. Scientists don’t exactly know what stirs up the storms, but they think it could be linked to the change of seasons. At the height of the storm, Cassini detected 10 lightning strikes per second. Scientists said the electrical activity emitted by the bursts were 10,000 times stronger than lightning on Earth. The findings were described in two papers published in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature. [...]"  

UK: "British Secretary Of Defence: Solar Flares Storm Could Paralyse UK" [06/29/11] "Blogger’s and scientists around the globe are warning the dangerous of Sun Solar Flares Storm from last few years. Last month Australasian Science had also reported that “Massive Sun Solar Flare Storm will hit Earth in 2012 with ‘Force Of 100m Hydrogen bombs’. NASA report on Sun solar Storm which was carried out for NASA by the US National Academy of Sciences in 2009 had also warned about upcoming solar Storm 2012 too. In past we had reported about August 2010 Solar storm, which had triggered Spacequake and caused 6.4 Earthquake on August 4, 2010. Now the British Defence Secretary Liam Fox will next week attend a summit of scientists and security advisers who believe the infrastructure that underpins modern life in Western economies is potentially vulnerable to electromagnetic disruption. [...]" 

"NASA Getting Ready For The Next Big Solar Storm" [06/27/11] [6:13]  "In Sept. 1859, on the eve of a below-average solar cycle, the sun unleashed one of the most powerful storms in centuries. This week, researchers and policy makers met in Washington DC to ask themselves, What if it happens again?  [...]"  

"Newly-Discovered Asteroid 2011 MD Will Pass Only 7,500 Miles Above Earth's Surface On Monday June 27" [06/26/11] [0:52] "newly discovered ... Judging from the brightness of the asteroid, it measures only 5 to 20 meters in diameter.  [...]"  

Commentary: "The Way the Solar Wind Blows"[06/23/11] [10:26] "We should be reminded that we live in an environment that is not only interconnected with both the solar system as a whole and our galaxy, but, more importantly, that is a interconnected system of continuous development and change. [...]" 

"U.S And United Kingdom To Cut Power In Preparation of Massive Solar Storm" [06/16/11] "In a stunning announcement, The United States and United Kingdom are likely set to began “controlled” power cuts in preparation of a giant solar storm. The announcement by Thomas Bogdan, the director of the US Space Weather Prediction Centre, comes a week after a large scale solar flare released a massive amount of radiation and threatened to cause moderate disruption. The solar flare on June 7th, 2011 was luckily pointed away from Earth but caused many to wonder if another solar flare is imminent, this one aimed directly at earth. Now, due to the possibility of a large scale solar flare, officials in Europe and the United Kingdom are preparing what they call, “controlled” power cuts. What this actually means remains to be seen. In an interview with The Independent, Bogdam was quoted as saying, “controlled power “outages” will protect the National Electricity Grids against damage which could take months or even years to repair should a large solar storm collide with the Earth without any precautions being taken.” Interestingly enough, this information also comes just days after NASA sent out a preparedness warning to all employees and their families. [...]"     Note: NASA is apparently trying to quell concern. See below.

"Scientists Predict Rare 'Hibernation' Of Sunspots" [06/15/11] "For years, scientists have been predicting the Sun would by around 2012 move into solar maximum, a period of intense flares and sunspot activity, but lately a curious calm has suggested quite the opposite. According to three studies released in the United States on Tuesday, experts believe the familiar sunspot cycle may be shutting down and heading toward a pattern of inactivity unseen since the 17th century. [...]"  Note: They don't know. If this is so 'rare' and 'unexpected', it may be reflecting the 'graduation' dynamic that relates to the Sun and the 'planetary spirit' .... which is to be expected, because there have been many observations over the last few years that indicate that the end of this civilization will be here before you know it. Since we know what happens afterward, it's a good thing. All the scientists are able to presume is that this trend can only reflect a single process that they comprehend (cooling) and nothing else, because they don't know about it. NASA would have people believe the solar fireworks are over, despite the fact that government have already put out activity warnings that would extend out to 2013/14 ... Related: Sun Headed Into Hibernation, Solar Studies Predict" "Three independent studies of the sun's insides, surface, and upper atmosphere all predict that the next solar cycle will be significantly delayed—if it happens at all. Normally, the next cycle would be expected to start roughly around 2020. The combined data indicate that we may soon be headed into what's known as a grand minimum, a period of unusually low solar activity. The predicted solar "sleep" is being compared to the last grand minimum on record, which occurred between 1645 and 1715. Known as the Maunder Minimum, the roughly 70-year period coincided with the coldest spell of the Little Ice Age, when European canals regularly froze solid and Alpine glaciers encroached on mountain villages. We have some interesting hints that solar activity is associated with climate, but we don't have any reasons for that association," said Dean Pesnell, project scientist for NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Pesnell wasn't involved in the suite of new sun studies. [...]"| Note: Pesnell is absolutely incorrect. See the work of astrophysicist and meteorologist Piers Corbyn. "Sun Oddly Quiet—Hints at Next 'Little Ice Age?'")"   

"Lunar Eclipse Pictures: See Today's Red Moon Rising" [06/15/11] Updated: "Rare" Lunar Eclipse Wednesday—Longest in a Decade" "Wednesday night the full moon will plunge into the longest and deepest total lunar eclipse in more than a decade. Sky-watchers across most of the Eastern Hemisphere will be able to watch the lunar disc turn stunning shades of orange and red as the moon becomes engulfed within the darkest part of Earth's shadow for almost two hours. "The path that the moon is taking through Earth's shadow is almost directly through [the shadow's] center, making for the longest possible path and so the longest duration," said Ben Burress, staff astronomer at the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, California. "The last eclipse that was as long as this one was in 2000, while the next won't be until 2018, so this makes it a somewhat rare event." [...]" 

Commentary:   "The Solar Storm Threat to The Power Grid" [06/14/11]   "A known and cataclysmic threat to the U.S. electric power grid is being largely ignored by the President and Congress. Warning events in 1859, 1921, 1989, and 2003 showed the danger that solar activity can pose to electrical power and distribution systems. Now as we move into another solar maximum, with increased vulnerabilities built into our electrical grid, the danger again looms large. In the worst case, there is the possibility of no electricity for 130 million Americans for a year or longer. The warnings have been issued, but have gone unheeded.  The greatest danger is to the more than 300 extra high-voltage transformers located at power substations along the routes of major transmission lines. An eruptive event on the Sun, known as a coronal mass ejection, sends a powerful flux of charged particles, protons and electrons, into the surrounding space. If the Earth is on a line with the eruption, the charged particles interact with the Earth's radiation belts and geomagnetic field to produce currents in the ionosphere. The power lines which make up the electrical transmission grid act as antennae, to couple these ionospheric currents to the installed transformers which step up the voltage for long-distance transmission. The ionospheric or auroral currents produced by a powerful solar storm induce strong fluctuating direct currents in the power lines. Known as geomagnetically induced currents (GIC), when they reach the transformers, they piggyback on to the strong alternating current already flowing and cause the iron cores of the transformers to saturate and overheat from hysteresis and reactive resonance effects in the transmission line. This can cause network-wide voltage regulation problems leading to blackouts, or complete transformer burnout. The consequences of a transformer failure are catastrophic, as there is a lack of manufacturing capacity for extra high-voltage transformers in the U.S.A. and worldwide. According to a study by the Metatech Corporation, commissioned under Executive Order 13407 for assessment of vulnerability to geomagnetic storms, manufacturers presently have a backlog of nearly three years for all extra high-voltage transformers (230 kilovolts and above). Only one plant exists in the U.S.A. capable of manufacturing a transformer up to 345 kV. There is no manufacturing capability in the U.S.A. for 500 kV and 765 kV transformers, which represent the largest group of at-risk transformers in the U.S. power grid. The 500 and 765 kV transformers are the backbone of the grid that extends into regions that contain nearly 80 percent of the U.S. population, according to John Kappenman of Storm Analysis Consultants and Metatech Corp. Thus, as summarized by space physicist Daniel N. Baker, who chaired the National Research Council panel on Severe Space Weather Events, and NASA director of Planetary Sciences James L. Green, writing in the February 2011 Sky & Telescope: "Large areas of our nation could be without electricity for months or years, as power companies struggle to purchase and replace damaged hardware."  [...]"  Note:  Of course, this is the case planetwide. It's the stone age all over again.  

"Very Long Total Lunar Eclipse Coming June 15th" [06/13/11]   "This month's full moon will pass almost directly through the center of Earth's shadow on Wednesday in what will be an unusually long total eclipse of the moon. The lunar eclipse will occur just two weeks after a June 1 partial solar eclipse, when the moon blocked part of the sun as viewed from Arctic regions. The eclipse won't be visible from North America due to its timing, which places the event in the daylight hours when the moon is behind the local horizon. But the Eastern Hemisphere of Earth will be facing the moon during the eclipse. This hemisphere, centered on a spot in the Indian Ocean to the east of the island nation of Madagascar, will have a ringside seat for this event.  [...]"  

"Massive M2-Class Flare Captured in Three Different Angles (SDO,STEREO-A/B)" [06/11/11] [1:22] "The CME from Tuesday's magnificent flare still hasn't reached Earth. NOAA forecasters haven't given up, though. They estimate a 20% to 30% chance that the cloud may yet deliver a glancing blow to our planet's magnetic field and spark geomagnetic storms during the next 24 hours. High latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras. [...]"  Full Screen  

"Sun Rages As Multiple Disturbances Erupt Across Solar Surface" [06/08/11]   See Image "Over the past few days, amateur astronomers have recorded some of the most photogenic solar activity in years. Onlookers describe huge prominences of magnetized plasma rising above the stellar surface as “Unbelievable!”–”Hydrogen at its best”–”Massive and incredible!” This shot was simply hair-raising. M-FLARE AND RADIATION STORM: This morning around 0641 UT, magnetic fields above sunspot complex 1226-1233 became unstable and erupted, producing an M2-class solar flare and a massive CME. The blast also triggered an S1-class radiation storm. [...]"   

Focus: "Earth Facing CME" [06/07/11] [1:22]  "On June 5th, while displaying the sun to 500+ kids and their families at the Virginia Highlands Summer Festival in Atlanta, GA, we witnessed an incredible display of solar activity," reports amateur astronomer Stephen W. Ramsden. "A magnetically supercharged chunk of hot plasma was ejected from the limb of the sun right before our eyes. It just hung there over the stellar surface almost 25 Earth-diameters high. The event was breathtaking to watch and really got the attendees interested in our nearest star." Then today's event, what is next? [...]"  

"NASA Finds Turbulent Sea Of Magnetic Bubbles At The Edge Of The Solar System" [06/07/11] "The edge of our solar system is filled with a turbulent sea of magnetic bubbles, according to new NASA research. Scientists made the discovery by using a new computer model, which is based on data from NASA’s twin Voyager probes. The unmanned Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, which launched in 1977, are plying the outer reaches of our solar system, a region known as the heliosheath. The new discovery suggests that researchers will need to revise their views about the solar system’s edge, NASA officials said. A more detailed picture of this region is key to our understanding of how fast-moving particles known as cosmic rays are spawned, and how they reach near-Earth space. Cosmic rays are a threat to astronauts, as they can slam into space-flyers’ cells and damage their DNA. Earth’s atmosphere attenuates cosmic rays, shielding folks on the ground from their worst effects. NASA hasn’t revealed many details about the new find. The space agency will hold a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT on Thursday (June 9) to discuss it in more depth.  [...]"  

MSM: "Asteroid Aims For Earth, Swings And Misses" [06/04/11] "An asteroid passed closer to the earth than the moon is on Thursday night. NBC's Brian Williams reports. (Nightly News) [...]"  

Astronomy: "Partial Solar Eclipse Occurs on June 1, 2011" [06/01/11] "A partial solar eclipse will be visible from the high latitudes in the Northern hemisphere on June 1, 2011. This eclipse will be the second of four partial solar eclipses that occur throughout the year. [...]"   

Flashback:  "The Strange Case Of Solar Flares And Radioactive Elements" [05/18/11] "It's a mystery that presented itself unexpectedly: The radioactive decay of some elements sitting quietly in laboratories on Earth seemed to be influenced by activities inside the sun, 93 million miles away. There is even an outside chance that this unexpected effect is brought about by a previously unknown particle emitted by the sun. "That would be truly remarkable," said Peter Sturrock, Stanford professor emeritus of applied physics and an expert on the inner workings of the sun. The story begins, in a sense, in classrooms around the world, where students are taught that the rate of decay of a specific radioactive material is a constant. This concept is relied upon, for example, when anthropologists use carbon-14 to date ancient artifacts and when doctors determine the proper dose of radioactivity to treat a cancer patient. [...]"   

Astronomy: "Free-Floating 'Planets' Found That Have No Star" [05/18/11] "Japanese astronomers claim to have found free-floating "planets" which do not seem to orbit a star. The discovery is based on a joint Japan-New Zealand survey that scanned the center of the Milky Way galaxy during 2006 and 2007, revealing evidence for up to 10 free-floating planets roughly the mass of Jupiter. The isolated orbs, also known as orphan planets, are difficult to spot, and had gone undetected until now. The newfound planets are located at an average approximate distance of 10,000 to 20,000 light-years from Earth. “Although free-floating planets have been predicted, they finally have been detected, holding major implications for planetary formation and evolution models,” said Mario Perez, exoplanet program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The discovery indicates there are many more free-floating Jupiter-mass planets that can’t be seen. The team estimates there are about twice as many of them as stars. In addition, these worlds are thought to be at least as common as planets that orbit stars. This would add up to hundreds of billions of lone planets in our Milky Way galaxy alone. “Our survey is like a population census,” said David Bennett, a NASA and National Science Foundation-funded co-author of the study from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. “We sampled a portion of the galaxy, and based on these data, can estimate overall numbers in the galaxy.” The study, led by Takahiro Sumi from Osaka University in Japan, appears in the May 19 issue of the journal Nature. The survey is not sensitive to planets smaller than Jupiter and Saturn, but theories suggest lower-mass planets like Earth should be ejected from their stars more often. As a result, they are thought to be more common than free-floating Jupiters.  [...]"  Note: And this is a 'surprise' because ... well ... these are the same people who built nuclear plants in earthquake zones ... not a lot of common sense.

Solar Activity: "SOHO: Comet Heading Towards The Sun – Impact Will Occur Very Soon" [05/15/11] [2:10] "LASCO C2 or LASCO C3 and date range is 2011-05-14 to 2011-05-15 [...]" 

Astronomy: "Herschel Links Star Formation To Sonic Booms" [05/12/11] "ESA’s Herschel space observatory has revealed that nearby interstellar clouds contain networks of tangled gaseous filaments. Intriguingly, each filament is approximately the same width, hinting that they may result from interstellar sonic booms throughout our Galaxy. The filaments are huge, stretching for tens of light years through space and Herschel has shown that newly-born stars are often found in the densest parts of them. One filament imaged by Herschel in the Aquila region contains a cluster of about 100 infant stars. Such filaments in interstellar clouds have been glimpsed before by other infrared satellites, but they have never been seen clearly enough to have their widths measured. Now, Herschel has shown that, regardless of the length or density of a filament, the width is always roughly the same.  [...]"  Note: Sound and creation go hand-in-hand, don't they? Think BIG. See Image See Image Animated

Astronomy: "Super-Flare Erupts In Crab Nebula" [05/12/11] "The famous Crab Nebula supernova remnant has erupted in an enormous flare five times more powerful than any flare previously seen from the object. On April 12, NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope first detected the outburst, which lasted six days. The nebula is the wreckage of an exploded star that emitted light which reached Earth in the year 1054. It is located 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus. At the heart of an expanding gas cloud lies what is left of the original star’s core, a super-dense neutron star that spins 30 times a second. With each rotation, the star swings intense beams of radiation toward Earth, creating the pulsed emission characteristic of spinning neutron stars (also known as pulsars). Apart from these pulses, astrophysicists believed the Crab Nebula was a virtually constant source of high-energy radiation. But in January, scientists associated with several orbiting observatories, including NASA’s Fermi, Swift and Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, reported long-term brightness changes at X-ray energies. Since 2009, Fermi and the Italian Space Agency’s AGILE satellite have detected several short-lived gamma-ray flares at energies greater than 100 million electron volts (eV) — hundreds of times higher than the nebula’s observed X-ray variations. For comparison, visible light has energies between 2 and 3 eV. On April 12, Fermi’s LAT, and later AGILE, detected a flare that grew about 30 times more energetic than the nebula’s normal gamma-ray output and about five times more powerful than previous outbursts. On April 16, an even brighter flare erupted, but within a couple of days, the unusual activity completely faded out. “These superflares are the most intense outbursts we’ve seen to date, and they are all extremely puzzling events,” said Alice Harding at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. “We think they are caused by sudden rearrangements of the magnetic field not far from the neutron star, but exactly where that’s happening remains a mystery.” Scientists think the flares occur as the intense magnetic field near the pulsar undergoes sudden restructuring. Such changes can accelerate particles like electrons to velocities near the speed of light. As these high-speed electrons interact with the magnetic field, they emit gamma rays.  [...]"   

Anomalies: "Mystery Of Cosmic Ray Source Bombarding The Southern Pole Of Earth Intensifies" [05/07/11] "Cosmic rays crashing into the Earth over the South Pole appear to be coming from particular locations, rather than being distributed uniformly across the sky. Similar cosmic ray “hotspots” have been seen in the northern skies too, yet we know of no source close enough to produce this pattern. “We don’t know where they are coming from,” says Stefan Westerhoff of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It’s a mystery because the hotspots must be produced within about 0.03 light years of Earth. Further out, galactic magnetic fields should deflect the particles so much that the hotspots would be smeared out across the sky. But no such sources are known to exist. One of the hotspots seen by IceCube points in the direction of the Vela supernova remnant, a possible source of cosmic rays, but it’s almost 1000 light years away. Cosmic rays coming from such large distances should be constantly buffeted and deflected by galactic magnetic fields on route, and should thus have lost all directionality by the time they reach Earth. In other words, such long-distance cosmic rays should appear to come from all parts of the sky. That’s not what has been observed. – [...]"   

"Fireball The Size Of Earth Ejected From The Sun (Image)" [05/07/11] "“When the sun rose on May 2nd, I was surprised to see a fully detached fireball prominence at the southwestern edge of the solar disk,” reports amateur astronomer Jan Timmermans of Valkenswaard, The Netherlands. “Just imagine, a ball of fire with the size of the Earth thrown high in the solar skies!”  [...]"   Note: From Space Weather website.

"NASA Experiments Confirms Space-Time Vortex Around Earth" [05/05/11]   "There is a space-time vortex around Earth, and its shape precisely matches the predictions of Einstein’s theory of gravity. Researchers confirmed these points at a press conference today at NASA headquarters where they announced the long-awaited results of Gravity Probe B (GP-B). “The space-time around Earth appears to be distorted just as general relativity predicts,” says Stanford University physicist Francis Everitt, principal investigator of the Gravity Probe B mission. ”This is an epic result,” adds Clifford Will of Washington University in St. Louis. An expert in Einstein’s theories, Will chairs an independent panel of the National Research Council set up by NASA in 1998 to monitor and review the results of Gravity Probe B. “One day,” he predicts, “this will be written up in textbooks as one of the classic experiments in the history of physics.” Time and space, according to Einstein’s theories of relativity, are woven together, forming a four-dimensional fabric called “space-time.” The mass of Earth dimples this fabric, much like a heavy person sitting in the middle of a trampoline. Gravity, says Einstein, is simply the motion of objects following the curvaceous lines of the dimple. If Earth were stationary, that would be the end of the story. But Earth is not stationary. Our planet spins, and the spin should twist the dimple, slightly, pulling it around into a 4-dimensional swirl. This is what GP-B went to space in 2004 to check. The idea behind the experiment is simple: Put a spinning gyroscope into orbit around the Earth, with the spin axis pointed toward some distant star as a fixed reference point. Free from external forces, the gyroscope’s axis should continue pointing at the star–forever. But if space is twisted, the direction of the gyroscope’s axis should drift over time. By noting this change in direction relative to the star, the twists of space-time could be measured. The results of Gravity Probe B give physicists renewed confidence that the strange predictions of Einstein’s theory are indeed correct, and that these predictions may be applied elsewhere. The type of space-time vortex that exists around Earth is duplicated and magnified elsewhere in the cosmos–around massive neutron stars, black holes, and active galactic nuclei. “If you tried to spin a gyroscope in the severely twisted space-time around a black hole,” says Will, “it wouldn’t just gently precess by a fraction of a degree. It would wobble crazily and possibly even flip over.” For readers who are not experts in relativity: Geodetic precession is the amount of wobble caused by the static mass of the Earth (the dimple in space-time) and the frame dragging effect is the amount of wobble caused by the spin of the Earth (the twist in space-time). Both values are in precise accord with Einstein’s predictions. [...]"   

Anomalies: "Strange Cosmic Ray Hotspots Stalk Southern Skies" [05/04/11] "Cosmic rays crashing into the Earth over the South Pole appear to be coming from particular locations, rather than being distributed uniformly across the sky. Similar cosmic ray "hotspots" have been seen in the northern skies too, yet we know of no source close enough to produce this pattern. "We don't know where they are coming from," says Stefan Westerhoff of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. [...] Between May 2009 and May 2010, IceCube detected 32 billion cosmic-ray muons, with a median energy of about 20 teraelectronvolts (TeV). These muons revealed, with extremely high statistical significance, a southern sky with some regions of excess cosmic rays ("hotspots") and others with a deficit of cosmic rays ("cold" spots). Over the past two years, a similar pattern has been seen over the northern skies by the Milagro observatory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and the Tibet Air Shower array in Yangbajain. "It is interesting that the pattern can be matched between [these experiments], at least qualitatively. They have very different techniques and systematic effects," says cosmic-ray physicist Paul Sommers at Pennsylvania State University in University Park. "I regard those hotspots as a good mystery." It's a mystery because the hotspots must be produced within about 0.03 light years of Earth. Further out, galactic magnetic fields should deflect the particles so much that the hotspots would be smeared out across the sky. But no such sources are known to exist.  [...] One of the hotspots seen by IceCube points in the direction of the Vela supernova remnant, a possible source of cosmic rays, but it's almost 1000 light years away. Cosmic rays coming from such large distances should be constantly buffeted and deflected by galactic magnetic fields on route, and should thus have lost all directionality by the time they reach Earth. In other words, such long-distance cosmic rays should appear to come from all parts of the sky. That's not what has been observed. Milagro has also seen hotspots that appear to come from implausibly distant sources. As an explanation, Felix Aharonian of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies in Ireland and colleagues have suggested that there could be a "tube" of magnetic field lines extending between the source and our solar system, funnelling the cosmic rays towards us. However, Aharonian admits the theory is highly speculative. Others have proposed that a local phenomenon called magnetic reconnection – in which solar magnetic field lines cross and rearrange, converting magnetic energy to kinetic energy – could be accelerating local cosmic rays to energies in the TeV range and beaming them towards Earth, creating the observed hotspots. "It implies that we have a Tevatron in the solar system," says Aharonian, referring to the particle accelerator at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois. "That's also crazy, but it is at least less crazy than other explanations." [...]"  

"Solar Winds From Coronal Hole Lash Earth In Geomagnetic Storm" [05/01/11]   "A solar wind stream hit Earth’s magnetic field during the early hours of April 30th, sparking a high-latitude geomagnetic storm (slowly subsiding). In the United States, auroras descended as far south as Marquette, Michigan. Earth is inside a solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole. The solar wind speed is high and gusty, and NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of more geomagnetic activity during the next 24 hours. [...]"  

Flashback:  "Is The Sun Emitting A Mystery Particle?"  [04/28/11] Aug 25, 2010 "But what if a well-known -- and apparently constant -- characteristic of matter starts behaving mysteriously? This is exactly what has been noticed in recent years; the decay rates of radioactive elements are changing. This is especially mysterious as we are talking about elements with "constant" decay rates -- these values aren't supposed to change. School textbooks teach us this from an early age. This is the conclusion that researchers from Stanford and Purdue University have arrived at, but the only explanation they have is even weirder than the phenomenon itself: The sun might be emitting a previously unknown particle that is meddling with the decay rates of matter. Or, at the very least, we are seeing some new physics. Many fields of science depend on measuring constant decay rates. For example, to accurately date ancient artifacts, archaeologists measure the quantity of carbon-14 found inside organic samples at dig sites. This is a technique known as carbon dating. Carbon-14 has a very defined half-life of 5730 years; i.e. it takes 5,730 years for half of a sample of carbon-14 to radioactively decay into stable nitrogen-14. Through spectroscopic analysis of the ancient organic sample, by finding out what proportion of carbon-14 remains, we can accurately calculate how old it is. But as you can see, carbon dating makes one huge assumption: radioactive decay rates remain constant and always have been constant. If this new finding is proven to be correct, even if the impact is small, it will throw the science community into a spin. [...]"  Related: "The Sun Influences the Decay of Radioactive Elements" | "The Strange Case Of Solar Flares And Radioactive Elements" 

"Astronomers Claim Earth May Be Nearing End Of Its Life Cycle" [04/23/11] "The end of the world is nigh. That’s what top astronomers will claim during a debate to end the 2011 Edinburgh International Science Festival. Lord Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, believes civilization has only a 50 per cent chance of surviving to 2100 without suffering a man-made catastrophe. And the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Professor John Brown, has an equally bleak outlook, fearing a random event from outer space is the most likely cause of our demise. They will take to the stage to put forward their stark predictions in the discussion “Fire in the Sky: Cosmic Threats to Earth.” Despite having widely differing views, these two titans of astronomy between them offer global warming, over-population, terrorism, an asteroid falling to earth and a solar blast as potential reasons to panic. Prof Brown told the Scotsman: “The threats Lord Rees and myself will be talking about are dangerous in different ways. “Asteroids fall to earth on average 10-100 million years apart. It’s been 65 million years since the last one, so one could happen next week to 60 million years from now. “The probability in our lifetime is very small, making it low risk, high consequence. “There’s more risk of a solar blast than an giant asteroid falling, but it would not have such high consequences.” Lord Rees said: “We can’t rule out by mid-century a global political realignment heading to a stand-off between new superpowers, that could be handled less well or less luckily than the Cuban missile crisis was. [...]"  Note:  They think it could be within '90 years' .... but it will be in less than 20 months ....  

"NASA Losing Large Amounts Of High-Tech Equipment" [04/21/11]   "NASA reports obtained by the I-Team show $479,108 dollars worth of high-tech equipment simply vanished at Kennedy Space Center in 2010. In June, NASA’s space shuttle program will take its last flight. The Action News I-Team has uncovered some problems NASA is facing on the ground. NASA reports obtained by the I-Team show $479,108 dollars worth of high-tech equipment simply vanished at Kennedy Space Center in 2010. I-Team reporter Michael George showed the employee lost property reports to Suzanne Pedone of Inventory Management Solutions. Companies hire IMS to keep track of their inventory and prevent items from falling through the cracks. Pedone says the agency needs to address the problem. “Something’s broke in the system. It appears that there isn’t really a process working year after year, and it’s probably going to continue to get worse,” she said. None of the lost equipment is reported to contain classified information. But it is expensive. The items include a video record valued at more than $100,000, 11 radios totaling $35,000, and a wave reflectometer, used to check for breaks in electrical wiring, was lost in 2008, costing $18,000. NASA officials say they’re aware of the problem. [...]"  

"Amid Cuts, Shooting For The Moon" [04/21/11] "A handful of powerful lawmakers are so eager to see an American on the moon — or even Mars — that they effectively mandated NASA to spend “not less than” $3 billion for a new rocket project and space capsule in the 2011 budget bill signed by the president last week .... BUT "Manned spaceflight is prohibitively expensive, especially considering our budgetary woes,” said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget watchdog group. “At one point, the administration was trying to lead NASA out of that, but congressional politics protecting parochial interests have forced the agency to waste money in the recent short-term continuing resolutions and are forcing a specific approach down NASA’s throat in the yearlong spending bill.” The latest $3 billion will likely be awarded to the same major companies that had contracts under the Bush-era Constellation program, most notably Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Alliant Techsystems — firms with extensive operations in Alabama, Maryland, Texas and Utah. “ [...]"  Note:  So there really is no space program ... it's really a scam and fraud ....just giving billions more to defense contractors in another hopeless boondoggle. The government already said it was a waste of time and money ... from the public perspective.

"Space Weather: CME/Coronal Hole (April 18th-20th, 2011). " [04/18/11] [1:24] "Solar activity is low, NOAA ARs 1193 and 1190 are still growing in size and will continue to produce C-class flares and, less likely, M-class flares. There was a filament eruption around 23:30 UT in the south east limb. There is still too few data on the CME, but there seems to be an Earth directed component, most likely it will cause only a shock arrival around three days from now. Geomagnetic activity is expected to be quiet. [...]" 

"Solar Activity Increases As Sunspot Numbers Multiply" [04/14/11] "More solar activity could be in the offing. As sunspot 1190 grows rapidly near the center of the solar disk, a new and large sunspot is rotating over the sun’s eastern limb. The number of sunspots is also increasing. [...]"  

" A Different Kind of Catastrophe - Something Wicked This Way Comes" [04/11/11] " In June 1908, an explosion rocked a remote, swampy area in central Siberia, in Russia; it came to be known as the "Tunguska event." A later expedition to the site found that 20 miles of trees had been knocked down and set alight by the blast. And today, it is understood that Tunguska’s devastation was caused by a 100-foot asteroid that had entered Earth’s atmosphere, causing an airburst..... The hypothesis that terrestrial catastrophes may happen on timescales ~0.1 Myr, due to the Earth running through swarms of debris from disintegrating large comets, is likewise not new (Clube & Napier, 1984). However the accumulation of observations has allowed us to build an astronomical model, closely based on the contemporary environment, which can plausibly yield the postulated YDB catastrophe. The interception of ~1015 gm of material during the course of disintegration is shown here to have been a reasonably probable event, capable of yielding destruction on a continental scale.  ... The remaining debris of the Taurid Complex is still out there. And there are still fragments of significant size in Earth crossing orbits. It is almost a certainty that the next major impact event will be an airburst. And it is a certainty that we haven't seen the last catastrophic impact of the Taurid Complex. [...]"  

"High Activity Explosions Occurring On The Far Side Of The Sun" [04/09/11]  Full Screen [0:59] "NASA’s STEREO probes are monitoring strong activity on the far side of the sun. A spectacular CME erupted during the early hours of April 8th apparently from old sunspot AR1176. This is the second day in a row that the active region has hurled massive clouds into space. HD181068A is orbited by two smaller, red dwarf stars that orbit each other. The study of the sounds within stars is known as astroseismology, and a separate report in Science details the findings of more than 500 stars whose deep rumblings Kepler has measured. As convection processes within stars move masses of material up from the core, great pressure waves - in essence, sound waves of very low frequency - are created. [...]" Related:  See Image 

"Huge Explosion in Space Last Week Generated Gamma Ray Burst" [04/08/11] "NASA is studying a surprising cosmic burst at the center of distant galaxy that has burned for more than a week, longer than astronomers have ever seen before, the US space agency said Thursday. Calling it "one of the most puzzling cosmic blasts ever observed," NASA said it has mobilized the Hubble Space Telescope along with its Swift satellite and Chandra X-ray Observatory to study the phenomenon. "More than a week later, high-energy radiation continues to brighten and fade from its location," NASA said in a statement.A huge, powerful star explosion detonated in deep space last week — an ultra-bright conflagaration that has astronomers scratching their heads over exactly how it happened. The explosion may be the death cry of a star as it was ripped apart by a black hole, scientists said. High-energy radiation continues to brighten and fade from the March 28 blast's location, about 3.8 billion light-years from Earth in the constellation Draco. Astronomers say they've never witnessed an explosion so bright, long-lasting and variable before, according to NASA officials. The explosion looks like a gamma-ray burst — the most powerful type of explosion in the universe, which usually mark the destruction of a massive star — but the flaring emissions from these dramatic events never last more than a few hours, researchers said. The space explosion was detected on March 28 when an instrument on NASA's Swift satellite detected an X-ray eruption, the first in a series of powerful blasts. The Swift observatory determined a rough position for the explosion, which scientists are now calling the gamma-ray burst (GRB) 110328A. Astronomers have detected stars disrupted by supermassive black holes before, but none have shown the X-ray brightness and variability seen in GRB 110328A, which has flared repeatedly. Since April 3, for example, it has brightened by more than five times. Scientists think that the X-rays may be coming from matter moving near the speed of light in a particle jet that forms as the star's gas falls toward the black hole.  "The best explanation at the moment is that we happen to be looking down the barrel of this jet," said Andrew Levan at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, who led the Chandra observations. "When we look straight down these jets, a brightness boost lets us view details we might otherwise miss." Astronomers plan additional Hubble observations to see if the galaxy's core changes brightness.[...]"  See Image 

"Large Solar Flare and Coronal Mass Ejection - April 4" [04/04/11] [0:17]  

"Solar activity shifting into over-drive: Is something accelerating the solar cycle?" [03/28/11] "The Sun seems to be entering a new phase of dynamism.” Radio emissions like these are caused by plasma instabilities in the sun’s atmosphere above sunspots. With the sun becoming ‘radio-active,’ it’s no coincidence that sunspots are emerging in abundance. Leading the way is behemoth active region AR1176, shown here in a photo taken yesterday by Larry Alvarez of Flower Mound, Texas: AR1176, the multi-cored ensemble at the bottom of the image, is dragging a pair of long magnetic filaments behind as it cuts across the solar disk. Two more sunspots are visible in the active region’s wake. The entire star-scape spans more than 500,000 km from top to bottom–truly impressive. “I call this picture Solar Rip,” says Alvarez, “because it looks like a rip in the stellar surface.” [...]"  Related:" Solar Radio Storm In Progress" "Over the past few days, I have been recording a sustained solar radio storm at 180 MHz," reports amateur radio astronomer Thomas Ashcraft of New Mexico. "It consists of Type I radio bursts and sounds like ocean surf. Here is an audio sample (MP3)from March 27th at 1930 UT. The sun seems to be entering a new phase of dynamism." Radio emissions like these are caused by plasma instabilities in the sun's atmosphere above sunspots. With the sun becoming 'radio-active,' it's no coincidence that sunspots are emerging in abundance.  [...]"   

"Scientists' Research Warns Humanity May Be Facing 'Vortex Of Death'" [03/25/11] "Professor Raymond Wheeler, from the University of Kansas, at first almost stumbled into the frightening data. The connection was initially discovered by noted Russian scientist Alexander Chizhevsky during 1915: solar storms trigger conflict, wars and death. A vortex of death.  Chizhevsky found after intense research that the rise and fall of solar activity—interacting with the earth's magnetic field—causes mass changes in human's perspective's, moods, emotions and behavioral patterns. All are affected by sunspots and solar flares. Building upon the Russian scholar's research, Wheeler applied a numerically weighted ranking system during the 1930s to separate wars and even individual battles assessing them on length and severity. He then correlated the impressive data he'd amassed with the 11-year sunspot cycle. The results were revealing…and horrifying.  When the 11-year solar cycle peaked, so did human unrest, uprisings, rebellions, revolutions and all-out wars between nations. It was almost as if the intense magnetic upswing directly affected the human brain and drove Mankind into deadly emotional tantrums and frenzied killing sprees. Assaults skyrocket. Murders increase. And bloody wars and rebellions erupt with a fury across the face of the globe. Wheeler's research revealed the pattern spanned human history as far back as 2,500 years. Solar cycle 22: During 1990 the solar maximum fever pitch initiated skirmishes around the world culminating with Iraq invading Kuwait and the U.S. battling back against Saddam Hussein's army.  Then, 11 years later, the 9-11 attacks against New York and Washington, D.C were followed by two wars in quick succession: Afghanistan and again Iraq. According to the 11-year solar cycle, as the sun entered its next active peak during late 2010 the disruptions in the earth's magnetic field could be predicted to cause unrest, instability, uprisings, outbreaks of war, destruction and mass death once again. Like clockwork it occurred. Suddenly the news was filled with rising dissent rearing up in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. It spread to Syria, Libya, Iran and China. Europe was not immune: general unrest arose in the UK and France, Greece had extended riots, Spain felt under pressure, and even the U.S. saw angry mobs rise up in the state of Wisconsin. [...]"  Note:  Of course, Uranus is in Aries ... which is what is REALLY setting the social scene into motion.

"Superflares Developing On The Farside Of The Sun" [03/19/11] "A huge filament of magnetism and hot plasma blasted off the sun’s southwestern limb today, March 19th, at around 1200 UT. The eruption was not Earth-directed, but it was iconic. Just look at this snapshot recorded by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. Many amateur astronomers in Europe witnessed the blast and said it was the biggest one they’d ever seen. This event continues the recent trend of increasing solar activity, and shows anew that Solar Cycle 24 is gaining steam after a long period of relative quiet.  [...]"  Note: This present eruption is not what’s garnered our attention. Instead, it’s the huge patch of solar flares that appear to be still highly active on the farside of the Sun. 

"Moonstruck: 'Supermoon' To Rise Saturday" [03/19/11] "The full moon will be the closest it's been to earth in nearly 19 years on Saturday--and despite fears of a bad omen, experts say the so-called Supermoon is harmless. NBC's Brian Williams reports. (Nightly News) [...]"  Note:  Tidal forces, earthquake stimulation  

LPAC: "The Rim of Fire, Solar Activity and Geophysical Activity " [03/16/11] [23:15]  "The Japanese Earthquake must serve as a wake-up call for mankind. We are behind in our scientific understanding of the Universe, specifically the relationship between our Earth, our active Sun, and our galaxy. Lyndon LaRouche introduces a discussion between LPAC members on the coincidence between the recent solar flares and the associated tectonic activity, and the implications for our near future. The "Japanese Nuclear Scare" propaganda is a dangerous diversion from such real science, and we urge viewers to re-post this video wherever such slop is encountered. [...]"  Related: LaRouche: "The Issue is the Pacific Ring of Fire"  "Anyone who is approaching the current catastrophe in Japan as a "Japan" or "nuclear" issue, is not only being idiotic, but could be outright dangerous, Lyndon LaRouche said yesterday. "The problem is the Sun. The Pacific Ring of Fire has taken over." LaRouche is currently supervising a research team which is preparing an audio-visual documentary on the Ring of Fire, to be released later today. [...]"  Note: Too bad Lyndon and friends don't know what's really going on from a larger (M5) perspective  .... he seems like a frustrated simultaneous using reason ... on a planet run by reincarnated retreads (sequentials) ... which drives him nuts ... that's his path, though. Also, it doesn't sound like they've seen the material by astrophysicist and meteorologist Piers Corbyn. See the "Related Information" link at the top of the "Changing Dynamics: Earth, Life, Oceans and Lower Atmosphere" panel.,... at the bottom is a Video Display with recently loaded interviews with Piers Corbyn.

Research: "Relationship Between Global Seismicity and Solar Activities" Gui-Qing Zhang, Beijing, China July 1998 [03/12/11] PDF  "The article by Zhang also associates increased Earthquakes with general increases in solar proton events.  [...]"  

Documentary:  "Asteroids: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" [03/11/11] [60:00]  "Famed for their ability to inflict Armageddon from outer space, asteroids are now revealing the secrets of how they are responsible for both life and death on our planet. Armed with an array of powerful telescopes, scientists are finding up to 3000 new asteroids every night. And some are heading our way. But astronomers have discovered that it’s not the giant rocks that are the greatest danger – it’s the small asteroids that pose a more immediate threat to Earth.  Researchers have explained the photon propulsion that propels these rocks across space, and have discovered that some asteroids are carrying a mysterious cargo of frost and ice across the solar system that could have helped start life on earth. [...]"  

Alex Jones Interviews: "Piers Corbyn: Massive Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Were Triggered by Solar Action " [03/11/11] [15:29] "Meteorologist, astrophysicist, consultant, and owner of the business Weather Action, Piers Corbyn, talks with Alex about the Japanese tsunami. Piers says "The massive Japan Earthquake and Tsunami were triggered by massive events on the Sun and there are more to come in the next two years". "The Earthquake was preceded by an X class solar flare and a significant hit of the Earth by a Coronal Mass Ejection - reported by NASA -  We warned after the New Zealand Earthquake on 21 Feb that the solar-lunar scene is set for more Earthquakes for the next two years ... "Many of these Earthquake events, as well as weather events, will be very extreme. "Actual Earthquakes are very difficult to predict but major aftershocks will come after this one.  [...]"    

"Mysterious Thermal Hotspot Found On South Pole Of Saturn’s Moon" [03/08/11]    " Data from Cassini’s composite infrared spectrometer of Enceladus’ south polar terrain, which is marked by linear fissures, indicate that the internal heat-generated power is about 15.8 gigawatts, approximately 2.6 times the power output of all the hot springs in the Yellowstone region, or comparable to 20 coal-fueled power stations. This is more than an order of magnitude higher than scientists had predicted, according to Carly Howett, the lead author of study, who is a postdoctoral researcher at Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., and a composite infrared spectrometer science team member. “The mechanism capable of producing the much higher observed internal power remains a mystery and challenges the currently proposed models of long-term heat production,” said Howett. It has been known since 2005 that Enceladus’ south polar terrain is geologically active and the activity is centered on four roughly parallel linear trenches, 130 kilometers (80 miles) long and about 2 kilometers (1 mile) wide, informally known as the “tiger stripes.” Cassini also found that these fissures eject great plumes of ice particles and water vapor continually into space. These trenches have elevated temperatures due to heat leaking out of Enceladus’ interior. A 2007 study predicted the internal heat of Enceladus, if principally generated by tidal forces arising from the orbital resonance between Enceladus and another moon, Dione, could be no greater than 1.1 gigawatts averaged over the long term. Heating from natural radioactivity inside Enceladus would add another 0.3 gigawatts. A possible explanation of the high heat flow observed is that Enceladus’ orbital relationship to Saturn and Dione changes with time, allowing periods of more intensive tidal heating, separated by more quiescent periods. This means Cassini might be lucky enough to be seeing Enceladus when it’s unusually active.  [...]"  

"Solar Explosions And Sunspot Clusters" Graphic [03/08/11] "The magnetic canopy of big sunspot 1166 erupted on March 7th around 1400 UT, producing an M2-class solar flare and a bright coronal mass ejection (CME). Check out the image of the movie which captures the expanding plasma cloud. The CME was not squarely directed at Earth. Nevertheless, the cloud will probably deliver a glancing blow to our planet’s magnetic field on March 9th or 10th, possibly sparking polar geomagnetic storms. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras. Sunspots have also increased on the solar surface. – [...]"  

"What If the Biggest Solar Storm on Record Happened Today?" [03/06/11] [Earth Reeling But Holding Steady From The Solar Burn, Which Continues For The 6th Consecutive Day]    "On February 14 the sun erupted with the largest solar flare seen in four years—big enough to interfere with radio communications and GPS signals for airplanes on long-distance  flights.  As solar storms go, the Valentine's Day flare was actually modest. But the burst of activity is only the start of the upcoming solar maximum, due to peak in the next couple of years. "The sun has an activity cycle, much like hurricane season," Tom Bogdan, director of the Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado, said earlier this month at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C. "It's been hibernating for four or five years, not doing much of anything." Now the sun is waking up, and even though the upcoming solar maximum may see a record low in the overall amount of activity, the individual events could be very powerful.  In fact, the biggest solar storm on record happened in 1859, during a solar maximum about the same size as the one we're entering, according to NASA. That storm has been dubbed the Carrington Event, after British astronomer Richard Carrington, who witnessed the megaflare and was the first to realize the link between activity on the sun and geomagnetic disturbances on Earth. During the Carrington Event, northern lights were reported as far south as Cuba and Honolulu, while southern lights were seen as far north as Santiago, Chile. (See pictures of auroras generated by the Valentine's Day solar flare.) The flares were so powerful that "people in the northeastern U.S. could read newspaper print just from the light of the aurora," Daniel Baker, of the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, said at a geophysics meeting last December. [...]" Related:"Magnetic-Shield Cracks Found; Big Solar Storms Expected" [12/17/08]   

Commentary: "2012 – Doom Ain't What It Used to Be" [03/06/11] "This article is written for the cognoscenti...those in the know. There will be many statements that are made in this document that will require you to validate either the facts, or the conclusions derived from them on your own. Too many theories of too intricate or expansive (future joke here) a nature are involved for me to take time and space in this article to bring out all of their supporting details. So certain statements and observations will be made with no supporting material supplied as it is expected that motivated reader will explore the ideas in question on their own and reach conclusions that they find appropriate. [...]"  

"50 Billion Planets Just in Milky Way Galaxy" [03/05/11]   "Our galaxy could be home to a whopping 50 billion planets, say scientists working on NASA’s Kepler planet-hunting telescope. While Kepler hasn’t found nearly that many planets — to date it’s counted 1,235 candidate planets — that cosmic tally is researchers’ best guess, extrapolated from preliminary data.  [...]"  

"Air Force's X-37B Space Plane Launching on Secret Mission Friday" [03/03/11]   "The U.S. Air Force's secretive X-37B space plane is poised to launch on its second mission Friday (March 4), though what exactly it will be doing once it leaves the ground remains a mystery. [...]"  Note: No, it's not a mystery at all , when you see what's happening in the Middle East. Surveillance ...

"NASA To Set-Up Camera Network Across U.S. To Triangulate Fireballs" [03/02/11] "Every day about 100 tons of meteoroids — fragments of dust and gravel and sometimes even big rocks – enter the Earth’s atmosphere. Stand out under the stars for more than a half an hour on a clear night and you’ll likely see a few of the meteors produced by the onslaught. But where does all this stuff come from? Surprisingly, the answer is not well known. Now NASA is deploying a network of smart cameras across the United States to answer the question, What’s Hitting Earth? Did that meteor you saw blazing through the sky last night come from the asteroid belt? Was it created in a comet’s death throes? Or was it a piece of space junk meeting a fiery demise? “When I get to work each morning and power up my computer, there’s an email waiting with answers,” says William Cooke, head of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office. “And I don’t have to lift a finger, except to click my mouse button.” Groups of smart cameras in the new meteor network triangulate the fireballs’ paths, and special software1 uses the data to compute their orbits and email Cooke his morning message. ”If someone calls me and asks ‘What was that?’ I’ll be able to tell them. We’ll have a record of every big meteoroid that enters the atmosphere over the certain parts of the U.S. Nothing will burn up in those skies without me knowing about it!” In other U.S. meteor networks, someone has to manually look at all the cameras’ data and calculate the orbits – a painstaking process. “With our network, our computers do it for us – and fast,” says Cooke. The network’s first three cameras, each about the size of a gumball machine, are already up and running. Cooke’s team will soon have 15 cameras deployed east of the Mississippi River, with plans to expand nationwide2. Cooke is actively seeking schools, science centers, and planetaria willing to host his cameras. Criteria are listed in the notes at the end of this story.  [...]"    

"Solar Wind From Coronal Hole Blasts Planet Earth" [03/02/11] "A solar wind stream hit Earth’s magnetic field during the early hours of March 1st. The impact sparked a geomagnetic storm that was, at first, minor, but the storm has been intensifying throughout the day. Spotters are now reporting auroras over Northern Ireland, Scotland, Latvia, Norway, and Sweden. If trends continue, the display could spread to the high latitudes of North America after nightfall. Well, we said this was a nasty hole rotating towards the planet. Solar wind speeds have revved up to 638 km/sec. We’re on the watch for the eruption of flares with this present sunspot cluster. Below the planet magnetosphere is hit with a burn blast from the rabid flow of the solar wind stream.  [...]"   

"Turbulent Region Of The Sun With Coronal Hole Turns Earthward" [02/27/11] "The northeastern limb of the sun is peppered with sunspots, photographed during the early hours of Feb. 26th by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. On Feb. 24th, the scatter of small spots in the foreground unleashed a spectacular M3-class solar flare. How did such a puny group of spots produce such a potent explosion? The region has a complex “beta-gamma” magnetic field that harbors energy for strong flares. It’s actually more likely to produce explosions than the larger yet simpler sunspot above and behind it. NOAA forecasters estimate a 50% chance of more M-flares during the next 24 hours.  [...]"   

"Chief British Scientist: Solar Storms Could Create $2 Trillion ‘Global Katrina’" [02/21/11] "The threat of solar storms that could wreak havoc on the world’s electronic systems must be taken more seriously, the UK government’s chief scientist has warned. A severe solar storm could damage satellites and power grids around the world, he said, leading to a “global Katrina” costing the world’s economies as much as $2tn (£1.2tn).  “This issue of space weather has got to be taken seriously,” said John Beddington, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington DC. “We’ve had a relatively quiet [period] in space weather and we can expect that quiet period to end. Over the same time, over that period, the potential vulnerability of our systems has increased dramatically. Whether it’s the smart grid in our electricity systems or the ubiquitous use of GPS in just about everything these days.” “It’s reasonable to expect there will be more [solar storm] events,” said Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “The watchwords are predict and prepare.” [...]"  Note:  The article then says in a misleading way; "the next period of maximum activity is expected in 2013". Most astrophysicists and astronomers conclude that this dynamic is already in motion, and that the definition of 'activity' is in fact a spectrum which encompasses 'unusual events never seen before' .... that we have been seeing for a while, now, already. See the bottom of this panel for some very unique events.

Interview: "Rense 12/3/09 Interview with Half-Past Human's Cliff High on 2012" [02/21/11] [10:30] Part 2 [10:30]| Part 3 [10:30]| Part 4 [10:30]| Part 5 [10:30] | Part 6 [10:30]  Part 7 [9:42]   Solar Upheaval seen to be on the way as early as 2009.  See Notable and Thought-Provoking Videos panel for more on this. Related: "2/7/2011 Webbot Clif High on Kevin Smith Show "  7 Parts as well.

"Scientists Await Arrival Of Solar Flares" [02/18/11] "Three solar flare eruptions, including the strongest since 2006, are set to collide with Earth's magnetic shield Thursday and Friday, British researchers say. Large solar flares, such as the "coronal mass ejections" of charged solar particles due to reach Earth during the two-day period, can disrupt technology, including power grids, communications systems and satellites, the BBC reported. One result, a British researcher says, is that the northern lights, the Aurora Borealis, may be visible further south than is normally the case. The U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration said three coronal mass ejections were headed toward Earth as the result of solar flares on Feb. 13, 14 and 15. The flare recorded Feb. 15 was the strongest such event in four years, NASA said. The event was classified as a so-called X-flare, the most intense type. Researchers say the sun has begun showing more of these solar flare events after a period of several years of low activity. [...]"   Related: "Glow Of Northern Lights To Extend To UK"   "Britain should experience spectacular Northern Lights displays from Thursday due to a large solar storm which could disrupt communication networks, the British Geological Survey (BGS) said. “Since February 13 three energetic solar flares have erupted on the sun and spewed clouds of charged plasma called coronal mass ejections (CMEs) out towards the earth,” a BGS geomagnetic storm warning said. “Already one CME arrived on the 14th sparking Valentine’s Day displays of the Northern Lights (aurora borealis) further south than usual. “Two CMEs are expected to arrive in the next 24-48 hours and further…displays are possible some time over the next two nights if skies are clear.” The strongest storm in four years is expected to interfere with satellites and electrical networks, with astronomers in southern China already reporting disturbances to radio communications. The BGS Wednesday published geomagnetic records dating back to the Victorian era which it hopes will help in planning for future storms. “Life increasingly depends on technologies that didn’t exist when the magnetic recordings began,” Alan Thomson, BGS head of geomagnetism said. “Studying the records will tell us what we have to plan and prepare for to make sure systems can resist solar storms,” he added. [...]"  

Commentary: "Thoughts On What Solar Cycle 24 Could Bring" [02/17/11] " Solar cycle 24 is ambiguous depending on which NASA report you read. The Sun is supposed to reach its maximum sometime between 2012 and 2013 from what NASA forecasters are saying and some scientists are saying it could be stronger than previous cycles however troublesome signs are already emerging from our nearest star. We’ve been saying solar activity has been increasing for sometime especially with the rapid density of sunspot formation we’re seeing on the solar surface along with the high-intensity solar flaring. In less than a week, for example, sunspot 1158 formed out of nowhere and expanded to an area wider than the planet Jupiter and unleashed the strongest solar flares since Dec. 2006. Then there is the mid-latitude coronal holes which are already forming on the Sun, something that’s more characteristic of solar activity during the latter stage of the maximum cycle. Our readers remember us reporting on this on February 1 and Japanese scientists followed and released a report on this event on February14 (see both below). Of course, the next leap in logic is if the Sun is becoming this chaotic and turbulent two years from a maximum- what will the next two years bring? And that is exactly where our concern is wandering. Prepare for a cycle that’s stronger than normal with a series of potentially dangerous CME’s which could hold the potential to neutralize electrical systems in space and on Earth from late 2011 to 2013. As far as the climate- I think the oscillation of extreme meteorological cycles are indicative of a collapse of conditions as we have known them here on Earth. I think the planet will gyrate between the extremes of partial glaciations- deluges in spring and monsoons, and drought – and hellfire summers.  [...]" 

"Daytime Fireball Roughly A 5-Ton Meteor, NASA Estimates" [02/16/11] "Early Monday afternoon, a bright object flashed across the sky before vanishing with a flash, according to scores of eyewitnesses from Virginia to Massachusetts. The likeliest explanation is that a large meteor - a space rock hurtling through the atmosphere - passed eastward over the North Jersey-New York City area. It might have been 5 feet in diameter with a weight of more 5 metric tons, judging from reports that it blazed as bright as a full moon, said NASA scientist Bill Cooke of the Marshall Space Flight Center. He based his estimate on "a reasonable speed" of 33,500 m.p.h. Good thing it didn't hit anything. "My crude estimate of the energy of this fireball is about 100 tons of TNT, which means it was capable of producing a crater 125 feet in diameter and about 15 feet deep, assuming an impact into sandstone," Cooke said. [...]" "Large Fireball Seen Across 5 Northeastern U.S. States"   

"Sun Unleashes Most Powerful Flare Seen In 4 Years" [02/16/11] ""On Sunday, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, a mission whose goal is to understand the Sun's influence on Earth and near-Earth space by studying the solar atmosphere, recorded an intense flash of extreme ultraviolet radiation. The flash came as a result of a solar flare from sunspot 1158, a location near the center of the sun. Based on X-ray irradiance observations, the flare rated a magnitude 6.6, the largest solar flare of the year and the strongest from this solar cycle. According to NASA'a Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), there are 3 categories of solar flares. X-class flares are big and are major events that can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms. M-class flares, which occurred on Sunday, are medium-sized and can cause brief radio blackouts that affect Earth's polar regions. Minor radiation storms sometimes follow an M-class flare. Compared to X- and M-class events, C-class flares are small with few noticeable consequences here on Earth. Preliminary coronagraph data from STEREO-B and SOHO agree that the explosion produced a fast but not particularly bright coronal mass ejection (CME). High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras as a CME cloud from the recent solar flare is predicted to hit Earth’s magnetic field around February 15th [...] Solar flares are classified as A, B, C, M or X according to the peak flux (in watts per square meter, W/m2) of 100 to 800 picometer X-rays near Earth, as measured on the GOES spacecraft. Each class has a peak flux ten times greater than the preceding one, with X class flares having a peak flux of order 10−4 W/m2. Within a class there is a linear scale from 1 to 9, so an X2 flare is twice as powerful as an X1 flare, and is four times more powerful than an M5 flare. The more powerful M and X class flares are often associated with a variety of effects on the near-Earth space environment. Although the GOES classification is commonly used to indicate the size of a flare, it is only one measure.[...]"  Related: "X Class Flare Fires Toward Earth"

"Japanese Satellite Hinode Discovers Two Huge Holes In Sun’s Magnetic Field" [02/14/11] "A Japanese satellite has captured images showing two huge holes in the Sun which are blasting solar material into space. Known as “coronal holes” these gaps in the Sun’s magnetic field allow gas to escape into space through the star’s super-hot outer atmosphere where they become the “solar wind”. Solar winds stream from the holes hitting the earth at an average speed of 400 kilometres per second contributing to auroral displays and in more extreme cases creating solar storms. The images, taken by Japan’s sun-watching satellite Hinode on February 1, clearly show two large dark holes at the top and the bottom of the Sun. “The holes are relatively cool in temperature as compared to the active regions nearby,” NASA officials said in a statement.  [...]"  Note: From an Australian newspaper. An Australian scientists is mentioned, and he scoffs at any idea that this may have relevance. He doesn't have a clue ... he's just speculating. See Image

"Fireball Falls From The Sky And Torches Field Near Bjelovar, Croatia" [02/09/11] Translation into English:  "A frightened ambulance driver saw it first: "a fireball fell from the sky and lit up the woods near Bjelovar!" 'Driving a patient at night I noticed a fiery flame in the sky. Falling into a valley in the countryside ' Bjelovar - A comet fell from the sky and set fire to the woods near Bjelovar! On Saturday evening there were also media reports of a fire in a field near the center of Bulinca. The alarm was raised by callers dialing emergency number 112. A man said he was driving the car, saw the comet with a flaming tail that fell from the sky into an area of vegetation. According to information from the Bjelovar Fire Department, a fire broke out in between the towns of Bulinac with Bjelovar. "I was exiting Patkovca on the left side of the road and noticed a fiery flame in the sky. Since we are in a valley and it was dusk, we could see very well. It was within walking distance of two to three kilometers from me and at first I thought it was a plane crash. I watched the fiery ball until it fell to the ground. It all lasted about ten seconds. A dozen sci-fi scenarios passed through my head and I could not believe what I saw. A few miles away, at the entrance to Bulinac, I saw a big fire near the forest on a nearby area of grass. About this I immediately informed the Emergency Center 112. Unfortunately, I did not had time to stop and see what it was because I was in an ambulance transporting patients," said Daruvarcanin Darko Hresic, an ambulance driver. When they put out the fire, members of the DVD searched the area looking for a crater or something that would point to a deliberate arson. Nothing was found. The news of the event very quickly spread throughout Bulincem. According to information from the Bjelovar Police, so far the only eyewitness is Hresic. [...]"   

"Stereo satellites move either side of Sun" [02/07/11] "Two US spacecraft have moved either side of the Sun to establish observing positions that should return remarkable new information about our star.  Launched in 2006, the Stereo satellites have gradually been drifting apart - one in front of the Earth in its orbit, the other lagging behind. On Sunday, NASA said the spacecraft had arrived at points that put the Sun directly between them.  It will give solar physicists the first 360-degree view of our star. Stereo is short for Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory. The mission is studying the Sun's great explosive events that hurl billions of tonnes of charged particles at Earth - events that can disrupt power grids and satellites. These Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), as they are known, can also be hazardous to astronauts in space. Professor Richard Harrison of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK, is an investigator on the project.  He told BBC News: "By being away from the Sun-Earth line, you can look back at the space between the Sun and the Earth and see any of these clouds, these coronal mass ejections that are thrown out of the Sun and are coming our way - you can even see these things passing over the Earth. Those are the key to what Stereo's all about."  The two spacecraft will continue to move further apart, heading toward each other on the opposite side of the Sun from the Earth; this means that the full view provided by the two craft will fade, leaving a growing region behind the Sun - on the Earth side - that they do not see. However, the Solar Dynamics Observatory, launched in Earth orbit a year ago, will remain fixed on the Sun, providing the missing piece of the puzzle. Achieving an all-round-view view of the Sun will be key to understanding what drives the complex processes in the Sun, believes Professor Harrison. [...]"   

"Disturbance In Interplanetary Magnetic Field Blows Hole In Earth's Magnetosphere" [02/02/11] "According to the official forecast, the odds of geomagnetic activity on Jan. 31st were less than 10%. That was good enough for Kjetil Skogli of Troms, Norway. "We went out to look in spite of the low expectations--and there it was!" An aurora-burst was in progress directly overhead: "We didnt have to wait at all," says Skogli. "The show started right away and lasted for more than an hour with a lot of moving green curtains and rays."  The unexpected display was caused by a disturbance in the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near Earth. The IMF tilted south, opening a hole in Earth's magnetosphere. Solar wind poured in and ignited the auroras. More auroras are in the offing. A solar wind stream is heading for Earth, due to arrive on Feb. 2nd and 3rd. NOAA forecasters peg the chances of geomagnetic activity on those dates at 20% to 35%--much better odds than Skogli had. [...]"  Note:  See This Image  Related: "Dark Hole Sun: Dense Ionized Wind Stream Burns Earth’s Magnetosphere" [02/01/11] "The solar wind pouring from the large coronal hole on the Sun has hit earth and though the wind speed blast has not caused the magnetosphere to expand in its usual dramatic flaring fashion to protect the earth- it has instead ionized the shield. Proton density is 20.9 protons/cm3 in a wind helio-wind speed of 376.8 km/sec. That’s high enough to have an ionized, searing effect of the planet’s fledging protective barrier. This is one of the largest coronal holes we’ve seen on the Earth-facing hemisphere of the Sun in some time and it’s emitting a powerful blast of proton particles toward earth like a ray gun. The particle stream is so powerful, it’s pushing the planet’s magnetic field out almost as fast as it’s being generated from its rotational spin. Looking at the pressure reading of the magnetosphere below, we can see this is a very high resolution burn at maximum intensity. High proton density counts on the Sun are common when there is a plasma interface with the Sun’s magnetic field from a comet but solar wind streams generally flow out in much weaker constitution from the Sun.  [...]"  

"Air Force’s Second X-37B Space Plane Nears Launch" [02/01/11] "Two months after a sister ship successfully concluded a demo flight, the U.S. military’s second robotic X-37B space plane is in Florida preparing for blastoff March 4 on another secret mission, according to an Air Force official. The 29-foot-long, 14-foot-wide space plane is being readied for flight in a processing facility near its launch site at Cape Canaveral, Fla., according to Lt. Col. Troy Giese, the X-37B program manager in the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. Managed directly from the Pentagon, X-37B applications might include materials science, space surveillance, imaging and reconnaissance, communications, navigation and weather research. [...]"   

"Two Suns? Twin Stars Could Be Visible From Earth By 2012" [01/21/11] "Earth could be getting a second sun, at least temporarily.  Dr. Brad Carter, Senior Lecturer of Physics at the University of Southern Queensland, outlined the scenario. Betelgeuse, one of the night sky's brightest stars, is losing mass, indicating it is collapsing. It could run out of fuel and go super-nova at any time.  When that happens, for at least a few weeks, we'd see a second sun, Carter says. There may also be no night during that timeframe. The scenario could happen by 2012, Carter says... or it could take longer. The explosion could also cause a neutron star or result in the formation of a black hole 1300 light years from Earth,  [...]"  

"Search on for 'Huge' Meteorite" [01/20/11] "The search is on for fragments of a meteorite which blazed across Irish skies yesterday evening. The meteor - described as 'huge' by Astronomy Ireland - is known as a fireball. Astronomy Ireland says it is likely to be a piece of a comet or asteroid that passed near Earth's orbit sometime in the past. It appeared in the moonlit sky at approximately 6pm, or shortly after. If it survived the fall to Irish soil, keen treasure hunters may fetch hundreds of Euro per gram of meteorite if found. [...]"   

"NASA: Nearby Black Hole Is Enormous" [01/17/11] " NASA has taken new measurements of a black hole that’s just one galaxy over—and the results are staggering. The black hole, known as M87, is so big that you could fit roughly 6.6 billion of our suns inside it. Black holes that huge are a rare find, so it’s especially surprising that this one is only 50 million light years away. “It’s almost on top of us, relatively speaking,” one astronomer tells Discovery News. “That’s our back yard effectively.” NASA already knew there was a black hole there, but believed it might be as small as one billion times the size of the sun. This new exact finding is considered a breakthrough that could help astronomers measure the size of even bigger black holes farther away, and eventually find their exact event horizons, something that’s currently impossible. “Right now, we have no evidence that an object is a black hole,” the astronomer says, but that could change “within a few years.” [...]"  

"25 Sun-Diving Comets Hit the Sun Dec 13-22" [01/15/11] "The storm began on Dec 13th and ended on the 22nd," says Karl Battams of the Naval Research Lab in Washington, DC. "During that time, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) detected 25 comets diving into the sun. It was crazy!"  Sundiving comets—a.k.a. "sungrazers"—are nothing new. SOHO typically sees one every few days, plunging inward and disintegrating as solar heat sublimes its volatile ices. "But 25 comets in just ten days, that's unprecedented," says Battams. "The comets were 10-meter class objects, about the size of a room or a house," notes Matthew Knight of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. "As comets go, these are considered small."  [...]"  

"Partial solar eclipse wows millions" [01/05/11] Video clip [1:37]  Related: "Year's first partial solar eclipse occurs Tuesday 4 Jan 2011"  [01/04/11]  "The moon   will appear to nip a bite out of the sun Tuesday, a spectacle that will be visible at sunrise across much of Europe. The partial solar eclipse can also be seen from northern Africa, the Middle East and central Asia, where it will occur at sunset. Tuesday's solar show is the first of four partial eclipses of the sun to occur this year. The last time there were this many partial solar eclipses was in 1982. The next time will be in 2029. There is no total solar eclipse this year. A solar eclipse happens when the moon lines up between the sun and the Earth. This casts a lunar shadow on the Earth's surface and obscures the solar disk. During a partial solar eclipse, only part of the sun is blotted out. Tuesday's eclipse will begin in northern Algeria. As the moon's shadow travels east, western Europe will wake up to a sunrise eclipse. In Madrid, a little more than half of the sun's diameter will be covered. In London and Paris, about three-quarters of the sun will be hidden. The greatest eclipse will occur over Sweden where about 85 percent of the sun will be blocked. A sunset eclipse will be visible from Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and northwest China. Williams College astronomer Jay Pasachoff planned to be in Israel and meet up with a local astronomy club to test out his cameras and other photography equipment during the eclipse. Since partial solar eclipses yield little information of scientific interest, Pasachoff instead will educate fellow sun chasers to resist staring directly at the sun. Instead, people should peer through commercially available solar filters to avoid eye damage. "It will be a run-the-mill partial solar eclipse, but it's more fun than a lunar eclipse," Pasachoff said. [...]"  

"First Meteor Shower of 2011 Could Dazzle Tonight" [01/03/11] "The first meteor display of 2011 - the annual Quadrantid meteor shower - will hit its peak tonight  [...]" 

"US and Germany in joint spy satellite project" [01/03/11] "The United States and Germany are jointly developing secret spy satellites under the guise of a commercial programme despite opposition from France, leaked US diplomatic cables showed Monday. The project, named HiROS, envisions the construction of an undetermined number of high-resolution observation satellites capable of spotting any object on the planet down to a size of just 50 centimetres (about 1.5 feet), according to classified cables from US embassy in Berlin leaked to WikiLeaks and obtained by Norwegian daily Aftenposten. The satellites will have the capacity to take infrared images at night and to send images much quicker back to earth than the satellites currently in service, the cables showed. Due to the controversial nature of the programme, US and German officials have decided it should be presented as a civilian project with environmental aims, run by commercial entities. But in reality it is "under the total control" of German intelligence service BND and the German aerospace centre DLR, the cables showed. [...]"   

'Zombie satellite' finally reboots itself [12/30/10] " A "zombie satellite" adrift in orbit has come back to life, resetting itself after an unexplained breakdown in space this year, its European controllers say. [...]"  

"Forecasters keep eye on looming ‘Solar Max’" [12/29/10] "The coming year will be an important one for space weather as the Sun pulls out of a trough of low activity and heads into a long-awaited and possibly destructive period of turbulence. But two centuries of observing sunspots -- dark, relatively cool marks on the solar face linked to mighty magnetic forces -- have revealed that our star follows a roughly 11-year cycle of behaviour. The latest cycle began in 1996 and for reasons which are unclear has taken longer than expected to end. Now, though, there are more and more signs that the Sun is shaking off its torpor and building towards "Solar Max," or the cycle's climax, say experts. [...]"   

"Gigantic Storm With Huge Tail Erupts on Saturn" [12/28/10] "Amateurs first sighted the storm earlier this month, but the Cassini spacecraft moved into a good position on Dec. 24 to photograph it from about 1.1 million miles away. Earth received the raw and unprocessed shots today.  The storm has a huge central funnel and a long tail that sweeps around Saturn’s northern hemisphere for tens of thousands of miles. A shot in blue light (left) reveals the extent of the tail, but infrared light (right) shows detail of the storm’s amorphous core. The photos were taken exactly a month after Cassini recovered from a solar-flare-induced error that temporarily silenced the spacecraft from Nov. 2 through Nov. 24. Saturn’s weather is complex like Jupiter’s, but it’s often difficult to see such storms beneath Saturn’s hazy outer atmosphere, wrote Carolyn Porco, a planetary scientist and leader of Cassini’s imaging team, on Twitter. [...]" 

"China Matches U.S. Space Launches for First Time" [12/27/10] "Friday’s blast-off of a rocket, carrying a Chinese GPS-style navigation satellite, from the Xi Chang Satellite Launch Center was different. It set a record for successful Chinese launches in one year: 15. The launch represented another important milestone. For the first time since the chilliest days of the Cold War, another country has matched the United States in sheer number of rocket launches. [...]"   

Anomaly:  "Solar Geomagnetic Ap Index Hits Zero" [12/24/10] "This is something you really don’t expect to see this far into solar cycle 24. But there it is, the Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite shows the sun as a cueball. The Ap index being zero, indicates that the sun’s magnetic field is low, and its magneto is idling rather than revving up as it should be on the way to solar max. True, it’s just a couple of data points, but as NOAA’s SWPC predicts the solar cycle, we should be further along instead of having a wide gap. [...]"  

"Earth Biodiversity May Trace to Bobbing Solar System Path" [12/23/10] "A puzzlingly regular waxing and waning of Earth's biodiversity may ultimately trace back to our solar system's bobbing path around the Milky Way, a new study suggests. Every 60 million years or so, two things happen, roughly in synch: The solar system peeks its head to the north of the average plane of our galaxy's disk, and the richness of life on Earth dips noticeably.  Researchers had hypothesized that the former process drives the latter, via an increased exposure to high-energy subatomic particles called cosmic rays coming from intergalactic space. That radiation might be helping to kill off large swaths of the creatures on Earth, scientists say.  The new study lends credence to that idea, putting some hard numbers on possible radiation exposures for the first time. When the solar system pops its head out, radiation doses at the Earth's surface shoot up, perhaps by a factor of 24, researchers found. Even with the lowest assumption, this exposure provides a real stress on the biosphere periodically," said lead author Dimitra Atri of the University of Kansas, who presented the findings last week at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. Dangerous cosmic rays Cosmic rays are primarily high-energy protons that are spawned by supernova shock waves and other dramatic events throughout the universe. They're constantly flooding Earth, hitting every square inch of our planet's upper atmosphere several times per second.[...]  On the Milky Way's "northern" side, about 60 million light-years away, lies the huge Virgo Cluster of galaxies. The Virgo Cluster's powerful gravity tugs the Milky Way toward it at about 450,000 mph (720,000 kph). This mad rush creates a shock wave, which generates lots of high-energy cosmic rays on the north side of the galactic disk, researchers said.  Usually, the Milky Way's magnetic field shields the solar system from most of these potentially dangerous particles. But every 64 million years or so, our solar system pops up above the northern edge of our galaxy's disk, exposing Earth to more cosmic rays, researchers said.  This periodicity matches up well with a biodiversity pattern detected by other researchers in 2005: Over the last 542 million years, the diversity of life on Earth has fluctuated regularly, with the total number of species on the planet rising and falling every 62 million years.  In 2007, researchers Mikhail Medvedev and Adrian Melott, both of the University of Kansas —Melott is Atri's graduate advisor and a co-author on the current study —proposed that the synchronicity of these two cycles is no accident.  A surge in cosmic ray exposure slashes species richness, the theory goes; biodiversity recovers, only to be cut down by the next surge 60-odd million years later. The new study puts some numbers on that conjecture for the first time. [...]"   

"Russian Soyuz capsule docks at ISS" [12/18/10] "A Russian Soyuz capsule has docked with the International Space station delivering a multinational crew for a five month stay. [...]"    

"Nuclear asteroid defense revisited" [12/16/10] "The idea that an Earth-threatening asteroid could be eliminated with a nuclear missile is backed by additional scientific analysis, U.S. researchers say. [...]"   

Anomaly: "On The Global Eruption That Rocked the Sun in August 2010" [12/15/10] "On August 1, 2010, an entire hemisphere of the sun erupted. Filaments of magnetism snapped and exploded, shock waves raced across the stellar surface, billion-ton clouds of hot gas billowed into space. Astronomers knew they had witnessed something big. It was so big, it may have shattered old ideas about solar activity. "The August 1st event really opened our eyes," says Karel Schrijver of Lockheed Martin’s Solar and Astrophysics Lab in Palo Alto, CA. "We see that solar storms can be global events, playing out on scales we scarcely imagined before." [...] For the past three months, Schrijver has been working with fellow Lockheed-Martin solar physicist Alan Title to understand what happened during the "Great Eruption." They had plenty of data: The event was recorded in unprecedented detail by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory and twin STEREO spacecraft. With several colleagues present to offer commentary, they outlined their findings at a press conference today at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. In a paper they prepared for the Journal of Geophysical Research (JGR), Schrijver and Title broke down the Great Eruption into more than a dozen significant shock waves, flares, filament eruptions, and CMEs spanning 180 degrees of solar longitude and 28 hours of time. At first it seemed to be a cacophony of disorder until they plotted the events on a map of the sun's magnetic field. "   

"Voyager 1 spacecraft nears exit of solar system" [12/15/10] "NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has reached the outer edge of the solar system where wind from the Sun is no longer blowing outward, but sideways, the US space agency said. The spacecraft was launched in 1977 and has since snapped images of Earth and other planets in the solar system and provided NASA with crucial information as it makes its long journey into outer space. NASA researchers think Voyager 1 will leave the solar system and enter interstellar space, or the area in between the end of the Sun's influence and the next star system, in about four years. [...]"  

"Russia's Soyuz soon to be only lifeline to International Space Station" [12/14/10] "A federal judge ruled Monday that a central plank of the health law violates the Constitution, dealing the biggest setback yet to the Obama administration’s signature legislative accomplishment. In a 42-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson said the law’s requirement that most Americans carry insurance or pay a penalty “exceeds the constitutional boundaries of congressional power.” The lawsuit, brought by Virginia’s attorney general, Republican Ken Cuccinelli, is the first court ruling against the law since President Barack Obama signed it in March. More than 20 federal lawsuits have been filed against the overhaul, and judges in two of those cases ruled in favor of the Obama administration. While Monday’s decision creates a headache for the law’s supporters, it doesn’t mean that states or the federal government must stop implementing the law. [...]"   

"Significant Solar Storms to Hit Earth Beginning 13 December" [12/13/10] "For the first time scientists have used data analysed by the public to make a real-time prediction of a solar storm that should hit Earth today (Monday 13 December), thanks to the Solar Stormwatch web project. The initiative, launched in February by the Royal Observatory, Greenwich (ROG), in partnership with the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the Zooniverse citizen science project, makes it possible for anyone with an internet connection to get involved in the latest solar research by helping to spot and track storms as they erupt from the surface of the Sun. These collective measurements enable scientists to forecast the arrival of storms far enough in advance to issue effective pre-emptive warnings for the first time. The Sun is much more dynamic than it appears to the naked eye. Intense magnetic fields churn and pummel the Sun’s atmosphere and they store enormous amounts of energy that, when released, can hurl billions of tons of material out into space in eruptions called Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) – or solar storms. The latest storm identified by the project is predicted to hit Earth at 07.32 GMT on 13 December. Solar storms have the potential to interfere with communication satellites, upset GPS navigation systems and also pose a health risk to astronauts on the International Space Station. In severe cases they can even knock out entire power grids causing widespread disruption here on Earth. On a gentler note, the particles making up a solar storm can produce beautiful displays of the Northern and Southern Lights as they collide with the Earth's upper atmosphere. Scientists are not overly concerned about the effects of the current storm, but the early warning provided by Solar Stormwatch will allow precautionary measures to be put in place.  [...]"  Note:  A new link to the Solar Stormwatch web project is on the top of this panel.

"U.S. Military in Talks to Share Fireball Data" [12/11/10] "Secret U.S. military satellites perform vital national security roles for reconnaissance, but they also spot fireballs in Earth's atmosphere. For decades, the U.S. Department of Defense has operated classified spacecraft loaded with high-tech gear to carry out a range of reconnaissance duties. But the satellites have also spotted the high-altitude explosions of natural fireballs that routinely dive into the Earth's atmosphere, and talks are under way to offer scientists access to that data. In the past, the data on the fireballs, caused by small asteroids called bolides, was shared with the near-Earth object (NEO) science community, information deemed ideal for understanding the size of small NEOs and the hazard they pose. From space scientists, they stress that such data sharing is also important for validating airburst simulations, characterizing the physical properties of small NEOs — such as their strength — and assisting in the recovery of meteorites. On the other hand, the message from U.S. military and intelligence officials is that they worry about release of sensitive data gleaned by secret satellites.  [...]" 

"Giant Stealth Planet May Explain Rain of Comets from Solar System’s Edge" [12/09/10] "Our sun may have a companion that disturbs comets from the edge of the solar system — a giant planet with up to four times the mass of Jupiter, researchers suggest.  A NASA space telescope launched last year may soon detect such a stealth companion to our sun, if it actually exists, in the distant icy realm of the comet-birthing Oort cloud, which surrounds our solar system with billions of icy objects.  The potential jumbo Jupiter would likely be a world so frigid it is difficult to spot, researchers said. It could be found up to 30,000 astronomical units from the sun. One AU is the distance between the Earth and the sun, about 93 million miles (150 million km).  Most systems with stars like our sun — so-called class G stars — possess companions. Only one-third are single-star systems like our solar system.  Not a nemesis:  Scientists have already proposed that a hidden star, which they call “Nemesis,” might lurk a light-year or so away from our sun. They suggest that during its orbit, this red dwarf or brown dwarf star would regularly enter the Oort cloud, jostling the orbits of many comets there and causing some to fall toward Earth. That would provide an explanation for what seems to be a cycle of mass extinctions here. [...]"     

"Sun Eruption Is Beautiful, Filament Explosion Is 400,000 Miles Long" [12/08/10] [0:06] Shot yesterday by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, of a gigantic solar prominence erupting on the Sun.  [...]"  

"3 Russian satellites crashed in the pacific ocean off Hawaii" [12/06/10] " Russia failed Sunday to send three Glonass navigation satellites into orbit after they were launched by a rocket from Baikonur cosmodrome, space industry sources told Russian news agencies.  "The ballistics experts have checked everything: the upper-stage rocket with the satellites is not on the main, intermediate nor emergency orbit," a source told the RIA Novosti news agency.  "Our calculations show that the upper-stage rocket with the satellites probably fell into the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii," the source said. The Glonass system is designed by the Russian government as a rival to the United States government's Global Positioning System (GPS). Russia launched the rocket carrying three of its Glonass navigation satellites into space shortly after 1:00 pm (1000 GMT) Sunday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Interfax news agency reported.  [...]"  

"DARPA'S Secret X-37B Robotic Space Plane Returning to Earth" [12/02/10] "The U.S. military's mysterious X-37B space plane will complete its maiden voyage with a return to Earth as early as Friday (Dec. 3), Air Force officials said today. Personnel at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California are preparing for the return of the unmanned X-37B space plane, which has been aloft on its classified debut spaceflight since April, officials with the Air Force Space Command said in a statement released on Nov. 30. "While the exact landing date and time will depend on technical and weather considerations, it is expected to occur between Friday, December 3, and Monday, December 6," Air Force officials said in the statement. [Video of the X-37B in space] The X-37B, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle 1, launched atop an Atlas 5 rocket on April 22. Since then, it has been circling the Earth performing a mission that has been shrouded in secrecy. What the reusable spacecraft has actually been doing is classified, as is its mission's cost, Air Force officials have said. [...]"  

"Universe holds billions more stars than previously thought" [12/02/10] "Hidden within ancient, oversized galaxies are enough dwarf stars to triple the estimated number of stars in the universe, astronomers reported Wednesday. [...] Galaxies are the vast islands of stars filling space, such as our own spiral-shaped Milky Way made of hundreds of billions of stars. The just-released Nature journal estimate suggests that round-shaped "elliptical" galaxies harbor far more "red dwarf" stars than expected. "A typical star in the universe, we can now say, is in an elliptical galaxy," says study lead author Pieter van Dokkum of Yale. "The surprising thing is only now are we getting a handle on a fundamental thing like the number of stars in the sky." Based on a survey of eight nearby elliptical galaxies, he says the universe likely contains some 300 sextillion stars (that's 300,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars for folks who like big numbers), triple previous estimates [...]"    

"FAA issues first license for commercial spacecraft to re-enter Earth's atmosphere from orbit" [11/24/10] "The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued the first-ever license for a commercial spacecraft to re-enter Earth's atmosphere from orbit, officials say. The license will allow the California-based company SpaceX to complete the first operational flight of the Dragon spacecraft during a NASA demonstration mission set for a Dec. 7 launch, Florida Today reported. [...]"  Note:  They can't have just anyone entering Earths atmosphere, can they?

"Air Force Launches Massive, Secret Spy Satellite" [11/22/10] "A powerful Delta 4 rocket roared to life and climbed away from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Sunday evening on a high-priority mission to boost a National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite into orbit. The payload is believed to be an electronic eavesdropping satellite with a huge collecting antenna. In a September address to the Air Force Association, NRO Director Bruce Carlson said the Delta 4 was carrying "the largest satellite in the world." "I believe the payload is the fifth in the series of what we call Mentor spacecraft, a.k.a. Advanced Orion," Ted Molczan, a respected satellite tracker, told Spaceflight Now. "They are among the largest satellites ever deployed." The satellite likely consists of sensitive radio receivers and an antenna generally believed to span up to 328 feet to gather electronic intelligence for the National Security Agency  [...]"  

Meteorite Blasts Through Sky in Serbia [11/14/10] Milan Jeličić of the Ruđer Bošković Astronomical Society says that a bolide was seen in the sky above Serbia last night. “A bolide is a luminous meteorite which is more luminous than Venus and is accompanied by sound effects which are created as it disintegrates,” he explained. According to him, one could not see anything from the observatory Kalemegdan observatory due to unfavorable weather conditions. Tanjug news agency correspondent from Vranje reported that a light ball was seen in the sky last night at 19:32 in several towns in that part of the country. The luminous body flew across the sky at great speed and a strong detonation was heard afterward. The Ruđer Bošković Astronomical Society says that bolides, celestial bodies often confused with meteorites, fell four times in Serbia so far and the last time it was near Čačak in 1919. Jeličić says that there is a possibility that the bolide even fell to the ground. “A bolide, unlike meteorite which combusts upon entering atmosphere, can get to the Earth’s crust and sky stones which we find on the ground are actually meteorites,” he explained. Aside from Čačak, meteorites were found near Soko Banja in 1877 and at Mt. Jelica in 1889. According to Jeličić, a bolide flying through the Earth’s atmosphere and falling to the ground is a normal phenomenon and observing the entire planet it is not rare at all. He also stressed that bolides could “enter and exit” the atmosphere without falling to the ground. " [...]" 

"Gamma ray mystery at heart of Milky Way: Bubbles of Energy Are Found in Galaxy" [11/10/10] "Something big is going on at the center of the galaxy, and astronomers are happy to say they don’t know what it is.  A group of scientists working with data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope said Tuesday that they had discovered two bubbles of energy erupting from the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The bubbles, they said at a news conference and in a paper to be published Wednesday in The Astrophysical Journal, extend 25,000 light years up and down from each side of the galaxy and contain the energy equivalent to 100,000 supernova explosions. “They’re big,” said Doug Finkbeiner of the Harvard- Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, leader of the team that discovered them. The source of the bubbles is a mystery. One possibility is that they are fueled by a wave of star births and deaths at the center of the galaxy. Another option is a gigantic belch from the black hole known to reside, like Jabba the Hutt, at the center of the Milky Way. What it is apparently not is dark matter, the mysterious something that astronomers say makes up a quarter of the universe and holds galaxies together.  “Wow,” said David Spergel, an astrophysicist at Princeton who was not involved in the work.  “And we think we know a lot about our own galaxy,” Dr. Spergel added, noting that the bubbles were almost as big as the galaxy and yet unsuspected until now. Jon Morse, head of astrophysics at NASA headquarters, said, “This shows again that the universe is full of surprises.”  One of the most surprised was Dr. Finkbeiner. A year ago he was part of a group led by Gregory Dobler of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara, Calif., that said it had discerned the existence of a mysterious fog of high-energy particles buzzing around the center of the Milky Way. The particles manifested themselves as a haze of extra energy after all the known sources of gamma rays — the most energetic form of electromagnetic radiation — had been subtracted from Fermi data that had recently been made public.  At the time, Dr. Finkbeiner and his colleagues speculated that the haze was produced by dark matter. The center of the galaxy is home to all manner of wild and woolly high-energy phenomena, including a gigantic black hole and violently spinning pulsars, but cosmological theories also suggest that dark matter would be concentrated there. Collisions of dark matter particles, the theory goes, could produce showers of gamma rays.  But in the follow-up analysis, the haze — besides being bigger than Dr. Finkbeiner and his colleagues had thought — turned out to have sharp boundaries, like, well, a bubble. Dark matter, according to the prevailing theory, should be more diffuse.  “Dark matter has been there billions of years,” Dr. Finkbeiner explained. “If something has been going on for billions of years, you wouldn’t expect a sharp edge.”  He and the other scientists said this did not mean that dark matter was not there clogging the center of the galaxy, but that it would be harder to see.  [...]"   From end to end, the newly discovered gamma-ray bubbles extend 50,000 light-years, or about half of the Milky Way’s diameter, as shown in the illustration.   Video clip  [1:33] 

Fringe Research: "Solar Numerics, Warning For Indonesia" [11/09/10] "The 26,000 year solar winding (magnetic pressure) cycle, which is displayed to humans (and other life) here on terra in the form of the 'sun spot cycle' that is variously considered to be either 22 years or 11 years in length begins with the now, somewhat notorious, 87 day magnetic winding cycle.  This cycle is responsible for the volcano problems now facing the Indonesian populace. As forecast from the August 1, 2010 solar disruption, the Indonesian volcano eruptions and earthquakes commenced on schedule in advance of the October 27th day of the completion of the most recent 87 day 'bit' component to the larger cycle. The next 87 day bit on this cycle completes on January 22, 2011. For many reasons, i suspect that the volcanic activity will increase (along with earthquakes and really strange weather) nearly 2/two weeks before that day. The 'anticipation' of the actual day of the winding lap (Jan 22) is due to the lack of release of the magnetic pressures affecting the sun, as well as the continuous build up of magnetic pressures here on earth.  The thinking is that as we progress further into each of these 87 day cycles, the amount of 'anticipation' and 'carry over' from previous cycles will increase. So as an instance, August 1 of this year produced only 5 days of geomagnetic affective actions, where the beginning of the next cycle that occurred on October 27 is *still* producing activity in the Indonesian islands. So as we progress into 2011, i suspect that the activity will join together at both ends such that between one cycle and the next full 87 day sun polar 'lap' cycle, the activity, with volcanoes and earthquakes and such, will continue without significant decrease. [...]"   

M5 Solar Flare [11/09/10] "Active sunspot 1121 has just unleashed one of the brightest x-ray solar flares in years, an M5.4-class eruption at 15:36 UT on Nov. 6th. Click here to view a movie of the blast from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:  Radiation from the flare created a wave of ionization in Earth's upper atmosphere that altered the propagation of low-frequency radio waves. There was, however, no bright CME (plasma cloud) hurled in our direction, so the event is unlikely to produce auroras in the nights ahead. This is the third M-flare in as many days, and the strongest, from this increasingly active sunspot. So far none of the eruptions has been squarely Earth-directed, but this could change in the days ahead as the sun's rotation turns the active region toward our planet. [...]"    

NASA Building Solar Monitoring System As Upcoming Solar Flares Threaten Huge Disturbances to Electrical Grid  [11/07/10] "According to a 132 page NASA funded report titled Severe Space Weather Events—Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts, the interconnectedness of our grids makes cascading failures a real possibility, with worst-case effects resulting in total down-grid collapse: The loss of electricity would ripple across the social infrastructure with water distribution affected within several hours; perishable foods and medications lost in 12-24 hours; loss of heating/air conditioning, sewage disposal, phone service, fuel re-supply and so on. [...]The threat to power grids during bad solar weather is known as GIC, or geomagnetically induced current. When the sun ejects a huge coronal mass in our direction, the impact with our atmosphere shakes up Earth’s magnetic field. That generates electric currents from the upper atmosphere all the way down to the ground. These can cripple power grids, overloading circuits and in some cases melting heavy-duty transformers. Those transformers are very necessary to keep the power flowing. They’re also expensive, irreparable in the field, and can take a year to replace. Meaning that a massive coronal ejection could knock down entire power grids for long stretches of time, grinding economies to a halt and making life more than a little inconvenient."  Related: Video Report: “Game Changing Solar Storm Around 2012” [11/07/10] [4:19]  | Airline frequent fliers 'radiation poisoning risks' from space 'solar flare' storm activity  

Great balls of fire over Canada: NASA investigates [11/06/10] "Great balls of fire have been reported swooping over Eastern Canada and several U.S. states. Even NASA's on the case. There are different theories about what was behind the sighting of those fireballs. A NASA spacecraft got a closer look at one of the possible sources today. [...]   

Video: Like two spaceships passing in the night [11/05/10] "A NASA spacecraft launched in 2005 captured spectacular images of the Hartley 2 within an hour of the comet’s fly-by. NBC’s Brian Williams reports. (Nightly News) [...]"  

PHOTOS: The Sun, As You've Never Seen It Before [11/01/10] "On October 20, amateur astronomer Alan Friedman got a little face time with the sun. Using his own telescope, Friedman captured a highly detailed photograph of our solar system's star using a filter to capture Hα (H-alpha) light waves, which Discover Magazine defines as "the light of Hydrogen." The images below might look like a swirling sea of fire, but what's shown is actually light from the chromosphere, a thin layer that sits between the photosphere and the corona, the the sun's outermost layer.  [...]"  Note:  Really very nice.

"Twin spacecraft to study moon" [10/29/10] "Two NASA spacecraft have been given new marching orders, switching their focus from the Earth to the moon, the space agency says. [...]"   

NASA urged to consider planet 'defense' [10/20/10] "NASA should establish a Planetary Defense Coordination Office to lead efforts should the Earth be threatened by asteroids and comets, a U.S. report says. [...]"  Note: They would not let the population really know anything anyway, and don't have the technology, so why bother.

China Will Stick to its Lunar Exploration Plan, Regardless of What the U.S. Does [10/16/10] "In an interview published in Global Times on Oct. 13, Ouyang Ziyuan, head of China's lunar exploration program, was asked what China's plan for exploration will be, now that the United States has cancelled the Constellation program's lunar goal. [...]"   

Giant, distant galaxy cluster found [10/15/10] "U.S. astronomers say they've discovered the biggest galaxy cluster ever seen, a massive grouping of hundreds of galaxies 7 billion light-years from Earth. Researchers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics found the cluster using the South Pole Telescope, a Harvard release said. "This galaxy cluster wins the heavyweight title. It's among the most massive clusters ever found at this distance," said Mark Brodwin, a Smithsonian astronomer at the center. Because it's 7 billion light-years distant, we're seeing it as it was 7 billion years ago when the universe was only half its present age and our solar system didn't exist yet, researchers say. "This cluster is full of 'old' galaxies, meaning that it had to come together very early in the universe's history -- within the first 2 billion years," Brodwin said. The Harvard-Smithsonian team said it expects to find many more giant galaxy clusters once the South Pole Telescope survey is completed. "After many years of effort, these early successes are very exciting. The full SPT survey, to be completed next year, will rewrite the book on the most massive clusters in the early universe," Brodwin said.[...]"   

NASA Is Running Out of Money to Monitor Earth-Destroying Asteroids [10/09/10] "NASA is in a catch 22 situation. Five years ago, Congress mandated by law that NASA should track 90% of all of the dangerous asteroids and comets that may threaten the Earth by 2020. Just last month, though, the National Academy of Sciences announced that NASA may be out of money to meet this mandate. I think it would be short sighted and unwise not to fund NASA's continued monitoring of extraterrestrial objects that could potentially destroy all life on Earth. [...]"   

"The World As We Know It" Ends in 2012 [10/06/10] "Based on their education and outlook, a great many people believe that the world will end in 2012. Now we have a prediction from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Of all the doomsayers out there, NASA is the one to take seriously. [...] Now we come to NASA and observations by scientists  who are not selling us carbon trades or caps. They tell us the earth’s magnetic field, our shield against radiation from the sun, has weakened dramatically and continues to weaken. That is bad enough, but then we are told the sun cycle that periodically produces giant solar flares is now beginning to peak. Those flares, sometimes called “sun storms,” wreak havoc on electrical and electronic systems. Storms in 1859 and 1921 caused worldwide chaos, wiping out telegraph wires on a massive scale. And since 1921 we have come to rely on electronic and electrical equipment that is far more delicate than mere telegraph wires—not to mention satellites. Solar Cycle 24 has begun, and NASA predicts it will be 50% stronger than Cycle 23 that produced the largest solar flare ever recorded. Already, the first sun storm of the current cycle slashed through our weakened magnetic field in August and lit up the planet with spectacular light shows. NASA and astronomers reckon the sun will reach its maximum, “Solar Max,” in late 2011 or 2012. Earth’s magnetic field will be even weaker by then. What will happen? [...] The coming solar storm will hit Earth as fast as a bolt of lightning and have the effect of an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) generated by the equivalent of millions of hydrogen bombs. The National Academy of Sciences says that if the coming Solar Max only equals the storm of 1859 it will cause damage to the globe’s high-tech infrastructure that will require four to ten years to repair, and cost $1 to 2 trillion. Unless precautions are taken, the storm will act like an EMP, and massively damage communications, the electrical grid, emergency services and national security. Satellites will be destroyed or damaged as well, additionally degrading or destroying communications links and GPS systems.  There are also predictions that Solar Max will have an impact on Earth’s core, that roiling sphere of liquid iron that generates the planet’s magnetic field. If that is true, the coming solar storm will affect earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, and hurricanes. All those disasters are frightening enough, but what direct effect will Solar Max have on animal life—on humans? If you want an informed view, seethe explanation by Mitch Battros, producer of Earth Changes Media. Battros’ work is noted by NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the European Space Agency, the Royal Observatory, the Naval Observatory and other major scientific organizations. You can see one of his beautifully illustrated and very readable reports . If you are rightfully concerned about sun storms and the Solar Max, your worries can only increase when you read the Battros report to the very end. He suggests the powerful waves of magnetism generated in a solar storm can directly affect the human body's magnetic field. You will then look up Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Wikipedia and discover that medical research has proved that strong magnetic fields can indeed influence the brain and emotions, and that magnetism is now employed as a therapy. [...]" 

Britain to Search for "Alien Life in Earth’s Atmosphere" [10/05/10] "British researchers from Cranfield University, in cooperation with the European Space Agency, plan  to launch a balloon this week from the Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, the northernmost city in Sweden, with on-board instruments that will search for non-Earth bacteria and micro-organisms. Team leader and electronic engineer Clara Juanes-Vallejo spoke to AOL News from above the Arctic Circle, where she and her team were waiting for the launch of the Cranfield Astrobiological Stratospheric Sampling Experiment, or CASS-E. “We have an interest in looking for life in extreme environments, like the planet Mars, because if we can find life in a harsh environment, like Earth’s stratosphere, then we might be able to find life on Mars,” Juanes-Vallejo said.In science fiction films the search for aliens involves travelling across the galaxy to planets millions of miles away.  But scientists believe they could be close to discovering alien life forms much closer to home – on the outer fringes of Earth's atmosphere.  British scientists, working with the European Space Agency, will this week launch a balloon carrying instruments to search the stratosphere for bacteria and other microorganisms. They believe there could be species capable of surviving in the high levels of radiation, extreme cold and near vacuum found on the edge of space. The organisms could be entirely new to science and may even have been brought here from outer space by hitching a ride on asteroids or comets. If they succeed, it would be the first time alien life had been captured and would lend substantial weight to theories that all life on Earth was brought here from elsewhere in the galaxy. They also hope they may find new types of bacteria that have been thrown up into the atmosphere by erupting volcanoes. [...]"  Note: There ARE already lifeforms in our upper atmosphere and space; some of them are over a mile in diameter. See NASA footage of the pulsing discoid creatures. The Brits are looking for 'bacteria' ... nice, 'safe' 'bacteria' ... when in fact life in the atmosphere and space is staring them in the face!

Russian-U.S. space crew aborts return to Earth [09/26/10] "Two Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut aborted a return to Earth on Friday when their space capsule failed to separate from the International Space Station. [...]"   

Deep-space magnetic fields described [09/22/10] "Evidence of "universal ubiquitous magnetic fields" permeating deep space between galaxies since the Big Bang has been discovered, U.S. astronomers say. [...]"  

Mysterious force holds back Nasa probe in deep space [09/21/10] "A space probe launched 30 years ago has come under the influence of a force that has baffled scientists and could rewrite the laws of physics. Researchers say Pioneer 10, which took the first close-up pictures of Jupiter before leaving our solar system in 1983, is being pulled back to the sun by an unknown force. The effect shows no sign of getting weaker as the spacecraft travels deeper into space, and scientists are considering the possibility that the probe has revealed a new force of nature. [...]" 

Northern Lights Get Internet Reality Show [09/21/10] "A new website will broadcast live views of the northern lights for 3 years [...]" 

Trends: "Say Goodbye to Sunspots?" [09/16/10] "Scientists studying sunspots for the past 2 decades have concluded that the magnetic field that triggers their formation has been steadily declining. If the current trend continues, by 2016 the sun's face may become spotless and remain that way for decades—a phenomenon that in the 17th century coincided with a prolonged period of cooling on Earth. [...]  The last solar minimum should have ended last year, but something peculiar has been happening. Although solar minimums normally last about 16 months, the current one has stretched over 26 months—the longest in a century. One reason, according to a paper submitted to the International Astronomical Union Symposium No. 273, an online colloquium, is that the magnetic field strength of sunspots appears to be waning. [...] The phenomenon has happened before. Sunspots disappeared almost entirely between 1645 and 1715 during a period called the Maunder Minimum, which coincided with decades of lower-than-normal temperatures in Europe nicknamed the Little Ice Age. But Livingston cautions that the zero-sunspot prediction could be premature. "It may not happen," he says. "Only the passage of time will tell whether the solar cycle will pick up." Still, he adds, there's no doubt that sunspots "are not very healthy right now." Instead of the robust spots surrounded by halo-like zones called penumbrae, as seen during the last solar maximum (photo), most of the current crop looks "rather peaked," with few or no penumbrae. [...]"    

Historical Research: The Men Who Sold the Moon: Advertising the early space race - 1957-1962 [09/16/10] "A decade into the far-flung future of the 21st century, manned spaceflight seems to be on the verge of completing a cycle from science fiction to science fact to history. The Space Shuttle Atlantis took its last flight to the International Space Station, as NASA’s shuttle program—the main way human beings have slipped the surly bonds of Earth these past three decades—will finally be mothballed this year. Meanwhile, moon-stepping astronauts Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan were cursing Barack Obama before Congress for his plan to abandon governmental efforts to free us from the gravity well. The president wants to cease funding NASA’s Constellation program, which had been tasked to develop a new means to get people to space and also to fund a possible moonbase. Megan Prelinger’s Another Science Fiction: Advertising the Space Race 1957–1962 (Blast Books) takes us back to the days when the extra-terrestrial human future seemed expansive, endless, and fecund in a hundred ways. It illustrates this history through a fresh lens: industry advertising. Another Science Fiction combines art, history, and criticism. The art is the military-industrial-space complex’s surprisingly imaginative efforts to sell—to would-be employees, to the government, and to each other—the wonders of bringing man and his machines to earth orbit, the Moon, and outer space. [...]"  

Spectacular Northern Lights display pictured after violent space storm [09/11/10] "The stunning auroras, witnessed on Wednesday night, are the first of the season following the area’s light summer nights. The displays were created from bursts of activity on the Sun earlier this week. The subsequent magnetic activity, above a sunspot numbered 1105, produced an explosive flare that was recorded by Nasa’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.  The flare then sent a stream of charged particles racing towards Earth at 250 miles per second. After the sunspot rotated away from Earth, the explosive region erupted once more, creating a second solar flare, a fantastic prominence that sent a coronal mass ejection into space. Nasa said because the Sun had already rotated the flares the flares did not pose any threat to the Earth. Images taken by the space agency show the prominence flaring from the sun. The auroral lights' colours were created through a series of reactions between atoms and molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere. The green colours stem from oxygen molecules while the more unusual purple colour is derived from molecular nitrogen. Experts said stargazers could expect to see another spectacular display on Thursday night as the solar wind stream continued to hit Earth's magnetic field. [...]"  

Meteor/fireball streaks across the sky from Mexico to Long Beach, CA [09/11/10] [0:41]   "A reported meteor/fireball streaked across the sky from Mexico to Long Beach at 5AM , September 10, 2010. [...]"    Note:  Television clip from a San Diego station.

Impact 'fireballs' spotted on Jupiter [09/10/10] "Amateur astronomers have spotted two fireballs lighting up Jupiter's atmosphere, the first time telescopes have caught such small events, scientists say. The two fireballs, which caused fleeting bright spots on Jupiter that were visible through backyard telescopes, occurred June 3 and Aug. 20, a NASA release said Thursday.[...]"  Note:  Now we see that these are also hitting other planets in the system at this time. Notice how NASA waited to announce these strikes.

 Image: Bubble Nebula: A Chrome Marble Floating In Space [09/10/10]  "It looks like a metal marble floating in space. Or the palantír of Orthanc, magically teleported from Middle Earth to 11,000 light years away, in the Cassiopeia constellation. But it's just a visual effect. This is the Bubble Nebula. Cataloged as NGC 7635, it is also known simply as The Bubble Nebula. Although it looks delicate, the 10 light-year diameter bubble offers evidence of violent processes at work. Above and right of the Bubble's center is a hot, O-type star, several hundred thousand times more luminous and approximately 45 times more massive than the Sun. A fierce stellar wind and intense radiation from that star has blasted out the structure of glowing gas against denser material in a surrounding molecular cloud. [...]" 

2 Asteroids to Pass Close to Earth [09/07/10] "Two space rocks will pass by Earth this week inside the orbit of the moon. Astronomers say it's the first time they've spotted two asteroids flying past us at the same time. There's no threat of impact, but seasoned backyard sky watchers may want to try and find the objects with telescopes. The smaller asteroid, 2010 RF12 will have a closer pass, at almost 49,000 miles (about 79,000 km). This is just beyond the highest communications satellites in geosynchronous orbit above Earth. The other rock, 2010 RX30, is estimated to be between 33 and 72 feet (10 to 22 meters) wide, according to the JPL asteroid database. It will pass Earth at a range of about 0.6 times the Earth-moon distance, or about 154,000 miles (248,000 km).  [...]"  Note:  More 'stuff' out there ... passing through the galactic ecliptic ...  

Large Meteorite, Massive Fireball, Strikes Colombia [09/07/10] [1:19]   "Around 3:10PM Sunday afternoon residents of Colombia were awestruck when the clear sky  was cracked open by a massive fireball that exploded upon impact leaving a 300 foot wide crater and a lot of rattled nerves. This is not the first time this year that an impact event has been underreported. Colombian authorities confirmed that a “giant fireball” that fell from the sky in the Santander department, central Colombia, was a meteorite. The Colombian media has been buzzing with eye witness accounts of the fireball, which caused a massive explosion at 3:15PM local time Sunday. Andina.com reported that Bucaramanga Mayor Fernando Vargas confirmed that the phenomenon was a meteorite that left a crater 100 meters in diameter when it crashed into the earth in the San Joaquin municipality in Santander. [...]"  Note:  Video clip 2 [1:38]  Reports are a bit sketchy right now, but apparently a bright flaming object was seen coming down about 100 miles northeast of Mexico City on Wednesday around 18:30 local time. There was a roar that was loud enough to shake buildings. Another news article is reporting a crater 30 meters in diameter was found. Did you know that an asteroid hit Mexico back in February and received no mainstream American media coverage? Related:  Reported meteorite fall between Puebla and Hidalgo  | Meteor Crash in Peru, 2007, Caused Mysterious Illness 

"Mars life may have been missed years ago" [09/04/10] "New analysis of data sent from Mars 34 years ago showing there was no organic material on the planet suggests maybe there was after all, U.S. scientists say. [...]"  Note: It wasn't 'missed'. It was suppressed.  

NASA Aims to Plunge Car-Sized Probe Into the Sun [09/03/10] "NASA is developing an ambitious new mission to plunge a car-sized probe directly into the sun's atmosphere. [...]"  

UK:  Mile-wide asteroid heading towards Earth could hit in '2019' [09/01/10] "An asteroid more than a mile wide is heading for earth, posing the greatest threat yet by an object approaching the planet, scientists have warned.  An asteroid more than a mile wide is heading for earth, posing the greatest threat yet by an object approaching the planet, scientists have warned. The asteroid – called 2002 NT7 – was spotted only three weeks ago, but could strike on 1 February 2019, the US space agency Nasa said. [...]"  Note:  There won't be anyone here on Earth, so it won't matter. 

Spy Satellites to be Used in the U.S. [08/29/10] [1:47] Related: Japan loses spy satellite "Japan's only working radar satellite has malfunctioned and officials say they may not be able to save it. [...]"  

Commentary: Space Warfare: Preparing the "Battlespace" for A New Imperial Adventure "Last spring, Antifascist Calling reported on the launch of the Pentagon's secretive X-37B mini space shuttle, a 29-foot long unmanned orbital test vehicle (OTV).  Built by Boeing Corporation, the multibillion dollar project was the  culmination of a decades-long dream of Pentagon space warriors: to field a reusable spacecraft that combines an airplane's agility with the means to travel at 5 miles per second in orbit. After the craft's successful April 22 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) denied that the X-37B was a prototype for a near-earth weapons platform. Back in 2005 however, The New York Times reported that General Lance W. Lord, then commander of AFSPC, told an Air Force conference that "space superiority is not our birthright, but it is our destiny. ... Space superiority is our day-to-day mission. Space supremacy is our vision for the future."  And with no public debate whatsoever, new weapons programs spawned in the bowels of the Pentagon's black budget parallel universe are on coming on-line. [...]"   

Asteroid Discovery From 1980 - 2010  [08/29/10] [3:09] "As the video moves into the mid 1990's we see much higher discovery rates as automated sky scanning systems come online. Most of the surveys are imaging the sky directly opposite the sun and you'll see a region of high discovery rates aligned in this manner. At the beginning of 2010 a new discovery pattern becomes evident, with discovery zones in a line perpendicular to the Sun-Earth vector. These new observations are the result of the WISE (Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer) which is a space mission that's tasked with imaging the entire sky in infrared wavelengths. Currently we have observed over half a million minor planets, and the discovery rates snow no sign that we're running out of undiscovered objects. [...]"  Note:  Notice that the patterns allow life to exist on earth .... which is 'surrounded' ...   

Mysterious bright spot found on Venus [08/27/10] "A strange spot emerged on Venus last week, and astronomers are not sure what caused it. They hope future observations will reveal whether volcanic activity, turbulence in the planet's atmosphere, or charged particles from the sun are to blame.  Amateur astronomer Frank Melillo of Holtsville, New York, first spotted the new feature, which is brighter than its surroundings at ultraviolet wavelengths, on the planet's southern hemisphere on 19 July. That same day, an amateur observer in Australia found a dark spot on Jupiter that had been caused by a meteoroid impact. The Venus spot was confirmed by other observers, and images from Europe's Venus Express, the only spacecraft in orbit around the planet, later revealed that the spot had appeared at least four days before Melillo saw it. Observations show that the spot had already spread out somewhat by the end of last week, and astronomers are awaiting more recent observations from Venus Express. [...]"   Video clip  [0:13]   

Sun storm to hit with 'force of 100m bombs' [08/26/10] "After 10 years of comparative slumber, the sun is waking up - and it's got astronomers on full alert.  This week several US media outlets reported that NASA was warning the massive flare that caused spectacular light shows on Earth earlier this month was just a precursor to a massive solar storm building that had the potential to wipe out the entire planet's power grid. NASA has since rebutted those reports, saying it could come "100 years away or just 100 days", but an Australian astronomer says the space community is betting on the sooner scenario rather than the latter. Despite its rebuttal, NASA's been watching out for this storm since 2006 and reports from the US this week claim the storms could hit on that most Hollywood of disaster dates - 2012.  [...]"  

US military’s top secret X-37B shuttle ‘disappears’ for two weeks, changes orbit [08/25/10] "Amateur astronomers are enjoying a cat-and-mouse game with the US military in keeping track of its secret space plane, the X-37B.  The X-37B was launched in April amid much publicity, but scant detail about its true use.  Built by Boeing’s Phantom Works division, the X-37B program was originally headed by NASA.  It was later turned over to the Pentagon’s research and development arm and then to a secretive Air Force unit.  Only a very select few in the US military know what it’s for, but observers on Earth believe they’re putting together the puzzle piece by piece.  Several sources claim quote arms control advocates who say it’s clearly the beginning of the “weaponisation of space”.  In May, avid skywatcher Ted Molczan studied the X-37B’s orbit from his home in Toronto and said its behaviour suggested it was testing sensors for a range of new spy satellites. [...]"    

Surface cracks show the Moon is shrinking [08/22/10] "Like a deflating balloon, the satellite is contracting as its interior cools, scientists believe. The cooling has reduced the radius of the Moon by around 100m in the relatively recent lunar past, evidence indicates.  [...]"   

'Dark energy' will cause the universe to expand forever, say scientists [08/22/10] "Scientists have discovered that the universe will probably continue to expand forever. Nasa researchers using a 'galactic lens' have revealed it will eventually become a cold, deserted wasteland. The astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to work out the amount of mysterious 'dark energy' present in the cosmos. The study looked at what the energy, which is continuing to push the universe apart, is made of. Using the 'huge magnifying lens' to calculate the amount of dark energy present in space, the scientists concluded the distribution of the unexplained force meant the universe would probably never stop expanding. Scientists used Hubble to examine how light from stars became distorted in and around a huge cluster of galaxies known as Abell 1689. The size of the cluster causes light to bend round the galaxies which the astronomers utilised to measure how far away Abell 1689 is from Earth, its mass and crucially, the distribution of dark energy.  Scientists examined 34 pictures of the galaxies taken by Hubble and ground-based observatories to study the phenomenon. 'The geometry, the content and the fate of the universe are all intricately linked,' said researcher Priyamvada Natarajan from Yale University. 'If you know two, you can deduce the third. We already have a pretty good knowledge of the universe's mass-energy content, so if we can get a handle on its geometry then we will be able to work out exactly what the fate of the universe will be.'[...]"  

"Asteroid Threat Early Warning System Proposed" [08/20/10] "Scientists are taking a hard look at a proposal to keep a high-tech, yet low-cost, eye on the heavens for threatening asteroids. [...]"   

Fireball heralds arrival of meteor shower [08/12/10] "The annual Perseid meteor shower, which peaks this week, announced itself with a bright, streaking fireball over Alabama, observers said. Sky-watching cameras operated by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., captured the fireball, the online newspaper said. "It's a very good start to this year's Perseid meteor shower, which will peak on the night of Aug. 12-13 between midnight and dawn," explained NASA spokeswoman Janet Anderson in a statement from the center.  NASA said the meteor qualified as a so-called Earth-grazing meteor, a space rock that enters the planet's atmosphere at a low angle, from the point of view of a sky watcher, and appears to flame slowly and dramatically along the horizon. The Perseid shower is an annual event in mid-August when Earth passes close to the orbit of the Comet Swift-Tuttle. Material left behind by the comet slams into the Earth's atmosphere at about 37 miles per second, creating a regular show of "shooting stars." [...]"   

Strange, symmetrical structure in the charged-particle environment around Saturn's second-largest moon. [08/04/10] "Back in 2005, a suite of six instruments on the Cassini spacecraft detected what was thought to be an extensive debris disk around Saturn's moon Rhea, and while there was no visible evidence, researchers thought that perhaps there was a diffuse ring around the moon. This would have been the first ring ever found around a moon. New observations, however, have nixed the idea of a ring, but there's still something around Rhea that is causing a strange, symmetrical structure in the charged-particle environment around Saturn's second-largest moon. [...]"    

Complex Eruption on the Sun Sends Coronal Mass Ejection toward Earth [08/04/10] "On August 1st, the entire Earth-facing side of the sun erupted in a tumult of  activity. There was a C3-class solar flare, a solar tsunami, multiple filaments of magnetism lifting off the stellar surface, large-scale shaking of the solar corona, radio bursts, a coronal mass ejection and more. Click on the image to view just a fraction of the action: The movie recorded by extreme UV cameras onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory shows an enormous magnetic filament breaking away from the sun. Some of the breakaway material is now en route to Earth in the form of a coronal mass ejection (CME). Seeing the sun erupt on such a global scale has galvanized the international community of solar physicists. Researchers are still sorting out the complex sequence of events and trying to understand why they all happened at once. Stay tuned for more movies and analyses in the days ahead. [...]"   This morning around 0855 UT, Earth orbiting satellites detected a C3-class solar flare. The origin of the blast was sunspot 1092. At about the same time, an enormous magnetic filament stretching across the sun's northern hemisphere erupted."  Related: EMP Produced By Solar CME or Nuclear Explosions Could Take Out Social Infrastructure  

NASA scientists braced for 'solar tsunami' to hit earth Aug 3-4 [08/04/10] "The solar fireworks at the weekend were recorded by several satellites, including Nasa’s new  Solar Dynamics Observatory which watched its shock wave rippling outwards. Astronomers from all over the world witnessed the huge flare above a giant sunspot the size of the Earth, which they linked to an even larger eruption across the surface of Sun. The explosion, called a coronal mass ejection, was aimed directly towards Earth, which then sent a “solar tsunami” racing 93 million miles across space. Images from the SDO hint at a shock wave travelling from the flare into space, the New Scientist reported. Experts said the wave of supercharged gas will likely reach the Earth on Tuesday, when it will buffet the natural magnetic shield protecting Earth.  [...]"  Related:  Strong Northern Lights display expected  "Sky watchers could be treated to a spectacular Northern Lights display Tuesday night, as a solar blast sent tons of plasma towards Earth, scientists say. [...]"  Related:  See M5V4 Segment 3 Aug 2010 for related information. Video clip    

Commentary: Massive Solar Flare Headed Our Way - A Sign of What’s to Come? [08/04/10] "It isn’t going to be an electromagnetic-Apocalypse, but certain parts of the globe may see a nice light show this evening:  Earth is bracing for a cosmic tsunami Tuesday night as tons of plasma from a massive solar flare head directly toward the planet. The Sun’s surface erupted early Sunday morning, shooting a wall of ionized atoms directly at Earth, scientists say. It is expected to create a geomagnetic storm and a spectacular light show — and it could pose a threat to satellites in orbit, as well. “This eruption is directed right at us and is expected to get here early in the day on Aug. 4,” said Leon Golub of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “It’s the first major Earth-directed eruption in quite some time.”  [...]"  

Sunspot Sunrise [08/04/10] "Sunspot 1092, a key player in the Earth-directed eruptions of August 1st, is big enough to see without the aid of a solar telescope. Oleg Toumilovitch  "spotted" it on July 31st rising over Blairgowrie, South Africa: During the first few minutes of sunrise only a fraction of the sunlight makes it's way to the observer - mostly from the red part of visible spectrum," notes Toumilovitch. "During this time large sunspots can be seen without a special solar filter." Be careful, though! Even when dimmed by clouds and haze, direct sunlight can hurt your eyes. "If you try to take a picture like this," advises Toumilovitch, "look only at the screen of your digital camera, not the optical viewfinder." More sunspot shots: from Roman Vanur of Nitra, Slovakia, EU; from Alan Friedman of Buffalo, NY; from Pavol Rapavy of Observatory Rimavska Sobota, Slovakia; from Rogerio Marcon of Campinas SP Brasil; from Michael Boschat of Halifax, Nova Scotia; from Theo Bakalexis of Peristeri, Attikh, Greece  [...]" 

Sunspots linked to Venice flooding [08/03/10] "If you're planning a trip to Venice, Italy, avoid times of high sunspot activity -- which appear to alter weather patterns and flood the city, scientists say. [...]"   

Scientists fear hyperactive sun [08/02/10] "Scientists say solar storms may soon impact humans' daily lives as the next sunspot cycle heralding increased solar eruptions draws near. They fear that a peak in the solar flares, projected to take place by 2013 at the height of the Sun's magnetic activities, could potentially affect power grids, flights,  communications, radios and televisions. The solar storms are also a source of concerns for air passengers traveling long distances as they could be exposed to enhanced radiation. Scientists say over 900 operating satellites in space, worth an estimated $200 billion, could take the brunt of the Sun's eruptions. It is not however known how the life on earth will take the full force of intensified solar activities due to the Sun's 'erratic' behavior. The Sun undergoes an almost 11-year period of magnetic activities during which dark spots appear on its surface from where it spews matter and energy into space. However, it has been behaving inconsistently over the past years, scientists say.  [...]"   

NASA probe closing in on Mercury [08/02/10] "A NASA probe heading for Mercury is already making valuable observations although still months away from entering an orbit about the planet, scientists say. [...]"  Note:  If they wanted to surreptitiously look at the Sun ... it would be a good way to do it.

Mirrors for new orbiting telescope tested [08/02/10] "The mirrors for an ambitious new U.S. space telescope are being put through their paces in a test -- at hundreds of degrees below freezing, scientists say. [...]"   

Atmospheric Geo-engineering: Weather Manipulation, Contrails and Chemtrails [07/31/10] "At an international symposium held in Ghent, Belgium May 28-30, 2010, scientists asserted that “manipulation of climate through modification of Cirrus clouds is neither a hoax nor a conspiracy theory.” It is “fully operational” with a solid sixty-year history. Though “hostile” environmental modification was banned by UN Convention in 1978, its “friendly” use today is being hailed as the new savior to climate change and to water and food shortages. The military-industrial complex stands poised to capitalize on controlling the world’s weather.  “In recent years there has been a decline in the support for weather modification research, and a tendency to move directly into operational projects.” ~World Meteorological Organization, 2007  [...] Regarding Climate-Gate, the authors suggest that the University of East Anglia deliberately manipulated the climate data to gradually prepare the global population for its future on a hotter planet.  " 

More than water key in other Earths search [07/27/10] "The hunt for Earth-like planets in the universe, which usually looks for where water might exist, should consider photosynthesis instead, German scientists say. [...]"  Related:  700 New Planets Discovered by NASA "NASA has so far formally announced only five new exoplanets -- planets outside our solar system -- but early data analysis indicates up to 140 of the 700 identified bodies are earth-like. That is, they are solid masses containing both land and water which could allow simple lifeforms to develop. “The figures suggest our galaxy, the Milky Way [which has more than 100 billion stars] will contain 100 million habitable planets, and soon we will be identifying the first of them,” Dimitar Sasselov, professor of astronomy at Harvard University and a scientist on the Kepler Mission, told Fox News Sunday. [...]" 

ASU camera yields best Mars map ever assembled [07/27/10] "The best Mars map ever made is now available online for planetary scientists and armchair astronauts alike. And citizen scientists are invited to help make it even better. [...]"  

100+ 'Earth-Like' Planets Found In Last Few Weeks [07/24/10] "The discovery was made by the space telescope Kepler which has been scanning the skies for planets that are orbiting stars since it was launched in January last year. The breakthrough raises the tantalising prospect that we may not be alone in the Universe. Scientists now believe that there are likely to be around 100 million planets in the Milky Way that harbour exactly the right conditions for life. And they expect to be able to identify around 60 of these habitable Earth-like planets within the next two years. Kepler finds planets by detecting almost imperceptible 'winks' - the tiny amount of dimming that occurs each time a planet moves across the face of a star. It will be searching the heavens for day and night without any interruption for the next 4 years, Sasselhov said [...]"    

UT researchers discover water on the moon is widespread, similar to Earth’s [07/22/10] "Researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, are once again turning what scientists thought they knew about the moon on its head. Last fall, researchers, including Larry Taylor, a distinguished professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, discovered “lunar dew” on the moon’s surface — absorbed “water” in the uppermost layers of lunar soil. This discovery of water debunked beliefs held since the return of the first Apollo rocks that the moon was bone-dry. Now, scientists, including Taylor and Yang Liu, research assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, have discovered that water on the moon is more widespread — on the outside and inside of the moon — with some similarities to water in volcanic systems on Earth. Their research will be featured in the article, “Lunar Apatite with Terrestrial Volatile Abundances” in the July 22 edition of the scientific journal, Nature. [...]"  Note: I think the title ought to be "Water In Lunar Rocks" 

Scientist: SETI should switch 'channels' [07/22/10] "The SETI Institute, listening to the cosmos for signs of signals from alien civilizations, may be monitoring the wrong "channels," a U.S. astrophysicist says. [...]"   

‘Monster’ star up to 320 times the mass of the Sun discovered [07/22/10] "This star R136a1 in the Large Magellanic Cloud is a super-supergiant. It’s a different species of star and didn’t even exist in theory, prior to this discovery. The Sun would look like the Moon, in comparison. The star was discovered by the Very Large Telescope in Chile. This is big news in more ways than one for astronomers. It’s part of a major star forming zone where giant, young stars are being formed. The group of stars which include R136a1 contains several stars which have temperatures measured at 40,000 degrees, compared to the Sun’s 5000 degrees. R136a1 is a blue star, one of the Main Sequence giants, at the top of the Main Sequence’s range. Even dwarf blues stars make our G class room heater look like a tennis ball. R136a1 is twice as large as the biggest giants recorded. This star is also a problem for the entropy theorists. Entropy, the “heat death of the universe” theory, has been getting a battering from recent findings. The tiny “tadpole” galaxies recently identified by Hubble and others which were the first galaxies didn’t explain much about how the massive galactic clusters of the present evolved. [...]"  Related: Astronomers detect 'monster star'  

Obama Tells John Glenn: "Space Program is a Waste of Money"; House Committee Rejects Obama Plan to Kill Space Exploration [07/22/10] "During a meeting at the White House Monday with former astronaut and former Democratic Senator John Glenn, President Obama told this American hero that the space program is a waste of money, and that we can't afford it, according to sources who talked with Glenn after the meeting. The President was described as "disrespectful, and uninterested," and cut off Glenn when he was speaking. [...]"  

European Space Agency Calls for Next Major Space Mission [07/22/10] "The European Space Agency is to call upon scientists to come up with ideas for the next great space mission. [...]"   

Russia Builds New Cosmodrome; Obama Just Expands Empty Space [07/22/10] "Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that his government will allocate the funding needed to start full-scale construction of the new Vostochny [Eastern] Space Center in Russia's Far East beginning next year. [...]"  

"A Puzzling Collapse of Earth's Cooling Upper Atmosphere" [07/18/10] "NASA-funded researchers are monitoring a big event in our planet's atmosphere. High above Earth's surface where the atmosphere meets space, a rarefied layer of gas called "the thermosphere" recently collapsed and now is rebounding again. "This is the biggest contraction of the thermosphere in at least 43 years," says John Emmert of the Naval Research Lab, lead author of a paper announcing the finding in the June 19th issue of the Geophysical Research Letters (GRL). "It's a Space Age record." The collapse happened during the deep solar minimum of 2008-2009 - a fact which comes as little surprise to researchers. The thermosphere always cools and contracts when solar activity is low. In this case, however, the magnitude of the collapse was two to three times greater than low solar activity could explain. "Something is going on that we do not understand," says Emmert.  [...]"   

Senate committee extends shuttle program [07/16/10] "A U. S. Senate committee has voted to extend the space shuttle program for at least a year beyond its scheduled termination, officials said. [...]"  

Space observatory blinded by X-rays [07/14/10] "A NASA space observatory was temporarily blinded by a massive blast of X-rays from beyond the Milky Way, the largest ever detected, astronomers say. [...]"   

Support for UN Governance of Space Explains NASA Development Agenda [07/09/10] "Since 1979, the United Nations has been encouraging nations to ratify an international treaty that places the UN at the center of the governance of outer space. The so- called “Moon Agreement” requires that all activities on the moon and other celestial bodies be carried out in accordance with international law, in particular the Charter of the United Nations. The Agreement also provides that the exploration and use of outer space “shall be the province of all mankind and shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development.” Recent actions taken by the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama indicate that it has decided to support the UN in its quest to govern outer space for the collective good of humanity. This explains the recent statement of NASA Administrator Charles Bolden that “NASA is not only a space exploration agency, but also an earth improvement agency.”  Since being adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 5, 1979, only thirteen nations have ratified the Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (the “Moon Agreement”). Thus far, the United States has not ratified the Moon Agreement. No doubt, the unenthusiastic reception received by the Moon Agreement is attributable to the remarkable UN power grab and collectivist provisions contained in it, including the following: [...]"   

Scientists Admit Chemtrails Are Creating Artificial Clouds [07/05/10] "Scientists now admit that emissions from aircraft are forming artificial clouds that block out the sun, precisely what geoengineering advocates like top eugenicist and White House science advisor John P. Holdren have called for, but the article tries to insinuate that the effect is caused by natural “vapours,” when in reality it can be attributed to chemtrails that contain substances harmful to humans. “The phenomenon occurs when aircraft fly above 25,000ft, where the air temperature is around minus 30C. This causes water vapour emitted by the engines to crystallise and form the familiar white streaks across the sky, known as contrails,” writes Oliver Tree for the Daily Mail. “Reading University’s Professor Keith Shine, an expert in clouds, said that those formed by aircraft fumes could linger ‘for hours’, depriving those areas under busy flight paths, such as London and the Home Counties, of summer sunshine.” “Experts have warned that, as a result, the amount of sunlight hitting the ground could be reduced by as much as ten per cent. Professor Shine added: “Over the busiest areas in London and the South of England, this high-level cloud could cover the sky, turning bright sunshine into hazy conditions for the entire area. I expect the effects will get worse as the volume of air traffic increases.” The report also makes reference to a 2009 Met Office study which found that high-level winds did not disperse contrails that later formed into clouds which covered an astonishing 20,000 miles. Of course, this is no natural phenomenon as the article claims. Ten years ago, contrails from jet aircraft disappeared within minutes, yet apparently we are led to believe that the same substance is now causing the trails to linger for hours and form into clouds. This is impossible without something within the substance having been changed. Mainstream science and academia has gone from dismissing chemtrails as a fantasy of paranoid conspiracy theorists to now accepting that they exist but claiming that they are natural and not artificially induced. In reality, chemtrails are the consequence of the agenda to geoengineer the earth in the name of combating climate change, a science vehemently backed by people like John P. Holdren, who in his 1977 book Ecoscience advocated poisoning the water supply to involuntarily sterilize humans as part of a “planetary regime” that would control every aspect of our existence. The fact that such eugenicists are now in control of geoengineering programs that will have a direct impact on our health is alarming. [...]"  Note:  Barium in Chemtrails [3:43] 

Goce satellite views Earth's gravity in high definition  [06/29/10] "The Goce satellite returns a remarkable high-definition view of how gravity varies across the Earth. [...]"   

Hotspots leave magnetic scars on Mars [06/26/10] "Puzzling 'stripes' generate another controversial origin theory. After the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) settled into orbit around the red planet in 1997, a magnetometer on board began sending back measurements that have puzzled planetary scientists ever since. A section of the Martian crust appeared to consist of long 'stripes' of iron-bearing minerals permanently magnetized with alternating orientations. Clearly, an ancient dynamo imprinted its field in the rock during the planet's early history. But why the stripes? [...]"   

White House Won't Budge on Shutting Down Constellation, as Senators Await Legal Decision [06/25/10] "Following a meeting of a group of Senators whose states stand to lose potentially thousands of jobs related to the Constellation program, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) said on June 22, regarding the on-going shut-down of Constellation contracts: "We want an independent legal opinion, which could make a difference in where we are. We think this is clearly a violation of the congressional intent. ... Earlier in the day, Sessions had a meeting with NASA administrator Charlie Bolden, which he characterized as "troubling." "I didn't get the feeling there is any real give in their position," Sessions said. "We should not think that the president at the moment has any plans to make significant alterations to what they have stated is their goal."[...]"     

What's wrong with the sun?  [06/17/10] "... What's special about this latest dip is that the sun is having trouble starting the next solar cycle. The sun began to calm down in late 2007, so no one expected many sunspots in 2008. But computer models predicted that when the spots did return, they would do so in force. Hathaway was  reported as thinking the next solar cycle would be a "doozy": more sunspots, more solar storms and more energy blasted into space. Others predicted that it would be the most active solar cycle on record. The trouble was, no one told the sun.  The first sign that the prediction was wrong came when 2008 turned out to be even calmer than expected. That year, the sun was spot-free 73 per cent of the time, an extreme dip even for a solar minimum. Only the minimum of 1913 was more pronounced, with 85 per cent of that year clear. As 2009 arrived, solar physicists looked for some action. They didn't get it. The sun continued to languish until mid-December, when the largest group of sunspots to emerge for several years appeared. Finally, a return to normal? Not really. Even with the solar cycle finally under way again, the number of sunspots has so far been well below expectations. Something appears to have changed inside the sun, something the models did not predict. But what? [...]  the conveyor-belt flows of gas across the sun's surface have been speeding up since 2004.  Analysing data from 2009, they found that while the surface flows had sped up, the internal ones had slowed to a crawl. [...]  Since 2003, spaceborne instruments have been measuring the intensity of the sun's output at various wavelengths and looking for correlations with solar activity. The results point to the sun's emissions of ultraviolet light. "The ultraviolet is varying much, much, much more than we expected," says Lockwood. [...] the sun's energy output is changing ... there is also evidence that the sun is inexorably losing its ability to produce sunspots (see "The sunspot forecast"). By 2015, they could be gone altogether, plunging us into a new Maunder minimum - and perhaps a new Little Ice Age. Although sunspots are making a belated comeback after the protracted solar minimum, the signs are that all is not well. For decades, William Livingston at the National Solar Observatory in Tucson, Arizona, has been measuring the strength of the magnetic fields which puncture the sun's surface and cause the spots to develop. Last year, he and colleague Matt Penn pointed out that the average strength of sunspot magnetic fields has been sliding dramatically since 1995. If the trend continues, in just five years the field will have slipped below the threshold magnetic field needed for sunspots to form."     

NASA warns that solar flares from space storm will cause destruction [06/16/10] "National power grids could overheat and air travel severely disrupted while electronic items, navigation devices and major satellites could stop working after the Sun reaches its maximum power in a few years.  Senior space agency scientists believe the Earth will be hit with unprecedented levels of magnetic energy from solar flares after the Sun wakes “from a deep slumber” sometime around 2013, The Daily Telegraph can disclose. In a new warning, Nasa said the super storm would hit like “a bolt of lightning” and could cause catastrophic consequences for the world’s health, emergency services and national security unless precautions are taken. [...]"  Note:  Suppose this comes early, what with the departure of the Planetary entity, as well as all of us.

The end of the world as we know it [06/15/10] "Apocalyptic thought has a tradition that dates to the Persian prophet Zoroaster in the 14th century BC. Recently, anxiety has grown over the prediction of the end of the world in the Mayan calendar.  It's true that the Mayan odometer will hit zeros on 21 December 2012, as it reaches the end of a 394-year cycle called a baktun. But this baktun is part of a larger 8,000-year cycle called a pictun, and there's no evidence that anything astronomically untoward will happen as the current baktun slides into the next. However, that hasn't stopped the feverish speculating that sells books and cinema tickets.  What kind of catastrophe would it take to end the world? Astronomical intruders provide a potentially serious threat. Impacts can be caused by stray rubble from the Asteroid Belt and the rocky snowballs that travel in highly elliptical orbits in the comet cloud. There are many fewer large bits of debris than small bits, so the interval between large impacts is much longer than the interval between small impacts.  That's good news. Every century or so, a 10-meter meteor slams into the Earth with the force of a small nuclear device. Tunguska was the site of the last, in 1908, and it was pure luck that that meteor landed in the uninhabited wilderness of Siberia. Every few thousand years, Earth can pass through unusually thick parts of the debris trail of comets, turning the familiar light show of a meteor shower into a deadly firestorm. Roughly every 100,000 years, a projectile hundreds of meters across unleashes power equal to the world's nuclear arsenals. The result is devastation over an area the size of England, global tidal waves (if the impact is in the ocean), and enough dust flung into the atmosphere to dim the Sun and kill off vegetation. That could ruin your day. Then there's the "Big One". About every 100 million years, a rock the size of a small asteroid slams into the Earth, causing global earthquakes, kilometre-high tidal waves, and immediately killing all large land animals. Creatures in the sea soon follow, as trillions of tons of vaporised rock cause drastic cooling and the destruction of the food chain based on photosynthesis. There's good evidence that this happened 65 million years ago and our tiny mammal ancestors were the beneficiaries as the giant lizards were extinguished. [...]"   

Moon Has 100 Times More Water, New Study Suggests [06/15/10] "The moon's interior may harbor 100 times more water than previous estimates, according to a new study that took a fresh look at samples of moon rocks collected by Apollo astronauts nearly 40 years ago. The researchers determined that the lunar water likely originated early in the moon's formation history, suggesting that it is, in fact, native to the moon. [...]"  

A third of Mars once covered by ocean: study [06/15/10] "A huge, potentially life-giving sea likely covered more than a third of Mars some 3.5 billion years ago, according to a study released Sunday.  Spread over an area the size of the Atlantic Ocean, it would have straddled the north pole and contained the equivalent of a tenth of the water on Earth. For decades scientists have argued as to whether the Red Planet  once harboured bodies of water big enough to help nourish a true hydrological cycle marked by evaporation and rainfall. [...]"   

Boldly going nowhere: NASA ends plan to put man back on Moon [06/14/10] "NASA has begun to wind down construction of the rockets and spacecraft that were to have taken astronauts back to the Moon — effectively dismantling the US human spaceflight programme despite a congressional ban on its doing so.  Legislators have accused President Obama’s Administration of contriving to slip the termination of the Constellation programme through the back door to avoid a battle on Capitol Hill. Constellation aimed to build upon what was arguably America’s greatest technological achievement, the first lunar landing of 1969, by launching new expeditions to the Moon and to Mars and worlds beyond. Mr Obama proposed in February that it should be scrapped because it was “over budget, behind schedule and lacking in innovation”, but he has met opposition in Congress, which has yet to approve his plan. The head of NASA, Major-General Charlie Bolden — an Obama appointee — has now written to aerospace contractors telling them to cut back immediately on Constellation-related projects costing almost $1 billion (£690 million), to comply with regulations requiring them to budget for possible contract termination costs. The move has been branded a “disingenuous legal maneuver” and referred to NASA’s inspector-general for investigation. “It’s bordering on arrogance by the Administration to boldly and brazenly go forward with this approach. It shows a blatant disregard for Congress,” said the Republican Congressman Rob Bishop, of Utah, whose constituency stands to lose thousands of jobs. Two weeks ago the Senate passed legislation that compels NASA to continue work on Constellation unless Congress directs otherwise. That legislation is due to be signed into law by Mr Obama this month while Congress continues its deliberations over his proposal to cancel the current space space progamme. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Texas Republican and member of the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said: “The timing of NASA’s decision to push forward with these actions now, before this becomes law, is highly questionable.” NASA is “willfully subverting the repeatedly expressed will of Congress”, she added.  [...]"  Commentary:  Obama Shutdown of Constellation is Illegal Abuse of Power  "In addition to the fact that the attempt by the Obama Administration to use a 140-year-old law to shut down NASA's Constellation program is an illegal abuse of power under current statute regarding the program, in a similar case six years ago, the United States Supreme Court ruled that while the law may be on the books, the "state of the law compels us to hold this clause void and unenforceable." [...]"   

Bizarre Lightning Caught on Tape [06/11/10] Video clip "Spectacular light shows shooting out of the tops of storms clouds have been reported by pilots for decades. At first, scientists didn't believe what the pilots claimed to be seeing. Now the strange colored lights have been captured on high-speed video. The fleeting, brilliant electric phenomena are known as elves and sprites. These electric displays are produced in the upper layers of the atmosphere. They've been photographed and videotaped before, but in the new research, they have been captured in a variety of forms that will allow the researchers to study the structure and dynamics of these strange electric discharges. [...]"  

Scientists Think Something Is Living on Saturn Moon [06/08/10] "Something is sucking up hydrogen on one of Saturn's moons and NASA scientists believe it could be alive. Data from the Cassini probe suggests there is less hydrogen and acetylene on Titan's surface than scientists expected, a phenomenon that could be explained by the existence of primitive, methane-based lifeforms, the researchers write. "We suggested hydrogen consumption because it's the obvious gas for life to consume on Titan, similar to the way we consume oxygen on Earth," one of the astrobiologists says. "If these signs do turn out to be a sign of life, it would be doubly exciting because it would represent a second form of life independent from water-based life on Earth." [...]"    

NASA Plans for Large Scale Failure, Power Grid is “Particularly Vulnerable to Bad Space Weather” [06/08/10] "For many it’s either tin foil conspiracy theory or an action packed  Hollywood Armageddon flick. For the National Aeronautics and Space Administration it’s a serious threat, with the potential to wipe out the technologically driven lives we’ve become so used to.  Our sun is approaching a period of high turbulence, referred to as the solar maximum, with many scientists suggesting a peak in activity around 2013. The cycle occurs every 11 years, and the next time around it is predicted to be one of the weakest in decades. However, some contrary opinions hold that the next solar maximum may be stronger than we expect, citing a 26,000 year galactic alignment cycle, scheduled to occur on or around 2012, eerily coinciding with the end of the Mayan calendar. One organization that isn’t taking any chances is NASA. As the sun begins to awaken, scientists are keeping a close eye on space weather: “The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity. At the same time, our technological society has developed an unprecedented sensitivity to solar storms. The intersection of these two issues is what we’re getting together to discuss.” The National Academy of Sciences framed the problem two years ago in a landmark report entitled “Severe Space Weather Events—Societal and Economic Impacts.” It noted how people of the 21st-century rely on high-tech systems for the basics of daily life. Smart power grids, GPS navigation, air travel, financial services and emergency radio communications can all be knocked out by intense solar activity. A century-class solar storm, the Academy warned, could cause twenty times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina. A 132-page NASA funded report titled Severe Space Weather Events—Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts, suggests that the right magnitude storm could be devastating: To estimate the scale of such a failure, report co-author John Kappenmann of the Metatech Corporation looked at the great geomagnetic storm of May 1921, which produced ground currents as much as ten times stronger than the 1989 Quebec storm, and modeled its effect on the modern power grid. He found more than 350 transformers at risk of permanent damage and 130 million people without power. The loss of electricity would ripple across the social infrastructure with “water distribution affected within several hours; perishable foods and medications lost in 12-24 hours; loss of heating/air conditioning, sewage disposal, phone service, fuel re-supply and so on.” “The concept of interdependency,” the report notes, “is evident in the unavailability of water due to long-term outage of electric power–and the inability to restart an electric generator without water on site.” [...]"   

Video: Jupiter takes a hit from fireball [06/05/10] "Two amateur astronomers in the South Pacific captured on video the impact of a fireball on the surface of Jupiter. NBC's Brian Williams reports. (Nightly News) [...]"  Related:   Jupiter probably hit by asteroid last year   "An object that hit Jupiter last year and left a scar the size of Pacific Ocean was probably an asteroid, say astronomers. [...]"  

More of Obama's Lies To Kill NASA's Moon/Mars Program [06/02/10] "The widespread and vocal opposition to President Obama's proposal to kill NASA's Constellation space exploration program, forced him, on April 15th, to announce that development of the Orion crew vehicle would not be cancelled, but scaled back as a crew rescue vehicle, mainly to prevent thousands of layoffs. Now, it has been revealed, this was all a ruse. The Administration is considering ending the Orion program after all, and holding a new competition to build the crew rescue vehicle. [...]"    Related: Everyone Is Going to the Moon, Except the U.S. "More than 450 delegates from 26 nations have gathered this week in Beijing, for the Global Lunar Conference. The 350 technical presentations will include the lunar exploration plans by at least China, Europe, Russia, Japan, India, and South Korea. The conference was organized by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) to promote coordination among the space-faring nations in mankind's exploration of the Moon. Opening presentations were made yesterday by China, the head of the IAF, the European Space Agency, and Canada. [...]"  

Space so full of junk that a satellite collision could destroy communications on Earth [05/27/10] "Space is so littered with debris that a collision between satellites could set off an “uncontrolled chain reaction” capable of destroying the communications network on Earth, a Pentagon report has warned.  [...]"  

Amateur sky watchers 'solve mystery of unmanned US space plane' [05/25/10] "A secret, unmanned US space plane has been sent into orbit to develop a new type of spy satellite, according to a group of amateur sky watchers who have managed to track its first mission. The Boeing-built X-37B, the robotic successor to the space shuttle, took off from Florida last month tucked inside the nose cone of an Atlas rocket. The US Air Force's 29-ft long craft, known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, looks similar to the shuttle, but is about a quarter the size.  By deploying solar panels in space, it can stay in orbit for nine months before automatically landing itself back on Earth.  The US military refused to give any details about what it would be doing for all that time and was so secretive about the mission that it even refused to disclose the whereabouts of the upper stage of the launch rocket. The extreme secrecy prompted speculation that the X-37B's main purpose would be as a launch pad for a new generation of space weapons.  However, an international group of space observers that claims it has been able to track the spaceship has given credence to a rival theory that the craft is instead testing sensors for powerful new spy satellites. Ted Molczan, a space observer from Toronto, told The New York Times that the X-37B was passing over the same region on Earth every four days, which he said was the usual behaviour of American imaging satellites.  Its trajectory has been taking it over various regions where the US military has interests, including Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and North Korea.  They said the craft was about 255 miles up and orbiting the planet around every 90 minutes.  On a clear night, it can be seen moving like a bright star across the sky. Senior Pentagon officials have insisted the spaceship is not involved in new weapons but will be used to help military missions on the ground.  The 11-year-old project was originally started by Nasa but was taken over by the Air Force in 2006. [...]"    Related:  Surveillance Suspected as Spacecraft’s Main Role  [05/25/10] "A team of amateur sky watchers has pierced the veil of secrecy surrounding the debut flight of the nation’s first robotic spaceplane, finding clues that suggest the military craft is engaged in the development of spy satellites rather than space weapons, which some experts have suspected but the Pentagon strongly denies. In interviews and statements, Pentagon leaders strongly denied that the winged plane had anything to do with space weapons, even while conceding that its ultimate goal was to aid terrestrial war fighters with a variety of ancillary missions. The secretive flight, civilian specialists said in recent weeks, probably centers at least partly on testing powerful sensors for a new generation of spy satellites. The X-37B can stay aloft for as long as nine months because it deploys solar panels for power, unlike the space shuttle. Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard astronomer who tracks rocket launchings and space activity, said the secrecy surrounding the X-37B even extended to the whereabouts of the rocket’s upper stage, which was sent into an unknown orbit around the sun. In one of his regular Internet postings, he said that appeared to be the first time the United States had put a space vehicle into a solar orbit that is “officially secret.”  [...]"  Note: Why would they launch the upper stage of a rocket into orbit around the Sun?  

Jupiter Loses a Stripe [05/13/10] "Jupiter has lost one of its prominent stripes, leaving its southern half looking unusually blank. Scientists are not sure what triggered the disappearance of the band.  Jupiter’s appearance is usually dominated by two dark bands in its atmosphere – one in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern hemisphere. But recent images taken by amateur astronomers show that the southern band – called the south equatorial belt – has disappeared.  The band was present at the end of 2009, right before Jupiter moved too close to the sun in the sky to be observed from Earth. When the planet emerged from the sun’s glare again in early April, its south equatorial belt was nowhere to be seen. This is not the first time the south equatorial belt has disappeared. It was absent in 1973 when NASA’s Pioneer 10 spacecraft took the first closeup images of the planet and also temporarily vanished in the early 1990s. The disappearance of the belt comes at a time of widespread – but mysterious – change on Jupiter, which has seen changes to the colour of other bands and spots in its atmosphere. “There has been a lot going on,” Orton says. [...]"  

Solar Dynamics Observatory Observes Massive Eruption, Scorching Rain [04/29/10] [0:33]  "“SDO has just observed a massive eruption on the sun—one of the biggest in years,” says Lika Guhathakurta of NASA headquarters in Washington DC. “The footage is not only dramatic, but also could solve a longstanding mystery of solar physics.” Karel Schrijver of Lockheed Martin’s Solar and Astrophysics Lab is leading the analysis. “We can see a billion tons of magnetized plasma blasting into space while debris from the explosion falls back onto the sun surface. These may be our best data yet.” The movie, recorded on April 19th, spans four hours of actual time and more than 100,000 km of linear space. “It’s huge,” says Schrijver. Indeed, the entire planet Earth could fit between the plasma streamers with room to spare. Astronomers have seen eruptions like this before, but rarely so large and never in such fluid detail. As science team member Alan Title of Lockheed Martin pointed out at last week’s press conference, “no other telescope comes close to the combined spatial, temporal and spectral resolution of SDO.” Schrijver says his favorite part of the movie is the coronal rain. “Blobs of plasma are falling back to the surface of the sun, making bright splashes where they hit,” he explains. “This is a phenomenon I’ve been studying for years.” ..."  Related: Color-coded temperature movie [04/29/10] [0:33]   Article

Magnetic field has been detected on the surface of the moon [04/28/10] "A miniature magnetic field has been imaged on the surface of the moon, making it a rare, minimally protective lunar refuge from some aspects of the harsh solar wind.  The magnetic region could be a great place to site a lunar base, since tomorrow's lunar colonists will not only need water (check!), but some protection from the heavy radiation in the solar wind. "You can think of it as kind of a mini umbrella," said Martin Wieser of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Kiruna, Sweden. "It will be effective for certain kinds of (space) weather." But it is very weak in comparison to Earth's planet-wide magnetic field or even compared to the splotchy magnetospheres of Mars.  The 224-mile- (360-kilometer-) wide magnetosphere was detected by an instrument on the Indian Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. The mini magnetosphere revealed itself by fewer hydrogen atoms scattering off the surface of the moon. Generally when the solar wind rams into the airless surface of the moon, some hydrogen atoms scatter back into space.  ..."   

Hubble Space Telescope clocks up 20 years [04/23/10] "looks at a troubled history, some remarkable discoveries and the future of the instrument. ..."   

First Stunning Images From NASA’s Solar Observatory [04/22/10] Video clip [1:02]  Note:  NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory website.

U.K.'s Financial Times Says Obama Didn't Go Far Enough to Kill NASA [04/20/10] "Yesterday's Financial Times, while applauding President Obama's decision to scrap Constellation and the Moon program, opines that he "flunked the opportunity to drop it entirely," promising instead that someday there will be manned missions to Mars. The FT takes particular aim at what they call "NASA's fuzzier 'Dan Dare' mission, based on the idea of man's 'need to discover'"—i.e., the quest for scientific knowledge per se which is the very basis of NASA's true achievements, and which the British so hate. ..."  

Solar Wildcard Continues: NASA Captures Massive Solar Eruption, Largest Prominence In 15 Years [04/17/10] Video clip [0:12]  "NASA's STEREO spacecraft has captured specta Note: cular images of a solar eruption, the largest solar prominence in 15 years. The activity was caught on camera in extreme UV light as the prominence blasted away from the sun on April 12 and April 13.  Prominences are cool clouds of plasma that hover above the Sun's surface, notoriously unstable and on occasion they erupt like this one. However, this one was much more dramatic than most, NASA says. NASA pieced together images to create this amazing video clip, showing about 19 hours of activity. ..."  Note: Here we go ...  See also Solar Analysis Predicted Mexico Earthquake [04/06/10] and Biggest Solar Flare In Almost Two Years Erupts [01/21/10] articles below.  It's interesting that the story line in the recent motion picture 2012 involved a massive CME, which triggered the destruction seen in the movie.

  Documentary: The Universe: End of the Earth [04/17/10] Video clip [44:00]  "In ‘The End of the Earth’, our experts discuss how the earth has become an extremely dangerous place to live within the wider universe. According to many cosmologists, it is only a matter of time before a cosmic force will annihilate the planet. At this very moment, NASA’s top brass and other scientists are arming themselves with the latest technology to pre-empt an apocalyptic attack. We investigate a number of bizarre, unexplained and terrifying ‘end of earth’ scenarios. We meet scientists from around the world who are racing against the clock to develop technology to detect and defend our planet from apocalyptic demons. The prime suspects: asteroids, comets, gamma ray bursts, the sun and the Big Rip - a mysterious phenomenon called ‘dark energy’ which could eventually rip apart everything in the universe..."

Barack Obama ends NASA space race with slow road to Mars [04/17/10] "President Obama promised a “leap into the future” for Nasa yesterday in a speech designed to quell a growing dispute over his cuts to manned space exploration, and to persuade critics that America will eventually put astronauts on Mars. Despite cancelling Constellation, the $108 billion (more than £69 bn) programme that aimed to get astronauts to the Moon by 2020 and the Red Planet by 2030, he outlined a series of “stepping stone” destinations where Nasa will first seek a foothold in deep space using humans and robots.  ..."  Note: Yeah ..... we already knew last year that NASA was canned .... 

Massive fireball reported across Midwestern sky [04/16/10] Video clip [1:10]  "Authorities in several Midwestern states were flooded Wednesday night with reports of a gigantic fireball lighting up the sky, the National Weather Service said.  The fireball was visible for about 15 minutes beginning about 10 p.m., said the National Weather Service in Sullivan, Wisconsin, just west of Milwaukee. "The fireball was seen over the northern sky, moving from west to east," said the NWS in the Quad Cities area, which includes parts of Iowa and Illinois. "Well before it reached the horizon, it broke up into smaller pieces and was lost from sight," the service said. "Several reports of a prolonged sonic boom were received from areas north of Highway 20, along with shaking of homes, trees and various other objects including wind chimes," it said. It said the fireball was seen across parts of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. CNN affiliate WISN-TV said that people in Ohio also saw it. Video from WISN showed a massive ball of light exploding across the sky.  ..."Well before it reached the horizon, it broke up into smaller pieces and was lost from sight," the service said. "Several reports of a prolonged sonic boom were received from areas north of Highway 20, along with shaking of homes, trees and various other objects including wind chimes  ...."  

Mysterious Radio Waves Emitted from Nearby Galaxy [04/15/10] "There is something strange in the cosmic neighbourhood. An unknown object in the nearby galaxy M82 has started sending out radio waves, and the emission does not look like anything seen anywhere in the universe before. “We don’t know what it is,” says co-discoverer Tom Muxlow of Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics near Macclesfield, UK. The thing appeared in May last year, while Muxlow and his colleagues were monitoring an unrelated stellar explosion in M82 using the MERLIN network of radio telescopes in the UK. A bright spot of radio emission emerged over only a few days, quite rapidly in astronomical terms. Since then it has done very little except baffle astrophysicists. ..."  

Distant planets' orbits rattle theories [04/15/10] "Some highly unusual planets orbiting other stars are calling into question theories about how solar systems are formed  ..."  

 Emerging Research:  Chile Earthquake Hypersymmetry with Full Moon - Jupiter Conjunction - Northern CME - More Storms [04/09/10] [2:57]  

Solar Analysis Predicted Mexico Earthquake [04/08/10] "A severe seismic event with several strong aftershocks, is indicated in the northern hemisphere before April 12th 2010. The event may produce severe shaking through a broad latitude from 1 degree north latitude to 25 degrees north latitude plus or minus 10 degrees. The event maybe accompanied by a very strong event 30 additional degrees north plus or minus 10 degrees.  The exact location of the events is unknown. Recent activity along the San Andreas fault and at the seams of the Philippine Plate indicates one of those regions as the most likely location. The shape of the coronal disturbances, however, seem to fit the features of the San Andreas fault. Analysis of activity in other coronal features indicates a possible tsunami in the northern reaches of the effected region.  The most likely days for the event, are April 4th 5th and 6th. This experimental log is a service of the Cosabio Virtual Institute and is not suitable for emergency response. Emergency managers are encouraged to use all available data, including other earthquake indicators, in consideration of appropriate action. An annotated video version of this forecast will be available at: http://youtube.com/astrotometry    UPDATE 1 | UPDATE 2 

Postulate: Relationship between Coronal Holes and Active Regions  [04/08/10] Video clip [2:10]  "This may be a key factor in understanding the coronal hole earthquake relationship as to why some holes appear beneath and active region and some do not. ..."   

Search on for Death Star that throws out deadly comets [03/15/10] "The star, also known as Nemesis, is five times the size of Jupiter and could be to blame for the impact that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The bombardment of icy missiles is being blamed by some scientists for mass extinctions of life that they say happen every 26 million years.  ...Nemesis is predicted to lie at a distance equal to 25,000 times that of the Earth from the Sun, or a third of a light-year. A major clue to Nemesis's existence is a mysterious dwarf planet called Sedna that was spotted on an elongated 12,000-year-long orbit around the sun. Mike Brown, who discovered Sedna in 2003, said: "Sedna is a very odd object – it shouldn't be there! It never comes anywhere close to any of the giant planets or the sun. It's way, way out there on this incredibly eccentric orbit. The only way to get on an eccentric orbit is to have some giant body kick you – so what is out there?" Professor John Matese, of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, says most comets in the inner solar system seem to come from the same region of the Oort Cloud – launched by the pull of a companion star to the sun that scatters comets in its wake. He suggests it is up to five times the size of Jupiter or 7,000 times the size of Earth. He said: "There is statistically significant evidence that this concentration of comets could be caused by a companion to the Sun. "   

Solar Storms Could Be Earth's Next Katrina [03/01/10] "A massive solar storm could leave millions of people around the world without electricity, running water, or phone service, government officials say. ...a solar Katrina would cause damage in a much larger area than any natural disaster, Fugate says. For example, power could be knocked out almost simultaneously in countries ..."   

23,000 now expected to lose jobs after shuttle retirement [02/27/10] "The local economic forecast tied to President Barack Obama's proposed NASA budget keeps growing bleaker. Revised projections now show that about 23,000 workers at and around Kennedy Space Center will lose their jobs because of the shuttles' retirement and the new proposal to cancel the development of new rockets and spacecraft. ..."   

Cosmic-ray theory unravels [02/23/10] "Astronomers using a giant array of detectors in Argentina had thought three years ago they were close to solving the mystery of the Universe's highest energy cosmic rays. But the same researchers have now had to backpedal in the face of new observations that threaten their earlier conclusions about the origins and composition of these intense particles.  ..."  

NASA Told To Forget Space - Focus On "Muslim Outreach" [02/19/10] "Bolden referred to the new mission as an effort to reach out to “non-traditional partners,” especially countries that don’t have an established space program. Of special focus is Indonesia because it’s the world’s largest Muslim nation, Bolden explained. No word yet on how much money the U.S. government will invest in the Muslim outreach.  In the meantime, a congressional firestorm has brewed over Obama’s plans to nix the moon-mission program, according to news reports. Dozens of federal lawmakers have sent letters to NASA’s chief insisting that the Constellation moon program remain intact. Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, blasted Obama for cutting the moon program since it will likely cause the U.S. to fall behind countries like China and Russia in space exploration.  ..."   

Sun & Climate Change  [02/15/10] VIDEO [9:49] "The SOHO (Solar & Heliospheric Observatory) project is a cooperative effort between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. SOHO was designed to study the internal structure of the Sun, its extensive outer atmosphere and the origin of the solar wind, the stream of highly ionized gas that blows continuously outward through the Solar System." Note:  Very nice clip.    Related:  SOHO C3 2009 Full Year HD VIDEO [7:52]