Mar 31, 2015 Supernovae might not be what astrophysicists claim. Type 1A supernovae are important to astronomers for two reasons: their light-curves, or graphs of their intensity over time, are considered to be so predictable that they can be used as cosmic measuring rods, with a theoretical accuracy of 3.26…
Mar 30, 2015 The astronomical subdiscipline of comparative planetology is an offspring of the wealth of in situ measurements obtained by space probes. An improved understanding of the physical and chemical conditions prevailing on other planets and moons in the solar system not only helps to place terrestrial systems…
The message has been loud and clear for many years—a community of scientists insisting that human activity is warming our planet, taking humanity to the edge of a precipice. But now, as science begins to understand earth’s place in the electric solar system, the meaning of the present warming plateau…
The subject of this video series by Dave Talbott is the ancient experience of towering celestial forms that are no longer present. From a single snapshot of the configuration, we can work backwards to the first appearance of these bodies out of an undifferentiated cloud or sea of dusty plasma….
Mar 27, 2015 Hot gas or streams of charged particles? Complex rings, knots, and twisted streamers are often ejected from stars (and other celestial objects). The overall shape of so-called “planetary nebulae” sometimes reveal gigantic, bifurcated jets emerging from their central stars, indicating the beginnings of helical shapes. According…
Mar 26, 2015 Particle jets are not caused by black holes. How jets of ionized particles erupt from various objects in space is one of the most difficult problems facing modern astronomers. What force creates energetic particle emissions that can sometimes span distances measured in light-years, or even thousands of…
Mar 25, 2015 Undetectable, unseen, and unknown. In previous Picture of the Day articles about the existence of “dark matter,” it was noted that it is an add-on, or ad-hoc, theory because the lack of luminous matter in the Universe is a problem for “Big Bang cosmology.” The Big…
Mar 24, 2014 Lakes are supposed to exist on Titan. Could that be a misinterpretation of electrical effects? The then named Cassini-Huygens mission was launched October 15, 1997 on a mission to explore Saturn and titan, its largest moon. With the Huygens lander included, Cassini was the largest interplanetary…
Mar 23. 2015 Filaments in nebulae suggest charge separation in space. The Orion Nebula is visible to the naked eye in the constellation Orion; it is the second star in Orion’s sword. Astrophysicists believe several formations in the cloud are star-forming regions because high frequency light emanates from many active…
The subject of this video series by Dave Talbott is the ancient experience of towering celestial forms that are no longer present. From a single snapshot of the configuration, we can work backwards to the first appearance of these bodies out of an undifferentiated cloud or sea of dusty plasma….
