Apr 22, 2013 Could the dolerite structures in Tasmania be electrical formations? The Island of Tasmania in the south of Australia is one of the most provocative spots on Earth. The remarkable diversity of plant life and the unique animals found nowhere else have provided scientists of every stripe…
Apr 19, 2013 Electric currents create magnetic fields in the Sun. “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” Asking this question always gets a chuckle from a group of kids who haven’t been asked that before. For adults, it confirms their conviction that unanswerable questions must be laughably…
Apr 18, 2013 Some of Saturn’s moons are slightly red in color, as are other bodies in the Solar System. “Mars the red planet” is a familiar phrase. The planet exhibits a faint yellowish-red color when seen with the naked eye, and its rusty surface hue is visible through…
Apr 17, 2013 Dione exhibits some unusual features that may indicate electrical forces at work. Recently, the Cassini-Solstice spacecraft made a close flyby of the moon Enceladus. As the Picture of the Day from May 3, 2012 discussed, the bright plumes emanating from the 500 kilometer moon are most…
Apr 16, 2013 Scientists have found a small but significant deceleration in the Pioneer spacecraft as it makes its way through interstellar space. For several years, NASA analysts have reported a slow but steady “tug” on the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft as they head outward in opposite directions from the…
Apr 15, 2013 Radial filaments within galaxies identify them as plasma phenomena. “If a man does not know what port he is steering for, no wind is favorable to him.” — Seneca The irregular galaxy M82—otherwise known as the Cigar Galaxy—forms a pair with M81, Barnard’s Galaxy in the constellation…
Apr 12, 2013 How can dunes form in an environment “wet with hydrocarbons”? Dune formations have been found in four locations in the Solar System: Earth, Mars, Venus, and Titan. In one instance the average temperature ranges from between 15 and 17 Celsius, with an environment rich in liquid…
Apr 11, 2013 A cloud of interstellar gas and dust will soon be annihilated by a black hole in the center of our galaxy, astronomers say. According to a recent press release: “This is the first time ever that the approach of such a doomed cloud to a supermassive black…
Apr 10, 2013 Galactic magnetic fields were discovered more than 50 years ago. Astronomers continue to ask basic questions about galaxies: what generates their magnetic fields? What gives those fields their shape and their strength? Researchers using the latest computer simulations think they have found the answers. Cool gas…
Apr 09, 2013 Rather than volcanic vents, pits in craters could be a sign of electrical activity. On August 3, 2004, NASA launched the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) experiment from the Cape Canaveral facility on a 7-year mission to study the Solar System’s innermost planet. The last…
