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Post by gus on Jan 12, 2020 1:34:45 GMT
I have come to the realisation that sovereign nations with different agendas instead of a united Earth with one purpose is a great threat to ETs.
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Post by swamprat on Jan 13, 2020 16:27:07 GMT
New Hubble view of gigantic galaxy by Eleanor Imster and Deborah Byrd in SPACE | January 13, 2020
The Hubble Telescope released this glorious image of the spiral galaxy UGC 2885 on January 6. This image was made in part as a tribute to dark matter pioneer Vera Rubin.
The year 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, and both NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) – which worked together to launch the space telescope on April 24, 1990 – are celebrating. On January 6, to kickstart the anniversary year, SpaceTelescope.org released a glorious new image of UGC 2885, one of the largest spiral galaxies in the local universe. Our Milky Way is a spiral, too, but this galaxy is one of the largest known in the local universe, 2 1/2 times wider than our Milky Way with 10 times as many stars. It’s 232 million light-years away, in the direction of the northern constellation Perseus the Hero. The animated version of the image (above) gives you a dreamy look at this majestic star island.
In its image release statement, SpaceTelescope.org called UBC 2885:
"…a gentle giant." That’s because, they said:
"...it looks as if it has been sitting quietly over billions of years, possibly sipping hydrogen from the filamentary structure of intergalactic space. This is fueling modest ongoing star birth at a rate half that of our Milky Way. In fact, its supermassive central black hole is also a sleeping giant; because the galaxy does not appear to be feeding on much smaller satellite galaxies, it is starved of infalling gas."
UGC 2885 is one of the spiral galaxies studied by the famous astronomer Vera Rubin (1928–2016) in her groundbreaking research in the 1970s. Rubin is herself a kind of gentle giant in the history of astronomy. She and astronomer Kent Ford examined more than 60 spiral galaxies. They found, in every case, that stars on the outer edges of galaxies revolved around the galaxies’ centers at least as fast as those in the inner regions. That observed fact ran counter to Kepler’s Laws of Motion, formulated in the early 1600s. Kepler’s insights suggested that stars in a galaxy’s outer regions should be moving more slowly than those in its inner regions, just as the outer planets in our solar system move more slowly than the inner planets.
Astronomers reached a dramatic conclusion about Rubin and Ford’s findings: "these galaxies contain mass we cannot see." This missing mass today is called dark matter.
Dark matter pioneer Vera Rubin (1928-2016). This image – taken at Lowell Observatory – is from 1965. Image via Carnegie Institute/ NPR.
Thus astronomer Benne Holwerda of University of Louisville – who observed the galaxy with the Hubble Space Telescope and obtained this marvelous image – has nicknamed this galaxy Rubin’s galaxy.
When he applied for time on the Hubble Space Telescope, he wrote that he did so in part to create this tribute image in Rubin’s name.
It is a beautiful tribute and seems fitting.
As an aside, the telescope formerly called the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope has been renamed the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, also in Rubin’s honor. According to this January 9, 2020, story in The Atlantic, it is the first American observatory to be named after a woman.
Galaxy UGC 2885 as seen with the Hubble Space Telescope. Foreground stars in the Milky Way are identifiable by their diffraction spikes. For example, the brightest star in the image appears to sit on top of the galaxy’s disk (on the left side of the image), but it doesn’t. That’s a foreground star. Image via NASA/ ESA/ SpaceTelescope.org/ B. Holwerda.
Bottom line: New Hubble image of giant spiral galaxy UGC 2885.
earthsky.org/space/new-hubble-view-gigantic-galaxy-ugc2885-video
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Post by HAL on Jan 13, 2020 23:03:52 GMT
..I have come to the realisation that sovereign nations with different agendas instead of a united Earth with one purpose is a great threat to ETs. ..
Surely, a completely united Earth would be a greater threat to any Aliens (should they exist).
HAL.
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Post by gus on Jan 14, 2020 1:51:45 GMT
.. I have come to the realisation that sovereign nations with different agendas instead of a united Earth with one purpose is a great threat to ETs. .. Surely, a completely united Earth would be a greater threat to any Aliens (should they exist). HAL. Hi Hal aways a pleasure talking to you. This one has been giving me a headache late at night. So here is my thinking, in a way. To be a fully united Earth we have to at some point realise that we are in a symbiotic relationship with everyone one Earth. Catastrophic Climate Change could help us achieve this. This in turn will give us a better understanding that we are all connected globally. The Greys talk about this concept often but also on a Universal level. Currently we have nations doing a multitude of reckless things in space. One best case example is the US trying to nuke the moon. I only say this as best case example on an enlightened human race that can interact in space peacefully. I think Hal you make a very good point, as we have very few examples of humanity acting in a enlightened way. On another note been thinking of you while watching Ricky Gervais and his perspective on Noah's Arch. Love it. Thanks for the chat
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Post by HAL on Jan 14, 2020 21:45:35 GMT
Ricky Gervais ? can't stand him.
He was funny in one film, but his sit-com stuff is incredibly difficult to see. His 'The Office' was the kind pf performance that would make one want to take him onto the roof and throw him over the edge; just to be rid of him.
There will never be a united Earth.
It is a plaything for a few ultra rich people. As long as they can keep the proles happy with drugs, alcohol and tv they have no need to worry. Most people don't even know what day it is, let alone the real dangers we are in.
Just my opinion; of course.
HAL.
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Post by gus on Jan 15, 2020 15:15:50 GMT
Ricky Gervais ? can't stand him. He was funny in one film, but his sit-com stuff is incredibly difficult to see. His 'The Office' was the kind pf performance that would make one want to take him onto the roof and throw him over the edge; just to be rid of him. There will never be a united Earth. It is a plaything for a few ultra rich people. As long as they can keep the proles happy with drugs, alcohol and tv they have no need to worry. Most people don't even know what day it is, let alone the real dangers we are in. Just my opinion; of course. HAL. Love to hear your opinion or anyone else’s
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Post by swamprat on Jan 16, 2020 3:22:02 GMT
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Post by swamprat on Jan 17, 2020 23:25:02 GMT
The most distant galaxy found so far. 13 Billion light years from Earth.
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Post by gus on Jan 19, 2020 14:43:06 GMT
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Post by swamprat on Jan 21, 2020 1:06:22 GMT
Astronomers Discover the Best Places to Look for “Genesis II” and Intelligent Alien Life By NASA | January 19, 2020
Comparison of G, K, and M Stars for Habitability
This infographic compares the characteristics of three classes of stars in our galaxy: sunlike stars are classified as G stars; stars less massive and cooler than our sun are K dwarfs; and even fainter and cooler stars are the reddish M dwarfs. The graphic compares the stars in terms of several important variables. The habitable zones, potentially capable of hosting life-bearing planets, are wider for hotter stars. The longevity for red dwarf M stars can exceed 100 billion years. K dwarf ages can range from 15 to 45 billion years. And, our sun only lasts for 10 billion years. The relative amount of harmful radiation (to life as we know it) that stars emit can be 80 to 500 times more intense for M dwarfs relative to our sun, but only 5 to 25 times more intense for the orange K dwarfs. Red dwarfs make up the bulk of the Milky Way’s population, about 73%. Sunlike stars are merely 6% of the population, and K dwarfs are at 13%. When these four variables are balanced, the most suitable stars for potentially hosting advanced life forms are K dwarfs.
Credit: NASA, ESA, AND Z. LEVY (STSCI)
Data from Hubble and other telescopes is being used to find “goldilocks stars.” Astronauts took this photograph of the Hubble Space Telescope during the final space shuttle servicing mission to the observatory in May 2009. credit: NASA, Hubble Space Telescope Observatory
Orange Dwarf Stars Most Likely to Host Planets
To date astronomers have discovered over 4,000 planets orbiting other stars. Statistically, there should be over 100 billion planets in our Milky Way galaxy. They come in a wide range of sizes and characteristics, largely unimagined before exoplanets were first discovered in the mid-1990s. The biggest motivation for perusing these worlds is to find “Genesis II,” a planet where life has arisen and evolved beyond microbes. The ultimate payoff would be finding intelligent life off the Earth.
A major step in searching for habitable planets is finding suitable stars that could foster the emergence of complex organisms. Because our Sun has nurtured life on Earth for nearly 4 billion years, conventional wisdom would suggest that stars like it would be prime candidates. But stars like our Sun represent only about 10% of the Milky Way population. What’s more, they are comparatively short-lived. Our Sun is halfway through its estimated 10 billion-year lifetime.
Complex organisms arose on Earth only 500 million years ago. And, the modern form of humans has been here only for the blink of an eye on cosmological timescales: 200,000 years. The future of humanity is unknown. But what is for certain is that Earth will become uninhabitable for higher forms of life in a little over 1 billion years, as the Sun grows warmer and desiccates our planet.
Therefore, stars slightly cooler than our Sun — called orange dwarfs — are considered better hang-outs for advanced life. They can burn steadily for tens of billions of years. This opens up a vast timescape for biological evolution to pursue an infinity of experiments for yielding robust life forms. And, for every star like our Sun there are three times as many orange dwarfs in the Milky Way.
The only type of star that is more abundant are red dwarfs. But these are feisty little stars. They are so magnetically active they pump out 500 times as much radiation in the form of X-rays and ultraviolet light as our Sun does. Planets around these stars take a beating. They would be no place to call home for organisms like us.
An emerging idea, bolstered by stellar surveys performed by Hubble and other telescopes, is that the orange dwarfs are “Goldilocks stars” — not too hot, not too cool, and above all, not too violent to host life-friendly planets over a vast horizon of cosmic time.
In the search for life beyond Earth, astronomers look for planets in a star’s “habitable zone” — sometimes nicknamed the “Goldilocks zone” — where temperatures are just right for liquid water to exist on a planet’s surface to nurture life as we know it.
An emerging idea, bolstered by a three-decade-long set of stellar surveys, is that there are “Goldilocks stars” — not too hot, not too cool, and above all, not too violent to host life-friendly planets.
Because our Sun has nurtured life on Earth for nearly 4 billion years, conventional wisdom would suggest that stars like it would be prime candidates in the search for other potentially habitable worlds. In reality, stars slightly cooler and less luminous than our Sun, classified as K dwarfs, are the true “Goldilocks stars,” said Edward Guinan of Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania. “K-dwarf stars are in the ‘sweet spot,’ with properties intermediate between the rarer, more luminous, but shorter-lived solar-type stars (G stars) and the more numerous red dwarf stars (M stars). The K stars, especially the warmer ones, have the best of all worlds. If you are looking for planets with habitability, the abundance of K stars pump up your chances of finding life.”
For starters, there are three times as many K dwarfs in our galaxy as stars like our Sun. Roughly 1,000 K stars lie within 100 light-years of our Sun as prime candidates for exploration. These so-called orange dwarfs live from 15 billion to 45 billion years. By contrast, our Sun, now already halfway through its lifetime, lasts for only 10 billion years. Its comparatively rapid rate of stellar evolution will leave the Earth largely uninhabitable in just another 1 or 2 billion years. “Solar-type stars limit how long a planet’s atmosphere can remain stable,” Guinan said. That’s because a billion or so years from now, Earth will orbit inside the hotter (inner) edge of the Sun’s habitable zone, which moves outward as the Sun grows warmer and brighter. As a result, the Earth will be desiccated as it loses its present atmosphere and oceans. By an age of 9 billion years the Sun will have swelled up to become a red giant that could engulf the Earth.
Despite their small size, the even more abundant red dwarf stars, also known as M dwarf stars, have even longer lifetimes and appear to be hostile to life as we know it. Planets that are located in a red dwarf’s comparatively narrow habitable zone, which is very close to the star, are exposed to extreme levels of X-ray and ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which can be up to hundreds of thousands of times more intense than what Earth receives from the Sun. A relentless fireworks show of flares and coronal mass ejections bombard planets with a dragon’s breath of seething plasma and showers of penetrating high-energy particles. Red dwarf habitable-zone planets can be baked bone dry and have their atmospheres stripped away very early in their lives. This could likely prohibit the planets from evolving to be more hospitable a few billion years after red dwarf outbursts have subsided. “We’re not so optimistic anymore about the chances of finding advanced life around many M stars,” Guinan said.
The K dwarfs do not have intensely active magnetic fields that power strong X-ray and UV emissions and energetic outbursts, and therefore they shoot off flares much less frequently, based on Guinan’s research. Accompanying planets would get about 1/100th as much deadly X-ray radiation as those orbiting the close-in habitable zones of magnetically-active M stars.
In a program called the “GoldiloKs” Project, Guinan and his Villanova colleague Scott Engle, are working with undergraduate students to measure the age, rotation rate, and X-ray and far-ultraviolet radiation in a sampling of mostly cool G and K stars. They are using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton satellite for their observations. Hubble’s sensitive ultraviolet-light observations of radiation from hydrogen were used to assess the radiation from a sample of about 20 orange dwarfs. “Hubble is the only telescope that can do this kind of observation,” Guinan said.
Guinan and Engle found that the levels of radiation were much more benign to any accompanying planets than those found around red dwarfs. K stars also have longer lifetimes and therefore slower migration of the habitable zone. Therefore, K dwarfs seem like the ideal place to go looking for life, and these stars would allow time for highly evolved life to develop on planets. Over the Sun’s entire lifetime — 10 billion years — K stars only increase their brightness by about 10-15%, giving biological evolution a much longer timespan to evolve advanced life forms than on Earth.
Guinan and Engle looked at some of the more interesting K stars hosting planets, including Kepler-442, Tau Ceti, and Epsilon Eridani. (The latter two were early targets of the late 1950s Project Ozma — the first attempt to detect radio transmissions from extraterrestrial civilizations.)
“Kepler-442 is noteworthy in that this star (spectral classification, K5) hosts what is considered one of the best Goldilocks planets, Kepler-442b, a rocky planet that is a little more than twice Earth’s mass. So the Kepler-442 system is a Goldilocks planet hosted by a Goldilocks star!” said Guinan.
Over the last 30 years Guinan and Engle and their students have observed a variety of stellar types. Based on their studies, the researchers have determined relationships among stellar age, rotation rate, X-ray-UV emissions, and flare activity. These data have been utilized to investigate the effects of high-energy radiation on planet atmospheres and possible life.
The results are being presented at the 235th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington, D.C.
scitechdaily.com/astronomers-discover-the-best-places-to-look-for-genesis-ii-and-intelligent-alien-life/
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Post by swamprat on Jan 23, 2020 20:00:48 GMT
The History of OUR Universe
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Post by gus on Jan 26, 2020 2:24:18 GMT
Must watch history.
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Post by HAL on Jan 26, 2020 22:11:13 GMT
Sorry Gus, You can only see records of it. But which records do you choose to believe ? HAL
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Post by gus on Jan 27, 2020 0:51:48 GMT
Sorry Gus, You can only see records of it. But which records do you choose to believe ? HAL The word believe is a loaded question for you Hal
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Post by gus on Jan 27, 2020 0:53:22 GMT
UFOs in the clouds makes sense.
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