Underground Plumbing on Mars

Mars once was thought to be dead. Much evidence seems to suggest a different story in the past and may be even presently. Read more

Underground Plumbing System Discovered on Mars
By Ker Than
Staff Writer
posted: 15 February 2007
02:00 pm ET
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070215_candor_chasma.html

Meteorites that come from Mercury?

There was a movie called "8 degrees below" about some arctic dogs left stranded in Antartica. Two guys went hunting for meteorites that supposedly came from Mercury.
One guy found such a meteorite. In any case, I had never of such a thing. I guess I missed some possible clues from 2002. Read below

Friday, 17 May, 2002, 08:37 GMT 09:37 UK

Mercury meteorite puzzle

By Dr David Whitehouse BBC News Online science editor

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1991394.stm

Comets striking each other kicking up dust around star?

Comet clash kicks up dusty haze

Collisions between comets may be kicking up copious amounts of dust observed around a dead star.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6357765.stm

Very interesting new information about meteorite investigation study from India

Very interesting new information about meteorite investigation study from India

A meteorite that fell in Piplia Kalan, a western Rajasthan village, has changed the way scientists think about the birth of the solar system.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/stories/20070223001109000.htm

Tornadoes start to spawn even now Likely tornado kills New Orleans woman

Even in Febuary severe storms and even tornadoes begin to spawn and cause havoc.
POSTED: 1843 GMT (0243 HKT), February 13, 2007
www.cnn.com/WEATHER/9904/04/la.tornado.02/index.html

Lunar eclipse 3/3/2007

Lunar eclipses are not as spectacular as total solar eclipses but the events are still interesting to observe. Lunar eclipse will take place on March 3, 2007. Moon becomes red, orange, brownish depending upon the refraction of the light rays in the atmosphere (volcanic dust etc).
This one however won't be viewed in its entirety though throughout the world. Some countries you only see part of the events as in Kansas.
More info
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/12feb_lunareclipse.htm

more info
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/eclipse.html

Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS: E.O.A.S. (Earth, Oceans, Atmosphere and Space) Blog -<http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/

New powerful microscope looks more closely inside meteorite far better then ever better

New powerful microscope looks more closely inside meteorites , far better then ever done previously

Paul is studying the molecular structure of minerals in a meteorite and is using the synchrotron to see details so small no one will have seen them before.

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2007/february/news_10451.html

Dinosaur egg find

Dinosaur Eggs are very rare. This area also has uncovered tracks.

Dinosaur Eggs Found in India, Report Says

AP

NEW DELHI (Feb. 6) - Three Indian explorers have recovered more than 100 fossilized eggs of dinosaurs in a remote area in a central Indian state, a news report said Monday.

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/dinosaur-eggs-found-in-india-report-says/20070206100909990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

Dinosaur egg find

Dinosaur Eggs are very rare. This area also has uncovered tracks.

Dinosaur Eggs Found in India, Report Says

AP

NEW DELHI (Feb. 6) - Three Indian explorers have recovered more than 100 fossilized eggs of dinosaurs in a remote area in a central Indian state, a news report said Monday.

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/dinosaur-eggs-found-in-india-report-says/20070206100909990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

The next Martian lander named Pheonix

This lander will to land with jets instead of bouncing around in a shell as the Rovers did. Read more

Phoenix Lander Readied For Mars Exploration
By Leonard David
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/070201_phoenix_update.html

amino acid and Searching for micro-Martians

Do the present Mars Rovers and Mars viking landers looked for Amino Acids? But this is the first I have heard of two types of amino acids " right and left handed" amino acids. Lots of conjecture about missing or not profiling the right data that could show true data. Read more at the link


Searching for micro-Martians
Marine chemist's device could help determine if there is life on Mars.

"Meteorites are to planetary scientists what fossils are to archeologists or ice cores are to climatologists"

I liked the way this article started off saying "Meteorites are to planetary scientists what fossils are to archeologists or ice cores are to climatologists."

This article is more about the Tagish British Columbia meteorites ( I have a sample) that are being examined for a better understand of our Solar System. Their discover and what will come about through their examination is quite interesting.

http://www.fordham.edu/campus_resources/public_affairs/inside_fordham/january_19_2007/in_focus_faculty_and/on_the_cosmos_and_ch_24714.asp

"Meteorites are to planetary scientists what fossils are to archeologists or ice cores are to climatologists"

I liked the way this article started off saying "Meteorites are to planetary scientists what fossils are to archeologists or ice cores are to climatologists."

This article is more about the Tagish British Columbia meteorites ( I have a sample) that are being examined for a better understand of our Solar System. Their discover and what will come about through their examination is quite interesting.

http://www.fordham.edu/campus_resources/public_affairs/inside_fordham/january_19_2007/in_focus_faculty_and/on_the_cosmos_and_ch_24714.asp

Why do storms approach tornadic level and increase?

Why do storms approach tornadic level and if they do , when do these tornadoes increase their vicious cycle of rampage?
Good explanation in this article

Supercells: tornadoes that last

By Curtis Krueger and Graham Brink
Published February 3,2007

The brightest comet that nobody (hardly anyone) saw

It was difficult to get out the word to local newspapers, TVstations, USAtoday.I tried .
Yes the comet caught us all by surprise. There was not much time for many of us to view it before the comet got close to the Sun and could only be seen in the daytime(!) or then the Southern Hemisphere .
But those who saw it here in Northern Hemisphere it was a nice show although not as splendid as those in the south. But as they say beggars can be choosers.
More here at this linked article below and earlier in January on my blog

The brightest comet that nobody saw
The Republican - Springfield,MA,USA
Among the least predictable of celestial occurrences are comets. Last month, a comet did something truly remarkable: It went from being virtually unknown, ...
http://www.masslive.com/living/republican/index.ssf?/base/living-1/1170408686138320.xml&coll=1

Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS: E.O.A.S. (Earth, Oceans, Atmosphere and Space) Blog -<http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/

Meteorite lands in Turkey

Following a series of booming noises and bright multicolored flashes in the sky reported by people , a meteorite landed in Turkey.
See the interesting pictures and more info

New Fujita scale

A new Fujita scale has been devised to enhance the original scale that takes into several factors to finalize the severity of a tornado stike.

Powerful Storms Kill at Least 14 in Florida

Tornadoes at night are not good especially when storms find trailer

2007-02-02 13:19:23
Powerful Storms Kill at Least 14 in Florida
At least 14 people were killed early Friday as severe thunderstorms and at least one tornado struck central Florida, flattening hundreds of homes and a church, causing power outages and lifting a tractor trailer into the air, officials said.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-02-02T170432Z_01_N02388360_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-TORNADO-DEAD.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C1-topNews-3

For many of us:The Great and Frustrating Comet of 2007

You can read my my frustrations and exhilirations with this comet. At best some of us as I did had a few marvelous days but :we got the short end of the stick" with the even more spectacular Comet McNaught that showed up after it rounded the Sun and could only be seen in the Southern Hemisphere (a few could see the tail from the US).
Read on

The Great and Frustrating Comet of 2007
Northern hemisphere stargazers have never had any shortage of reasons to be jealous of our southern hemisphere cousins.

Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS: : E.O.A.S. (Earth, Oceans, Atmosphere and Space) Blog -

See my latest photos of the bright comet McNaught

I have been looking into my latest photos of the bright comet a couple of weeks ago. Taken 1/10/07 near Kansas City, KS.
Here is one of the more photogenic ones.
The comet is between the bright red cloud bank near the horizon and the other darker one on top. Comet with tail is in middle of the photos.
At that time it was probably -1 magnitude about 1/3 the brightness of Venus, the bright "star" you see in the West after sunset.
I was so excited I forgot to zoom in closer.
Also it did not help that my better digital camera conked out in December so I used my kodak digital one instead. (it is not bad after all I did shoot a picture of the eclipse of 2001 that got into Astronomy magazine).
Now I have to work on the video I took of the comet which was not bad either .
Let me know what you think.

Top 15 national geographic earth/oceans and more

Top 15 national geographic earth/oceans and more

interesting check it out

Comet McNaught is one of the horse comets

Comet McNaught is going away from Earth into the outer reaches of the Solar System after a good show in the North Hemisphere and a spectacular better show in the Southern Hemisphere. I saw it for 4 days and photographed it and videotaped it (see days before on this blog).
To view great picture from all around the world look at http://spaceweather.com

Here is some historical perspective on the nature of Comet McNaught which is literally said to be is one of the "horse comets."

interesting saying/ proverb
"When beggars die there are no comets seen; The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes." -
Shakespeare.

Comet McNaught is one of the horse comets
citations from :
Session 35 - HAD III: From Hamlet to Crop Circles.
Oral session, Wednesday, January 07
Monroe, [35.03] New Numismatic Evidence about the Comets of Mithradates the Great of Pontus (134 and 119 BC).
M. R. Molnar (Rutgers Univ.)

The historian, Justinus, tells us that the life of Mithradates the Great of Pontus (ca. 134 - 63 BC) was marked by two unusually large comets: one at his birth in ca. 134 BC and another at his coronation ca. 119 BC.
Often these comets are cited as proof that sometimes comets heralded great, good events (such as the Star of Bethlehem.) We now have evidence that counters that notion. Mithradates struck some bronze coins that depict a foreboding hippeus (horse) comet. Pliny, the Roman naturalist, tells us that this kind of comet had plumes much like horses manes in very rapid motion and moving in a circle.
The evidence is that the horses mains are synchronic bands. The visibility of these bands indicates that the hippeus comet is a class of comets that had a close encounter with the earth, perhaps on the order of a million kilometers. Hephaistion of Thebes tells us that the hippeus comet foretold the quick fall of kings and tyrants and rapid changes in the affairs of these countries. It is likely that the comet was interpreted as an omen of violent revolution, but Mithradates apparently altered the focus of the portent, namely that the comet signified his struggle to evict the Romans from Asia Minor.

Northern Hemisphere people see comet tail above horizon

Northern Hemisphere people see comet tail above horizon

The comet's head is too far south to see, and only the wispiest fringes of the comet's tail poke over the western horizon after sunset.

Rob Ratkowski of Hawaii at spaceweather.com
(1/21/2007 - if not this day use the archives)
shows the streaks of Comet McNaught's long feathery tail extending above the horizon in Hawaii
(others on the spaceweather show the tail it from Colorado- see more pics at the site)

That is amazing.

The snow and clouds hopefully will go away here in Kansas so we can try to see this sight

movie of Comet McNaught rounding the Sun photo on apod 1/20

oh wow
Look a the movie of Comet McNaught rounding the Sun photo on apod 1/20
APOD 1/20/2006
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Also look at http://spaceweather.com
of the pictures of down under and the comet's brilliant tail

and info about seeing the comet in Northern Hemisphere at dusk which we need to try when the snowstorm is over

Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS:

Comet McNaught amazing photo of it during daytime!!

This surprising comet keeps getting better and better.
I can't see it now or even try as it is cloudy here in Kansas but other can. The links below will show some of the latest photos.

Space Weather News for Jan. 13, 2007
http://spaceweather.com

Comet McNaught is now visible in broad daylight!
The comet is very close to the sun, so it is tricky to find.
Directions to try (but be careful) here's how to do it:

Go outside and stand in the shadow of a building so that the glare of the sun is blocked out. Make a fist and hold it at arm's length.
The comet is about one fist-width east of the sun.

Closest approach to the sun is this weekend.
Solar heat causes the comet to vaporize rapidly and brighten to daytime visibility.
McNaught is now the brightest comet in more than 40 years, and it may become the brightest in centuries.

amazing photo of Comet McNaught in daytime by others!!
Space Weather News for Jan. 13, 2007
http://spaceweather.com

Astronomy Picture of the Day
Nice picture of the comet after sunset
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
1/13/2007 (if not that date look in archives)

more about the Comet McNaught since its discovery at
http://cometography.com/lcomets/2006p1.html

See the coronograph pics of the comet near the Sun
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMMCRSVYVE_index_0.html
and
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/home.html

Latest SOHO image of the comet swinging by the Sun
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/c3/512/

http://space.com/
comet gallery 2
http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagegallery/igviewer.php?imgid=4559&gid=326&index=0

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Visit http://spaceweather.com for photos and updates.