Varun's Blog - At the Speed of Light !

Meteor Shower

2011-12-13T09:00:00.001+05:30

The Geminid meteor shower peaks on Dec. 13th and 14th.
Bright moonlight will interfere with the display, but not obliterate it. Forecasters expect observers with clear skies to see as many as 40 meteors per hour.

More info

Lunar Eclipse Photos - Dec 21, 2010

2010-12-21T13:05:00.004+05:30

Total Lunar Eclipse Tonight

2010-12-21T09:26:00.001+05:30

The shadow of the earth is expected to pass between the sun and the moon beginning about 12:29 a.m. Tuesday, and will fully eclipse the moon in about 72 minutes. The entire eclipse should be completed by 4 a.m. for those watching in Michigan.

Weather permitting, a lunar eclipse will be visible from 1:33 to 5:01 a.m. ET Tuesday, with the total eclipse starting at about 2:41 a.m., according to NASA.

The eclipse happens to be on the day of a solstice (first day of winter for the Northern Hemisphere; first day of summer for the Southern Hemisphere).

Source: Blog | FreeP

Difference between Accuracy & Precision

2010-01-31T04:05:00.000+05:30

Hybrid Airplanes

2009-12-28T13:32:00.004+05:30

The airplane can be hybrid i.e powered with fuel and electricity. The concept of using the combination of fuel and electricity to power the airplane seems a nice idea but it also has certain drawbacks. Boeing has already developed a manned airplane powered by hydrogen fuel cell. The plane has minimal noise and causes almost no air pollution.

In today’s time, traveling by air is the fastest and the most convenient way of getting from one place to another. Aircraft manufacturers are continuously researching and trying to build planes with more capacity, less maintenance costs and better fuel economy. If an airplane is highly maneuverable, it is designed to be unstable.
The airplane can be hybrid i.e powered with fuel and electricity. The concept of using the combination of fuel and electricity to power the airplane seems a nice idea but it also has certain drawbacks. Boeing has already developed a manned airplane powered by hydrogen fuel cell. The plane has minimal noise and causes almost no air pollution. One of other interesting project i.e Sunseeker is a solar powered airplane by Eric Raymond. Hybrid planes have a high initial setup and building cost as compared to maintenance.
There are also concepts of gravity powered airplane which are out. They fly with force of gravity and don’t need any fuel. The idea is a bit far-fetched for commercial airliners but is worth reading.

The Anyman Astronomer

2009-09-18T02:49:00.002+05:30

In college its very hard to get into Astronomy-having to buy expensive equipment and dump hundreds of dollars into equipment that we sometimes dont even know how to use. A simple solution to this is to pick up a pair of Astronomy oriented binoculars. Most Objects are able to be seen by these and they are a cheap, grab and go solution to not being able to get out and watch the night sky. For under $400, you can have a portable scope that will travel with you wherever you go. Check out The Vixen range for some great Sky Binocs!!!!!

"Vixen OpticsVixen Optics announces the new Foresta Binocular series. Of particular interest to amateur astronomers is the Foresta 7×50 ZCF model ($329). These lightweight binoculars feature die-cast aluminum bodies encased in a protective rubber coating. The 50-mm, three-element objective lenses and BAK4 prisms are fully multi-coated to minimize light scatter and maximize light transmission. The binoculars are nitrogen-purged to reduce internal fogging, and they are waterproof. Smaller models feature a novel hinge-lock that allows you to preset your interpupillary distance so that it can be quickly returned to a comfortable position after sharing the views with other observers. The binoculars come with lens caps, neck strap, and a hiking-style carrying case. "

Blue Angels Airshow 2008 Video

2008-11-09T06:26:00.001+05:30

First Indian 'moon craft' ready to enter lunar orbit

2008-11-08T04:41:00.002+05:30

The car-sized spacecraft will fire its liquid-fueled engine at about 1227 GMT (7:27 a.m. EST) Saturday to place Chandrayaan 1 in an oval-shaped parking orbit around the moon. That orbit will eventually be lowered to a circular path about 62 miles above the lunar surface.

A view of Earth at an altitude of 9,000 km was taken by Chandrayaan 1's terrain mapping camera. Credit: ISRO
See larger image here

Engineers will monitor the critical maneuver from the Indian Space Research Organization's Spacecraft Control Center in Bangalore.

The probe has fired its engine five times since its Oct. 22 launch aboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle dispatched from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on India's east coast.

The burns gradually raised the high point of Chandrayaan 1's orbit from about 14,200 miles to more than 235,000 miles, according to ISRO.

Controllers also turned on the probe's main camera at the end of October. The black-and-white stereo terrain mapping camera took pictures of Earth while zooming away from the planet.

Plans call for Chandrayaan 1 to release a 64-pound impactor around Nov. 15 for a suicidal nosedive into the moon. The trip from orbit to the lunar surface will take about a half-hour, and the small craft will relay imagery, altitude information and spectral data back to Earth through the Chandrayaan mother ship.

Chandrayaan means "moon craft" in Sanskrit, the ancient language of India.

The $80 million mission is India's answer to a pair of lunar missions launched last year by Japan and China. Both countries' moon orbiters are still collecting imagery and scientific data.

But unlike the Japanese and Chinese missions, India invited large contributions from other nations to put instruments on Chandrayaan 1. Scientists from Europe and the United States answered the call.

More than half of the probe's 11 instruments come from outside India. The European Space Agency spent $8 million to fund three payloads, while NASA provided two more sensors. Bulgarian scientists also contributed a radiation monitor to the mission.

Scientists expect data from Chandrayaan 1 to help create the most detailed global chemical map of the moon showing mineral concentrations across the lunar surface. Researchers will also make a three-dimensional terrain map of the moon based on information yielded by the mission.

The ESA-funded X-ray and near-infrared imaging spectrometers, called C1XS and SIR 2, will detect mineral signatures in soil on and just below the lunar surface. Both instruments are based on similar sensors that flew aboard Europe's SMART 1 spacecraft, which was deliberately crashed into the moon in 2006.

"The Apollo missions went down to the surface, but only in a limited number of spots, whereas Chandrayaan tries to do detailed imaging of the entire sphere of the moon," said Christian Erd, ESA's Chandrayaan 1 project manager.

"The opportunity to fly NASA instruments on Chandrayaan 1 undoubtedly will lead to important scientific discoveries," said Michael Griffin, NASA administrator. "This exciting collaboration represents an important next step in what we hope to be a long and mutually beneficial relationship with India in future civil space exploration."

The Moon Mineralogy Mapper, nicknamed M3, is a visual and near-infrared imaging spectrometer designed to plot mineral resources at higher resolutions than any instrument before. M3 scientists from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory hope the device will help them create mineral maps to find science-rich landing sites for future missions.

India's indigenous suite of science payloads include a terrain camera designed to take detailed black-and-white pictures of the whole lunar surface. The stereo camera will be able to spot features as small as about 16 feet, according to ISRO.

ISRO scientists also built two spectral imagers, one focusing on near-infrared and another in the X-ray range, to help produce precise global maps of the minerals and soil contents on the moon's surface.

A laser system was also bolted to the spacecraft to determine its altitude above the moon and chart lunar surface topography.

Indian engineers also constructed the moon impact probe.

"It has been the dream of Indian scientists to send a satellite around the moon and then collect more data about the surface features, minerals and so on," Nair said. "That dream is going to come true through this mission."

Source: Spaceflightnow.com

Colorful Sunsets

2008-09-01T00:51:00.001+05:30

Sky watchers across the USA and Europe are reporting unusually colorful sunsets and sunrises. The cause appears to be the August 7th eruption of the Kasatochi volcano in Alaska's Aleutian islands. The volcano hurled a massive cloud of ash and sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere; high winds have since carried the aerosols over parts of the USA and Europe. "Violet domes," long pink rays crossing the sky, campfire-red aureoles around Venus--these are just a few of the sights documented on Spaceweather.com in recent days. When the sun goes down tonight, look west. You may be in for a treat.

Lunar Eclipse Weekend

2008-08-15T23:35:00.001+05:30

LUNAR ECLIPSE: This Saturday, August 16th, people on every continent *except* North America can see a lunar eclipse. At maximum, around 2110 UT (5:10 pm EDT), more than 81% of the Moon will be inside Earth's shadow, producing a vivid red orb in the night sky visible to the naked eye even from light-polluted cities. The entire eclipse lasts more than 3 hours, so there's plenty of time for gazing, drinking coffee, and taking pictures.

North Americans can watch the eclipse via live webcast beginning 3:30 pm EDT on Saturday afternoon. Eclipse-cam links may be found, along with time tables, visibility maps, and eclipse photo galleries, at http://spaceweather.com .

Reliable and Cheap Shopping Cart Software

2008-04-09T20:09:00.004+05:30

If you have a great merchandise and collection of fast selling products, you definitely need a shopping cart software that is reliable and easy to manage. One of my dad's friend needed a fully automated website through which he could sell his products. After a rigorous search, AshopCommerce was found to be the cheapest and most efficient ecommerce software.

AshopCommerce is specially designed not only to provide customizable designs but also search engine optimization for your shopping cart software. This company is also the winner of my-business awards - 06. AshopCommerce's 10 day trial allows you to test their amazing service without putting in your credit cards details. Yes ! You can try their service free of charge.

Never before was selling online that easy ! Their software is designed keeping in mind the ease of use and setup. A lot of professional business websites are already using this awesome ecommerce cart service by AshopCommerce. Go for it !

Get paid to blog @ Smorty !

2008-04-09T05:48:00.002+05:30

I have personally experienced the service of Smorty. Their website's simple and easy steps would like you to sign up under either of the two categories - Bloggers or Advertisers. If you have a personal blog or a company blog with good ranking, it becomes easier for you to grab more and more opportunities in the campaign and earn higher. It’s easy – blog for money.

Smorty's service is unique and different from others. It pays you on a weekly basis instead of monthly. We just have to express your opinions on various products or services in our posts. The biggest advantage is that this does not distract our users from our website because these posts are informative. Moreover, Smorty allows you to add multiple blogs which makes you flexible in terms of writing the posts over 2 or more blogs. Their easy service lets you earn at home if you are ready to blog for money.

On the other hand, it is an excellent chance for the advertisers to achieve a high page ranking in search engines like google, msn, altavista etc. Smorty can create a lot of quality inbound links reaching more and more customers. This service is surely better than joining a spamming list and adding your company's website link on such pages. Start to blog for money now. This awesome service is just a click away.

Pay less for your domains

2008-04-04T10:25:00.006+05:30

Everyone is trying to establish their place on the internet. Due to this there is a lot of competition between different companies to provide the domains for cheap price. Domain name registration has made been comparatively less by PayLessDomains.

They also provide their customers with discount when domain name registration is done in bulk or for more than a year. Every domain name registration involves free services like free email hosting, URL forwarding, domain parking, management tools and 24/7 customer support.

Paylessdomains is one of the Australia's top site allowing to create your own online store. They are Australia's largest shopping cart provider. Paylessdomains are known for their cheap domain registration, domain transfers, renewals and e-commerce facilities. Registration on their website is totally free of cost. The company's unique features include competitive prices, personalized service and free WHOIS lookup.

Never before, domain name registration was so easy, fast and cheap. Give your business or personal site a name on the internet with Paylessdomains quality service.

Quality flashing lights - cheap price

2008-04-04T09:54:00.008+05:30

One of our dad's friend is an interior designer. We were looking for cheap and stylish lightings for the house. KK-Lite was recommended by him for the same. Indeed the electrical supplies that their company provides are high quality.

The flashing lights provided by KK-Lite are unique in design and catch everyone's attention visiting the house. They have a whole list of products under the category of wall plates, HID lights, tritium lights etc. Hosting a big party at home? In need of really cool Residential Fluorescent Lighting? KK-Lite company is the right place for your purchase. They also excel in providing a wide range of smoke detectors, wire connectors, electrical tapes etc. Payments can easily be made online with the help of credit card. They also accept wire transfers and checks making the shopping process easy for their customers. All their products are tested and UL certified. Moreover, KK-Lite has volume discounts for you ! Their list of products is huge and almost has everything that you need to make your house or commercial place look nice.

KK-Lite is the ultimate place to make a selection for your house's lighting. Ranging from a small house lighting setup to a industrial lighting products and electrical supplies. Their quality products are indeed offered at cheap prices. Go for a purchase !

Best Web Hosting Guide

2008-04-04T08:00:00.011+05:30

Selecting a hosting company is one of difficult tasks today. It requires a lot of knowledge and wise judgment. Looking over reliability issues, server quality and customer support are some of the basic things when planning quality hosting service. The guy who designed so many wordpress themes has ended his research on selecting the best web hosting company.

Kaushal Sheth's best web hosting guide is quite impressive and helpful for people searching for hosting solutions. He has actually put in effort to browse through all the hosting companies on the internet. Kaushal has come out with a list of hosting companies which are reliable and affordable.

Overall, the website is really helpful to decide and review your host providers by following the specified guidelines. The three best web hosting companies ranked by Kaushal Sheth's page are quality oriented.

His best web hosting page is outstanding and is just a click away. Browse through his content and learn about the website hosting selection technique. Also, Keep checking Kaushal's best webhosting guide page for updates !

Mac Poker Online

2008-04-01T07:49:00.002+05:30

What is Maconlinepoker ?

It is a popular website featuring casino and card games in which players, each holding one or more cards whose face value is concealed, place wagers into a central pot. The pot is awarded to the player or players with the best combination of cards or to the player who makes an uncalled bet.

Macpokeronline is a very appealing website sharing great content and relevant information on poker sites around the globe. It allows its users to rate and review other poker sites so that the users get an idea and easily shortlist best sites. It provides the lists of sites where users don't need to download any software to play Bingo ! It also gives links to download those rare Mac Poker Softwares which are not available with just a mouse's click. You are also not going to miss those mac poker strategy tricks and tips provided by this website. You can earn $$$ with its poker affiliate program. Best of all, it provides special codes for acquiring Poker Bonuses from various sites. Check out their Fulltilt Poker !

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Lightning and the Runaway Breakdown Theory

2008-03-28T08:16:00.002+05:30

What is Lightning?

Ever since the first humans walked on Earth, we have been fascinated with lightning. It’s the greatest mystery and phenomena on earth. What is lightning? Where does it come from? How is lightning initiated? Unfortunately, as fascinated as we are about lightning, we are still unable to answer our own questions. Lightning strikes the Earth as least 4 million times worldwide each day. One strike of lightning is the brightest light we see, the loudest noise we hear, and has as much energy as a nuclear bomb. Despite these facts, we know more about distant cosmos that are millions of light years away, than how lightning propagates 6 miles above our heads. However, we are aware of the fact that lightning does occur inside thunderclouds. What we don’t know is how lightning is initiated. Several ideas and theories have been suggested, including colliding raindrops, localized regions of concentrated charge, and avalanches of high-energy electrons initiated by cosmic rays from outer space. At least for now, no one knows how lightning is triggered. This is why at Florida Tech, with the help of the University of Florida and New Mexico Tech, we’re currently performing experiments and research to answer these questions.

Different Types of Lightning

In order to better understand lightning, one must know the similarities and difference between the different types of lightning. Although there are nine types of lightning, we’ll take a look at the more common forms of lightning for the sake of convenience and understanding.

One type of lightning is called cloud discharge. This type of lightning, also called heat lightning, occurs within a thunder cloud, between two thunder clouds, or from a thunder to the air. As scientists, we believe that most cloud discharges take place within an individual cloud. However, we have collected very few data to confirm this belief. Cloud discharges are far more common than cloud-to-ground lightning; 10 or more cloud flashes may occur before the first one that strikes earth.

Perhaps the most noticeable and fascinating phenomena on earth is cloud-to-ground lightning. This is the archetypical lightning bolt that arcs out of the sky and smites the ground with a great, flickering flash of light. Cloud-to-ground lightning is the sudden release of built-up charge stored in an electric field. However, what triggers this type of lightning remains a mystery. Hence the following form of lightning.

In order to learn what exactly triggers cloud-to-ground lightning, participants of the Florida Tech Lightning Research Team have created triggered lightning. Lightning expert Pierre Hubert writes, “Triggering lightning at will, at a predetermined place and time, is the old Promethean dream which seems more related to legend than to science.” The technique used at Florida Tech has taught scientists much about processes and effects of lightning. We launch rockets using a strong enough propellant to launch them 700 yards into the atmosphere in two seconds. The rockets are attached with long copper wires to conduct electricity (much like what Benjamin Franklin did) to create cloud-to-ground lightning. From 2000 feet up, the wires trigger lightning with a cloud-to-ground distance larger than the Empire State building. When the lightning strikes the ground, it creates over 100 million volts that zap the array of test equipment on the ground. This allows us to study the data collected and form new hypothesizes about Lightning.

Benjamin Franklin and a Early Theory of Lightning

Now with the idea of the different forms of lightning fresh in our head, let’s take a look at the experiment performed by Benjamin Franklin and the early theories of lightning. Franklin’s kite and key experiment performed in 1752 is arguably the most famous in scientific history. He wanted to prove that lightning was a form of electricity and not a form of punishment given by God. In his experiment, he tied a copper key to the bottom of the string attached to a kite. Then, he flew his kite during a thunder storm. Lightning struck the kite and caused the copper key to create a spark. The spark was generated because electricity has a negative charge and the key has a positive charge. Assuming that enough energy is present, two objects of different charges that interact with each other will create a spark. As a result, lightning is a form of electricity.

In more modern terms, a spark is generated when positive and negative charges build up enough energy so that they leap through the air to reach other. Take for example, a negatively charged ball and a positively charged rod. When the charge between the ball and the rod become strong enough, a spark is generated and cuts a pathway through the air.

Early scientists such as Thomas- Francois of France, and George Richmann of Russia, were able to take advantage of the results yielded by Franklin’s famous experiment. They proposed a new theory of how lightning is generated through the process of particle discharge. As ice and water particles within clouds collide with each other, the positively charged particles move to the top of the cloud, and the negatively charged particles move to the bottom of a cloud. When the charge above and the charge become strong enough, the particles leap through the air as a bolt of lightning.

Problems Concerning the Early Theory of Lightning

The theory of particle discharge has remained an acceptable explanation for Lightning until recent years. As already noted, there must be enough energy present in order for the different charges to leap through the air and create a spark. This is the problem with the particle discharge theory. After examination of a storm cloud, the strength of the positive and negative charges, and the electric field around them, isn’t enough to create a spark or a bolt of lightning. Dr. Joe Dwyer of Florida Tech has addressed this issue by saying: “The problem is after decades and decades of measurements up in thunderstorms, nobody has ever managed to find an electric field anywhere near that big (to create an electric spark).” If this is the case, where does the extra energy come from needed to create an electric spark or a bolt of lightning?

A New Theory: Runaway Theory

As previously explained, the triggered lightning created at Florida Tech allows physicists to test new hypothesizes. One such theory called runaway breakdown, explains how a thundercloud gains extra energy needed in order to create an electric spark or a lightning bolt. Using the runaway breakdown theory, scientists can make a new model of how lightning is initiated. This model states that the energy inside of a thundercloud, that force of the positive and negative particles, is too weak to generate a spark to initiate lightning. Therefore, the thundercloud must be struck by outside particles. These outside particles are burst of electrons that carry very high energy. With this added energy, a spark can be generated to initiate lightning. Dr. Joe Dwyer describes this process by saying, “You end up with an avalanche of electrons moving near the speed of light. This model will work as long as you have one fast electron to start it off. Similar to the finger that pushes the first domino to get the whole thing started.”

Where on Earth are the Outside Particles?

Through the theory of runaway breakdown, we now know that thunderclouds are struck by outside particles to generate the energy needed to initiate lightning. However, what we don’t know is where these outside particles of a thunderstorm come from. This is where things become interesting. Do they come from molecules splitting apart in our atmosphere? Or do they come from free electrons floating around in the air that collide with a thundercloud? Scientist and researches like Dr. Joe Dwyer, believe that these outsides particles don’t come from the clouds above, or anywhere else on earth for that matter; but from cosmic rays. These cosmic rays are tiny, sub-atomic particles that are ejected from dying stars millions of years ago, and billions of years ago. However, the origin of these cosmic rays is just an idea. How do we test such an idea?

A Unique Signature

We now understand that the idea of lightning is triggered when cosmic rays strike a thundercloud and provides enough energy needed in order to initiate lightning. But how can we prove that cosmic rays, and not some phenomena on earth, provide that energy boost needed to initiate lightning? It turns out that when cosmic rays strike the Earth’s atmosphere, they leave a unique signature in the form of x-rays and gamma rays. Much like how we can test two signatures to find forgery, we can test for the unique signature of x-rays and gamma rays.

At the lightning research center, there are ten sodium iodide detectors strategically positioned so that the triggered lightning will strike them. Once lightning strikes one of these detectors, a crystal inside of it absorbs the x-rays and gamma rays. From there, it’s just a matter of the detector’s instruments measuring the cosmic rays.

Results

After the instruments measure the x-rays and gamma rays, the data is transferred to a computer where it can be viewed. After collecting and viewing the first data results a detector, Dr. Dwyer recalled his first thoughts:

“I actually didn’t think that we were going to see x-rays. The first plot we brought up, there was a nice, little pulse that looked just like an x-ray (figure 1), right at the time the lightning occurred. Well, that’s interesting. That’s probably just a coincidence. What’s the chance of that? So we looked at the next lightning strike, and there was even a bigger pulse (figure 2) , and the next one (figure 3), and the next one (figure 4). Every one had these pulses that looked exactly like x-rays.”

NOTE: Figures and Graphs will be posted as soon as possible

The data is plotted on a graph with the time (measured in microseconds) on the x-axis, and the signal strength (measured in volts) on the y-axis. The red line indicates the amount and magnitude of an x-ray. If a big negative voltage pulse is shown on the graph, it means that a big burst of electrons were absorbed in the detector. With a big burst of electrons detected, it concludes that cosmic rays are in the form of x-rays and gamma rays from outer space.

For instance, in figure 1 the red line has a very small pulse. This indicates that this particular lightning strike had a very low level of x-ray emission. Thus, suggesting that x-rays do not coincide with lightning. However, in figure two, the red line slightly dips and then jumps off of the graph. This strongly suggests that x-rays might coincide with lightning. In figures 3 and 4, the red line dips even more and jumps toward the top of the graph. A greater change in magnitude of the red line indicates that there are x-rays present in lightning. The results measured in figures 2,3, and 4, indicate that figure 1 was just a fluke and that x-rays are linked to the triggering of lightning.

To this date, every strike of lightning that has been measured has shown the presence of x-rays. Therefore, proving that the cosmic rays that provide the energy needed to initiate lightning, are in the form of x-rays and gamma rays from dying stars in space.

Conclusion

As you can see, our knowledge of distant cosmos, millions of miles away, has certainly helped us answer questions about lightning that propagates 6 miles above our heads. Even though they’re far apart from each other, lightning and space might be related to each other. In fact, Dr. Dwyer said, “These cosmic rays might be the link which will connect a dying star, halfway across the galaxy, with lightning.”

Hopefully, when future generations of humans walk on earth, they’ll ponder about the beauty of lightning like the first humans did. But thanks to Florida Tech, the University of Florida, and New Mexico Tech, they’ll be able to answer the question of how lightning is initiated with one phrase: runaway breakdown.

Through the Runaway Breakdown theory, we can conclude that lightning isn’t initiated by the particle discharge within a thundercloud or some strange phenomena on earth. Lightning is initiated by cosmic rays from space that strike a thundercloud and provides enough energy to generate an electric spark, which in effect creates a bolt of lightning.

The Future and Vision for Space Exploration

2008-03-25T21:30:00.009+05:30

What if we were no longer limited only to what we can lift from Earth's surface? Suppose we could live off of the land in space, what would the advent of this scenario mean for future exploration and use of space? Here, I take an inside approach to the future and vision for space exploration to the Moon, Mars, and Beyond...

The human part of the space program has been trapped in stasis for the last 20 years with precious little exploration being accomplished. Worse, we have been locked in low-Earth orbit with no plans to go beyond, even though robotic space exploration passed that horizon years ago. The International Space Station (ISS) could have served as a test bed for farther destination, but didn't largely due to a result of conscious policy decisions. The tragic loss of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003 only drew attention to the hollowness and lack of direction of our space policy.

The President's new vision proposes that the space shuttle be returned to flight to complete the construction of the ISS and then be retired prior to a costly and risky recertification. A new vehicle will be designed and built for human spaceflight, one which can adapt to different kinds of missions going to various destinations. We will conduct robotic exploration of the Moon in preparation for the resumption of human exploration by the middle of the next decade and use the knowledge and capabilities created from these activities to venture beyond, including human missions to Mars.

New Missions and the Vision: A Return to the Moon

The initial steps in our return to the Moon involve a robotic orbiter, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which will be launched in 2008 and will orbit the Moon for at least 2 years. The purpose of this mission is to collect critical information that will pave the way for human return to the Moon. To that end, the LRO will collect detailed data on the Moon's topography in addition to characterizing exotic environments such as the lunar polar regions.

The experiments and others will provide key strategic data to help plan for habitation on and use of the Moon. We have reason to believe that water ice deposits may exist in the permanently dark regions near the lunar poles. However, we do not know the physical state of these deposits, nor do we have a good idea of their quantity.

Before LRO flies, India plans to send a spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, to the Moon in early 2008. Mini-SAR (synthetic aperture radar) is an imaging radar experiment that will fly on this spacecraft in order to map the dark regions of both poles of the Moon. Along with other topographic and morphologic data, these missions will allow us to map the ice deposits of the poles, determine their physical setting, and estimate their abundance.

Lunar ice is valuable both to human life and to develop spacing-faring infrastructure. Water can be purified and used as an outpost and broken down into its component hydrogen and oxygen and as rocket propellant. The ability to make rocket propellant on the Moon has potential to completely alter the current model of spaceflight.

The LRO mission will be followed by other robotic missions to the Moon that can include both orbiters and landers. A series of small spacecraft, or microsats, in lunar orbit can create a communications and navigations infrastructure for the Moon. These microsats can provide continuous communications with areas out of sight from Earth and positional information for both orbital and surface navigation around the Moon. For landers, we can explore the surface using rovers and deliver robotic payloads to begin developing the surface infrastructure near a future outpost. Rovers can access the dark floors of polar craters, gathering detailed information on the ice deposits.

In parallel with this program of annual robotic exploration, the Crew Exploration Vehicle, a replacement for the shuttle, will be developed and tested. No later than the year 2020, humans will return to the Moon using the knowledge gained and the equipment placed by the robotic precursors. Returning to use the Moon's resources will enable us to build a space transportation infrastructure in lunar space. Such a system that allows routine access to the Moon and all points in between is a fundamental step forward in creating a true space-faring capability. A system that can routinely land on the Moon, refuel, and return to Earth orbit while bringing with it fuel and consumables produced on the lunar surface will give us the ability to journey to Mars and beyond.

Paving the Way to Human Exploration on Mars

Although the presidential vision did not set a deadline for the first human mission to Mars, it did affirm the continuation and extension of the existing robotic exploration program. Over the past decade, a robotic exploration strategy has been developed for Mars that emphasizes the characterization and history of water on the planet. A series of orbital and lander missions will offer increasingly sophisticated opportunities to trace the evolution and fate of water in martian geological history. Ground-penetrating radar can map the distribution of ground ice many yards below the surface. Drill holes can allow us access to the subsurface into which sensitive instruments can be lowered to measure and characterize the volatiles present. Spectrometers and other devices can determine surface and subsurface mineralogy, including the state and concentration of water-bearing objects.

Long-range rovers, martian aircraft, balloons, and other vehicles can all return critical information on martian history and processes. Beyond the purely scientific areas of interest, we need to collect data on the surface conditions and environment of Mars in addition to possible toxicological hazards of the surface materials before any human landings. As with the robotic mission series that precedes human arrival on the Moon, the martian precursors will map the surface in detail, document landing hazards, measure the chemistry and physical properties of the surface, and determine the nature of potential chemical or biological hazards to human explorers.

Shuttle Launch on Tuesday

2008-03-10T09:28:00.000+05:30

STS-123/Endeavour
Launch Date: Mar. 11
Launch Time: 2:28 a.m. EDT

Total Lunar Eclipse

2008-02-20T09:06:00.001+05:30

On Wednesday night, February 20th, the full Moon will turn a delightful shade of red and possibly turquoise, too. It's a total lunar eclipse—the last one until Dec. 2010. Sky watchers in Europe, the Americas, parts of the Middle East and Africa are favored for good views of the two-hour event.

Space Station Drops paper plane to the ground

2008-02-03T02:15:00.000+05:30

The Japanese Space Agency intends to launch a paper aeroplane from orbit, and they expect it to reach the ground intact.

The plane - about 20 cm in length - weighs less than 30 grams and is folded in the shape of a Space Shuttle. While searing re-entry temperatures can burn up large vehicles, Suzuki believes the small paper aircraft is well-suited for the descent.

If it sounds a bit daft; they already tested it at Mach 7!

Locating the plane after reentry could be a bit of a challenge. Read more about it.

Farreys Home Products

2008-01-27T22:34:00.000+05:30

Now it is a leading international company providing Ceiling Fans, Lighting, Bath, Door Hardware, Kitchen and Ventilation Products.Local people can browse through Farrey's Showrooms in North Miami, Florida. Be amazed at the sights at their Decor Theme Parks. Their facilities include a cafe where you can relax and consider a thousand options for any decorating assignment.Also, don’t forget to go through there special offers. Avail them today ! Their brands include -Ambience, Crystorama, Fine Art Lamps, Flos, Fontana Arte, Forecast, George Kovacs and many more. You name the brand and its there on the list. Volume purchase discounts are also available!

Farrey promises you a safe online shopping experience. Farreys.com is currently only accepting orders for delivery to the United States and Canada. The vast payment options make the shopping experience easier and secure. They accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express through their online store. Discover the new amazing products at competitive prices only at Farreys !

Enjoy Coffee with Krups

2008-01-07T20:55:00.000+05:30

Yes. WIZE is a huge website providing reviews and ratings by various users all around the globe based on their likings and product experience.

This section of the website features Krups coffee makers. Users have the option to sort the products by relevance, price and wizerank. The different coffe makers include FMF5 10-Cup Coffee Maker, 888 Centro, DuoThek 324 20-Cup Coffee Maker etc. and many more.

Customers can filter their results by price, type and capacity of the coffee maker. Buyers also have the facility of asking questions related to the product and see previous questions asked by other customers. You can also find stuff by searching the brand and compare different products. It seems an excellent place to read about various products and make a good and wise decision before you make a purchase.

Quadrantid meteor shower

2008-01-03T12:02:00.000+05:30

METEOR SHOWER: Earth is about to pass through a stream of dusty debris from near-Earth asteroid 2003 EH1, producing the annual Quadrantid meteor shower. Forecasters expect a brief but intense peak of 50+ meteors per hour over Earth's northern hemisphere sometime between 0200 UTC and 0700 UTC on Friday morning, Jan. 4th. (Subtract 5 hours to convert UTC to EST.) The timing favors observers in the eastern USA, Europe and western parts of Asia. Winter storms frequently hide this shower from observers on the ground. To avoid such problems, a team of astronomers led by Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute plan to fly a plane above the clouds where they can train their cameras on the Quadrantids. Their data may reveal whether asteroid 2003 EH1 is the fragment of a broken-apart comet.

Atlantis launch delayed

2008-01-01T11:57:00.000+05:30

After removing foam protection technicians were scheduled to remove a suspect connector from Atlantis' external tank.
The failed connector sent away for testing. It provides readings from redundant low-fuel sensors in the bottom of the external tank and instruments that would shut down the shuttle's main engines before the turbopumps ran dry and flew apart.
NASA has proposed soldering the connector in the spots where only friction was used to maintain an electrical connection.
NASA has announced that a Jan. 10 launch date is not possible, but the agency has set no other target for launch. Mating of the solid rocket boosters and the external tank for Endeavour's Feb. 14 mission has been put on hold, raising concerns about further delays to other missions in 2008.

Source : Floridatoday.com

Sky Updates

2007-12-24T10:26:00.000+05:30

MOON AND MARS: Please don't miss this: At sunset on Sunday, Dec. 23rd, the full Moon and Mars will rise in the east less than two degrees apart. So close together, the two brightest objects in the evening sky look absolutely dynamite. The display will be visible all night long, even from brightly lit cities, and requires no telescope to enjoy.

URSID UPDATE: Observers in Europe report a modest outburst of Ursid meteors last night. The intensity and timing of the flurry is in good accord with predictions that Earth would run into a stream of dust from Comet 8P/Tuttle on Dec. 22nd. Now that the meteor shower is over, attention turns to the comet itself. After a 13.6 year absence, 8P/Tuttle is once again traveling through the inner solar system. At closest approach to Earth on Jan. 1st and 2nd, 2008, the comet, will brighten to 5th or 6th magnitude--a fine target for backyard telescopes and digital cameras.

Asteroid towards Mars

2007-12-23T07:01:00.000+05:30

NASA-funded astronomers are monitoring a Tunguska-sized asteroid that will pass within 30,000 miles of Mars on Jan. 30, 2008. Based on data currently available, the space rock has a 1-in-75 chance of actually hitting Mars and blasting a crater more than half-a-mile wide.

GPS Insight

2007-11-26T02:18:00.000+05:30

The GPS technology calculates its position by measuring the distance between itself and three or more GPS satellites. Each satellite has an atomic clock, and continually transmits messages containing the exact time, the location of the satellite, and the general system health. Over the years, the technology involved in manufacturing an automobile has become more advanced, as automakers shift their focus from basic transportation to the design of features that make a vehicle safer, more comfortable, and more easily operated. GPS Insight is the hardware developed on these lines.

GPS Insight is a new company using advanced technology that helps you track your vehicles all over the world. It uses satellites and AT&T/T-Mobile. The hardware & web software-based technology gives you the actual speed, location, distance traveled by a vehicle and much more. The company is also capable of integrating this facility with cellphone providing a real time monitoring and mapping. When installed in a car, a GPS Insight can provide useful information about the car's position and the best travel routes to a given destination by linking itself to a built-in digital map. It also tracks the distance traveled on a particular trip, vehicle mileage, and speed. It can keep a record of driving activity, including the address of each destination, names of streets traveled, and how long the vehicle remained at each location, to allow owners to monitor the use of their cars by other drivers.

In addition to its applications in private vehicles, GPS Insight is being used by commercial shipping companies to speed the delivery of cargo. It allows companies to track their fleets, record the movement of their trucks, and control route planning. GPS Insight uses the new models to correct problems in the older versions, focusing on improved accuracy, better reception, and even more user-friendly features. It also gives you a lot of information on Geofence Violation.

The cost is just like $1.50-2 per day per vehicle for such a supreme technology. Decreased labor costs and decreased gas costs help you save a lot of money when you use this technology. GPS Insight also provides advance reports and route optimization and navigation. It is the only company that includes engine diagnostics with the baseline products. The company doesn’t have any hidden fees and provides their customers with the most reliable product. Go for it ! Get advance technology for your vehicle.

Mars becomes more bright

2007-11-22T23:19:00.000+05:30

"Mars is starting to look really nice through my 10-inch telescope," reports amateur astronomer Friedrich Deters of LaGrange, North Carolina, who took the picture at right on Nov. 17th.

"Very nice!" agrees Dan Peterson of Racine, Wisconsin, who captured a similar snapshot the next night.

The blue polar swirl in these pictures is the "North Polar Hood"—a giant icy cloud that forms over the Martian north pole during winter. Why blue? That's the color of sunlight scattered from very tiny crystals of ice (smaller than the wavelength of light itself) floating in the cloud. The blue hood vs. Mars' red terrain appear in pleasing contrast through any mid-sized backyard telescope.

You don't need a telescope to enjoy Mars, however. It is plainly visible to the naked eye, bright and red, standing out among the pale stars of Gemini as something definitely different.

Finding the constellation and the planet within is child's play on Nov. 26th and 27th. That's when the nearly full Moon glides past Mars, only one degree away, and draws attention to the pair. If you can find the full Moon, you can find Mars. Look east before bedtime on Monday evening, Nov. 26th, or west before dawn on Tuesday morning, Nov. 27th.

SOURCE : NASA

Top 20 picks - Go shopping !

2007-11-03T04:31:00.000+05:30

Want to give something special to your friends? Yes. Shopping.com is providing you with top 20 gifts to choose from.

All of us like to shop during the holidays or specials events. Buy some really top rated products like Handbags, Perfumes, Toys etc. from shopping.com website. Is your kid too technology freak? Gift him with an iPod this christmas. You can also browse for good offers and buy gifts, christmas presents, Eco-drive watches, shoes etc.

Get close to your partner and express your love by presenting him or her with elegant gifts this Thanks Giving. Shopping.com has specially featured variety of products to choose from. Supreme gifts, presents and your favorite gadgets are just a click away. Go for it !

Photos of Shuttle launch from Florida Tech

2007-10-24T09:54:00.001+05:30

STS-120/Discovery
IMAGE CREDIT : ANDREW COLSON

Orionid meteor shower

2007-10-16T03:09:00.000+05:30

In recent nights, sky watchers have noticed meteors shooting out of the constellation Orion. This signals the beginning of the annual Orionid meteor shower caused by space dust from Halley's Comet. The shower is feeble now, producing only a few bright meteors per hour, but the show will improve as we approach the shower's peak on Oct. 21st. Last year, observers counted as many as 50 Orionids per hour when Earth passed through the thick of Halley's dust trail and another good display may be in the offing.

2007-10-14T06:02:00.000+05:30

Draconid Meteor Shower

2007-10-08T23:09:00.001+05:30

METEOR WATCH: The annual Draconid meteor shower peaks on Oct. 9th at 0430 UT--in other words, tonight at 9:30 pm PDT or 12:30 am EDT. No a big display. The source of the shower, comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, is far away and would produce no more than a few slow meteors every hour. If you decide to look, keep an eye on the northern sky (Draco is not far from the north celestial pole) during the hours around the predicted peak.

PERUVIAN METEORITE UPDATE: Astronomers studying the Peruvian meteorite fall of Sept. 15, 2007, have analyzed infrasound records of the fireball's descent through Earth's atmosphere and estimated the impactor's kinetic energy: about 0.03 kton of TNT. So far more than 30 kg of the meteorite have been recovered by Peruvian authorities, but much more remains--indeed, says one researcher, there could be a "multi-ton monster" hiding at the bottom of the meteorite's curiously watery crater.

Goin 2 travel ? Best rentals here !

2007-10-08T19:24:00.000+05:30

Looking for a perfect Hawaii vacation? Goin2rentals provide excellent vacation rentals. Gather vacation ideas and look for top vacation destinations to start with. Goin2travel's directory features the world's best vacation rentals. Don't miss their featured vacation rentals and destinations!

Enjoy great prices and save upto 30% on rental rates for Maui vacation. Are you the owner of an estate? You can list your vacation rental properties with Goin2travel. Travelers can directly book them on this website.

Explore the Kauai Vacation Rental Information. The Beach Park and Canyon there are pretty famous and well known. Planning an organized vacation with cheap rental was never so easy. But Goin2travel has quality estates. Go for it !

Kennedy Space Center

2007-10-07T03:26:00.000+05:30

Students of Florida Institute of Technology have made up a ROCKET CLUB. We discuss various launches and also get to see them from the Kennedy Space Center. It was a forty minutes drive from Melbourne. Frequent showers helped to reduce the heat during the journey. We were seven people in a group. The main parts of our visit consisted of

1. Saturn V
2. International Space Station
3. Lunar Objects
4. Space Exhibition

See the pictures of this great journey.

Tahoe Mountain Resorts

2007-10-04T06:39:00.000+05:30

Looking for a great vacation in North Lake Tahoe? How about an exciting vacation at Lake Tahoe ? Get the luxurious rooms at a cheap cost. They have the newest lodging. Plan your activities by looking at their calendar events.

Easy online booking has already started. Start making your booking and proceed with the reservation process. Browse through their website and look for activities and things to do. It also provides you the directions to reach the place in California.

It has never been so thrilling. Explore the mountains, lakes, rivers etc. Enjoy a stress free vacation with a variety of resorts. North Lake Tahoe Vacation Rentals are reasonably low. Book you Condo Hotel in North Lake Tahoe today !!

Lunar Impact Telescope

2007-09-30T09:26:00.000+05:30

Researchers from the Marshall Space Flight Center have built a new "lunar impact" observatory in rural north Georgia. They're using it for their own cutting edge research and sharing the facility with local middle- and high-school students.

READ MORE

Search your mates @ WINK !

2007-09-30T01:27:00.000+05:30

WINK is a successful attempt towards building a people-search engine. Find a person on a social networking site had never been so easy. The real concept behind this is - to find people you know without actually displaying their street address, phone no. and other personal details.

Going about making your own profile on WINK helps. You can update your activities , add friends, bookmarks, favorite sites and much more. Find friends that have joined social networking sites like MySpace, Bebo, Friendster etc. A single personal page i.e your profile has a lot of content which people can read about you.

Try their WINK widget! Sign up for it today. Build your own profile and start exploring people and grow your online social network. The best part is that WINK is free and it searches by your friend's online activity. In simple words, STAY CONNECTED WITH WINK !

Cave skylights on Mars

2007-09-25T21:21:00.000+05:30

NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft has discovered entrances to seven possible caves on the slopes of a Martian volcano. The find is fueling interest in potential underground habitats and sparking searches for caverns elsewhere on the Red Planet. Very dark, nearly circular features ranging in diameter from about 328 to 820 feet puzzled researchers who found them in images taken by NASA's Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor orbiters. Using Mars Odyssey's infrared camera to check the daytime and nighttime temperatures of the circles, scientists concluded that they could be windows into underground spaces.

The new report proposes that the deep holes on Arsia Mons probably formed as underground stresses around the volcano caused spreading and faults that opened spaces beneath the surface. Some of the holes are in line with strings of bowl-shaped pits where surface material has apparently collapsed to fill the gap created by a linear fault. The observations have prompted researchers using Mars Odyssey and NASA's newer Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to examine the Seven Sisters. The goal is to find other openings to underground spaces at lower elevations that are more accessible to future missions to Mars.

source : NASA

National Relocation Portal

2007-09-23T09:19:00.000+05:30

Are you shifting to a new house? Finding services that would help you make this process easier? National Relocation provides mortgages, relocation services and right agents. You can look for best deals and homes for rent. They provide insurance in multiple fields like - Health, Home, Car, Life, Dental and Travel insurance.

Are you also in search of a good home inspector? They have it for almost all states in US. You can efficiently search for movers everywhere. The website also provides excellent information about shippers and moving companies. They have best real estates. National Relocation has variety of mortgages to offer - Reserve, VA loans, Bad Credit.

National Relocation portal is the ultimate and biggest online resource guide-cum-service-provider for the people who are interested. Just enter your zip code and start looking for services in your area. You wouldn't go for any other agency's help or support after you visit this portal !

Jobs in London

2007-09-20T18:39:00.000+05:30

Are you looking for a job in London? Finding a job is no more a hassle now. Gumstree provides you a job with ease. Various job vacancies are posted each day on this website. Subscribe to its feed for getting job emails in your inbox. There is job for almost every field.

If you are an employer and want your ad to be present on this website, go for it!

Gunstree is an excellent website for finding a job. Apply for a position and start earning.

Trendy and cheap mailboxes !

2007-09-19T07:34:00.000+05:30

You needn't look for any other company for setting up a mailbox just outside your house because Mailboxixchange is one of those intelligent and experienced companies that can provide you with every kind of mailbox - be it Residential, Commercial or simple wall mailboxes. Their recent customers like their speedy delivery, customer service, great quality and good price.They have almost every type and variety of mailbox - Single-Unit Mailbox, Post Packages, Multi-Unit Mailbox, Wall Mount Mailboxes, Column Mailboxes, Locking Mailboxes. Browse through their big online store and select your decorative or architectural type of mailbox !

Mailboxixchange website has numerous manufacturers listed. Read about everyone and make your selection from this list. Each manufacturer has its price and product photos listed. So go ahead and make a purchase because every order can earn you a gift certificate of $25! The user reviews are indeed very convincing and they speak for this company's high standard and customer satisfaction guarantee. Make payments through a credit card, Paypal or a cheque - they have the easiest ways for online payments.

They have over 1500 mailbox and curbside decor products. Participants are paid $20.00 for signing up. Mailboxixchange has everything you can imagine about a mailbox. They design it for you - the way you like it ! They deliver and fix them at your house - the way you want them to do ! Mailboxixchange is known for a highly trained and polite staff who can guide you to discover their high quality residential and commercial mailboxes for your home or business. Want to try ? Just send them an inquiry now ! If you are also a publisher, do spread a word about them or join their affiliate program. Also, don't miss those Brandon Heritage & Country Club Classic Antique Double Front Mount Mailbox Packages!

Best Online Poker @ Macpoker !

2007-09-17T08:12:00.000+05:30

One of the best websites featuring casino and card games on the internet.

Macpokeronline shares great content and relevant information on poker sites around the globe. It allows its users to rate and review other poker sites so that the users get an idea and easily shortlist best sites. It provides the lists of sites where users don't need to download any software to play Bingo ! It also gives links to download those rare Mac Poker Softwares which are not available with just a mouse's click.

So hurry and join the maconlinepoker website today ! Don't forget to sign up for its newsletter which has interesting news, tips, and tricks about Mac Poker. Also, do sign up for poker forum to indulge in active discussions about poker and casino games. You also get instant poker upgrades.

It is an excellent website which can train you from a beginner level to a professional in poker and casino gaming. Watch for current poker tournaments. Try Fulltilt Poker , Pacific Poker, Poker Bonus. You are also not going to miss those mac poker strategy tricks and tips provided by this website. You can earn $$$ with its poker affiliate program. Best of all, it provides special codes for acquiring Poker Bonuses from various sites. Dont' miss the online casino bonuses.

Get discount coupons !

2007-09-14T04:05:00.000+05:30

How about making a purchase with extra discount? How about acquiring free shipping with your purchase. Well, Chief Coupon gives you a coupon by which you can save money on each purchase. Their website lists coupons by top stores like BestBuy, Target, Dell Home etc. Now you can make a discounted purchase while sitting at home!

Coupon chief has categorized its coupons for various products. It is one of the top 10 online coupon services. Select your favorite store from their directory and get the best deal.

People have been using their coupons with utmost satisfaction. Go for your own coupon now! Get your favorite product from your favorite store. Coupon chief remains a dedicated website to provide various coupons and codes for free. Try it !

The Shaft - Rocket Built by FIT Students

2007-09-05T08:06:00.001+05:30

My seniors at FIT made this rocket that flew to 1000 feet. They remained within a $20 budget and built their own rocket. Yeyyy !!

Single or Multi Trip travel insurance

2007-09-01T20:36:00.000+05:30

It is always very necessary and also beneficial to get travel insurance. If you travel for even a single trip, you have to get insured. M&S is there for you !!

Getting a travel insurance these days is not at all difficult. But choosing the right agent for your travel insurance is a crucial task. M&S Travel Insurance is one of the agents that can handle this job well. Just answer a few questions with the click of the mouse and get your travel insurance.

You can go for any kind of insurance depending on your need - Single Trip, Multi Trip or Annual Travel Insurance. It has been awarded as the best insurance company in 2005-06. Visit their website and read more. They have their best to offer you !!

Free Hotel Bookings at Easytobook

2007-09-01T20:01:00.000+05:30

Easytobook is provides you online booking without any fee. Easytobook is a website which is dedicated towards providing its customers hotel bookings online through their site with the most reasonable and low prices. The bookings can me made with loads of variety based upon the need and choice of its customers.

Select hotels in Barcelona, Prague, London, etc. They offer you the best and the cheapest rate available on the net. It offers instant booking or cancellation. They have too much of variety for rooms and hotels. Ranging from small hotel rooms to big deluxe ones. If you are planning a trip in near future - Go for EasyToBook !

You can to choose hotels near famous monuments and tourist attractions. Use their EasyMap tool and search for the location that best suits you. Don't forget to avail their special offers. They are giving their customers 75% discount on Amsterdam Hotels. The prompt and active customer service keeps its customers aware of the various facilities and updates. Go for a booking - its indeed worth it !

Quality Education at Tutorvista !

2007-08-28T07:14:00.000+05:30

Parents are always worried about their kids' education. Building the right concepts and proper practice questions is very necessary to excel in different subjects. Such services should be available 24x7. Well, now we introduce you the very popular educational website - Tutorvista!! It is one of the highly rated educational networks.

The website provides intense and comprehensive online study material for K-12/school and college students. It also extends its excellent services to provide supplementary education and Homework Help. Next time you prepare for a test - do your preparation through Tutorvista. Use their Online Tutoring as much as you want. Learn Algebra, Trigonometry and Math online! Try their Free Live Tutoring now!!

Their summer program has interactive courses which start from just $99.99 per month. Check out their Get Ahead english and maths programmes too. Tutorvista teaches you in a structured and easy manner. So you can understand the stuff pretty easily and in a fun way. Try it now! If you don't like it they return your money back. Schedule unlimited tutoring and homework lessons just for $24.99.

One of the supreme and best tutoring website is a click away. Go for it !

Best Trip Planner - REALTRAVEL

2007-08-18T00:55:00.001+05:30

Your travel trips can be really exciting and economical if you plan them through Real-Travel. It has the right mix up of best travel locations and their photographs. This makes it easier to decide the places you want to visit. Feel free to ask questions about any place on their forums. The people are very friendly and helpful here. A blog and a trip planner are totally free if you sign up. Add any number of destinations to your itinerary. Organize and date your itinerary. See your itinerary on a dynamic route map. Compare price and you will see the difference; Real-Travel is indeed good.

If you really don't know about anything which you can do - browse through the "THINGS TO DO" list. It's quite helpful and you can plan various activities ahead of time. Real Travel offers you anything and everything that it takes to help you explore a destination or holiday spot you would like to visit. They also provide you with a highly descriptive travel guide.

Don't miss the editor's picks. The page indeed has really good places covered each day. Did I tell you about their special deals? Okay! They have some really good cheap priced air tickets and hotel packages for you. See the travel maps for finding the lanes with ease. Real-Travel has listed the attractions by destinations.

Can you answer it ?

2007-08-06T15:11:00.000+05:30

I recently received this question on my site. I openly publish the question on this blog and allow my readers to answers the question to the best of their ability. Post them in comments section. Best answering author has himself/herself featured in a box on the right side of the blog. I have already received one answer from one of my friends. See if you can produce something different. We'll have ratings then !

Here is the question by Solomon Mamo Banteywalu

When I observe the theories written about the possibility of 'time travel' one question comes into my head, it is proved that, if a massive body (doesn't matter how small its mass is) moves with the speed of light its mass becomes infinite, then why photons (light particles) made such a long journey in the universe? Are they acted up on by an infinite force?

PS.: Try to be short and to the point!

Farrey’s Superior Products

2007-08-02T16:34:00.000+05:30

Designing or furnishing your home or office from scratch? Then Farrey is for you! The company was established in 1924 and since then it has marked its growth in providing quality services and excellent customer support. Now it is a leading international company providing Ceiling Fans, Lighting, Bath, Door Hardware, Kitchen and Ventilation Products.

Local people can browse through Farrey's Showrooms in North Miami, Florida. Be amazed at the sights at their Decor Theme Parks. Their facilities include a cafe where you can relax and consider a thousand options for any decorating assignment.

Also, don’t forget to go through there special offers. Avail them today ! Their brands include -
Ambience, Crystorama, Fine Art Lamps, Flos, Fontana Arte, Forecast, George Kovacs and many more. You name the brand and its there on the list. Volume purchase discounts are also available! Farrey promises you a safe online shopping experience. Farreys.com is currently only accepting orders for delivery to the United States and Canada. The vast payment options make the shopping experience easier and secure. They accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express through their online store. Discover the new amazing products at competitive prices only at Farreys !

Far side of the moon

2007-07-30T11:06:00.000+05:30

So has any human ever seen the far side of moon? I guess, not ! Because this side of the moon always stays away from us. First directly observed by human eyes when the Apollo 8 mission orbited the Moon in 1968. It includes the largest known impact feature in the Solar System: the South Pole-Aitken basin. A good sight for putting radio telescopes !

The Moon now rotates once as it orbits the Earth, allowing for the same side to always face the Earth so that the far side remains a mystery to any Earth-bound observer.

Resources / Read on the web
NASA to put man on far side of moon
Lunar and Planetary Institute
APOD
Far side of moon movie (2005)

Powerful new iMac

2007-07-25T14:43:00.000+05:30

UFO sightings in Karnal (Punjab)

2007-07-23T18:28:00.000+05:30

On 8th Juily 2007, people in Karnal (Haryana) saw two blue colored lights for almost 2 hours in the sky. The lights seemed to hover all over their locality.

The two lights in the sky were nearly half the size of the moon. The strange lights were seen at around 10:00pm IST. The lights were mind-bogglingly wandering in the sky. People reported that they hadn't seen anything like this before.

The sky presents a beautiful scene every night. One can see thousands of stars and the moon on a clear night sky. But on 8th July 2007 when the people in Karnal looked at the sky, they saw something astounding at around 9pm. Both these lights were encircling one another. The news spread like fire. It was not long when people started to explore the reason behind this strange incidence in the sky. Some of the intelligent ones started saying that this light is a result of some circus show nearby. At around 10pm space scientists started to handle the dispute. They prudently explained that these lights are not from any source on earth. If they had been sent from earth, the lights would have distinct tails. This is a common observation when we switch on a torch in a dark room. Therefore, it was concluded that these lights were not from Earth. The lights were so big that they couldn't have been a star and no planet can come so close to earth. Though the people were feeling astonished by such an incidence but they were also curious to know the reason behind this strange scene. But nobody could find out the exact reason!

PS.: The article above is an original translation from Hindi language to English - done by "Varun Khetarpal". Copy and Paste is not allowed without prior permission from the blog author. You may use this article anywhere on the internet without permission, provided you mention the author name and link back to this blog.

Beat the brand - Sony Ericsson w300i !

2007-07-18T13:07:00.000+05:30

I finally have my hands on w300i. It is just awesome. Excellent features. Battery life is commendable. The claimed talk time is up to 9.5 hours and the claimed standby time is up to 400 hours. The comapny tests reached about 7 hours talk time and standby of 1.5 weeks. I am experiencing the pre-configured Cingular model. Sony Ericsson W300i has a Memory Stick Micro (M2) slot for storage and supports up to 1GB Memory Stick Micro cards. Sony Ericsson W300i supports a wide range of music and video formats including MP3, AAC, AMR, MIDI, IMY, EMY, WAV (16 kHz max) and MP4 as well as 3GP and 3GPP for streaming content. The music quality via the included Sony Ericsson stereo earbud headset is great with clear and crisp sound, full and deep bass and no audio distortion or noise at all. The camera is decent enough - a VGA camera with 4x digital zoom.

Features

Camera

Camera 0.3-megapixel (VGA)
Digital zoom 4x
Video recording

Music

Media Player
MegaBass™
Music tones
PlayNow™

Internet

RSS feeds
Web browser Access NetFront™ Web Browser

Entertainment

3D games
Java
Radio
Video viewing

Connectivity

Bluetooth™
Infrared port
Modem
Synchronisation
USB mass storage
USB support

Messaging

Email
MMS (Multimedia Messaging)
Predictive text input
Sound recorder
Text messaging (SMS)

Communication

Polyphonic ringtones
Speakerphone
Vibrating Alert

Design

Navigation key
Picture wallpaper
Wallpaper animation

Organiser

Alarm clock
Calculator
Calendar
Contacts
Flight mode
Notes
Phone book
Stopwatch
Tasks
Timer

Haven't seen Bengaluru ? Two days experience !

2007-07-16T12:33:00.000+05:30

Yes. You would wanna note that change - its no more Bangalore now! I don't want to be very descriptive because I am little lazy about writing big essays which reflect my personal life. It was an early flight to Bangalore. Bengaluru (getting used to it!) weather was just awesome. It was very pleasant and extraordinarily cool. One enjoyed walking on roadsides. But believe me, the traffic conditions are worse than Delhi. One thing I noticed, unlike Delhi, the three wheeler drivers have to display a copy of their license on the vehicle.

The biggest and the most famous mall in Bangalore is "FORUM". Oh boy ! It was so huge. The 6 level parking excluding the two under-ground floors were literally full. So we finally got a place on the terrace to park our car. It was probably because on Saturdays people have a half-working-day. So population tends to get attracted towards this place. There no other way out ! You can't sit at home and make your life boring ...huh?

I roamed around the city in a smart car - Opel Vectra. It has a sensor for almost everything! Detects the air pressure in tyres. Has an inbuilt parking sense technology. It was cool ! I managed to see the Vidhan Sabha, Karnataka High Court, some gardens, malls etc. Now, I would like to conclude. Check the pictures out for more...

Now grow up !

2007-07-07T12:14:00.000+05:30

Hope you understood and liked my previous article. I have explained the rotation concept with utter simplicity. If you haven't read it - you are missing out on something amazingly superb. Scroll down and give it a read. Keeping aside astronomy for a while, Donald has always remained my favourite. Cartoon animations have developed characters which look so real. Way to go - Animation Industry & Walt Disney!

So do you like strategy or mystery solving games? I am sure you have tried the Nicky Bounty. I have played all of them in the series. These are flash games and are very real ! The music and character sounds are too good. Waiting for the two unreleased games - Nearly Departed & The Adventures of Nelly the Wonder Dog! Pinheadgames website comes out with really good games. Check them out !

Who pushed the Earth in the past ?

2007-07-05T12:40:00.000+05:30

Recently, there has been a lot of discussion coming up on the net. Scientists have given an attempt to answer questions like – What existed before the Big Bang? The biggest hurdle in front of us is that while studying the earlier phase of the universe, calculations fail. This is because one has to divide by zero several times to reach a mathematically correct solution which explains the state of the universe just before the Big Bang. They have altered their calculations and methods to avoid divisions by zero and have tagged along a different approach to show that universe had a finite density and we can find out what existed before the Big Bang. They suggest merging the quantum physics and Einstein’s theory of relativity.

But as the research papers or any material gets confirmed, I will post it here. [link]

Then I went through space videos. One of them was about Apophis asteroid. It will hit us in 2036. The video has been exaggerated a bit showing a complete extinction of life form from earth. It is not true. Read more about the Impact Risk. According to latest updates, as on August 6th, 2006, its imapct has been lowered to Torino Scale 0.

Gradually, as I was winding up the video watching session, I accidentally came across a video titled “Does God Exist?” It has been posted by abcnews.com user. There were a lot of interesting arguments but I would cut down and post the minimum stuff. Watch the video to see the whole debate.

Theist: There needs to be a creator for anything that exists. Everything is created by God. There needs to be a painter for a painting.
Atheist: Then who is the creator of God?
Theist : No one has created God. God is just there as an eternal faith or power in one’s self.
…. and the never ending blah blah blah….

Two friends were heading for a competition. One of them was an Atheist and the other was a Theist. Before leaving for the competition they talked on phone.
Theist: John, I'll pray for your victory today !
Atheist: Thanks. I will think for your victory!

Could you make out the point from this small conversation ?

Well, earlier I had thought of writing an article on M-theory (or String Theory) because
I do know about the fundamentals of the String Theory and understand its application. But trust me, when I came to writing a post on it, I couldn’t do it. Understanding and explaining theories are two completely different tasks. And of course, you need to have the skill to explain complicated things in a simple, clear-cut technique. Also, there are various kinds of string theories, not just one. These theories are interconvertable and then you have the dual of most of these theories. But then I thought of writing about something more interesting. Try answering these questions:

Who pushed our Earth in the past?
Why is it rotating?
Will it continue to rotate?
What would happen if the Earth stops rotating?

Science has progressed so much today that it has answer to almost every question. Curious about astronomy, children do ask startling questions at times that make us spellbound for a moment. For eg. Earth is rotating at an enormous speed of 1100 miles per hour, considering this fact, if someone jumps high up then why doesn’t he land a few miles away from the place he jumped. Now, if our earth stops rotating, what would be the consequences?

Firstly, we need to understand why or what is making the earth rotate continuously. In the early years of the formation of the solar system, the disk of clouds made up of gas and dust started to condense. Gradually, they attained circular stable shapes forming planetary bodies which continued to remain in swirling motion. In the whole process, the sun remained in the center of the swirling disk of gas and dust. As time progressed, accounting to billions of years, the planets came into existence with distinctly separate bodies having a core and crust of their own. Out of the eight planets, the Jovian planets, namely, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune remained gaseous. Let’s understand the concept in a very simple manner. The disk of gas and dust swirled around the sun. It remained captured by the sun’s gravity. Slowly, the planets formed. Now angular momentum needs to be conserved because no external torque is acting on the system, therefore, the planets started rotating. To keep the angular momentum constant, mass distribution lowered (swirling gas condensed into planets) and high orbiting velocity of newly formed planets came into existence.

Now, we are all aware of the fact that there is no need of any external force to keep a ball in rotation. Same is the case with our earth. It doesn’t require any external energy or force to stay in rotational motion. But you would be astonished to know that with the use of extremely accurate atomic clocks it has been found that the rotation is slowly down. One of the reasons for this is Tidal Acceleration. Therefore, the need of Leap Second was felt. Because of changes in dynamic climate and atmospheric pressure, earth’s rotation is affected. NASA’s ESE mission is currently studying more about this.

If the Earth stops rotating, it would produce miraculous results. Firstly, it would highly disturb the earth’s magnetism. Atmospheric disturbance would cease the life on earth. The atmosphere is also rotating with the earth. If earth stops rotating suddenly, high speed winds would sweep the landmasses. Earth just has the right rotation period which helps the living beings to survive. Seismic waves might break the earth apart due to sudden halt in rotation. Moreover, the places on the dark and lightened side of the earth respectively would continue to remain like that.

So does anyone know what is diurnal motion? And folks, do post comments or questions.

The New 7 Wonders : Hamara Taj?

2007-07-05T09:39:00.000+05:30

I just put in my vote for the Taj Mahal today, if u haven't, then hurry up, only 1 day left! but isn't this selection process a bit unfair to poorer countries, i mean how many indians actually have access to voting facilites (internet/mobile phone+money). If the Taj Mahal doesn't get in, i'm gonna go crazy!

Why does Moon appear BIG in the sky ?

2007-06-28T13:46:00.000+05:30

This June 30th brings a moon illusion !The sun and full moon lie on opposite sides of the sky. They are like a see-saw: when one is high, the other is low. Because the summer solstice was just last week (June 21st), the sun is near its highest point in northern skies. The full moon is correspondingly low.

Some researchers believe that the Moon Illusion is Ponzo's Illusion, with buildings and trees playing the role of Ponzo's converging lines. Foreground objects trick your brain into thinking the moon is bigger than it really is.

So? Which of the two lines in the picture above is bigger ? It seems as if the farthest one is a little bigger but actually both of them have the same size. The converging lines in the background of the first line from the top create an illusion in our minds which makes it appear bigger.

Try looking @ the moon with naked eye and then with a hole in a cardboard. Its fun !

PS.: For an indepth knowledge about this topic, visit link

Comparison of planet sizes & stars

2007-06-26T17:23:00.000+05:30

Images are provided by co-intelligence

Sun has a diameter equal to 109 Earths and mass equal to 332,946 Earths.
Jupiter's mass is equal to 317.8 Earths and has an escape velocity of 59.5 km/s. (Escape velocity of earth is 11.2km/s)
Pluto has a mass equal to 0.0021 Earths and an escape velocity of 1.2 km/s.

Let's pray for Sunita William's safe return

2007-06-21T17:33:00.000+05:30

UPDATE : Shuttle ends mission with California landing. The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis touches down at Edwards Air Force Base, California June 22, 2007.

Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams is preparing to return home on Thursday after a 194-day record in space. Cloudy skies and thunderstorms are delaying this return in Florida, US. As informed by NASA, the shuttle that blasted off to fetch Sunita Williams and install new solar power panels aboard the International Space Station has enough fuel and supplies to stay in space through Sunday.

Williams has been replaced at the station by American astronaut Clayton Anderson, who is scheduled to stay aboard the outpost until October. And it is because of her Indian origin that this shuttle mission attracted considerable interest in India. At the time of the launch, her uncle, aunt and cousins in Ahmedabad were glued to the television. She says that she learnt a lot from Kalpana. Just being with her was great fun. Kalpana had a lot of different interests. One of the interests was in Indian music. And they both used to listen to Indian classical music together, informs her father.

Priests, teachers and students at a Haryana school, the alma mater of deceased astronaut Kalpana Chawla, are praying for the safe return of Indian American Sunita Williams from space on Thursday night.

Sunita Williams is another woman astronaut who has touched stars. Let's pray for her safe arrival back to home ! Long Live Sunita Williams !

Nice Mailboxes & Curbside Decors @ Mailboxixchange

2007-06-20T11:30:00.000+05:30

You needn't look for any other company for setting up a mailbox just outside your house because Mailboxixchange is one of those intelligent and experienced companies that can provide you with every kind of mailbox - be it Residential, Commercial or simple wall mailboxes. Their recent customers like their speedy delivery, customer service, great quality and good price.They have almost every type and variety of mailbox - Single-Unit Mailbox, Post Packages, Multi-Unit Mailbox, Wall Mount Mailboxes, Column Mailboxes, Locking Mailboxes. Browse through their big online store and select your decorative or architectural type of mailbox !

Mailboxixchange website has numerous manufacturers listed. Read about everyone and make your selection from this list. Each manufacturer has its price and product photos listed. So go ahead and make a purchase because every order can earn you a gift certificate of $25! The user reviews are indeed very convincing and they speak for this company's high standard and customer satisfaction guarantee. Make payments through a credit card, Paypal or a cheque - they have the easiest ways for online payments.

Mailboxixchange has everything you can imagine about a mailbox. They design it for you - the way you like it ! They deliver and fix them at your house - the way you want them to do ! Mailboxixchange is known for a highly trained and polite staff who can guide you to discover their high quality residential and commercial mailboxes for your home or business. Want to try ? Just send them an inquiry now ! If you are also a publisher, do spread a word about them or join their affiliate program. Also, don't miss those Brandon Heritage & Country Club Classic Antique Double Front Mount Mailbox Packages!

Poker for Mac Users !

2007-06-19T14:20:00.000+05:30

What is Maconlinepoker ?

It is a popular website featuring casino and card games in which players, each holding one or more cards whose face value is concealed, place wagers into a central pot. The pot is awarded to the player or players with the best combination of cards or to the player who makes an uncalled bet.

Macpokeronline is a very appealing website sharing great content and relevant information on poker sites around the globe. It allows its users to rate and review other poker sites so that the users get an idea and easily shortlist best sites. It provides the lists of sites where users don't need to download any software to play Bingo ! It also gives links to download those rare Mac Poker Softwares which are not available with just a mouse's click. You are also not going to miss those mac poker strategy tricks and tips provided by this website. You can earn $$$ with its poker affiliate program. Best of all, it provides special codes for acquiring Poker Bonuses from various sites.

So hurry and join the maconlinepoker website today ! Don't forget to sign up for its newsletter which has interesting news, tips, and tricks about Mac Poker. Also, do sign up for poker forum to indulge in active discussions about poker and casino games. The forum has experts, beginners, moderators and over 2700 registered users.

It is an excellent website which can train you from a beginner level to a professional in poker and casino gaming. If you are a webmaster of a poker website, it is one of the best website to have an affiliation or link exchange. Search for a tournament and get pokering ... !

How does Google justify this ?

2007-06-05T11:43:00.000+05:30

Well, almost every user has an Orkut account today. But we don't seem to notice it ! Only new people can make an observation regarding this figure ! Every new account with 0 contacts and friends, has this figure displayed.

This account literally has ZERO contacts but still Orkut shows connection to 55,929,875 people. How is this number generated ? In simple words, what is the logic behind this calculation ? How does Google justify this ?

Blue Moon for North Americans - 9:04 pm EDT, May 31st

2007-05-30T12:10:00.000+05:30

Basically a Blue Moon refers to a second full moon in a month. Usually we just have one full moon in a month. But on rare occasions we may have two full moons in just one month. Currently, there are many definitions for this term. The other biggest misconception that people have is that during a blue moon night, moon appears blue. Though the moon has appeared to be blue very rarely due to the effect caused by smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere, it is not always true that moon turns blue on that day. So next time you hear about blue moon, please don't wait for a blue colored moon in the sky.

The term Blue Moon is around 400 years old. The Krakatoa Eruption had a global optical effect. Due to heavy amount of ash in the atmosphere due to the eruption, the moon appeared blue in the sky for almost 2 years.

North Americans are fortunate enough to view the second full moon in the sky on May 31st, 2007 (Thursday) at 9:04 pm Eastern Daylight Time. Astro-photographers can sent me their pictures on the email address provided on the left menu of this page and we can have those featured on the blog.

Ever tasted the Blue Moon Beer ? Try it !

Mystery Behind the Anti-Matter !

2007-05-21T20:40:00.000+05:30

What is antimatter? Does it indeed exist?
Can we detect the presence of antimatter?
Does your same body exist composed of antimatter?
Does dark matter contain antimatter?
How different would the two galaxies made up of antimatter and matter particles respectively look from earth?
Does antimatter have negative mass?
Is time travel possible due to existence of antimatter?

Well, it’s very interesting to know and understand the existence of exact opposite replica of every particle in this universe. In simple words, if we have an atom then we have an anti-atom also. Consider a hydrogen atom, for example; It has a nucleus and an electron revolving outside it. Now, there also exists an anti hydrogen atom, which has an anti-electron and an anti-nucleus in it. An anti-electron has a positive charge but has the mass as that of an electron.

It’s the ultra high speed collisions that create antimatter. It is very difficult to capture antimatter particles. Antimatter is created in the explosions taking place on the surface of stars and other inter-galactic collisions. Before the Big Bang took place there was absolutely no material particle which existed. It was only after this explosion that matter and antimatter particles were created in almost equal amounts. But according to theories and analysis a higher percentage of matter particles developed and remained in space.

It is possible to harness energy from the collision of matter and antimatter particles. Let us take a simple example to understand the principle and its use. Suppose we create a rocket that has an antimatter capturing cabinet. We can force the matter and antimatter particles to collide by throwing light on it obtained from the stars and sun. Through this collision we can generate energy which would help the rocket to propel forward towards its destination. In this process, high amount of energy would be generated and can be used in a controlled form. The biggest drawback is that it is very difficult and expensive to store antimatter. There are techniques to capture and store antimatter but again they require high amount of money and expertise. It is also very difficult to create antimatter artificially.

What is vacuum? Does it mean absence of particles?

Now if energy exists then a term like anti-energy should also exist. Well, the Dirac equation has a negative solution. Since it a relativistic quantum mechanical wave equation, it demands the presence of anti particles to have a proper explanation for its negative result. Therefore, the need of antimatter particles was felt. As of now, the expression for this equation is quite complex for a beginner in astronomy. It was at this point of time that Dirac proposed that vacuum is not actually an empty space but a space filled with electrons having negative energy. This would mean vacuums in universe are possessing high amount of negative energy. But this was not quite appealing to people. So absence of real particles or a state in which no particles exist is considered as a vacuum.

From the very beginning we have been studying Einstein’s famous equation E=mc².
The equation E=mc² is actually E²=p²c² + m²c⁴

We consider the special case, when the particle is at rest. This makes momentum (p) of the particle zero and the equation reduces to E=+(mc²) or E=-mc².
The negative sign explains the existence of antimatter.

Well, it’s antimatter all the way! Think about anti blackholes, anti ice creams or maybe anti….

Easytobook - Big Discount On Hotels In Amsterdam

2007-05-18T22:11:00.000+05:30

Plan your trip to Amsterdam by selecting a good hotel for your stay. From every luxurious hotel to a small cheap hotel in Amsterdam – Easytobook provides it all! Easytobook is a website which is dedicated towards providing its customers hotel bookings online through their site with the most reasonable and low prices. The bookings can me made with loads of variety based upon the need and choice of its customers.

It is the committed staff and members of the website that have involved almost every hotel in there to provide top class services. The website has a careful assortment of special offers and maintains a high user rating. The advanced search and mapping service on the website guarantees valuable and constructive results to its users. The website guaranteed a discount of upto 75% ! Best hotel is featured every month on the homepage of the website which draws customers to it.

It also provides an easy city guide to its users and ensures credit card safety. Easytobook provides a free booking facility. Yes ! It doesn’t charge its customers for booking hotel online through their website. Signup for the newsletter on their website and keep yourself up to date of various changes and discount offers. The prompt and active customer service keeps its customers aware of the various facilities and updates. It is just another stop for making your bookings a hassle-free and a more blissful experience.

Eh ? Did they see it ?

2007-05-14T00:23:00.001+05:30

Sunset from Gliese 581

2007-05-07T14:22:00.000+05:30

Exosolar planet is present in habitable zone.

2007-05-03T20:12:00.000+05:30

Using the ESO 3.6-m telescope, a team of Swiss, French and Portuguese scientists discovered a super-Earth about 5 times the mass of the Earth that orbits a red dwarf, already known to harbour a Neptune-mass planet.

It is reported that its radius should be only 1.5 times the Earth's radius, and models predict that the planet should be either rocky - like our Earth - or fully covered with oceans.

HARPS found it
HARPS(High Accuracy Radial Velocity for Planetary Searcher)is one of the most successful instruments for detecting exoplanets and holds already several recent records, including the discovery of another 'Trio of Neptunes'. It can measure velocity upto the precision of 1m/sec. Out of the 13 known planets with a mass below 20 Earth masses, 11 were discovered with HARPS!

Although 211 planets have been discovered to date beyond our solar system, this planet is the first that is assumed to be residing in a habitable zone - the region around a star where the temperature is right for water to be present in liquid form.

The planet's extremely elliptical orbit brings it within about 3.1 million miles (4.9 million kilometers) of its parent star on the inside, and swings out to a distance of about 9.6 million miles (15.4 million kilometers).

Resources
Video Of Mr. Michel Mayor
Research reported on Paper
Episode on Astronomy Cast

Atheists are spiritually blind.

2007-05-02T22:10:00.000+05:30

Science does have the power to explain things which exist in this universe the way they are. But even the greatest of the scientists bow in front of an eternal power that is believed to create this universe.

Atheists are just blind who very easily ignore the truth in this universe. No theories or mathematical formula can prove the existence of God. It means that Science limits itself to this stage. How can we question the existence of our Master? How can we use the same brain given by Him to question His existence?

Today there are many arguments in favour of existence of God.
The Ontological Argument
The First Cause Argument
The Moral Argument

Their details can be found on websites.

Atheists cannot explain the existence of god; they leave it to chance. There needs to be an eternal power that exists. This eternal power is responsible for the creation of this universe. Big Bang cannot take place on its own, right?

There is no physical body of God. He is just – faith, truth and immortality. Questioning the physical existence of God is a dim-witted and unintelligent question. He is composed of two basic components – Light & Sound. Today science has the capability to create an artificial human body but it cannot make it live! It cannot impart life to the artificially created human body. In simple words, science does not possess the power to make artificial souls. Each soul is a part of God. After death soul departs and merges into its creator – GOD! How do atheists explain this?

Ruthless, cold blooded and merciless people have undergone a dramatic change. They include Valmiki and Asoka. They have changed after becoming religious. Therefore, God exists.

In earlier years, there have been various forms of Lord Krishna visiting earth. These incidents have been recorded in various religious books. Doesn’t it prove the existence of God? Becoming an atheist is same as keeping yourself spiritually blind and ignorant of truth of life.

Read more

The Fermi Paradox

2007-03-27T12:03:00.000+05:30

The story goes that, one day back on the 1940's, a group of atomic scientists, including the famous Enrico Fermi, were sitting around talking, when the subject turned to extraterrestrial life. Fermi is supposed to have then asked, "So? Where is everybody?" What he meant was: If there are all these billions of planets in the universe that are capable of supporting life, and millions of intelligent species out there, then how come none has visited earth? This has come to be known as The Fermi Paradox.

Fermi realized that any civilization with a modest amount of rocket technology and an immodest amount of imperial incentive could rapidly colonize the entire Galaxy. Within a few million years, every star system could be brought under the wing of empire. A few million years may sound long, but in fact it's quite short compared with the age of the Galaxy, which is roughly ten thousand million years. Colonization of the Milky Way should be a quick exercise.

So what Fermi immediately realized was that the aliens have had more than enough time to pepper the Galaxy with their presence. But looking around, he didn't see any clear indication that they're out and about. This prompted Fermi to ask what was (to him) an obvious question: "where is everybody?"

Also, if one considers the amount of time the Galaxy has been around (over 10 billion years) and the speed of technological advancement in our own culture, then a more relevant point is where are all the super-advanced alien civilizations. Russian astrophysicist Nikolai Kardashev proposed a useful scheme to classify advanced civilizations, he argues that ET would posses one of three levels of technology. A Type I civilization is similar to our own, one that uses the energy resources of a planet. A Type II civilization would use the energy resources of a star, such as a Dyson sphere. A Type III civilization would employ the energy resources of an entire galaxy. A Type III civilization would be easy to detect, even at vast distances.

This sounds a bit silly at first. The fact that aliens don't seem to be walking our planet apparently implies that there are no extraterrestrial anywhere among the vast tracts of the Galaxy. Many researchers consider this to be a radical conclusion to draw from such a simple observation. Surely there is a straightforward explanation for what has become known as the Fermi Paradox. There must be some way to account for our apparent loneliness in a galaxy that we assume is filled with other clever beings.

While interstellar distances are vast, perhaps to vast to be conquered by living creatures with finite lifetimes, it should be possible for an advanced civilization to construct self-reproducing, autonomous robots to colonize the Galaxy. The idea of self-reproducing automaton was proposed by mathematician John von Neumann in the 1950's. The idea is that a device could 1) perform tasks in the real world and 2) make copies of itself (like bacteria). The fastest, and cheapest, way to explore and learn about the Galaxy is to construct Bracewell-von Neumann probes. A Bracewell-von Neumann probe is simply a payload that is a self-reproducing automaton with an intelligent program (AI) and plans to build more of itself.

Attached to a basic propulsion system, such as a Bussard RamJet, such a probe could travel between the stars at a very slow pace. When it reaches a target system, it finds suitable material (like asteroids) and makes copies of itself. Growth of the number of probes would occur exponentially and the Galaxy could be explored in 4 million years. While this time span seems long compared to the age of human civilization, remember the Galaxy is over 10 billion years old and any past extraterrestrial civilization could have explored the Galaxy 250 times over.

Thus, the question arises, if it so easy to build Bracewell-Von Neumann probes, and they has been so much time in the past, where are the aliens or at least evidence of their past explorations (old probes). So Fermi Paradox becomes not only where are They, but why can we not hear Them and where are their Bracewell-von Neumann probes?

- Rohan Warnmallya

Direction Of Time

2007-03-13T22:51:00.000+05:30

The concept of TIME-EMIT – Total Increase Of Mutual Energy raises many questions in our minds. The laws of Science do not distinguish between the past and the future. The arrow of time always points from a direction with less randomness towards a point having more randomness. There are three arrows of time :

:. Thermodynamic arrow of time
:. Psychological arrow of time
:. Cosmological arrow of time

According to thermodynamic arrow of time, the direction of time is in the same direction as the increase of entropy. Psychological arrow of time has a definite direction. This is a direction in which we feel time passes. This is a direction in which we remember our past and not the future. Finally, cosmological arrow of time has a direction in which the universe is expanding and not contracting. Speed of light can be considered absolute but TIME is relative. This gave birth to theory of relativity !

The bamboozling questions that arise are :-
.:Q:. Will this arrow of time ever change its direction?
AND
.:Q:. How would the state of our universe get affected?

The biggest problem is that universe is continuously expanding and evolving. In accordance to this evolution, we need to update and develop our laws and theories also. One cannot predict the beginning of the universe because laws fail at the Big Bang singularity. Classical theory ceases to hold good for the universe when the curvature of space-time becomes large because then the quantum gravitational effects become important.

The laws of science are unchanged under the combination of operation – C, P and T

C – changing particles for anti-particles

P – taking mirror image

T – reversing direction of all particles

Overall, we have to run in the backward direction. The laws of Science that govern the behavior of matter under all normal situations are unchanged under the combination of two operations C and P. Life would just be the same (as on earth) on a planet in our celestial neighborhood having inhabitants, which are mirror images of us and are made up of antimatter.

Contracting phase of the universe doesn’t favor existence of intelligent beings. Hence, we would never have the opportunity to ask or observe the reversal of direction of the arrow of time.

Total Lunar Eclipse, 3rd March, 2007

2007-03-03T22:29:00.000+05:30

Beginning
Penumbral Eclipse : 20:18:11 UT
Partial Eclipse   : 21:30:22 UT
Total Eclipse     : 22:44:13 UT

Greatest Eclipse  : 23:20:56 UT

End
Total Eclipse     : 23:57:37 UT
Partial Eclipse   : 01:11:28 UT
Penumbral Eclipse : 02:23:44 UT

The moon will turn reddish brown on Saturday night as it passes behind the Earth's shadow in the first total lunar eclipse in three years. Light from the sun will still reach the moon after being refracted through Earth's atmosphere, giving the moon an eerie dark reddish tinge.

The eclipse will be at least partly visible from Asia to the Americas, although those in Europe, Africa and the Middle East will have the best view. Earth's shadow will begin moving across the moon at 3:18 p.m. EST Saturday, with the total eclipse occurring at 5:44 p.m. EST and lasting more than an hour. Alaska, eastern Australia and New Zealand will miss the show altogether. In India, Maximum eclipse is at 4:50 am on the 4th in New Delhi. In Singapore, the Moon enters the totality region at 6:13 am.

Astronomers or photographers can send me their pictures and I will feature it on this blog.

The next total lunar eclipse will occur Aug. 28.

Sources : NASA Website
Spaceweather
Explore Universe
Live Webcast: Astrofoto (Norway)
Saros
Italy

Computer Speakers are sensitive than a mobile !

2007-02-20T12:53:00.000+05:30

An Invention – Computer Speakers are sensitive than a mobile !

I don’t know if its actually of any use but I need to post this in order to get your views and ideas on the same because it does help us in enhancing our concocting skills.

I had my cell kept near my computer speakers which were obviously switched on. Whenever someone calls up, a disturbance with a peculiar sound in the speaker is produced exactly 3-4 seconds before the cell actually starts ringing.

Now we can capture this disturbance produced in the speaker with a suitable instrument that is in turn connected to an LED or an alarm. Well, whenever someone will call up, the LED will glow or the alarm will ring just 3 seconds before the cell actually starts ringing. This means we have come out with an invention of a device 3 seconds more sensitive than our cell phone.

I know 3 seconds are of no use. Anyways, the cell will certainly ring after 3 seconds and we can attend the call. So, whats the big deal ? Well, in the world of technology even a milli-second matters and we are on the road to competition !!

Please let me know about your views and ideas by posting in the comments section.

Wireless Technology !

2007-02-04T14:19:00.000+05:30

Plant color depends on pH of soil

2007-02-04T14:00:00.000+05:30

Hydrangea macrophylla - Bigleaf

It is a deciduous shrub, growing 1-3 m tall. Its flowers are pink, white, or blue, depending partly on soil pH. In acid soils the flowers will be blue, in alkaline soils the flowers will be pink, and in neutral soil the flowers will be white.

Apophis will hit us in 2029

2007-01-25T15:39:00.000+05:30

Apophis would pass through a "gravitational keyhole", a specific region in space no more than about 400 meters across that would set up a future impact on 13 April 2036.

Planetary Society is offering a $50,000 prize for the best plan to put a tracking device on or near the asteroid. It is predicted that the comet will change its orbit and might attack us again in 2036. The University of Hawaii's Pan-STARRS program is training four powerful digital cameras towards the heavens to watch for the attack. Impact Summary

Its a 5x10¹⁰kg asteroid and has a temperature of -290K. Additional observations through 2006 resulted in Apophis being lowered to Torino Scale 0 on August 6, 2006. NASA astronaut Edward Lu is campaigning for a new space tractor, costing between $200 million and $300 million that would divert this asteroid on a path to slam into Earth by changing the space rock's orbit.

"We're only trying to get a really tiny change in the velocity of the asteroid to prevent an impact," said Lu, a former University of Hawaii solar physicist.

This time we will live on moon !

2007-01-09T13:51:00.000+05:30

Have you ever thought of living on moon ?
" Why Moon ? Because space age lies ahead of us "

Yes ! We are returning to moon by 2020. This time to stay on it .

1.) Human Civilization : Humans would be concocting and exploring the depths of technologies to make this return possible to moon.

2.) Scientific Knowledge : The equipments, instruments and techniques to travel around moon and its various characteristics would be developed by NASA.

3.) Exploration Groundwork : NASA is going to dedicate its team of experts, scientists, researchers and astronauts to plan the voyage back to moon. Shuttle design, Rocket features and planning the whole mission worth billion dollars is the biggest task in facade.

4.) Worldwide partnerships: Lunar Exploration opens the door to new technologies that benefit our society and financial system. It will begin global correlation and mutual associations between various nations participating in the course.

5.) Economic Expansion & Public Engagement : Inhabiting a place other than earth in the solar system certainly opens new avenues of research and resource implementation. It would also give a boost to space tourism and spirit of international cooperation.

Moon turns metric
If you think in pounds and miles instead of kilograms and kilometers, you need to become a little lunar. The whole world is based on metric system except few countries. NASA has agreed to use a single measurement system. This will make the human habitats and vehicles placed on the Moon by different space agencies more compatible with each other. That could come in handy if, say, one agency needs help from another agency's base.

All data will be in compatible units, whether it's scientific data or operational data -- such as how deep should it be drilled to carry out research on moon surface.

Return to Moon
Lastly, return to the Moon gives a very different feeling than the Cold War space race of the 1950s and '60s. This mission would surely bring the nations closer and give a boost to our vision for space exploration.

"The earth is the cradle of mind, but one cannot forever live in a cradle" - Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

Comet McNaught plunging towards sun

2007-01-05T12:32:00.000+05:30

HOT COMET: Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) is plunging toward the Sun having its closest approach on Jan. 13th. It will be much closer to the Sun than the planet Mercury. The comet will experience fierce heating and it could brighten considerably, emerging from the encounter brighter than a 1st magnitude star.

For the next few mornings, northerners can see Comet McNaught before it disappears into the Sun's glare. It's an easy target for binoculars hanging low in the eastern sky at sunrise. After Jan. 11th, only SOHO (the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) will be able to track the comet as it angles toward the bright Sun. SOHO images are posted in near-real time on the Internet, so you can watch the comet-sun encounter and see what happens.

Order it for me !!

2007-01-01T22:27:00.000+05:30

Hi !

A very Happy New Year to all the readers. Keeping science apart, lets have some fun..

There are two delectable pictures below. It just awaits conversion into reality. Oh ! I wish it could come out of the screen … “How do you feel after eating a chocolate?”
I just start floating into past sweet memories of fun and leisure when my friends and me used to sit at the last bench and eat chocolates. Of course, the teacher never knew but it was indeed enticing to do all this. The taste fills my heart with alluring thoughts... Just love it !

By the way, how does one feel after eating a chocolate ? Please post your thoughts.

FOUR PLANETS

2006-11-13T15:37:00.000+05:30

FOUR PLANETS: Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Mercury are all crowded around the sun this weekend. The great conjunction is invisible to the human eye (too much sunlight), but SOHO can see it. The spacecraft's coronagraph is able to block the glare and reveal the planets.

Transit of Mercury

2006-11-06T21:30:00.000+05:30

On Wednesday, Nov. 8th, Mercury will pass directly in front of the sun. The rare transit will be visible from the Americas, Hawaii and all around the Pacific Rim. It begins at 2:12 p.m. EST (11:12 a.m. PST) and lasts for nearly five hours.

Because Mercury is so small, only a tiny fraction of the sun will be covered. So don't stare at the sun on Wednesday; it will be as blinding as ever. Instead, try to view the event through a properly-filtered solar telescope. Mercury's tiny, jet-black silhouette passing in front of solar prominences, filaments and sunspots should be a marvelous sight.

Informative Links
Live Webcast NASA
Optical Projection & Filter

You can remember your future !

2006-10-19T12:42:00.000+05:30

Reversal of Time

Well, humans might be able to remember events in the future. This means if you placed a bet with your friend, you will surely win because you would know the result beforehand. Sounds little absurd, eh? I will try to answer this question in very simple words and easy logic.

One thing we have to agree with is that there are always more disordered states than the ordered ones. Consider a Jigsaw puzzle. There are many disordered states but the ordered state is only one i.e. only one arrangement will complete the puzzle.

Now, suppose that a system starts with small number of ordered states. Eventually, as time progresses, it will evolve according to laws of science and will become disordered because disordered states are always more in number for the system. This means that with increase in time, disorder will tend to increase. In simple words, disorder of a system increases as time progresses obeying the initial condition of high order.

Consider that god wants to finish the universe in a state of high order. Now, the situation is totally opposite to what we have seen in the above paragraph. Universe has to “end” in a state of high order and it is for sure that in “early stages” of universe, it would have probably been in a disordered state. As the time progresses, the end of the universe comes closer. In other words, disorder will decrease, as the universe will approach its end. We can also put it like this – “Disorder is decreasing with time.” Now, keep this statement in mind and read further.

This means that we would see broken tea cups pieces gathering together and jumping back on the kitchen shelf.

A human living in the same universe would see this and this would have a psychological impact on his mind. He will remember events in the future, and not the events of the past. When the teacup was broken, he would remember it being on the shelf, but when it was on the shelf, he would remember it being on the floor in the broken form. So, every event that he will remember is in a way “of the future”. It is difficult to talk about human memory and perception as we don’t know its working in thorough detail.

If the universe begins to contract, we can say that the universe is nearing its end and disorder is decreasing with time. Now, would we be able to remember events in the future ? Would we be able to remember tomorrow’s prices and make a fortune on stock market ? The problem is we can’t observe this because the universe would not contract for at least another 10,000 million years. But there is a way out to check this: Jump into a black hole. Entering a black hole is same as experiencing a collapse of the universe. Suppose an astronaut enters a black hole, he would be able to make money at roulette by remembering where the ball would go before placing the bet. But, unfortunately, he would not be able to bank his winnings, as there is no way out from a black hole.

The idea is attractive because it means contracting phase of the universe will be reverse of expanding phase. Therefore, people would die before they were born in a contracting universe.

I know the entry has exceeded the word limit (as our English teachers say – “Marks will be deducted for exceeding the word limit.”) but I hope it has put the point across.

Rover reaches Victoria - safe driving needed.

2006-10-09T17:28:00.000+05:30

NASA’s newest Mars orbiter has reached at the rim of the Red Planet’s massive Victoria Crater.Appearing almost as a shiny boulder, Opportunity’s and its camera-mast shadow can easily be seen in the image by NASA’s MRO.

It just another great image which is taken from a distance of 200 million miles.
Victoria Crater is large enough to fit up to five football stadiums inside and is the biggest Martian crater to be visited by NASA’s red planet rovers.

Rover - Help in Exploration
The rovers together have taken upto approximately 160,000 images of the red planet. They have been a great help in studying the planet.Opportunity has spent 21 Earth months exploring the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. The rover’s robotic twin Spirit rolled across its own Gusev Crater landing site, scaled one of the region’s Columbia Hills and clambered down the other side.

This is the deepest thing studied on this planet. Certainly, it uncovers the secrets and provides us information about the conditions and composition of rocks in the early years. Early estimates pin Victoria Crater at somewhere between 10 million and 100 million years old, but the rocks within the depression themselves are likely much older – as in a few billion years in age.

Opportunity has already found evidence that subsurface water once soaked rocks at Meridiani Planum based on studies at Eagle Crater and the larger Endurance Crater, both of which are dwarfed by Victoria’s size.A complete trip around the crater’s 1.5-mile (2.5-kilometer) rim would take up to nine months.

Very Careful Drive
The interesting and the most difficult of all is to keep the rover safe from diving into the crater. Mission controllers have to find a safe path to enter and then exist from this crater. Everything needs to be done carefully.

Opportunity is now into the 960th Martian day of a mission that was initially planned to span just 90 sols, the term for days on Mars. Now pushing more than 10 times its expected lifetime, Opportunity could fail at any moment.

Click to see Victoria Crater

Can you play this game ?

2006-10-09T12:52:00.000+05:30

This game is a conversation between people. However, instead of traditional statements and responses, each response must be in lyrics that come from the top of your head.Here's how it works. When you visit Mr.Keller's posting and after that the most recent comment left under it, write some lyrics that come from the top of your head in response to the previous lyrics. Also, include the artist/author with each set of lyrics and the song title (if you can).The winner will be the one who would have submitted the greatest number of entries by that time.And, for you goal oriented folks, the winner will have a song written for him/her by Mr.Keller with the lyrics posted on his blog by Midnight (MST) on January 10,2007.

The game is hosted by Mr. Keller on his blog. You can land on his blog to play this game.

Software Solves Moon Mystery

2006-10-02T20:25:00.000+05:30

According to an MSN news source, an Australian computer programmer has found the missing “a” from Armstrong’s famous first words from the moon in 1969, when the world heard the phrase,

That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

Some historians and critics have dogged Armstrong for not saying the more dramatic and grammatically correct, “One small step for a man ...” in the version he transmitted to NASA’s Mission Control. Without the missing “a,” Armstrong essentially said, “One small step for mankind, one giant leap for mankind.” But Armstrong intended to say it properly and he believes he did.Some high-tec sound editing computer programmer, Peter Shann Ford proved Armstrong right.

Ford said he downloaded the audio recording of Armstrong’s words from a NASA Web site and analyzed the statement with software that allows disabled people to communicate through computers using their nerve impulses.

In a graphical representation of the famous phrase, Ford said he found evidence that the missing “a” was spoken and transmitted to NASA.“I have reviewed the data and Peter Ford’s analysis of it, and I find the technology interesting and useful,” Armstrong said in a statement.

Well, this proves that Armstrong did say the "a". But the Moon Hoax is still generating questions in the minds of people.Its the most debatable topic on the net.Did we really go to moon ? This document has all the evidences , proofs and other neccessary graphics supporting the fact that we went on moon.It also contains the myths and what hoax believers say.Deep anaysis - Go through it !

Moon Documents

Discovery

2006-06-23T09:57:00.000+05:30

Two NASA officials who deemed a July 1 launch for the space shuttle Discovery too risky without alterations, said they would not oppose the launch schedule approved by NASA chief Michael Griffin. "At this point it's a done deal. We now go forward and we look to see if we can launch this vehicle next week," Bryan O'Connor, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's top safety official told a telephone news conference Wednesday.

End of 20th century warmest in 400 years

2006-06-23T08:59:00.000+05:30

Human activity has made Earth hotter now than at any point in 400 and possibly more than 1000 years, a US Congress commissioned report said Thursday.
Temperature in the northern hemiphere warmed by about one degree Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius) during the last century, the report by the National Academy of Sciences found.
Scientists have argued that the change was sufficient to alter hurricane patterns and see Polar ice caps melt down.
"There is sufficient evidence ... to say with a high level of confidence that the last few decades of the 20th century were warmer than any comparable period in the last 400 years," the academy's National Research Council report said.
The Republican-led House Science Committee commissioned the study in November after controversial findings by climatologist Michael Mann showed that the 1990s were the warmest decade and 1998 the warmest year of the 20th century.
The latest report -- while stressing that data from before 1600 is for the large part sketchy -- said Mann's conclusion that a graphic charting temperatures over the past century looked like a "hockey stick" was correct.
The academy's National Research Council said Mann's findings were "plausible," but that there was insufficient evidence to pinpoint 1998 as the hottest year.
Existing data did illustrate that temperatures were lower before the industrial revolution and that human activity was responsible for the warming, the study said.
For the northern hemisphere, reconstructions showed that warm conditions centered around the year 1000 and that a relatively cold period -- dubbed the "Little Ice Age" -- followed from 1500 to 1850.
Things started heating up again with the industrial revolution before spiking up in the past decades.
Although temperatures 1,000 years ago were warm, they do not compare with those now, the report said. "None of the reconstruction indicates that temperatures were warmer during medieval times than during the past few decades," it said.
The report called for more research into proxy data for the period prior to 1600 so that comparisons for the past two millennia could be made, and for improved global access to existing to information on which temperature studies could be conducted.
It noted that far more research existed for the northern hemisphere than for the southern hemisphere, and that this vacuum limited the reliability of data overall.

Black Holes

2006-05-13T13:18:00.000+05:30

The term “Black Hole” is of very recent origin coined by John Wheeler, an American scientist.

The graphical description and idea of “A BLACK HOLE” goes back to two hundred years when there were two prevalent and widely accepted theories about light. Light was considered to possess two forms (or natures) namely particle and wave nature. The particle nature of light was favored by Newton.

According to the wave nature, light behaves as a wave. The question that arises is that – Can gravity affect light ? Yes, gravity can affect light if it is considered to behave as particle. Roemer discovered that light has a finite speed, therefore, gravity must have important effect on it.

Gravity is seen to have effect on cricket balls, humans and rockets etc. But light is composed of photons. Photon is a particle which can move upwards constantly against gravity without showing retarding effect. How can then Newtonian gravity affect light?

A star is formed when a light amount of hydrogen starts to collapse on itself due to strong gravitational pull. Eventually due to gravity and increasing pressure the gases heat up and finally hydrogen atoms collide to form helium. The heat released in the process makes the star shine.

Oppenheimer’s work was based on black holes.

He proposed that gravitational field of the star changes the path of light rays it emits in space-time. The light cones are bent slightly inwards near the surface of star. As the star passes its years of life, it contracts and its gravitational field becomes stronger and stronger and finally a time comes when the light cones bend inwards so much that it can no longer escape. This results into nothing but a region in universe which is called a black hole.

The boundary of a black hole is called event horizon. It coincides with the path of light rays that just fail to escape from the black hole.

Meteor Shower Peaks on Saturday

2006-05-02T23:12:00.000+05:30

Earth is about to pass through a stream of dust from Halley's Comet, and this will produce the annual eta Aquarid meteor shower. The shower peaks on Saturday, May 6th, with 10 meteors per hour in the northern hemisphere and as many as 60 meteors per hour in the southern hemisphere. The best time to look is during the hours immediately before sunrise on Saturday morning.

PHOTO OP: On May 7th, the biggest fragment of dying comet 73P/Schwassmann Wachmann 3 will glide by the Ring Nebula in Lyra. The view through backyard telescopes should be wonderful. This is an opportunity for astrophotographers to take some rare photos of a comet and a planetary nebula side by side.

Visit http://spaceweather.com for sky maps and more information.

Does Universe look same from everywhere?

2006-05-01T21:49:00.000+05:30

We have a unique position in the universe. While we observe from our planet, universe seems to be same from all directions. In 1965,Penzias and Robert Wilson, were testing a very sensitive microwave detector. They found that their detector was picking up more noise than it ought to. The noise did not appear to be coming from any particular direction. It was concluded after sometime that the noise was from outside the atmosphere. Infact, it was coming from beyond the solar system.

When one combines general relativity with the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics, it is possible for both space and time to be finite without any edges or boundaries.

Attention ! All readers. Do you also write ?

2006-04-29T18:25:00.000+05:30

I am sure most of my website visitors like to read my blog and posts related to the universe.If you also want to write articles,submit news,poems on universe,jokes and want to publish them on the blog - please post your name and email address in the comments section.I will give you an invitation and you can become a permanent writer for this blog.

I have also introduced a tell a friend service for you.So that you can also invite your friends to this blog where all the updated news events and activities are discussed.You can permanently become a registered member of Exploreuniverse.com by joining the community.Checkout the community to see what members get.

If you want some topics to be discussed specifically , please write to me.Any kind of suggestions and feedback is welcome.

Thanks alot.Keep Reading

Sky falls above the moon !

2006-04-29T10:20:00.000+05:30

"Every day, more than a metric ton of meteoroids hits the Moon," says Bill Cooke of the Marshall Space Flight Center's Meteoroid Environment Office. They literally fall out of the sky, in all shapes and sizes, from specks of comet dust to full-blown asteroids, traveling up to a hundred thousand mph. And when they hit, they do not disintegrate harmlessly in the atmosphere as most would on Earth. On the airless Moon, meteoroids hit the ground.

Clues to how often and how hard the Moon is hit lie in data from four seismometers placed on the Moon by the Apollo 12, 14, 15, and 16 missions during 1969-72. They operated until NASA turned them off in 1977. For years, the seismometers recorded all manner of tremors and jolts, including almost 3000 moonquakes, 1700 meteoroid strikes, and 9 spacecraft deliberately crashed into the Moon. All these data were transmitted to Earth for analysis.

Cooke and Diekmann are now loading the old seismic data into machines at the MSFC where they can perform digital calculations at speeds impossible 30 years ago, rapidly trying new algorithms to find previously unrecognized impacts.

Critical to the analysis are nine man-made impacts. "NASA deliberately crashed some spacecraft into the Moon while the seismometers were operating," he explains. "They were the empty ascent stages of four lunar modules (Apollo 12, 14, 15 and 17) and the SIV-B stages of five Saturn rockets (Apollo 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17)." Their seismic waveforms tell researchers what an impact should look like.

According to the Standard Model, such meteoroids hit the Moon approximately 400 times a year—more than once a day. (Picture a map of Africa stuck with 400 pushpins.) The Apollo seismic dataset can test that prediction and many others.

The analysis is just beginning. "We hope to find many impacts," he says. Regardless of the final numbers, however, their work will have value. "We're developing new algorithms to find meteoroid impacts in seismic data." Eventually, Cooke believes, next-generation seismometers will be placed on the Moon and Mars to monitor quakes and impacts, and when the data start pouring in, "we'll be ready."

NASA spacecraft hits moon - a search for water

2006-04-11T09:03:00.000+05:30

NASA today announced that a small spacecraft, to be developed by a team at NASA Ames, has been selected to travel to the moon to look for precious water ice at the lunar south pole.

The name of the mission is LCROSS, short for Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite. LCROSS is a secondary payload: It will hitch a ride to the moon onboard the same rocket as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) satellite due to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in October 2008.

Left: LCROSS approaches the moon...
Daniel Andrews's team proposed LCROSS. He says , "We think we have assembled a very creative, highly innovative mission." LCROSS will hunt for water by hitting the moon--twice--throwing up plumes that may contain signs of H2O.

It works like this: After launch, the LCROSS spacecraft will arrive in the moon's vicinity independent of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. On the way to the moon, the LCROSS spacecraft's two main parts, the Shepherding Spacecraft (S-S/C) and the Earth Departure Upper Stage (EDUS), will remain coupled. As the pair approach the moon's south pole, the upper stage will separate, and then hit a crater in the south pole area. A plume from the upper stage crash will develop as the Shepherding Spacecraft heads in toward the moon. The Shepherding Spacecraft will fly through the plume using its instruments to analyze the cloud for signs of water and other compounds. Additional space and Earth-based instruments also will study the 2.2-million-pound (1000-metric-ton) plume.

Left: ...and hits. Pictured is the first of two impacts delivered by the split craft.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and LCROSS are the first of many robotic missions NASA will conduct between 2008 and 2016 to study, map, and learn about the lunar surface to prepare for the return of astronauts to the moon. These early missions will help determine lunar landing sites and whether resources, such as oxygen, hydrogen, and metals, are available for use in NASA's long-term lunar exploration objectives.

NASA NEWS RELEASE

Planets around Dead Stars

2006-04-06T07:06:00.000+05:30

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has uncovered new evidence that planets might rise up out of a dead star's ashes.

The infrared telescope surveyed the scene around a pulsar, the remnant of an exploded star, and found a surrounding disk made up of debris shot out during the star's death throes. The dusty rubble in this disk might ultimately stick together to form planets.

This is the first time scientists have detected planet-building materials around a star that died in a fiery blast.

Pic : An artist's concept of a planet-forming disk around pulsar 4U 0142+61. [Movie]

The paper on the Spitzer finding appears in the April 6 issue of Nature. Other authors of the paper are lead author Zhongxiang Wang and co-author David Kaplan, both of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"We're amazed that the planet-formation process seems to be so universal," says Deepto Chakrabarty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, principal investigator of the new research. "Pulsars emit a tremendous amount of high energy radiation, yet within this harsh environment we have a disk that looks a lot like those around young stars where planets are being born."

The finding represents the missing piece in a puzzle that arose in 1992, when Aleksander Wolszczan of Pennsylvania State University found three planets circling a pulsar called PSR B1257+12. Those pulsar planets, two the size of Earth, were the first planets of any type ever discovered outside our solar system. Astronomers have since found indirect evidence the pulsar planets were born out of a dusty debris disk, but nobody had directly detected this kind of disk until now.

The pulsar observed by Spitzer, named 4U 0142+61, is 13,000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. It was once a large, bright star with a mass between 10 and 20 times that of our sun. The star probably survived for about 10 million years, until it collapsed under its own weight about 100,000 years ago and blasted apart in a supernova explosion.

Some of the debris, or "fallback," from that explosion eventually settled into a disk orbiting the shrunken remains of the star, or pulsar. Spitzer was able to spot the warm glow of the dusty disk with its heat-seeking infrared "eyes." The disk orbits at a distance of about 1 million miles and probably contains about 10 Earth-masses of material.

see captionPulsars are a class of supernova remnants, called neutron stars, which are incredibly dense. They have masses about 1.4 times that of the sun squeezed into bodies only 10 miles wide. One teaspoon of a neutron star would weigh about 2 billion tons. Pulsar 4U 0142+61 is an X-ray pulsar, meaning that it spins and pulses with X-ray radiation.

Any planets around the stars that gave rise to pulsars would have been incinerated when the stars blew up. The pulsar disk discovered by Spitzer might represent the first step in the formation of a new, more exotic type of planetary system, similar to the one found by Wolszczan in 1992.

"I find it very exciting to see direct evidence that the debris around a pulsar is capable of forming itself into a disk. This might be the beginning of a second generation of planets," Wolszczan says.

Solar Eclipse 29 March 2006

2006-03-21T14:48:00.000+05:30

ECLIPSE VIEWING SAFETY!

A Solar Eclipse is a truly, truly wonderful phenomena. But one
MUST OBSERVE IT CAREFULLY!

SEVERE eye damage can result if the sun is viewed improperly at any time!!

Safe Methods of Viewing

METHOD 1) Eclipse Glasses

This is the most affordable method. Eclipse glasses are very inexpensive and can be found many places. Just be sure to buy them well before the eclipse, because they will be very hard to come by a day or two before. Make sure that the glasses have the "CE" certification on them.

Eclipse glasses usually consist of a cardboard frame holding two pieces of filtering material where the glass would be in normal sunglasses. The filters remove 99.99% of the Sun's visible light and 100% of the harmful UV. There are now two types of eclipse glasses. The older type has filters made of aluminized Mylar. The newer type uses black polymer lenses. Both will give good protection, but the black polymer type is better all around. They show a more natural color and can be used to look at sunspots any time the Sun is visible. They are more expensive than the Mylar glasses, but well worth the price.

Always check the glasses carefully before each use for pinholes. If you find any, cut the glasses up with scissors and throw them away.

METHOD 2) Special Telescope Filters

These filters fit over the FRONT END of a telescope. Again, they filter out most of the Sun's light. The advantage with this method is that one can see a magnified image of the Sun, with sunspots, granulation, speckles, and other features. The disadvantage is that the filters are more expensive (plus one needs a telescope).

METHOD 3) Welder's Glass

Be careful that you use the right kind of glass! Welder's glass is numbered from 1 to 14 with 14 being the darkest. It is only number 14 glass that is dark enough for solar viewing! And NO STACKING! A pair of number 7's or a 10 and a 4 together DO NOT have the same protection as a single piece of number 14 (see unsafe methods for more details).

METHOD 4) Telescopic Projection

One can get a nice, large, bright image visible to several people at the same time. It requires no special equipment beyond the telescope itself and some sort of flat screen. HOWEVER: It can be VERY DANGEROUS unless one knows EXACTLY how to do it properly! Not only can it cause severe and permanent eye damage, but it can also easily set things on fire. USE CAUTION when following these instructions!

Unsafe Methods of Viewing

Keep in mind that this is by no means an exhaustive list. People have historically been very clever in coming up with stupid ways to observe the Sun. In general, when you're considering whether or not a particular method is SAFE, ask yourself these questions:
"Is this method I'm using SPECIFICALLY designed for solar viewing?"
"Do I know EXACTLY what I'm doing?"
If the answer to either of these questions is "no," then for your vision's sake, don't try it!

(a)Sunglasses (b)Multiple Sunglasses

(c)Mylar Balloons (d) Mylar Food Wrappers (Pop Tart Bags, etc.)

(e) Smoked Glass (f) X-Ray Film

(g) Film Negatives (h) CD's or CD-ROM's

(i) Stacked Welder's Glass

(j) Stacked Welder's Glass

(k) Liquid Filters

(l) Eyepiece Solar Filters

(m) Eclipse Glasses and Telescopes Together

MOONQUAKES ?

2006-03-16T08:17:00.000+05:30

NASA astronauts may need quake-proof houses as they are going back to the moon.
The moon is seismically active.Between 1969 and 1972, Apollo astronauts placed seismometers at their landing sites around the moon,instruments faithfully radioed data back to Earth.

And what did they reveal?

There are at least four different kinds of moonquakes:
(1) deep moonquakes about 700 km below the surface, probably caused by tides;
(2) vibrations from the impact of meteorites;
(3) thermal quakes caused by the expansion of the frigid crust when first illuminated by the morning sun after two weeks of deep-freeze lunar night; and
(4) shallow moonquakes only 20 or 30 kilometers below the surface.

The first three were generally mild and harmless.Between 1972 and 1977, the Apollo seismic network saw twenty-eight of them; a few "registered up to 5.5 on the Richter scale". A magnitude 5 quake on Earth is energetic enough to move heavy furniture and crack plaster. Shallow moonquakes lasted more than 10 minutes. The moon rang like a bell.

On Earth, vibrations from quakes usually die away in only half a minute. The reason has to do with chemical weathering: "Water weakens stone, expanding the structure of different minerals. When energy propagates across such a compressible structure, it acts like a foam sponge—it deadens the vibrations." Even the biggest earthquakes stop shaking in less than 2 minutes.

The moon, however, is dry, cool and mostly rigid, like a chunk of stone or iron. So moonquakes set it vibrating like a tuning fork. Even if a moonquake isn't intense , it just keeps going and going.

"Any habitat would have to be built of materials that are somewhat flexible," so no air-leaking cracks would develop. "We'd also need to know the fatigue threshold of building materials," that is, how much repeated bending and shaking they could withstand.

What causes the shallow moonquakes? And where do they occur? The Apollo seismometers were all in one relatively small region on the front side of the moon, so we can't pinpoint [the exact locations of these quakes].
We're especially ignorant of the lunar poles. That's important, because one candidate location for a lunar base is on a permanently sunlit region on the rim of Shackleton Crater at the Moon's south pole.

Proposals for deploying a network of 10 to 12 seismometers around the entire moon is on, to gather data for at least three to five years. This kind of work is necessary, to find the safest spots for permanent lunar bases.
Other planets must be shaking too.We have to study the moon before establishing habitats on mars or beyond.

NASA NEWS RELEASE