Archive for June, 2009

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Liquid Found on Saturn’s Moon - Exciting Discoveries

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

The liquid found on Saturn’s moon, Titan makes one of the most exciting and challenging discoveries of our century, since besides Earth, this is the second solar body with liquid on the surface in the system. The lake-like formations contain liquid hydrocarbons, most probably ethane according to NASA press release. Cassini spacecraft was the probe to send hundreds of pictures of Saturn and its satellites in its forty close flybys in the area. According to theories, there could be real oceans of methane, ethane and various other hydrocarbons; the dark color of the liquid found on Saturns moon could only point to these components of crude oil. Nevertheless, the liquid form was not confirmed until a probe reached the surface of Titan in January 2005.

The depth of these pools or lakes of liquid found on Saturn’s satellite could be a few or hundreds of feet deep. Infrared scanning by Cassini spacecraft allowed an approximation of the features. Yet, the main question remains as whether this planet would ever be suitable for life or not. Another Saturn moon, Enceladus, revealed cold water geysers issuing from liquid reservoirs lying a little below the frozen soil. Could such scientific evidence start a new era in the space mission programs? Though life remains difficult to imagine in the cold conditions of this icy world, right beneath the surface of Enceladus, all the premises indicate that life is more than possible.

Consequently the liquid found on Saturn’s Enceladus triggered a whole set of new investigations for life in the solar system. Plus, there is one other condition met for the development of life on Enceladus: organic materials, and they do abound in the form of hydrocarbs like ethane, methane and carbon dioxide. Finally, near the thermal vents, deep down in Saturn’s layers, the temperature could also create a favorable background for the appearance and development of life forms.

The liquid found on Saturn’s moons makes the most exciting discovery in the last twenty five years, since volcanic activity was identified on one of Jupiter’s satellites. Though the source of the water geysers could not be spotted by the camera of the spacecraft the water and ice sprays were very visible in the sunlight, in the polar region of Enceladus. The same warm-icy model in the structure of comets applies to this liquid found on Saturn’s satellite, Enceladus, since the geysers were identified as a combination of ice and hot water vapors. Then, there must be liquid water under the surface!

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The Night Sky

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

Irrespective of how far along you’re in your sophistication as a beginner astronomer, there’s always one elemental moment that we all go back to. That is that extraordinarily first moment that we went out where you could actually see the cosmos well and you took in the night sky. For town dwellers, this is a revelation as profound as if we discovered aliens living among us. The majority of us haven’t a clue the huge panorama of lights that dot a clear night sky when there are no city lights to interfere with the view.

Sure we all love the augmented experience of studying the sky using binoculars and diverse sizes and powers of telescopes. But I bet you can recollect as a kid that first time you saw the totally displayed clear night sky with all the amazing constellations, meters and comets moving about and an exposure of dots of light far to numerous to ever count.

The best way to recapture the joys of that moment is to go out in the country with a kid of your own or one who hasn’t had this experience and be there at that moment when they gawk up and say that very powerful word that is the sole one that may summarise the feelings they are having viewing that magnificent sky. That word is - “Wow”.

Probably the most remarkable fact about what that child is taking a look at that is also the thing that is most difficult for them to realise is the sheer enormity of what is above them and what it represents. The very fact that almost up there in the sky is another star or celestial body that is hugely bigger that Earth itself, not by twice or 10 times but by factors of hundreds and thousands, can be a mind blowing idea to kids. Children have enough trouble imagining the dimensions of earth itself, a lot less something on such a grand scope as outer space.

But when it comes to astronomy, we do better when we fall into deeper and deeper levels of shock at what we see up there in the night sky. Some wonderful facts about what the children are having a look at can add to the goose bumps they are already having as they gaze eyes skyward. Facts like

* Our sun is a part of a massive universe called the Milky Way that consists of one hundred billion stars just like it or larger. Show them that a hundred bn. is 100,000,000,000 and you may se some jaws drop for sure.

* The milky was is only 1 of many billions of universes every one of which has billions of which has billions of stars in them as well. In fact, the Milky Way is an example of the to drive across the Milky Way, it would take you 100,000 years. But you can’t get there driving the speed limit. You have to drive five trillion, eight hundred million miles every year to get all the way across that fast.

*    Scientists calculate that the Milky Way is fourteen bill Years old.

These small fun facts should get a pretty enthusiastic consultation going about the origins of the universe and about the possibility of space travel or if there are life on other planets. You can challenge the kids to calculate that if each star in the Milky Way supported 9 planets and if only one of them was habitable like earth is, what are the chances that life would exist on one of them? I think you will see some genuine excitement when they attempt to run those numbers.

Such dialogue can be fun, exciting, and full of queries. Do not be too hasty to close down their imaginations as this is the birth of a lifetime love of astronomy that they are experiencing. And if you were there that first moment when they saw that night sky, you may re-experience your own great moment when you was a child. And it might set off a totally new excitement about astronomy in you all over again.

Visit planet-facts.com for more information about planets and our solar system. Along the way, check out facts about the planet Mars.

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How Coments Are Formed

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

The one thing we like the most worldwide of astronomy is a good mystery. And if there was ever a mysterious and yet really robust force of nature that we witness in the night skies, it is the coming of the powerful comet.

The arrival of a comet within view of Earth is an event of world significance. Witness the huge media attention that the Haley or Hale-Bopp have had when they have come within of these amazing space objects is concurrently scary and shock provoking.

Above all, it is during these comet viewings the astronomer comes out in all of us. But what’s a comet? Where did it come from? And how does it get that impressive tail?

We should never confuse comets with asteroids. Asteroids are little space rocks that come from an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Whilst still quite stunning to see, they pale in comparison to the arriving of a comet. Asteroids also have received considerable study by the scientific community.

Not as much is commonly known about comets. As a rule, comets are considerably larger than asteroids. The composition of a comet is a mixture of nebulous, gasses, ice, dust and space waste. One scientist called the composition of a comet as like a “dirty snowball” as the composition is so various and changeable. The center or nucleus of a comet is generally quiet solid but the “snowball” materials often create a “cloud” around that nucleus that will become quite massive and that extends at great lengths behind the comet as it moves through space. That trailing plume is what makes up the comet’s impressive tail that makes it so exciting to watch when a comet comes inside view of Earth.

The origins of comets is similarly mysterious. There are a number of theories about where they come from but it is clear where they originate from outside our solar system, somewhere in deep space. Some have speculated they are pieces left over from the organization of planets that get loose from whatever gravitational pull and are sent flying across space to ultimately get caught up in the gravity of our sun bringing them into our solar system.

Another theory is they come from a gaseous cloud called the Oort cloud which is cooling out there after the organization of the sun. As this space debris cools, it gets organized into one body which then gathers sufficient organization of the gravity of arranged into a fast moving comet plummeting toward our sun. However, thanks to the into the gravity of the various solar system, the comet does not always immediately collide with the sun and regularly takes on an orbit of its own.

The of comets varies widely. Scientists refer to a comet that is expected to burn out or impact the sun within two hundred years as a short period comet whereas a long period comet has a life expectancy of over two hundred years. That comet that is anticipated to us as earth dwellers but in terms of stars and planets, this as a very short life as a space object indeed.

Scientists across the world have put together some pretty inspiring probes to find out more about comets to aid our understanding of these visitors from beyond. In 1985, for instance, the United States put a probe into the path of the comet Giacobini-Zinner which passed thru the comets tail gathering tremendous scientific knowledge about comets. Then in 1986, a global collation of scientists managed to launch a probe that was able to fly close to Haley’s comet as it passed near Earth and continue the research.

While scifi writers and tabloid newspapers like to alarm us with the possibility of a comet impacting the earth, scientists who understand the orbits of comets and what changes their paths tell us this is unlikely. That is good because some comets reach sizes that are as big as a planet so that impact would be ravaging. For the moment, we will enjoy the fun of seeing comets make their rare visits to our night sky and wonder at the spectacular shows that these visitors from beyond put on when they are visible in the cosmos.

Visit planet-facts.com for more information about planets and our solar system. Along the way, check out facts about planet Pluto.

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Astronomy For Kids - An Introduction

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

The science of Astronomy is interesting and varied.  And as with many things, even very serious things, people often get an early start.  There are a lot of resources for astronomy for kids who are interested in the planets, the solar system, the universe and everything else that’s part of this exciting science.  Kids naturally gravitate to many aspects of astronomy.  These include the solar system, planets, comets, meteorites, asteroids, stars, the sun, galaxies and of course our closest neighbor in space, the moon.

Our only natural satellite is called the moon.  Its path around the Earth takes just over twenty seven days to complete.  Being so near, it has hosted the only human footsteps on a space object other than the Earth.  Gravity between the moon and Earth causes the tides.  Because it’s close enough to see clearly with the naked eye, kids are often drawn to astronomy by it.

Let’s move to the another subject of this kids astronomy - sun. Earth is quite far from the sun. The distance varies between about 146 million kilometers and 152 million kilometers. That’s because Earth’s orbit around the sun isn’t a circle, it’s an ellipse. Without the sun there would be no life on Earth. The sun provides both light and heat to the planet. A little known fact is that the sun contains about 98% of the mass in the solar system. Talk about the big bully on the block.

Our sun and solar system reside in a galaxy called the Milky Way.  Just as other galaxies, ours contains gas and clouds of dust, stars and planets and other space materials.  Most of the area in a galaxy is filled with nothing, just empty space.  That’s a lot of nothing because our galaxy is 100,000 light years across and 3,000 light years deep.  The center of our galaxy is about 30,000 light years from Earth.  Even with all that space there are about 100 billion stars in the Milky Way.  In fact the galaxy was named for the thick group of stars in the main portion of it.  People thought it looked like a stream of milk, so called it the Milky Way.  There are four types of galaxies – elliptical, lenticular, irregular and like the Milky Way, spiral.

There is a lot of information about astronomy for kids online. From dictionaries and encyclopedic references, to programs, books and toys that show different planets, solar systems and objects right on the computer, there’s more information than a kid would ever read.

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Getting Up Close to Laboratory Furniture

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

Science might seem like something that happens in sterile labs behind closed doors, but that’s not really the truth of it. There’s a wide range of places out there that allow you to visit their facilities to see scientific research and work as it goes on. Check out their laboratory furniture, ask questions about what’s going on, and find out everything you wanted to know about the procedures and work that happens at museums, hospitals and many other locations. Let’s take a look at some of the places you might be able to see scientific equipment and processes, and some of what you’ll find if you visit them.

In the UK, there are a number of organizations that are choosing to promote the different sciences by offering open lab days and other visitor options. Public bodies and businesses are opening their doors to let ordinary people see what’s going on, and to improve relations with the public. This is a great opportunity! There’s a lot that kids and adults alike can learn if we take advantage of these open days to see what does on at some of our major institutions.

One of the great things about these open days is that rather than being bland tours, many institutions are going to great lengths in order to make these events both interesting and appealing to those who choose to visit. For example, at the Institute of Biomedical Science, visiting students have an opportunity to monitor the progress of the dummy patient regarding the different departments within a laboratory. They have an opportunity to get up close and personal with pre-prepared samples and results. Furthermore, they can scrutinize bloodstains, blood films and a wealth of other information, including a comprehensive presentation by histologists.

Until one actually takes part in such a tour, it’s difficult to imagine just how much work is required for something as simple blood analysis. By going on one of these tours, you can mingle with staff displaying the latest laboratory furniture, such as fume extraction equipment or laboratory fume cupboards. You also have the benefit of seeing the relevant slides projected onto a wall and also, you have an opportunity to get up close and personal to some of the most interesting pieces of equipment imaginable.

Of course, not everyone has an interest in medicine and in that case you may want to consider a visit to the Natural History Museum’s Earth Lab instead. There you will be able to view an unbelievable amount of minerals, rocks and fossils in conjunction with all the different facts and procedures relating to geology. Additionally, one gets an opportunity to compare various specimens using a microscope together with the use of a database which is incredibly user friendly. Considering that there is also extremely helpful staff on hand to offer information and explanations, this is one opportunity you may not want to miss.

For those with an interest in astronomy, Jodrell Bank has a dedicated visitor center offering extremely interesting talks relating to astronomy. Furthermore, visitors also have an opportunity to see the famous Lovell Radio Telescope and the Jodrell Bank Observatory. Interestingly enough, Jodrell Bank regularly hosts special events which are open to the general public. Providing you’re willing to make an effort to find out when such an event is being hosted, you’ll have all the opportunity you’ve ever dreamed of, to find out exactly what goes on at an observatory. For the vast majority of people, astronomy is simply enthralling and as such, you’d be well advised to find out more about it.

At the Institute for Animal Health and similar institutions, you can check out visitor centers and learn more about what happens to food before it gets to the store. Livestock and crop growing information are available, but there’s more than just farming. You’ll also see some of the information about bacterial problems that can come up in food production and how they’re dealt with. Just like most of the other laboratories you’ll get a chance to see, animal related ones will have a lot of interesting laboratory furniture and equipment. It can be really exciting for kids and adults alike. We should all know where our food comes from and how it gets on our plate, and you’ll be surprised at how little you really know.

One can hardly deny the fact that science in general, is of paramount importance to mankind and as such, we can only be grateful for an opportunity to visit a wide range of labs and view processes ranging from fume extraction to complex blood analysis. What once was hidden behind closed doors is now becoming increasingly accessible to the greater majority. Irrespective of where your passion lies, there is virtually something for everyone, providing of course you choose to visit a lab that is in line with your own interests.

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