Up At The Ranch And Beyond

[Star Tsar]

SpaceTime With Stuart Gary



Best Place On Earth To See Stars

Published 24th August 2020

Covered in this episode

Best place on Earth to see stars
A new study has determined that a frozen plateau in Antarctica called Dome A is the best place on Earth to see the stars.

Dozens of brown dwarfs discovered in our neighbourhood
A new study has uncovered 95 previously unknown brown dwarfs lurking in our cosmic neighbourhood.

The tenth pack of Starlink satellites now in orbit
SpaceX has launched its tenth Starlink mission adding another 57 broadband internet satellites to the growing constellation.

The Science Report
Climate change pushing Greenland's ice sheet beyond an irreversible tipping point.
Common high blood pressure drug Hydrochlorothiazide linked to increased risk of skin cancer.
Scientists turn house bricks into batteries.
Archaeologists discover 2700-Year-Old Administrative Centre remains in Jerusalem.
Can dogs sense the supernatural?

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=5IaqDf42Zzs

[Star Tsar]

Learn The Sky

Cepheus

Published 25th August 2020

Cepheus is a circumpolar constellation that lies close to the constellation of Cassiopeia and can be seen all year round in the northern hemisphere. Look for Cepheus next to Cassiopeia in the sky. Both Cassiopeia and Cepheus are connected through their mythologies. Learn how to identify this constellation and the celestial objects that sit within its boundaries.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=6VCKcucM6YM

[Star Tsar]

Weather.com

India’s AstroSat Discovers An Ancient Galaxy; Findings Could Help Explain Origin Of Light Post Big Bang

Published 25th August 2020

Scientists from the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune have discovered one of the earliest galaxies in the universe, situated about 9.3 billion light-years away from the Earth. The breakthrough discovery, published on Monday, was made using AstroSat—the first multi-wavelength satellite of India.

Launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on September 28, 2015, and developed by multiple research institutes from India and Canada, the satellite specialises in studying celestial sources in X-ray, optical and UV spectral bands simultaneously. It consists of five payloads that assist in capturing UV light coming from celestial objects.

The satellite, using its unique features, recently detected an extreme-ultraviolet light coming from the galaxy named AUDFs01. The discovery is expected to help our understanding of the earliest source of light in the universe.

Read all about it here: https://weather.com/en-IN/india/spac...ancient-galaxy

A little on AstroSat

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=yblax2QtCtA

[Star Tsar]

Dr Paul M. Sutter

Ask a Spaceman! | Are Dark Photons Real?

Published 26th August 2020

Are there more than four forces of nature? Is dark matter connected to dark energy? What the heck are dark photons? Dr Sutter discusses these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=wiCRgIa2U3w

[Star Tsar]

SciShow Space

The History Hidden In Martian Dunes

Published 25th August 2020

The Red Planet was once more like Earth, with a thicker atmosphere and liquid water. Now, scientists are looking for clues to its past in the planet’s ancient fossil dunes, barchan dunes, and ghost dunes.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=F7ZUIvRRGNE

[Star Tsar]

Seeker

Eleven Billion Years Of Our Universe’s History Were Missing… Until Now

Published 27th August 2020



After 20 years of mapping the night sky, one project has filled in an 11 billion year gap in our knowledge of the universe’s history.

Since 2000, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, or SDSS, has been regularly studying the sky via its relatively small two-and-a-half meter telescope in New Mexico with the goal of creating the most detailed map of the observable universe ever.

The data produced by the SDSS has made it one of the most influential tools in cosmology. Over the years the project introduced new instruments like the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, or BOSS, which mapped the distribution of luminous red galaxies and quasars to establish a scale created by ripples in the very early universe.

SDSS is on its fifth study and if it is anything like the others it will reveal parts of the cosmos we've never seen before.

Scientists May Be One Step Closer to Figuring Out How Fast the Universe is Expanding
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22NtXWDQlrM

Read More:
No need to Mind the Gap: Astrophysicists fill in 11 billion years of our universe’s expansion history
https://www.sdss.org/press-releases/...-mind-the-gap/
"The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) released today a comprehensive analysis of the largest three-dimensional map of the Universe ever created, filling in the most significant gaps in our possible exploration of its history."

SDSS-IV: Current Surveys (2014-2020)
https://www.sdss.org/surveys/
"After nearly a decade of design and construction, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey saw first light on its giant mosaic camera in 1998 and entered routine operations in 2000."

What Is The Hubble Constant?
https://www.space.com/25179-hubble-constant.html
"The Hubble Constant is the unit of measurement used to describe the expansion of the universe."

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=LDmnVNDHPfU

[Star Tsar]

JHU Applied Physics Laboratory

Voyagers One & Two, Where are We Now?

Published 25th August 2020

The current interpretations of the Voyager data on the heliosheath and the interface with the local interstellar medium are reviewed, and serious omissions in these interpretations are pointed out. Current conclusions on the global structure of the heliosheath, whether from models or observations, are found to be wanting, resulting in a need for better models and further observations, such as by Interstellar Probe.

Panelists
James Mastandrea
Michael Paul
Andrea Harmon
Prof. Lennard Fisk

Learn more about the Interstellar Probe: http://interstellarprobe.jhuapl.edu/

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=EaAWIwTdKz0

[Star Tsar]

What Da Math? With Anton Petrov

New Surprising Discoveries From Ceres

Published 26th August 2020

In this video Anton will talk about about new discoveries from Ceres that imply a large sea or ocean inside of the closest dwarf planet to us.

More information: "Recent Cryovolcanic Activity at Occator Crater on Ceres," A. Nathues et al. 2020 August 10, Nature Astronomy www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1146-8
"Impact-driven Mobilization of Deep Crustal Brines on Dwarf Planet Ceres," C. A. Raymond et al. 2020 August 10, Nature Astronomy www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1168-2
"Evidence of Non-uniform Crust of Ceres from Dawn's High-resolution Gravity Data," R. S. Park et al., 2020 August 10, Nature Astronomy www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1019-1
"Fresh Emplacement of Hydrated Sodium Chloride on Ceres from Ascending Salty Fluids," M. C. De Sanctis et al., 2020 August 10, Nature Astronomy www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1138-8
"Impact Heat Driven Volatile Redistribution at Occator Crater on Ceres as a Comparative Planetary Process," P. Schenk et al., 2020 August 10, Nature Communications www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17184-7
"The Varied Sources of Faculae-forming Brines in Ceres' Occator crater Emplaced via Hydrothermal Brine Effusion," J. E. C. Scully et al., 2020 August 10, Nature Communications www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-15973-8
"Post-impact Cryo-hydrologic Formation of Small Mounds and Hills in Ceres's Occator Crater," B. E. Schmidt et al., 2020 August 10, Nature Geoscience www.nature.com/articles/s41561-020-0581-6

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZVBHclVvJ7s

[Star Tsar]

Engadget.com

A Tiny Space Rock Holds Clues About The Evolution Of Life

Published 24th August 2020

Meteorite Asuka 12236 may pre-date our solar system.

Read all about it here: https://www.engadget.com/nasa-meteor...JzVg26Wd9_2BM0

More on Asuka 12236

[Star Tsar]

NASA Night Sky Network

NASA’s Search For Meteorites In Antarctica: Who, What, When, Where, Why & How?

Published 25th August 2020



Hear Dr. Cynthia Evans tell us about NASA's search for meteorites in Antarctica.

Dr. Evans will describe some of her recent experiences deployed to Antarctica as part of NASA’s Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) 2019-2020 field team. She will also discuss the importance of NASA’s meteorite collection for understanding solar system evolution and relevance for current and future NASA missions.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=BHfU-60dGLw

[Star Tsar]

Nemesis Maturity

150ft-Wide Asteroid 2011 ES4 Will Fly By Earth At 0.3 Times The Distance To The Moon Next Week

Published 26th August 2020

An asteroid will fly by Earth at 0.3 times the distance to the Moon on September 1, 2020. Asteroid 2011 ES4, which measures approximately 150ft (50m) across, is expected to hurtle past the Earth at staggering speeds of 18,253mph (29,375kmh).

The space rock will pass by Earth at 0.00048 Astronomical Units (AU) away - approximately 44,550 miles (71,600 km). The CNEOS database reveals the asteroid will pass by the Earth on September 1 at 3.49pm BST (10.49am ET).

That asteroid has a condition code of seven (7) at the time, with 0 being good and 9 being highly uncertain. However, Space Agencies say it is of no threat to Earth.

Asteroid 2011 ES4 will pass safely, but it's a reminder that Earth has been vulnerable to cosmic impacts in the past, and will continue to be in the future.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=w5Mvn4snxE8

&

A Bright Comet Is Plunging Toward The Sun

Published 27th August 2020

It's bright, and it's doomed. A new comet just discovered by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is plunging toward the sun where solar heating will almost certainly tear it apart.

"I know it doesn't look like much now, but this comet could become really bright--perhaps 2nd or 3rd magnitude as it passes by the sun on Thursday and Friday," says Karl Battams of the Naval Research Lab in Washington DC.

The comet is a Kreutz sungrazer--a fragment from the breakup of a giant comet many centuries ago. SOHO has discovered thousands of Kreutz sungrazers; tiny ones divebomb the sun almost every day. This fragment is bigger and brighter than usual.

Like other Kreutz comets, this one will probably disintegrate when heated. But will that happen before it reaches the sun or after?

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=5pYUkiDuoNE

[Star Tsar]

Suspicious Observers | Space News | 26th & 27th August 2020

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=eeTguBRags4

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=gmAxpoX0vI8

[Star Tsar]

Weather Events

Worldwide Wild Weather

Floods & Landslide - Karachi, Pakistan

Recorded & Published 25th August 2020

A landslide in Karachi’s Gulistan-e-Johar Block 3 destroyed over 80 cars and motorbikes Tuesday. The incident occurred when heavy rocks fell from the hills on the vehicles of Javed Hill View Apartments residents following heavy rain in the city.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=NWJM2geKw3M

&

Tornado - Lecce, Italy

Recorded & Published 26th August 2020

Sunbathers were forced to flee after a tornado hit a beach in Italy's Puglia region.

It struck on Tuesday afternoon on Pescoluse beach, raising a column of twisting sand.

Local media reported several people had minor injuries.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=LKuRA9Kdsck

&

Hurricane Laura Hits US

Published 27th August 2020

The category four storm is approaching Texas and Louisiana with maximum sustained wind speeds of 150 miles per hour (240km/h).

If it maintains those speeds it would be one of the strongest storms to ever hit the US south coast.

Half a million residents have been told to leave the area.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=e2qL6UySRjE

[Ivanhoe]

Hi Star
I don't always hit the thanks button, but I want you to know I appreciate the work and effort you put into this thread.
Very informative indeed.
THANK YOU!

[Star Tsar]

Posted by Ivanhoe (here)
Hi Star
I don't always hit the thanks button, but I want you to know I appreciate the work and effort you put into this thread.
Very informative indeed.
THANK YOU!

Thanks Ivanhoe!
So pleased to read that your enjoying & learning along with me...

[Star Tsar]

ScientificAmerican.com

Luna-25 Lander Renews Russian Moon Rush

Published 27th August 2020



There is a multicountry moon rush in progress. NASA is orchestrating the Artemis program of robotic and human lunar exploration, due to launch human explorers in 2024 at the earliest. China is preparing to hurl a sample-return mission to the moon this year, joining a Chinese lander and rover that are now on the lunar far side. Other nations, such as Japan and India, as well as private spaceflight firms, also have future lunar exploration in their crosshairs.

Read all about it here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...ian-moon-rush/

[Star Tsar]

Space Weather Woman Tamitha Skov



Solar Storm Forecast | A Fizzle, Fast Wind, & Space Guests

Published 27th August 2020

This week our Sun quiets down from the series of solar storms and flares of last week. Although we were expecting one of the solar storms to hit Earth, it actually was near miss. The storm went just southeast of us. This was quite lucky for the recent Starlink launch because a similar storm from the same region did hit one of our upstream solar wind satellite monitors (STEREO A), and it was actually quite large! Since then the active regions that were firing the solar storms have rotated to the Sun's farside so things have become quiet again. However, we are still managing to stay in the low 70s for solar flux so amateur radio and emergency responders can expect to hold on to marginal radio propagation this week. GPS reception should also remain good, especially on Earth's dayside. Plus we have some more fast solar wind coming our way, which could give us a decent show of aurora at high latitudes. Learn the details of the solar storm near miss, see why it was lucky for Starlink, and find out what else our Sun has in store this week!

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=CnNpWD5UzVs

[Star Tsar]

Nemesis Maturity

Prominence Eruption & Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)

Published 27th August 2020

For days, astronomers have been monitoring a gigantic prominence on the Sun's northwestern limb. Today, [27th August] the magnetic structure erupted, hurling a bright CME into space. The CME will not hit Earth..

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=WgZF-rsIUtU

&

Large Sungrazer Comet Divebombs The Sun & The Sun Produces Two CMEs

Published 28th August 2020

Yesterday, Aug. 27th, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) watched as a comet plunged into the sun and disappeared. Fierce solar heating completely destroyed the icy visitor from the outer solar system.

Discovered only two days ago, the comet is a Kreutz sungrazer--a fragment from the breakup of a giant comet many centuries ago. SOHO has discovered thousands of Kreutz sungrazers; tiny ones divebomb the sun almost every day. This fragment was bigger and brighter than usual, but it suffered the same fate as its siblings: annihilation.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=WUY4Cv_CJYw

[Star Tsar]

NBCNews.com

Ancient Meteorites Suggest Earth's Oceans Didn't Come From Space, But Were Already Here

Published 27th August 2020



Research indicates the star stuff that formed our solar system contained more than enough hydrogen to create all of the Earth’s water.

Earth's oceans may have formed directly from the “star stuff” that coalesced into the early solar system, according to new research – challenging the idea that most of Earth’s water was delivered here by meteorites and comets.

Read all about it here: https://www.nbcnews.com/science/scie...space-n1238462

[Star Tsar]

Starset Society

Asteroid Mining - Why The Next Generation Of Miners Will Have Their Eyes On The Stars

Published 25th August 2020



In 2015, Neil deGrasse Tyson claimed "The first trillionaire there will ever be is the person who exploits the natural resources on asteroids."

For the first installment in The Starset Society's new series - FUTURES, we examine a future where asteroid mining has become commonplace.

The notion of asteroid mining has been circulating more than ever as private companies seek ways to tap into the seemingly limitless resources of space for profit, expansion, and innovation, and they’re getting closer every year.

Read all about it here: http://thestarsetsociety.org/futures...-on-the-stars/

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=svCysOiZJSw