Solar storm hits earth, largest storm since 2005

A large solar storm is affecting the earths magnetic field, this is the largest solar storm that we have seen since 2005. This solar storm has been causing our GPS to act up, causing the northern lights to be brighter, and making auroras to appear at night in some places of the world. The solar storm is a result of a solar flare that erupted from the sun at 11:00 p.m. on Sunday the 21st of January 2012.

When a solar flare reaches earth it moves around the earths protective magnetic poles, but does damage to them in the process. Once it hits the magnetic poles it is then called a solar storm, because it is a storm that effects the earth caused by the sun. A solar storm contains extremely hot gasses, and super charged particles that are blasted at the earths atmosphere. The particles then collide with the atmosphere causing the polar lights to appear, and auroras (which are really the same thing) in other places of the world. This solar storm hit us in three different waves, the first hit us with electromagnetic radiation, the second with protons, and the third with a coronal mass ejection. A coronal mass ejection is a large burst of solar wind, plasma, and electromagnetic fields being released into space.

NASA is currently working on a tool that can predict the path of solar storms, so that they can issue warnings to astronauts and spacecraft telling them that they are in danger of a solar storm. They are using the same type of satellite system that they use to predict hurricane, and storm paths, however this system will be of use on a much larger scale, so the estimated completion time for this tool to be in use is three years from now. The solar activity from the sun will be continuing due to the sun approaching its solar maximum which is predicted to be in 2013.

Kepler Discovers 11 New Planetary Systems

The Kepler mission to discover new planets, which there is a blog post about a few posts down, has come up with some incredile results. A confirmed 11 planetary systems that host 26 planets, previously unknown, have been found. This doubles the number of confirmed planets found by Kepler and gives us new insight to how other planetary systems work, esspecially ones compact as these.. More then half of the newly discovered planets are around the size of Earth, and every single one of them is closer to their star then Venus is to our sun. The planetary system with the most exoplanets is Kepler-33, which has five Earth sized planets. Kepler discovers these systems using light detection, noticing when the light from a star is changed. This occurs when an orbiting planet passes in front of it. Once they suspect Kepler has found a planet they focus all of their resources and time to verifying it was a planet instead of some other space mass.
Because these systems are so compact the gravity of the exoplanets can effect each other, causing something called Transit Timing Variations. This is when a planets orbit is either speed up or slowed down by anothers gravity, Kepler is helping us understand how this works in these new systems.
The discovery of these new systems are published in four different papers in the Astrophysical Journal and the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, and on Nasa.gov.
"Prior to the Kepler mission, we knew of perhaps 500 exoplanets across the whole sky. Now, in just two years staring at a patch of sky not much bigger than your fist, Kepler has discovered more than 60 planets and more than 2,300 planet candidates. This tells us that our galaxy is positively loaded with planets of all sizes and orbits." - Doug Hudgins, Kepler program scientist at NASA.

Snoopy in space?

So, you guys know Snoopy from "Penuts"?

                                                        this guy------>

Well in 1968, when the astronauts of the Apollo 10 lunar mission chose "Snoopy"  as the name of their lunar module , Snoopy became associated with NASA's space program.

your probly thinking "hold up a sec! I thought snoopy was a world war 1 flying ace."  well heres the thing. in the 1960's everyone in the US was really into the space race. so Charles Schulz converted Snoopy's  dog house from a world war 1 airplane in to a rocket ship. in the comic he actually beat the USA and the Russians to become the "first beagle to the moon!"

Now reacently an exibit on snoopy and his accotiation with NASA will be apearing at the Charles Schulz Museum  in Santa Rosa, Calif. for the purpose of celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 10 mission.

In May 1969, Apollo 10 astronauts Gene Cernan, John Young and Thomas Stafford traveled all the way to the moon for one final checkout before the lunar landing attempt.

Because the mission required the lunar module to "snoop around" scouting the Apollo 11 landing site, the crew named the lunar module "Snoopy." Naturally, the Apollo command module was labeled "Charlie Brown."


The astronauts carried paintings of the duo on their spacecraft, with Charlie Brown in space coveralls and Snoopy in his Flying Ace scarf. They used the paintings to calibrate the cameras used for the first live color telecasts from space.

Apollo 10 astronauts Cernan and Stafford will join recovery team members Chuck Smiley and Wes Chesser at the museum on Jan. 31 to kick off the exhibition. Also attending: Jamye Flowers Coplin, a NASA secretary who was photographed bringing Snoopy to see the crew off  The exhibit will feature a one-third scale model of the Apollo command module from the Johnson Space Center, an Apollo-era flight suit, the actual image of Charlie Brown that was flown aboard Apollo 10, and a special children's area for creative play.

Snoopy's connection with NASA actually began before Apollo 10. In 1968, NASA chose the beagle as an icon who would quote: "Emphasize mission success and act as a 'watchdog' for flight safety."

Established that same year, the agency's "Silver Snoopy Award" is considered the astronauts personal award, given for basically trying really really hard. Award winners receive a sterling silver Snoopy lapel pin flown in space, along with a certificate and letter of appreciation from NASA astronauts. Fewer than 1% of the workforce is recognized with a Silver Snoopy annually, making it one of the most prized awards in the industry.pretty cool eh?



http://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/snoopy.html
 http://www.schulzmuseum.org/

Planets like Tatooine..

Illustration of Kepler 35b

In September of 2011, astronomers discovered the first planet in our galaxy that orbits two different starts. Since then, scientists at San Diego State University have found two more of these circumbinary planets in our Milky Way through the Kepler spacecraft.  The first planet to be discovered was in in the what is known as the habitable zone. In the habitable zone, liquid water is suppose to exist, meaning life could possibly exist. The reason life could not live on these circumbinary planets is because they are either too close to the sun, or too far from the sun. Two of the planets found identify about the size of Saturn and are both very gaseous. Kepler 34b  is 4,900 light years from Earth, and Kepler 35b is 5,400 light years away from earth.
         I find this article to be very interesting. Because we have found three of these circumbinary planets, they are considered to be a new class of planetary systems. Scientists will now start to compare the differences of the planets and really look in depth at these special planets. I think its really cool that circumbinary planets would have two sunsets and two different sunrises every single day. It is also amazing that if it was the right temperature for life to live on, with the liquid water, life could live on this planet. I would love to live on a planet with two different sunrises and sunsets. I hope that Kepler finds even more of theses planets, and maybe someday, astronauts will be able to go and see the beauty.


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/science/scientists-find-more-planets-orbiting-two-stars.html?ref=planets

Kepler 34b

"The Fat One" - The Largest Gravity Bound Structure in The Universe

'El Gordo,' Galaxy With Mass 2 Quadrillion Times the Sun's, Discovered via NPR

Astronomers in Chile at Rutgers University have discovered the "most massive" galaxy cluster ever seen in the universe. "El Gordo" is 2,000,000,000,000,000 quadrillion (15 zeros!) suns and 7 billion light years away. A galaxy cluster is made up of hundreds of thousands of galaxies bound together by gravity. They are formed when clouds of hot gas (30-100 million degrees Celsius) envelop galaxies and fill in the space between them. This is does not provide enough mass to hold together the galaxies, so scientists believe dark matter is required to provide the extra gravity. "El Gordo" is important because it allows astronomers to study how the universe is growing and it is a really big laboratory for astrophysicists. "El Gordo" is forming a picture on how the universe formed by providing a model to measure the amount of dark matter and dark energy that makes up the universe. The astronomers also had the chance to watch two cluster merge together. The two clusters collided and "crushed" each other when hot gas from one cluster was absorbed into the other structure. So essentially, one cluster passed through another cluster.

The whole idea that hundreds of thousands of galaxies 'cluster' together out there in deep space is completely mind blowing to me. It's really cool that this cluster of galaxies can help us in finding out how the universe formed and how it is growing.

The Habitable Zone and the Possibility that We Are Not Alone

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-373&cid=release_2011-373

What makes Earth so special? Our planet harbors everything necessary for life, which is an extraordinary coincidence. We have liquid water, oxygen, and enough sunlight that we are neither too hot nor too cold. These criteria for any life at all, not to mention intelligent life, are so specific that we have never confirmed them anywhere else in the known universe. We are lucky to exist in something called the habitable zone, an area of orbit around a sun that can produce life in planets. We could not comfortably live in any planet out of the habitable zone without respirators, pressurized suits, specialized buildings and vehicles, etc.

As you can see, a habitable zone occupied by a solid planet is exceedingly rare. Most solar system's zones are far beyond their farthest planet, or so close to the star that the planets are frigid. As a species, our space programs allow us to shout into the void, calling out for reassurance that we aren't the only intelligent life in the universe. Even physicist Steven Hawking says it would be foolish to think we are alone in such a gargantuan space.

NASA's Kepler mission, an attempt to find the habitable zone in other systems, has provided intriguing results. Kepler has found several hundred candidates that MAY be in the habitable zone, and one looks especially promising. The planet, christened Kepler-22b, is near earth size, and orbits in the zone where liquid water may well exist. 22b is slightly larger than earth, but its 290 day year is not so much different from ours. It is 600 light-years away, making travel there currently impossible, but we will continue to study it from our place in the universe. Who knows? Maybe we're being studied back.

Stars Beat Planets

By Gracie Currier-Tait

A study published in the journal Nature, and featured at the American Astronomical Society's conference shows that most of our stars in the Milky Way, have planets. That being said, there are many stars in our galaxy, and scientists suggest there are a lot more planets out there.

About 100 billion to be exact.

Found through the article Astronomers See More Planets Than Stars in Galaxy from Pj Star, astronomers are beginning to fathom just how many planets could be out there.

One study in Nature estimates that for every star in the Milky Way, it averages at least 1.6 planets per star. Astronomers use different techniques and tools to estimate just how many planets are out there. We have confirmed over 700 exoplanets (planets outside our solar system), while thousands remain un-confirmed.

Astronomers are discovering a plethora of other interesting discoveries, such as the Star Wars-eque planet with two suns, or the miniature star system with its own tiny sun and dwarf planets. "We're finding an exciting potpourri of things we didn't even think could exist," said Harvard University astronomer Lisa Kaltenegger.

I personally find this to be fascinating. Although we have very little knowledge about our galaxy, I am all for the belief in the infinite and unknown. The idea of there maybe being 100 billion planets in our small patch of space is unbelievable... I'll be interested in finding out what other planets are out there.