Fireball over the South Pacific

Source - Space Weather News for Sept. 29, 2008. http://spaceweather.com

Fireball over the South Pacific

GOODBYE, JULES VERNE: Earlier today, European mission controllers commanded the robotic cargo carrier Jules Verne to re-enter Earth's atmosphere over the south Pacific Ocean. The disintegrating spacecraft made a spectacular fireball observed by at least one NASA aircraft and possibly the International Space Station. First pictures are coming in now and may be found at http://spaceweather.com

GREAT PROMINENCE: Sunspot counts remain very low, but solar activity is not zero. For the third day in a row, astronomers are monitoring one of the best solar prominences in years. The plume of hot gas, twisted into complex shapes by solar magnetic fields, is nearly 10 times taller than Earth and an easy target for safely-filtered backyard telescopes. Visit http://spaceweather.com for photos and movies.

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Are We Alone for 09/29/08 - "Formula One: The Drake Equation"

Are We Alone - Next show available September 29, 2008: Formula One: The Drake Equation (Encore Performance)

Show description:

When it comes to contacting ET, SETI scientists do the math. They've been filling in values for the Drake Equation ever since 1961. That's when Frank Drake proposed his simple formula for estimating the number of communicating civilizations in the galaxy. It's one equation that everyone can understand.
We'll talk about the current best estimates for the terms in Drake's famous formulation - from the number of Earth-size planets to the life expectancy of advanced civilizations. Also, with all this number crunching, why haven't we yet heard from ET?
Guests:

• Frank Drake - Senior Scientist, SETI Institute
• Charley Lineweaver - Astrobiologist at the Australian National University
• Lori Marino - Behavioral Biologist at Emory University
• J. Richard Gott - Physicist at Princeton University
• Natalie Batalha - Professor of Physics and Astronomy, San Jose State University, and science team member, Kepler Mission

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Chinese Manned Space Launch

Source - Space Weather News for Sept. 25, 2008. http://spaceweather.com

Chinese Manned Space Launch

CHINESE SPACE LAUNCH: China's Shenzhou 7 spacecraft carrying a 3-man crew lifted off today from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and is now in Earth orbit. During the upcoming three-day mission, Chinese astronauts, called taikonauts, will launch a small satellite and
conduct their country's first space walk. As they orbit Earth, Shenzhou 7 and the body of the rocket that launched it will be visible to the naked eye from many parts of the globe. Check the Satellite Tracker for viewing times: http://spaceweather.com/flybys .
(Note: Frequent checks are recommended; predictions may change as the orbit is adjusted and estimates of orbital elements improve.)

Sighting reports and updates will be posted on http://spaceweather.com

Sign up for free Space Weather News bulletins:
http://spaceweather.com/services/

Solar Wind Loses Power, Hits 50-year Low

Source - NASA Science News for September 23, 2008

Solar Wind Loses Power, Hits 50-year Low

Solar physicists have announced that the solar wind is losing pressure, hitting a 50-year record low for the Space Age. This development has repercussions across the solar system.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/23sep_solarwind.htm?list894285

Check out our RSS feed at http://science.nasa.gov/rss.xml

A New Sunspot Emerges

Source - Space Weather News for Sept. 22, 2008. http://spaceweather.com

A New Sunspot Emerges

NEW SUNSPOT: For the first time in months, a significant sunspot is emerging on the sun. It is a fast-growing active region with two dark cores, each larger than Earth. The magnetic polarity of the sunspot identifies it as a member of new Sunspot Cycle 24. Because the year 2008 has brought so many blank suns, some observers have wondered if we are ever going to climb out of the ongoing deep solar minimum. Today's new sunspot is an encouraging sign that the 11-year solar cycle is indeed progressing, albeit slowly. Visit http://spaceweather.com for sunspot photos and updates.

SEPTEMBER EQUINOX: Seasons on Earth change much faster than they do on the sun. Today, autumn begins in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern hemisphere when the sun crosses the celestial equator. The crossing, called the "equinox," takes place at 1544 UT (11:44 EDT) on Monday, Sept. 22nd. Happy equinox!

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Are We Alone for 09/22/08 - "Get Your Boson"

Are We Alone - Encore Performance September 22, 2008 "Get Your Boson"

What happens when particles collide? The answer may tell us the dark secrets of the cosmos. At least, that's the hope for the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest particle accelerator. When it fires up this summer, colliding protons may produce the elusive Higgs Boson - the so-called God particle - and reveal the building blocks of the universe.

We talk to the Director of CERN, home of this massive device, about what happens when they throw the big switch. Also, what if black holes happen? Find out how these weird gravity pits are created, and whether they're actually two-way streets that allow information to escape after all.

Also, plans are already underway for the next particle accelerator, and playing with fire: a new fusion reactor in France.

Guests:

• Robert Aymar - Director General of CERN in Geneva, Switzerland
• Barry Barish - Physicist Emeritus, California Institute of Technology and Director of the International Linear Collider Global Design Effort
• Norbert Holtkamp - Principle Deputy Director General of ITER and physicist at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• Simon Steel - Astronomer, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Doomed Spacecraft to fly over US and Europe

Source - Space Weather News for Sept. 18, 2008. http://spaceweather.com

Doomed Spacecraft to fly over US and Europe

DOOMED SPACECRAFT: Jules Verne is about to become a fireball. On Sept. 29th, with NASA aircraft looking on, the 22-ton European spacecraft will plunge into Earth's atmosphere over the south Pacific Ocean and harmlessly disintegrate. Jules Verne recently spent five months docked to the space station where it delivered supplies, used its engines help the station avoid a piece of space junk, and served as an impromptu bedroom for the ISS crew. Mission accomplished, the doomed spacecraft is now making its final orbits around Earth glowing about as brightly as Polaris (the North Star). US and European observers are favored with flybys this weekend. If you'd like to see Jules Verne, check the Simple Satellite Tracker for viewing times: http://spaceweather.com/flybys/

POLAR CROWN PROMINENCES: Colossal dark tadpoles. Fiery "plasma falls." Van Gogh vortices. These are a few of the strange things Japan's Hinode spacecraft has found inside polar crown prominences on the sun. Visit http://spaceweather.com for must-see movies.

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Cool Movies of Polar Crown Prominences

Source - NASA Science News for September 17, 2008

Cool Movies of Polar Crown Prominences

Japan's Hinode spacecraft is beaming back must-see movies of a spectacular solar phenomenon known as 'polar crown prominences.'

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/17sep_polarcrown.htm?list894285

Check out our RSS feed at http://science.nasa.gov/rss.xml

Skeptical Sunday: Bear Right in a Bull Market

Are We Alone - Skeptical Sunday: Bear Right in a Bull Market
When we're in love, we do some crazy things. And that's OK. But when we merge lanes on the highway, sign up for a credit card, or just order a book, we're as irrational as a teenager who's got a crush.

Find out why we're mad in money matters, why we're suckers for designer aspirin, are willing to believe in the paranormal, and anything but logical in traffic. It's Skeptical Sunday, but be rational - don't take our word for it! Guests:

• Tom Vanderbilt - Author of Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What it Says About Us)
• Dan Ariely - Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University, and author of Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions
• James Underdown - Executive Director of the Center for Inquiry, Los Angeles
• Phil Plait - Author of badastronomy.com
• Michael Shermer - Founder of "Skeptic Magazine" and author, most recently, of The Mind of the Market: Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans, and Other Tales from Evolutionary Economics

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/

Harvest Moon Aurora Watch

Source - Space Weather News for Sept. 12, 2008
http://spaceweather.com

HARVEST MOON: This weekend's full Moon has a special name--the Harvest Moon. It's the full Moon closest to the northern autumnal equinox. In years past, farmers depended on the light of the Harvest Moon to gather ripening crops late into the night. Post-Edison, we appreciate it mainly for its beauty. Be alert in the nights ahead for Harvest Moon halos, coronas and 'dogs. Visit http://spaceweather.com for example and more information.

AURORA WATCH: Around the Arctic Circle, moonlight will compete with Northern Lights. A solar wind stream flowing from a coronal hole on the sun is due to hit Earth on Sept. 13th or 14th, possibly sparking high-latitude geomagnetic storms. Sky watchers from Alaska to Scandinavia should be alert for auroras.

September 2008 Aurora Gallery: http://spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery_01sep08.htm

Spooky Hurricane Science

Source - NASA Science News for September 12, 2008

Spooky Hurricane Science

To improve hurricane forecasting, NASA engineers are spending time in a spooky room where 'no one can hear you scream.'

FULL STORY at:

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/12sep_scream.htm?list894285

Naked-Eye Gamma-ray Burst Aimed Directly at Earth

Source - NASA Science News for September 10, 2008:

Naked-Eye Gamma-ray Burst Aimed Directly at Earth

Scientists are beginning to unravel the mystery of an extraordinary gamma-ray burst on March 19, 2008, which was visible to the naked eye. It turns out the explosion was aimed directly at Earth.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/10sep_nakedeye2.htm?list894285

Check out our RSS feed at http://science.nasa.gov/rss.xml!

Check out the Astro Link Blog when you have time!

The Astro Link Blog is a sibling blog to the Cloudymidnights Blog with a slightly different purpose than this blog.

Laura Kinoshita is one of the contributors to the blog, and her focus is to post astronomy news that the mainstream media has been missing.

If you have a chance, give the Astro Link Blog a peek, and be sure to take a look at Laura's first entry titled "Mini Black Holes No Danger".

Cheers,

Jim Cox

Space Weather News for Sept. 9, 2008

Source: SpaceWeather.com

Fireball Outburst
Space Weather News for Sept. 9, 2008
http://spaceweather.com

FIREBALL OUTBURST: This morning, Sept. 9th, a surprising flurry of fireballs lit up the sky over eastern parts of the United States. All-sky cameras at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, recorded 25+ meteors, most as bright as Jupiter or Venus. A preliminary analysis by NASA astronomers suggests this is an outburst of "September Perseids," a little-known shower that has erupted this way three times in the past century. Although the show is almost certainly over, sky watchers are advised to be on the lookout for more fireballs tonight and in the nights ahead; the September Perseids are not well understood and they could surprise us again.

Visit http://spaceweather.com for more information and updates to this developing story.

Are We Alone - TXT MSG: Behavior

Are We Alone - TXT MSG: Behavior
From iPods to Google to Facebook - information swims at our fingertips and friends are just a txt msg away. Digital devices have re-defined what it means to be connected - but how else are they shaping behavior? Join us for the second of a two-part series on how the network is changing how we think and act.

Part II: Behavior: how computers compel us to interact with them... why your iPod may improve your health... why Facebook may leave you friendless... the unintended consequences of past innovation... and the growing threat of "videophilia." Guests:

• BJ Fogg - Experimental Psychologist and Director of Stanford University's Persuasive Technology Lab
• James Levine - Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic
• Andrew Keen - Author of The Cult of the Amateur; How the Internet is Killing Our Culture and Assaulting our Economy
• Patricia Zaradic - Conservation Ecologist with the Red Rock Institute
• Edward Tenner - Writer and consultant on technology and culture at Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania, and author of Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences and, most recently, Our Own Devices: How Technology Remakes Humanity

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

NASA to Explore a "Secret Layer" of the Sun

Source - NASA Science News for September 5, 2008:

NASA to Explore a "Secret Layer" of the Sun

NASA researchers are preparing to launch an experimental telescope that can see a "secret layer" of the sun thought to be the birthplace of space weather.

FULL STORY at:

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/05sep_sumi.htm?list894285

Check out our RSS feed at: http://science.nasa.gov/rss.xml!

Amateur Astronomers See Perseids Hit the Moon

Source: NASA Science News for September 2, 2008

Amateur astronomers watching the Perseid meteor shower last month saw meteoroids hitting not only Earth but also the Moon. The impacts, which they recorded using backyard telescopes and off-the-shelf video cameras, are featured in today's story from Science@NASA.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/02sep_lunarperseids.htm?list894285

Check out our RSS feed at http://science.nasa.gov/rss.xml!