Time to take a breather to recall we're still a magnificent, outward-looking, scientific civilization. Though I will add a time-sensitive political note, at the end. Especially for all you brainy folks who pin your hopes on salvation by the Electoral College. Only now...
...on to wonders of Space!
Breathtaking....See this spectacular composite image of Pluto from NASA's New Horizons probe. Then consider: this imagery was taken in blackness deeper than any night you ever knew, amid lifeless, bitter cold. And see more gorgeous Pluto pix and Charon’s mysterious (now explained) red polar caps!
...on to wonders of Space!
Breathtaking....See this spectacular composite image of Pluto from NASA's New Horizons probe. Then consider: this imagery was taken in blackness deeper than any night you ever knew, amid lifeless, bitter cold. And see more gorgeous Pluto pix and Charon’s mysterious (now explained) red polar caps!
The planet is fully tidal-locked with its big moon, Charon, showing only one face to each other. The heart-shaped region Tombaugh Regio (I once met Clyde Tombaugh) is exactly opposite Charon. Read what this seems to imply… including a possible sub-surface ocean.
Now take this note of consolation: You are a
member of a nation and civilization that does this sort of thing. We did this.
We do this.
Remember that. Let it gird and support you.
Water plumes from Europa’s south pole! This suggests that the moon’s vast ocean may be closer to the surface than we thought and might be sampled without having to melt or drill our way down. (At NASA's NIAC we are funding some weird-cool ways to get science done there._
See the latest op-ed by Ed Lu of the B612 Foundation, which aims to detect all the potentially Earth
threatening asteroids. An important topic! Especially since we might also mine
these for resources! (Disclaimer: I am on their advisory board.)
Good
bye Rosetta! The
Rosetta probe, which has orbited Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for two years,
has collided with the comet. Thanks for proving my doctoral
thesis!
Don't miss this great article from the New Yorker on the OSIRIS-REx mission to sample an asteroid.
== More on Mars and the Moon ==
Hot news from Mars! Radar inspection of Utopia Planitia revealed a deposit of water ice – as much as in Lake Superior – in a relatively flat, low latitude region the size of New Mexico. The layer ranges in thickness from 260 feet to 560 feet (80 to 170 m) and is made up of 50 to 85 percent water ice.
A fascinating re-examination of results from the 1976 Viking Lander on Mars, the only one to explicitly look for life, which gave us ambiguous results. This new paper suggests that maybe Viking found life, after all.
Back to the Moon?
The Bushes & co. made a repeat of Apollo the centerpiece of their space
ambition. It became GOP dogma to join Russia, China, Japan, Europe, India and several billionaires,
all flocking to return to a sterile ball without any near-term usefulness or
interest by scientists. Now, we see indications that the Trump administration
will drop all Obama Era endeavors aimed at the fantastic riches to be found on
asteroids, in favor of "been there, done that."
As an adviser to one of NASA's innovative-oriented directorates, I know about all sides of this argument. And there is an overlap of interest in one area, creating a cis-lunar station in orbit above the Moon. It is an ideal spot for both retrieving and studying asteroidal samples and offering services (for pay) to those wannabe copycat nations aiming to brag about being neo-Apollos. That part makes sense. But for that reason, don't expect to see it.
No, what this shows is that the Worst Man in America -- George F. Will -- is wrong in proclaiming Donald Trump to be "a false republican." DT's appointments so far are amplifications, not reversals of standard GOP crazinesses. And his policies toward science and space -- like ending all NASA Earth-science work -- differ from the Fox-propelled line only in being farther to the right.
As an adviser to one of NASA's innovative-oriented directorates, I know about all sides of this argument. And there is an overlap of interest in one area, creating a cis-lunar station in orbit above the Moon. It is an ideal spot for both retrieving and studying asteroidal samples and offering services (for pay) to those wannabe copycat nations aiming to brag about being neo-Apollos. That part makes sense. But for that reason, don't expect to see it.
No, what this shows is that the Worst Man in America -- George F. Will -- is wrong in proclaiming Donald Trump to be "a false republican." DT's appointments so far are amplifications, not reversals of standard GOP crazinesses. And his policies toward science and space -- like ending all NASA Earth-science work -- differ from the Fox-propelled line only in being farther to the right.
== Further out in space ==
The most detailed 3D map yet of a billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy includes precise positions and brightness of 1.142 billion stars, plus
distances and motions of more than 2 million of them. You can navigate! Courtesy ESA’s wonderful GAIA mission.
Space “blobs”! Ten times the diameter of the Milky Way! Glowing! Finally Explained!
Boyajian’s Star (KIC 8462852) is one of the strangest discoveries of the Kepler mission, which vastly expanded our catalogue of alien planets. Only in his case, the pattern of light dimming from the star cannot come from planetary eclipses, or even a disk of dust. The star not only dims up to 20% at intervals, it has been secularly dimming across observations spanning a century. It is hard to accommodate both the long-term dimming and the lack of infrared and submillimeter emission. Explanations (discussed here before) range from internal stellar fluctuations to interstellar blockage of some kind, all the way to vast, alien architectural projects.
Our galaxy may be more complex than a regular spiral. It’s already been reclassified as one of those “barred” spirals. Now it seems the “Orion Spur that we sit amid is more than just a spur, but a complex – if not complete – spiral arm in its own right.
== Exploring Earth ==
Read a fine and moving
review – on Centauri Dreams – of Dr. David Grinspoon’s new book (blurbed by
yours truly). In Earth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet's Future, David Grinspoon relates the
question of our own survival as we deal with the so-called
Anthropocene, a time when our technologies are increasingly affecting our
planet, creating a new set of challenges to survival.
Thank Heavens. The GOES-R satellite is in orbit, safe from sabotage. It will nail down climate matters with great accuracy. The Bushites canceled almost every program to study climate and while Obama reversed course, it was hard getting money from Congress. This may be all we get for a long time.
This Japanese company's plan for a real world space elevator garners at least a mention... though I expect some cynicism below, in comments.
A wonderfully inspiring
story about the black women engineers and mathematicians who were deeply
involved in the early space program. Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race, by Margot Lee Shetterly. An except from the interview with the author on the New York Times:
'Some
of the white male engineers seemed almost puzzled by the bigotry of the time —
they saw a problem that needed to be solved, by the smartest person available.
Do you think there’s a connection between the clarity and precision of
mathematics and engineering and the ability of NASA and its predecessor, the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, to employ people of color? Yes, though at the same time, this
institution was also on the front lines of a lot of these conflicts and
national emergencies: World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the space race.
They needed all hands on deck. Like: “We don’t have enough
computers? Where are we going to get them? Oh, there are these black women, at
this black school, that’s right across town? Let’s get them in here.” There was
a bit of an emergency sensibility a lot of the time."
== METI redux ==
The StarTalk science and astronomy site runs fascinating podcasts. In a recent episode (as of October 18: 7pm EST) host and astrobiology maven David Grinspoon ("Dr. Funkyspoon") interviews astronomer and science fiction author David Brin about a wide range of matters including the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligent civilizations (SETI). They answer fan-submitted Cosmic Queries about communicating with aliens.
A new book, Waiting for Contact: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence by Lawrence Squeri offers a cogent, engaging history of humanity's most ambitious quest - seeking outward for other minds.
This Smithsonian Magazine article by Michael Chorost describes the
“Cosmic Call” beaming from the Evpatoria dish in Crimea, in 1999.
The article does point out (lightly) the fact that dozens of
researchers in astronomy, SETI and related fields have protested against stunts
such as this "cosmic call." These include former NASA SETI head Dr.
John Billingham and former senior US diplomat Michael Michaud, who led the
commission that drafted the SETI Protocols. A majority of workers in SETI, in
fact, consider such METI stunts -- Messaging to Extra-Terrestrials - to be
at-best affronts to grownup scientific process, in which we are expected to
vett our projects openly and listen, when peers and others complain about
potential for harm. These fellows (and some of them are friends of mine) are so
gushy gung-ho that they shrug off every complaint or request to talk it over,
before blaring "yoohoo!" into the cosmos.
To be clear, we do not expect these beamings to draw slathering
alien invaders tomorrow. But when you aim to alter some principal observable
characteristics of our planet, is it too much to ask for an environmental
impact statement? And some discussion? For example, examining the history of
past HUMAN first contacts between different cultures? Every one of which led to
pain?
Those who zealously admire these shout-stunts tend to have the
right instincts! To look outward and explore the cosmos. As an astronomer who
also has done well with science fiction novels, I approve of the reflex,
wholeheartedly! I've spent my whole life pondering the alien. But when people
dive into the matter -- as they can do in this article and in this debate...
... they always come away both more informed and more willing to
say: "Let's pause and talk over the ramifications, first."
Alas, there are zealots who are so confident in their
evidence-free assertions and assumptions that they rush to wager their children
-- and yours and mine -- that the universe is nothing but a Sesame
Street-Barney wunderland. Oh, please let it be so.
An animated introduction to the Fermi Paradox. A bit simplistic and off by a few factors.
But interesting.
Just for fun: SMBC Comix
re METI:
And from xkcd:
and (almost) finally...XKCD makes fun astronomical comparisons!
== And for you, who pray to the Electoral College ==
1- Don't expect salvation from the Electoral College. Yes, there'll be more defections-of-conscience than ever before. Some electors are talking out options, as a "college" should. Like matching Clinton and Trump abstainers, or voting for a sane republican, making Paul Ryan take responsibility. There's even a "Kasich Gambit." Ohio's electors could almost do it all by themselves.
I had no success with my own great idea... getting some billionaire to offer an all-expense-paid actual meeting of the Electoral College, at some resort - for the first time in 240 years - letting them talk it out, free of outside interference. Too late, I guess. Ah, judgement, thou art fled...
2- At last, someone offers a $100K reward for anyone bringing forward conclusive evidence of election fraud. I've begged for this. The reward should be 10X larger, (with help from a zillionaire), plus offers of immunity, hero status and talk show gigs.
Oh, and whistleblowers reap 20% of whatever the U.S. gets, when conspiracies are nailed!
Crowdfund this, asap.
== And for you, who pray to the Electoral College ==
1- Don't expect salvation from the Electoral College. Yes, there'll be more defections-of-conscience than ever before. Some electors are talking out options, as a "college" should. Like matching Clinton and Trump abstainers, or voting for a sane republican, making Paul Ryan take responsibility. There's even a "Kasich Gambit." Ohio's electors could almost do it all by themselves.
I had no success with my own great idea... getting some billionaire to offer an all-expense-paid actual meeting of the Electoral College, at some resort - for the first time in 240 years - letting them talk it out, free of outside interference. Too late, I guess. Ah, judgement, thou art fled...
2- At last, someone offers a $100K reward for anyone bringing forward conclusive evidence of election fraud. I've begged for this. The reward should be 10X larger, (with help from a zillionaire), plus offers of immunity, hero status and talk show gigs.
Oh, and whistleblowers reap 20% of whatever the U.S. gets, when conspiracies are nailed!
Crowdfund this, asap.
