David Fratantoni's Blog: 2014

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Hubble Sees an Ancient Globular Cluster

This image captures the stunning NGC 6535, a globular cluster 22,000 light-years away in the constellation of Serpens (The Serpent) that measures one light-year across.

Globular clusters are tightly bound groups of stars which orbit galaxies. The large mass in the rich stellar centre of the globular cluster pulls the stars inward to form a ball of stars. The word globulus, from which these clusters take their name, is Latin for small sphere.

Globular clusters are generally very ancient objects formed around the same time as their host galaxy. To date, no new star formation has been observed within a globular cluster, which explains the abundance of aging yellow stars in this image, most of them containing very few heavy elements.

NGC 6535 was first discovered in 1852 by English astronomer John Russell Hind. The cluster would have appeared to Hind as a small, faint smudge through his telescope. Now, over 160 years later, instruments like the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the NASA/ European Space Agency (ESA) Hubble Space Telescope allow us to marvel at the cluster and its contents in greater detail.

European Space Agency

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Gilles Chapdelaine via NASA http://ift.tt/1vsB3tl

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1xy81g8

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

AirAsia Plane Debris and Bodies Found; Little Hope of Any Survivors by THOMAS FULLER

By THOMAS FULLER

Rescue teams off the coast of Borneo found bodies and debris from the AirAsia plane that went missing Sunday, but it remained unknown why the plane went down.

Published: December 30, 2014 at 07:00PM

from NYT World http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/31/world/asia/airasia-8501-jet-missing-indonesia.html

via IFTTT

from WordPress https://davidfratantoni.wordpress.com/2014/12/30/airasia-plane-debris-and-bodies-found-little-hope-of-any-survivors-by-thomas-fuller/

Space Simulation Chamber Prepared for Testing Webb Telescope

This photo was captured from outside the enormous mouth of NASA’s giant thermal vacuum chamber, called Chamber A, at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Previously used for manned spaceflight missions, this historic chamber is now filled with engineers and technicians preparing a lift system that will be used to hold the James Webb Space Telescope during testing.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the scientific successor to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. It will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

> Related: Amazing View of Engineers Preparing NASA’s Gigantic Space Simulation Chamber for Massive Test

Image Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn via NASA http://www.nasa.gov/content/space-simulation-chamber-prepared-for-testing-webb-telescope

from WordPress https://davidfratantoni.wordpress.com/2014/12/30/space-simulation-chamber-prepared-for-testing-webb-telescope/

Monday, December 29, 2014

View of the Alps From Space

Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency (ESA) took this photograph of the Alps from the International Space Station, and posted it to social media on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014. She wrote, “I’m biased, but aren’t the Alps from space spectacular? What a foggy day on the Po plane, though! #Italy”

Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Samantha Cristoforetti via NASA http://www.nasa.gov/content/view-of-the-alps-from-space

from WordPress https://davidfratantoni.wordpress.com/2014/12/29/view-of-the-alps-from-space/

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Frosty Slopes on Mars

This image of an area on the surface of Mars, approximately 1.5 by 3 kilometers in size, shows frosted gullies on a south-facing slope within a crater.

At this time of year, only south-facing slopes retain the frost, while the north-facing slopes have melted. Gullies are not the only active geologic process going on here. A small crater is visible at the bottom of the slope.

The image was acquired on Nov. 30, 2014, by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, one of six instruments on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

> More information and image products

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Caption: Livio Tornabene, Ryan Hopkins, Kayle Hansen and Eric Pilles via NASA http://ift.tt/1zfflLr

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1A0wIny

Monday, December 22, 2014

5 Christmas Travel Lies

David Fratantoni’s Latest Post:

One of the standing truths in this crazy world of ours is that people are going to travel a lot during holiday periods, no matter where they’re from or where they’re going. There are many myths surrounding traveling during the holidays and while some are true, many of them are just patently incorrect. Here’s a list of 5 of the most common myths and how they’re just not true.

Christmas Day is the cheapest day to fly: While this might make sense to some who think about it, it actually turns out to be untrue. While it might have been the case in the past, airlines are aware that people make list minute plans and also that they frequently arrive early and stay late. Prices for all tickets with a week or so of Christmas day (in both directions) are up and there aren’t all that many deals available.

You can’t travel with wrapped packages: While the TSA used to forbid wrapped packages due to security reasons (if you have to open something, paper gets in the way), they have relaxed the regulations and you’re allowed to bring wrapped presents with you on planes. That being said, they reserve the right to unwrap and check whatever they’d like so there’s a chance that the wrapping might slow you down in security.

There are no last-minute deals available: While last-minute deals are hard to find, they are by no means impossible. There are deals available but the chances that you’ll find a reasonably priced direct flight to your destination is pretty low. Be prepared to tack on some hours to your total flight time and maybe even travel to some exotic locales.

Travelers are in a better mood over the holidays: Just no. If you’ve ever been on a flight in general you’ll immediately know this is a lie. Imagine the normal chaos and anger and add the stress of family and holidays to it; no one is happy and no one is having fun.

If you haven’t booked by December 20th then you won’t: There are always flights going to different places around the world. While you might not be happy about flying to a destination that you weren’t originally planning on, sometimes you have no other choice. If you’re willing to spend the money then the trip your original destination can probably be found, but there’s no shame is changing destinations if the price is out of your reach.

Christmas and holiday travels will always throw wrenches into plans. However with equal parts preparation and flexibility, you should be able to have an amazing trip no matter what. Happy Holidays!

If you’d like to read more, the link is here.

from David Fratantoni and World Travel http://ift.tt/1zpkvd7

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1CvSPBz

Man’s Genome From 45,000 Years Ago Is Reconstructed by CARL ZIMMER

By CARL ZIMMER

The genetic material, extracted from a Siberian fossil, supported a hypothesis that early humans interbred with Neanderthals, and their interaction occurred between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago.

Published: October 22, 2014 at 08:00PM

from WordPress http://ift.tt/13vecGW

Friday, December 19, 2014

Inquiry in Anthrax Mailings Had Gaps, Report Says by WILLIAM J. BROAD

By WILLIAM J. BROAD

A congressional inquiry into the F.B.I.’s scientific work on the anthrax mailings of 2001 has identified major gaps in genetic evidence that purportedly links the germs to Bruce E. Ivins.

Published: December 19, 2014 at 07:00PM

from WordPress http://ift.tt/16BzLaG

Kepler’s Tally of Planets by Unknown Author

By Unknown Author

NASA’s Kepler mission has discovered more than 950 confirmed planets orbiting distant stars.

Published: December 18, 2014 at 07:00PM

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1AOmdSd

Hubble Sweeps a Messy Star Factory

This sprinkle of cosmic glitter is a blue compact dwarf galaxy known as Markarian 209. Galaxies of this type are blue-hued, compact in size, gas-rich, and low in heavy elements. They are often used by astronomers to study star formation, as their conditions are similar to those thought to exist in the early Universe.

Markarian 209 in particular has been studied extensively. It is filled with diffuse gas and peppered with star-forming regions towards its core. This image captures it undergoing a particularly dramatic burst of star formation, visible as the lighter blue cloudy region towards the top right of the galaxy. This clump is filled with very young and hot newborn stars.

This galaxy was initially thought to be a young galaxy undergoing its very first episode of star formation, but later research showed that Markarian 209 is actually very old, with an almost continuous history of forming new stars. It is thought to have never had a dormant period — a period during which no stars were formed — lasting longer than 100 million years.

The dominant population of stars in Markarian 209 is still quite young, in stellar terms, with ages of under 3 million years. For comparison, the sun is some 4.6 billion years old, and is roughly halfway through its expected lifespan.

The observations used to make this image were taken using Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys, and span the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared parts of the spectrum. A scattering of other bright galaxies can be seen across the frame, including the bright golden oval that could, due to a trick of perspective, be mistaken as part of Markarian 209 but is in fact a background galaxy.

European Space Agency

ESA/Hubble & NASA Acknowledgement: Nick Rose via NASA http://ift.tt/1H01dtM

from WordPress http://ift.tt/13kXAkQ

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Kepler Spacecraft Finds New ‘Super-Earth’ 180 Light-Years Away by DENNIS OVERBYE

By DENNIS OVERBYE

The planet, about two and a half times the size of Earth, is in a category of planets called super-Earths that do not exist in our solar system.

Published: December 18, 2014 at 07:00PM

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1zEXi5B

The Strange Tale of a New Species of Lizard by CARL ZIMMER

By CARL ZIMMER

Aspidoscelis neavesi was produced in the lab by mating two other species, and its creation defies conventional ideas about how new species evolve.

Published: December 17, 2014 at 07:00PM

from WordPress http://ift.tt/13iKyEM

A Picture Captures Planets Waiting to Be Born by DENNIS OVERBYE

By DENNIS OVERBYE

Astronomers have obtained, in the image of the young star HL Tauri, what might be the best view yet of dust in the act of turning into planets.

Published: December 17, 2014 at 07:00PM

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1C43i9W

75th Anniversary of NASA Ames

December 20, 2014 marks NASA Ames Research Center’s 75th Anniversary. The center was established in 1939 as the second laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, and was named for the chair of the NACA, Joseph S. Ames. It was located at Moffett Field in Sunnyvale, California, now at the heart of Silicon Valley. The Laboratory was renamed the NASA Ames Research Center with the formation of NASA in 1958.

This June 2, 1943 photograph shows the construction of the Ames full-scale 40- by 80-foot wind tunnel, with a side view of the entrance cone and a blimp in the background.

Image Credit: NASA via NASA http://ift.tt/1zADZKu

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1zAODAS

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Snow Is Down and Heat Is Up in the Arctic, Report Says by KENNETH CHANG

By KENNETH CHANG

The Arctic continued to warm faster than the rest of the globe, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Arctic Report Card.

Published: December 17, 2014 at 07:00PM

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1wk8Vh2

City Lights Shine Brighter During the Holidays

City lights shine brighter during the holidays when compared with the rest of the year, as shown using a new analysis of daily data from the NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite. Dark green pixels are areas where lights are 50 percent brighter, or more, during December.

This new analysis of holiday lights uses an advanced algorithm, developed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, that filters out moonlight, clouds and airborne particles in order to isolate city lights on a daily basis. The data from this algorithm provide high-quality satellite information on light output across the globe, allowing scientists to track when – and how brightly – people illuminate the night. A daily global dynamic dataset of nighttime lights is a new way for researchers to understand the broad societal forces impacting energy decisions and to look at how people use cities, from an energy perspective.

> Full Story: NOAA/NASA Satellite Sees Holiday Lights Brighten Cities

Image Credit: NASA’s Earth Observatory/Jesse Allen via NASA http://ift.tt/13aSMio

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1GQdJfr

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Vivek Murthy, the New Surgeon General, Isn’t Afraid to Take a Stand by SABRINA TAVERNISE

By SABRINA TAVERNISE

Dr. Murthy, who at the age of 37 has become one of the youngest surgeons general of the United States, is a self-described dreamer and grass-roots organizer.

Published: December 16, 2014 at 07:00PM

from WordPress http://ift.tt/13aNMtR

Methane Is Found on Mars, Raising Hope of Life There Now by KENNETH CHANG

By KENNETH CHANG

The presence of methane could be the result of a geological process or the product of microbes.

Published: December 16, 2014 at 07:00PM

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1wHX23d

E-Cigarettes on Rise Among Teenagers, Study Finds by SABRINA TAVERNISE

By SABRINA TAVERNISE

The increase is occurring even as the the use of traditional cigarettes continues to decline, the National Institute on Drug Abuse says.

Published: December 16, 2014 at 07:00PM

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1BS3q9E

Sunset Over the Gulf of Mexico

From the International Space Station, Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Terry W. Virts took this photograph of the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Gulf Coast at sunset and posted it to social media on Dec. 14, 2014.

The space station and its crew orbit Earth from an altitude of 220 miles, traveling at a speed of approximately 17,500 miles per hour. Because the station completes each trip around the globe in about 92 minutes, the crew experiences 16 sunrises and sunsets each day.

Image Credit: NASA/Terry Virts via NASA http://ift.tt/1zmMJnn

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1ACosb5

The Oceans’ Depths, Saturated With Life and Color by DANA JENNINGS

By DANA JENNINGS

“Spineless” oozes and creeps with salty invertebrates and its intense photographs of underwater life pulse with spellbinding strangeness.