Geminid Meteor Alert

Source - Space Weather News for Dec. 12, 2009: http://spaceweather.com

GEMINID METEOR SHOWER: This weekend, Earth will pass through a stream of debris from extinct comet 3200 Phaethon, source of the annual Geminid meteor shower. Forecasters expect more than 100 meteors per hour to fly out of the constellation Gemini when the shower peaks on Dec. 13th and 14th. For most observers, the best time to look will be from 10 pm local time on Sunday night to dawn on Monday morning. Visit http://spaceweather.com for photos, a sky map, and live audio from a meteor radar.

ASTRONOMY ALERTS FOR CHRISTMAS: Spaceweather.com's astronomy alert service makes a great gift. It works like this: Suppose the International Space Station is about to fly over your back yard. Your phone will ring and tell you to go outside and look. Subscribers also receive alerts for meteor showers, eclipses, rocket launches, Northern Lights and much more. Give the heavens for Christmas at http://spaceweatherphone.com.

"Climate One Stop" Web Site Unveiled in Copenhagen

Source - NASA Science News for December 11, 2009

This week, researchers attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen unveiled a unique web site that gathers and organizes climate data for decision makers, professional scientists and lay people.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/11dec_climateonestop.htm?list894285

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Here is the URL for the "Climate 1 Stop" site ~ Jim: http://arcserver4.iagt.org/climate1stop/

Stunning Spiral Light Show over Norway

Source - Space Weather News for Dec. 9, 2009: http://spaceweather.com

This morning in arctic Norway, onlookers were stunned when a gigantic luminous spiral formed in the northern sky. Veteran observers accustomed to the appearance of Northern Lights say they have never seen anything like it. It was neither a meteor nor any known form of atmospheric optics. Rumors that the spiral was caused by the botched launch of a Russian rocket have not yet been confirmed.

Visit http://spaceweather.com for images and eyewitness reports of this mysterious apparition.

Update: Click here to read an article from Universe Today about the Norway spiral, and be sure to check out the YouTube video below:

The 2009 Geminid Meteor Shower

Source - NASA Science News for December 8, 2009

The annual Geminid meteor shower has been intensifying, and researchers say 2009 could be the best year yet. This year's display peaks on Dec. 13th and 14th.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/08dec_geminids.htm?list894285

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Sandtrapped Mars Rover Makes Big Discovery

Source - NASA Science News for December 2, 2009

While stuck in a sandtrap, Mars rover Spirit has made a discovery one researcher calls "supremely interesting."

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/02dec_troy.htm?list894285

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Are We Alone for 11/30/09 - Skeptic Check: Vaccines: Give 'Em Your Best Shot

Are We Alone - Skeptic Check: Vaccines: Give 'Em Your Best Shot

As the anti-vax campaign rages, parents are just saying “no” to vaccines. But now the incidence of childhood diseases such as whooping cough are on the rise.

A number of studies have refuted the link between vaccines, autism and other chronic conditions, yet the anti-vaccine movement continues. Find out why. Also, how the media have irresponsibility framed the debate.

Plus, we panic over plague, sweat about swine flu, but don’t think twice about jumping in a car and roaring down a crowded highway at 70 mph. Discover why most of our health worries are overblown.

Also, Brains on Vacation and Hollywood Reality Check separate the facts from the phony.

It’s Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it!

Guests:

• Paul Offit – Pediatrician, Chief of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and author of Autism’s False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure
• Phil Plait – Keeper of the skeptical website badastronomy.com and author of Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . .
• Steven Novella – Assistant professor of neurology at Yale School of Medicine and co-founder and editor of sciencebasedmedicine.org
• Philip Alcabes – Professor of urban public health at Hunter College, and author of Dread: How Fear and Fantasy have Fueled Epidemics from the Black Death to the Avian Flu

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Thanksgiving Sky Show

Source - Space Weather News for Nov. 25, 2009: http://spaceweather.com

DOUBLE FLYBY ALERT: Space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) this morning at 4:53 am EST. Their separation sets the stage for double flybys of many towns and cities on Wednesday evening, Nov. 25th, when Atlantis and the ISS will soar through the night sky side by side--a fantastic sight. Atlantis is not scheduled to land until Friday morning, Nov. 27th, so the double apparitions will continue on Thursday, Nov. 26th, Thanksgiving in the United States. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker for flybys: http://spaceweather.com/flybys .

ISS FLYBY ALERTS: Would you like a phone call or text message when the ISS is about to fly over your back yard? Sign up for Spaceweather PHONE: http://spaceweatherphone.com

Monster Waves on the Sun are Real

Source - NASA Science News for November 24, 2009

Data from NASA's STEREO spacecraft have confirmed the stunning reality of monster waves on the sun known as "solar tsunamis."

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/24nov_solartsunami.htm?list894285

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Are We Alone for 11/23/09 - Carbon Your Enthusiasm

Are We Alone - Carbon Your Enthusiasm

Bond it to oxygen and it’s the scourge of climate change. But earthly life wouldn’t be possible without carbon, and maybe that’s true for alien life, too.

And carbon has other exciting forms: tiny diamonds may be evidence of a catastrophic comet impact 13,000 years ago. And, chalky carbonates may point to a once-habitable Mars.

So get cozy with carbon. Find out if you could swap it for silicon in DNA. Plus, the conundrum of calculating a carbon footprint.

Guests

• Allen West – Retired Geophysicist
• Bethany Ehlmann – Geologist, Brown Unviversity
• Michael Mumma – Planetary scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• John Murlis – Chief Scientific Advisor to the Carbon Neutral Company in the U.K.
• Steven Benner – Molecular Biologist, Founder of the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

SOFIA Seeks Secrets of Planetary Birth

Source - NASA Science News for November 19, 2009

Imagine cutting retractable doors in the side of a 747 airliner, installing a 17-ton telescope, and flying to the stratosphere to solve one of astronomy's greatest puzzles. That's what NASA and the German Aerospace Center plan to do with a cutting-edge airborne observatory named SOFIA.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/19nov_sofia.htm?list894285

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Great Fireball over the Western USA

Source - Space Weather News for Nov. 18, 2009: http://spaceweather.com

FIREBALLS AND METEORS: As forecasters predicted, the Leonid meteor shower peaked during the late hours of Nov. 17th, favoring sky watchers in Asia with an outburst of 100+ meteors per hour. Just as the outburst was dying down, an even bigger event took place over the western USA. Something hit Earth's atmosphere and exploded with an energy equivalent of 0.5 to 1 kiloton of TNT. Witnesses in Colorado, Utah, Idaho and elsewhere say the fireball "turned night into day" and "shook the ground" when it exploded just after midnight Mountain Standard Time. Researchers who are analyzing infrasound recordings of the blast say the fireball was not a Leonid. It was probably a small asteroid, now scattered in fragments across the countryside. Efforts are underway to measure the trajectory of the asteroid and guide meteorite recovery efforts.

Please visit http://spaceweather.com for images and updates.

Leonid Meteor Shower Peaks on Nov. 17th

Source - Space Weather News for Nov. 16, 2009: http://spaceweather.com

LEONID METEOR SHOWER: The Leonid meteor shower peaks on Tuesday, Nov. 17th, with a new Moon providing ideally-dark viewing conditions. Forecasters expect a relatively mild display (20 to 30 meteors per hour) over North America followed by a much stronger outburst (100 to 300 per hour) over Asia. No matter where you live, the best time to look is during the dark hours before sunrise on Tuesday morning.

Visit http://spaceweather.com for full coverage of the Leonids, including live audio from a meteor radar, a live chat with a NASA meteor scientist, sky maps, photos and more.

Are We Alone for 11/16/09 - SETI: Now What?

Are We Alone - SETI: Now What?

Hello! Is anyone out there? As the scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence marks its 50th anniversary, there’s been no contact as yet with alien beings. But SETI researchers maintain that we are not alone. Find out why in a SETI retrospective that looks at the past and future of the search.

We remember the first scientific SETI search… Carl Sagan… how the SETI Institute began… the WOW signal…and the 1993 NASA budget cuts.

We’ll also hear from critics of the search… scientists involved in optical SETI and SETI@home. Plus, international collaborations… and where the search is headed.

Guests:

• Frank Drake – Director of the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute
• Jill Tarter – Director of the Center for SETI Research, SETI Institute
• Tom Pierson – CEO, SETI Institute
• Paul Horowitz – Physicist, electrical engineer, Harvard University
  
• Dan Werthimer – Chief Scientist, SETI@home, University of California, Berkeley
• Ben Zuckerman – Physicist, Astronomer, UCLA

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

LCROSS Finds Water on the Moon

Source - NASA Science News for November 13, 2009

The argument that the Moon is a dry, desolate place no longer holds water. At a press conference today, researchers revealed data from NASA's LCROSS mission indicating that water exists in a permanently shadowed lunar crater.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/13nov_lcrossresults.htm?list894285

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NASA to Begin Attempts to Free Sand-Trapped Mars Rover

Source - NASA Science News for November 12, 2009

On Monday, NASA will begin transmitting commands to its Mars exploration rover Spirit as part of an escape plan to free the venerable robot from its Martian sand trap.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/12nov_freespirit.htm?list894285

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