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Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:14:57 -0700

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/892/meteorite-older-solar-system

From the page:

Meteorite older than Solar System
Friday, 1 December 2006

by Marie Theresa Bray
Cosmos Online
Meteorite older than Solar System

Organic globules found in the Tagish Lake meteorite fragments may predate the solar system, according to a new U.S. study

Credit: University of Calgary

SYDNEY: A meteorite discovered in Canada may be older than the Solar System, according to a new U.S. study.

Samples taken from the Tagish Lake meteorite, discovered in 2000, have revealed evidence of organic matter that predates our Sun and Solar System, according to the study, published in today's edition of the U.S. journal Science.

According to the researchers, the meteorite most likely originated at the outer regions of the Kuiper Belt or in the cold molecular cloud that gave birth to the Solar System.

When analysing the meteorite, the team, led by Keiko Nakamura-Messenger, of the NASA/Johnson Space Center in Texas, discovered "globules" inside it consisting of simple organic compounds with carbon-rich outer layers.

They found that the globules mainly consisted of aliphatic hydrocarbons - hydrogen and nitrogen atoms connected to chains of carbon atoms.

Almost all matter in the Solar System has the same ratio of isotopes of each element, (isotopes are versions of an element with different numbers of neutrons). Isotopic ratios are often exploited by scientists to learn more about the origin of a sample of interest. For instance, the known ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-13 and carbon-12 allows radiocarbon dating provide accurate ages of ancient objects.

Surprisingly, the meteorite globules revealed unusually high ratios of isotopes when compared to the remainder of the meteorite material.

"We recognised the globules that were not from the Solar System from their exotic isotopic compositions," said Nakamura-Messenger.

The isotopic ratios showed that the globules formed at temperatures of about minus 260�C - close to absolute zero. According to Nakamura-Messenger, this means that "the organic globules most likely originated in the cold molecular cloud that gave birth to our Solar System, or at the outermost reaches of the early Solar System."

The meteorite was classified as a "carbonaceous chondrite type" which contain up to 5 per cent by weight organic matter. Notably, it recorded the highest content of carbon in this type of meteorite to date.

Based on the meteorite's initial speed and entry direction, the team calculated its orbit around our Sun, and found that it originated somewhere in the asteroid belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

"We can't reach the outer Solar System now by ourselves, but we are able to research the material from there through meteorites. I think this is really cool," said Nakamura-Messenger. "By using our new instruments ... we may be one step closer to knowing where our ancestors came from."

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Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:53:17 -0700

http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2009-17/release.shtml

From the page:

Space Telescopes Find Trigger-Happy Star Formation

For Release: August 12, 2009

NGC 1097

PASADENA, Calif. -- A new study from two of NASA's Great Observatories provides fresh insight into how some stars are born, along with a beautiful new image of a stellar nursery in our Milky Way galaxy. The research shows that radiation from massive stars may trigger the formation of many more stars than previously thought.

While astronomers have long understood that stars and planets form from the collapse of a cloud of gas, the question of the main causes of this process has remained open.

One option is that the cloud cools, gravity gets the upper hand, and the cloud falls in on itself. The other possibility is that a "trigger" from some external source -- like radiation from a massive star or a shock from a supernova -- initiates the collapse. Some previous studies have noted a combination of triggering mechanisms in effect.

By combining observations of the star-forming cloud Cepheus B from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope, researchers have taken an important step in addressing this question. Cepheus B is a cloud of mainly cool molecular hydrogen located about 2,400 light years from Earth. There are hundreds of very young stars inside and around the cloud -- ranging from a few million years old outside the cloud to less than a million in the interior -- making it an important testing ground for star formation.

"Astronomers have generally believed that it's somewhat rare for stars and planets to be triggered into formation by radiation from massive stars," said Konstantin Getman of Penn State University, University Park, Pa., lead author of the study. "Our new result shows this belief is likely to be wrong."

This particular type of triggered star formation had previously been seen in small populations of a few dozen stars, but the latest result is the first time it has been clearly observed in a rich population of several hundred stars.

While slightly farther away than the famous Orion star-forming region, Cepheus B is at a better orientation for astronomers to observe the triggering process. The Chandra observations allowed the astronomers to pick out young stars within and around Cepheus B. Young stars have turbulent interiors that generate highly active magnetic fields, which, in turn, produce strong and identifiable X-ray signatures.

The Spitzer data revealed whether the young stars have a disk of material (known as "protoplanetary" disks) around them. Since they only exist in very young systems where planets are still forming, the presence of protoplanetary disks -- or lack thereof -- is an indication of the age of a star system.

The new study suggests that star formation in Cepheus B is mainly triggered by radiation from one bright, massive star outside the molecular cloud. According to theoretical models, radiation from this star would drive a compression wave into the cloud-triggering star formation in the interior, while evaporating the cloud's outer layers. The Chandra-Spitzer analysis revealed slightly older stars outside the cloud, and the youngest stars with the most protoplanetary disks in the cloud interior -- exactly what is predicted from the triggered star formation scenario.

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Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:31:08 -0700

Hell, I should really post something...

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Thu, 10 Sep 2009 02:08:42 -0700

Continued from above:

However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion...

In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish; that they will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. But, if I may even flatter myself that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good; that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism; this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare, by which they have been dictated." - George Washington, Farewell Address, an open letter to the American public published on September 19, 1796.

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Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:19:20 -0700

It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.

James Madison (1751-1836)

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Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:16:23 -0700

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/windows_7.png

This is very true...I had VISTA, but I upgraded to XP.

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Sun, 09 Aug 2009 01:48:52 -0700

http://cdn.holytaco.com/www/sites/default/files/videos/Apocalypse%20Rejection%20Letter.jpg

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Sat, 08 Aug 2009 04:23:19 -0700

visited 3 states (1.33%)
Create your own visited map of The World or Best time to visit Costa Rica

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Sat, 08 Aug 2009 04:22:18 -0700

visited 18 states (36%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or jurisdische veraling duits?

http://Foggy1.stumbleupon.com/review/34906306/

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 19:49:35 -0700

Sign the Health Revolution Petition now!