The Moon's Size Compared to the United States

From NASA and Arizona State University

Slightly Misleading NASA Map of Asteroid Hazards

The only safe spots seem to be places so close to the Sun that the Earth would likely fall into the star if we were located there.

NASA published a map showing the paths of 1,400 Earth-threatening hazard asteroids.  As I have mentioned before, the Earth is floating among some serious threats we are barely aware of.  However, the map has a problem.  The map is only in two-dimensions while three dimensions are needed to truly understand orbits in space.  Almost certainly these asteroids are not on the same plane as the Earth so where they actually cross the Earth's path is something to consider.

What the Sky Would Look Like if Planets Replaced the Moon

Beautiful

The Moon is a center piece of a summer's night sky.  I have spent hours in the past just watching the Moon move across the night sky pondering its origin, its likely existence as the Earth's eighth continent, and humanities' desires to voyage to it.

I never wondered about what the sky would look like if other planets replaced the Moon, however.  But Ron Miller, former art director of NASA, did and he made to scale illustrations of what the sky would look like if the Moon was swapped.  The results are beautiful.  Thankfully we can enjoy them as art without worrying about the nightmare world the swap would cause with tides and other alterations to the Earth's delicate system.

I am pretty sure that the changes to Earth's gravity field and orbit would kill us all.

Winds of Venus Speed Up, No One Knows Why

Before the Soviets landed probes on Venus we long thought of the planet as a twin.  Nearly the same size as the Earth and much closer than Mars, many had hopes that Venus would be the first planet colonized by humans.  Then we discovered it basically matches our definition of Hell.



Now scientists have published results of a study which state the winds of Venus, clouds made out of battery acid moving at super hurricane speed, are speeding up.  Already the there are belts which can circle the planet in four days.  However, no one knows why certain wind belts are speeding up.  It seems either there is something going on with the planet itself or this climate change is being driven by the sun (or a combination of both).

Extraterrestrial geography is fascinating.  It is tragic though that we geographers have surrendered the science to geologists and physicists.  This study was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets.  None of the researchers consider themselves "geographers" (they probably could not get tenure in a geography department anyways due to the strong bias against non-Earth bound spatial research in most geography departments).

C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) and a Very Close Call with Mars

On October 19, 2014, Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) will pass within 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometers) of Mars.  That distance is only two-and-a-half times the distance between Mars and its outer moon Deimos.

From National Geographic

For comparison, the Moon is 238,900 miles (384,400 kilometers).  Siding Spring's upcoming passing distance from Mars is the equivalent of only 13% of the distance from Earth to the Moon.  This distance is 124 times the altitude of the International Space Station.

At this distance there is a chance, albeit a decreasing chance, that Siding Spring will be caught in Mars' gravity pull and impact the planet.  If that would happen the event would be epic on a dinosaur-killing scale.  As National Geographic writes

If Siding Spring would hit, the force of impact may truly be monumental. Based on observations to date the comet nucleus could be a real monster – as big as 9 miles (15 km) to 31 miles (50 km) wide. With it’s velocity clocked at 35 miles (56 km) per second, the energy force of the collision could be measured in the billions of megatons, resulting in a crater hundreds of miles wide. This could be an impact that rivals the one that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago on our planet and would be bright enough to be even seen with the naked eye from Earth.

The Earth is surrounded by space rocks and ice both known and unknown.  If this were headed to/very near the Earth what would humanity do?  We need to have plans or a completely unknown event will have devastating impact.  The Aztec thought they knew the cosmos but then the world expanded.

United States Overlaid the Moon

Reddit user boredboarder8 created the below image overlaying the United States on the Moon.  The lower forty-eight United States would cover about twenty percent of the Moon's surface but certainly would be visible from the Earth.  (Hat tip: Flowing Data via friend Blueland)

The math works out as the forty-eight contiguous United States has a long area of 3,119,884 square miles (8,080,464 square kilometers).  Meanwhile the Moon's surface area is roughly 14,600,000 square miles (37,800,000 square kilometers).  Therefore the United States would cover roughly 40 percent of the Moon's visible surface.

Maps of Meteorite Impacts

Last Friday I blogged about Near Earth Objects (NEOs), space debris which come dangerously close to the Earth.  I mentioned how most objects are currently unknown.  Lo and behold, that day south-central Russia experienced an air burst which wounded over a thousand people.



I began to wonder if there is any online database of other meteorite impacts, making a cartography of where Earth and Space literally met with violent results.  The best two sites I can find are

Meteorite Size: Every Meteorite Fall on Earth Mapped
The Meteoritical Society's website which has a database of impacts.  The database is viewable in Google Earth.

Map of Near Earth Objects

Update 15 Feb 2013: METEORITE FALLS IN WESTERN URALS. “A meteor flew across the sky above Russia’s Ural Mountains Friday morning, causing sharp explosions and injuring more than 400 people, many of them hurt by broken glass. . . . Interior Ministry spokesman Vadim Kolesnikov said more than 400 people had sought medical treatment after the blasts, and at least three were hospitalized in serious condition. Many of the injuries were from glass that was broken by the explosions.”

Earth is an island.  When people say or think this they usually think of the Earth as a sensitive but contained system.  One has to remember, however, that islands are repeatedly battered by waves and sometimes a massive storm can change the whole ecosystem.

Case in point is this map from Earth Sky which shows the current (February 13, 2013) meteor, asteroid, comet  giant space rock, whatever traffic Earth has to navigate.  And this is just the space debris we know of.

Click to enlarge.

2012 DA14 will miss the Earth by 15 minutes today.  Remember, it is not alone.  Sleep well.

The Known Universe Movie Map

The American Museum of Natural History has created a video of their four-dimensional map of the universe, the Digital Universe Atlas.  I actually gained a greater sense of scale as the map was zooming back in from the extent of the universe (and beyond?).  Just sit back, watch, and ponder just how much out there we know absolutely nothing about.

Food for thought:  Around the center of the galaxy is a black hole sucking in stars.  Some of the stars merge together before falling in.  Right now there is a ring of dozens if not hundreds if not thousands of stars fifty times our own circling this black hole.  Wow.

How to Take Photos of the Sun, Sunspots, and Planets Moving Across the Sun

The black spot is Venus and the quarter-sphere is the sun.

 The above photo is by a long time friend of mine.  He took a photo of the planet Venus traveling in front of the Sun.  The neat thing is anybody can take a similar photo of the Sun, sunspots, or planet moving across the Sun.  All one needs are a camera, a box, white and black construction paper, and a telescope.


NOTE:  Never look into the eyepiece when a telescope is pointed at the Sun.  You will damage your eyes to the point of blindness.

• First, cover the bottom inside of the box.with white construction paper
• Second, align the rest of the inside of the box with black construction paper
• The box is good to go!
• Then, point the telescope towards the sun (do not use the eye piece!)
• Hold the box up so the image showing be projected via the eye piece is displayed on the white construction paper. 
• With some adjustments you should be able to see the Sun and any visible sunspots.  When a planet is traversing the Sun it will show up as a dark sphere.
• Once you have a good image then feel free and take a photograph of it!

Light Pollution Simulator for Great Britain and Half of Ireland

Needless, a campaign to curb light pollution at night, has created a fascinating online program called Night Sky Simulator which demonstrates how light pollution blocks out the stars for Great Britain and the eastern half of the island of Ireland.  One can zoom to any point in the study area and see what is loss due to human created light.

Light pollution is not all that bad.  It is a sign of progress, compare North Korea's dark skies to South Korea's light pollution.  I would take living in South Korea any day over North Korea.  However, humanity and nature lose a certain something with the loss of the stars.  I remember thinking how sad the sky was at midnight around Washington DC after I came back from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Current and Upcoming Solar Flares More Annoying than Troublesome

CBS has a short video which describes the current solar flare and its impact on energy, travel, and geospatial infrastructure.  Unlike some doomsayers CBS does a great job showing how this and upcoming solar flares will challenge the information systems which help keep the world connected but there are steps which prevent major impact.

For reference, check out the size of a solar flare compared to the Earth.

Map of Human's Radio Outreach in the Milky Way

Radio signals have been broadcast by humans in one form or another since the early 1800s. The first audio radio broadcast was only in 1895.  One may wonder why we have not heard back from anybody listening out there through programs like SETI (and why I have only seen one weird spike with SETI@Home on my brother's computer way back in the day).  The answer lies in the fact that human-made radio waves have not traveled that far across the solar system in relative terms.  The Daily Mail provided a map of the solar system with a 200 light year diameter, 100 light years in radius, representing the range of audio radio waves from Earth.

Man's radio reach in the stars is just a drop in the bucket compared to the solar system

The map gives one a better understanding of just how vast the universe is.

Six Fascinating Planets Outside Our Solar System

The humor website Cracked has an article giving a survey of six fascinating planets outside our solar system.  All the planets discussed have something unique to them which seem to be more science fiction than actual science.  For instance, Gliese 436 b's is under such gravitational pressure being located near its star and its atmosphere is so unique that the planet is covered with burning ice!

Please note:  the website while most probably is safe for work is not necessarily appropriate for children.

Canadian Teens Send Lego Man into the Atmosphere, Not Space

The news is buzzing with the story of "the Lego Man in Space" launched by two Canadian teens.  I applaud their efforts in exploration and hope they can learn scientific knowledge first hand from their efforts.  (I also share the fear of many who warn about the risks to air traffic).

However, it is sad to point out the geographical fact that the the Canadian Lego Man never went into space.  The Lego Man did in fact travel far enough to see the curvature of the Earth when it reached 80,000 feet in altitude (15.2 miles or 24.4 kilometers) which is 2.75 times higher than Mount Everest, but that is not space.  The scientifically recognized boundary for where the atmosphere ends and space begins, the Kármán Line, is about 62 miles (100 kilometers) above sea level.

There are several reason why the line was drawn at that height.  At 62 miles the atmosphere, which does not abruptly ends but fades away into space, becomes too thin to support aeronautical traffic going slower than orbital escape velocity while the temperature greatly increases and solar radiation's impact dramatically rises.

The height of the line has prevented balloons from being a means of putting astronauts and satellites into space.  Even Captain Joe Kittinger of Project Excelsior never went into space during his balloon ride to (and jump back down to Earth) 102,800 feet (19.5 miles or 31.300 kilometers).  On the plus side this means Natural Light was not the first beer in space (note that you can the balloon pop, in space there is no air to hear a popping sound).

The Earth Has Multiple Moons

Throughout history man has studied and told stories of the Moon.  The Moon is rather hard to ignore due to its size and its futures are noticeable enough for people to realize there is only one moon.  People throughout history have been wrong, though.  According to scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at any given time there are multiple Earth moons at any given time.  Various small asteroids, mostly a few yards (meters) wide, are captured by Earth's gravity and will rotate the Earth for a while and then spin off again into space.  This small moons are invisible for the naked eye.  But complex math and spacial observation can confirm their existence.

The Most Accurate Map of the Moon Released

NASA has unveiled the most accurate, highest resolution map of the Moon's elevation.  The scale of the photo is one pixel equals 328 feet (100 meters).  The data was gathered over 66,000 images and readings from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The full map can be downloaded from Arizona State University's press release.

This map is a long time coming.  The only truly accurate readings of lunar elevation have come from satellite readings but these were never complied together to make a complete map.  In the past there have been a couple atlases claiming to have elevations marked, like the 1969 Times Atlas of the Moon, but these were guesstimates and in many cases out right lies created in part to deceive the Soviets.  Until recently, some of the most accurate lunar elevation measurements were done by an amateur astronomer using his own telescope and CCD camera.

Help Scientists Discover Extrasolar Planets

The explorers of old dreamed of new, strange lands beyond the reach of ancient ships.  The explorers of yesteryear dreamed of overlooked lands, the territories which we knew of but remained blank on maps.  Both these types of explorers wondered about lands which they could not see but could visit if only they knew the way.

But today's explorers can dream about lands which we can see but cannot visit due to the great space between them.  I am talking about planets beyond our solar system.

When I was born there was no scientific consensus on whether or not there were planets beyond our solar system.  Many thought there were but no one could prove it.  Now extrasolar planets are scientific facts and there are new planets found every month.  I have repeatedly blogged about the new discoveries and wealth of information available on these planets.

Now the discoverers of extrasolar planets need your help in finding these worlds.  Planet Hunter, a joint venture by Yale University and Zooniverse, is allowing anyone to look over sceintific data for signs of extrasolar planets.  The user is shown light intensity from stars.  If the intensity drops dramatically it is possibly from a planet eclipsing the light.  The user, once they identify the drop in light intensity, can simply drag and drop a box around the data to call for further scientific review.

Crowd sourcing technology is allowing for any computer user to become a geographer (astronomy was once part of the classic science of geography).  Whether one is helping National Geographic look for Genghis Khan's lost tomb or finding alien worlds, this is a great time to help explore the universe.

Thorium Volcanic Field on the Moon and What it Means

A rare deposit of thorium is located on the far side of the Moon.  This is important for two reasons: one purely scientific and the other for humanity.  

Scientifically the deposit is important because it is newer than other volcanic fields on the Moon.  Previously it was believed all volcanic activity on the Moon occurred during its warm phase during its creation.  However, this field is possible proof that the Moon had an active crust-mantle rock recycling cycle which most scientists believed the Moon never had.

Meanwhile thorium makes a very usable, stable fuel for nuclear reactors.  Thorium already on the Moon could provide fuel for nuclear powered Moon stations or even refuel nuclear powered spaceships.  Also, if the demand for thorium, which currently is in good supply on Earth, increases then these deposits and other on the Moon could provide the need for further space exploration and mining.  Much like the European exploration and colonization of the New Earth, the want of resources will prove the reason for humanity's advancement into space.

Video of the June 7 Solar Flare

We too often think of the Earth as an island.  It is but not in the way we think it is.  Imagine we are an island in the Carribean well before Columbus' journey to the New World and that the Sun is Africa.  Africa is so far away that it does not effect us in any way we think of.  However, one hot wind coming off the African sands can make a hurricane which could bombard our island.  The June 7 solar flare is just such a wind off the African coast.  While the effects for the next two days will be minor (Weak power grid fluctuations that you probably won't notice, minor impaces on satellite operations, radio transmissions over the poles may be lost, auroras noticable further away from the poles) a stronger flare could have greater impact.

Watch this amazing video of the June 7 solar flare.  Remember that the Sun's diameter is 109 times bigger than Earth and 1,300,000 Earth's can fit inside the Sun as you watch this video.