While it's true that this does represent a black hole at the center of the Galaxy, we aren't orbiting it in the same way that the Earth orbits the Sun. While the sun represents the vast majority of mass in the Solar System, this two million solar mass black hole positively pales in comparison to the two hundred billion solar masses that represent the galaxy's distributed mass.
Iran's navy has 20,000 men, but they are young and inexperienced, and most of them are riflemen and marines based on Persian Gulf islands. And at higher levels, there is fierce rivalry between the IRGC and regular navies for scarce resources. Due to these shortcomings, Iran's three Kilo-class submarines would be vulnerable, and they are limited to laying mines in undefended waters.
Umm, because in AC the magnetic field is changing, which flourescent bulbs require to operate?
The earth also has an electric field of about 100 volts per meter, so the potential at your feet (if you're an average-sized adult) is different from that at your head by about 200 volts. Doesn't cause cancer.
Well, if we saw a thin crescent Earth, then the solar phase angle (sun-earth-observer) would be nearly 180 degrees, and the specular highlight would be right on the western (left) horizon, just like you see on when watching sunset over the ocean on Earth's surface. Since we're seeing a less mature crescent, that means that the angle is in fact only slightly greater than 90, and the highlight hasn't gone that far yet.
Phase = 0 --> highlight is directly below you
Phase = 90 --> highlight is halfway between nadir and the western limb
As phase tends to180 --> highlight disappears over the western limb.
I'm pretty sure you nailed it. That would get it headed into the inner solar system, too. I feel stupid for not thinking of that earlier, actually (see post above).
I'm also surprised by the fact that we see the line where the sun goes down, which suggests that the Messenger is going into a retrograde direction. Isn't that unusual?
Now that you mention it, yes. It's definitely heading clockwise away from Earth. The Earth's phase indicates that it's also headed slightly radially outward from the sun. Odd.
A few days ago my intro to planetary prof. was telling us how it was thought for quite some time that getting an orbiter to Mercury (as opposed to flybys) was next to impossible with current technology. MESSENGER does follow quite an elaborate trajectory to pick up the necessary delta-v. I had never heard of a retrograde segment, however.
That depends. Take a look at a nice old marble tombstone sometime. Chances are you won't be able to read a thing....It's all about the weathering properties rock you choose.
Republicans are against killing innocent beings but for killing guilty people, while the Democrats are for killing innocent beings but for saving guilty people.
I would rephrase it thus:
Republicans are against what they see as the killing of innocent beings, but for killing people they see as irredeemably guilty.
Democrats are for the right to destroy what they see as non-beings but for saving people who, to their minds, might still have some good left in them.
As to where the line between being and non-being is drawn, IMHO it's that point at which anyone besides the mother can nurture the fetus/embryo/etc. Before that, if only the mother can sustain it, then it is, effectively, an extention of her body.
Yes, this means that the definition of being will change as technology does, but definitions change all the time in response to scientific progress - just not usually w.r.t something this fundamental. Every person is free to come up with more restrictive personal definition, but the the one applied to society at large should be pragmatic.
This 'Hacker Theory' has been alleged by Brown et al., however AFAIK the Caltech team has yet to produce any evidence substantiating their claim. There was significant discussion on the MPML that the so-called 'hacker' may in fact have been one or more members accessing publically-available pointing data after the Spanish team led by Ortiz discovered 2003 EL61.
Others believed that Brown, through Colleagues at the MPC were accusing Ortiz directly, which outraged many list members. At this point, a spokesman from the MPC has denied this to the list in a rather sincere-sounding way, however. For now, the individual to whom Brown was referring remains a mystery.
Just when you thought that this couldn't be bigger news, Ron Baalke at JPL has pointed out that another object, 2003 UB313, resides at 96 AU and has a diameter from 4400 km to 9900 km, assuming its albedo is between 0.05 and 0.25. Though the inclination is a bit weird (44 degrees), this may be considered planet-sized.
Jose Luis Ortiz of Sierra Nevada Observatory asked me to forward his message. Actually he sent it to MPML today but it looks as if he is moderated and so his message is delayed. As this is pretty urgent, to give anyone interested the chance to do science on it, I hope my message gets relayed faster!
---------- Hi there,
We found a very slowly moving object while carrying out a checking of some of our oldest images from the modest TNO survey that we started in 2002.
The object was very bright in our images (m_V~17.6!!) so we were able to precover it, and also recover it.
According to our best orbit fit and using regular assumptions on phase angle correction, the H value es around 0.3. Unfortunately we do not know the geometric albedo but if below 0.25 (which is the case of all TNOs for which an albedo has been measured except Pluto), the object would be larger than Pluto. However, it may well happen that this object is abnormally bright (with a very high albedo), like Pluto. So, depending on the albedo, this object might be sort of a Pluto's brother or Pluto's father...
This object is beyond Pluto and almost reachable by most amateurs, which is the reason why we write here!. It is observable right after sunset for a while at a reasonable elevation. Maybe some decent science can still come out of your observations.
Enjoy it!.
Our findings have been sent to the MPC, but the object has not received a provisional designation yet. Some ephemeris are given here:
OSNT11 Epoch 2005 July 29.0 TT = JDT 2453580.5 M 197.97485 (2000.0) P Q n 0.00345428 Peri. 239.53682 +0.91285785 -0.07597426 a 43.3408541 Node 121.89008 +0.13526717 +0.98332108 e 0.1887862 Incl. 28.19395 -0.38521856 +0.16524998 P 285.33 H 0.2 G 0.15 U 2
--
Jose-Luis Ortiz
Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC
P.O.Box 3004. 18080 Granada. Spain. ----------
Yes. It's a problem in higher education as well. Fully a third of my graduating class ('04) received Latin honors of some type,including myself; I know I didn't deserve it. Many attempt to explain grade inflation in HS as an inevitable consequence of the larger number of students going on to post-secondary education. This excuse falls apart at the university level, however, where far fewer students have an interest in continuing at the graduate level.
Get rid of the calculators, at least until after the fundamentals are assuredly learned.
Not so sure about this one, depending on what level you're thinking about. In K-6, I aggree, however calculators (particularly graphing calculators) helped me understand algebraic concepts in middle and high school that I simply wasn't understanding through traditional instruction.
more emphasis on (language skills) basics.
Yes, yes, dear God yes!
stop moving kids onto the next grade if they really didn't perform at the level necessary. It's become an "everybody gets a trophy" society, and that's not consistent with the real world.
Absolutely. If there were a single one of your suggestions here that I think should be implimented immediately, this would be it. I do think that such a policy should be absent from elementary schools, however, as younger children would be far more likely to suffer serious emotional problems from getting held back IMHO. Additionally, much of a student's performance in primary school is out of their control (parental situation, etc).
As the student's responsibility level increases, however, this needs to be done, and soon. I'd start the "no more BS" policy around 7th grade. It needn't be considered a punishment, either. Many students are absolutely brilliant, but lack the ability to rapidly absorb vast quantities of information. For such students, allowing a more gradual pace of learning would be a godsend.
stop relying on technology as the next silver bullet in transcendental teaching philosophies and techniques
Yes, and the sooner the better. If computers are to be used, use them for things where a computer is undoubtedly the best tool for the job. Otherwise, stay with what you know, aside from a few experimental programs. Additionally, if a computer is the best tool for the job, the teacher must know what they're doing. I've suffered long hours through computer instruction by teachers who didn't have a clue.
Many planetary scientists (for example Phil Christensen, quoted in the article) are in fact geologists by trade, and had to go through a rigorous earth-based geology program./Incoming ASU grad student, planetary science.
It's amazing what they've been able to get MOC to do...I can't wait to see what HiRiSe can accomplish! I'll be working with Mars Odyssey imagery in grad school next year and this image will make a fine addition to my cubicle.
Oh - and I feel compelled to mention that I'm currently having my ten-year-old brother play with it like a computer game. He just likes the shapes for now, but I hope it'll help get the "I've seen this before" wheels clicking in his head when the time comes.
Slashdot Mirror
While it's true that this does represent a black hole at the center of the Galaxy, we aren't orbiting it in the same way that the Earth orbits the Sun. While the sun represents the vast majority of mass in the Solar System, this two million solar mass black hole positively pales in comparison to the two hundred billion solar masses that represent the galaxy's distributed mass.
From globalsecurity.org:
Iran's navy has 20,000 men, but they are young and inexperienced, and most of them are riflemen and marines based on Persian Gulf islands. And at higher levels, there is fierce rivalry between the IRGC and regular navies for scarce resources. Due to these shortcomings, Iran's three Kilo-class submarines would be vulnerable, and they are limited to laying mines in undefended waters.
Umm, because in AC the magnetic field is changing, which flourescent bulbs require to operate?
The earth also has an electric field of about 100 volts per meter, so the potential at your feet (if you're an average-sized adult) is different from that at your head by about 200 volts. Doesn't cause cancer.
Mike Brown has placed a rather detailed timeline of events (from his perspective) on his webpage:
i z/
http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/planetlila/ort
IMHO the ball is in Ortiz' court now...
You're right, of course. I realized my error just a few minutes later (and mentioned it in another post). Silly me.
(bangs head against the wall in frustration)
Well, if we saw a thin crescent Earth, then the solar phase angle (sun-earth-observer) would be nearly 180 degrees, and the specular highlight would be right on the western (left) horizon, just like you see on when watching sunset over the ocean on Earth's surface. Since we're seeing a less mature crescent, that means that the angle is in fact only slightly greater than 90, and the highlight hasn't gone that far yet.
Phase = 0 --> highlight is directly below you
Phase = 90 --> highlight is halfway between nadir and the western limb
As phase tends to180 --> highlight disappears over the western limb.
I'm pretty sure you nailed it. That would get it headed into the inner solar system, too. I feel stupid for not thinking of that earlier, actually (see post above).
I'm also surprised by the fact that we see the line where the sun goes down, which suggests that the Messenger is going into a retrograde direction. Isn't that unusual?
Now that you mention it, yes. It's definitely heading clockwise away from Earth. The Earth's phase indicates that it's also headed slightly radially outward from the sun. Odd.
A few days ago my intro to planetary prof. was telling us how it was thought for quite some time that getting an orbiter to Mercury (as opposed to flybys) was next to impossible with current technology. MESSENGER does follow quite an elaborate trajectory to pick up the necessary delta-v. I had never heard of a retrograde segment, however.
If by 'collision' you mean 'collision of a cosmic ray with the detector, then yes.
Any meteor big enough to be visible from that far away would have been noticed by a LOT of people.
There is a nice flash over southern Africa when the Sun's specular highlight hits lake Tangaynika, though.
...if this means there'll be no class on Tuesday. That would suck.
/instructor is PI on TES
Stone lasts a very long time.
...It's all about the weathering properties rock you choose.
That depends. Take a look at a nice old marble tombstone sometime. Chances are you won't be able to read a thing.
Republicans are against killing innocent beings but for killing guilty people, while the Democrats are for killing innocent beings but for saving guilty people.
I would rephrase it thus:
Republicans are against what they see as the killing of innocent beings, but for killing people they see as irredeemably guilty.
Democrats are for the right to destroy what they see as non-beings but for saving people who, to their minds, might still have some good left in them.
As to where the line between being and non-being is drawn, IMHO it's that point at which anyone besides the mother can nurture the fetus/embryo/etc. Before that, if only the mother can sustain it, then it is, effectively, an extention of her body.
Yes, this means that the definition of being will change as technology does, but definitions change all the time in response to scientific progress - just not usually w.r.t something this fundamental. Every person is free to come up with more restrictive personal definition, but the the one applied to society at large should be pragmatic.
This 'Hacker Theory' has been alleged by Brown et al., however AFAIK the Caltech team has yet to produce any evidence substantiating their claim. There was significant discussion on the MPML that the so-called 'hacker' may in fact have been one or more members accessing publically-available pointing data after the Spanish team led by Ortiz discovered 2003 EL61.
Others believed that Brown, through Colleagues at the MPC were accusing Ortiz directly, which outraged many list members. At this point, a spokesman from the MPC has denied this to the list in a rather sincere-sounding way, however. For now, the individual to whom Brown was referring remains a mystery.
In astronomy, it means you were able to go back into archival images and find something that you didn't (at the time) recognize for what it was.
Just when you thought that this couldn't be bigger news, Ron Baalke at JPL has pointed out that another object, 2003 UB313, resides at 96 AU and has a diameter from 4400 km to 9900 km, assuming its albedo is between 0.05 and 0.25. Though the inclination is a bit weird (44 degrees), this may be considered planet-sized.
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/mpec/K05/K05O41.html
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/orbits/2003ub313.html
It came in about seven o'clock last night...
Hello MPML,
Jose Luis Ortiz of Sierra Nevada Observatory asked me to forward his message. Actually he sent it to MPML today but it looks as if he is moderated and so his message is delayed. As this is pretty urgent, to give anyone interested the chance to do science on it, I hope my message gets relayed faster!
----------
Hi there,
We found a very slowly moving object while carrying out a checking of some of our oldest images from the modest TNO survey that we started in 2002.
http://www.iaa.es/~ortiz/OSNTWeb/index.htm
The object was very bright in our images (m_V~17.6!!) so we were able to precover it, and also recover it.
According to our best orbit fit and using regular assumptions on phase angle correction, the H value es around 0.3. Unfortunately we do not know the geometric albedo but if below 0.25 (which is the case of all TNOs for which an albedo has been measured except Pluto), the object would be larger than Pluto. However, it may well happen that this object is abnormally bright (with a very high albedo), like Pluto. So, depending on the albedo, this object might be sort of a Pluto's brother or Pluto's father...
This object is beyond Pluto and almost reachable by most amateurs, which is the reason why we write here!. It is observable right after sunset for a while at a reasonable elevation. Maybe some decent science can still come out of your observations.
Enjoy it!.
Our findings have been sent to the MPC, but the object has not received a provisional designation yet. Some ephemeris are given here:
Ephems (geocentric) [Date, RA, Dec, r, delta, elongation, mag]:
20050728.00000 13 21 50.208 +20 7 53.62 51.605 51.239 68.32 17.47
20050729.00000 13 21 51.856 +20 7 14.56 51.619 51.239 67.49 17.47
20050730.00000 13 21 53.576 +20 6 35.29 51.632 51.239 66.66 17.47
20050731.00000 13 21 55.369 +20 5 55.81 51.646 51.238 65.84 17.47
20050801.00000 13 21 57.233 +20 5 16.13 51.659 51.238 65.01 17.47
20050802.00000 13 21 59.169 +20 4 36.26 51.672 51.238 64.19 17.47
20050803.00000 13 22 1.176 +20 3 56.23 51.685 51.238 63.37 17.47
20050804.00000 13 22 3.253 +20 3 16.02 51.698 51.238 62.55 17.47
20050805.00000 13 22 5.401 +20 2 35.67 51.711 51.238 61.73 17.47
20050806.00000 13 22 7.619 +20 1 55.17 51.723 51.238 60.92 17.47
20050807.00000 13 22 9.906 +20 1 14.54 51.736 51.238 60.11 17.47
20050808.00000 13 22 12.261 +20 0 33.79 51.748 51.238 59.29 17.47
20050809.00000 13 22 14.685 +19 59 52.93 51.760 51.238 58.49 17.47
20050810.00000 13 22 17.176 +19 59 11.97 51.772 51.237 57.68 17.47
20050811.00000 13 22 19.734 +19 58 30.93 51.784 51.237 56.88 17.47
The orbital elements are:
OSNT11 Epoch 2005 July 29.0 TT = JDT 2453580.5
M 197.97485 (2000.0) P Q
n 0.00345428 Peri. 239.53682 +0.91285785 -0.07597426
a 43.3408541 Node 121.89008 +0.13526717 +0.98332108
e 0.1887862 Incl. 28.19395 -0.38521856 +0.16524998
P 285.33 H 0.2 G 0.15 U 2
--
Jose-Luis Ortiz
Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC
P.O.Box 3004. 18080 Granada. Spain.
----------
Regards,
Jaime Nomen
620 OAM
stop inflating grades
Yes. It's a problem in higher education as well. Fully a third of my graduating class ('04) received Latin honors of some type,including myself; I know I didn't deserve it. Many attempt to explain grade inflation in HS as an inevitable consequence of the larger number of students going on to post-secondary education. This excuse falls apart at the university level, however, where far fewer students have an interest in continuing at the graduate level.
Get rid of the calculators, at least until after the fundamentals are assuredly learned.
Not so sure about this one, depending on what level you're thinking about. In K-6, I aggree, however calculators (particularly graphing calculators) helped me understand algebraic concepts in middle and high school that I simply wasn't understanding through traditional instruction.
more emphasis on (language skills) basics.
Yes, yes, dear God yes!
stop moving kids onto the next grade if they really didn't perform at the level necessary. It's become an "everybody gets a trophy" society, and that's not consistent with the real world.
Absolutely. If there were a single one of your suggestions here that I think should be implimented immediately, this would be it. I do think that such a policy should be absent from elementary schools, however, as younger children would be far more likely to suffer serious emotional problems from getting held back IMHO. Additionally, much of a student's performance in primary school is out of their control (parental situation, etc). As the student's responsibility level increases, however, this needs to be done, and soon. I'd start the "no more BS" policy around 7th grade. It needn't be considered a punishment, either. Many students are absolutely brilliant, but lack the ability to rapidly absorb vast quantities of information. For such students, allowing a more gradual pace of learning would be a godsend.
stop relying on technology as the next silver bullet in transcendental teaching philosophies and techniques
Yes, and the sooner the better. If computers are to be used, use them for things where a computer is undoubtedly the best tool for the job. Otherwise, stay with what you know, aside from a few experimental programs. Additionally, if a computer is the best tool for the job, the teacher must know what they're doing. I've suffered long hours through computer instruction by teachers who didn't have a clue.
oops, make that 0.47 earth gravities
Don't you mean (4*r_Earth)^2?
That comes out to be 138 Earth Gravities.
He's been saying this for years, and everyone assumed he'd gone off the deep end.
I still think he's nuts, but it looks like he may have called this one correctly after all.
Many planetary scientists (for example Phil Christensen, quoted in the article) are in fact geologists by trade, and had to go through a rigorous earth-based geology program. /Incoming ASU grad student, planetary science.
It's amazing what they've been able to get MOC to do...I can't wait to see what HiRiSe can accomplish! I'll be working with Mars Odyssey imagery in grad school next year and this image will make a fine addition to my cubicle.
Does it say "Don't Panic" in big, friendly letters on the cover?
Oh - and I feel compelled to mention that I'm currently having my ten-year-old brother play with it like a computer game. He just likes the shapes for now, but I hope it'll help get the "I've seen this before" wheels clicking in his head when the time comes.
You betcha!