エピソード

  • 361E-393-Newest Moon

    361E-393-Newest Moon
    2025/11/04
    The moon cycle from new moon through full moon and back to new moon again was used by many nations to regulate their activities and forms the basis of the Islamic lunar calendar. A calendar based on the first visibility of the lunar crescent is difficult to predict in advance since this observation depends on the clarity of the atmosphere and other local conditions. The interesting observational problem of when it is possible to spot the new moon has been analyzed in the scientific literature as an aid to historians who are seeking to interpret the writings of ancient civilizations.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    2 分
  • 873-Tracking 3I/Atlas

    873-Tracking 3I/Atlas
    2025/10/31
    Scientists are using many approaches to understanding the nature and history of 3I/Atlas the third known interstellar traveler in the night. At a hyperbolic velocity of 130,000 mph it is the fastest interstellar visitor ever measured.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    2 分
  • 360E-391-Finding Spacerocks

    360E-391-Finding Spacerocks
    2025/10/28
    Finding a meteorite that has traveled billions of miles through space to reach it's present location is exciting. It might even be worth real money.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    2 分
  • 872-Climate Ignored

    872-Climate Ignored
    2025/10/24
    Obtaining accurate data on the Earth’s climate and how it is changing is vital to inform agriculture , insurance risks, business planning, disaster preparedness, financial investments, wild fire mitigation, and national security. The USA should not be flying blind and relying on Europe and China for the data we need.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    2 分
  • 359E-390-One in 100,000

    359E-390-One in 100,000
    2025/10/21
    Friday the 13th appears to continue to be a lucky day for the human race. When astronomers first discovered Apophis in 2004 it appeared possible that this 3 million ton, 1,200 foot diameter asteroid traveling at 8 mi/s could impact our planet creating a crater a several miles diameter and more than a half mile deep. Additional observations over the years have eliminated this possibility as Apophis streaks by closer than the communications satellites on that lucky Friday the 13th. Further, current calculations have reduced the chances of Apophis colliding with Earth in the next 100 years to about one in 100,000. However, over the millennia Apophis is likely to strike the Earth as does one it's size once every 100,000 years or so.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    2 分
  • 871-New Mars Trojan

    871-New Mars Trojan
    2025/10/17
    The Lagrange point L4 is 60° ahead of Mars whereas L5 is 60° behind Mars on the red planet’s orbital path about the Sun. An object placed at either of these locations is trapped gravitationally and is likely to remain there indefinitely. The Mars L4 and L5 locations could provide a permanent place for staging and resupply missions to Mars and would give humans a different view of space weather and its effects on our home planet.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    2 分
  • 358E-389-Tiny Spacecraft

    358E-389-Tiny Spacecraft
    2025/10/14
    To reach the vicinity of the nearest star, 24 trillion miles away, in less than 20 years, an interstellar space probe would have to travel at a substantial fraction of the speed of light. Newton's laws of motion, published 300 years ago, predict that the greater the mass of an object the greater is the force required to increase it's velocity. In order to alleviate the need for the virtually unaffordable amount of energy required to accelerate a normal sized spacecraft to a speed of 20% of the speed of light, the Breakthrough Starshot program has funded the creation of 'Sprite' , the world's smallest spacecraft. About the size of a saltine cracker and having a mass of less than 2 dimes, the single-board Sprite spacecraft has all the essentials; solar panels, computing electronics, thermometers, gyroscopes, radio communication equipment and more. Working prototypes have been launched into Earth orbit by the Indian Space Research Organization attached to the Italian Max Valier and Latvian Ventra satellites. One of them has sent back signals which have been received by Cornell University's ground station. Dr. Zac Manchester who started the Sprite Spacecraft program while earning a PhD at Cornell University envisions using tiny spacecraft to explore near Earth Space as well as asteroids and moons in our solar system. In the future, fleets of the decedents of Sprite could be sent to explore intriguing planets in nearby alien solar systems. These tiny explorers will be propelled by high power Earth bound lasers directed at their solar sails and could reach and explore distant planets in a reasonable amount of time.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    2 分
  • 870-Satellite Ashes

    870-Satellite Ashes
    2025/10/10
    50 years ago scientists found that Chlorofluorocarbons or CFC chemicals in widespread use in refrigeration, air conditioning , and hair spray were beginning to damage the ozone layer in the Earth’s stratosphere which blocks harmful Solar UVB radiation from reaching the surface. The world wide response was the Montreal Protocol banning these chemicals from being released into the atmosphere. It saved millions of humans from dying of skin cancer. Satellite ashes are a new threat to the protective ozone layer.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    2 分