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Science

The North Star Closer Than We Thought

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Well this is embarrassing, but researchers using Russia’s 6-Meter Telescope have found that the North Star (Polaris) is actually much closer than we had previously thought. Originally it was believed that Polaris was approximately 434 light-years away from Earth but now it is believed that the star is more like 323 light-years away. That’s a big difference!

Polaris

What makes this discovery even more significant is that we have been using our North Star to help us with measuring other distant objects in space, so now we may have to recalculate the actual distances of many other celestial objects. We have long used the North Star to aid in navigation as it never seems to move from it’s position in the sky. The main reason behind Polaris keeping it’s position is that it is aligned with Earth’s North axis.

Get more details on this new discovery at National Geographic News.

Massive Iceberg Breaks Off, Largest Caught on Video

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An absolutely massive iceberg almost two miles wide breaks off from a glacier and it’s all caught on video. This is the largest glacial break off ever recorded on video and it’s a stunning site. It’s almost difficult to put the size of these ice chunks into perspective, the filmmakers mention it would be like watching the buildings in Manhattan just fall apart and then hit the ground.

This break up occurred on the Ilulissat glacier in Greenland and was being filmed as part of Chasing Ice, a film that’s trying to convey the reality of climate change to the masses by bringing us up close and personal with areas of the world where climate change is having a dramatic effect. There’s no doubt that our climate is changing but many debate the reasons why. Some believe humans are the root cause while others believe it’s part of a natural cycle that we have yet to understand.

 

 

A Potentially Hazardous Asteroid 3 Miles Wide To Pass Earth Tonight

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A potentially hazardous asteroid named “Asteroid 4179 Toutatis”,  is about 3 miles wide  and will be flying by Earth in a cosmic “near-miss”. The asteroid will be about 4.4 million miles away from Earth at it’s closest approach, that’s about 18x the distance of the Moon. Fortunately, the asteroid will be just passing by but if it were to collide with Earth, it would most certainly be catastrophic.

Toutatis Asteroid
Toutatis Asteroid (Source:NASA)

This isn’t the only asteroid getting up close and personal with Earth as another smaller asteroid (about 2.1 miles wide) named 2012 XE54 just squeezed between Earth and the Moon earlier today at a distance of just 141,000 miles from Earth. This pass was much much closer, close enough for Earth to be able to cast it’s shadow on the asteroid.

Video of Asteroid Toutatis Orbit 2012 – courtesy NASA JPL

This is a live feed of the 4179 Toutatis event, you get more detailed information information including the abillity to switch channels at www.slooh.com.

Big NASA Discovery On Mars? Not So Much

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About a week ago we received news that NASA was possibly on the brink of a major discovery, in fact it was mentioned that it could be for the “History Books”. Well, unfortunately it doesn’t seem like were going to get that kind of news from Mars anytime soon.

This discovery that apparently never happened is being described as a “big misunderstanding”. Here is the original report that I read from NPR. Planet Mars Viewed From Space

“Grotzinger says they recently put a soil sample in SAM, and the analysis shows something remarkable. “This data is gonna be one for the history books. It’s looking really good.”

“Grotzinger can see the pained look on my face as I wait, hoping he’ll tell me what the heck he’s found, but he’s not providing any more information.”

This was from an interview between science correspondent Joe Palca and scientist John Grotzinger. Apparently, what were being told now is that John meant to say that the mission in it’s entirety is historical and that in the next couple of years we expect to make great discoveries.

Something sound a bit strange here? This was big news that made it’s way quickly around the world and that means NASA had to have heard it too. The big question here is if NASA did hear this report earlier then why didn’t they try to correct this earlier?

They were still sampling soil at the time of the interview and were anxiously waiting for results, but apparently they weren’t “History Worthy”. Either way you look at this, it’s still a bit of let down. I guess we will just have to keep our hopes up for future discoveries on Mars.

The Ticking Time Bomb of The U.S

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Many of us carry on with our day to day lives completely oblivious to the world outside of our own. Can you really blame us? Human society is built in such a way that we feel increasing pressure to get certain things done. This sense of urgency has has increased over the years as our world has become smaller thanks to technology. We worry about issues at work and at home and in doing so we seldom pay attention to anything else. Thankfully there are a few people who, in their field of study, feel increasing pressure to pay attention to the things we don’t.

We live among giants, supermassive volcanoes threaten our world. In The United States, one such super volcano  sits uncomfortably close. Yellowstone National Park is a bizarre and yet beautiful place with all of it’s world class geological features. Yellowstone is in many ways a natural amusement park filled with geysers, hot springs, mudpots, and fumaroles. We drive in by the hundreds of millions to witness the power of nature every year and many of us don’t even realize were walking around on top of a giant monster.

How is it that we could almost completely miss seeing such a massive volcano? Well, part of the issue is their size, they are so large that they blend in with the land surrounding them. Yellowstone’s caldera is thought to be about 35 by 45 miles wide and only from high up in the sky can we really start to bring the massive volcano into perspective and begin to appreciate it’s size.

Yellowstone Caldera
Yellowstone Caldera Map (Credit: U.S. Geological Survey
Department of the Interior/USGS)

 

When can we expect an eruption? Well, as of right now we have no idea. Our best scientists can only guess when it comes to the likelihood of an eruption of one of these supermassive volcanos. The other major concern is how big will the eruption be. A caldera-forming eruption would be the most devastating and would likely have an impact on the entire world. The entire human population would experience long lasting negative effects including major impacts to our food supply. Crops would likely suffer if a significant amount of ash were to enter the atmosphere and surronding lands. The temperature of Earth would change dramatically altering the climate and causing damage on a scale that we are only beginning to understand.

YellowStoneAshMap
YellowStone Ash Impact Map (Credit: U.S. Geological Survey
Department of the Interior/USG)

Although currently unpredictable, we can try to make an assumption of when a super volcano may erupt based on it’s past activity. In the case of Yellowstone, we see eruptions occurring at 2.1 million, 1.3 million, and 640,000 years ago. If we used this data to predict the next potential super volcano caldera-forming eruption, we would see a favorable timeframe in approximately 90,000 years from today. However, Yellowstone isn’t the only super volcano in the world.

Yellowstone is one of many super volcanoes around the world. Here is a list of a few more known super volcanoes.

  • Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia.
  • Aira, Japan
  • Long Valley California, U.S.A
  • Valles caldera, New Mexico, U.S.A
  • Lake Taupo, New Zealand

 

Magma Eruption Size Chart
Magma Eruption Size Chart (Credit: U.S. Geological Survey
Department of the Interior/USG)

So, should we worry about these sleeping giants among us? The short answer here is, no. However, knowing that they exist is important and scientists are hard at work trying to understand the geological processes that lead up to such a massive eruption, in hopes of providing us with an early warning. Currently, there is no way to prevent a volcano from erupting, especially a super volcano. We can only  hope that time is on our side and that when the next eruption happens, it’s relatively small and we have a chance to evacuate and prepare.

 

For more information about Yellowstone volcanic activity please visit the official USGS website.