Astronomy
For ages people have been determined to explicate on everything. Our search for explanation rests only when there is a lack of questions. Our skies hold infinite quandaries, so the quest for answers will, as a result, also be infinite. Since its inception, Astronomy as a science speculated heavily upon discovery, and only came to concrete conclusions later with closer inspection. Aspects of the skies which at one time seemed like reasonable explanations are now laughed at as egotistical ventures. Time has shown that as better instrumentation was developed, more accurate understanding was attained. Now it seems, as we advance on scientific frontiers, the new quest of the heavens is to find and explain the phenomenom known as a black hole. The goal of this paper is to explain how the concept of a black hole came about, and give some insight on how black holes are formed and might be tracked down in our more technologically advanced future. Gaining an understanding of a black hole allows for a greater understanding of the concept of spacetime and maybe give us a grasp of both science fiction and science fact. Hopefully, all the clarification will come by the close of this essay. A black hole is probably one of the most misunderstood ideas among people outside of the astronomical and physical communities. Before an understanding of how it is formed can take place, a bit of an introduction to stars is necessary. This will shed light (no pun intended) on the black hole philosophy. A star is an enormous fire ball, fueled by a nuclear reaction at its core which produces massive amounts of heat and pressure. It is formed when two or more enormous gaseous clouds come together which forms the core, and as an aftereffect the conversion, due to that impact, of...
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Orion has been recognized as distinct group of stars for thousands of years. The Chaldeans knew it as Tammuz, named after the month that the familiar belt of stars first rose before sunrise. The Syrians called it Al Jabbar, the Giant. To the ancient Egyptians it was Sahu, the soul of Osiris. However in Greek mythology, Orion was a beautiful giant hunter. There are many legends about Orion and several variations about his death and why he was placed in the stars. One story tells of his boast that he would eventually rid the earth of all its wild animals. When the Earth goddess Gea heard of this she became upset and sent a Giant Scorpion to sting him to death. Now even after death that scorpion chases him around the sky. If you notice scorpio and Orion are never in the sky together. Another story says that Artemis the goddess of hunting fell in love with Orion. And when Orion was swimming Artemis was speaking to her brother Apollo. He bet her that she could not shoot a dot on the distance. She hit the target right on but had been tricked. She had shoot Orion. She put her love, Orion in the sky. And yet another tells how Orion raped Artemis. And she took her revenge upon him, when she shot him. Now seeing as there are several variations of his death you would have to choose which one you like best and go with it. There are two stars that are well know in the constalation of Orion. The first one is know as Betelgeuse, also called Alpha Orinis. It is one of the brightest stars in the constelation of Orion. It is an irregular because it changes brightness and size but has no regular periods of veration. It is classified...
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Introduction Our world has been in existence for billions of years and throughout all those years we have used the sun for basic energy needs. So why not be able to harness that energy and use it to power things like our homes or our cars? Many scientist have been developing alternate forms of energy called "Green Energy." Green power is the solution to creating a cleaner, sustainable energy system. Renewable energy--power from the sun, wind, plants, and moving water--is a natural way to meet our energy needs and protect the environment. Here are some forms of green energy: • Wind energy converts the power available in moving air into electricity. Wind power does not produce air emissions, generate solid waste, or use water. • Biomass is energy from trees and plants. This includes crops that are grown specifically for energy production and organic wastes, such as wood residues from paper mills and methane from landfills. Using biomass to generate electricity reduces global warming emissions if new plants are grown to replace those that are harvested. • Geothermal energy uses heat from inside the earth to make clean power. • Solar power captures the heat and light of the sun to generate electricity. Solar energy does not produce air emissions, generate solid waste, or use water. • Hydroelectric power captures the energy in falling water. It does not produce emissions or solid waste, but can have a relatively low or high impact on the environment, depending on the site-specific factors such as maintenance of water flow and water quality, fish impacts, and other land use issues. For the most part the cost has been a limiting factor. Whether it be the cost of the technology, or just the cost of replacing our fossil fuels and nuclear power plants it will be expensive none the less. There are...
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Astrology is an ancient practice many civilizations used. Throughout many years the people believed the stars and planets guided their life to where it would go. Boethius, the counsel of Rome, believed that the movements of the planets told the people of "earthly events." Astrology originated with the Chaldean, in Babylon, Mesopotamia, around 2300 BC. Many people practiced astrology in temples and became religious to many people. Astrology than spread to Egypt around the third millenium BC. Alexander the Great's influence and control on others made a big impact. Aristotle, a great philosopher, began spreading the ideas of astrology throughout the Greek world. It was during this 300-year period of time that the acceptance of astrology flourished into horoscope and zodiacal signs as well. It wasn't until this period it came into existence. The tradition of Greek, Arabic, and medieval astrology was inseparable during the Middle Ages, better known as the medieval times. They believed in the tradition of alchemy, which is believed that Man responds to energies from planets, the Sun, and the Moon. They used to define different human characteristics like mercurial, saturnine, lunatic, venereal, jovial, and martial. They soon began using the guide of the stars to make cures for those who wee sick. Kings, emperors, popes, scientists, doctors used astrology, over centuries, to advance in ideas they felt could be only be solved with the stars. Towards the close of the 16th century in Europe, people were losing hope of astrology, but it did stay throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Many began rejecting the reasons of astrology because of new scientific methods being introduced. Astrology soon wasn't ideas couldn't be proven with science. For example, the realization that the sun, and not the earth, was at the center of the solar system was proven after the new...
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There are nine planets in our solar system and we have visited all of these but one. Even though Pluto is the smallest and furthest planet from the sun, it is no way inferior to the other planets. It in fact is possibly one of the most unique bodies in the solar system. There is much that we do not know about this tiny world and its equally unique moon, Charon. For this reason we are proposing to send a flyby mission to the Pluto-Charon system as soon as possible. Pluto was discovered on February 18, 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona (Stern 207). Jim Christy discovered Charon in 1978. Even though Pluto was discovered over seventy years ago, much of the information we know about this planet and its moon has been discovered very recently, in the late 1970's. Through Earth based observations. We were able to project the mass of Pluto to be 1.27e22 kilograms, and the mass of Charon to be 1.90e21 kilograms. We have also been able to hypothesize about other properties. The radius of Pluto is about 1137 kilometers (Hamilton 2). The radius of Charon is about 586 kilometers. Both bodies are relatively small, even in comparison to something as small as the United States (See figure 1). The temperature of Pluto is close to thirty five to forty-five degrees Kelvin (Arnet 2). The temperature of the Pluto-Charon system is so low because it is extremely far away from the Sun. In fact, it is nearly thirty-nine and one half astronomical units away from it (Kaufman 383). This is 5,913,520,000 kilometers (Hamilton 2)! The composition of Pluto and Charon is thought to be made up of large amounts of rock mixed with methane, nitrogen, and carbon monoxide ice. When Pluto is closest to...
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GENERAL RELATIVITY IS DEAD Milan Meszaros Alpha Group Laboratories Society, Inc. Abstract The intent of the present study is to analize standard cosmology in an immanent mathematical-critical way. First of all, the fundamental statements of this cosmological model will be investigated themselves as well as their relevation to the theory. Further aims are to reveal the interdependence of different physical disciplines, confrontation of various observations, to elucidate the correlations between observed data and theory and, finally, to analyze this cosmology from the point of view of self-consistency. The study discusses the status of the standard modell. ---------------------------------------------------- 6. SUMMARY By placing sandard cosmology on a postulational basis, we have managed to point out many intriguing inconsistencies. In the absence of the application of the axiomatic method, these contradictions have remained hidden. Within the framework of theory there exist six different and equal in importance differential equation systems to determination of dynamical parameters u, p, and R in the Robertson-Walker universe. The section of sets of solutions of these differential equation systems is the empty set (see Paradox 1). So the behavior of the Robertson-Walker universe is not determined uniquely by the theory (see Paradox 2). Contrary to generally accepted dogmas, there exist three independent equations (central equation system) which determine unequivocally (u, p, R) without supposing the state equation. Thermodynamically the solutions of the central equation system are false. (See Contradiction 1.) The "not false" solutions contradict the system of axioms. This is why standard cosmology does not have a single solution compatible with its postulational basis. (See Contradiction 2.) The Hubble law v=Hx is not equivalent to the general speed formula V(t): H(t)X(t) as a consequence of mutuality of the model and measurement and observation. Furthermore, the general speed formula and the universal relation of the redshift v(t)R(t):= const cannot be deduced from the theory. Finally, there are many arguments against the standard model. The origins of the Hubble...
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It is always a mystery about how the universe began, whether if and when it will end. Astronomers construct hypotheses called cosmological models that try to find the answer. There are two types of models: Big Bang and Steady State. However, through many observational evidences, the Big Bang theory can best explain the creation of the universe. The Big Bang model postulates that about 15 to 20 billion years ago, the universe violently exploded into being, in an event called the Big Bang. Before the Big Bang, all of the matter and radiation of our present universe were packed together in the primeval fireball--an extremely hot dense state from which the universe rapidly expanded.1 The Big Bang was the start of time and space. The matter and radiation of that early stage rapidly expanded and cooled. Several million years later, it condensed into galaxies. The universe has continued to expand, and the galaxies have continued moving away from each other ever since. Today the universe is still expanding, as astronomers have observed. The Steady State model says that the universe does not evolve or change in time. There was no beginning in the past, nor will there be change in the future. This model assumes the perfect cosmological principle. This principle says that the universe is the same everywhere on the large scale, at all times.2 It maintains the same average density of matter forever. There are observational evidences found that can prove the Big Bang model is more reasonable than the Steady State model. First, the redshifts of distant galaxies. Redshift is a Doppler effect which states that if a galaxy is moving away, the spectral line of that galaxy observed will have a shift to the red end. The faster the galaxy moves, the more shift it has. If...
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Astronomy has been a source for myriad ideas influencing every subject. The stars have existed since the dawn of man. People have looked to the universe to determine physical location, gain spiritual direction and to track time. Many early scientists used astronomy to make careers for themselves and print their names in all the history books of time.
Since the beginning of time, the stars and all of the heavens have been used not only as a tool to aid in basic living but also to reveal new and undiscovered things about the time and world people lived in. The times leading up to the 17th Century were filled with many discoveries not only in astronomy but also in mathematics and science. These discoveries lead to many uses from the learned knowledge of these newfound discoveries. The view of the universe at the time of the 17th Century was referred to as the Ptolemaic system. They also believed that all things around the earth were perfect and unchanging. Another popular theory at the time was the Copernican system. This is where the sun is the center, rather than the sun.
One of the main scientists during the 17th Century was Galileo. He believed in the Copernican system. When Galileo pointed his telescope to the sky, he made many discoveries that confirmed the Copernican system. One thing he found was that the moon was not a perfect sphere as thought of in the Ptolemaic system; it had craters and mountains not visible to the human eye. Another discovery Galileo made was that Jupiter had moons going around it. This conflicted with the Ptolemaic system. It proved that the earth was not the only planet with moons going around it. Galileo also found that Venus had phases just like the Moon; this meant that...
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Our planet Uranus. Uranus is the seventh planet of our solar system. Uranus is the mysterious blue planet that circles the sun, far from the Earth. A man named William Herschel first discovered this mysterious planet in 1781, he was a German musician living in England who had a great interest in Astronomy. He believed the sky held secrets he wanted to know. He couldn't afford to buy a big telescope, so he made his own. One night in March 1781, Herschel was studying constellations of Gemini. He spotted by accident a blue-green dot. He studied it for several nights and he realized that it was moving very slowly across the sky. Herschel believed that he found a new comet. As the word of his discovery spread, professional astronomers measured the distance to the object and decided it was too far away to be a comet. It must be a planet instead. The new planet was twice as far from the sun as Saturn. This mysterious planet got its name from the tradition held. Like the six other planets, it was named for a god in Greek mythology. So it was named after the goddess that gives life. Because it orbited just beyond Saturn and was named Uranus for the god of the sky who furthered Saturn.
Uranus is the third largest planet in our solar system. It is huge compared to Earth. Its diameter is 31,764 miles, which makes it about four times the size of Earth. Like all the other giant planets in out solar system, Uranus is made of a swirl of gases, liquids and solids. It has no solid surface to stand on. The solids are mostly silicon, iron, and basalt like rock. The center of Uranus is a solid core about the size of Earth. At...
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On a hot summer night, as you are sitting outside enjoying the evening, you tilt your head back and look into the night sky. You begin to wonder what is really out there? How far away are the stars? Are they stars or are they planets? We live in a part of the night sky called the ¡§Milky Way Galaxy.¡¨ Our galaxy can be seen with the naked eye on a clear summer night. It resembles a ribbon stretched across the night sky. During the summer is when the Milky Way is at its fullest with the stars so clustered together they look like one white mass. Our galaxy is a gigantic agglomeration of stars and planets whose numbers will probably never been known. Currently we estimate this number to be about thirty billion. Scientists have estimated that the radius of our galaxy if it were to be traveled, would take us about fifty thousand light years and the thickness to be about fifteen to twenty light years. We live in small part of the Milky Way Galaxy, which is referred to as a solar system. Our solar system is made up of nine planets and 31 moons, which orbit the center of galaxy. At the center of our galaxy is our Sun, which is approximately twenty-five thousand light years from our solar system. These nine major planets in order from the center are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Mercury is the planet nearest to the Sun. As it orbits the Sun, it does not rotate, keeping the same face of the planet toward the Sun at all times. This means that one side of the planet has a continual burning day of 900„a F, and the other side a continual night and a deadly cold of 450„a F below...
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Disclaimer
The views expressed in this academic research paper are those of the authors and
do not reflect the official policy or position of the US Government or the Department of
Defense..iii
Preface
Interest in developing an asteroid defense system, intensified by the impact of
comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter in 1994, continues to grow by leaps and bounds.
Many major US publications such as Newsweek, Time, Ad Astra, Technology Review,
Nature and even The Economist have run extensive articles on the subject. However, the
interest goes well beyond the United States and the press. Russia, Italy, and Australia
have recently hosted conferences on the asteroid threat and the United Nations will host
one of its own in April of this year.
Because of public interest, and at the urging of scientists and astronomers, the US
Congress commissioned the Spaceguard survey to examine the asteroid threat. Though
no major decisions were made as a result of the survey (briefed in 1992), all agreed that
the subject warranted continued discussion. In January of 1996, a NASA sponsored
follow-on committee, headed by Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, will present recommendations
for asteroid defense to Congress. Most expect the Shoemaker Committee to recommend
an asteroid search program much like the one proposed in the original Spaceguard report.
While all of this is going on, it appears that the US military, specifically the Air
Force, has declined to participate in these surveys and the subsequent Congressional
briefs. The reluctance is somewhat understandable since scientists are just beginning to
understand and quantify the threat. Planetary Defense, if undertaken, would be a new
challenge, but one that clearly falls in the realm of military responsibility. The US Military
has organizations, equipment and talent that could be invaluable to an asteroid defense
program. We hope that this study will convince our leadership that the Air Force has both.iv
the capability and responsibility to participate in the defense of Earth (and our space
assets) from natural space...
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