Environment – Page 9 – Slugger O'Toole

“damn, what a sky…”

Pete Baker on May 27, 2011, 7:53 pm

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[Image credit: ESO/Y. Beletsky] Clear skies are everything in visible-light astronomy, and they don’t come much clearer that the skies above the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope [VLT] array on top of Cerro Paranal in Chile’s Atacama Desert. As this amazing time-lapse video of the VLT in operation, by Stephane Guisard and Jose Francisco Salgado, shows. There’s little I can say to prepare you for these wondrous images. Simply stunning. Via the Professor. And via Popsci’s Clay Dillow, who warns “it …

Dr Neil Tyson’s “disturbing” thought for the day

Pete Baker on May 25, 2011, 2:53 pm

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The Guardian’s tame particle physicist, Jon Butterworth, is “playing truant” from the LHC at Cern to attend the Boost 2011 meeting at Princeton. But he’s left a link-tastic post on the results so far. Meanwhile, the Big G’s GrrlScientist points to director of the Hayden Planetarium, New York, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, explaining one of his “disturbing thoughts”. As an aside, the paper, “The Origin of Chemical Elements”, was published in the 1 April 1948 issue of the Physical Review. The …

Volcanic ash cloud: “We can’t rule out disruption”

Pete Baker on May 23, 2011, 5:01 pm

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Despite initial confidence that there would be little or no disruption caused by the ash cloud from the ‘significant eruption’ of the Iceland’s Grímsvötn volcano, aviation authorities in the UK and in Ireland seem to be becoming less certain that will be the case. Video from Russia Today on YouTube. From the Irish Times report The IAA said that while it did not expect any flight disruptions within the next 48 hours the picture could change later in the week. “We don’t …

Nasa images Alabama tornado tracks

Pete Baker on May 17, 2011, 9:51 pm

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Nasa has released some stunning satellite images, from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), of the ‘footprint’ left by the monster tornado which hit Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on April 27th. The false-colour images use visible and infra-red data. [Image credit: Science@NASA] From the Science at Nasa report “This is the first time we’ve used the ASTER instrument to track the wake of a super-outbreak of tornadoes,” says NASA meteorologist Gary Jedlovec of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. In the …

Endeavour’s Final Voyage – Redux

Pete Baker on May 16, 2011, 1:22 pm

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The scheduled April launch was scrubbed due to technical problems, but the final preparations are underway for the 25th and final launch, after 19 years in service, of the Space Shuttle Endeavour on Mission STS-134. Launch is scheduled for 1.56pm [BST]. Via the NASAKennedy channel And a reminder that Endeavour’s final cargo, for the International Space Station, includes a 7-tonne particle physics experiment – the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS). And the AMS channel provides this informative Nasa overview of the experiment. As usual, there’s the launch blog …

“The [NI Environment] minister sought to clear a lot of business before leaving office…”

Pete Baker on May 4, 2011, 9:12 pm

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The BBC reports that concerns have been raised by the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society at the Northern Ireland Environment Minister, the DUP’s Edwin Poots’, apparent haste in seeking to have Ballyloran House, Larne, delisted by the non-independent NI Environment Agency before he leaves office on May 5. From the BBC report The Ulster Architectural Heritage Society has said it is concerned by the timing of the move. “I can’t really understand the haste,” the society’s John Anderson said. “I would have thought that possibly …

NASA images smoke from gorse fires

Pete Baker on May 3, 2011, 3:31 pm

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As the Belfast Telegraph notes, smoke from the fires across the UK and Ireland are clearly visible in the stunning satellite images from NASA/GSFC’s MODIS Rapid Response System. This is a cropped, smaller, version of an image taken at 12.50pm [BST] on 2 May at a resolution of 500 metres. Red is used to indicate the site of a fire. (Image credit: NASA/GSFC, MODIS Rapid Response System) And a close-up of the visible smoke plumes. Note to Belfast Telegraph – See “About Rapid Response Imagery”. …

Voyager: Humanity’s Farthest Journey

Pete Baker on April 30, 2011, 5:55 pm

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While waiting for Endeavour’s final voyage, you can catch up, metaphorically, with the ongoing scientific odyssey of those other still-nimble Voyagers as they head towards the vastness of interstellar space. ( Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) NasaTV has Thursday’s special science presentation on the mission with a panel of the Voyager team – including Ed Stone, who’s been there since 1972, and Ann Druyan, creative director of the group, led by Carl Sagan and Frank Drake, who put together the Golden Record both Voyagers carry. …

Endeavour’s Final Voyage

Pete Baker on April 29, 2011, 4:51 pm

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Following the final flight of Discovery, the next Nasa Space Shuttle to be retired, after 19 years of service, will be Endeavour. But first there’s the not insignificant matter of its 25th, and final, flight – Mission STS-134. Lift-off is scheduled for 1547 local time (1947 GMT; 2047 BST) from the Kennedy Space Centre. And via the NASAKennedy channel Endeavour’s final cargo, for the International Space Station, includes a 7-tonne particle physics experiment – the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS). And the AMS channel …

Chandra finds evidence of Tycho’s origin

Pete Baker on April 27, 2011, 7:35 pm

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Nasa’s Chandra X-ray observatory has been in orbit since 1999 and it’s still producing results. Like this stunning image of the remnant of the Type Ia supernova first observed by Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe in 1572. The data for the images was collected in 283 hours of observation from 2 pointings between April 29, 2003 and May 3, 2009. (Credit: NASA/CXC/Chinese Academy of Sciences/F. Lu et al) From the text accompanying Chandra’s Tycho photo album This new image of Tycho’s supernova remnant, …

Enceladus ‘footprint’ on Saturn

Pete Baker on April 24, 2011, 7:59 pm

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Nasa’s Cassini probe has been exploring Saturn’s system of moons since 2004 – some archived posts here. Recently it’s watched the weather on Titan and tasted Enceladus’ briny breath. That briny breath is responsible for the latest observed phenomenon – Aurora from Saturn moon ‘circuit’. Image credits: NASA/JPL/University of Colorado/Central Arizona College. Image details here. From the Cassini mission press release “The footprint discovery at Saturn is one of the most important fields and particle revelations from Cassini and ultimately may help us …

Solar Dynamics Observatory One Year On

Pete Baker on April 21, 2011, 4:30 pm

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One year on from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) First Light and Nasa have released a compilation of wondrous clips of its observations of our local star. [Video credit: Nasa SDO] They have selected 12 of the most beautiful, interesting, and mesmerizing events seen by SDO during its first year. In the order they appear in the video the events are: 1. Prominence Eruption from AIA in 304 Angstroms on March 30, 2010 2. Cusp Flow from AIA in 171 Angstroms on …

First Orbit – 50 years on

Pete Baker on April 12, 2011, 2:24 pm

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On 12 April 1961, Vostok 1 was launched and cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the planet. The BBC have a number of articles online as Russia marks the 50th anniversary of that flight – or, as the Guardian’s GrrlScientist calls it, Happy Yuri’s Night! Nasa have some images, and this short clip of the launch from their archives. And, if you have the time, the Guardian point to this feature length documentary, First Orbit. But remember, compared to the rest of …

Tevatron: “My money is on the false alarm at the moment”

Pete Baker on April 9, 2011, 6:11 pm

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A somewhat excited BBC report of potentially ground-breaking interim results from Cern LHC rival accelerator, Tevatron, is undermined by the statistical possibility of a false alarm. The Guardian’s tame particle physicist, at Cern, Jon Butterworth explains. If the histograms and data are exactly right, the paper quotes a one-in-ten-thousand (0.0001) chance that this bump is a fluke. That’s pretty small; although bear in mind that lots of distributions like this get plotted. If you plot 100 different distributions, the chances become about …

“Rise is the tallest piece of public art ever commissioned in Northern Ireland…”

Pete Baker on April 3, 2011, 7:20 pm

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The Belfast Telegraph reports that construction work has begun on Nottingham artist Wolfgang Buttress’ 37.5 metres tall, 30 metre wide, ‘Rise’ sculpture at the Broadway Junction – a year later than was expected in 2009. From the Belfast Telegraph report The massive silver and white steel sculpture, which will be taller than the city’s Albert Clock, is being built at the Broadway Roundabout — just yards from where some householders still have outside toilets. Designed by Nottingham artist Wolfgang Buttress, it is made …

“you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s…”

Pete Baker on March 19, 2011, 3:04 pm

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With Cassini exploring Saturn’s moons, and Messenger finally at Mercury, the BBC’s Spaceman, Jonathan Amos, takes an interesting look at the future prospects for interstellar travel. And he starts with this observation of Voyager’s 33-year-long journey. I’ve been troubled of late by the scale of things, by the vastness of space. It’s been brought into focus by two things, I think. The first is the Voyager 1 probe – the most distant man-made object from Earth. I’ve written a couple of …

Weather watching… on Titan.

Pete Baker on March 18, 2011, 3:54 pm

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Nasa’s Messenger spacecraft may have finally arrived in orbit around Mercury, but the Cassini probe has been exploring Saturn’s system of moons since 2004 – some archived posts here. [Image Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI] The latest images show seasonal weather patterns, and apparently associated surface changes. From the Nasa/JPL press release Extensive rain from large cloud systems, spotted by Cassini’s cameras in late 2010, has apparently darkened the surface of the moon. The best explanation is these areas remained wet after methane rainstorms. …

Messenger to Mercury

Pete Baker on March 17, 2011, 8:17 pm

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Tonight at 12.45am [GMT] Nasa’s Messenger spacecraft will begin a 15 minute engine burn timed to take it into orbit around Mercury – the first spacecraft to do so. (All images credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington) Launched on 3 August 2004, Messenger’s taken a circuitous route to the innermost planet. It’s second, and final, look at the Earth was in August 2005. Twice past Venus, the second time in June 2007 Before not one, not two fly-bys, but …

HMRC: “This is fuel fraud on an industrial scale.”

Pete Baker on March 16, 2011, 9:38 pm

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As BBC NI report, Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) have announced the dismantling of the largest fuel laundering plant ever uncovered in the UK. From the BBC NI report The plant was discovered in a raid in Crossmagalen, County Armagh on Tuesday. A man arrested in connection with the find has been released on bail pending further enquiries. HMRC officers, accompanied by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), seized six storage tanks, 37,000 litres of illicit fuel, 1,000 litres of acid, pumps and …

Gamma-Ray Bursts explained

Pete Baker on March 14, 2011, 5:18 pm

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I have, from time to time, mentioned the potentially lethal, if spectacular, phenomenon known as a Gamma-Ray Burst in my occasional science posts. By coincidence, the BBC have online digestible clips of past Horizon programmes. Including this informative clip from 2001 explaining Gamma-Ray Bursts in stellar nurseries, with a suitably ominous narration. Enjoy! And, let’s be careful out there… Pete Baker