Special Cloud Formation Moving South

Interesting fact about noctilucent clouds (pictured below) making their way further south than ever in known history... check out the write-up below that appeared July 6, 2011 on SpaceWeather.com

ELECTRIC BLUE CLOUDS: When noctilucent clouds (NLCs) first appeared in the 19th century, they were a high-latitude phenomenon. You had to travel toward the poles to see their electric-blue glow. Not anymore. Just this past weekend, NLCs spilled over the Canadian border into the lower United States as far south as Denver, Colorado. Flying 33,000 feet over the Mile High City on July 2nd, Brian Whittaker snapped this picture from the window of a passenger jet:

Whittaker is a long time observer of NLCs from planes flying much further north. "I was amazed to see them at 39 degrees latitude over the USA," he says.

Another long time observer, University of Colorado atmospheric sciences professor Richard A. Keen was located just underneath the storm clouds in Whittaker's photo. "Rats!" says Keen. "I was watching for NLCs, but all I saw was rain."

During the peak of the display on July 1-2, NLCs were seen in Washington state, Oregon, Montana, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado and Kansas. Keen notes that the sightings in Colorado (lat 39.8N) and Kansas (lat 38.9N) are among the most southerly sightings ever. "The lowest-latitude sighting I know of was by Craig Coutlee in Ignacio, Colorado on June 22, 1999, the same day as my sighting near Boulder," recalls Keen. "Craig was at 37.1N latitude, just north of New Mexico."

The latest outbreak continues a trend in recent years of NLCs spreading to ever-lower latitudes. Is this a sign of climate change? Some researchers think so. Sky watchers everywhere are encouraged to be alert for electric blue just after sunset or before sunrise; observing tips may be found in the 2011 NLC gallery.

Short Sharp Science: Black hole unleashes enduring cosmic blast

A huge explosion 3.8 billion miles from earth and we are still capturing pictures a week later. This is another one of those events for which we can only come up with our best guess while we look on in awe.

Short Sharp Science: Black hole unleashes enduring cosmic blast

Catching a Ripple in Time and Space: JPL Mission to Detect Gravitational Waves

JPL, in conjunction with the European Space Agency and NASA, is preparing a mission for 2020 named LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna).   Its purpose is to try and detect a ripple in time/space (gravitational wave).   Consider the possibilities if they succeed... it will be the first step to really understanding the mysteries of the gravitational force; a  force which has perplexed physicists searching for a 'theory of everything' for over a century.  Perhaps what they find will once and for all allow us to make sense of the how all of the currently known forces work together on both the macro and micro levels.  And what if, just like electricity, we can harness the power of the ripple long before we understand exactly how and why it works. 

 This artist’s concept shows the proposed LISA mission, which would consist of three distinct spacecraft, each connected by laser beams. It would be the first space-based mission to attempt the detection of gravitational waves -- ripples in space-time that are emitted by exotic objects such as black holes. Image credit: ESA

 The article notes that the mystery surrounding two pulsars first led us to indirectly observe what is believed to be gravitational waves.

"...1974, researchers discovered a pair of orbiting dead stars -- a type called pulsars -- that were spiraling closer and closer together due to an unexplainable loss of energy. That energy was later shown to be in the form of gravitational waves."

The article goes on to note that this mission if successful would give us a whole new way of looking at our universe:

"LISA is expected to not only "hear" the waves, but also learn more about their sources -- massive objects such as black holes and dead stars, which sing the waves like melodies out to the universe as the objects accelerate through space and time. The mission would be able to detect gravitational waves from massive objects in our Milky Way galaxy as well as distant galaxies, allowing scientists to tune into an entirely new language of our universe. "
 

Read the full article: Tuning an 'Ear' to the Music of Gravitational Waves - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
 

Atlantis found? Film highlights professor’s efforts to locate fabled lost city

 2,600 years ago Plato wrote of the grandeur of the City of Atlantis.  Now, archeologists have found the remains of a city in the marshlands off the coast of Spain that just may turn out to be the fabled city. Check out the article at Science Daily to learn more.

Atlantis found? Film highlights professor’s efforts to locate fabled lost city

A Black Hole “Too Big” For Its Galaxy

When cosmologists write their books they seem to have all the answers but as we are able to see further and further into the universe, we find that some of our previous best guesses are not even in the ball park. This article covers our latest findings regarding black holes. What is clear by the articles conclusion is that while what we do know fills libraries, there seems to be infinitely more to learn.

SkyandTelescope.com - News from Sky & Telescope - A Black Hole “Too Big” For Its Galaxy

Mysterious Disk Shaped Shadow on Distant Star

Ofen we think of science as knowing and understanding almost everything.  They speak as if they "know" when on almost every front of science there are more unanswered questions than there is true understanding of this incredible world around us.

The link below tells of one of those mysteries.  Perhaps some day we will have a telescopes powerful enough to make out just what is causing this mysterious disk shaped shadow on a remote star. 

 University of Michigan (2010, April 8). Astronomers take close-up pictures of mysterious dark object. ScienceDaily. Retrieved