Small Star Passed By Edge of Solar System 70,000 Years Ago

By Ron Cowen and Nature magazine

A recently discovered stellar neighbour of the Sun penetrated the extreme fringes of the Solar System—the closest encounter ever documented—at around the time that modern humans began spreading from Africa into Eurasia.

The red dwarf star, which has a mass about 8% that of the Sun and is orbited by a 'brown dwarf' companion—a body with too little heft to sustain the thermonuclear reactions that enable stars to shine—was discovered in 2013 in images recorded by NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission. It is relatively nearby, at about 6 parsecs (19.6 light years) away.

Astronomer Eric Mamajek at the University of Rochester in New York became intrigued by it when he learned that the faint object is moving slowly across the sky, but its radial velocity—the rate at which it is moving away from an observer—is high. That indicated that the low-mass star, nicknamed Scholz’s star after the German astronomer who discovered it, is racing almost directly away from the Solar System.

Tracing the trajectory of the star and its brown dwarf companion back in time, Mamajek’s team found with 98% confidence that Scholz’s star passed within the Solar System's Oort cloud, a reservoir of comets, about 70,000 years ago.

More - Link >>> http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/star-buzzed-our-solar-system-during-human-prehistory/?WT.mc_id=SA_DD_20150223

Sources: Nature Magazine, Scientific American Magazine.

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Apollo 11 TV Camera Developer Dies at 91

Replica of the black-and-white television camera which showed
the first astronauts walking on the Moon (the original camera
remains on the Moon). This replica is in the collection of the
National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular
Science also publicly displayed a non-working replica of this
Westinghouse television camera for many years.

By Glenn A. Walsh
Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

Physicist Ernest Sternglass, who was instrumental in development of the television camera which showed the first astronauts walking on the Moon, has died at age 91 of heart failure. The Cornell University graduate, who worked for many years at the Westinghouse Research Laboratory, and later at the University of Pittsburgh, passed-away on February 12 in Ithaca, New York. His death was announced by Cornell University, where Dr. Sternglass' professional papers are archived.

For the first Moon landing by astronauts, NASA planned to provide the national and world television networks a live television feed showing the astronauts walking around and working on the Moon. However, NASA was concerned with the television picture quality, considering that there would be no artificial lighting available to help illuminate the lunar environment.

Dr. Sternglass' research led to the development of a very sensitive television camera tube, which could capture low-light action on the Moon. The genesis of this research came in 1950, while Mr. Sternglass was a graduate student, with correspondence he had with famous physicist Albert Einstein. This led to an electron amplification discovery that later permitted the development of a very sensitive television camera, first for spy satellites, and later for NASA's Moon mission. This black-and-white television camera was developed for NASA while he was employed at the Westinghouse Research Laboratory in east suburban Pittsburgh.

With one of the largest television audiences in history (estimated to be at least 600 million, worldwide), this television camera showed the first person to step on the Moon, Neil Armstrong, first setting-foot on the Moon on Sunday Evening, 1969 July 20 at precisely 10:56:20 p.m. Eastern Daylight Saving Time (EDT) / July 21 (“Moonday”) at 2:56:20 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Ernest Sternglass was born on 1923 September 24 in Germany, but his family fled Nazi Germany in 1938 and came to America. After completing high school at the age of 16, he entered an engineering program at Cornell University. He volunteered to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II, but just before leaving for the Pacific Theater the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war.

His first civilian job, in 1947 at the Naval Ordinance Laboratory in Washington, led to a meeting with Albert Einstein at Dr. Einstein's home in Princeton, New Jersey. Dr. Sternglass went on to earn his Master's Degree and Ph.D. in applied and engineering physics at Cornell University.

He was among several scientists concerned with the health effects of the atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. On the last day of the 1963 U.S. Senate Atmospheric Test Ban Treaty hearings, he testified that radiation from bomb tests were equivalent to human exposure to several X-rays. A few years earlier, he had observed that medical X-ray exposure to a developing fetus correlated with a significant increase in incidence of childhood leukemia and infant mortality.

In later years, Dr. Sternglass worked at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine where he conducted pioneering work in digital X-ray imaging.

A non-working replica of the historic Apollo 11 television camera was publicly displayed for many years at Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science. During the 1970s and early 1980s, this replica was shown in a classic display-case exhibit in the Great Hall on Buhl Planetarium's first-floor. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, this Westinghouse camera replica was displayed behind the large glass windows in Buhl Planetarium's third-floor Astronomical Observatory.

Obituary of Ernest Sternglass from the Cornell Chronicle:
Link >>> http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2015/02/physicist-ernest-sternglass-dies-91

More on Ernest Sternglass: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_J._Sternglass

Related Blog Posts ---

45 Years Ago: Man Lands on the Moon !  (2014 July 20):

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2014/07/45-years-ago-man-lands-on-moon.html

JFK: Loss of the Man Who Sent Us to the Moon  (2013 Nov. 22):

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2013/11/jfk-loss-of-man-who-sent-us-to-moon.html

Moon Day - A National Holiday ?  (2014 July 20):

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2013/07/moon-day-national-holiday.html

Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss.

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Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SpaceWatchtower Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Also see: South Hills Backyard Astronomers Blog: < http://shbastronomers.blogspot.com/ >
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Twitter: < https://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
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  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >

Tue. Morning Fireball Over Pittsburgh Seen in Several States

Image of Tuesday morning fireball caught by an all-sky camera atop the Allegheny Observatory in
Pittsburgh. (Image Sources: NASA, Allegheny Observatory, American Meteor Society)

By Glenn A. Walsh

Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

Early Tuesday morning, a bright fireball was observed by many people in the Pittsburgh area, and throughout much of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and New York. One of the largest such meteors observed since the Chelyabinsk, Russia meteor almost exactly two years earlier, fortunately in this case there has been no damage on the ground reported.

Friends of the Zeiss received an eye-witness report from a woman in the Pittsburgh suburb of Fox Chapel, who reported, “Gazing out my window, there was a blazing, streaking, yellow orange light heading N. to slightly N.E.  It had a slightly wide & long "tail" & was bright enough to light my room as though it was a searchlight.” She also noted “the sound of a distant boom” two minutes after seeing the meteor.

The American Meteor Society, which collects fireball and meteor reports from the general public, received 125 eye-witness reports about the event that occurred around 4:50 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) / 9:50 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on February 17. Three witnesses in the Pittsburgh area also reported hearing a delayed boom after seeing the fireball.

Images and video of the meteor were caught by three NASA cameras, including one on the roof of Pittsburgh's Allegheny Observatory. These are part of NASA's All-Sky Fireball Network, currently a network of 15 specialized, black-and-white video cameras, with lenses that allow for a view of the whole night sky overhead.

NASA estimates that the meteoroid, at the point it entered Earth's atmosphere, probably weighed about 500 pounds and was traveling about 45,000 miles per hour. Even though the dense space rock was only about two feet in diameter, after entering the atmosphere it flared-up brighter than a Full Moon. NASA also noted that, from the meteor's apparent orbit, it probably originated in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Yesterday, in an interview with Pittsburgh's KDKA-TV 2, Dr. Brendan Mullan, Director of the Henry Buhl, Jr. Planetarium and Observatory at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Science Center, mentioned that if remnants of the meteor reached the ground, they may have fallen near Kittanning, Pennsylvania (44 miles northeast of Pittsburgh). The American Meteor Society estimates, from witness reports, that the fireball trajectory did take it over Clarion County and northern Armstrong County in Western Pennsylvania.

It is estimated that only 10 percent of a large meteor, or in this case about 50 pounds of meteoric material, could have, potentially, reached the ground. The rest of the meteor would have been lost to the light and heat that created the fireball. Most small meteors are completely vaporized in the atmosphere. The fact that this meteor was large enough to create a sonic boom means there is a possibility that some meteoric material may have reached the ground.

With snowfalls since the fireball observation possibly covering any such remnants, meteorites from this meteor may not be found until Spring, at the earliest. And, even after the snow is gone, finding a remnant from this meteor could be quite difficult.

Video of Pittsburgh Fireball, from NASA camera atop Pittsburgh's Allegheny Observatory:
Link >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wqEHVvdJuU

More on NASA's All-Sky Fireball Network: Link >>> http://fireballs.ndc.nasa.gov/

NASA animation showing apparent trajectory of Pittsburgh Fireball:
Link >>> https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=857973824261845

American Meteor Society reports and graphics regarding the Pittsburgh Fireball:
Link >>> http://www.amsmeteors.org/2015/02/early-morning-pittsburgh-fireball/

Related Blog Post ---

1938 Fireball Explosion Over W PA Remembered  (2013 March 11):

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2013/03/1938-fireball-explosion-over-w-pa.html

Special Thanks: Eric G. Canali, former Floor Manager of Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science and Founder of the South Hills Backyard Astronomers amateur astronomy club.

Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss.

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Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/fotz/ >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SpaceWatchtower Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Also see: South Hills Backyard Astronomers Blog: < http://shbastronomers.blogspot.com/ >
Barnestormin: Writing, Essays, Pgh. News, & More: < http://www.barnestormin.blogspot.com/ >
About the SpaceWatchtower Editor / Author: < http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/weblog/spacewatchtower/gaw/ >
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< http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Twitter: < https://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >

Today's "Black Moon"

By Glenn A. Walsh

Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

The Earth's Moon has been given many names over the many millenia men and women have been looking at our planet's only major natural satellite. In addition to the many names given to the Full Moon for each month, by Native Americans, in more recent times “Blue Moon” and “Super Moon” have joined the lexicon.

Now the “Black Moon” joins the list. And, at the moment of the posting of this blog post, 6:47 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) / 23:47 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on Wednesday Evening, 2015 February 18, we observe the most recent “Black Moon.”

As with the so-called “Blue Moon,” the “Black Moon” has more than one definition. The definition to describe today's “Black Moon” is the third New Moon phase in a calendar season which includes four New Moons. This is similar to the one definition of a “Blue Moon”: the third Full Moon phase in a calendar season with four Full Moons. And, of course, a “Black Moon” is described as black because this is the time the near side of the Moon (the only side of the Moon that can ever be viewed directly from the Earth) is not illuminated by the Sun.

So, the February Moon phase of New Moon (Lunation # 1140) occurs today at 6:47 p.m. EST / 23:47 UTC.

As most calendar seasons have three Full Moons, most calendar seasons also have three New Moons. However, by an occasional quirk in the calendar, this year Winter has four New Moons. A fourth New Moon occurs this Winter on March 20, just about 13 hours before the Vernal Equinox, the official beginning of the season of Spring!

As with the terms "Blue Moon" and "Super Moon," the term "Black Moon" is not an official designation and has no real astronomical significance. 

Other definitions used for a “Black Moon”:

1. A month missing a New Moon or a month missing a Full Moon (in both cases, this can only happen in February).
2. The second New Moon in a month with two New Moons (which can only happen in any month except February).

2015 February 18 is also significant for these reasons:

1. As the Chinese use a lunisolar calendar, today's New Moon marks Chinese New Year.
2. In the Christian calendar, today marks Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, 46 days before Easter Sunday.
3. Today marks the 85^th anniversary of the discovery of the Planet Pluto, now designated Dwarf Planet 134340 Pluto, by Clyde Tombaugh at Lowell Observatory near Flagstaff, Arizona.

More on a "Black Moon":
Link 1 >>> http://www.universetoday.com/118769/black-moon-why-the-february-new-moon-is-special/
Link 2 >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_moon

More on a Lunisolar Calendar: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunisolar_calendar

More on the Chinese New Year: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year

More on Ash Wednesday: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_Wednesday

More on Dwarf Planet 134340 Pluto: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto

Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss.

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Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SpaceWatchtower Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
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Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
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  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >

Amateur Astronomers Find Plumes High in Martian Atmosphere

These images of the plume were taken by amateur astronomers Wayne

Jaeschke, a patent attorney based in West Chester, PA, and D. Parker.

 

In March and April of 2012, amateur astronomers with their lenses turned toward Mars saw strange plumes bubble out from the normally round-appearing atmosphere of the Red Planet. The plumes lasted for around 10 days.

 

"Remarkably, the aspect of the features changed rapidly, their shapes going from double-blob protrusions to pillars or finger-plumelike morphologies," says a paper just published in the journal Nature by a team of professional researchers who back up the amateurs' findings. The paper also pretty much says that the researchers have no idea what caused the plumes. 

 

They do have two theories, however. 

 

The first is that the plumes were caused by phenomena similar to our aurora borealis.

The second idea is that the plumes were actually high-flying clouds.

 

More - Link >>> http://www.cnet.com/news/strange-double-blob-atop-martian-atmosphere-puzzles-scientists/

Source: cnet.com .

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Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SpaceWatchtower Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
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Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
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  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >

Free Guides to On-Line Computer Science Degree Programs Offered

By Glenn A. Walsh

Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

Four new guides to educational degree programs regarding Computer Science and related subjects, available free-of-charge to the general public on the Internet, have just been created by an organization called Computer Science Online. These four new guides join six other guides that have already been available to the public, by the non-profit organization.

According to the ComputerScienceOnline.org web site:

“ComputerScienceOnline.org is an in-depth website for potential and current students considering a career with computers, software engineering, and more. Our staff is passionate about technology and dedicated to helping others find the information they need to make decisions about their future in the fast moving and rapidly growing tech industry.'

The four new guides cover the subjects of Computer Forensics, Computer Networking, Information Technology, and Web Development. The other guides available cover Computer Engineering, Computer Programming, Cyber Security, Database Administration, Information Security, and Software Engineering.

These free-of-charge guides can be accessed at the following link:

Link >>> http://www.computerscienceonline.org/degree-programs/#CS-Degrees-by-Subject

ComputerScienceOnline.org Cover Page: Link >>> http://www.computerscienceonline.org/

Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss.

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Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SpaceWatchtower Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
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Barnestormin: Writing, Essays, Pgh. News, & More: < http://www.barnestormin.blogspot.com/ >
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Twitter: < https://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >

Historic Lick Observatory Receives $1 Million From Google

James E. Keeler, one of the early Directors of Lick
Observatory, had previously been Director of Pittsburgh's
Allegheny Observatory. (Image Source: Wikipedia.org )

By Robert Patrick Van Tooke

The University of California’s Lick Observatory has received $1 million as a gift from Google.

$500,000 of the funds have already been funneled into the observatory’s general expenses, with another $500,000 to be donated this year — on top of the annual $1.5 million provided by the UC Office of the President, according to UC Berkeley astronomy professor Alex Filippenko.

“Lick Observatory has been making important discoveries while training generations of scientists for more than 100 years,” said Chris DiBona, director of open source and scientific outreach for Google, in an email. “Google is proud to support their efforts in 2015 to bring hands-on astronomical experiences to students and the public.”

In September 2013, the university announced a controversial decision to withdraw its funds from the observatory, with plans to refer the resources to newer facilities such as the Thirty Meter Telescope. The university revoked its decision in November of last year, however, mitigating concerns that the observatory would have to transition into self-support, with help from private donors.

More - Link >>> http://www.dailycal.org/2015/02/10/google-donates-to-lick-observatory/

More on Lick Observatory: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lick_Observatory

More on James E. Keeler: Link >>> http://johnbrashear.tripod.com/bio/KeelerJ.htm

Source: The Daily Californian, The Independent Berkeley Student Publishing Co.

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Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SpaceWatchtower Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
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Twitter: < https://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
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Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >