Rapid Supernova Could Be New Class Of Exploding Star

Posted on November 8, 2009 by Rashid Faridi

Artist's impression of an AM-CVn star system. (Credit: Tony Piro)

An unusual supernova rediscovered in seven-year-old data may be the first example of a new type of exploding star, possibly from a binary star system where helium flows from one white dwarf onto another and detonates in a thermonuclear explosion.In a paper first published online Nov. 5 in the journal Science Express, University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) astronomer Dovi Poznanski and his colleagues In a paper first published online Nov. 5 in the journal Science Express, University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) astronomer Dovi Poznanski and his colleagues  and why they believe SN 2002bj is a new type of explosion.

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Alps Growing Or Shrinking?

Posted on November 7, 2009 by Rashid Faridi

The Matterhorn, in the Alps. (Credit: iStockphoto)

The Alps are growing just as quickly in height as they are shrinking according to a new study by a group of German and Swiss geoscientists.Due to glaciers and rivers, about exactly the same amount of material is eroded from the slopes of the Alps as is regenerated from the deep Earth’s crust. In the latest volume of the science magazine Tectonophysics ( No. 474, S.236-249) the scientists show that today’s uplifting of the Alps is driven by  climatic variations.The Alps are constantly rising, although they have been deemed “dead” in a tectonic sense. Instead of plate forces it is the strong climatic variations since the beginning of the so-called quaternary glacial before approximately 2.5 million years, to which mountain slopes in particular have been reacting so sensitively. This holds the Alps in motion.

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Posted in earth, Mountains, topography | 1 Comment

Sprites

Posted on November 5, 2009 by Rashid Faridi

Sprites are large scale electrical discharges that occur high above thunderstorm clouds, or cumulonimbus, giving rise to  varied range of visual shapes flickering in the night sky. They are triggered by the discharges of positive lightning between an underlying thundercloud and the ground. Sprites are colored reddish-orange in the upper regions, with bluish hanging tendrils below, and can be preceded by a reddish halo.  Sporadic visual reports of sprites go back at least to 1886, but they were first photographed on July 6, 1989 by scientists from the University of Minnesota and have subsequently been captured in video recordings many thousands of times.

Sprites have been observed over North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Southern Africa (Zaire), Australia, the Sea of Japan, and Asia and are believed to occur during most large thunderstorm systems. Sprites appear as luminous reddish-orange flashes, last longer than normal lower stratospheric discharges (typically a few milliseconds)(an unconfirmed observation of 4 sprites lasting over 1 hour in Zaire circa 1995), and are triggered by the discharges of positive lightning between the thundercloud and the ground. They often occur in clusters of two or more, and typically span the altitude range 50 kilometers (31 mi) to 90 kilometers (56 mi), with what appear to be tendrils hanging below, and branches reaching above.

Sprites are actually clusters of small, decameter-sized (10-100 m, 30-300 ft) balls of ionization that are launched at an altitude of about 80 km and then move downward at speeds of up to ten percent the speed of light, followed a few milliseconds later by a separate set of upward moving balls of ionization.

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wikipedia

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African Desert Rift is New Ocean In The Making

Posted on November 4, 2009 by Rashid Faridi

New research confirms that the volcanic processes at work beneath the Ethiopian rift are nearly identical to those at the bottom of the world's oceans, and the rift is indeed likely the beginning of a new sea. (Credit: Imagery (c) 2009 TerraMetrics. Map data (c) 2009 Europa Technologies / Courtesy of Google Maps)

A 35-mile rift in the desert of Ethiopia will likely become a new ocean eventually, researchers now confirm.In 2005, a gigantic, 35-mile-long rift broke open the desert ground in Ethiopia. At the time, some geologists believed the rift was the beginning of a new ocean as two parts of the African continent pulled apart, but the claim was controversial.

Now, scientists from several countries have confirmed that the volcanic processes at work beneath the Ethiopian rift are nearly identical to those at the bottom of the world’s oceans, and the rift is indeed likely the beginning of a new sea.A new study involving an international team of scientists and reported in the journal Geophysical Research Letters finds the processes creating the rift are nearly identical to what goes on at the bottom of oceans, further indication a sea is in the region’s future.

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University of Rochester

Livescience

The Red Sea Parts Again

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