Whoever is playing with the internet today
M87* One Year Later: Proof of a Persistent Black Hole Shadow
January 18, 2024
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration has released new images of M87*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87, using data from observations taken in April 2018. With the participation of the newly commissioned Greenland Telescope and a dramatically improved recording rate across the array, the 2018 observations give us a view of the source independent from the first observations in 2017. A recent paper published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics presents new images from the 2018 data that reveal a familiar ring the same size as the one observed in 2017. This bright ring surrounds a deep central depression, “the shadow of the black hole,” as predicted by general relativity. Excitingly, the brightness peak of the ring has shifted by about 30º compared to the images from 2017, which is consistent with our theoretical understanding of variability from turbulent material around black holes.
“A fundamental requirement of science is to be able to reproduce results,” says Dr. Keiichi Asada, an associate research fellow at Academia Sinica Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Taiwan. “Confirmation of the ring in a completely new data set is a huge milestone for our collaboration and a strong indication that we are looking at a black hole shadow and the material orbiting around it.”
https://eventhorizontelescope.org/M87-one-year-later-proof-of-a-persistent-black-hole-shadow
SpaceX Starlink Mission
SpaceX is targeting Friday, January 19 for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 6:15 p.m. PT, with backup opportunities available until 9:58 p.m. PT.
A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.
This is the 16th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, DART, Transporter-7, Iridium OneWeb, SDA-0B, and 10 Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-7-11
Japan space mission: probe landed on moon but not generating solar power, space agency says – live updates
Fri 19 Jan 2024 12.19 EST
Both Lev-1 and Lev-2, palm-sized robots, were successfully deployed before the spacecraft landed on the moon, a space official says.
Lev-1 is designed to hop around and take measurements with an onboard thermometer, radiation monitor and slope sensor.
Lev-2, a ball-shaped mini-rover designed with Takara Tomy, the toy firm behind Transformers, is intended to pop open, revealing two cameras.
The Slim spacecraft landed on the moon and is communicating with earth but is not generating electricity via its solar panels, a Japanese space agency official says.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/live/2024/jan/19/japan-moon-landing-mission-space-latest-live-news-updates
UFOs are described as "angels sent by God" by Republican Congressmen on podcast
06:28 ET, JAN 19 2024
A Republican Congressman said he believes that UFOs may be "angels sent by God," in this video of his appearance on a popular podcast. Eric Burlison, a Republican representative for Missouri, appeared on the That UFO podcast on Tuesday and discussed extraterrestrial theories after he was part of a secret US government briefing on UAPs(unidentified aerial phenomena) last Friday.
The politician, who has been privy to classified information on UFOs, said that he feels that the term "angels" is synonymous with extradimensional entities, even if that contradicts the biblical description of angels.
"They may not fit exactly the Biblical narrative, but whenever I use the term "angels, to me, it's synonymous with an extradimensional being," he said.
"In a lot of different scriptures, including the Bible and others, that's really the way that you describe messengers of God or angels," he continued, expressing a similar sentiment to his fellow Republican Congressman, Tim Burchett of Tennessee.
https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/ufos-described-angels-sent-god-31919208
UFO hovers over London! Amazing photos show "invasion" of Samsung launch party
Jan 18, 2024
Galaxy invasion! To mark the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, a flying saucer measuring 525 feet descended on the iconic skyline of London, England.
The UFO was comprised of 550 drones, engaging in a complex aerial demonstration that took over 650 hours to design and program. A series of stunning images of the event were captured on a Canon EOS R5, Sony A9 and Nikon D5 – which you can see below. I've also embedded a video of the "invasion" at the end of the article, which is definitely worth a watch!
After a spectacular takeoff, the display began with the drones forming the words "Galaxy AI is here" in the stars above The Thames. After the drones transformed into an outline of the new S24 handset, they then engaged in a spectacular and dynamic depiction of the stars and solar system in motion.
While I thought that a spinning Saturn, complete with rings, was the culmination of the aerial demonstration, things kicked into an even higher gear when the drones combined to form a stunning flying saucer – with a design evoking of the iconic UFO from Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
"To celebrate the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, we wanted to capture the wonder and amazement of this new age of smartphone by creating a spectacular drone show that would gaze beyond our planet and into the galaxy," said Annika Bizon, Samsung UK and Ireland's marketing and omnichannel director.
"We brought the stars, solar system and universe closer than ever before to the British public to demonstrate the infinite possibilities as we look to embark on a new journey with Galaxy AI."
https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/news/ufo-hovers-over-london-amazing-photos-show-invasion-of-samsung-launch-party