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Watch a 100,000-mile-high tower of plasma erupt from the sun in this stunning video
September 9, 2024
Astrophotographer Mark Johnston got a front row seat to an epic fireworks show.
Johnston, a NASA solar system ambassador and vice president of the Phoenix Astronomical Society, was observing the sun in late August with a custom telescope when he captured images of incredible arcs of plasma (super heated gases) known as solar prominences rising to incredible heights above the surface of our star.
Johnston assembled the images he got of the solar spectacle into the stunning video above.
"The height of the largest of the two prominences in the video is about 160K km or 100K miles," Johnston told Space.com via email.
"For the video, I took about 100 540-frame videos 25 seconds apart, so that the time lapse video represents about an hour of real time activity on the sun. Some images in the video are more blurry than others due to momentary changes in atmospheric seeing conditions.
"In general the seeing was good, about 4/5. All images taken by me from my backyard in Scottsdale, Arizona."
In addition to the epic video, Johnston captured breathtaking stills of the sun's activity. "The static images were captured between 16:00-17:00 UT [(12 p.m. ET and 1 p.m. ET)] on Aug. 29," Johnston said.
"Each static image requires taking a 2000-frame high-speed video of 9 millisecond exposures. Then I extract the 200 most in-focus frames and apply further sharpening, denoise and add color."
Johnston caught some incredible solar fireworks three days prior to shooting the footage above.
"In one of them, there is a large triangular blob of plasma ejected by the sun, still faintly connected via plasma that follows magnetic field lines," Johnston said.
"For all photos I used my TEC160FL refractor which I custom-modified into a double stacked hydrogen-alpha solar telescope," Johnston wrote.
Remember: viewing the sun can be dangerous without the right equipment. Never look directly at the sun with the naked eye, especially through additional optics like telescopes or binoculars.
Whatever gear you use, make sure it has a certified solar filter. If you're just getting started, a smart telescope with a solar filter like the Unistellar Equinox 2 might be your best bet.
https://www.space.com/sun-solar-prominence-100000-miles-high-video
https://spacenews.com/china-is-taking-a-keen-interest-in-lava-tubes-as-possible-lunar-habitats/
China is taking a keen interest in lava tubes as possible lunar habitats
September 9, 2024
Chinese researchers are taking a serious look at detecting and utilizing lava tubes on the moon as China plans its development of an extensive lunar base.
China is leading the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). The project envisions a basic robotic south polar base built by five missions across the early 2030s.
An extended ILRS would include an expanded base, as well as an orbital station and nodes elsewhere on the moon. The latter will be capable of hosting short term human stays.
A series of papers on lava tubes and their detection, modeling, the status of research and how to explore lava tubes have been published in the Chinese language Journal of Deep Space Exploration (JDSE).
The issue as a whole reflects an effort to develop a systematic approach for exploring and utilizing lava tubes. These features may be involved in the ILRS project.
Lava tubes are considered ideal locations for future lunar bases, combining scientific value with potential habitation opportunities. Lava tubes provide essential shielding for crew and infrastructure from radiation and micrometeorites.
The paper reviewing the status of lava tubes in the solar system looks at formation mechanisms and their scientific significance.
It calls for the first systematic detection of lava tubes on extraterrestrial bodies, use of terrestrial lava tubes as analog sites, and notes that extraterrestrial lava tubes are not only natural shelters, but may also hold the remains of ancient life.
A paper proposing an exploration and development plan for lunar lava tubes calls for multi-stage exploration. It uses Mare Tranquillitatis and Mare Fecunditatis as case studies.
The plan involves mobile robots equipped with 3D imaging and navigation systems. It includes the deployment of surface rovers to explore and map the entrance of lava tubes.
This will be followed by the use of smaller, more agile robots or drones to enter and explore the tubes themselves.
The article however notes a number of challenges to construction of habitats inside lunar lava tubes such as entry and exit of large equipment and personnel into the tubes.
Others include modifying the natural terrain for building infrastructure, using in-situ materials for construction and ensuring the structural integrity and airtightness of lava tubes for pressurized environments.
Another article details a high-performance ultrasonic driller suitable for drilling in the inner wall of lava tubes. A further paper puts forward a lightweight mobile measurement system for the 3D mapping of lava tubes.
The papers indicate that Chinese researchers are keenly aware of the potential of lava tubes and serious about its robotic and crewed lunar plans, Clive Neal, a professor and lunar scientist at the University of Notre Dame, told SpaceNews.
âFirst and foremost, lava tubes represent almost ideal habitats,â says Neal. âThey provide protection from micro and some macro meteoroid bombardment, the thermal swings between night and day, and primary and secondary radiation.
Any habitat on the Moon must be buried several meters below the surface otherwise humans will be at a severe risk of harm.â
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It also serves as a wake up call to the United States and NASA, says Neal.
âWith the cancellation of VIPER, the United States has basically ceded leadership in lunar resource exploration.
China has two missions going to the South Pole to prospect for lunar volatiles, with Changâe-7 and Changâe-8.
âChina is serious about a human-tended lunar outpost. The United States does not appear to be ready to be serious about this.
It is unfortunate that, unlike China, we do not have a cohesive plan for human and robotic exploration of the Moon like China has,â Neal adds.
The consideration of lava tubes in regions away from the lunar south is another hint at how seriously Chinese researchers are considering its long term efforts.
âChina has figured out the enormity of burying a habitat at the south pole, or is planning to set up multiple habitats across the Moon, using lava tubes in the mare basalt regions.
This alone should be a wake up call for America,â says Neal. NASAâs Artemis plans envision a âbase campâ at the lunar south pole.
The United States needs to wake up because we are rapidly being left behind, says Neal. âChina will get to set a precedent on how lunar resources are used because they have a plan.
âIf we want to have a vibrant cislunar economy underpinned by lunar resources, VIPER should be the first in a series of rover missions, not only for water ice, but for helium-3, rare earth elements, and platinum group elements,â Neal says.
Chinaâs Changâe-7 mission will target Shackleton crater. It will use multiple sensors and spacecraft to assess resources at the lunar south pole.
These include a hopping rover primed to seek out evidence of water-ice in permanently shadowed craters.
Changâe-8 will test, among other things, 3D printing on the lunar surface and in-situ resource utilization.
The missions are scheduled to launch in 2026 and 2028 respectively. There are currently no known approved missions to explore lava tubes.
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https://spacenews.com/in-shadow-war-diplomats-experts-seek-ban-weapons-from-space/
In the shadow of war, diplomats and experts seek to ban weapons from space
September 8, 2024
Even as the community of nations on Earth fractures further into rival blocs, an effort to build greater cohesion in space is gathering momentum.
The extent to which this succeeds, or not, may set the course of global peace and security for the foreseeable future.
Diplomats along with military, industry, civil and academic experts are gathering in Geneva this week for the annual Outer Space Security Conference hosted by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).
Driving the agenda: how to build cooperation across the international community as it works to Prevent an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS).
The timing of the meeting is critical. Diplomatic efforts on PAROS have been on a rocket to nowhere for the past four decades, buffeted by competing aims.
Some states want to ban weapons in space through a new legal agreement while others are focused on anti-satellite capabilities that target space systems.
This group sees a need for transparency and norms of behavior that support existing laws and prevent conflict.
As diplomacy has faltered, threats have risen. The Secure World Foundationâs Global Counterspace Capabilities Report shows more countries developing technologies to harm or disrupt space systems.
Trust in commitments to existing arms control measures is faltering. Outer space security was discussed at the United Nations Security Council for the first time ever this year in the wake of not one but two (failed) resolutions.
These were initially prompted by concerns about potential development of nuclear weapons capabilities in orbit, which would violate one of the few existing international legal restrictions on the use of space.
Efforts to repair this dangerous situation are also at risk. Two parallel U.N. Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) processes on PAROS are set to begin:
one that would continue work on reducing space threats through a focus on norms of responsible behavior, and another that would continue the work on elements of a legal agreement focused on barring weapons and the use of force in outer space.
Neither effort can succeed without the other. But attempts to build consensus on both topics have previously failed.
And there is a risk that parallel efforts split participation among the international community and bifurcate the governance regime for space by adopting different approaches to law, definitions, concepts and obligations.
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But there is a glimmer of hope, too. A recent diplomatic victory charts a cautious path to success. In August, a U.N. Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Further Practical Measures for PAROS adopted a consensus report outlining the scope of discussions and the varying views among states.
In the field of outer space, where the extraordinary happens daily, this achievement may seem insignificant. But the content of the report offers threads of commonality across the two long competing approaches to space governance.
The UNIDIR conference will strive to knit these threads together, building on key areas of work identified in the GGE report and tackling thorny obstacles to progress.
Of importance is a diplomatic panel including the chair of the recently concluded GGE, Egyptâs ambassador Bassem Hassan.
Intended to take stock of the various diplomatic processes on space security that have been attempted in the past, the discussion provides an opportunity to reflect on how both the successes and missteps of previous efforts can help to support progress at the two upcoming OEWGs.
A comprehensive approach to space security will require common understandings.
The conference thus will lead with a consideration of the many threats and risks to space security, from the use of counterspace capabilities to natural hazards, and grey zone activities that fall in between.
A planned discussion on the existing governance framework is intended to flesh out the dos and donâts of space that must inform any effort at additional rules, and shed light on a core but illusive concept that informs the development of both norms and legal restrictions:
the threshold of the use of force.
But more needs to be done. Also needed are synergies across the various pieces and actors of the outer space governance regime.
Here, a focus on the links between space security and space safety is critical, not least to address one of the most pernicious obstacles to arms control: the dual nature of space technology, which can often support both military and civilian or commercial aims, and which can be used for both helpful and harmful applications.
Finally, neither the pursuit of legal agreements nor norms of behavior can bring success in the absence of verification and other measures to nurture confidence in their implementation.
Expert input on the range of tools available to support transparency and confidence as well as technical verification is urgently needed.
If astronauts are the envoys of humankind, diplomats must be the astronauts of peace and security in space, daring to go where none have gone before. The UNIDIR conference will help to give them the tools to get there.
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'I was the US government's UFO chief â I know aliens have been found on Earth'
12:11, 8 Sep 2024
A former Pentagon UFO chief has claimed that aliens are real - with "non-human" bodies previously found on earth.
According to Luis Elizondo, a long-time Defence Department researcher, he has handled "alien" technology and claims that "bodies" have been recovered from several sites.
In his new book, "Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs," the American makes several eyebrow raising claims.
For instance, he claims to have been told categorically the infamous Roswell incident in New Mexico in 1947 involved two flying saucers â and âfour deceased non-human bodiesâ were recovered from the wreckage and examined.
Elizondo said: "We know where they were. We donât know where they are. Iâve got to be careful what I say here, to not get in trouble â I still have my security clearance."
He claims other bodies have also been retrieved from subsequent sites, including Mexico in the 1950s and Kazakhstan in 1989."
He added "I have held in my hand material that scientists for the US government have conducted research on, and theyâve said:
'This is very special material, itâs highly unlikely that itâs made by human beings â and itâs engineered.
"Iâve also held in my hand biological samples, tissue samples, that have been removed from human beings â that when analysed, do not behave like anything that we are normally used to associating with being a natural part of the human body, and certainly looks to be some sort of technical device."
The former UFO chief also claims that green orbs have followed him and his colleagues home in attempts to spy on him.
He said: "We're not sure if they are actually UAP-related.
"What we do know is that a lot of people that were in the program that I was in also had very similar encounters while they were in the program.
"So not before or not after, but during the time that we were researching these UAP and from our experience, when I say ours, I mean my families and even our neighbors, witnessed some of these â are these luminous green balls of light.
Very diffuse in nature. No hard edges. That would just seem to kind of peruse the house and go down the hall and go through a wall.
"They were between the size of a volleyball and a softball, and they would float right through the house⌠We didnât fear them. They didnât damage anything. It was just really bizarre."
Speaking about his new book on ABC News, Elizondo explained that he was keen to share the truth about UFOs with the American public for a very long time, describing the non-human creatures as "real" and a "national security issue" for the USA.
He added: "I wanted to be able to tell the American public my experiences and what the government has been doing for a very long time, not just when I was in the program, but for decades about the government's interest in UFOs.
"When we started really looking at this, was at the height of the Cold War.
We didn't want to do was necessarily tip our hand to any information, perhaps, that we've gleaned from UAP or UFOs and, certainly, perhaps any information gaps or maybe information that we don't know about the UFOs."
While Elizondo's claims seem hard to digest, he isn't the only one who thinks there are aliens out there. He said:
"We've had already a former director of national intelligence, a former director of the CIA, and even a former president of the United States all come out on the record and say 'Yeah, looks like these things are real.'"
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/i-governments-ufo-chiefâ33622389
Sussex astronaut Tim Peake 'thought we were facing a UFO' but it 'turned out to be leaking urine'
Updated 9th Sep 2024, 13:40 BST
Chichesterâs Tim Peake â who was awarded the rare honour of Freedom of the City in 2018 â became the first British astronaut to join the International Space Station when he spent six months aboard the orbiting laboratory in 2015.
He is now embarking on a national tour to talk about his experiences as well as the history of space travel, stopping off in Birmingham to speak to an enthusiastic audience on Wednesday night.
During his time on board the ISS, Major Peake said he once saw âthree lights moving in formationâ, before they were joined by a fourth.
He told an audience at the cityâs Symphony Hall that , because of the blackness of space, he believed they were from some kind of spacecraft â and that the only explanation could be a UFO.
But it then dawned on him that the lights had a source that was far closer to home â it was created by droplets of urine that were leaking from the space station.
âWe were perplexed, until we realised that what we thought were the far away lights of alien spaceships were actually very close small droplets,â Major Peake said.
âWhat was happening was liquid leaking out of a Russian probe vehicle, crystallising instantly and reflecting the light. What we were seeing was Russian urine.â
Toilet habits were something of a theme for Major Peakeâs two-hour show in front of a near-capacity Symphony Hall.
He revealed how Alan Shepard was left on the launch pad for so long ahead of the USâs first orbital flight that he was forced to ask permission to urinate in his spacesuit.
After that, condom-like contraptions were issued to astronauts in an effort to help their predicament.
But they rarely worked and Buzz Aldrinâs first step on the Moon was using a boot that was full of his own urine.
Nowadays all astronauts wear a form of adult nappy â and they also have an enema on Earth ahead of take-off in order to prevent any bigger accidents in space.
He also revealed how Pete Conrad, Americaâs third man on the Moon, was renowned as a joker among the US astronauts on the Apollo programme.
He said Conrad was so fed up with the amount of probing, prodding and giving samples that he once presented his bosses at Nasa with a stool sample in a gift-wrapped box, complete with a ribbon on top.
Major Peake is still involved in space, acting as an advisor for US-based commercial space operator Axiom Space.
His presentation at the Symphony Hall took in the early days of space right through to current projects to get back to the Moon and eventually to Mars.
He revealed the development of space stations over the decades, saying the current ISS is the size of a football pitch, which is cavernous when compared to earlier versions such as the American Skylab or Russian Soyuz.
The astronaut answered a series of questions from the audience, including one who asked him if he ever got scared.
He revealed that it took him a long time to come to terms with the vastness of space when he first arrived at the ISS.
He said: âIt is vast and very black and you are looking out into affinity. But you get used to it.â
He said life on board the ISS was hard work but also great fun, treating the audience to a video of himself and his fellow astronauts larking about in the zero gravity of space.
The tour, called Astronauts â The Quest to Explore Space, continues until the start of October. He will be at the Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, on September 11.
https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/news/people/sussex-astronaut-tim-peake-thought-we-were-facing-a-ufo-but-it-turned-out-to-be-leaking-urine-4774514
Thanks.
I'm not sure what happened there.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/i-governments-ufo-chiefâ33622389
Donald Trump and RFK Jr. face potential risks over UFO disclosure, filmmaker claims
17:59 ET, SEP 8 2024
Donald Trump might be in danger of another assassination bid due to the public release of UFO documents, it's been suggested.
According to ufologist and filmmaker Mark Christopher Lee, even American political figure Robert F Kennedy Jr is at risk.
He remarked: "I'm pretty sure that since RFK JR backed Trump's Presidential campaign he has been putting pressure on the former President to release the truth about UFOs to the American public."
He proposed a conspiracy theory regarding JFK's assassination: "There is a theory that his uncle JFK (John Kennedy) was assassinated due to his knowledge of the Deep State involvement in the UFO cover up."
Lee also pointed out: "Some also suggest that JKF also divulged these secrets to his lover film-star Marilyn Monroe and that she was also killed to keep it secret."
He further asserted: "Monroe was due to give a press conference just a few days after her death. I believe that RFK JR knows these links."
On RFK Jr's presidential aspirations and sudden silence on UFOs, Lee speculated: "He began his presidential campaign talking about UFO disclosure but then he suddenly stopped talking about it as if he was warned off, maybe now that he has joined forces with Trump he feels confident to push his attacks on the Deep State cover up."
The new documentary from Lee titled 'The King Of UFOs' investigates the UK's fascination with extraterrestrial life and ponders what actions King Charles could take as sovereign in anticipating UFO disclosure.
The film includes insights from ex-head of Britain's MoD UFO desk Nick Pope, who discusses what the monarch might be privy to under the notorious 'five eyes agreement'.
He revealed that his keen interest was inherited from his father, Prince Philip, who had been covertly investigating UFOs since the 1950s.
Trump survived an assassination attempt last July at an open-air campaign rally in Pennsylvania when a bullet grazed his ear.
Mr. Lee had previously alleged that the attempt on The Donald's life was to prevent him from disclosing the truth about extraterrestrials by unveiling top-secret government files if he were re-elected.
https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/donald-trump-rfk-jr-face-683206
Earthlings as aliens
September 9 2024
Part of what makes the search for life so fascinating is the way it contextualizes our existence here on Earth.
If there is indeed intelligent life out there, those beings may be searching for us just as we are searching for them.
So, if aliens were to detect our presence, what might they find?
Imagine an alien civilization light-years away from Earth at about the same level of technological development as humans.
They may detect Earthâs existence â an exoplanet from their perspective. Theyâd know that it is at the right distance from the Sun to support liquid water on the planetâs surface, and if those aliens were water-based life forms like us, they might see this as a promising sign of habitability.
If they focused their observations on us using an instrument akin to the James Webb Space Telescope or Habitable Worlds Observatory, they could potentially analyze our atmosphere and discover oxygen (a potential sign of biological activity) and perhaps industrial pollutants (good indicators of technological activity).
If they pointed radio telescopes at us, they might pick up transmissions weâve sent out over the years.
Another way aliens could discover evidence of human activity is through the artifacts weâve sent into space.
The Voyager and Pioneer probes are equipped with messages for any beings who might encounter them long after they leave the Solar System.
Although the chances are slim that theyâd be found in the vast emptiness of space, itâs still possible.
Some intelligent, space-exploring aliens could someday find these artifacts and learn about Earth, its creatures, and human cultures.
The Lucy spacecraft is a different kind of artifact. Right now, Lucy is on its way to study the Jupiter trojans, groups of asteroids that share Jupiterâs orbit around the Sun.
After it completes its study of its targets, Lucy will continue to orbit the Sun for millions of years.
It carries a sort of time capsule from Earth just in case itâs someday discovered by an alien species that comes to our Solar System in search of us, only to find that humans have long since gone extinct.
This possibility may sound bleak, but itâs another avenue for something deeply meaningful.
Somehow, someday, our species and its capabilities might come to be known by others who share our most fundamental characteristic: life.
https://www.planetary.org/articles/earthlings-as-aliens
OUT OF THIS WORLD Inside the legend of the âBlack Knightâ satellite orbiting Earth that some believe is a 13,000-year-old alien spaceship
10:59 ET, Sep 9 2024
From a millennia-old spacecraft to a UFO shot down by the Illuminati, tales surrounding the "Black Knight Satellite" go back decades, fuelling what may be one of the greatest space myths.
The legendâs origins are often traced back to the early 20th century when none other than Nikola Tesla claimed to have received strange radio signals from space in 1899.
Tesla believed these signals could be of extraterrestrial origin.
While these signals were likely natural or man-made phenomena, they have been retroactively tied to the Black Knight legend by conspiracy theorists.
Fast forward to the 1920s and 1930s, when radio operators began reporting what they called Long Delay Echoes (LDEs).
These were unexplained echoes of radio signals, returning after an unusually long delay, sometimes several seconds.
The phenomenon puzzled scientists, and while they eventually proposed various theoriesâranging from ionospheric reflections to equipment malfunctionsâsome conspiracy theorists found a more intriguing explanation.
Some conspiracy theorists believe these echoes were caused by the Black Knight satellite reflecting signals back to Earth.
The plot thickened in 1954, when media reports, fueled by UFO researcher Donald Keyhoe, claimed that the US Air Force had detected two unidentified satellites orbiting Earth.
This was a full three years before the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the worldâs first artificial satellite.
The question lingered: if these objects werenât man-made, what were they?
The most concrete "evidence" of the Black Knightâs existence emerged in 1998, during the STS-88 missionâthe first Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station.
Astronauts aboard the shuttle captured a photograph of a dark, oddly shaped object floating in the void.
The image quickly gained notoriety among UFO enthusiasts and conspiracy theorists, who declared it proof of the ancient satelliteâs existence.
It wasnât long before the photograph was dubbed the "Black Knight."
Over the years, the legend of the Black Knight satellite has grown, fuelled by technology's ability to spread stories far and wide.
The latest wild claim in this series of conspiracy theories emerged in 2017.
Believers claimed the Illuminati had shot down a UFO, namely the Black Knight, which had been orbiting Earth for more than 13,000 years until leaders of the secret society took action.
NASA, however, had a far more mundane explanation for the decades-old legend.
The mystery object, they said, was nothing more than a thermal blanketâa piece of space debris that had accidentally been lost during a spacewalk.
Thermal blankets are common on spacecraft, used to protect sensitive instruments from extreme temperatures.
Occasionally, these blankets become detached, drifting away into the endless abyss of space.
To NASA, this was simply a case of mistaken identity.
In the years since he wrote about them, Tesla's odd radio signals have also been explained.
Most scientists agree that he most likely came into contact with electromagnetic signals from pulsars, which were not detected until the 1960s.
But in the world of conspiracy theories, simple explanations are often the least satisfying.
For believers, the official story did little to dampen the intrigue surrounding the Black Knight.
The idea of an ancient alien satellite, silently watching over from up above, was way too tempting to dismiss.
https://www.the-sun.com/tech/12406474/inside-legend-black-knight-satellite-conspiracy-theories/