61 results found.
... ISBN 915554-24-0 , 7x10 format. Unknown Earth: A Handbook of Geological Enigmas Out of print Hardcover, 833 pages, January 1980, ISBN: 0-915554-06-2 Astronomy Catalogs For a full list of astronomy subjects, see here . The Moon and the Planets; A Catalog of Astronomical Anomalies Sorry: Out of Print. No longer available. From our own moon's cratered surface to the red, rock-strewn plains of Mars, the Solar System is a fertile field for scientific research. Despite centuries of observation, each new spacecraft and telescope provides us with new crops of anomalies [Picture caption: One drawing of the Venusian radial spoke system] Typical subjects covered: The ashen light of Venus * The Martian 'pyramids' * Kinks in Saturn's rings * Continuing debate about the Voyager life-detection experiments * Neptune's mysterious ring * Evidence of water on Mars * The grooves on Phobos * The two faces of Mars * Lunar clouds, mists, "weather" * Ring of light around the new moon * Dark transits of Jovian satellites * Io's energetic volcanos * Jupiter as a "failed star" * Venus-earth resonance Comments from reviews: "The author is to be commended for his brilliantly conceived and researched volume", Science Books. 383 pages, hardcover, $18.95, 80 illustrations, 4 indexes 1985. 988 references, LC 85-61380, ISBN 915554-19-4 , 7x10 format. The Sun and Solar System Debris: A Catalog of Astronomical Anomalies Sorry ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 131: SEP-OCT 2000 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Planetary Conjunctions that Changed the World On May 17, 2000, five solar-system planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) plus the moon slowly wheeled into a tight 19 arc. It was a notable heavenly conjunction. All manner of natural catastrophes were predicted but failed to materialize. It has been this way down recorded history. Universal deluges were anticipated during similar conjunctions on September 14, 1186, and February 19, 1524, but the weather refused to cooperate with the planets. Humanity survived nicely. This does not mean that historical upheavals are never correlated with planetary conjunctions. If a society believes strongly enough in the power of the stars and planets to shape human destiny, events may be correlated with the heavens. Such was the case in ancient China. In China, the "Mandate of Heaven" concept has been used since ancient times as both a framework for history and a guide to future actions. The basic idea is that Heaven awards ruling power to a sage-king because of his virtue. His descendants remain as Earthly deputies until they become corrupted, whereupon outraged Heaven gives signs in the sky that the Mandate has passed on to a different sage-king to continue the cycle. Three transfers of the Heavenly Man-date marked the beginnings of the Hsu, Shang, and Chou Dynasties. In fact, the tightest grouping of the five visible planets in the period from 3, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 85: Jan-Feb 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Why Intelligent Life Needs Giant Planets The two giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn, are 318 and 95 times more massive than the earth, respectively. Being so weighty they strongly perturb the orbits of comets, deflecting many away from the inner solar system, where we reside. Calculations by G. Wetherill, at the Carnegie Institution, reveal that if Jupiter and Saturn were only 15 times the mass of the earth, the earth would have been devastated every 100,000 years by giant comets, instead of about every 100,000,000 years, as indicated by the geological record. Under such intense bombardment, it would probably have been difficult for advanced life forms to develop. (Croswell, Ken; "Why Intelligent Life Needs Giant Planets," New Scientist, p. 18, October 24, 1992.) Comment. Reasonable as the foregoing assertion sounds, we do not really know what stimulates the development of new life forms. Actually, the fossil record reveals that some biological "radiations" occurred soon after great geological upheavals. That the Jupiter-Saturn "shield" was and is not completely effective is indicated by the heavy debris traffic mentioned above. From Science Frontiers #85, JAN-FEB 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 87: May-Jun 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The earth: a doubly charmed planet In SF#85, we learned that the evolution of advanced life forms on earth may have depended upon the protective influences of Jupiter and Saturn. These two giant planets can gravitationally deflect potentially devastating asteroids and comets away from the earth. It seems now that we are doubly lucky! Computer runs demonstrate that the presence of our large moon has stabilized the earth's spin axis down the eons. Presently, the earth's spin axis makes an angle of 23.5 with the plane of the earth's orbit (its "obliquity"). The well-known result is our yearly procession of seasons. Without the steadying effect of the moon, however, the earth's obliquity would probably have swung chaotically over much larger values. Such extreme changes would have been inimical to the development of life, particularly advanced life. As a case in point, the polar axis of Mars, with only two tiny moons to dampen its spin excursions, seems to have gone through many wild swings, as indicated in the figure. What deadly climatic changes must have wracked our sister planet! (Touma, Jihad, and Wisdom, Jack; "The Chaotic Obliquity of Mars," Science, 259: 1294, 1993. Also: Laskar, J., and Robutel, P.; "The Chaotic Obliquity of the Planets," Nature, 361:608, ...
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... an asteroid that seems to be mostly metal (probably iron). This is the asteroid Gaspra, some 13 kilometers across, that the Galileo spacecraft encountered in August 1992 on its way to Jupiter. Scientists had not expected Galileo's magnetometer to flicker as it passed Gaspra at a distance of 1600 kilometers -- but it did. In fact, considering the inverse square law and Gaspra's small size, it was a magnetic wallop. Thus, Gaspra is the first known magnetic asteroid; and it is probably mostly metal. (Kerr, Richard A.; "Magnetic Ripple Hints Gaspra Is Metallic," Science, 259: 176, 1993.) At the low end of the density spectrum, we now find that Pluto's moon, Charon, and some of Saturn's moons have very low densities (1 .2 -1 .4 ), meaning they are probably mostly water ice. Such density figures come from direct observation of these objects' volumes combined with mass estimates from their orbital dynamics. (Crosswell, Ken; "Pluto's Moon Is a Giant Snowball," New Scientist, p. 16, November 21, 1992.) Comment. How did this curious mix of ice and iron objects originate? Did some ancient collision demolish a planet with an iron core (like the earth"s ) and an icy exterior? From Science Frontiers #86, MAR-APR 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 73: Jan-Feb 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Saturn's latest burp In late September, 1990, a large white spot appeared on Saturn. Soon, this blemish spread into an oval 21,000 kilometers in length. By early November, it had developed into a planet-encircling band. Apparently, Saturn had "burped," expelling hot gases from its interior. [Saturn emits 50% more heat than it absorbs from the sun.] So far, this is not too beguiling to the anomalist. But now it seems that other white spots, not as large, have been recorded in 1876, 1903, 1933, and 1960. Could the white-spot phenomenon be periodic--like a percolator? More food for thought is found in Saturn's orbital period around the sun: 29.4 years -- not too different from the potential "burp" cycle! (Anonymous; "New White Spot on Saturn Grows, Changes," Science News, 138:325, 1990. Also: Brown, William; "Giant Bubble of Gas Rises through Saturn's Atmosphere," New Scientist, p. 22, October 20, 1990.) Reference. Historical observations of white spots on Saturn are covered in our handbook: Mysterious Universe. To order, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #73, JAN-FEB 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 67: Jan-Feb 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Direct observations of hyperion's chaotic motion Hyperion is a 150-kilometer-diameter satellite of Saturn. Hyperion's irregular shape and the gravitational pull of Titan, a larger satellite of Saturn, make it a prime candidate for chaotic motion. After accumulating 53 Hyperion-days of observation, J. Klavetter has confirmed this theoretical suspicion. Hyperion's brightness varies wildly from day to day, as it spins unpredictably. The laws of motion and the largest computers are helpless here; although computer simulation can identify situations where chaos might develop. More alarmingly, some "subtle" chaos also appears in computer simulations of Pluto's motion and "perhaps other planets." (Kerr, Richard A.; "First Direct View of Solar System Chaos," Science, 246: 998, 1989.) Comment. Contemplate what might happen -- or might have happened already -- if any of the other planets moved chaotically. From Science Frontiers #67, JAN-FEB 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 76: Jul-Aug 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Will earth's rings return?" In the past, the Earth had a ring system just like Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, according to a Danish astronomer. He has gone so far as to say that our planet boasted rings on 16 separate occasions in the past 2800 years. "Kaare Rasmussen of the National Museum in Copenhagen carried out a survey of all reports of meteorite falls, fireballs and showers of shooting stars from 800 BC to 1750 AD. He then carried out a statistical analysis of the data. He discovered that there were many distinct periods of intense activity." Rasmussen found that the active periods, during which he believes a ring existed about the earth, began with a peak of high meteoritic activity as the ring formed, as a consequence of the earth's capture of a comet or asteroid. This was typically followed by a decrease of activity indicating ring stability. Finally, the ring broke up as its particles were decelerated by the earth's upper atmosphere, leading to another peak of activity. Thus, the plot of me-teorite activity is U-shaped, as in the figure, with the bottom of the U a bit higher than the normal background. (Gribbin, John; "Will the Earth's Rings Return?" New Scientist, p. 19, April 6, 1991.) From Science Frontiers #76, JUL-AUG 1991 . 1991- ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 70: Jul-Aug 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Tilted Planetary Magnetic Fields The axis of the earth's magnetic field is tilted about 11 away from our planet's axis of rotation. This tilt is embarrassing to the reigning "dynamo theory," in which the axes of the magnetic field and rotation are presumed to be aligned. The situation is even worse with some the other planets; viz., Uranus with 60 and Neptune with 47 . Jupiter's tilt is 10 , while Saturn's is only 1 . Clearly, something is awry. Two possibilities are: (1 ) The dynamo theory is incorrect; or (2 ) The magnetic fields measured by spacecraft are actually combinations of central, dynamocreated, dipole fields, which are aligned with the axes of rotation, and "other" dipole fields originating in the outermost portions of the planetary cores. If the latter solution to the dilemma is correct, we must account for the origin and disposition of these "other" dipoles. (Eberhart, J.; "Straightening the Magnetic Tilts of Planets," Science News, 137:294, 1990.) Reference. The anomalously titled magnetic fields of planets are cataloged in The Moon and the Planets. For details on this book, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #70, JUL-AUG 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... , we learn that this remote haze of icy fluff, the Oort Cloud, may really have about 90% of the angular momentum of the entire solar system. It was already sufficiently anomalous to discover that the planets possess fifty times the angular momentum of the much more massive sun. (See ABB3 in The Sun and Solar System Debris.) Astronomers have been attempting for years to explain this 50:1 split. Now, with the Oort Cloud apparently having ten times the angular momentum of the planets, the situation is much worse. According to Asimov, the solar-system angular momentum is split as follows: Oort Cloud 90% All of the planets 9.8 % The sun 0.2 % The total mass of the Oort Cloud is estimated to be roughly that of Saturn. The recent flyby of Halley's Comet created this dilemma. It was discovered that Halley was a chunk containing 140 cubic miles of ice - much larger than anticipated for this "typical" comet. If the estimated 2 trillion comets are, on the average, Halley's size, the Oort Cloud is a thousand times more massive than previously thought. This, combined with estimates of Oort Cloud distance and angular velocity leads to the almost ridiculous distribution of solar-system angular momentum tabulated above. This will keep the theorists busy for a while. (Asimov, Isaac; Frontiers: New Discoveries about Man and His Planet, Outer Space and the Universe , New York, 1989, p. 270. Cr. C. Ginenthal) Comment. Perhaps the Oort Cloud isn ...
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... lost more of their easily vaporized constituents due to the sun's heat. The cooler, outer planets were able to retain large amounts of ices. In this scenario, we would expect Mercury to be rich in iron and rocks. This seems to be the case, but it has too iron to fit the theory. Astronomers have tried to save the theory by supposing that a large asteroid sideswiped Mercury tearing off part of its outer layer of lighter rocks, leaving the heavier iron core untouched. The theory doesn't say what happened to the debris from this colossal collision. As for Mercury's magnetic field, it is small, only 1% that of the earth. But where does it originate? All of the other planets with magnetic fields (earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus) rotate rapidly and are believed to have molten interiors, allowing fluid dynamos to form. Mercury, in contrast, spins very slowly and seems solid throughout. Therefore, the magnetic dynamos that supposedly create the fields of other planets cannot exist inside Mercury. (Crosswell, Ken; "Mercury -- the Impossible Planet," New Scientist, p. 26, June 1, 1991.) Comment. Could Mercury be a permanent magnet? M. Stock suggests this in a letter in the July 13 issue of New Scientist.) Reference. Facts about Mercury's anomalous magnetic field may be found in AHZ1 and AHZ2 in our catalog: The Moon and the Planets . Details here . From Science Frontiers #77, SEP-OCT 1991 . 1991 ...
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... was believed to be about 17 hours. This was just the spin rate needed by theorists to explain why Neptune radiates much more heat than Uranus. It seems that spin rate is related to the mixing of a planet's molten innards, which in turn affects the rate at which heat reaches the surface where it is radiated away. With Neptune's period now pegged at 16 hours by Voyager's measurements, the mixing-cooling theory is in trouble. The magnetic-field situation is in even worse shape. When planetary scientists found that Uranus' magnetic field was tilted 60 from the axis of rotation, they worried a bit but didn't think that this one exception would overthrow the favored dynamo theory of field generation. After all, the magnetic fields of Jupiter, Saturn, and earth are reasonably well-behaved. But Neptune's field is now found to be misaligned by 50 ! The confidence of the planetologists has now been shaken. What, if anything, is different about Neptune and Uranus? It may just be that we don't really know how the magnetic field of any planet is generated. (Kerr, Richard A.; "The Neptune System in Voyager's Afterglow," Science, 245:1450, 1989.) Reference. The anomalies of Neptune and the other planets are cataloged in our book: The Moon and the Planets. To order, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #66, NOV-DEC 1989 . 1989-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 63: May-Jun 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A Hex On Saturn "By piecing together pictures of Saturn taken by the Voyager-2 spacecraft, David A. Godfrey (National Optical Astronomy Observatories) has discovered an unusual feature in the planet's atmosphere. His mosaics reveal a hexagon centered on the north pole. Since neither probe flew directly over the pole, the complete scene has to be created by 'stretching' a series of photographs taken from the side as Saturn rotated, then fitting them into a polar projection." The straight sides of the hexagon are each about 13,800 kilometers long. The entire structure rotates with a period of 10h 39m 24s, the same period as that of the planet's radio emissions, which is assumed to be equal to the period of rotation of Saturn's interior. The hexagonal feature does not shift in longitude like the other clouds in the visible atmosphere. The pattern's origin is a matter of much speculation. Most astronomers seem to favor some sort of standing-wave pattern in the atmosphere; but the hexagon might be a novel sort of aurora. More extreme speculation has Saturn's radio emissions emanating from the hexagon (something we can see and which has the right rotation period) rather than from the planet's interior (something we cannot see). (Anonymous; "A Hex on Saturn," Sky and Telescope, 77:246, 1989.) Comment. Note ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 60: Nov-Dec 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Why didn't galileo resolve saturn's rings?Several times in SF and our catalogs, we have intimated that Saturn's rings may be of recent vintage or perhaps have changed in historical times. In this vein, K. Fabian writes about an interesting inconsistency: "In the early 17th Century, Galileo discovered that the planet Mars goes through a minor gibbous phase. Even in its maximum gibbous phase, Mars is 88% illuminated. Quoting James Muirden in the Amateur Astronomer's Handbook, 'It is remarkable that Galileo was able to make out the phase with his tiny telescope.' "Even more amazing, in my opinion, is that Galileo, while he was able to resolve the slight phase of Mars, was unable to resolve the major ring around Saturn. Mars is a difficult object in a small telescope, while Saturn is easily resolved as a ringed planet in even a 40-mm spotting scope at 30X. Why did the rings of Saturn elude Galileo, while the more difficult Martian phases did not? Perhaps at the time of Galileo the rings of Saturn were much more difficult to observe than they are today." (Fabian, Karl; personal communication, September 9, 1988.) Reference. For more on the many anomalies of Saturn's rings, see ALR in the catalog: The Moon and the Pla nets. Description here . From Science Frontiers #60, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 53: Sep-Oct 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Three Planetary Notes From Saturn. Micrometeorites constantly chip away at Saturn's C-ring. Using current micrometeorite-flux estimates, the age of the C-ring is between 4.4 and 67 million years. Compared to the purported age of the solar system, 4.5 billion years, Saturn's C-ring (and perhaps the other rings, too) is a brand-new feature. Where did it come from? Is it related to the icy comets that seem to be raining down steadily on the earth's atmosphere? (Northrop, T.G ., and Connerey, J.E .P .; "A Micrometeorite Erosion Model and the Age of Saturn's Rings," Icarus, 70:124, 1987.) From Mars. Inside the vast Valles Marineris Canyon complex, Viking Orbiter photos have picked out wind-blown patches of dark material. These patches are strung out along faults for some 200 kilometers. Astronomers believe they are volcanic vents, which are a scant few million years old. (Anonymous; "Recent Volcanism on Mars?" Sky and Telescope, 73:602, 1985.) Comment. Another of the surprisingly large number of youthful features in the solar system. From Europa. The surface of Europa, one of Jupiter's large Galilean satellites, seems to be covered with a relatively smooth veneer of ice. Beneath this frigid ...
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... anomaly for another day, the one we are after now is called: The Winding Dilemma. N. Comins and L. Marschall elaborate as follows: "Stars closer to the center of a spiral galaxy don't have as far to go to complete an orbit as stars located farther from the center. Thus, inner stars should orbit more frequently than outer stars, resulting in a spiral that gradually winds up as the galaxy ages. But observations of spiral galaxies at various distances -- and thus at different stages in their evolution -- have shown that this is not the case. Astronomers believe density waves, stochastic star formation, or perhaps a combination of both processes may sustain or regenerate the spiral pattern." Density waves have recently been applied to explain the spiral rings of Saturn, and now to the arms of spiral galaxies. The density waves are thought to stimulate the condensation of bright new stars as they move through space. A good analogy is the bioluminescent wake of ship in tropical waters. The density waves in a galaxy maintain the spiral pattern with new stars, while the old stars die out (in much less time than it takes for them to orbit the hub) as they orbit out of the spiral pattern. Postulating density waves just raises more questions, as is often the case in science. What causes the density waves? Theory says that the density waves should damp out in under a billion years, yet we see spiral galaxies over a wide range of ages. (Comins, Neil, and Marscall, Laurence; "How Do Spiral ...
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... s residence time in the inner solar system. (One has, of course, Halley's present mass, but must estimate its original mass!) The conclusion is that Halley has spent only 23,000 years in its present orbit! (Maddox, John; "Halley's Comet Is Quite Young," Nature, 339:95, 1989.) Comments. Admittedly, this is a pretty shaky calculation, but it accords with the calculation that Halley had a close encounter with Jupiter about 20,000 years ago. The manifest contradictions in the inferences made above from recent observations of Halley mean that we still have a lot to learn about comets, Halley in particular. One should also recall that the solar system has other features that may be youthful, such as Saturn's rings. (See ARL16 in our catalog: The Moon and the Planets) For other cometary anomalies, see Chapter AC in our catalog volume: The Sun and Solar System Debris. Both catalog volumes are described here . From Science Frontiers #64, JUL-AUG 1989 . 1989-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... of the largest stones ever employed by man. Each of these stones measures 10 feet thick, 13 feet high, and is over 60 feet long. Knowing the density of limestone permits weight estimates of over 1.2 million pounds. Some people with impressive engineering skills cut, dressed, and moved these immense stone blocks from a quarry 3/4 of a mile away. A walk to this quarry introduces the observer to the Monolith, an even larger block of limestone: 13 feet, 5 inches; 15 feet, 6 inches; and 69 feet, 11 inches. The Monolith weighs in at over 2,000,000 pounds. In comparison, the largest stones used in the Great Pyramid tip the scales at only 400,000 pounds. Not until NASA moved the giant Saturn V rocket to its launch pad on a giant tracked vehicle has man transported such a large object. Today, one sees no evidence of a road connecting the quarry and Temple. Even if a road existed, logs employed as rollers would have been crushed to a pulp. But, obviously, someone way back then knew how to transport million-pound stones. Just how, we do not know. (Theisen, Jim; "Unbelievable Baalbek," INFO Journal, no. 55, p. 5, 1988. INFO = International Fortean Organization.) The Romans built Baalbek's Temple of Jupiter upon a much older foundation. From Science Frontiers #60, NOV-DEC 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... ?Nereid, a satellite of Neptune, is peculiar in several ways: Its orbit is retrograde and highly elliptical (1 .4 x 9.7 million kilometers) Its brightness changes by a factor of four as it rotates Its diameter, according to M.W . and B.E . Schaefer (Nature, 333:436, 1988) is thought to be at least 660 kilometers. None of these facts taken alone is anomalous, but (2 ) and (3 ) taken together seem incompatible. If the large brightness changes are due to a highly irregular shape, Nereid's 660-kilometer size is too large, because astronomers agree that gravitational forces will sphericize all objects larger than 400 kilometers. On the other hand, if Nereid is two-faced, like Saturn's moon Iapetus (it's carbon-black on one side, light-colored on the other), astronomers are again faced with trying to explain how such a large solar-system object can acquire so much carbonaceous material on one side only. Also, Nereid's eccentric, retrograde orbit surely hints at a history of capture or orbit disruption. (Weisburd, S.; "Neptune's Nereid: Another Mysterious Moon," Science News, 133:374, 1988. Also: Veverka, J.; "Taking a Dim View of Nereid," Nature, 333:391, 1988.) From Science Frontiers #59, SEP-OCT 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... and the re-cent excitement over high-temperature superconductivity demonstrate that a largely unexplored universe exists in the electrochemistry of the solid state. Favorite theories lie in shambles; faces are very red; the most elite of our scientific institutions were caught with blinders on! Beyond these amusements, the practical import for energy production is enormous, and who know what else will eventuate? But what about science itself? First, cold fusion will doubtless generate a brand new crop of anomalies which we are only able to guess at now. Pertinent to our effort to catalog anomalies, it is possible that cold fusion may be occurring deep in the earth giving rise not only to heat but the upwelling flux of helium-3 , now called "primordial" perhaps in error. The icy planets Jupiter and Saturn generate heat, too, and may also be cold fusion reactors! Even the sun, which is undeniably hot (at least on the surface!), may be fusing light elements in ways we have yet to grasp in our stellar models. After all, no one has yet explained that deficit in solar neutrinos! There will be egg on a lot of faces if our notions of stellar energy generation are widly in error. We may be overreacting here; but we predict with confidence that the future will bring a good many scientific papers that begin with those all-toofamiliar words, "We now know that..." If physicists must now develop a new appreciation of electrochemistry, should not the biologists, too? At the risk of going too far, we recall ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 58: Jul-Aug 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Chaotic Dynamics In The Solar System The following abstract appeared in a 1988 issue of Eos, a weekly publication of the American Geophysical Union. "Newton's equations have chaotic solutions as well as regular solutions. The solar system is generally perceived as evolving with clockwork regularity, yet there are several physical situations in the solar system where chaotic solutions of Newton's equations play an important role. There are physical examples of both chaotic rotation and chaotic orbital evolution. "Saturn's satellite Hyperion is currently tumbling chaotically, its rotation and spin axis orientation undergo significant irregular variations on a time scale of only a couple of orbit periods. Many other satellites in the solar system have had chaotic rotations in the past. It is not possible to tidally evolve into a synchronous rotation without passing through a chaotic zone. For irregularly shaped satellites this chaotic zone is attitude-unstable and chaotic tumbling ensues. This episode of chaotic tumbling probably lasts on the order of the tidal despinning timescale. For example, the Martian satellites Phobos and Deimos tumbled before they were captured into synchronous rotation for a time interval on the order of 10 million years and 100 million years, respectively. This episode of chaotic tumbling could have had a significant effect on the orbital histories of these satellites." Theis abstract continues, naming as other candidates for chaotic histories: some of the asteroids, Miranda (a satellite of Uranus), and the planet Pluto. ...
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... 's findings and his hypothesis. The main reason is that I cannot imagine a mechanism whereby the effect can be produced. However, I do not know that the effect is not there; my skepticism cannot be considered closed-mindedness, any more than a gullible acceptance of astrology should be regarded as openmindedness. If the planetary effects suggested by Gauquelin are real, then his discovery is of profound importance. Consequently, I think the Gauquelin evidence, based on a great mass of data collected over many years, deserves to be checked out." While Gauquelin has concentrated on sports champions, he has found similar effects for other vocations. Musicians, for example, have a negative Mars Effect. (Obviously, violinists should not compete in the broad jump!) Scientists are positive with Saturn; actors are positive with Jupiter. And so on. (Gauquelin, Michel; "Is There a Mars Effect?" Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2:29, 1988.) Comment. In the indented quotation above, Abell could not imagine a "mechanism" for the Mars Effect. Yet, Mars and the other planets are drawn to the sun by gravitation, which is just as "mechanismless" as are the other actionat-a -distance forces. We can write an equation for gravitational force, and perhaps because of this and long familiarity, we feel comfortable with gravitation. But is it any less spooky than the Mars Effect? Reference. The "Mars Effect" and related phenomena are covered in BHB27-BHB30 in our catalog: Biological Anomalies: Humans ...
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... speaking, a tiny fraction would be captured by the earth's gravitational field. Some of these would fall to earth; others would remain in orbit. Now, the reverse scenario has been investigated numerically. S.A . Phinney and colleagues at the University of Arizona have calculated what would happen to small chunks of the earth's crust if a large meteor impact excavated a 60milewide crater. "Phinney's group used a computer to calculate where 1,000 particles would go if ejected from Earth in random directions, moving about 2.5 kilometers per second faster than the minimum speed necessary to escape. Of the 1,000 hypothetical particles, 291 hit Venus and 165 returned to Earth; 20 went to Mercury, 17 to Mars, 14 to Jupiter and 1 to Saturn. Another 492 left the solar system completely, primarily due to gravitational close encounters with either Jupiter or Mercury that 'slingshot' them on their way." (Eberhart, Jonathan; "Have Earth Rocks Gone to Mars?" Science News, 135:191, 1989.) Comment. One implication from the preceding analysis is that terrestrial bacteria and spores could well have infected every planet in the solar system and perhaps even planets in nearby star systems! Conceivably, if other star systems had histories like ours, biological traffic might be quite heavy in interstellar space. In fact, extraterrestrial life forms may be arriving here continually; and we may be such ourselves! From Science Frontiers #63, MAY-JUN 1989 . 1989-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 60: Nov-Dec 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Asteroids That Turn Into Comets Even though Chiron is large (about 200 kilometers in diameter) and a bit dark for a rocky asteroid, astronomers have been quite comfortable with calling it an asteroid. True, its orbit between Saturn and Uranus is unusual, but what else could it be but an asteroid? A comet, that's what! Recently, the brightness of Chiron has doubled, suggesting that it has expelled considerable gas and dust -- a characteristic of comets, according to mainstream thinking. Another peculiar aspect of the phenomenon is that Chiron is now located 12 A.U . from the sun (12 earth orbits out). Conventional wisdom has it that solar heating is too weak at that distance to vaporize cometary ices. However, other comets, such as Schwassmann-Wachmann 1, have displayed comas even farther away from the sun. Thus, we have two possible anomalies here: (1 ) The existence of a huge cometlike asteoid in a peculiar orbit (2 ) A mechanism that expels gas and dust from comets at great distances from the sun. The blurring of the distinctions between asteroids and comets is aggravated by the recognition that some other asteroids produce streams of particles that create meteor showers; that is, some asteroids are not merely associated with meteor streams, they actually create them, just as comets expel ice and rocky debris. Some bold astronomers now ask whether asteroids are all burntout comets. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 39: May-Jun 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Saturn's rings may be young When the Voyager spacecraft swept past Saturn, they radioed back photos of a complex, very dynamic system of rings -- thousands of rings. Studies of these rings have led some astronomers to wonder if they are really as old as Saturn itself. Two lines of thinking suggest a recent origin: (1 ) The rings are composed of both light material (very likely water ice) and dark material (probably rocks and dust). The rocky fragments, according to the prevailing nebular theory, should have condensed early in solar-system history, and then been swept gravitationally into the planet as they were slowed by friction with the uncondensed nebular material. Yet, dark material is still in the rings. (2 ) The incessant bombardment of the rings by meteorites should have pulverized the rings, sending fragments and vaporized material in all directions. In just 10 million years the rings should have been largely erased. They are still there. (Cuzzi, Jeffrey N.; "Ringed Planets: Still Mysterious -- II," Sky and Telescope, 69:19, 1985.) Comment. Assuming the rings are young, where did they come from? What happened to Saturn in "recent" times? Reference. Several lines of evidence point to the youth of Saturn's rings. See: ARL16 in our catalog The Moon and the Planets. Ordering information here . From ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 43: Jan-Feb 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Waiting for saturn's rings to collapse The more we learn about Saturn's rings, the stranger they seem. One of the latest theoretical models of the rings has them composed of balls of hard ice, which interact through mutual collision and are herded by the gravitational caresses of small moons. The successes of this model have been tempered by the fact that it also implies that Saturn's rings are very young. "Theorists would have no problem with a broad, featureless disk surviving the 4.5 billion years since the early days of the solar system, but features such as spiral density waves are clear evidence that satellites, including the profusion of small ones found near the rings, are draining angular momentum from the rings. The satellites should be spiraling outward into ever larger orbits as they gain angular momentum, and the A-ring should collapse inward into the B-ring in just 100 million years as its particles lose angular momentum." (Kerr, Richard A.; "Making Better Planetary Rings," Science, 229:1376, 1985.) Reference. For other indications of youth in Saturn's rings, see ARL16 in our catalog: The Moon and the Planets. For information on this book, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #43, JAN-FEB 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... they pass behind the rings. This seems straightforward enough in theory, but the occultations have been perplexing in practice. First, one member of a closely spaced double star will be occulted normally by the rings but its companion won't . Second, some terrestrial observatories will record an occultation but another a few thousand miles away will not. Such experiences have led to the hypothesis that the rings are discontinuous; that is, they are arcs rather than complete rings. Why should Neptune's rings be different from those of the other major planets? On speculation maintains that the arcs are the consequence of one or more recently satellites. Another hypothesis, by J.J . Lissauer, has the arcs gravitationally shaped and maintained by two moons, one of the shepherd type (as with Saturn's rings), the other at a Lagrangian point in the arc's orbit. (Kerr, Richard A.; "Neptune's Ring Arcs Confirmed," Science, 230:1150, 1985. Also: Lissauer, Jack J.; "Shepherding Model for Neptune's Arc Ring," Nature, 318:544, 1985.) Comment. The theories employing "shepherd" moons to gravitationally mold and maintain planetary rings have been weakened by the apparent absence of such bodies at the theoretically necessary locations around Saturn and Uranus. Also relevant is the possible youth of Saturn's rings. Neptune's rings may also be young. See SF#43 and ARL16 in our catalog: The Moon and the Planets. This volume is described here . ...
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... publicity given to the 1984 observations of possible discontinuous rings around Neptune (SF#38) have brought to light two other enigmatic observations. The 1981 sighting of a "third satellite" of Neptune have now been interpreted as still another discontinuous ring at a different radius. A third discontinuous ring seems to be indicated by the reanalysis of some 1968 occultation data. Astronomer Bill Hibbard, at the University of Arizona, speculates that the three separate arcs of material orbiting Neptune are "trying to decide whether to become a satellite." (Hecht, Jeff, and Henbest, Nigel; "Neptune's Arcs -- A Satellite in Formation?" New Scientist, p. 19, Apil 25, 1985.) Comment. If the debris around Neptune is just now accreting into satellites and Saturn's rings really do have youthful features (SF#39), one has to consider some disquieting possibilities: (1 ) Saturn and Neptune have been recently "disturbed," or (2 ) The entire solar system is not as old as the conventional scenario demands. From Science Frontiers #40, JUL-AUG 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... others are stimulated by Type-III solar radio bursts. The newly discovered Jovian laser operates at hectometric wavelengths and is also triggered by the solar radio bursts. (Calvert, W.; "Triggered Jovian Radio Emissions," Geophysical Research Letters, 12:179, 1985.) Comment. Earth and Jupiter thus act like radio transponders, releasing large bursts in response to small solar stimuli. The role of electricity in the history of the solar system is only beginning to be appreciated. Of course, the radio lasers mentioned above are not very powerful, but what might have occurred during the formative stages of the solar system? Could electromagnetic forces have been more important then than they are now? In this regard, note that electrical forces seem to be strongly involved in the dynamics of Saturn's rings. And Saturn's rings themselves may resemble a miniature solar system in the accretion phase. From Science Frontiers #40, JUL-AUG 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 40: Jul-Aug 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects What is it? a black hole, of course!Radio-telescope measurements of the compact radio source, churning away in the center of our Galaxy, reveal that it is only 20 AU in diameter at radio wavelengths of l.35 centimeters. This is roughly the size of the solar system inside Saturn's orbit. This tiny radio source is so energetic that there seems no escaping the conclusion that it is a blackhole. No other astronomical object is capable of generating so much energy in so small a volume. Since other galaxies also seem to harbor small, but very powerful radio sources in their centers, astronomers wouldn't be too surprised if all galaxies had black-hole cores. Quasars, in fact, might be galaxies with spectacularly active centers. Would these unseeable black holes be the notorious "missing mass" in the universe? Not likely. The mass of the purported black hole in our Galaxy is only about several million solar masses-- not even close to what is needed. (Maddox, John; "Black Hole at the Galactic Centre," Nature, 315:93, 1985.) Comment. Actually, it would be rather amusing if the problem of the missing mass, which we cannot see, were solved by black holes, which we cannot see either! Reference. Black holes and other cosmological entities are discussed in our Catalog: Stars, Galaxies, Cosmos. to ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 49: Jan-Feb 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Prebiological chemistry in titan's atmosphere From the abstract of the referenced paper: "An organic heteropolymer (Titan tholin) was produced by continuous dc discharge through a 0.9 N2 / 0.1 CH4 gas mixture at 0.2 mbar pressure, roughly simulating the cloudtop atmosphere of Titan [one of Saturn's moons]. Treatment of this tholin with 6N HCl yielded 16 amino acids by gas chromatography after derivatization to N-trifluroacetyl isopropyl esters on two different capillary columns...The presence of 'nonbiological' amino acids, the absence of serine, and the fact that the amino acids are racemic within experimental error together indicate that these molecules are not due to microbiol or other contamination, but are derived from the tholin...These results suggest that episodes of liquid water in the past or future of Titan might lead to major further steps in the probiological organic chemistry on that body." (Khare, Bishun N., et al; "Amino Acids Derived from Titan Tholins," Icarus, 68:176, 1986.) From Science Frontiers #49, JAN-FEB 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... well-known class of meteorites sometimes appears tarry and is characterized by carbon contents of up to 2% and more. The Japanese have just reported the analysis of Yamoto 791198, a carbonaceous chondrite picked up in the Antarctic. This meteorite is loaded with amino acids, 20 kinds of them. These extraterrestrial amino acids are not considered biogenic because they are half left-handed and half right-handed; whereas all amino acids synthesized by terrestrial animals, plants, etc. are left-handed. [This is obviously presumptious because we have no notion how extraterrestrial life works, assuming it exists at all.] (3 ) The rings of Uranus . Voyager photos reveal that these rings are composed of unknown dark material quite unlike that in the high-albedo (bright) rings of Saturn. References. (Kerr, Richard A.; "A Comet's Heart May Be Big But Black," Science, 229:372, 1985. Also: Emsley, John; "Amino Acids from Outer Space," New Scientist, p. 30, December 19/26, 1985. Also: Anonymous; "Fine Particles Viewed in Uranus' Rings Leave Scientists 'Happily Bewildered'." Baltimore Sun, January 28, 1986.) Comment. How and where is star sludge manufactured? Again we have to venture that the venerable "primordial soup" in which life mysteriously assembled itself is located in outer space rather than in warm, sunlit earthly ponds. It also seems strange that all these extraterrestrial amino acids just seem to "fall together," with ...
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... planets would be merely failed stars. The advantages of this change of perspective are threefold: (1 ) All five central bodies are now compositionally similar as a class, (2 ) In each of the five systems, the angular momentum of the central body is greater than that of its satellites, whereas in the unitary solar system the angular momentum of the nine planets is much greater than that of the sun -- an embarrassing anomaly. (3 ) A final "bonus" appears when the distances of the satellites in the five systems are plotted, as indicated, and compared. The arrangement of the four terrestrial planets (the "solar satellites") closely resembles the distribution of Jupiter's four Galilean satellites. There are loose ends, to be sure, like Pluto and Saturn's rings, but the idea seems worth studying further. (Cole, G.H .A .; "Dynamical Form of the Solar System," Observatory, 105:96, 1985.) Comment. The arrangement of satellites in the figure may have no physical significance, but if you like Bode's Law you should appreciate the situation. Reference. For more information on the book The Moon and the Planets, visit: here . Distribution of orbital radii (r ) of central body satellites, where R is measured in terms of central body radii. Cole terms the similarities 'remarkable'. From Science Frontiers #42, NOV-DEC 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... " Instruments on satellites (gamma-ray spectrometers) have detected so much aluminum-26 that radical hypotheses seem required. The problem is that aluminum26 is radioactive with a half-life of only about 1 million years -- a very short time astronomically speaking. The aluminum-26 cannot be primordial solar-system stuff; it cannot even be 10 million years old. It had to be created somewhere nearby recently. The best aluminum-26 factory conceived so far is a nova in our vicinity. (Anonymous; "Are We inside a Supernova Remnant?" Sky and Telescope, 69:13, 1985.) Comment. A nova close enough to engulf the earth with its debris must have had a profound effect on the earth and its cargo of life -- perhaps on Saturn's rings, too. See next item . From Science Frontiers #39, MAY-JUN 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 24: Nov-Dec 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Mysterious "thing" in orbit around saturn When the two Voyager spacecraft flew past Saturn, both detected strong bursts of radio emissions recurring every 10 hours, 10 minutes. New termed SEDs (Saturn Electrostatic Discharges), the period of these bursts would be matched by the period of an object rotating around Saturn at a distance of about 100,000 kilometers. Is there anything visible at this distance? Sure enough, Voyager optical instrumentation detected a thinning, possibly an actual gap, about 150 meters wide, in the B-ring at this radius. The big puzzle is why a thinness or gap is maintained over a long period of time and how it is associated with the SEDs. (Evans, D.R ., et al; "The Source of Saturn Electrostatic Discharges," Nature, 299:236, 1982.) Comment. Could Saturn and its rings, which may be electrically charged, be some sort of electromagnetic machine, with arcing occurring at the gap? Reference. SEDs are cataloged at ARF1 in our book: The Moon and the Planets. Ordering information here . From Science Frontiers #24, NOV-DEC 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 38: Mar-Apr 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Neptune's incomplete ring When the star SAO 186001 had a "close" encounter with Neptune on July 22, 1984, a number of astronomers were watching it carefully to see its light was diminished by an encircling, Saturn-like ring of particles surrounding Neptune. The ring system of Uranus was discovered by studies of similar stellar occultations. Sure enough, astronomers at the European Southern Observatory, in Chile, and the Cerro Tololo Observatory, also in Chile 90 kilometers away, detected a 1-second, 35% reduction in the star's light at the same instant. These data indicate the presence of an object 10-20 kilometers wide -- hardly an undicovered satellite, but possibly a ring. But given the geometry shown, there should have been two occultations, but only the one on the right was registered. Speculation is now rife that Neptune has a partial ring or a grotesquely twisted one. (Eberhart, J.; "Signs of a Puzzling Ring around Neptune," Science News, 127:37, 1985.) Comment. Of course the geometry of the ring could have been such that the star was tangent at one point. It should also be noted that modern astronomers have always laughed off the 1846-1847 observations of a Neptunian ring by W. Lassell and J. Challis! From Science Frontiers #38, MAR-APR 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Chiron: the black sheep of the solar system Charles Kowal discovered the smooth, very dark sphere called Chiron over five years ago. Only a little more is known about it today. Chiron is 300-400 kilometers in diameter -- asteroid-size. But its orbit (aphelion, 18.9 A.U .; perihelion, 8.5 A.U .) is definitely anomalous for asteroids. One would expect to find only comets in this region of the Solar System. To compound the mystery, Chiron's orbit is unstable. This planetoid was originally somewhere else (no one knows where) and was nudged into its present orbit by a major planet. One group of researchers calculates that Saturn could have been the nudger, and that the event might have happened as recently as 1664!! (Lipscomb, R.; "Chiron," Astronomy, 11:62, March 1983.) Comment. Only a minor bit of extrapolation will carry a proponent of catastrophism from a 1664 nudge of a 400-kilometer body to a much more violent Solar System rearrangement sometime during the past 10,000 years. From Science Frontiers #28, JUL-AUG 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 17: Fall 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Saturn Is Still Cooking Away Observations from the earth and the Pioneeer spacecraft have long puzzled astronomers because they indicate that Saturn is radiating much more internal heat than it should. This anomaly leads to the outrageous possibility that Saturn is actually very young and has not cooled off as much as we would expect from theory. The infrared detector on the recent Voyager-1 flyby seems to show that the atmosphere of Saturn possesses only about half as much helium as theory would have. The surmise is that the missing helium is still residing in the planet. This might account for some of the abnormal heat generation. (Anonymous; "Puzzling over Saturn's Internal Heat," Eos, 62:538, 1981.) Comment. Thus, the excess-heat anomaly may be replaced by the missing-helium anomaly. Curiously, some ancient myths refer to Saturn as the "sun of night." Could Saturn have been much brighter not too long ago? From Science Frontiers #17, Fall 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 14: Winter 1981 Supplement Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Radial spokes in saturn's rings Among all the recently discovered complexities of Saturn's rings, the dark spokes are perhaps the most challenging to astronomers. These dark areas seem to rotate with the rings and are likely regions nearly devoid of the particles that constitute the rings. The "normal" annular gaps between the rings can be explained in part as due to the gravitational influences of Saturn's moons. The dark spokes, however, do not succumb so easily. There are no obvious gravitational nuances that can sweep particles selectively from radially aligned areas. (Anonymous; "Voyager Discovers Spokes in Saturn's Rings," New Scientist, 88: 276, 1980.) Comment. Any theory accounting for radial gaps may also explain the "knots" of brightness occasionally seen through the telescope down the years. Incidentally, a few observers in the past have also claimed to have seen radial gaps in the rings, so the dark spokes are not exactly new. Reference. Spoke phenomena of Saturn's rings are cataloged at ARL5 in The Moon and the Planets. A description of this book is located here . From Science Frontiers #14, Winter 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 21: May-Jun 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Magnetic tune played on saturn's rings The strange dark radial spokes seen in Voyager's photos of Saturn's rings wax and wane with a period of about 621 minutes. This is very close to the rotation period of Saturn's magnetic field. Somehow, the rotating magnetic field interacts with the particles making up the rings, forcing density or reflectivity changes that we see as transitory spokes. It is not yet clear how this magnetic tune is played. (Proco, C.C ., and Danielson, G.E .; "The Periodic Variation of Spokes in Saturn's Rings," Eos, 63:156, 1982.) Comment. Brightness changes have also been noted in the zodiacal light, which is light reflected from particles surrounding the sun. After reading about Saturn's variable spokes, one wonders whether solar-system magnetic fields might be the cause of these mysterious variations in the zodiacal light. From Science Frontiers #21, MAY-JUN 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 18: Nov-Dec 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Phoebe Not Locked To Saturn When Voyager 2 passed through the Saturn system a few months ago, it snapped pictures of Phoebe, Saturn's outermost moon. Phoebe is nicely rounded, 200 kilometers in diameter, and swings around Saturn in a retrograde orbit 550 days long -- nothing anomalous so far. Phoebe, however, turns out to be the only solar-system satellite whose axial period of rotation is not about equal to its period of rotation about its parent planet. All other moons, including our own, are gravitationally "locked" so that they always point the same hemisphere at the parent planet. (Anonymous; "Voyager's Fleeting Glimpse of Phoebe," New Scientist, 91:779, 1981.) Comment. One inference here is that Phoebe is a relatively recent addition -- and a good-sized one -- to the Saturn system, and just hasn't been there long enough to become "locked." From Science Frontiers #18, NOV-DEC 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 20: Mar-Apr 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Something hot beneath small saturn-satellite surfaces Crater-density studies of the small, icy Saturn satellites Rhea, Dione, Mimas, and Tethys reveal important non-uniformities in crater distribution and age. The anomalies are so large that astronomers have concluded that these objects must have undergone considerable evolution after they were formed by accretion (the currently accepted mode of formation). Unfortunately these four satellites are so small that they could not have accommodated any reasonable energy source capable of causing the observed crustal evolution. The authors suggest strong local concentrations of radioactive heat generators rather than uniformly distributed radiogenic substances, such as those that helped mould the earth's surface. (Plescia, J.B ., and Boyce, J.M .; "Crater Densities and Geological Histories of Rhea, Dione, Mimas and Tethys," Nature, 295:285, 1982.) Comment. Interestingly enough, local concentrations of radioactivity have been discovered on the moon. From Science Frontiers #20, MAR-APR 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 12: Fall 1980 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The earth's ring The most profound climatic event of the Tertiary was the terminal Eocene event 34 million years ago. The sudden change in the abundance of forest plants suggests that the winters became much more severe while the summers remained about the same. At about the same time, the radiolaria were devastated by some sort of disaster. This was also the time when the North American tektite strewn field was deposited -- a field that stretches halfway around the world. John O'Keefe hypothesizes that some of the tektites and microtektites that rained down during this period missed the earth and went into orbit around it, forming an opaque Saturn-like ring. This ring might have lasted a million years or more; and its shadow could have caused the extrasevere winters postulated from botanical data. (O 'Keefe, John A.; "The Terminal Eocene Event; Formation of a Ring System around the Earth," Nature, 285:309, 1980.) Comment. Many who have previously speculated about terrestrial ring systems, such as I.N . Vail, were called pseudoscientists! Reference. The North American tektites are the subject of Section ESM3 in our Neglected Geological Anomalies. Ordering information here . Earth's ring shadow From Science Frontiers #12, Fall 1980 . 1980-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Project Sourcebook Subjects Cosmic Death Waves In the language of science, W.M . Napier and S.V .M Clube provide a scenario of cyclic terrestrial catastrophism. Their thesis is that the solar system periodically passes through the regularly spaced spiral galaxy arms every few 107 years. Planetesimals in these arms cra-ter the solar-system planets at these times and also provide the raw materials for new comets, asteroids, satellites, and even planets. Supporting their theory is the repeating history of geological revolutions with the accompanying extinctions and reflowerings of life. A remarkable feature of this paper is a table of shortlived solar-system phenomena (comets and rapidly evolving staellite-and-ring systems). The tenor is one of episodic catastrophism and a rapidly changing solar system; viz., Saturn's rings evolving in only 104 years. (Napier, W.M ., and Clube, S.V .M .; "A Theory of Terrestrial Catastrophism," Nature, 282:455, 1979.) Comment. This outlook differs radically from that still disbursed in our schools and colleges. From Science Frontiers #10, Spring 1980 . 1980-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 8: Fall 1979 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Rings of uranus: invisible and impossible?Now that they have discovered nine rings around Uranus, astronomers are having trouble explaining them. First, if they are made up of small chunks of matter, the laws of celestial mechanics dictate that they should quickly spread out radially into much wider rings in just a decade or two. In other words, if the rings are ancient they should not have maintained their present form. Second, the rings are invisible when one would expect them to be bright like Saturn's . Yet, they reflect less light than the blackest coal dust. T.C . Van Flandern proposes that each ring is actually a single satellite, so small that we cannot see it, and that it sheds gases as it orbits. This small solid body would make the celestial mechanics people happy, and the gases would be invisible to the eye but still absorb light, making the ring of gases detectable when Uranus occults a star. (Van Flandern, Thomas C.; "Rings of Uranus: Invisible and Impossible?" Science, 204:1076, 1979.) Comment. An alternative explanation is that the rings are recently acquired and will soon disappear. An 1847 observation of a ring around Uranus exists, but a datum this old carries little weight. See our Catalog: The Moon and the Planets for this old sighting. This book is described here . From Science Frontiers #8 , Fall 1979 ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 72: Nov-Dec 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects At last, a theory of everything!" A Soviet astrophysicist has made the startling claim that the Earth and other astronomical bodies may be riddled with mini black holes -- objects smaller than atoms but with masses which, in some cases, might be as great as a planet. Such objects, he claims, could account for volcanic hot spots, gravitational anomalies, concentrations of mass on the Moon (mascons), the existence of the rings of Saturn, and even the observations that gave rise to the notion of a 'fifth force.'" J. Gribbin, whose article begins with the above paragraph, is quick to proclaim that this "theory of everything" is not just silly-season kite flying. Rather, it was proposed by A.P . Trofimenko in the well-respected Astrophysics and Space Science (168:277) Restricting ourselves to speculations concerning the earth, Trofimenko sees our planet as a sphere of low-density material enclosing 126 mini black holes that account, first, for the many gravity anomalies we measure on the surface; and, second, the earth's high density. That's right, there's no iron core in this model! Some of the mini black holes near the surface create local hot spots (plumes, volcanos, etc.) through the emission of Hawking radiation. Trofimen-ko's scheme encompasses the planets, the stars, ...
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... some of the stars. Don't worry that the Oklo phenomenon might occur today on the earth's surface. The concentration of fissionable U-235 has fallen considerably in the last 2 billion years due to its radioactive decay. But, deep inside the earth and other astronomical bodies, nuclear criticality might still be possible due to different pressures, densities, etc. In a stimulating and generally overlooked paper in Eos, J.M . Herndon proffers four important natural phenomena that may involve natural fission reactors. Geomagnetic reversals . In the deep earth, where pressures and densities are high, natural nuclear reactors may generate intermittent bursts of heat -- just as they did at Oklo -- and thereby cause the earth's dynamo to falter and reverse. Planetary heating . Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune emit much more energy than they receive from the sun. Natural nuclear reactors could be the reason. Stellar thermonuclear ignition . Astronomers assume that the high temperatures required to ignite the thermonuclear reactions powering stars come from gravitational collapse, but this source does not seem adequate to some scientists. Nuclear fission reactors could ignite stars just as they do H-bombs. Missing matter . Natural nuclear reactors are finicky. There may be many star-sized, non-luminous objects out there that were never ignited and that we cannot see through our telescopes. (Herndon, J. Marvin; "Examining the Overlooked Implications of Natural Nuclear Reactors," Eos, 79:451, 1998.) Comments. Two additions to Herndon's list. Evolution of terrestrial life . Nuclear ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 102: Nov-Dec 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Ice "meteorites" fall When chunks of ice much larger than those oftenreported "softballsized" hailstones fall, they are termed "hydrometeors." Many hydrometeors have been reported in the meteorological journals. (See GWF1 in Tornados, Dark Days...*) While some of these large chunks can be blamed on aircraft with leaky toilets, many others cannot be explained so easily. Some may truly come from deep space. Seeing that comets and Saturn's rings are composed mostly of ice, there seems to be no shortage of ice in outer space. It is therefore strange that air-craft are routinely blamed for all falls. A Reuter's dispatch from Beijing has described a recent triplet of possible hydrometeors: "Chinese experts have recovered what they believe to be chunks of meteoric ice that fell to Earth in Zhejiang Province, Xinhua news agency said. Amateur geologist Zhong Gongpei was nearby March 23, when farmers saw three large chunks of ice crash with a whoosh into paddy fields at Yaodou village, Xinhua said late Saturday. .. .. . "' According to witnesses, it fell with a 'whoo-ing' sound, with a cloudy streak, then came crashing down into three fields about one kilometre apart," Xinhua said." "Zhong rushed to the scene, recovered two pieces and sent both to Purple Mountain [Observatory] on March 29 with the aid of a frozen- ...
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... visages to our telescopes. Mars is a classic case, being much more heavily cratered in its southern hemisphere than its northern. But the dichotomies are not restricted to cratering, as we shall now see. Neptune . Recently, H.B . Hammel, using the University of Hawaii's 2.2 -meter telescope, discovered that Neptune's northern hemisphere is now brighter than its southern -- something never observed before. During the past eight years, the southern hemisphere has been consistently brighter, although the hemispheres were of roughly equal brightness during the late 1970s. The cause of these brightness changes remains a mystery. (Cowen, Ron; "Neptune's Northern Half Grows Brighter," Science News, 144:287, 1993.) Iapetus . This satellite of Saturn is dark on one half and light on the other. Quantitatively speaking, the bright side reflects ten times more incident light than the other. An explanation is suggested by the fact that the dark side points in the satellite's direction of motion. A recent study of 12 Voyager images of Iapetus also imply an exogenous (externally imposed) origin of the dark surface, because they show a gradual rather than sharp transition between the dark and light regions. The thought of planetary scientists is that micrometeoroids bombard the leading hemisphere of Iapetus preferentially and in the process volatilize considerable surface material. The residual deposit: ". .. may be an example of the dark, reddish, possibly organic-rich material which is found on other satellites in the outer solar system and on the D ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 73: Jan-Feb 1991 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology America b.c . and even earlier Astronomy NEW KINDS OF MATTER TURNS UP IN COSMIC RAYS Saturn's latest burp Venus too pristine Biology KILLER TREES THAT TALK AMONG THEMSELVES SPONTANEOUS HUMAN COMBUSTION AND BALL LIGHTNING? Things that ain't so Science and bubblegum cards Geology Asteroid impact or volcanos? Geophysics Piney pitstop of the paranormal Crop circle corner Booms along the beach An amusing assemblage of anomalies Malodorous mystery Physics Win $2000: challenge einstein General FIVE REASONS WHY UFOs ARE NOT EXTRATERRESTRIAL MACHINES ...
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