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- Portrait of a Doomed Asteroid
A new study provides a possible explanation of mysterious X-ray flares detected by the Chandra K-ray Observatory for several years in the region of Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A*. The study suggests a cloud around Sgr A*, a supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy, which contains hundreds of trillions of asteroids and comets that have been stripped from their parent stars. The flares occur when asteroids of six miles or larger in radius are consumed by the black hole. An asteroid that undergoes a close encounter with another object, such as a star or planet, can be thrown into an orbit headed towards Sgr A*. If the asteroid passes within about 100 million miles of the black hole, roughly the distance between the Earth and the sun, it is torn into pieces by the tidal forces from the black hole. These fragments would then be vaporized by friction as they pass through the hot, thin gas flowing onto Sgr A*, similar to a meteor heating up and glowing as it falls through Earth's atmosphere. A flare is produced and eventually the remains of the asteroid are swallowed by the black hole. Image Credit: Illustrations: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss
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Daily Archives: December 19, 2007
2nd Ammendment Poll
The 2nd Ammendment to the Constitution of the United States is one that seems to draw a lot of attention, and a lot of discussion. While we could dig into it here, and I could share my points of view … Continue reading
Posted in Guns, Surveys
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Christmas Thoughts – Part 2
Since I am on a surprisingly poetic theme right now, here is another one. Again, I think the season serves as a focal point in this case for something that we often take for granted. While I know that feeling … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, History
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Christmas Thoughts – Part 1
Christmas and the Christmas season means many things to many people. I think that the season is also the trigger to things that are running through people’s thoughts. Certainly Christmas is the trigger for me to catch up with friends … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, History
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Enough Slacking
Between work and the holidays finding time to write has become tough. There are a lot of great issues to discuss and I have missed the boat on most of them. Well, let’s see what we can do to change … Continue reading
Posted in Admin
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