Visitor Locations
- 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
Read More
Monthly Archives: May 2008
Missing
Sorry everyone – Life has gotten in the way of posting recently. Work, kids, all that stuff. I hope to fix that soon, in the interim I’ll throw some lighter stuff up here over the next couple of days. Enjoy!
Posted in Admin
Leave a comment
Low Passes
You know there is a LOT of interesting video hanging out on You Tube and other places. Some of them hold little or no interest for me, and others are right up my alley. This one is pretty incredible.
Posted in Aviation
Leave a comment
Rage or Instinctual Evolution
Over at Personal Effects, there is a post titled “Rage of Ages, that really makes me question why I didn’t think of that? In this case I know the reason I did not is based on the fact that I … Continue reading
Posted in Society
Leave a comment
Small Town Politics?
Add this one to your collection of absolutely ridiculous behaviors, related to politics. This one comes from northern Illinois. The former mayor is under indictment, the Village Board is hamstrung by infighting and a defiant landowner has vowed to put … Continue reading
Posted in Culture
Leave a comment
CZ Group Buy – II
Over at FBMG, they are stringing up another CZ group buy. I missed it the last time, and was kicking myself for not stretching the pocketbook to get in on it. Another chance, much sooner than I would have thought. … Continue reading
Posted in Guns
Leave a comment
2 Minute Lesson In Motivating Others
A lot of money has been made writing books, and lecturing on leadership, developing high performing teams, and motivating / inspiring others. Below is the “Cliff Notes” version.
Posted in Blood Warmer
Leave a comment
Remodel
Well, I got the upgrade completed and I am having some issues. Really strange one’s that so far are entirely behind the scenes. If you see things misbehaving on the public facing pages let me know. The theme, well this … Continue reading
Posted in Admin
Leave a comment
Definition: Veteran
I ran across this simple and concise definition of a Veteran recently. I have been looking for proper attribution but as far as I can tell, the author remains unknown. A Veteran – whether active duty, retired, national guard or … Continue reading
Posted in Heroes, History
Leave a comment