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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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Monthly Archives: June 2008
Election 2006 – Today
Credit for this goes to Chuck Z over at “From my position, on the way”. I haven’t back checked his facts but, I have no reason to doubt them. A little over one year ago: Consumer confidence stood at a … Continue reading
Posted in Presidential Politics
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A Great Anecdote
This is a great story that has been floating around for a while. It just hit a chord with me for some reason. A group of Americans, retired teachers, recently went to France on a tour. Robert Whiting, an elderly … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Heroes
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Strike Fighter Ball
I have to admit, “Saturday Night’s Allright For Fighting” is one of my favorite tunes. I had never heard the Kid Rock version unitl now. I like it much better than the original. Paired with this video, it ROCKS!
Posted in Aviation, Music
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Heart – Stairway to Heaven
Ok the video is not that great on this but the audio cover is fine.
Posted in Music
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Heart – Black Dog (live in Seattle, 2002)
I love it when they cover this song
Posted in Music
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Quick Wit
Now I have been been accused of having a sharp wit but, I often think of a witty repartee well after a conversation takes place. IF the below was true as opposed to a joke I would have to credit … Continue reading
Posted in Humor
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A guy walks into a bar….
Well sort of… A very shy guy goes into a bar and sees a beautiful woman sitting at the bar. After an hour of gathering up his courage he finally goes over to her and asks, tentatively, “Um, would you … Continue reading
Posted in Humor
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Engineers
Having earned an engineering degree of my own, I find this little ditty to be a little bit too true. A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He … Continue reading
Posted in Humor
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Raptor
I finally found the time to take a look at this video that was posted over at Lex’s. Good comments on this post (as usual at Lex’s) too. WOW! I never understood what the USAF was so excited about with … Continue reading
Posted in Aviation, Technology
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