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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: August 2008
“All Summer Long”
A little Werewolves of London, mixed with Sweet Home Alabama and a classic teenage summer story. Guaranteed to get stuck in your head
Posted in Music
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Jon Voight
There are Hollywood celebrities, and then there is Jon Voight. I harken back to yester year, and the effort made by many many Hollywood celebrities, particularly in WWII. You can run down a long list of folks who put careers … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Iranian Fusion
Ed Morrisey over at Hot Air popped this one up a few days ago. He nails most of this on the head so I won’t drive too deep into it. I looked at the headline and the fusion comment puzzled … Continue reading
Posted in Foriegn Policy, Iran, Terrorism, Threats
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Solar Breakthrough
This week there was an article in Science Daily that hearlds a breakthorough in storing energy prdocued by solar heat and radiation. Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use … Continue reading
Posted in Energy
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Contrasts
House #1 A 20 room mansion ( not including 8 bathrooms ) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool ( and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes … Continue reading
Posted in Energy, Politics, Uncategorized
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Reagan tells Soviet jokes
This is some classic Reagan. Just watching him deliver this and comparing his prescence compared to the politicians of today is a lesson.
Posted in Humor
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Quayle ’08
Man, this is one of those cartoons that just NAILS IT!
Posted in Humor, Presidential Politics
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House Revolt
I won’t say too much about the revolt in the House of Representatives on Friday. I found it amusing in a very frustrating, sad, sort of way. There has been a great deal of coverage on the internet on the … Continue reading
Posted in Energy, Politics
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