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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: July 22, 2009
“Sweet Shiva on a surfboard”
I love that quote. Tam had an epiphany. It is about the same one that I had when I discovered Zune and iPod both. These things are great for this reason. They are also great for those long flights. It … Continue reading
Posted in Culture
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Cane-Fu
Very cool new program. This is the new world of self-defense for seniors, at least as taught by Shuey, founder of Cane Masters, a Lake Tahoe, Nev.-based company that manufactures custom canes. Shuey, a tae kwon do and hapkido expert, … Continue reading
Posted in Martial Arts
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Interesting – Giant Flowers Gi…
Interesting – Giant Flowers Give You Free Power / Wi-Fi: http://bit.ly/geEEK [via @picocool]
Huh? RT@bitterb Bloomberg bans…
Huh? RT@bitterb Bloomberg bans idling cars – except his cars, of course. (Excuse? His are considered emergency vehicles.) http://ow.ly/hVU7
Strange case in the senate wit…
Strange case in the senate with the Thune amendment where a clear majority vote is not a win. Politics are too much fluff and little s …
Posted in Uncategorized
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Win or loss? RT @nranews Bipar…
Win or loss? RT @nranews Bipartisan Majority of the U.S. Senate Votes in Favor of National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity http://digg.com/u19EE0