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
Daily Archives: July 25, 2009
Basic Definition
I really like this. Many people in America have never understood this fundamental definition: I’d like to clarify something that some people seemed to be confused about. Health care is not a right. (Neither is education, or food, or housing, … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Politics
Leave a comment
MHI 1
Do you remember the Steve Martin movie “The Jerk”? The main character gets listed in the phone book, and when it is published he screams, “The new phone book’s here, the new phone book’s here! …. I am somebody”. Well … Continue reading
Posted in Reading
Leave a comment
What does it Take?
Have you ever wondered, “What does it take to…”? In this case, what does it take to be a “protector”? If you read this blog on a regular basis, you know what it take to be a sheep dog. Being … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Heroes
Leave a comment