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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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Category Archives: Iraq
Vets For Freedom
I’ve been pondering what I should write about this event. After reading and seeing some of the stuff from the kickoff in San Diego on Friday I really wanted to try and catch one of their stops. Unfortunately they are … Continue reading
Posted in Iraq
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AQI Cartoon
I found a new source for political cartoons. Most of you may already know of it, redplanetcartoons.com. I think I will repost a few of their items from time to time. Here is my first shot at this.
Posted in Iraq, USMC
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Food for Thought
Over at Flopping Aces, Scott has an interesting post up. It seems to me that I have seen something similar before. In any case, it should help to put current events in perspective. Go read the words, and then allow … Continue reading
Posted in GWOT, Iraq, Society
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Michael Yon
For those of you who know Michael Yon, and his writings this is probably old news. The NY Times, has a piece in today’s paper on Michael. Give it a read here. Then get on over to Michael’s site and … Continue reading
Posted in GWOT, Iraq
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Baqubah – Our Enemy Revealed
As I have said before, there are others that manage to be much more eloquent than I. Steve Schippert over at threatswatch lays out an opinion that I share, and expresses it much better than I can. It is … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Iraq
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The Reality and “The Horror”
Over the past few years we as Americans have learned a lot more than we ever wanted to about al Qaeda. From the Reagan years through the present we have learned more and more about the capability and morals of … Continue reading
Posted in GWOT, Iraq
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