Nightlights and Methods

Reblogged from losbunkers

losbunkers:

nada nuevo bajo el sol 

(Source: porfavordejamecaer)

Reblogged from geneticist

Luciérnagas

Long exposure photos of fireflies by Yuki Karo

Reblogged from scinerds

Giran y giran

10 Moons Every Person Should Know

Pretty much everyone can rattle off the names of our solar system’s eight (formerly nine) planets, but ask the average person to list some moons and you’ll be lucky if they can tell you more than two or three.

Now, you obviously can’t expect people to remember the name of every single satellite in the solar system (after all, they outnumber the planets by around 20 to 1), but if you have even the slightest interest in astronomy, it wouldn’t kill you to be familiar with at least an even ten. So with that in mind, we’ve assembled this reference guide to ten of the solar system’s most noteworthy moons.

1. Moon: Europa
Parent Planet: Jupiter
Why You Should Know it: Despite being covered by distinctive, criss-crossing cracks and ridges, Europa’s water-ice surface is largely free of craters, making it perhaps the smoothest solid body in the entire solar system. More interesting than Europa’s frozen exterior, however, is what lies hidden beneath it.

2. Moon: Io
Parent Planet: Jupiter
Why You Should Know it: Io is very close in size to our own moon, but it couldn’t be more different. Despite having a mean surface temperature of less than -250 degrees Fahrenheit, Io is home to over 400 raging volcanos, making it the single most geologically active object in the solar system.

3. Moon: Mimas
Parent Planet: Saturn
Why you should know it: This list is an important reference for any self-respecting science geek, but Mimas is especially relevant for fans of science fiction for what should be obvious reasons. In brief: Mimas is no space station. It’s a moon. Like many of Saturn’s orbiting bodies, Mimas is small and icy, but it’s also home to “Herschel” — the name astronomers have given the massive crater situated on the moon’s leading hemisphere.

4. Moon: Enceladus
Parent Planet: Saturn
Why You Should Know it: Enceladus is one wacky little moon. Like Europa, its surface is covered in water ice, but it’s also home to some of the most impressive geysers in the solar system. Scientists had suspected for years that Enceladus was venting water vapor from its surface, but it wasn’t until 2005 that they had direct visual confirmation that the moon was doing so by spewing jets of the stuff from geysers on its surface.

5. Moon: Triton
Parent Planet: Neptune
Why You Should Know it: Of all the biggest, “major” moons in the solar system, Triton is the only one that orbits in a direction opposite that of its parent planet’s rotation. Astrophysicists call this a “retrograde orbit,” and it’s typical of moons that have been “captured” by their parent planet.

6. Moon: Iapetus
Parent Planet: Saturn
Why You Should Know it: Iapetus may be one of the most mysterious moons we’ve ever discovered. For one thing, it is two completely different colors; the moon’s trailing hemisphere is as bright and reflective as snow, but its leading hemisphere is as dark as freshly poured asphalt — a characteristic that has led many astronomers to refer to it as the “painted” or “yin-yang” moon.

7. Moon: Phobos
Parent Planet: Mars
Why You Should Know it: Mars’ moon Phobos may not be the biggest moon on this list. It may not have the most interesting geology, or the most peculiar orbit, or the most promising environment when it comes to harboring extraterrestrial life. Be that as it may, there is a very, very good chance that it will become the second moon — and the third cosmic body — to host human travelers on mankind’s journey out into the Universe.

8. Moon: Titan
Parent Planet: Saturn
Why You Should Know it: If moons could be considered for reclassification under planetary status, Titan would be the first to come under review. It is the only moon in the entire solar system with a dense atmosphere (which can be clearly seen in the form of an enveloping haze in many recent Cassini images, including the one featured here); it experiences rain and snow; and it’s even home to geological features like lakes, valleys, plains and deserts. In fact, according to NASA’s Dr. Rosaly Lopes, “Titan looks more like the Earth than any other body in the Solar System.”

9. Moon: Hyperion
Parent Planet: Saturn
Why You Should Know it: Phil Plait — astronomer extraordinair and master of ceremonies over at Bad Astronomy — once called Hyperion “the solar system’s weirdest moon” — and that’s saying something. For one thing, Saturn is home to some pretty wonky moons (just look at how many of the natural satellites on this list orbit the ringed planet); secondly, Phil Plait has written about some weird moons in his day — so what makes Hyperion the weirdest? Well, a lot of things, but for starters: the loofah-like moon happens to be weirdly foamy.

10. Moon: Moon
Parent Planet: Earth
Why You Should Know it: It’s hard to go wrong with the original. Sure, it’s the first moon humans ever observed, but it wasn’t until the 1950s that we finally managed to get a glimpse of its far side; and just last week we learned that the Moon may have been partly responsible for sinking the Titanic, demonstrating that our Moon has been — and will always be — a source of wonder and mystery. [Photo, and top photo, by Rick Baldridge via NASA]

(Source: expose-the-light)

Reblogged from scinerds

Northern Lights Paint Sky Over Arctic Volcano

(Source: expose-the-light)

Reblogged from scinerds

fuckyeahfluiddynamics:

Two jets colliding can form a chain-like fluid structure. With increasing flow rate, the rim of the chains becomes wavy and unstable, forming a fishbone structure where droplets extend outward from the fluid sheet via tiny ligaments. Eventually, the droplets break off in a pattern as beautiful as it is consistent. (Photo credits: A. Hasha and J. Bush)

Reblogged from expose-the-light

Santos dinosaurios emplumados Batman!

Iridescent Dinosaurs

Photo illustration courtesy Jason Brougham, University of Texas

According to a new study, Microraptors—four-winged, feathered dinosaurs that lived 125 million years ago—sported Earth’s earliest known iridescence, as pictured in this illustration.

Recent research suggests the pigeon-size Microraptor’s feathers glimmered black and blue in sunlight, like feathers of modern crows or grackles.

The findings are the earliest evidence of iridescence in any creature-bird or dinosaur, said study leader Julia Clarke, a paleontologist at the University of Texas at Austin.

Clarke and colleagues also suggest this iridescent coloring may have helped make Microraptor’s tail feathers even more eye-catching to mates.

Using an electron microscope, the researchers compared tiny, pigment-containing structures called melanosomes in a Microraptor fossil to melanosomes of living birds.

The team found that Microraptor’s melanosomes were narrow, elongated, and organized in a sheetlike orientation—features that produce an iridescent sheen on modern feathers.

“This study gives us an unprecedented glimpse at what this animal looked like when it was alive,” study team member Mark Norell, chair of the American Museum of Natural History’s Division of Paleontology, said in a statement.

(See “True-Color Dinosaur Revealed: First Full-Body Rendering.”)

The new findings are detailed in this week’s issue of the journalScience.

—Ker Than