Zeta Oph: Runaway Star

Like a ship plowing through cosmic seas, runaway star Zeta Ophiuchi produces the arcing interstellar bow wave or bow shock seen in this stunning infrared portrait. In the false-color view, bluish Zeta Oph, a star about 20 times more massive than the Sun, lies near the center of the frame, moving toward the left at 24 kilometers per second. Its strong stellar wind precedes it, compressing and heating the dusty interstellar material and shaping the curved shock front. Around it are clouds of relatively undisturbed material. What set this star in motion? Zeta Oph was likely once a member of a binary star system, its companion star was more massive and hence shorter lived. When the companion exploded as a supernova catastrophically losing mass, Zeta Oph was flung out of the system. About 460 light-years away, Zeta Oph is 65,000 times more luminous than the Sun and would be one of the brighter stars in the sky if it weren't surrounded by obscuring dust. The image spans about 1.5 degrees or 12 light-years at the estimated distance of Zeta Ophiuchi.

Wx Fact #3 1/3/2013

12/25/2010-1/3/2011: A lack of sea ice allowed high winds, blizzard conditions, and cold temperatures to coat power lines in Savoonga, AK (St. Lawrence Island), with thick, freezing spray. Half the town w/o power, thus many water pipes froze. Power finally restored today.

THE SKY TONIGHT via Sky & Telescope

Jan. 3, 2013
*In this coldest time of the year, the dim Little Dipper hangs straight down from Polaris after dinnertime.

*Algol should be at minimum light for a couple hours centered on 752 pm EST.

The Einstein Cross

Most galaxies have a single nucleus -- does this galaxy have four? The strange answer leads astronomers to conclude that the nucleus of the surrounding galaxy is not even visible in this image. The central cloverleaf is rather light emitted from a background quasar. The gravitational field of the visible foreground galaxy breaks light from this distant quasar into four distinct images. The quasar must be properly aligned behind the center of a massive galaxy for a mirage like this to be evident. The general effect is known as gravitational lensing, and this specific case is known as the Einstein Cross. Stranger still, the images of the Einstein Cross vary in relative brightness, enhanced occasionally by the additional gravitational microlensing effect of specific stars in the foreground galaxy.

THE SKY TONIGHT via Sky & Telescope
Jan. 2, 2013
•By about 8 or 9 p.m., the Big Dipper is swinging upward in the north-northeast. It drags the end of its handle along the horizon, depending on your latitude, as its bowl rises upward.
•Earth is at perihelion, its closest to the Sun for the year (only 3% closer than at aphelion in July).

Wx Fact #2 1/2/2013

1974: A marked difference between an Arctic location (see 1/1 entry) and a tropical location. In the 30-yr period from 1971-2000, the coldest reported temperature Thailand was today's 29 degree in Sakon Nakhon. The normal date low is about 59 degrees.

Doomed Star Eta Carinae

Eta Carinae may be about to explode. But no one knows when - it may be next year, it may be one million years from now. Eta Carinae's mass - about 100 times greater than our Sun - makes it an excellent candidate for a full blown supernova. Historical records do show that about 150 years ago Eta Carinae underwent an unusual outburst that made it one of the brightest stars in the southern sky. Eta Carinae, in the Keyhole Nebula, is the only star currently thought to emit natural LASER light. This image, taken in 1996, brought out new details in the unusual nebula that surrounds this rogue star. Now clearly visible are two distinct lobes, a hot central region, and strange radial streaks. The lobes are filled with lanes of gas and dust which absorb the blue and ultraviolet light emitted near the center. The streaks remain unexplained.

New life for the blog? 1-1-2013 (Wx Fact #1)

Well its 2013, and I think its time I finally start using it for something. That something will be weather facts. From the calendar "WEATHER". Every day on the calendar has an event listed that occurred on that day in history. It is those events that I will hope to bring you throughout the year. Since I do work, I won't set a specific time during the day that I will post them. So they may be posted anytime during the day.

Also, I hope to include any other facts or interesting stuff along with it. These will mainly focus on astronomy. Sometimes the posted will be included in one big post, sometimes two separate ones.

So let's begin!

Wx Fact #1:
1886: The coldest start to a New Year ever (in Norway). Karasjok set Norway's all-time coldest temperature of -61 degrees. Karasjok also holds Norway's greatest range in temperature (comparing its coldest/hottest readings). The range: 151 degrees (90 its record highest reading).

Just shut up and watch the damn Olympics!

Ok I cant just sit on this anymore. I am getting really tired of people complaining about NBC tape delaying games. From the way I remember it this is how it has always been done. Lets break it down.

There are 36 sport disciplines in the 2012 Olympics. Within them are about 2-47 different classes for both men and women combined. Within those are several days of round-robin, elimination, quarterfinal, and final competition. Now everyone wants their sport on tv. Whether is 3am 12 noon or 7pm. Fitting all these sports and their days of qualifications into one day of coverage LIVE is almost impossible. Someone will have to be left out. Plus some are played at the same time as others. So basically what NBC and it networks have done is decide which games to air live and which to show later in tape delay in order to fit everything in one day. There is also the problem of a time zone difference. England is about 6hrs ahead of us in the U.S. (Central Time). So a game like swimming 400m IM starting at 6pm London time (or 6pm GMT), would be 12pm central time here in the U.S.. Most people are at work! I highly doubt that most businesses or companies or hospitals would allow for its employees to stop what they are doing and watch a swimming competition at NOON! But is you tape it, and run another game in its place, live or not, you can then air swimming at 7pm when most Americans are at home.

Now as for the spoilers. This is another part of the Olympics that has been around since I can remember. Networks and local station would announce results of top completions on-air. Of course telling those who dont want to see or hear to avert their eyes and ears. The "problem" is the increase in the number of people and news organizations using twitter, facebook and other social media platforms to distribute news and information. In 1980 when USA played USSR in hocky the game was tape delayed. The advantage being there was no social media of course. So ABC sports were able to keep the result of the game quies till air time. If you dont want the results early drop the networks from your twitter and facebook feeds. Its easy. Just click unlike or unfollow. Now I will say this, I have seen that on air there is typically a warning of "spoiler alert" before results are read. I have not seen this on twitter from the networks. When a game finishes the results are posted immediately with no warning. What im getting at is if the networks wont stop posting results before airtime, they should at least pop up a warning before results are posted.

That is all...im done.