Thursday, February 12, 2009

The Fastest, Smallest, Biggest and Most Explosive



National Geographic Channel comes through for us again, this time with three new premiers, count em, three, The Fastest, The Biggest and Smallest and The Most Explosive. This coming Sunday February 15 starting at 8 pm EDT. National Geographic, using Computer Generated imagery (CGI), time lapse sequences, and easy to understand demonstrations takes you on a journey through our cosmos. Starting with The Fastest.

When exploring our universe, fastest is bestest. Exploration of space depends on speed, the faster we go the more we explore, the more we learn. You'll see new and emerging technologies to get us to where we gotta go, fast. Like the new Magneto Plasma Rocket, funneling hot plasma through magnets to produce lots of thrust, thrust= speed, propelling us to hundreds of thousands of miles per hour, getting us to places like Mars in 39 days instead of the chemical rocket time of 260 days. Less time in space means less deadly cosmic radiation exposure for the Astronauts. Seriously.......being confined for 260 days with a group of people with no sex and drinking recycled urine, the whole deadly cosmic radiation thing doesn't even rate on my "things to worry about list", given the choice leastest is better. But even hundreds of thousands of miles an hour aren't fast enough to take us to the outer reaches of our galaxy, then the universe, enter worm holes and warp drive, we are only limited by our imaginations.


In the "Smallest and Biggest" you see the vastness of our universe down to the infinitesimal particles that make up everything. You'll see how nano technology is making advances in medicine with nanodiamonds delivering chemotherapy drugs to cancer cells killing them off, image above.


Now my most favorite show, "The Most Explosive", who doesn't like a good explosion? You'll see lots, volcanoes, Super Novas, Gamma Ray Bursts and the ultimate, The Big Bang. You'll also see the coolest animation of an asteroid strike.

We just had a meteoroid hit Saskatchewan skies November 20 last year, they figure it was only the size of a desk yet It was seen by thousands of people from British Columbia to Manitoba. Can you imagine seeing a 10 km size rock, the size they think caused the mass extinction of the dinosaurs enter the atmosphere, what a show it must have put on, that would be too cool to watch, a literal once in a life time thing, mostly because you be dead after. One can only imagine what the dinosaurs were thinking........"Crap, we... are... so... fracked".  The Big Bang, the biggest explosion ever. In a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a second, space time exploded into matter billions of miles across and created all the substance we know of today, all the ingredients for every explosion to follow. If you happen to miss the Sunday shows, they will be repeated Thursday February 19 starting at 7:00 pm EDT. These are American times only, Canadian times to follow once I know.

One last thing, a couple of satellites, one American and one Russian, both communication, collided 790 miles above Siberia Tuesday, what are the odds? I mean space is generally pretty big, kind of makes you feel it is getting crowded up there. No immediate risk to the International Space Station but they are monitoring the resulting 600 pieces of debris, which they feel will eventually fall to Earth and burn up in our atmosphere over the next few years. Unfortunately there are no pictures, I guess there aren't a whole lot of camera carrying tourists over in Northern Siberia.



Going through my images I've taken over the last year I came across my favorite lunar eclipse image, the blues and turquoise were cause by the sunlight passing through our ionosphere, which scatters the reds and allows the greens and blues through to the lunar surface, too cool, thought I would make an animation of it, next total lunar eclipse isn't until December 21 2010, long way to go.

47 comments:

Sherer said...

Bob,

Ah looks like some interesting shows i'll sent the DVR!
sorry i havent been around! Business is madness.

Jesse

Marvin said...

Yah, I saw those satellites collided...what a mess.

There's enough junk that the beanstalk idea (or antigravity) will have more and more reason to be pursued, to allow craft to move up through the layers of junk slowly enough that they won't be damaged. And eventually, it will be cheap enough to put craft in orbit just to vacuum up that stuff.

Anonymous said...

Kick butt image of the lunar eclipse and what a cool special you told us about.

One reason we don't have more collisions is that most satellite are going roughly the same direction (in the direction of the earth's rotation so they could take advantage of that little bit of speed) - that limits the impacts and the relative speed. But one of these was a polar satellite, so it was going unusually fast, relative to our Russian derelict. Both were obliterated (actually you can totally destroy a satellite at orbital velocities with debris 1/1000 the size).

On concern with this cloud of debris is that it could impinge on this whole constellation of communication satellites (66 of them), potentially starting a chain reaction in a bad way.

But, sooner or later, this debris will be find it's way to lower orbits like HST and ISS. It's a mess and we're just getting a handle on it. Their first question was immediate risk for ISS and the upcoming Shuttle flight. The story could be very different in months or years.

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Jesse, well good for your business, that is awesome, 3 new shows, perfect timing for anybody stuck inside because of the weather, still get your space viewing in without the - 30c weather.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Hey Marvin, cool you saw them collide, next time take pics for us,lol. Yes there will come a time when we are going to have to look more seriously at cleaning up our mess up there. I like the antigravity idea.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Stephanie. Wow thanks for the cool explanation and science lesson. See, I didn't think about the rest of the iridium satellites being affected, makes sense, plus the fact like you said the debris is high right now will come down to the lower orbits, and who can say for sure right now where a lot of this debris will end up, thanks again for the info, much appreciated.\m/\m/

Dorothy said...

Some of the photos look like lost in space..no mystical and amazing..

Dorothy from grammology
grammology.com

Ivanhoe said...

I love your explanations. I think I'll watch on Sunday (if I don't forget ;o). Have you seen The Universe on History channel before? I loved that show :o)
Have a wonderful weekend!

Shabnam Sultan said...

Great photographs with explanations.

http://astronomyforeveryone.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Wow, thanks for sharing those shows, they are really interesting to watch. Hope I wont forget on Sunday or its replay on Thursday. Wow, I love your lunar eclipse photos, it is so amazing for me you can take picture that close and vivid, and i like how you animated it.

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Dorothy, Lost In Space was my favorite show as a kid, I also liked the new Lost In Space movie.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Ivanhoe, so sad but up here in Canada we don't get "The Universe".\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Shabnam, glad you like the explanations.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks betchai, the preview dvds were awesome I know you'll like them. Thanks about the Moon, the blues only showed that bright in one frame, just happen to snap the image at just the right time. To animate I went to the site below.\m/\m/

http://www.lunapic.com/editor/

Jackie said...

You just have the most amazing things all the time.

I hope you are a teacher or a professor. Because if you're not then what a waste!!

Simply incredible!!

Thanks for your very creative alien entry in the contest.

I have a co judge. She is from Germany via Egypt. We are each reading the entries separately starting tomorrow.

We will compare notes and hopefully agree upon a winner by Sunday!!

You know you have a really cool blog too!!

Happy weekend!!:-)

Swubird said...

Bob:

Super line up. I'll set the programming right now. Whoops! I had better read the old manual.

I recently heard of a program where they were going to show that a huge mega-volcano may have actually been the demise of the dinosaurs. Heard anything about that?

Plasma rocket engines. Yes, let's get going. I support every kind of space research and travel.

Beautiful reflecting moon picture. Well done.

This was a fantastic post.

Take care up there.

Happy trails.

kRiZcPEc said...

hmmm...I don't like the way the countries involved pointing fingers at each other about that crash.

Kristine said...

Thanks so much for the heads-up! I love your blog and all your photos.

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks a lot Shinade, not a teacher, just sharing something I have a great passion for.

Lol glad you liked my little story, it came to me in a vision,lol, just kidding, I think of aliens and Sasquatches all the time. Hope you have a great weekend too.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Lol, good luck with the manual swubird.

Yes I have heard of the mega volcano, but a comet or asteroid hit is more likely due to the massive amount of iridium left behind, way more common in meteorites then on Earth. \m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Hi kRiZ cPEc, kids will be kids, hey no one's fault, no right of way in space, bound to happen eventually.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks a lot Kristine, glad you like the blog.\m/\m/

RW said...

Great post filled with Killer info Bob! That moon animation Rocks!

Ruth said...

I so well remember the blue in your lunar eclipse photo!

"The fastest is bestest" - hehehe.

We saw about the satellite collision on the news, a little frightening for those who will be going out into space in the future.

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Roger, hope you get to see the shows.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Lol, thanks Ruth, the collisions are just a reminder that it is dangerous up there, hopefully the debris doesn't cross paths and do damage to the ISS.\m/\m/

Anonymous said...

Thanks for alerting us, Bob. I for sure would not have known. It definitely looks like TV worth watching. Hope it does not disappoint.

Bob Johnson said...

Hey Will, it shouldn't disappoint, if you like learning about the universe type space shows, previews of the full shows where great.\m/\m/

Ruth said...

Hey, Bob, congrats on the upcoming wedding! I think sunflowers make sense in your family, and moonflowers too!

:D

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Ruth, I like them both, mostly the moonflowers,lol.\m/\m/

Anonymous said...

Neat! The variance in our Universe is positively astounding!

NS

Speedcat Hollydale said...

No lovin` in space??? I was just going to join, now not so much.

Anonymous said...

Nanotech is the way to go indeed. As for the mess caused by the 2 satelites crashing - it's but the first of many more to come as they all keep increasing the numbers of the new satelites and the old and damaged once are there - ready to crash on one another. Call me paranoid but it's simply a calculatrion of possibilities

Bob Johnson said...

It sure is NS, that is it's beauty.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Lol, I hear you speedy, I'd still go though, just on the short trips,lol.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Hi TheFortunes, it is amazing what they can do with nanotechnology isn't it. What to do about the cleanup of space, so expensive, but we should try to get a handle on it before it's too late.\m/\m/

Jackie said...

Thanks for your comment on my shot. I took that with my 250MM lens. I was shocked that it turned out.

Happy Week Bob:-)

kml said...

I really wish we had those shows - they all sound really good - enjoy them Bob!

Bob Johnson said...

Hi Shinade, I'm amazed you took that with a 250mm and not a macro lens, it turned out excellent.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Hi Kathy, I did enjoy them, lucky for me I got the preview dvds.\m/\m/

L. Venkata Subramaniam said...

I love the last image you have put in this post. It is beautiful.

The shows you have mentioned sound exciting. It looks like I missed the first one. But I will be looking forward to it from next week on.

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks L.Venkata, good luck with watching the shows, you'll like them for sure.\m/\m/

Ivanhoe said...

I watched the first two and it was pretty good. We watched The Unit at ten and just clicked to NatGeo on commercials during the third one. What I really enjoyed though, was the show about Hubble Telescope that was showed at 7 pm.

Bob Johnson said...

Hi Ivanhoe,The most explosive was the last one my fav, glad you liked them. I have the Hubble show on my pvr, I watch it quite frequently.\m/\m/

Anonymous said...

LOL Hi Bob

what a show it must have put on, that would be too cool to watch, a literal once in a life time thing, mostly because you be dead after. One can only imagine what the dinosaurs were thinking........"Crap, we... are... so... fracked". LOL LOL Loved this little ditter of yours. Just what I needed.
Sorry I'm late. Been swamped lately. Hardly have time to visit let along publish to my own blog.

Saw the news on the two satellites colliding. When I used to work for NORAD we used to update and track thousands of satellites nightly. I knew it would eventually happen. With all the junk up there I'm surprised it never happened earlier.

Great post my friend!
~JD

myonlyphoto said...

Bob you are doing so well I better just give you one more comment you deserve it :). Yeah who does not like explosions, well, as long it does not hurt anyone - poor dinosours, lol....Great post, too bad I missed the show, but I don't have much time to watch TV anyway. Patiently waiting for spring, snow is in the air again....Anna :)

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