December 2006 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

RE: [Utah-astronomy] (From NASA) Mars - Recent Gushing Water and NewCraters
by Seth Jarvis 07 Dec '06

07 Dec '06

This is HUGE news. I'm amazed that the press is being so nonchalant about it. Folks, there is liquid water on Mars _right now_. The odds that this water is biologically sterile are extremely remote. The questions raised by NASA's announcement are now quite urgent: Does our exploration of Mars put the planet at risk for bio-contamination? How certain are we that we'll be able to guarantee that Martian soil samples returned to Earth can be adequately quarantined? (Remember the Genesis mission?) Assuming there is some kind of simple life on Mars, is it even remotely possible to speak of human exploration of the planet without cross-contamination? Recall that Apollo astronauts came back from the moon filthy from moon dust. What mechanisms keep the below-ground water warm enough to flow? Seth -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces+sjarvis=slco.org(a)mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces+sjarvis=slco.org@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Patrick Wiggins Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2006 4:38 PM To: utah astronomy listserve utah astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] (From NASA) Mars - Recent Gushing Water and NewCraters Multimedia Advisory Dec. 6, 2006 Mars: Recent Gushing Water and New Craters A pair of significant discoveries about the red planet appears in this week's journal Science: evidence that, within the past five or seven years, water gushed on Mars in two gullies, and 20 new impact craters formed on the planet. The evidence comes from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor, managed by JPL. Audio and visual products now playing at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ multimedia/ include: . A slideshow with images that provide evidence of recent water flows on Mars . A web video/podcast about the discoveries . An audio podcast interview with Dr. Michael Malin, principal investigator for the camera that made the discoveries More information on Mars Global Surveyor, which launched Nov. 7, 1996, is at at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mgs/ or http:// mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/ . -end- _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] (From NASA) Mars - Recent Gushing Water andNewCraters
by Seth Jarvis 07 Dec '06

07 Dec '06

Richard, The two rovers were not sterilized prior to being sent to Mars. When Apollo 12 astronauts recovered pieces of the Surveyor craft and returned them to Earth scientists found that microbes that got onto the Surveyor before being launched to the Moon a couple of years earlier were still viable. That's after two years on the surface of the Moon. Seth -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces+sjarvis=slco.org(a)mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces+sjarvis=slco.org@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Richard Tenney Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2006 11:12 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: RE: [Utah-astronomy] (From NASA) Mars - Recent Gushing Water andNewCraters A couple of questions for the smarties on the list: Have the two rovers already spread microbial "infection" across the surface areas they have explored? Or does spending 9 months in the vaccuum of space getting there effectively kill any chance of that possibility? How doable is it to send up a robotic vehicle capable of drilling deep enough to tap into underground water sources? Seems like a pretty difficult task to me... I was pretty blown away by this news. Liquid water! I don't know about the press, but it got me pretty pumped (pun intended)! --- Michael Carnes <michaelcarnes(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > >This is HUGE news. I'm amazed that the press is > being so nonchalant about > >it. > Well, the NASA press release had a few multisyllable > words. That's too hard to read for most members of > the press (Joe B excepted). > > > This does raise all the questions you mentioned > Seth. But there's one interesting question that I > don't believe I've heard the exobiologists bring up. > I'll express it in a roundabout way. It's clear > that the more we learn about Earth, the more places > we find life. Extremophiles live in hot, acidic > water. They live in cracks deep in the mantle of > the earth. They live frozen in ice and high in the > atmosphere. This knowledge has certainly caused us > to broaden our sense of possibility about the origin > of life. There may be conditions on Mars now that > are close to conditions where things are alive here. > > But what we don't really know yet is whether life on > Earth originated under all these conditions. It may > have. Or it may have originated in more > traditionally "favorable" conditions and then > radiated outward into these extreme niches. One > might certainly imagine that, once life had a > foothold, evolution could eventually find forms that > could survive in extreme conditions--conditions > where the chemistry might not have kicked off life > ex nihilo. > > I guess we won't know till we know. > > MC > > > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > Visit the Photo Gallery: > http://www.utahastronomy.com > ____________________________________________________________________________ ________ Any questions? Get answers on any topic at www.Answers.yahoo.com. Try it now. _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] (From NASA) Mars - Recent Gushing Water and NewCraters
by Michael Carnes 07 Dec '06

07 Dec '06

>This is HUGE news. I'm amazed that the press is being so nonchalant about >it. Well, the NASA press release had a few multisyllable words. That's too hard to read for most members of the press (Joe B excepted). This does raise all the questions you mentioned Seth. But there's one interesting question that I don't believe I've heard the exobiologists bring up. I'll express it in a roundabout way. It's clear that the more we learn about Earth, the more places we find life. Extremophiles live in hot, acidic water. They live in cracks deep in the mantle of the earth. They live frozen in ice and high in the atmosphere. This knowledge has certainly caused us to broaden our sense of possibility about the origin of life. There may be conditions on Mars now that are close to conditions where things are alive here. But what we don't really know yet is whether life on Earth originated under all these conditions. It may have. Or it may have originated in more traditionally "favorable" conditions and then radiated outward into these extreme niches. One might certainly imagine that, once life had a foothold, evolution could eventually find forms that could survive in extreme conditions--conditions where the chemistry might not have kicked off life ex nihilo. I guess we won't know till we know. MC

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Re: Lens Makers?
by Richard Tenney 06 Dec '06

06 Dec '06

Hi Paul, glad to hear from you! I'm replying to you and my list contacts to see who out there can help.... anyone... (Bueller? Hards? Dodds?) anyone...? (Please reply to all) -Rich --- Paul Mills <MILLSPA(a)uvsc.edu> wrote: > Rich, > > It's been a long time. I'm glad the UVAA is still > around. > > Do you know of any astronomy enthusiasts who like to > grind their own > lenses? I have a glass lens that needs a new focal > length and would be > willing to pay for the job if the price is not too > steep. > > Best Wishes, > > Paul Mills > Planetarium > Utah Valley State College > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Need a quick answer? Get one in minutes from people who know. Ask your question on www.Answers.yahoo.com

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(From NASA) Mars - Recent Gushing Water and New Craters
by Patrick Wiggins 06 Dec '06

06 Dec '06

Multimedia Advisory Dec. 6, 2006 Mars: Recent Gushing Water and New Craters A pair of significant discoveries about the red planet appears in this week's journal Science: evidence that, within the past five or seven years, water gushed on Mars in two gullies, and 20 new impact craters formed on the planet. The evidence comes from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor, managed by JPL. Audio and visual products now playing at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ multimedia/ include: . A slideshow with images that provide evidence of recent water flows on Mars . A web video/podcast about the discoveries . An audio podcast interview with Dr. Michael Malin, principal investigator for the camera that made the discoveries More information on Mars Global Surveyor, which launched Nov. 7, 1996, is at at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mgs/ or http:// mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/ . -end-

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Save Our Science
by Patrick Wiggins 06 Dec '06

06 Dec '06

I just received this from the Planetary Society. Looks like something folks here will have an option on. http://planetary.org/programs/projects/sos/ pw

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Optical obsession
by Michael Carnes 05 Dec '06

05 Dec '06

>10" f/6. The 10" is a new-in-the-box Pyrex Meade, Which Meade scope was that one for originally, Chuck? My 10" is from the old Meade F/4.5 dobs. It's a great mirror, but it's a mite fast. F/6 sounds just about perfect. MC

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Solar activity today
by Chuck Hards 05 Dec '06

05 Dec '06

A very large sunspot is just coming into view on the sun's advancing limb, reminiscent of the big spot on the day of the Mercury transit- I wonder if it's the same spot rotated back around- though the latitude looks different. There is also a very active region nearer the receding limb, consisting of an obvious pair with smaller spots around them. I get the feeling that with more aperture and better transparency I would see ever smaller spots in this group. The little solar scope that I keep in my office is a 50mm f/9 refractor that I built around a WW2 vintage Eastman Kodak objective, on a table-top tripod. Just right for quick looks at lunchtime. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Need a quick answer? Get one in minutes from people who know. Ask your question on www.Answers.yahoo.com

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Joe's latest in D News
by Seth Jarvis 05 Dec '06

05 Dec '06

Yes, Joe's article is, as usual, excellent. I've got to brag on Stacy just a bit. Stacy is a member of our board of directors and gave an amazing lecture on black holes during the premier earlier this year of our own "Black Holes" show. We still have planetarium membership holders ask us when she'll be doing that again. I didn't get to attend it, but Stacy also gave SLAS members a Black Holes lecture that I hear lots of people talking about in equally glowing terms. Stacy's husband, John Armstrong, is himself a professional astronomer who's specialty is planets. He gave a lecture here at Clark about the search for life elsewhere in the galaxy that was very well received by our audiences. Stacy's also made _major_ upgrades to the Ott Planetarium at WSU. http://community.weber.edu/planetarium If you haven't seen the Ott in the last several months, you owe it to yourself to visit. Again, thanks, Joe, for the great article about a remarkable member of the astronomy community in Utah. Seth Jarvis Clark Planetarium -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces+sjarvis=slco.org(a)mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces+sjarvis=slco.org@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Patrick Wiggins Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 1:21 AM To: utah astronomy listserve utah astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Joe's latest in D News For those who have not seen it: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650212279,00.html pw _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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Joe's latest in D News
by Patrick Wiggins 05 Dec '06

05 Dec '06

For those who have not seen it: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650212279,00.html pw

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