24 Comments on thursday july 19, 2007 : special report
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End Of The Universe, 1421 comments
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JoCo would make a great host for a Ms. Science program on Discovery
Second
She would make the best sixth grade science teacher ever.
The broadcasts are ever so entertaining and now scientific as well.
Why can’t I reach down and pick up a rock - any rock - off of the ground and state: “This material is over 11 billion years old.”?
-s
Depends on how you define age.
The atoms in the rock you picked up probably date back beyond the formation of the solar system, to when massive stars flung them out in supernovae. In that sense, just about everything in our solar system is the same ‘age.’
However, the atoms only formed the mineral structures in your rock sometime in the last 4 billion years, and probably much more recently, due to tectonics on Earth. In contrast, the minerals in meteorites have been unchanged since the beginning of the solar system, which is much longer ago then when tectonism started, so in that sense meteorites are much ‘older!’
“the meteorite is the source of the light,
And the meteor’s just what we see;
And the meteoroid is a stone that’s devoid of the fire that propelled it to thee.
And the meteorite’s just what causes the light,
And the meteor’s how it’s perceived;
And the meteoroid’s a bone thrown from the void, that lies quiet in offering to thee.”
- ‘Emily’ by Joanna Newsom
+1!
+ 1 more!
and +1 again. Not only is it quite appropriate to this episode, but this passage has marvelous poetic potential.
How can all three “meteo” terms refer to the same object? How do multiple subjective experiences from different viewpoints triangulate the true nature of an object, an ideal, a concept? See: the story of the blind men and the elephant, the schoolyard conundrum of whether the color I call “orange” looks the same to me as it does to you, et cetera…
It’s a little clumsier when I try to explain it. Maybe I’ll leave it up to the poets…
Many paths lead from the foot of the mountain,
But at the peak
We all gaze at the
Single bright moon.
-Ikkyu
Think you have found a meteorite? Check here for help.
Live long and prosper!
How come the RSS HD feed don\’t work no more?
Did I just watch it? Can’t remember a thing.
You have lost me at “looking here”…
I’m sorry, I just have to say that: this episode is truly and (hopefully) univocally ‘golden’ (Au; 79; 196.966569)! Also: I hope that I don’t “land on the ground” until, at least, 2089. Thanks, RocketBoom people! And finally: “meteorites ARE ‘pretty’”!!!. “Got more?”
P.S.: Will the ”Rea;+L’ ‘player” please step forward?
P,P.S.: (I absolutely) Love that semi-, high-key, desk-top lighting.
P,P,P.S.: Quotes out of context: “…fireball…”, “only recently…”, “…and bigger than a single molecule which includes a large variety of stuff…”, “…as I said before: debris, and what may be trash to some, is precious metal to others…”, “…this requires an in-depth study…” , “…it finally made it’s way here to me..”.
Post, post, post-post-script: this comment section could (/can/shall/should/ (am/IS/are/what/would/be/shall/should/will/would/must…)) become a breeding ground for what comes next.
‘Beep-beep, beep-beep, here comes a satellite/Beep-beep, beep-beep, and now it’s out of sight…beep-beep…’
Yikes! I can\’t log out! It\’s an unwanted chat-room attack!
Help Me Please, someone: I’m scared! What the Hell is this when I try to log out?:
I \’ve been asking myself this question for the last 3 month. Maybe one of you can answer it: Most meteor showers are related to comets. Comets loose stuff, that gets distributed over the comet\’s orbit and when ever we me the orbit (every year at the same time) we see meteor showers like Leonids or Perseids. Whenever the comet passes the sun in looses the most stuff (loads of ice keeping it together usually). The year\’s after the comet passed the nearest point, we get more meteors in the meteor shower. That\’s the info that I found on wikipedia. But who can that be.
The time of circulation of the comet is long. 100+ years (Perseids). All the stuff following the comet should have the comet\’s velocity and should be far away a year later. And when changing the velocity, why should it be on the same orbit.
Ohh, …
Never mind. Maybe I got it now. I think I miss read it.
It says on wikipedia
\”In 1985, E. D. Kondrat\’eva and E. A. Reznikov of Kazan State University first correctly identified the years when dust was released responsible for several past Leonid meteor storms.\”
I figured that \”the years\” would have been recent but it\’s more likely that they are some 5.000 years ago, or maybe 20.000? Dunno. Is there anyone who can give me a good guess?
And they aren\’t on the same orbit, but starting from the nearest point to the sun (where most of the material with a different velocity starts), many orbits start and some of the hit the earth.
Does anyone have a list with the Zenithal Hourly Rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenithal_Hourly_Rate like this one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_meteor_showers but with numbers (possible just for one comet) that lists the maximum ZHR in a year over the time of circulation of the comet.
Thanks,
Jack
upps:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenithal_Hourly_Rate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_meteor_showers
http://movies2.nytimes.com/movie/29280/Lifeforce/trailers
Just to be a little exacting. The Sombrero Galaxy is very hot, radiation-wise. And that brown stuff is rock and dust. But I am not sure you should be pawning it off as a/the big explosion billions of years ago.
–
freeman
FYI… The age of the \”galaxy\” as said in this video clip is estimated to be about 13.6 (± 0.8 billion years). The presenter meant to say solar system, which is close to the 4.5 billion years estimate.
SJ
Have you guys been smokin’ those “jazz” cigarettes? Joanne seems so mellow this week, like she revamped her presentation style, smoother somehow & yesterdays hair, wow! ab fab!
Eye eye C, eye eye D, eye eye E, eye eye captain, arrrr…oh sorry.
“& now we have a bunch of meteoroids rotating around” you sure they’re not pistachio nuts? looks an awful lot like pistachio nuts to me….
“upon impact with the body” they would become meteorite &….I’d become jello.
This particular ep of RB rocks!
home again ahh, later people
If you liked this broadcast, you might love the book \”Mining the Sky\” by Dr. John S. Lewis.
The abundance of \”free\” or unowned natural resources in space is astounding.
Wow, Joanne can jabber like Mohammed Ali, as smooth as a butterfly, as swift as a bee.
She\’s so delicious and dreamy, don\’t ya think?
A rocket(boom) scientist\’s dream.
Yay, Rocketboom is back to the episodes I know and love. I missed you.