[extropy-chat] SPACE: Deep Impact fireworks and Bug Planet detected.

Mike Lorrey mlorrey at yahoo.com
Mon Jul 4 03:02:22 UTC 2005


http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2005/10/text/

The above link announces that Hubble has discovered a well defined dust
ring around the star Fomalhaut, which as you might know was the home of
the Bug civilization in Robert Heinlein's classic novel "Starship
Troopers". The ring, in fact, demonstrates that it is being shepherded
by a large planet approximately 4.5 billion miles from the star, with
an oribital center that is offset from the star, indicating the
gravitational influence of the planet. The shepherding planet itself
has not been observed, and it is most certainly a jovian sized body,
though it is likely to have moons, and there certainly appears to be
room for plenty of planets closer to the star. 

On the down side, the star is only 200 million years old according to
current estimates, so it is unlikely to have evolved intelligent life
at this point on any planets that might exist there, though there may
be room for settlement.... it is only 25 light years away.

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
Watch Deep Impact's fireworks on NASA tv.

Expected impact will be 10:52 pacific time, July 3 (1:52 eastern time
on the 4th for east coasters), and while the impact is expected to be
magnitude 6 as seen from Hawaii or the southwestern US, it will be very
low in the sky from the east coast.

Complete coverage:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/deepimpact/main/index.html

CBS show "60 Minutes" covers Rutan and SpaceShipOne program, just shown
this evening, sorry if you missed it, Ed Bradley did a good job with it.

Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com

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