Starship Asterisk*

Hello Bmaone23,

This is my second reply. You referenced the calculator. I would be very interested in knowing how they calculate the heat energy output of impacts. Do you know how the series of calculations that are used can be accessed. Thank you.

4/21/2011

Interestingly, planetary nebulae often show what appears to be a sequential arrangement of elements in the gaseous shells around the star. You find ionized oxygen and sometimes ionized helium closest to the star. The you find ionized hydrogen, if there is any hydrogen there at all, and then you fin...

Hello Bmaone23, My thoughts are that the impactor should be about the size of Pluto, 2300 km, or larger and about Pluto's density of 2 g/cm3. I also assumed a 75 degree angle of impact due to its assumed penetration. The "calculator" only gives me a rim to rim diameter of 96 meters. How co...

Excellent answer. Thanks.

4/19/2011

I should know the size of the Hellas impact basin but do not. The diameter of the impactor should be 1 1/2 to 2 times the diameter of the basin. Smaller pieces would break-off prior to impact similar to the comet that hit Jupiter. And the perimeter wall of the impact basin would fall inward causing ...

EGGs are evaporation gaseous globules which are compact pockets of interstellar gas. Some striking examples are seen in the Eagle nebula and in star cluster NGC 602 (referenced in APOD: 2010 April 3 - NGC 602 and Beyond). They are considered to be the location for the birth of new stars. So why does...

You See The Media, and Reports. "Standard Candle". Why Do We See More super Nova, Than we Do Old stars dieing ? is there Any difference ? If So, What Info do We Ascertain From This ? tc This is an interesting question. I will restate the question. In the same time period, let's say 1000 y...

I am chemically confused. If methane is turned over every 4 Earth years, what does it become? Do carbon and hydrogen combine with other elements? Why does Titan still have methane? I thought methane was one the primordal molecules of the solar system.

4/19/2011

There was much previous discussion about an APOD dealing with the very striking Martian feature, Valles Marineris, and its origins. Numerous ideas were presented that became linked with other nearby geological features: the unusually elevated Tharsis plateau, the Tharsis volcanoes, and the Hellas im...

John, thanks for this very interesting topic. It sounds like a blob of hot rock was expelled from the Icelandic "hot spot" and spread over the existing oceanic crust and settled in the North Sea area. Then as is the case with most "hot spot" islands, their weight eventually pushe...

I will make three conclusions from the observed data that you previously presented. But, of course, these conclusions are premature without collecting more matching data. Many thanks for entering the discussion about O and B type stars. 1. Supernova candidates expel matter in an episodic manner prio...

If we see and measure the characteristics of the photosphere, how do we know the temperature of the core ? You indicated that the color or spectral class of the photosphere reveals the temperature of the core. The cooler the core the hotter the photosphere becomes because the transparency of the atm...

You can see that the main sequence suddenly ends. This happens at the turn-off point, where the broad "line" of stars suddenly turns to the right. What happens here is that the main sequence stars have exhausted the hydrogen in their cores, and can no longer produce energy by fusing hydro...

I was wondering on the difference between a michelson type interferometer and a fizeau type. Not many books go to the trouble of really comparing them or considering them for the same task even... and this makes trying to figure out why two designs exist in the first place a bit tricky! The Michels...

From the discussion I understand that a magnetic field is produced around the black hole at the center of our galaxy. What would be the comparable strengths in theory between the magnetic field and the gravity field at about 100 or 1000 light years from the center of this black hole ?

03/30/2011

I have very strong suspicions based on some data that the very massive blue stars that die by core collapse do so in a certain sequence of steps. My steps are not really too dis-similar to the accepted orthodoxy - that the core's supply of H is exhausted and the core begins to collapse, causing a ri...

Convection currents in the outer liquid core could create a magnetic field that would be accentuated by the solid iron core similar to a electrical solenoid with an iron core. The solid iron core rotation could be slowed with respect to the liquid core due to the drag caused by the interaction of th...

I realize that no Population III stars have been found in globular clusters, but the search continues. Since the oldest structures in the universe, the globular clusters, have some metallicity is proof that the initial stars in the universe were mostly O and B type stars. Yes, I am just learning tha...

I am inviting answers or ideas from anybody about a postulated analysis of data received from PAMELA regarding cosmic rays.

3/30/2011

Thanks, John. Your suggestion is very appropriate. Again I am requesting any thoughts about why the Tharsis plateau on Mars has significant swelling which is quite different from features on other planets and satellites.

3/30/2011

Hello Ann, I am beginning to understand your explanation: " As for globular clusters my impression is that most of them are single-generation objects. The reason is that they are so very metal poor, and all their stars appear to have the same metallicity." At least one, perhaps two, genera...

Hello Dear Joe, I know that you know a lot about some things. Using that knowledge try to form an opinion ( as they keep saying, it is a free country ) of why there exists an unusual swelling of the Tharsis plateau on Mars. You do not need a PhD, and if you lack references, Neufer will come to your ...

As for the globular clusters, my impression is that most of them are single-generation objects. The reason is that they are so very metal-poor, and all their stars appear to have the same metallicity. The first O stars in them must have exploded as supernovae, thereby enriching the gas in the globu...

http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=23228#p145633 Hello fellow retiree. Perhaps you have the same pathos as I. Your excellent reference and chart address the topic very well but do not answer my question. Let me restate my idea. The supernovae of massive blue stars are thought to rele...

Now, I posit the next question. What caused the Tharsis plateau to swell ? While there is much not understood about volcanic and tectonic processes deep inside planets (including Earth), the Tharsis plateau and its associated volcanoes are similar to many structures on the Earth. It seems likely th...