In Pure Spirit

For open minds

Ordnance Survey releases map of Mars under Creative Commons license

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The Ordnance Survey is the UK’s mapping agency. Since 1791 it has helped governments, companies and even individuals by producing and updating maps.

How often do maps need updating anyway? You might be surprised. The OS days they make over 10,000 changes to its database of 450 geographic features every day.

The most recent map from agency is of a 3672x2721km chunk of Mars. The OS used NASA open data and the skills of Carographic Designer Chris Wesson, an appropriate colour palette to draw details on a scale of 1 to 4 million.

mars map

They’ve shared a reduced version of the map on Flickr under the Creative Commons license. This means sites like In Pure Spirit can share it within the rules. You can too if you keep the proper attribution credit.

But why create it in the first place? David Henderson, OS Director of Products, told press;

The private sector and space agencies are currently in competition to land the first person on Mars. Becoming more familiar with space is something that interests us all and the opportunity to apply our innovative cartography and mapping tradecraft to a different planet was something we couldn’t resist. We were asked to map an area of Mars in an OS style because our maps are easy to understand and present a compelling visualisation, and because of this we can envisage their usefulness in planning missions and for presenting information about missions to the public.

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If you had the chance to be the first person to visit Mars but risk not being able to come back – would you go?

Image credit: Ordnance Survey on Flickr.

How the last star in the universe might save humanity

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Did you know our star will die?

The Kurzgesagt “In a Nutshell” video on red dwarfs is fascinating. We learn about a whole host of stars – brown dwarfs, blue dwarfs and even white and black dwarfs. I had no idea there were so many types of stars.

Until I watched this quick science lesson I hadn’t thought it would be possible to live with the assistance of the red dwarf. Sure, okay, there will be challenges but it’s good to know it’ll be possible as all of humanity may have to move one day.

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What fascinates you the most about the stars, space and the sky at night?

A volcano on Io

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Io, Jupiter’s moon, is one of the most volcanically active worlds in the Solar System. It has hundreds of volcanoes and some eruptions reach some 250 miles high. That’s not 250 metres high – that’s 250 miles high.

In other words, you can see some of Io’s volcanic eruptions from space. You can see them a long way off in space as this incredible picture shows.

io

The picture was taken during a flyby of Jupiter in 2007, it shows a huge eruption on Io’s night side from a volcano called Tvashtar. This is one of the 250 miles high eruptions we were warned about.

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Have you ever seen anything like this? Could you even imagine such a large volcano and eruption?

You can read more about Io and the moon’s volcanoes at NASA.gov.

Will Comet ISON explode into the sun or break hearts?

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Every individual with an interest in astronomy must be already in the know concerning the much anticipated Comet ISON. Comet ISON was discovered in September 2012 by two Russian astronomers using an International Scientific Optical Network telescope.

McNaught-australia-public-domain-wiki1

In essence, comet ISON will come close to mars, at a distance of about 10.8 million kilometers after which it will move towards the sun and pass within a distance of 1.2 million kilometers and then approach earth thereafter. The comet will have a consistently accelerating speed which will get to 425,000 mph by the time it gets to the sun.

Comet ISON is expected to get brighter as it approaches the sun and extremely bright when it’s closest; at the time which its nucleus will melt and resultantly create a long tail composed of both gas and dust. The comet will be extremely bright, given that it will pass very close to the sun; only that no one is certain about how bright it will be. Nonetheless, it may just be one of the brightest comets ever seen in centuries.

The fact that the ISON comet was discovered while it was a at a very far distance means that it will be unlike other previous comets and when it gets to proximity of the sun, it will be very much visible to the naked human eye. The brightness and the distance are what essentially make this comet something to anticipate for, and NASA and scientists from all around the world are tracking its every movement.

Though no one knows exactly what will happen as the Comet passes near the sun, everyone has high expectations and maybe there will be a spectacular sight to behold come November 28th, or perhaps Comet ISON will just fizzle out and break the hearts of many sky watchers. The individuals in the northern hemisphere will be able to observe the comet in its fullness.

If the ISON comet passes within the Roche limit, it may disappoint millions since it is likely to disintegrate or break into pieces considering the fact that it is primarily held by its own gravitational force. It is possible that this comet will be destroyed due to the sun’s immense radiation; this in addition to its internal pressure and thermal stress may significantly add to its breaking apart. Nevertheless it may also survive due its size –the bigger size means that its interior may well be insulated from the gravity and energy of the sun.

In Pure Spirit

Have you heard anything about Comet ISON?

What have you heard? Comet ISON may hit the Earth? That the shock of Comet ISON smashing into the sun will create solar winds that will be felt on Earth? That Comet ISON may knock out satellites, GPS and communication?

There seems to be plenty of concern and worrying debate about what the Comet means but we really don’t know. Some, of course, see Comet ISON as an omen and talk about pagan rites, demons and magical things. It can be hard to tell whether those are real concerns or just gossip.

Please note: Image shows C/2006 P1 McNaught, taken on Jan 2007.

Could asteroid 2012 DA14 hit Earth?

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On Thursday a meteor passed through clear skies above Chelyabinsk in Russia. The breakup caused fireballs and a shockwave that blasted windows. Hundreds of people have been injured.

On Friday the 15th the asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass Earth in an unprecedentedly close approach path. It is half the size of a football pitch.

There is no chance of 2012 DA14 hitting Earth, say the experts. You can find out a little more in this FAQ about 2012 DA14; it’ll approach within 17,200 miles and Sumatra, Indonesia will be closest to it when it passes by.

Meanwhile, some of the videos coming out of Russia in the wake of the passing meteor are impressive if somewhat scary.

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What you ever seen anything like the Russian meteor before? Does it fill you with awe or fear?

The 2012 Supermoon may wash out the Eta Aquarid meteors – but when?

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This weekend will see a “super” moon. A supermoon happens when the moon is full and in perigee. This means the moon is at it’s closest approach point to the Earth. The moon and Earth have elliptical orbits and so are different distances apart at different times of the year.

The moon may appear to be full from May the 4th through to May the 6th this year. When will the UK see the supermoon? The moment of the supermoon will be brief; starting at 03:34 GMT and finishing at 03:36 GMT on Sunday the 6th of May.

Some mainstream press has given out the incorrect time for the supermoon. The Daily Mail is suggesting it will occur at 3:35 pm on Saturday. Unless they know about cosmos shaking events – this will be wrong.

There was a supermoon in 2011 – which resulted in some amazing photographs and even a tide of World War II bombs washing onto a beach in Southampton.

At nearly the exact same time the Eta Aquarid meteor shower should be hitting the peak. However, there’s the concern that the extra brightness from the super moon may make the meteor shower, which is in a different part of the sky, harder to see.

NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke told Space.com that;

““Its light will wash out the fainter Eta Aquarid meteors,”

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Will you be doing anything for the supermoon this year? And if you had to pick only one to watch – would you watch the meteor shower or the super moon?

Picture credit: Phil Ostroff

How did shadows get on the moon – the moon’s history of violence

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If you look up at the moon tonight you will see the pale surface has many shadowy patches. These are caused by craters on the surface casting shadows. The light comes from the sun just as it does here on Earth.

NASA have released a video called “Evolution of the Moon” which shows the history of the moon. This is a violent history as the moon has been struck time and time again by meteorites – some of which have been large.

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What did you make of the video? Was is strangely beautiful despite all the powerful impacts?

Watching the Southern Lights from Space

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Perhaps it is because this blogger is in Scotland and much of the international media that makes its way here is based in America but when there are discussions of amazing light shows in the atmosphere the references are always to the Northern Lights. The truth, however, is that there can be as equally impressive Southern Lights.

This photograph was taken by the American astronaut Rob Garen, on the 15th of September from the International Space Station.

The diamond planet

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Australian scientists have discovered a diamond the size of a planet. They found the crystalised carbon with the aid of the Parks Radio Telescope in New South Wales.

This video explains how the astrophysicists were able to find the planet and how they could work out that it is composed from the same elements as diamond.

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Do you seek wisdom from the stars and sky? What would the discovery of a diamond planet mean to you?

Even god listens to iTunes – evil?

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There’s a video doing the rounds which appears to be someone mucking around with their video camera as a remarkable piece of news plays on the TV.

In the news they suggest a new cluster of stars has been found that looks awfully like the Apple Mac logo. It is the Apple Mac logo. In the news item one expert suggests-cum-jokes that perhaps it’s an attempt by Steve Jobs to convince the world that even god listens to iTunes.

Watch it here:

 

What do you think? Would some passionate Christians object? Will any other religion?

The video is a marketing ploy. It’s not real. It’s an ad.

As it happens it’s an ad for Martin Lindstrom who’s all about secret marketing. In this YouTube video from his own channel we meet the Morgensons; a family paid to be part of the commmunity and all with marketing in mind.

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Is this a clever approach? Using a quirky ad in order to promote a campaign that exposes quirky ads? Do you think a bit controversy will help the campaign along? Or do you think Apple and others will object?

Disclosure

This blog discusses ideas and causes. Urban myth, science and faith combine here. So do editorials and technology; In Pure Spirit uses affiliate marketing and some links might earn us money. You can read more about that here.

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