Just when you thought Mars was dead, it goes and surprises you. Images released from the Mars Global Surveyor show new gullies on the surface of Mars that formed within the last 7 years. The shape and path taken down the slope suggests that they were carved by rushing liquid water. It’s possible that there are quantities of liquid water underneath the surface, which can escape to the surface from time to time. Even though Mars can get cold, researchers think that water spurting out of the ground could last long enough to carry debris down the slope of a hill before freezing solid.
NASA Images Suggest Water Still Flows in Brief Spurts on Mars
Monatsarchiv: Dezember 2006
The Antikythera Mechanism
Anthony Ayiomamitis, an amateur astronomer living in Greece, has posted pictures of the Antikythera mechanism as it is exhibited at the National Museum of Archaeology in Athens:
https://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Greek-Archae-Astr-Antikythera.htm
Solar probe films plasma loops in action
Flickering loops of plasma above the Sun’s churning surface have been captured in movies made by Japan’s Hinode spacecraft, providing a preview of what the probe will do once it begins its main phase of scientific observations. The spacecraft was launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on 22 September 2006. JAXA is collaborating with NASA, ESA, and other organisations for the mission. Hinode’s three telescopes will make simultaneous observations in visible light, ultraviolet, and X-rays to help scientists understand the Sun’s ever-changing magnetic field. It is hoped that its observations will shed light on what triggers solar eruptions – so-called coronal mass ejections (CMEs). These ejections spew out radiation that poses a health risk for astronauts and they can also knock out satellites.
Development of loops of hot plasma above the Sun’s surface (15.9 MB; MPEG format)