- When not obsessing over football, Gregg Easterbrook is a senior editor of the New Republic. His documentary, here, regards asteroid strikes and reminds me why I began reading his work -- before he became obsessed with Belichick and "spygate."
- Eye Candy.
A Dangerous Sunrise on Gliese 876d
Illustration Credit & Copyright: Inga Nielsen (Hamburg Obs., Gate to Nowhere)Explanation: On planet Gliese 876d, sunrises might be dangerous. Although nobody really knows what conditions are like on this close-in planet orbiting variable red dwarf star
Gliese 876, the above artistic illustration gives one impression. With an orbit well inside Mercury and a mass several times that of Earth, Gliese 876d might rotate so slowly that dramatic differences exist between night and day. Gliese 876d is imagined above showing significant volcanism, possibly caused by gravitational tides flexing and internally heating the planet, and possibly more volatile during the day. The rising red dwarf star shows expected stellar magnetic activity which includes dramatic and violent prominences. In the sky above, a hypothetical moon has its thin atmosphere blown away by the red dwarf's stellar wind. Gliese 876d excites the imagination partly because it is one of the few extrasolar planets known to be close to the habitable zone of its parent star.
- We finally saw Mercury, as we were driving home a few nights ago, very dramatically stabbing through the golds and reds as the sun set, maybe 30 degrees above the horizon . By the time we were home the clouds had returned and we were unable to take any photos. It should still be visible for the next few days in areas other than Detroit.
- Countdown to Phoenix TD has begun. We hope it does not have to rise from the ashes..
- Lastly the International Space Station can be seen over the next few days in areas of the world that are not Detroit. It has been unusually cold; usually cloudy in the evenings: I am beginning to think the Deepness is rising.
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