Author: M. Özgür Nevres

I am a software developer and a science enthusiast. I was graduated from the Istanbul Technical University (ITU), Computer Engineering. In the past, I worked at the Istanbul Technical University Science Center as a science instructor. I write about the planet Earth and science on this website, ourplnt.com. I am also an animal lover! I take care of stray cats & dogs. This website's all income goes directly to our furry friends. Please consider supporting me on Patreon, so I can help more animals!

Categories
Solar System Astronomy

Farout: the most-distant body ever observed in Solar System

The distance of Farout from the Sun
Solar system distances to scale showing the newly discovered 2018 VG18, nicknamed "Farout," compared to other known solar system objects. Farout is currently about 11,160 million miles (around 18 billion kilometers) from the Sun. That's around 120 AU, which is 120 times the distance between the Sun and Earth. This makes it the first Solar System object observed beyond 100 AU. Credit: Roberto Molar Candanosa and Scott S. Sheppard, Carnegie Institution for Science. Image Source: Carnegie Science

Researchers discovered the farthest known object in our solar system and named it “Farout” (far-out-there). It is about 120 times farther than Earth is from the Sun (120 AU, see notes 1). For comparison, the most distant planet, Neptune is about 30 AU from the Sun. At its most distant, once upon a time the ninth planet, now a dwarf planet, Pluto, can be 49 AU (7.29 billion km, or 4.53 billion miles) from the Sun. Currently, Pluto is at about 34 AU, making  Farout more than three-and-a-half times more distant than the Solar System‘s most-famous dwarf planet.

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Categories
Solar System Astronomy

Yet Another Scale Model of the Solar System [Video]

A scale view of the Sun and the planets
In his YouTube channel, The Science Asylum, physicist Nick Lucid provides yet another scale model of the solar system. A very nice video conceptualizing how mind-bogglingly big our solar system (and space) is. Image: from the video titled "The Craziest Solar System Model EVER!" on Science Asylum channel on YouTube.

Previously I posted articles titled “If The Moon Were Only 1 Pixel – A Tediously Accurate Map Of The Solar System” and “A Scale Model Of Solar System Drawn In The Desert And The Result Is Stunning”. Since the human brain cannot deal with really large numbers, these articles provide amazing ways to understand how big actually our Solar System is.

Now, in his YouTube channel, The Science Asylum, physicist Nick Lucid provides yet another scale model of the solar system. A very nice video conceptualizing how mind-bogglingly big our solar system (and space) is.

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Categories
Animals Life on Earth Oceans

Orcas swimming around a woman (video)

Three orcas swimming with a woman (New Zealand)
A woman was swimming on 4 December 2018 at Hahei Beach on the Coromandel peninsular, New Zealand. Then a pod of orcas (killer whales) swam up to her (probably a mother and two calves), and circled her. They kept swimming around her while she was headed to the shore. Especially the mother swam really close to her. A man named Dylan Brayshaw captured the full scene from a drone. The result was an amazing drone footage.

A woman was swimming on 4 December 2018 at Hahei Beach on the Coromandel peninsular, New Zealand. Then a pod of orcas (killer whales) swam up to her (probably a mother and two calves), and circled her. They kept swimming around her while she was headed to the shore. Especially the mother swam really close to her. A man named Dylan Brayshaw captured the full scene from a drone. The result is the amazing drone footage below.

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Categories
Earth from Space Space Exploration

Amazing time-lapse of the Russian spacewalk over the Atlantic Ocean (video)

Russian spacewalk (December 11, 2018)
On December 11, 2018, the cosmonauts went outside to install a plug and thermal insulation on the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft which was damaged by a powertool causing an air leak. The EVA examined a section of the external hull of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft, took samples of residue found on the hull, along with digital images of the area before the plan called for the placing a new thermal blanket over it. The spacewalkers literally cut into the Soyuz’s black thermal blankets and pulled away the insulation to expose the area around the hole. The samples and images will provide additional information that will aid the investigation into the cause of the pressure leak, according to NASA.

The European Space Agency has published an amazing sped-up time-lapse video of the Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopyev during their spacewalk as they floated over the Atlantic Ocean. The video was taken from the European Columbus laboratory.

The two cosmonauts look like working honeybees in the upper-right corner in this sped-up video.

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Categories
Space Exploration

Astronaut Chris Hadfield explains the Soyuz MS-11 launch

Chris Hadfield explains Soyuz MS-11 Launch
Chris Hadfield explains what happens when fellow Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques, Russian astronaut Oleg Kononenko and American astronaut Anne McClain are launched into space aboard a Soyuz rocket en route to the International Space Station. Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan atop a Soyuz-FG rocket on December 3, 2018, carrying NASA astronaut Anne McClain, Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko. It was the first manned launch since the Soyuz MS-10 spaceflight aborted shortly after launch on 11 October 2018 due to a failure of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle boosters. The spacecraft successfully docked to the ISS about six hour after the launch.

Canadian retired astronaut, engineer, and former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot Chris Hadfield explains the Soyuz MS-11 launch which happened on December 3, 2018.

It is great to listen to such an experienced astronaut explaining what happens during the launch, what astronauts feel, etc.

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Categories
Space Exploration Earth from Space

Soyuz MS-11 Launch and Dock as seen from the ISS

Soyuz MS-11 Launch from the ISS, December 3, 2018
Soyuz MS-11 Launch from the ISS, December 3, 2018. European Space Agency astronaut aboard the International Space Station, Alexander Gerst photographed the launch and the docking from the ISS. Photograph: Alexander Gerst on Twitter

On December 3, 2018, a Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying NASA astronaut Anne McClain, Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko. It was the first manned launch since the Soyuz MS-10 spaceflight aborted shortly after launch on 11 October 2018 due to a failure of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle boosters (see notes 1). It was the 100th orbital launch of 2018.

Soyuz MS-11 successfully docked to the ISS about six hours after the launch.

European Space Agency astronaut aboard the International Space Station, Alexander Gerst photographed the launch and the docking from the ISS and published these amazing photos on his Twitter account.

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Categories
Planet Earth

All the Earth’s Water and Air

All the water and air on Earth (cropped)
All the Earth's water and air. Illustration: Félix Pharand- You can see the Deschênes, Concept: Adam Nieman. This is a cropped image. You can see the full-size image here.

Dr. Adam Nieman created this image in 2003, illustrating the volume of the planet Earth’s oceans and atmosphere (if the air were all at sea-level density) by rendering them as spheres sitting next to the Earth instead of spreading out over its surface.

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Categories
Animals Life on Earth Oceans

Immortal Jellyfish [the only animal which can live eternally!]

Immortal Jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii)
Immortal Jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii) One of the most amazing and incredible organisms living in the oceans is the Turritopsis dohrnii, popularly known as the "immortal jellyfish". It is a tiny, transparent jellyfish, originally found in the Mediterranean Sea and in the waters of Japan (but nowadays it travels the world in the ballast tanks of cargo ships). It has a maximum diameter of about 4.5 millimeters or 0.18 inches. The thing that makes this strange, almost alien-like creature so incredible is that it is biologically immortal. It's the only known animal capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary individual.

Would you like to have the ability to transform back to a younger version of yourself? Meet Immortal Jellyfish (scientific name: Turritopsis dohrnii), the only species on Earth which can live (theoretically, at least) an eternal life.

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Categories
Moon Landing Space Exploration

Neil Armstrong’s Parents at I’ve Got a Secret [Video]

Neil Armstrong's Parents at I've Got a Secret
Neil Armstrong's Parents at I've Got a Secret

On September 17, 1962, Neil Armstrong’s parents, Stephen Koenig Armstrong and Viola Louise Engel Armstrong joined “I’ve Got a Secret”, a panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. They had a “secret” that their son just became an astronaut for NASA on that day, one of the nine newly chosen men for future space missions.

Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong whispers to the Host Garry Moore’s ears their secret: “Our Son became an astronaut today”.

A few minutes later, Moore asks an incredible question: “Now, how would you feel, Mrs. Armstrong, if it turned out – of course, nobody knows – but if it turns out that your son is the first man to land on the moon? What, how do, how would you feel?” He asks this nearly seven years before it actually happened on July 20, 1969! Neil’s mother’s reply is priceless, “Well, guess I’d just say god bless him and I wish him the best of all good luck.”

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Categories
Space Exploration Mars

InSight Mission Raw Images are available on the web

InSight image acquired on November 27, 2018, Sol 1 (cropped)
NASA's InSight Mars lander acquired this image using its robotic arm-mounted, Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC). This image was acquired on November 27, 2018, Sol 1 where the local mean solar time for the image exposures was 13:32:45. Each IDC image has a field of view of 45 x 45 degrees. This is a cropped photo. You can see the raw image on NASA/JPL-Caltech webpage.

NASA’s InSight Mars Lander (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport – InSight) was launched on 5 May 2018 at 11:05 UTC aboard an Atlas V-401 rocket. It traveled 483 million kilometers (300 million miles) in almost six months and successfully landed at Elysium Planitia on Mars on 26 November 2018 at 19:52:59 UTC. Shortly after landing, it has sent back the first photo. Now, NASA publishes InSight Mission raw images on its website, you can see them any time you want on the mission’s multimedia webpage.

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