Welcome to The Grendelverse - Examining the universe with ever improving virtual senses, we are learning more each day.  Some findings are challenging fundamental principles, while others present entirely new questions.  Fascinating mysteries abound.  Join the Grendelcat for an independent review of the latest developments.

[Last Update: November 9th, 2023. Last Overhaul: May 25th, 2021]

Here Comes The Sun

(SDO/GSFC/NASA Service)

Touching Upon The Sleepy Sun - As the story goes, the Sun is a sphere of hot plasma.  Deep within, nuclear fusion churns several hundred million metric tons of hydrogen into helium every second.  This fusion reaction transmits light slowly out of the solar body over thousands of years.  Finally the light emerges, and after a brief 8 minute space-ride, it bathes the Earth's surface in life sustaining illumination.

    The Sun is postulated to have been around for about 4.5 billion years, and to have enough hydrogen fuel to keep going for another 5 billion years or so.  Within the Sun, a theoretical dynamo of convective processes sustains emission of a generally homogenous spectrum of light, while also generating fluctuating surface features, solar wind, magnetism and polarity.  These features include a roiling chaos of sunspots, towering solar twisters, massive filament structures, magnetic loops, solar flares and coronal mass ejections.  Yet this cacophony is not random.  Instead, our sun's song pulses with an 11 year alternating magnetic pole-flipping cadence of sunspot cycles.

    Spicules are the smallest feature we see on the Sun.  Of course, at Sun scales, 'smallest' is a relative term.  Spicules are radiating plasma jets moving 60 miles a second with lengths up to 6000 miles.  There are 10 million spicules blanketing the surface of the sun at a time, each appearing and receding over a brief 5-10 minute lifespan.  Models suggest they are sculpted by tangled magnetic field lines.  Once they are pulled above the surface, they straighten and expel magnetic waves and solar material at high speed.

    Next up we have the granules.  Thought to be caused by convective currents, the surface of the sun appears grainy due to these roughly thousand mile wide cells.  There are around 4 million of these covering the sun at a time, and like spicules, granules also have brief 8-20 minute lives before dissipating.

    Amidst this granulated ocean, sun spots sometimes emerge correlated to magnetic field motions.  These fields can become twisted and tangled and when the fields cross, this can lead to solar outbursts.  The polarity of sunspots and their orientation follow general rules through lifecycle progression.  Sunspots classified as Alpha are unipolar and tend to be the calmest.  Beta class sunspots are bipolar with a simple division between polarity regions.  Things sometimes get mixed up over Beta clusters causing an occasional flare, though Betas are generally mild mannered.  After Beta class sunspots, there are various mixtures and combinations of Beta, Delta, and Gamma classes describing more complex formations.  As the field lines arc above, they can loft streams of matter into coronal rains.  The complex polarity can tangle the field lines angling above sometimes leading to major flare flashes, filament releases and coronal mass ejections.

    Solar flares launch spikes of radiation arriving at earth 8 minutes later.  Unless we can figure out how to use quantum entanglement to communicate faster than light, no detector would be able to outrace the light of the flare to provide a warning one was on the way.  So, studying sunspots and predicting probability of flare generation is the best we can do.  The GOES satellite X-Ray flux feeds can be useful to determine the severity of these events after the fact.  Spikes in the M range are serious flares, and if you happen to see it go more than a few notches into X class range, it is a miracle you still have internet and are seeing it at all.

    In addition to light emission and flares, the sun projects somewhat slower moving gusts of particles in the solar wind as vast amorphous features called coronal holes open up around the sun and spiral material outward into the solar system like a twirling figure skater discharging a super-soaker.  These solar winds include elements across the periodic table.

Solar Wind Monitor

[Bz (North/South field orientation), Phi Angle, Density, Speed, Temperature]
(DSCOVR/NOAA Service)
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center: Real Time Solar Wind

ENLIL Solar Wind Spiral

(iSWA Cygnet)

    Energetic particle flows and electromagnetic fields modulate planetary ionospheres throughout the solar system.  An obvious symptom of this energy transfer are auroras lighting up the poles of planets during solar storms.  Auroras are seen on all planets with a significant magnetosphere.  Solar output cycles and outbursts have also been correlated across many planets and moons with weather patterns, earthquakes, geysers, and volcanic activity.

    Lack of solar activity during the ebb of the 11 year cycle and during occasional extended solar minimums also has an important effect.  When the Sun's heliosphere weakens, its shielding against cosmic background radiation decreases.  Cosmic ray counts rise during periods of weak solar output.  This increases volcanic activity and atmospheric cloud production, and it impacts biology as well.  In terms of human health, we have a solar wind sweet spot between too much and not enough which is tracked in the Kp Index.

Kp Index

Health risks are associated both to Kp over 4 or remaining at 0 for consecutive intervals.
These health effects last 12-18 hours from the time of the event.
(NOAA Service)  Health Risk Chart - Space Weather News.

     One of the least established concepts in science hovers around what is happening on the surface of the sun and how it can emit a continuous frequency spectrum known as blackbody radiation.  One fascinating theory is that metallic hydrogen in a plasma state forms a lattice similar to graphite and could be the explanation of the behaviors at the surface of our sun.  Kirchhoff's law of thermal radiation is in the process of being debunked as this study progresses and serious people in the field are taking notice.  In addition to shaking the pillars of astrophysics, this also calls into question mechanisms for star formation. 

    Some plasma theorists take issue with the standard accretion model of the Sun suggesting instead, stars are shocked into existence as toroidal plasmoid spheres and that those same energy flows may persist and modulate the cyclical behaviors of stars.  Some have even suggested these flows could be a primary mechanism lighting up the stellar photosphere like Auroras do on Earth but in full glow mode.

    Energy flows necessary to support plasmoids or to light up the gas surrounding a star like a light bulb may be discovered as powerful currents and charged particle flows seem to be hiding everywhere we look a bit closer.  To understand if energies from the galaxy or cosmos create stars on filaments or supercharge stars into a plasma glow mode, we need to check the battery to see how much juice they're getting.

    One way to do that is to investigate the heliosphere boundary where the Sun's solar wind meets the interstellar medium at the edge of the Sun's heliopause.  Our understanding of this important boundary is limited.  Critical interactions are taking place with charged / neutral particle flows, dust clouds, magnetic fields, plasma current, cosmic radiation and even the rippling galactic energy sheet, but the periphery of the heliosphere is very far away.  Only the Voyager probes have crossed into the boundary and phoned home to tell their tale.  Both have provided tantalizing hints about what might be going on, but we have much to learn.  An unexpected update from Voyager 2 was recently accomplished using a deep space network dish.  New findings indicate plasma density readings are exceeding expectations.  This could mean the interstellar medium is less empty than expected or that the heliosphere boundary can be variable and sometimes much wider than expected.  It could also mean that conditions are changing.

   In the other direction looking toward the Sun, investigations are rocketing forward.  The Parker Solar Probe has become the fastest object ever tossed by humans into the heavens.  The reason for all this haste is that the Parker Probe is zipping past the sun at increasingly closer ranges attempting to unlock the mysteries of the corona and to better understand solar wind and space weather.  It will keep breaking the speed record on every pass.  If all goes according to plan, Parker should hit a max relative velocity in 2025 of 430,000 MPH. 

    It is hoped that this probe may uncover clues about the mechanics of the solar cycle and regular magnetic poles flips.  The causes of Grand Solar Minima (Maunder, Dalton, Spörer - wiki) may also be better understood.  This would be timely, as it appears we are headed for another Grand minimum within the next few solar cycles and nobody knows how deeply the sun will sleep or for how long.

    Various other probes and observation platforms are peering at the sun with an eye toward improving our understanding.  (Solar Orbiter, Hi-C, SOHO, GOES, SDO, STEREO, DSCOVR, Swarm, Hinode, PICARD, Glory, RHESSI, ACE, Wind, POLMAG).  A revolution in our capacity to comprehend what the Sun is doing is well underway.  Predicting what the Sun is making plans to do beyond sunspot cycle generalities may prove to be vital to our survival.  In order to do this, many are calling for the next observation satellite to be deployed to the L5 Lagrange point to provide a high resolution view of the face of the sun before it turns to face Earth.

    Beyond learning how to persistently cohabitate with our Sun, perhaps learning to effectively harness this mighty engine is the great hurdle we must overcome to progress our civilization to the next level as Kardashev suggests.  The secrets that our Sun has yet to reveal are sure to be of the most epic importance to humanity.  So . . . stay tuned.

- Sun - NASA.
- Solar Flare - by Sentient Cement / Grendelcat Lair demo.  Song by Timmy about a solar flare.  Investigates the question of who might have concerns after a really big one.
- How long does it take light to get out from the inside of the Sun? - by Dr. Sten Odenwald / NASA IMAGE Education Center.  Spoiler alert: They have it narrowed down to somewhere between 4,000 to millions of years for light to escape the Sun.  This nebulous framework and the theoretical processes around it could be said to be a the epicenter of the dispute between plasma theory and the rest.
- Glory in the Sky: New Satellite Set to Monitor the Sun and Reflected Heat to Determine Climate Effects - by Anne Minard / Scientific American 22FEB11.
- NASA science satellite lost . . .by William Harwood / CNet 04MAR11.
- What Causes the Sun's Magnetic Field Flip - by Mike Wall / Space.com 12AUG13.
- Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR): NOAA’s New Deep Space Solar Monitoring Satellite Launches by Brian Dunbar / NASA 11FEB15.
- STEREO: Two Satellites Have Spent 10 Years Staring at the Sun - by Darren Orf / Popular Mechanics 25OCT16
- Modern Solar Grand Maximum Ends: ‘Little Ice Age’ Cooling Coming! - by Kenneth Richard / Principia Scientific 11APR17.
- Scientists Uncover Origins of the Sun’s Swirling Spicules - by Lina Tran / NASA 22JUN17.
- Solar Minimum Is Coming - by NASA 27JUN17.
- The Parker Satellite Explained! "NASA Touches the Sun!" - by Sky Scholar P. M. Robitaille (YT) 07JAN18.
- The Sun Is Spitting Out Strange Patterns of Gamma Rays and No One Knows Why - by Shannon Hall / Scientific American 28MAR18.
- What is Solar Wind? - by Nola Taylor Redd / Space.com 19MAY18.
- Parker Solar Probe Launches On Historic Journey To Touch The Sun - by Science Daily 12AUG18.
- The Chill of Solar Minimum - by Tony Phillips 27SEP18.
- Parker Solar Probe Breaks Record, Becomes Closest Spacecraft to Sun by Sarah Frazier / Goddard 29OCT18.
- Central Nervous System Responses to Simulated Galactic Cosmic Rays - by Egle Cekanaviciute et al. / NCBI 20NOV18.  Among the health effects from cosmic rays and cognition and psychology: Diminished motor function and reaction time, migraines, seizures, depression, anxiety, emotional instability, cognitive loss, and probably suicide rate.  Note: We are entering modern cosmic ray maximum.
- The Solar and Interplanetary Causes of Superstorms by Xing Meng et al. / JGR SPace Physics 30APR19.
- NASA Ties Launch Failures of Climate-Science Missions to Aluminum Manufacturer - by Mike Wall / Space.com 01MAY19.
- Electric Current Neutralization in Solar Active Regions and its Relation to Magnetic Shear and Eruptive Activity - by Ellis A. Avallone et al / Solar Atmospheric and Interplanetary Environment 01MAY19.
- The Sun Is Stranger Than Astrophysicists Imagined - by Natalie Wolchover / Quanta Magazine 01MAY19.
- Solar Activity Forecast For Next Decade Favorable For Exploration - by Abigail Tabor / NASA 12JUN19.
- NASA's Mission To Touch The Sun Surprises During First Data Delivery - by Jackson Ryan / CNet 01AUG19.
- When Will the Sun Die? - by JoAnna Wendel / Space.com 07AUG19.
- Temporal and Spatial Evolutions of a Large Sunspot Group and Great Auroral Storms Around the Carrington Event in 1859 - by Hayakawa et al. 29AUG19.
- NASA's Record-Breaking Parker Solar Probe Aces 3rd Sun Flyby- by Mike Wall / Space.com 04SEP19.
- Cosmic Rays are Nearing a Space Age Maximum - by Dr. Tony Phillips / Space Weather 03OCT19.
- Voyager 2 Illuminates Boundary of Interstellar Space - by Calla Cofield / JPL 04NOV19.
- Voyager 2's Trip to Interstellar Space Deepens Some Mysteries Beyond Our Solar System - by Mike Wall / Space.com 04NOV19.
- There's a Violent Battle Between Solar Wind and Cosmic Rays, and Voyager 2 Just Passed Through it - by Brandom Specktor / Live Science 22NOV19.
- NASA's Parker Probe Sheds New Light On The Sun - by Sarah Frazier / NASA Goddard Space Flight Center 04DEC19.  5 discoveries so far and counting . . .
- Parker Solar Probe: We're Missing Something Fundamental About The Sun - by Nicole Casal Moore / University Of Michigan 04DEC19.  Solar wind and particle flows have been found to be tremendously more dynamic than expected.  "Rotational flows are 10 to 20 times greater than what standard models of the sun predict."
- Abrupt Shrinking of Solar Corona in the Late 1990s - by Virtanen et al. / Astrophysical Journal 27JAN20.
- The Near-Sun Dust Environment: Initial Observations from Parker Solar Probe - by J.R. Szalay et al. / American Astronomical Society 03FEB20.
- Solar photosphere magnetization - by Véronique Bommier / EDP Sciences 06FEB20.
- On the shape of the local bubble - by Lorenzo Zaninetti / Turin, Italy 07FEB20.  Evidence for the supermassive star that used to exist in this region before our sun and other solar neighbors were formed.
- Lagrange mission to provide solar warning - by ESA 12FEB20.
- Dependence of Intensities of Major Geomagnetic Storms (Dst ≤-100 nT) on Associated Solar Wind Parameters - by Gui-Ming Le et al. / NASA ADS 01MAR20.  Density is more important than speed in the effect of solar storms.
- Turbulent convection at the heart of stellar activity - by Max Planck 09MAR20.
- The IAC presents the video of the POLMAG project - by IAC 13MAR20.  A focus on understanding the sun's magnetic personality.
- The Effect of Magnetic Field Strength on Star Formation - by Benjamin Wu et al. / Astrophysical Journal 17MAR20.
- The Role of Magnetic Fields in the Formation of Stars - by Derek Ward-Thompson / Frontiers 19MAR20.  Not much has really changed since this 1980 version.
- Large-Scale Solar Magnetic Fields - by M. L. Demidov et al. / Solar Physics 15APR20.
- Electromagnetic induction heating as a driver of volcanic activity on massive rocky planets - by Kristina Kislyakova and Lena Noack / Astronomy and Astrophysics 15APR20.
- Electric current evolution at the footpoints of solar eruptions - by Krzysztof Barczynski et al. / 20APR20.
- Toward a New Paradigm in the Analysis of Asteroseismic Lightcurves - by Juan Carlos Suárez et al. / Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences 21APR20.  Emission and convective dynamos don't work like they thought.
- Research provides new insights into the evolution of stars - by Lindsey Valich / Rochester 24APR20.  Plasma doesn't behave like they thought at high pressure.
- New Insight Into Parker Solar Probe's Early Observations - by Sarah Frazier / NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center 29APR20.
- Rings and arcs around evolved stars. II. The Carbon Star AFGL 3068 and the Planetary Nebulae NGC 6543, NGC 7009 and NGC 7027 - by M.A. Guerrero et al. / 30APR20.
- The Sun is pretty dull - by Birgit Krummheuer et al. / Max Planck Institute 30APR20.  Stars like ours seem to flare a lot more than ours does, at least from what we've seen so far.
- Weird country-size 'campfires' on the sun revealed in closest-ever photos - by Meghan Bartels / Space.com 16JUL20.
- ...Galactic Cosmic Ray LET Spectra in Lunar Orbit... - by M.D. Looper et al. / AGU 04NOV20.  We have achieved historical cosmic ray max.
- NASA Contacts Voyager 2 Using Upgraded Deep Space Network Dish - by Calla Cofield / NASA 02NOV20.
- Inouye Solar Telescope Releases First Image of a Sunspot - by NSO/AURA/NSF 03DEC20.
- The relevance of nuclear reactions for Standard Solar Models construction - by Francesco L. Villante et al. / Front. Earth Sci 11DEC20.
- Energy Partition in the Sun - Liquid Metallic Hydrogen Model - by PM Robitaille - by PM Robitialle / Sky Scholar (YT) 12DEC20.
- Nuclear Reactions in the Sun! - by PM Robitialle / Sky Scholar (YT) 29DEC20.
- Seismology & Surface Tension - on the Sun! - by PM Robitialle / Sky Scholar (YT) 06JAN21.
- Downflowing umbral flashes as an evidence of standing waves in sunspot umbrae - by T. Felipe et al. / A&A 11JAN21.
- Experimental Supporting Evidence - Lattice Confinement Fusion Reactions & the Sun! - by PM Robitialle / Sky Scholar (YT) 12JAN21.
- Prominence instability and CMEs triggered by massive coronal rain in the solar atmosphere - by Z. Vashalomidze et al. / AANDA 28SEP21.  Coronal Rain.
- NASA's superfast Parker Solar Probe just broke it[s] own speed record at the sun - by Elizabeth Howell / Space 23NOV21.
- The Parker Solar Probe is getting pelted by hypervelocity dust. Could it damage the spacecraft? - by Andy Tomaswick / Universe Today 30NOV21.
- Space Probe Launched in 1977 Begins Beaming Back 'Impossible' Data from Beyond the Solar System - by Mike Landry / Western Journal 20MAY22.
- Magnetic Field Observations in the Very Local Interstellar Medium by Voyagers 1 and 2 - by L.F. Burlaga et al. / Astrophysics Journal 15JUN22.
- The Chromosphere & Second Solar Spectrum: Monitoring the Chemical Playground of the Sun! - by PM Robitialle / Sky Scholar (YT) 12DEC22.
- Hubble Detects Ghostly Glow Surrounding Our Solar System - by  Timothy Carleton and Rogier Windhorst / Arizona State University - NASA 08DEC22.
- Relative Solar Abundances of the Elements: A 100 year perspective - by PM Robitialle / Sky Scholar (YT) 12DEC22.
- Higher metal abundances do not solve the solar problem - by G. Buldgen et al. / Astronomy & Astrophysics 14DEC22.
- Astrophysics Papers vs Einstein Coefficients: Chemical Coordination & The Second Solar Spectrum - by PM Robitialle / Sky Scholar (YT) 26DEC22.
- Beryllium - Hide and Seek in the Sun! - by PM Robitialle / Sky Scholar (YT) 01JAN23.
- The Second Solar Spectrum and The Enigmatic Sodium D1 Line - by PM Robitialle / Sky Scholar (YT) 25MAR23.
- Helium, Fireflies & The Sun: Group II Elements & the temperature of the Corona - by PM Robitialle / Sky Scholar (YT) 28APR23.
- Image: Sunspot by NSO/AURA/NSF (CC4.0) Link
- Image: Parker Probe by Steve Gribben / NASA / Johns Hopkins / APL (Public Domain) Link

Mercury, Breaker of Models - The existence of this extremely compact dense ball of mostly metal whipping so closely around the Sun continues to elude explanation as to its manner of formation and some of its features.  It has developed a reputation for being a model breaker, for example, being the only planet that deviates from the general trend of planets being more dense the further away they are from the Sun.

    One hypothesis is that Mercury is the leftover core from a cataclysmic planetary crash.  This is supported by the oblong warbling orbit whipping it close and then farther from the sun each 88 day Mercurial year.  Others have suggested Mercury might once have been a gas giant like we have been finding so frequently near stars like ours elsewhere in the Milky Way and that it has had it's atmosphere blown away or eaten by the Sun leaving nothing but a metallic core.  These theories aren't mutually exclusive.

    Mercury also presents an anomaly of "small hollows" scattered across the metallic surface discovered by the Messenger probe.  Messenger ended its mission by adding its own 50 foot crater with a grand finale in 2015 slamming into the surface.  The next probe on the way to dig even deeper is Bepi Columbo with a scheduled arrival for flyby braking starting in 2021.  In addition to examining the crater from Messenger, when it starts the orbital science mission in 2026 BepiColumbo will investigate the mysterious hollows and the interaction between the solar wind and Mercury's magnetic field.

- Mercury - NASA.
- Mercury's first visit: Mariner 10 - NASA.
- Second probe to Mercury: Messenger - NASA.
- BepiColombo probe headed to Mercury - NASA.
- Scientists discover water ice on Mercury - by Jennifer Chu / MIT 29NOV12.
- How Was Mercury Formed - by Nola Taylor Redd / Space.com 04OCT16.  Nice elaborate documentation of the love affair of the mainstream with accretion theory, and how accretion alone fails to explain much of anything about Mercury.
- BepiColombo Blasts Off In Pursuit Of Einstein - by Philippa Cole / Astrobites.org 29OCT18.
- BepiColombo Launches This Weekend to Crack Mysteries of Mercury and Beyond - by Meghan Bartels / Space.com 18OCT18.
- BepiColombo Spacecraft Documents 1st Year in Space with Selfies - by Samantha Mathewson / Space.com 25OCT19.
- Innovative model of the dynamic magnetic field that surrounds Mercury - by John Greenwald / PPPL 02APR20.
- What a view! Mercury probe snaps stunning photos of our planet during Earth flyby - by Meghan Bartels / Space.com 10APR20.
- Image: Mercury Colorized by skeeze (Pixabay) Link

STEVE Of Earth, And His Lovely Green Picket Fence - Steve is a what instead of a who.  Also a bit of a why.  Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancements are similar to aurora related phenomenon.  The mystery surrounding the energetic behavior of this peculiar display generates quite a bit of study.

    Images and vids of this event are quite stunning.  Steve is the purple ribbon.  His picket fence are the green highlights cascading nearby.

- Meet STEVE The Aurora-Like Mystery - Sarah Lewin / Space.com 14MAR18.
- What Powers Celestial Phenomenon STEVE - Lauren Lipuma / AGU100 25APR19.
- A mechanism for the STEVE continuum emission - by Brian J. Harding et al. / Geophysical Research Letters 18MAR20.
- Observational evidence and formation mechanism of low‐density cells in the upper thermosphere on 8 September 2017 - by Liangliang Yuan and Shuanggen Jin / JGR Space Physics 25DEC20.
- Image: STEVE by NASA (Public Domain) Link

    In a convincing example, cold air temperatures on the ground in the US, were correlated with noctilucent cloud frequencies high above Antarctica two weeks later.  Beware though, of jumping to conclusions about causation.  Is the weather in the US somehow causing these clouds 2 weeks later in Antarctica, or is something else entirely causing both things with a 2 week delay down under?

- Unexpected Teleconnections in Noctilucent Clouds - by Dr. Tony Phillips 16APR14.
- NASA detects strange electric-blue clouds over Antarctica - by Anthony Watts 08JAN18.
- Image: Noctilucent Clouds Stockholm by Kevin Cho (Kee Pil Cho) (CC3.0) Link

   An avalanche of science is emerging that demonstrates the importance of the planetary ionosphere-magnetosphere connections to the sun and that these energy flows extend into the ground (lithosphere) as well.  Field lines from the Sun twist and reconnect to solar objects like the planets in patterns we are just starting to be able to see well enough to identify.  Earthquake likelihood and severity might be modulated along with or directly by the Sun.

    A fascinating subject in this arena is Earthshine.  Earth does produce its own outgoing radiation, and this is something we've only recently started to be able to measure well enough to find patterns.  Studies demonstrating that OLR anomalies often take place prior to major earthquakes have been around for decades.  (Pre-Earthquake Processes: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Earthquake Prediction Studies - by American Geophysical Union 01JUL18). Now our improved OLR measurements are beginning to provide data needed to make models and predictions.  More granularity is needed to improve our ability to sift through a noisy baseline and identify these brief signals well enough to use them for reliable warnings.

Outgoing Longwave Radiation Anomaly

(NOAA/ESRL/PSD Service)

- MagneticReversal.org.
- Examples of Grand Solar Minima (Maunder, Dalton, Spörer - wiki)
- The Maracaibo beacon - by Agnieszka Gautier / NASA.
- A Super Solar Flare - NASA 06MAY08.  The Carrington Event solar storm.
- Explosive Volcanic Eruptions Triggered By Cosmic Rays - by Gondwana Research June 2011.
- No link between solar activity and earthquakes - by Harriet Jarlett / PlantetEarth Online 11APR13.  A hubris soaked assumption that the measurements being examined in this study encompass all the relevant types of data needed to legitimately refute the overall theory.  Spoiler alert, this epic fail is because they weren't looking for signs of this behavior in the right kinds of measurements.
- The never-ending lightning storm - by Alexandra Ossola / Scienceline 25AUG14. Catabumbo.
- This Venezuelan Lake Gets More Lightning Than Anywhere Else on Earth - by David Nield / Science Alert 19AUG15.
- Earth's New Lightning Capital Revealed - by Ryan Connelly / NASA 02MAY16.
- Tracking Changes in Earth’s Magnetic Poles - NCEI / NOAA 28MAR16.
- The #1 Risk To Earth - by Ben Davidson / Suspicious Observers 20APR16.
- Scientists probe lightning hotspot to predict future strikes - by Rachel Berkowitz / Nature 15AUG16.
- Solar Activity Has A Direct Impact On Earth's Cloud Cover by Morten Garly Andersen 25AUG16.
- The Heliosphere - by Holly Zell / NASA 07AUG17.
- Current Systems in the Earth’s Magnetosphere - by N. Yu. Ganushkina et al. / Reviews of Geophysics 08MAR18.
- Earth's Magnetic North Pole Has Shifted So Much We've Had To Update GPS - by Sarah Kaplan / Science Alert 06FEB19.
- Ancient Earth’s Weakened Magnetic Field May Have Driven Mass Extinction - by Jim Daley / Scientific American 15FEB19.
- Weak Solar Cycle: Cosmic Rays Increase 4th Year In a Row by Anthony Watts 21FEB19.
- Experts Predict A Long, Deep Solar Minimum / by Dr, Tony Phillips 10APR19.
- The Role of Geomagnetic Field Intensity in Late Quaternary Evolution of Humans and Large Mammals by L. Vigliotti / Reviews Of Geophysics 29MAY19.
- Habitability decline during magnetic field reversals - NYUAD Researcher Discovers Exoplanets Can Be Made Less Habitable By Stars’ Flares - by NYUAD 16DEC19.
- Earth's Magnetic North Pole Keeps Moving Towards Siberia at a Mysteriously Fast Pace - by Peter Dockrill / Science Alert 18DEC19.
- Ancient Australian crystals unlock history of Earth's first magnetic field - by Rafi Letzter / Space.com 22JAN20.
- When Plasma Streams Tie up Equatorial Plasma Irregularities with Auroral Ones - by Zakharenkova et al. / Space Weather 05FEB20.
- Ongoing Magnetic Excursion Triggered by the Sun - by Ben Davidson / Suspicious Observers 25FEB20.  @ 4:10 into the SO news, Citizen scientist discovery by Tuomo Leppänen.  The 1859 Carrington event is correlated to the emergence of the north pole excursion track.
- Analysis of Ionospheric TEC Anomalies for Global Earthquakes during 2000-2019 with respect to Earthquake Magnitude (Mw≥6.0) - by Mustafa Ulukavak et al. / Journal Of Geodynamics 07MAR20.
- The persistent ionospheric responses over Japan after the impact of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake - by Min-Yang Chou et al. / AGU 13MAR20.
- Possible ionosphere and atmosphere precursory analysis related to Mw > 6.0 earthquakes in Japan - by Munawar Shah et al. / Remote Sensing Of Environment 15MAR20.
- Contribution of ionospheric TEC anomalies to detecting the seismic precursors related to the 2008 Oran-Algeria event - by A. Tachema et al. / Science Direct 19MAR20.
- The Polar Wind Modulated by the Spatial Inhomogeneity of the Strength of the Earth's Magnetic Field - by Kun Li et al. / JGR Space Physics 25MAR20.  Weak magnetosphere + strong solar activity = Earth shooting its atmosphere out the poles.
- Ionospheric response to the June 2015 geomagnetic storm in the South American region - by Eduardo Perez Macho et al. / Advances in Space Research 01MAY20.
- On the correlation between solar activity and large earthquakes worldwide - by Vito Marchitelli et al. 05APR20.
- The CHAOS-7 geomagnetic field model and observed changes in the South Atlantic Anomaly - by Findley et al. / Earth Planets & Space 20OCT20.  Weakening of earth's magnetic fields continues to accelerate.
- Machine Learning‐Based Detection of Earthquake Precursors Using Ionospheric Data - by A A. Akyol et al. / 17NOV20.
- The location of the Earth's magnetic poles from circum‐terrestrial observations - by M. Regi et al. / JGR Space Physics 17DEC20.
- Electrodynamical Coupling of the Geospace System during Solar Flares - by Jing Liu et al. / JGR Space Physics 20DEC20.
- Implementation of Ionospheric Generators in the Numerical Model of the Global Electric Circuit - by F.A. Kuterin and N.N. Slyunyaev / Geomagn. Aeron. 21DEC20.
- Energy from solar wind favours the north - by ESA 12JAN21.
- Global Magnetosphere Response to Solar Wind Dynamic Pressure Pulses During Northward IMF Using the Heliophysics System Observatory - by S.E. Vidal-Luengo et al. / 16JAN21.
- Image: Earth Magnetic Field A by Steele Hill / NASA (Public Domain) Link

    Mars has entertained a crowd of earthly robotic visitors over the years.  Not many of the early travelers made it the distance.  But if at first you don't succeed . . . try try try again.  Tries: Marsnik 1 (Launch fail), Marsnik 2 (Launch fail), Sputnik 22 (Destroyed hitting orbit), Mars 1 (Lost comms), Sputnik 24 (Crashed back to Earth), Mariner 3 (Lost power), Mariner 4 (Successful flyby), Zond 2 (Lost comms), Mars 1969A (Launch fail), Mars 1969B (Launch fail), Mariner 8 (Launch fail), Kosmos 419 (Lost in transit), Mars 2 Orbiter (Success), Mars 2 Lander (Crashed on Mars), Mars 3 Orbiter (Success), Mars 3 Lander (Lost comms), Mariner 9 Orbiter (Success), Mars 4 (Missed Mars), Mars 5 (Died hitting Mars Orbit), Mars 6 Flyby (Success), Mars 6 Lander (Crashed on Mars), Mars 7 Flyby (Success), Mars 7 Lander (Missed Mars), Viking 1 & 2 each with orbiter and lander (Success).  Finally.

    Through the 90's a string of additional missions continued but these were not all stellar performances either.  The tremendously expensive Mars Observer was lost in transit.  Russia kept trying too, but Mars 96 suffered yet another launch fail.  Soldiering on, we started to see an upturn.  Mars Global Surveyor was a tremendous success story extending the mission well beyond expected lifespan.  More wins came with the Pathfinder and Sojourner rover missions.  Lest we forget how hard this can be, we next had the Mars Climate Orbiter burned up in the Martian sky and the Mars Polar Lander crashed on the surface.

    This century's Odyssey became the longest serving spacecraft thus far, and the Spirit and Opportunity rover missions wildly surpassed expectations.  Then ESA also gave Mars a shot with Mars Express / Beagle 2 which had a successful orbiter mission, but lost the lander.  The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has returned more Mars data than all other missions combined.  Phoenix came next and turned in 6 months of science before the Martian winter destroyed its solar panels.  The Russians gave it another try shepherding a Chinese lander Yinhuo-1 on the Phobos-Grunt mission, but this crashed before leaving Earth's orbit.

    This brings us to the recent and still active missions.  Tianwen-1 from China landed the tiny Zhurong rover successfully in 2021 capturing sights and sounds from the red planet for a successful mission.  NASA's InSight rover finished successful surface operations ending ops in December 2022.  Curiosity continues roving into uncharted territory having long finished its original mission, now just out doing some sight seeing.  The Perseverance rover achieved successful touchdown in 2021 and has been diligently gathering snapshots and samples.  Keeping Perseverence company, the first Martian helicopter, Ingenuity, has been stretching its rotors learning how to fly on Mars making dozens of  test flights.  India's MOM orbiter recently completed a successful run in 2022.  In active orbit missions, we have MAVEN continuing extended operations from Boulder, CU, and the ESA's Trace Gas Orbiter which has been on station since 2018.  The ESA ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Rover is being prepared for a 2028 launch developing expert drilling skills in plans to dig deeper than ever before in the search for evidence of life on Mars.

- Mars - NASA.
- Mars Atmosphere Is Supersaturated With Water - by ESA / Astrobiology 02OCT11.
- Beagle-2 lander found on Mars - by ESA 16JAN15
- A Superconducting Shield for Astronauts - by Antonella Del Rosso / CERN 09SEP15.
- The Fact and Fiction of Martian Dust Storms - by Kathryn Mersmann / Goddard 18SEP15.
- Mars Global Surveyor: A New Generation of Space Probes - by Elizabeth Howell / Space 11APR16.
- Red Planet Heats Up: Ice Age Ending on Mars - by Charles Q. Choi / Space.com 26MAY16.
- How bad is the radiation on Mars? - by Matt Williams / Phys.org 21NOV16.
- NASA Wants to Launch a Giant Magnetic Field to Make Mars Habitable - by Peter Dockrill / Science Alert 06MAR17.
- And Then Silence: 25 Years Since the Rise and Fall of Mars Observer - by Ben Evans / America Space 24SEP17.
- Mars Express Detects Liquid Water Hidden Under Planet’s South Pole - by the European Space Agency 25JUL18.
- Water on Mars: Exploration & Evidence - by Nola Taylor Redd / Space.com 18AUG18.
- Travelling to Mars and deep into space could kill astronauts by destroying their guts - by Andrew Griffin /  The Independent 02OCT18.
- A Brief History of Mars Missions - by Elizabeth Howell / Space 08APR19.
- New water cycle on Mars discovered - by Max Planck Society / Phys.org 10MAY19.
- A Giant Hole in the Martian Atmosphere Is Venting All Its Water into Space - by Rafi Letzter / Live Science 13MAY19.
- China’s first Mars spacecraft undergoing integration for 2020 launch - by Andrew Jones / Spacenews 29MAY19.
- Mars' Mysterious, Intense Dust Storms Appear to Be Cyclical - by Evan Gough / Universe Today 18JUN19.
- NASA Rover on Mars Detects Puff of Gas That Hints at Possibility of Life - by Kenneth Chang / New York Times 22JUN19.
- Dust storms swirl at the north pole of Mars - by /ESA 04JUL19.
- I’m Convinced We Found Evidence of Life on Mars in the 1970s - by Gilbert V. Levin / Scientific American 10OCT19.
- The Debate Over Whether We’ve Already Found Life on Mars, Continued - by Dirk Shulze-Maruch / Airpsacemag 23OCT19.
- The Mars 2020 rover will visit the perfect spot to find signs of life - by Sarah Kaplan / Washington Post 16NOV19.
- Bold space mission to bring back rocks from Mars takes shape - by Daniel Clery, Paul Voosen / Science 21NOV19 - Europe's planned Earth return orbiter.
- Global Storms on Mars Launch Dust Towers Into the Sky - by NASA 26NOV19
- ‘Marsquakes’ reveal red planet’s hidden geology - by Alexandra Witze / Nature 13DEC19.
- The Last Mars Panorama Sent by Opportunity Is So Beautiful We Could Cry - by Mike McRae / ScienceAlert 24DEC19.
- China launches powerful rocket in boost for 2020 Mars mission - by Jing Xuan Teng / Phys.org 27DEC19.
- NASA's Mars 2020 Rover Completes Its First Drive - by NASA 28DEC19.
- NASA's New Mars 2020 Car May Look Like the Curiosity Rover, But It's No Twin - by Elizabeth Howell / Space.com 03JAN20.
- Mars Loses Its Water Even Faster Than Anyone Thought - by Charles Q. Choi / Space.com 09JAN20.
- Mars' water was mineral-rich and salty - by Fukushi et al. / Tokyo Tech News 23JAN20.
- Mystery at Mars pole explained - by California Institute of Technology / Phys.org 29JAN20.
- Magnetic field at Martian surface ten times stronger than expected - by UBC News / NASA 24FEB20.
- The dark dunes of Mars: Moreux crater - by ESA / Mars Express 05MAR20.
- Study finds organic molecules discovered by Curiosity Rover consistent with early life on Mars - by Sara Zaske / WSU 05MAR20.
- Super high frequency events: a new class of events recorded by the InSight seismometers on Mars - by Nikolaj L. Dahmen et al. / AGU 28OCT20.  Mars quake changes becoming more anomalous as they continue to increase.
- Powerful electrical events quickly alter surface chemistry on Mars and other planetary bodies - by Shawn Ballard / Washington U. in St. Louis 14DEC20.
- Dreaming of a red Christmas: Festive features spotted near Mars’ south pole - by ESA 17DEC20.
- A mysterious 'wobble' is moving Mars' poles around - by Brandon Specktor / Space 10JAN21.  Related to the increase in quakes maybe?
- Touchdown! NASA's Perseverance rover lands on Mars to begin hunt for signs of ancient life - by Mike Wall / Space.com 18FEB21.
- HKU geologist proposes the number of ancient Martian lakes might have been dramatically underestimated by scientists - by University Of Hong Kong 16SEP22.
- 1st Image: Mars Osiris by European Space Agency (CC3.0) Link
- 2nd Image: Mars Rover by NASA (Public Domain) Link

Surfin' Jupiter's Cloudwaves - It appears that the upper atmosphere of Jupiter behaves a lot more like the surface of an ocean than clouds as we know them on Earth, with dynamic wave behaviors on the surface.  This is just one of numerous revelations from the Juno mission.  Juno took a close look at Jupiter's poles, and the results were described as being "like nothing we had ever seen or imagined before" - Scott Bolton, mission leader.  Symmetric storm clusters thousands of miles wide dance and whirl in astounding lightning punctuated patterns.  The lightning seemed to have a preference for the north pole adding a new mystery.

    Juno also peered hundreds of miles into Jupiter's atmospheric layers finding that the stripes go deep.  Said Bolton, "Whatever's making those stripes, is still existing pretty far down into Jupiter."  Juno also found Jupiter to have off-kilter gravity with slightly higher pull in the northern hemisphere.  Jupiter's magnetic field is also wonky and 2x stronger than expected.  The auroras were 10x-30x stronger than expected.  Juno also took a gander at Jupiter's moon Io and found yet another volcano to add to the 150 identified of the expected 400 needed to explain Io's sulfurous atmosphere.

    Jupiter is our solar system's largest planet.  It is 2x the mass of all other planets combined.  Jupiter has a surprisingly fast rotation with just a 10 hour day over its 12 year trip around the sun.  Electrons whipping around the equator are juiced up nearly to the speed of light.  Jupiter is kept company by 4 large moons, sometimes visible using a small telescope or even a pair of binoculars: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.  Another 75+ smaller moons provide a lively Jovian audience.

    Jupiter has been a popular pit stop for probes snatching a required slingshot heading to other destinations.  Prior missions included Pioneer 10 (Heading out of solar system toward Aldeberan, lost comms in 2003), Pioneer 11 (Headed toward center of galaxy, lost comms in 1995), Voyager 1 (Heading out of solar system, most distant manmade object), Voyager 2 (Studying the border of the heliosphere), Galileo (First dedicated Jupiter probe, dropped an instrument pack into Jupiter), Ulysses (Slingshot around Jupiter so it could orient to and study the poles of the Sun), Cassini-Huygens (Flyby heading to Saturn) and New Horizons (Flyby heading to Pluto).

    The ESA's Juice mission has launched and is on the way for a July, 2031 arrival target.  Another planned mission is NASA's Europa Clipper, scheduled for an October 2024 launch targeting an earlier April 2030 Jupiter orbit insertion.

- Jupiter - NASA.
- Junocam - Citizen science project and Juno image library.
- The source of radiation from Jupiter at decimeter wavelengths - by George B. Field June, 1960.
- Io Creates Spots on Jupiter - by Charles Q. Choi / Space.com 17MAR08.
- Big Mystery: Jupiter Loses a Stripe - by Dr Tony Phillips / NASA 20MAY10.
- Jupiter's Missing Cloud Stripe Bounces Back Big Time - by Space.com 25NOV10.
- Target: Jupiter - Missions to the Solar System's Largest Planet - by Clara Moskowitz / Space.com 04AUG11.
- Now Broadcasting From Radio Jupiter - by News Staff / Scientific Blogging 27AUG12.
- Looking at Jupiter's radio frequencies - by Brian Koberlein, One Universe at a Time / Phys.org 10SEP14.
- What's Powering Auroras on Jupiter? NASA's Juno Probe Finds Puzzling Clues - by Calla Cofield / Space.com 06SEP17.
- NASA Juno Findings - Jupiter’s Jet-Streams Are Unearthly - by DC Agle / JPL,Dwayne Brown / Laurie Cantillo / NASA 07MAR18.
- A dozen new moons of Jupiter discovered, including one “oddball” - by Carnegie Science 16JUL18.
- Jupiter or Earth? [Storm pattern similarities] - by Kathryn Hansen / Earth Observatory 18JUL18.
- NASA's $1 billion Jupiter spacecraft is probing the planet's deepest secrets — here are Juno's biggest discoveries so far - by Dave Mosher / Business Insider 17SEP18.
- Juno Sees Mega-waves On Jupiter - by Cosmosmagazine 26OCT18.
- NASA Probe Captures Insanely Gorgeous And Moody New Photos of Jupiter - by Evan Gough / Science Alert 01JUL19.
- Hubble's New Portrait of Jupiter - by Claire Andreoli et al. / Goddard - Hubble 08AUG19.
- Jupiter: Our Solar System's Largest Planet - by Charles Q. Choi / Space.com 09AUG19.
- Incredible Views of Jupiter From NASA's 'JunoCam' - by VideoFromSpace / YT 22SEP19.
- Astronomers Measure Wind Speed on a Brown Dwarf - by Katelyn Allers / Bucknell / NRAO / Spitzer 09APR20.  Take a planet the same size as Jupiter with 40x the theoretical mass.  Then add some super fast surface wind rotation and voila, you've got a brown dwarf.
- NASA's Juno Spacecraft Updates Quarter-Century Jupiter Mystery - by DC Agle et al. / NASA 11DEC20.  The brownish stripes are dry like deserts, and create "breaks in the cloud deck, providing a glimpse into Jupiter's deep atmosphere."
- Scientists stumped by strange polygon-shaped cyclones on Jupiter - by Patrick Reilly / NY Post 22SEP22.
- 1st Image: Jupiter by Hubble (Public Domain) Link
- 2nd Image: Jupiter Storm by Kevin Gill (CC2.0) Link

The Sizzling Energy Around Enceladus - 97% of the electrical energy flowing betwixt the moon Enceladus and its planet Saturn was invisible to detection until we flew through it.  A massive boon to the plasma theory proponents was this finding as it supports their contention that electric fields and charged particle flows in space can avoid detection.

    Enceladus is among the most likely place in our solar system where extraterrestrial life might be found hiding in the icy oceans beneath those spectacular south pole geysers.

- Enceladus - NASA.
- Where Are the Electrical Currents in the Enceladus Plume? - by Mark Zastrow / EOS 07JUL17.
- Enceladus Habitable: New SwRI Models Reveal Inner Complexity Of Saturn Moon - by SwRI 22JAN20.
- In some ways more habitable than Earth: SwRI models point to a potentially diverse metabolic menu at Enceladus - by SwRI 16DEC20.
- New evidence for habitability in Enceladus’s ocean - by SwRI 19SEP22.
- Image: Enceladus by NASA (Public Domain) Link

- 1st Image: Neptune by JPL (Public Domain) Link
- 2nd Image: Neptune Rings by James Webb / NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI (Public Domain) Link

    At 20 times the size of our sun, this monster is billowing massive volumes of dust and debris beyond the edge of what would be our sun's solar system and it is believed this ejected material is what is causing the dimming.  Well beyond the local disruptions, huge arcs are seen which are apparently bow shocks from Betelgeuse's red-faced tantrums.

- Betelgeuse braces for a collision - by ESA / Herschel Observatory 22JAN13.
- Death throes of giant star puzzle researchers - by Alexandra Witze / Nature 08JAN16.
- Will Bright Star Betelgeuse Finally Explode? A Look at the Dimming Red Giant in Orion's Shoulder - by Chelsea Gohd / Space.com 03JAN20.
- ESO Telescope Sees Surface of Dim Betelgeuse - by ESO / VLT 14FEB20
- New Telescope Images of Betelgeuse Reveal Details of Its Mysterious Dimming - by Fraser Cain / Universe Today 17FEB20.
- Dimming Betelgeuse likely isn’t cold, just dusty, new study shows - by James Urton / UW News 06MAR20.
- Image: Betelgeuse by ESO/L. Calçada (Public Domain) Link

    The Milky Way has an estimated 100-400 billion stars.  Not very specific is it.  Let's just round that to . . . a metric shit-ton.  How much does a metric-shit ton weigh, one might ask?  1.5 trillion solar masses, Hubble and Gaia might have answered in 2019.

    These stars are in a flattened disk featuring spiral arms.  It's about 200,000 light years across (updated recently from the 50,000 previously thought), with a fat bulge in the middle.  The spiraling arms pivot around the center while an undulating, rippling galactic energy sheet stretches outward.  The center of the galaxy has been the subject of intense scrutiny.  To say a lot is happening there doesn't begin to cover it.  In addition to findings about the wild interactions of the central stellar bodies, a surge of energy was observed in 2010 bursting from the poles of our galaxy, and another in 2019.  Effects from these outbursts might reveal secrets about the Milky Way as waves from the event ripple across the galactic plane.

    The center of the Milky Way is Sagittarius A in the Teapot constellation.  It is hidden from view by galactic dust.  But that dust doesn't stop X-rays and other clues from getting through.  An army of telescopes have been diligently contemplating our galactic belly button, peering past the lint to try to see what's in there.  Much to our surprise, we discovered that we've apparently gone and gotten ourselves a piercing in there.  A big fat bar affixed right upon our galactic naval.  Some even think it's two bars, one inside another.  If they find out these bars are made of malt nougat covered in caramel and milk chocolate, guess that would sure be somethin' alright, something almost as surprising as what is being actually observed.  Missions trying to get a handle on our galaxy's blueprint include Chandra X-Ray Observatory (In Space), Hubble (Space Telescope), Spitzer (Space Telescope - recently decommissioned), Gaia (Space Telescope), ART-XC (Space Telescope), SOFIA (Modified aircraft), Event Horizon (Ground telescope array) VLT (Telescope), Keck Observatory (Telescope) along with many other earthbound observatories.

    The edges of the galaxy are a curiosity too.  Given the scale of the galaxy and the pin-wheeling motion of its arms, the tips of the fingers at the end of those arms have to move incredibly quickly to keep up with the formation, not to mention the angular momentum they have to maintain.  The mystery of how the galaxy can keep its shape is at the heart of the most fundamental problem in cosmology: missing mass.  The search for all of this apparently missing material has led many down the path to the dark side . . . of matter and energy that is.

- Density waves in the shearing sheet - B. Fuchs 21DEC00.
- The Magnetic Field Of The Milky Way Galaxy - by J. C. Brown / Calgary 10JUN10.
- NASA's Chandra Shows Milky Way is Surrounded by Halo of Hot Gas - by Chandra X-Ray 24SEP12.
- Giant Gas Geysers Erupting from Milky Way Galaxy - by Charles Q. Choi / Space.com 02JAN13.
- Supermassive Black Hole Sagittarius A - by Chandra X-Ray / NASA 29AUG13.
- How Our Milky Way Galaxy Got Its Spiral Arms - by Katia Moskvitch / Space.com 12FEB14.
- Where, in relation to the entire universe, is the Milky Way located? - by Karen Masters / Cornell 27JUN15.
- Milky Way's Monster Black Hole Belches Big, But Why? - by Calla Cofield / Space.com 26OCT15.
- Astronomers Measure Magnetic Fields at Sagittarius A - by Harvard-Smithsonian Center For Astrophysics 04DEC15.
- Spitzer Provides Astronomers with a New Way to See the Milky Way’s Giant Black Hole - by JPL / SciTechDaily 26JUL16.
- VLA Reveals a Cosmic Filament Connected to Our Galaxy’s Black Hole - by Harvard-Smithsonian Center For Astrophysics / SciTechDaily 21DEC17.
- Billion-star map of Milky Way set to transform astronomy - by Davide Castelvecchi / Nature 25APR18.
- Sagittarius A* swarm: Black hole bounty captured in the Milky Way center - by Chandra X-Ray / Phys.org 09MAY18
- Where Is the Center of the Universe? - by Marcus Woo / Live Science 14MAY18.
- It Would Take 200,000 Years at Light Speed to Cross the Milky Way - by Elizabeth Howell / Space.com 02JUL18.
- Milky Way Galaxy Is 'Disturbed' and More Revealed in ESA Gaia Mission Data - by Elizabeth Howell / Space.com 19JUL18.
- Stars (Including 1 Daredevil) Circle the Milky Way's Monster Black Hole (Time-Lapse) - by Samantha Mathewson / Space.com 02AUG18.
- Cosmic Microwave Background: Remnant of the Big Bang - by Elizabeth Howell / Space.com 24AUG18.
- Most detailed observations of material orbiting close to a black hole - by ESO / Science Daily 31OCT18.
- How soon will we see the black hole at the Milky Way’s heart? - by EarthSky in SPACE 24JAN19.
- Hubble & Gaia accurately weigh the Milky Way - by Hubble/Gaia / SpaceTelescope.org 07MAR19.
- Gaia Makes First Direct Measurement of the Galactic Bar in the Milky Way - by Bibiana Bonmati, University of Barcelona / SciTechDaily 16JUL19.
- A Star Orbiting in the Extreme Gravity of a Black Hole Validates General Relativity - by Emily Toomey / Smithsonian Magazine 25JUL19.
- Our Galaxy's Supermassive Black Hole Has Emitted a Mysteriously Bright Flare - by Michelle Starr / Science Alert 12AUG19.
- Something Weird Is Happening to the Black Hole at the Center of the Milky Way - by Meghan Bartels / Space.com 15AUG19.
- The Imprint of Spiral Arms on the Galactic Rotation Curve - by Stacy S. McGaugh / Astrophysical Journal 01NOV19.
- How to Shape a Spiral Galaxy - by Felicia Chou / NASA 10DEC19.
- Interconnected stellar nurseries form the largest gaseous structure ever observed in the Milky Way galaxy - by Mary Todd Bergman / Harvard 07JAN20.  Introducing . . . the Radcliffe Wave.
- Astronomers discover class of strange objects near our galaxy’s enormous black hole - by Stuart Wolpert / UCLA 15JAN20.
- Constraints on the magnetic field in the Galactic halo from globular cluster pulsars - by Federico Abbate et al. / Nature Astronomy 02MAR20.
- Continuation of the X-ray monitoring of Sgr A*: the increase inbright flaring rate confirmed - by E. Mossoux et al. / ESO 13MAR20.
- The Role of the Parker Instability in Structuring the Interstellar Medium - by Evan Heintz et al. / Astrophysical Journal 16MAR20.
- The Milky Way’s satellites help reveal link between dark matter halos and galaxy formation - by Nathan Collins / SLAC 31MAR20.  Miniature galaxies made of missing matter that isn't missing anymore orbiting our main one, and yet hypothetical dark matter halos are the focal point of the story.
- Structure of the outer Galactic disc with Gaia DR2 - by Ž. Chrobáková et al. / ESO 08APR20.  Spoiler alert: we're warped.
- Is this telescope-on-a-plane worth its pricetag? - by Alexandra Witze / Nature 10APR20.  The answer, Alex, is hell yes.  Though they do admittedly produce few papers, the ones they produce have rocked cosmology to its core.  Just because the findings cause havoc to popular models isn't a reason to shoot the messenger.  Quite the opposite.
- Milky Way could be catapulting stars into its outer halo - by Brian Bell / UCI 19APR20.
- Coherent Magnetic Fields in the Halos of Spiral Galaxies - by Marita Krause et al. / Astronomy & Astrophysics / ESO 29APR20.
- The history of dynamics and stellar feedback revealed by the H I filamentary structure in the disk of the Milky Way - by J.D. Soler et al. / AANDRA 21OCT20.  Galactic disk wave.
- A new distance to the Brick, the dense molecular cloud - by M. Zoccali et al. / Preprint astro-ph.GA 11JAN21. We are much closer to the center of the galaxy than we thought.
- Astronomers detect hot gas bubble swirling around the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole - by Maciek Wielgus et al. / ESO 22SEP22.
- 1st Image: Milky Way A by John Fowler (CC2.0) Link
- 2nd Image: Milky Way B by S. Guisard / ESO (CC4.0) Link
- 3rd Image: Milky Way Structure by Goddard (Public Domain) Link
- 4th Image: Sagittarius A XRay Closeup by Chandra / Harvard (Public Domain) Link

Measure This - Measurements for archeological age determination using radiocarbon dating and interstellar distance/age measurement techniques using spectral analysis have long been pillars of science widely considered highly accurate and reliable.  However, flaws are evident for both principles calling into question libraries of studies and legions of models.

    Redshift uses the Doppler effect upon the spectrum of light from distant sources to identify the shift that the light has undergone across the spectrum.  Using the amount of shift, the motion relative to our point of reference is determined and the distance the light traveled and age of the transmission are calculated.

    To determine the amount of redshift, bands of specific isotopes provide unmistakable signatures demonstrating convincingly that this color shift does occur.  The individual element signatures wandering through the spectrum are solid proof.  But across galactic distances, there may actually be a bit more to it.  The universe, perhaps modest about some of her shapely curvatures, may be fudging some of those measurements.

    William Tifft was the original investigator who identified the existence of a redshift-magnitude banding correlation noting, "redshift has properties inconsistent with a simple velocity and/or cosmic scale change interpretation".  Halton Arp further questioned interpretation of red shift in interstellar observations in  Seeing Red published in 1998.  Excerpt.  A key problem Halton focuses on for red shift interpretation is that measurement results are clumped together rather than evenly dispersed representing all of the different angles and speeds of measured objects in the universe.  This problem is now referred to as Redshift Quantization and is a concept widely dismissed or ignored by mainstream science, and yet the problem remains with no convincing explanation.

    There is a related problem in the science of star age determination.  In addition to using redshift of known elements in the spectrum to determine distance, the spectral analysis also reveals the elemental composition of the star.  There is debate and much investigation into how emissivity and cloaking may mask the presence of elements in a star, but the spectral signatures of stars are undeniably like fingerprints.  After analyzing a lot of these star fingerprints, classifications of typical star compositions came next.

    We've found trends among the elemental distributions we see from the shiny things out there.  The key trend is the proportion of heavier elements revealed in the star's spectrum.  Stars found to have more heavy elements are thought to be younger and those found with nearly none are thought to be older.  This is based on the theories of how heavy elements are created and recycled as the universe developed following the big bang.  In standard cosmology, Population 1 stars forming initially only had hydrogen and helium to work with.  After those stars went supernovae they generated heavy elements and blasted them into the cosmos.  So we expect to see increasing metallicity in the child star's compositions following each Phoenix-like cycle of star death and rebirth, categorized as star populations.

    This has led to a situation where sometimes stars are calculated to be forming before such objects should be able to form in standard cosmology models.  The Methuselah Star, living here in our own stellar neighborhood about 200 light years away, is one of several examples with an estimated age of 14.5 billion years old ± 0.8 billion.  This same problem of finding stuff that appears to be older than when all stuff was supposedly created is found with super-massive objects much further away as well.  There is overlap in the uncertainty range for the oldest possible theoretical age of the universe and the youngest age interpretations for these hyper-ancient objects, so this isn't an impossible circumstance.  But this problem does challenge the standard models and highlights the level of uncertainty in these estimates.  Adding to this uncertainty is evidence that elements are also created in planet interiors including Earth itself.  So far, elements only up to iron have been demonstrated to be produced in this way.  But as investigation expands, it may only be a matter of time before we find heavier elements created in regular stars like our sun.  This might help explain the full elemental spectrum we receive in the solar wind.  With planetary plasma core element formation a feasibility, the concept of heavy elements exclusively being generated by supernova is standing on sketchier ground.  If this model falls, in turn, this would cause all of the current trendy models for the timeline of our universe following the big bang to be rendered obsolete.

    The universe is being stingy about revealing her age.  Two different but widely accepted methods for achieving an accurate measurement for the age of the universe have been diligently honing in on the magic number.  Both derive from the Big Bang theory and have the answer at around 13.7 billion years.  Unfortunately, they have diverged in their result as they have narrowed to more accurate measurements, meaning one or both of them are incorrect.  Method 1 - CMBR (Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation) is measured by the Planck ESA Space Observatory and uses a theoretical predicted point at which the universe would have cooled enough about 380,000 after the big bang to allow neutral hydrogen atoms to form and to produce light without scattering.  Method 2 - The Hubble-LeMaitre Law is being used by the Hubble space observatory to measure the age of the universe by using galactic motion and redshift to plot backwards to the big bang.  There is hope that more data from LIGO, which uses General Relativity predictions to detect gravity fluctuations propagating from vibrations that occur when black holes rub elbows may provide the tie-breaker.  Assuming LIGO's findings mean what they think, the estimate is 5 more years of data needed to determine the victor in Planck v. Hubble.

    A different problem engulfing the big bang is about all the noise from it's colossal inception, or rather, the lack thereof.  About 3 Kelvin worth of Cosmic microwave background radiation is a fundamental pillar of evidence for the big bang.  Efforts to obtain measurements have included the PLANCK and WMAP satellites from the L2 Lagrange point, the COBE satellite, rockets, balloons and immense ground based antennas.  P.M. Robitaille contends that the most accurate measurement of all came from a famous antenna built to have the least ambient noise possible using extremely stringent calibration methods.  The Herouni antenna's background radiation measurements were so carefully determined that unexplained background radiation in the universe appears to have dropped to nearly 0.

    If this measurement is correct it could mean the universe is mellower than we thought.  But for this to be the case, causes of the extra background radiation in the other measurements need to be identified.  P.M. Robitaille points to the possibility that for ground, rocket, and balloon measurements, these instruments were subjected to defracted signals from the oceans and other large bodies of water.  He further notes WMAP was not built to measure background radiation at all, only differential.  PLANCK was also unable to report a finding of its own due to design flaws and had to use ground antenna data in what analysis it could provide.  If the Herouni findings are replicated in future measurements, this could dispel the ghost of the big bang definitively.  Efforts to fund refurbishment of Herouni to resume operations are underway, as are other methods being pursued to try taking an uncontaminated temperature of the universe.

- Carbon 14 corrections - by Thomas Higham.
- A Measurement of Excess Antenna Temperature at 4080 Mc/s - by  Penzias, A. A. & Wilson, R. W. / Astrophysical Journal 01JUL65.
- WMAP: A Radiological Analysis - by P.M. Robitaille / Sky Scholar (YT) 01JAN07.
- Water, Hydrogen Bonding and the Microwave Background - by P.M. Robitaille / Sky Scholar (YT) 01APR09.  How the Oceans may be adding CBR noise attributed to the big bang in near earth and earthbound observations.
- COBE: A Radiological Analysis - by P.M. Robitaille / Sky Scholar (YT) 01OCT09.
- The Planck Satellite LFI and the Microwave Background: Importance of the 4 K Reference Targets - by P.M. Robitaille / Sky Scholar 01APR10.
- Hubble Finds Birth Certificate Of Oldest Known Star - by NASA / Hubble 07MAR13.
- The Big Bang Proven Wrong By Halton Arp On The Intrinsic Red Shift - by Halton Arp on You Tube 19JUN14.
- The Only Three Heavy Elements In The Universe That Aren't Made In Stars - by Ethan Siegel / Forbes 01JUL15.
- Paper Spotlights Key Flaw In Widely Used Radioisotope Dating Technique - by Robert B Hayes, North Carolina State University / Science Daily 31JAN17.
- The Cosmological Constant And The Redshift Of Quasars and A New Non-Doppler Redshift - by Paul Marmet / Newton Physics 15JAN18.
- Radio Carbon Dating - by Grahame Johnston / Archaeology Expert 10FEB18.
- Gravitational Cosmic Redshift with Variable Light Speed - by Raymond HV Gallucci, PhD, PE / Principia Scientific 15MAR18.
- New Radiocarbon Cycle Research May Alter History - by Daniel Aloi / Cornell Chronicle 01JUN18.
- A Crucial Archaeological Dating Tool Is Wrong, And It Could Change History as We Know It - by Mike McRae / Science Alert 06JUN18.
- Measuring The Age Of The Universe - by Harvard 17OCT18.
- Scientist Finds Elusive Star With Origins Close To Big Bang - by Johns Hopkins University 05NOV18.
- The Herouni Antenna - The Death of the Big Bang! - by P.M. Robitialle / Sky Scholar (YT) 02FEB19.
- Unfortunately as more data arrives, the universe age disagreement appears to keep getting worse.  Mystery of the Universe’s Expansion Rate Widens With New Hubble Data - by NASA 25APR19.
- Cloaked Black Hole Discovered In Early Universe Using NASA's Chandra - by NASA / Chandra. 08AUG19.  This breaks the standard paradigm in that nothing this large with this spectral composition should be able to form this soon relative to the big bang in the current models.
- Metal enrichment in the circumgalactic medium and Lyα haloes around quasars at z ~3 - by Yucheng Guo et al. / KIAA-PKU, KICC-Cambridge) 16JAN20.
- Figuring Out Gas & Galaxies in Enzo (FOGGIE). III. The Mocky Way: Investigating Biases in Observing the Milky Way's Circumgalactic Medium - by Yong Zheng et al. / 23JAN20.
- DAMPE proton spectrum indicates a slow-diffusion zone in the nearby ISM - by Kun Fang et al. / 31MAR20.  The fields engulfing us mess with our measurements.  We can't see the forest for the trees.
- Warm dust in high-zgalaxies: origin and implications - by L. Sommovigo et al. / 22APR20.  More hiding stuff out there - this time it's the revelation that 40% of UV of newly born stars is obscured by dust.
- Irregular Appearances of Glacial and Interglacial Climate States - by Köhler, P., van de Wal, R.S.W. / ANI 26OCT20.
- Uncertainties in Galaxy Rotation Curves - by J.A. Sellwood et al. / arxiv preprint 08JAN21.
- Earth factories: Creation of the elements from nuclear transmutation in Earth’s lower mantle - by Mikio Fukahara et al. / AIP Advances 12OCT21.
- Extreme Value Statistics of the Halo and Stellar Mass Distributions at High Redshift: are JWST Results in Tension with ΛCDM? - by Christopher C. Lovell et al. / Cornell Astrophysics 22AUG22.
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- 1st Image: Redshift by Georg Wiora (Dr. Schorsch) (CC2.5) Link
- 2nd Image: Methuselah Star by Digitized Sky Survey (DSS), STScI/AURA, Palomar/Caltech, and UKSTU/AAO (Public Domain) Link

Throwing Some Shade On Dark Matter & Black Holes - The relativity shakeup continues.  Einstein himself, inventor of the concept of dark matter, eventually concluded that the invocation of dark matter was a mistake.  But the notion continues to expand like "The Blob", ever increasing the theoretical scope and majesty of all this undetectable dark matter and energy.

~68% dark energy, ~27% dark matter, ~5% normal matter - NASA (16OCT17) || CERN (16OCT17)

    Dark matter and energy are fudge factors to get cosmology models to look like reality, along with other famous fudge factors called Einstein's cosmological constant (Λ) (WIKI) and Hubble's constant (H₀).  Here is a short piece by NASA describing how discrepancies found using better observations are leading mainstream scientists to question some of the most fundamental aspects of cosmology modeling.  Hubble's Contentious Constant (H₀) by NASA 20SEP17.  Now that NASA and CERN have declared 95% uncertainty about what's happening out there, it is time to consider some other approaches.

    Similarly, the math of black holes has also progressed through rationality challenges that have not been satisfactorily resolved.  More than nearly any other hypothetical construct, black hole models are theory represented as fact.  For decades, popular science has been trumpeting black hole headlines as if astrological bodies called black holes have been pinpointed and measured and that they are understood to exhibit predicted behaviors.  Black holes are not measured, and in the places we expect to find them, whatever is there is tossing out all sorts of surprises.

    The Event Horizon earthbound telescope array sifted through an enormous amount of data to produce a portrait of a black hole.  The procedure used questionable filtering and image enhancement to get to the iconic orange doughnut that's been paraded around.  This blurry smudge could be nothing but an uncorrected image enhancement artifact  (First Image of a Black Hole Named Science’s 2019 Breakthrough of the Year - by American Association For The Advancement Of Science / ScieTechDaily 30DEC19).

     Dark matter and energy, along with black holes derive from the same theoretical building blocks: particle physics, quantum mechanics, and at the heart of it all, gravity.  It has been pointed out that the theory of gravity is not really an operative theory at all in a sense that a theory should explain how something works and what causes it.  Gravity is merely a measurement methodology with a formula describing anticipated results.  This works fantastically to get rocket ship A to solar object B, but it does not explain why objects A and B are where and what they are, or the motions of things we can see beyond our solar neighborhood.  Reliance on theoretical particle physics and quantum theory to math our way to understanding has led to an increasing divergence between models and observation.  This in turn has encouraged reliance upon more and more hypothetical dark matter and energy in the revised calculations.

    Plasma theoretical models have no such problems and are readily able, at least thus far in the progression of the science, to explain what we are seeing.  That said, a big part of this may turn out to be a whole lot of regular material we weren't seeing.  Huge baryon, dust and gas clouds recently discovered are starting to replace segments of theorized dark matter to explain galactic angular motion.  Plasma universe proponents also theorize that a missing piece of the solution to these mysteries is electromagnetic in nature.  Both in the way massive clouds of matter can hide from detection and in the way electromagnetic fields and particle flows directly define the otherwise inexplicable motions of and within the galaxies.  Other mainstream theories like Accretion as the mechanism creating stars and planets over millions of years in a slow and static universe are opposed by plasma derived theories like Z-pinch (Wiki) where stars might be created in electromagnetic filaments.

    Some revere Vera Rubin as the mother of dark matter.  To others, she is reviled for crippling the progression of plasma science with her fixation on dark matter to model the problem.  Either way, she proved something was missing in our comprehension of angular motion at galactic scales and beyond.  Increasingly accurate measurements have been taken of the cosmological behaviors which elude understanding using established principles.  This tremendous discovery rocked cosmology to its foundations.  Vera deserves her LSST telescope namesake.  It could be the tool that ends the debate one way or the other.  Beyond the Verascope, the JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) is capturing stunning deep field resolution images.  The ESA's Euclid has also joined the deep peering hunt for what their official mission statement explicitly describes as "the composition and evolution of the dark Universe".  The expectation is that they will be "revealing more about the role of gravity and the nature of dark energy and dark matter."  These magnificent tools have delivered truly awesome imagery of deep space structures which defy known physics and expose our limited comprehension of the universe's playbook.  Alas, in the eye candy so far, no clear portraits are to be found of "Dark" matter and energy.  For now, their wanted posters remain merely featureless silhouettes.

     Back in the particle physics labs is where dark matter's sore spot is developing perhaps most keenly.  There have been a steady stream of expensive accelerator experiments and fine tuned particle searches.  Instead of confirming a particle's discovery at the conclusion of these studies along with the model that predicted it, new limitations on possibilities remaining for the elusive particle are declared.  Cold dark matter models are falling faster than adjusted models using new fudge factors can be introduced.  Could electromagnetic forces and plasma interactions be the missing ingredients defining our universe?  With every particle expedition goose egg, this possibility seems more viable.

    When white-coat clad maverick scientists calmly assure us that their experimentation on the bleeding edge is well enough understood to ensure we don't create a spontaneous rip in space time or a resonance cascade (Black Mesa mishap - by Dr.Gordon Freeman / MIT (YT) 06MAY03.) or send our planet careening out of the solar system or into the sun, you might want to check their math.  If Big Bangs, Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Black Holes or Neutron Stars are invoked, some important leftover pieces of the ACME Discovery Contraption might have been left forgotten on the floor.  At this point, we might consider heading for the hills, or preferably, heading out from the cradle of our solar system to find far away places to dwell.  Then there would at least be a possibility of sidestepping the horrifying Fermi Paradox possibility that the reason we don't see a bunch of life in the universe is because it tends to wipe itself out at a point in technological development prior to interstellar colonization.  The concept of some universal physics-based booby trap that trips up most wannabe space-faring civilizations is sometimes called the Great Filter.  It is a level of development our civilization appears to be very close to right now.  (The Vulnerable World Hypothesis by Nick Bostrom.  Observational Constraints on the Great Filter - by Jacob Haqq-Misra / Astrobiology 18FEB20).

- Cosmos: The Big Bang - by Science For The Public (modern science for modern citizens).  Starting here for a mainstream benchmark.
- Pinch - by plasma-universe.com.
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO).
- Plasma Z-pinch by everythingselectric.com 24OCT15.
- Stealth black hole found lurking in the Milky Way - by Belinda Smith and Viviane Richter / Cosmos 30JUN16.
- How Vera Rubin confirmed dark matter - by Sarah Scoles / Astronomy 04OCT16.
- Black Hole Models Contradicted By Hands-on Tests At Sandia’s Z Machine - by Sandia National Laboratories 28AUG17.  Resonant Auger Destruction, a key precept in Black Hole theories for 20 years, has been debunked.  Turns out if iron doesn't give off photons near the edge of a black hole like silicon, that means it isn't there.
- Dark Matter is Dead | The Missing Matter - by Suspicious Observers 10OCT17.
- The Dark Matter Fail - by Ben Davidson / Suspicious Observers 24NOV17.
- Dark matter and dark energy: Do they really exist? - by Anthony Watts / WUWT 25NOV17.
- Spiral Galaxy Rotation Curves Without Dark Matter or MOND - by Tarun Biswas / State University of New York at New Paltz 30JAN18.
- XENON1T Experimental Data Establishes Most Stringent Limit On Dark Matter - by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 29MAY18.
- XENON1T Takes A Razor To A Dark E6 Inspired Model - by Science Direct 10NOV18.  Even more most stringent limits.
- Search for dark matter in the form of hidden photons and axion-like particles in the XMASS detector - by Cornell University Library 23JUL18.  More limits.
- Is Dark Matter Needed in Galaxies? - by Irina Rozgacheva, Alexander Agapov / Astronomy Reports 01SEP18.
- More constraints of wimps by XMASS, still no dark matter to be found abstract 14SEP18.
- Quantum Theory Cannot Consistently Describe The Use Of Itself - by Daniela Frauchiger & Renato Renner / Nature.com 18SEP18.
- Figuring Out Gas & Galaxies in Enzo (FOGGIE) I. Resolving Simulated Circumgalactic Absorption at 2 < z < 2.5 - by Peeples et al. / astro-ph.G 15OCT18.
- Cosmic Collisions: SOFIA Unravels the Mysterious Formation of Star Clusters - by Nicholas A Veronico / NASA 06NOV18.
- Figuring Out Gas & Galaxies in Enzo (FOGGIE). II. Emission from the z=3 Circumgalactic Medium - by Peeples et al. / astro-ph.G 13NOV18.
- The missing light of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field - Alejandro Borlaff et al. / A&A 21JAN19.
- Dark matter may not actually exist – and our alternative theory can be put to the test - by Juri Simirnov / The Conversation 31JAN19.
- How Scientists Captured the First Image of a Black Hole - by Ola Lutz / JPL 19APR19.
- Vera Rubin: The Astronomer Who Brought Dark Matter to Light - by Tim Childers / Space.com 11JUN19.
- Kinematics of Circumgalactic Gas: Feeding Galaxies and Feedback - by Crystal L Martin et al. / The Astrophysics Journal 18JUN19.
- Cool halo gas caught spinning like galactic disks - by Keck Observatory 18JUN19.
- What Is Dark Matter? - Nola Taylor Redd / Space.com 19JUL19.
- Constraints On Dark Matter Annihilation In Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies From Low Frequency Radio Observations - by APS 01AUG19.  Not just limits, but running out remaining viable places to look too.
- ALMA Identified Dark Ancestors of Massive Elliptical Galaxies - by ALMA Observatory 07AUG19.  Vast numbers of previously hidden galaxies not predicted in standard big bang / cold dark matter models.
- On the orientation of the crescent image of M87 - by Nalewajko et al / Cornell 27AUG19.
- Providing A Solution To The Worst Ever Prediction In Physics [The Cosmological Constant] - by Lucas Lombriser  / University Of Geneva 28AUG19.
- Discovery of a Very Hot Phase of the Milky Way Circumgalactic Medium with Non-solar Abundance Ratios - by Sanskriti Das et al. / Astrophysics Journal Letters 01SEP19.
- Claims of a Black Hole Image: the Day Astrophysics Died - by P. M. Robitaille / Sky Scholar (YT) 29SEP19.
- On the Absence of Dark Matter in Dwarf Galaxies Surrounding the Milky Way - by Francois Hammer et al. / Astrophysics Journal 01OCT19.
- A Crisis In Cosmology - by W.M. Keck Observatory / Phys.org 23OCT19.
- . . . A New Class Of Black Holes - by Laura Arenschield / OSU 31OCT19.  Yet another interesting solution to the missing matter problem suggesting hiding black holes may be the explanation.
- SHARP New constraints on the dark matter free-streaming properties and substructure abundance from gravitationally lensed quasars - by Jen-Wei Hsueh et al. 01NOV19.
- Strong New Limits On Light Dark Matter From Neutrino Experiments - by Christopher V. Aappiello and John F. Beacom  / Ohio State 14NOV19.
- 19 Galaxies Are Apparently Missing Dark Matter. No One Knows Why. - by Rafi Letzter / Space.com 05DEC19.
- Detection Of Missing Baryons In Galaxy Groups - by Lim et al. 21DEC19.  More missing matter found.  Particularly of interest because this shows that the missing matter at galactic scales isn't homogenously dispersed but concentrated along flowing filament currents.
- The Turbulent Life of Two Supermassive Black Holes Caught in a Galaxy Crash - by NRAO 05JAN20.  Could also be interpreted as a plasma stream between them.  Whatever it is, this is not something black holes are supposed to be able to do.
- Famous black hole has jet pushing cosmic speed limit - by Chandra X-Ray Center / Phys.org 07JAN20.
- New evidence shows that the key assumption made in the discovery of dark energy is in error - by Yonsei University / phys.org 06JAN20.
- The Black Hole Image - Data Fabrication Masterclass - by P. M. Robitaille / Sky Scholar (YT) 07JAN20.
- Dark matter pioneer Vera Rubin gets a new observatory named after her - by Emily Conover / Science News 10JAN20.
- There is No Galactic Rotation Problem - by Ben Davidson / Suspicious Observers 14FEB20.
- SOFIA’s Infrared View of the Skies - by Kassandra Bell / NASA 06MAR20.
- Cosmic Discordance: Planck and luminosity distance data exclude LCDM - Joseph Silk et al. 10MAR20.  99% certainty the Lambda Cold Dark Matter model is off the mark.
- . . . in the GD-1 Stellar Stream: An Absence of Evidence for the Influence of Dark Matter Subhalos? - by Rodrigo Ibata / Astrophysical Journal 16MAR20.
- Constraints on dark photons and axionlike particles from the SuperCDMS Soudan experiment - by T. Aralis et al. / Physical Review D 17MAR20.  Axions and dark photons in SuperCDMS bite the dust.
- Chandra Data Tests "Theory of Everything" - by NASA/CXC/Univ. of Cambridge/C. Reynolds et al. / CHANDRA 19MAR20. Time for a new axion axiom.
- An Effective Field Theory Analysis of the First LUX Dark Matter Search - by Lux Collaboraton 24MAR20.  Knocking down 14 dark matter models in this single paper.
- Green Bank and Effelsberg Radio Telescope Searches for Axion Dark MatterConversion in Neutron Star Magnetospheres - by Joshua W. Foster et al. / 31MAR20.  Another axion goose egg.
- Mirror-symmetry violation in bound nuclear ground states - by UMASS Lowell / Nature 01APR20.  Discovery challenges nuclear theory.
- Lowly Polarized Light from a Highly Magnetized Jet of GRB 190114C - by N. Jordana-Mitjans et al. / Astrophysical Journal 02APR20.  The collapse of magnetic fields in distant cosmic explosions may be what powers gamma ray bursts.
- An ionised bubble powered by a proto-cluster at z = 6.5 - by IAC 08APR20.  The galactic sphere of influence ionically speaking, is much, much bigger than expected.
- Universe's Expansion May Not Be The Same In All Directions - by NASA/CXC/Univ. of Bonn/K. Migkas et al. 08APR20.  Bye bye isotropic and homogenous, hello shapely curvatures.
- Doubts about basic assumption for the universe - by Bonn / Harvard 08APR20.  More about the lack of uniformity in the cosmos.
- Ultra-light Dark Matter Is Incompatible with the Milky Way's Dwarf Satellites - by Mohammadtaher Safarzadeh and David N. Spergel / Astrophysical Journal 09APR20.  And another one bites the dust.
- Neutrinos could shed light on why the Universe has so much more matter than antimatter - by Nature 15APR20.
- Matter–antimatter symmetry violated - by Silvia Pascoli & Jessica Turner / Nature 15APR20.
- Dark Matter properties through cosmic history - by Stephane Ilic et al. 20APR20.  A review of the hilarious contortions of dark matterists keeping this dying theory alive.  According to this paper the only way dark matter can exist is if its properties change over time.
- Relieving the Hubble tension with primordial magnetic fields - by Karsten Jedamzik & Levon Pogosian / 20APR20.
- New findings suggest laws of nature not as constant as previously thought - by Lachlan Gilbert / UNSW Sydney 27APR20.
- Predictions and Outcomes for the Dynamics of Rotating Galaxies - by Stacy McGaugh / Case 29APR20.  Nicely describes how dark matter is so often used to explain observations within the models MOND / ΛCDM but is not able to predict what will be found next.
- Last Chance for WIMPs: Physicists - by Elizabeth Gibney / Nature 08OCT20.
- The Closest Black Hole to Earth May Not Actually Be a Black Hole After All - by Michelle Starr / Science Alert 20OCT20.
- A massive blow for ΛCDM - the high redshift, mass, and collision velocity of the interacting galaxy cluster El Gordo contradicts concordance cosmology - by Elena Asencio et al. / Royal Astronomical Society 01NOV20.
- The CMB, Angular Power Spectrum, & Mathemagics - PM Robitialle / Sky Scholar 02NOV20.  Pierre-Robitaille Is Clueless - Professor Dave Explains 30OCT20.  A pathetic personal attack / debuunk attempt by this rude loser (next autoplay by You Tube):.  Each pithy "counter-argument" offered by our greasy professor is destroyed with PM's legendary counterpunch uppercut in Pierre-Marie Robitaille Debunks "professor" Dave! - by PM Robitialle / Sky Scholar 22NOV20.  Bravo PM (and editing team), Bravo!
- BeyondPlanckVI. Noise characterization and modelling - by H.T. Ihle et al. / astro-ph.CO 12NOV20.  PM is not alone. There is too much noise in the Planck data indicating CMB polarization reconstruction is not a reliable tool.
- The coherent motion of Cen A dwarf satellite galaxies remains a challenge for ΛCDM cosmology - by Oliver Müller et al. / Astronomy & Astrophysics 15DEC20.
- Cosmic Distances Calibrated To 1% Precision With GAIA EDR3 Parallaxes And Hubble Space Telescope Photometry Of 75 Milky Way Cepheids Confirm Tension With ΛCDM - by Adam G. Riess / Astronomy & Astrophysics 15DEC20.
- Unique prediction of ‘modified gravity’ challenges dark matter - by Stacy McGaugh / Case Western Reserve 17DEC20.
- NASA Selects 4 Concepts for Small Missions to Study Universe’s Secrets - by Tricia Talbert / NASA 08JAN21.
- New Horizons Spacecraft Answers Question: How Dark Is Space? - by Christine Pulliam / Hubblesite 12JAN21.
- Cosmic physics mimicked on table-top as graphene enables Schwinger effect - by University Of Manchester 28JAN22.
- CMB Anomalies, the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe Effect, and the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect: What is Real?" - by PM Robitialle / Sky Scholar 11FEB22.
- Building a Model of the WMAP Satellite - FROM SCRATCH! - by PM Robitialle / Sky Scholar 15FEB22.
- The jet and resolved features of the central supermassive black hole of M 87 observed with EHT - Makoto Miyoshi et al. / Cornell Arxiv 10MAY22.
- Three Honest Astronomer's Agree - The Black Hole Image is an Artifact?! - by PM Robitialle / Sky Scholar 16JUL22.  "A sure sign of pathological science."  Indeed.  But credit where it is due to M. Miyoshi, Y. Kato, and J. Makino.  "These large amplitude solutions may have implied that the resultant image is significantly wrong . . . therefore . . . results obtained by both the EHTC and our work should be rejected."  Absence of hubris at this level, might arguably be considered even more of a rarity than black hole snapshots.  Will wonders never cease?
- Betrayal Of Shadows (YT) - Ben Davidson / Suspicious Observers 29JUL22.
- The General Theory of Relativity: Its Faulty Mathematical Foundations - by PM Robitialle / Sky Scholar 27FEB23.
- 1st Image: Smell The Glove By Spinal Tap (Not a test pressing) by JC Link
- 2nd Image: NGC 3258 by NRAO/AUI/NSF/Marscher (Public Domain) Link

The Casimir Effect - Now that this force can be reliably measured, we are able to peer into an entirely different plane of existence.  The generation of light with mirrors in this way is fascinating.  Yet, the implications hidden behind the mirrors are staggering in terms of previously hidden pathways of communication and interaction for biology.  With the likelihood of other kinds of biological interactions and a variety of potential behaviors, we are just beginning to take our first brave steps into a larger world, as Alec Guiness might say.

Speaking of ol' Ben, the Casimir effect and it's profound implications aren't limited to the micro.  It also may be the path to next generation propulsion systems, the quantum vacuum thruster.

As researchers harness mysterious Casimir force for tiny devices and are manipulating nanoparticles, it looks as though we may only be at the starting gate.  A whole new class of medical advances and nanodevices are on the immediate horizon, and perhaps even down the road, something more.  Science has tried and failed numerous times to identify our 6th sense.  Evidence of energies that might explain the pervasive notion that people can sometimes sense the spirit realm have long been sought.  (Effect of negative reinforcement on ESP ability - by Venkman et al. / Columbia University 08JUN84).  If indeed we possess something like a soul and interact with another plane of existence, perhaps the tapestry we weave with our lives will turn out to be woven of Casimir thread.

- Casimir Effect - wiki.
- Quantum Vacuum Thruster - Wiki.
- The Casimir Effect in Biology: The Role of Molecular Quantum Electrodynamics in Linear Aggregations of Red Blood Cells - by K Bradonji et al / Journal of Physics 01MAY09.
- First Observation of the Dynamical Casimir Effect - by MIT 26MAY11.  Light generation.
- Casimir Forces On A Silicon Micromechanical Chip - by Nature Communication 14MAY13.
- NASA Tests 'Impossible' Engine, Finds Out It's Really Fast - by Newsy Science 03AUG14.
- Researchers Harness Mysterious Casimir Force For Tiny Devices - by Princeton 20APR17.
- Inhomogeneity-Induced Casimir Transport Of Nanoparticles - by APS Physics 24SEP18.
- Synopsis: Chirality Turns the Casimir Force Repulsive - by Qing-Dong Jiang and Frank Wilczek / APS Physics 04MAR19.
- Researchers balance Casimir effects, make tiny hoverboard - by John Timmer / ARS Technica 06JUN19.
- Casimir effect creates ‘quantum trap’ for tiny objects - by Tim Wogan / Physics World 07JUN19.
- Researchers find a way to make Casimir effect attract or repulse depending on gap size - by Bob Yirka / Phys.org 10JUN19.
- Image: Casimir Sphere - by Umar Mohideen (U. California at Riverside) (Public Domain) Link

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