"He [Democritus] said that the ordered worlds are boundless and differ in size, and that in some there is neither sun nor moon, but that in others, both are greater than with us, and yet with others more in number. And that the intervals between the ordered worlds are unequal, here more and there less, and that some increase, others flourish and others decay, and here they come into being and there they are eclipsed. But that they are destroyed by colliding with one another. And that some ordered worlds are bare of animals and plants and all water." -- Hippolytus, priest, 2nd century
2400 years after Democritus, mainstream scientists are finally catching up with 5th century (B.C.) thought.
Clara Moskowitz: Two Worlds Collide in Deep Space. (Hat tip: Jeffery Keown).
Two distant planets orbiting a young star apparently smashed into each other at high speeds thousands of years ago in a cosmic pileup of cataclysmic proportions, astronomers announced Monday.If the universe is over 12 billion years old and there are more than 10 trillion planets, how rare can it be?
Telltale plumes of vaporized rock and lava leftover from the collision revealed its existence to NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which picked up signatures from the impact in recent observations.
The two-planet pileup occurred within the last few thousand years or so - a relatively recent cosmic timeframe. The smaller of the two bodies - a planet about the size of Earth's moon, according to computer models - was apparently destroyed by the crash. The other was most likely a Mercury-sized-planet and survived, albeit severely dented.
"This collision had to be huge and incredibly high-speed for rock to have been vaporized and melted," said Carey Lisse of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland, lead author of a paper describing the findings in the Aug. 20 issue of the Astrophysical Journal.
Researchers believe the planets were moving at about 22,400 mph (10 kilometers per second) before the crash. The violent wreck released amorphous silica rock, or melted glass, and hardened chunks of lava called tektites. Spitzer also spotted large clouds of orbiting silicon monoxide gas created when the rock was vaporized.
"This is a really rare and short-lived event, critical in the formation of Earth-like planets and moons," Lisse said. "We're lucky to have witnessed one not long after it happened."
-759725.jpg){kind=link}
14 comments:
Remarkable.
Democritus "lucky guess" (for that is what it was) has no real predictive power other than that he wrote it down.
A lot of what he did was science, but some of it was just thought experiment. That, I suppose, has some value. At the very least, it shows him to be very imaginative.
(read: NOT PSYCHIC or AUTHORATIVE)
"Lucky guess" is an euphamism for clairvoyance. Too bad mainstream scientists can't make lucky guesses.
"Lucky guess" is an euphamism for clairvoyance.
Not in my Funk & Wagnal's, sir.
Too bad mainstream scientists can't make lucky guesses.
They don't need to, mainstream science relies on experimentation, theory, observation and prediction made from same.
"They don't need to"
LOL.
"mainstream science relies on experimentation, theory, observation and prediction made from same."
When have you ever observed empty space, a graviton, black hole, neutron star, Dark Matter, or Dark Energy?
What experiment has mainstream science performed on empty space, gravitons, black holes, neutron stars, Dark Matter, and Dark Energy?
By prediction I take it you mean lucky guess?
When have you ever observed empty space, a graviton, black hole, neutron star, Dark Matter, or Dark Energy?
Nice cherry-picking there. The available observations are best explained by the phenomena you list above. They are predictions, consequences of current theory and Best-Fit to the facts.
When the disparity between Human and Chimp chromosomes needed an explanation, Chromosonal Fusion was the predicted cause. It turned out to be right, not because of lucky guesses, but because of observation, experimentation and theory.
I do not know whether you are Humble before the Ancients or Arrogant before the Moderns... But I do wonder... what predictions have you made that have been supported by observation? Are you simply a champion of downtrodden, disabused psuedoscientists? A cheerleader of sorts?
I have one, it involves the masses of stars in the early universe and how they relate to galaxy formation. In short, it hinges upon gravity, so you wouldn't count it as evidence. I've been assembling it for years, and every once in a while, a peice of it is uncovered by mainstream science. When the whole thing comes together, I'll have a private moment of elation and get to work on something new.
You've only dusty scrolls and debunked nonsense. (except where I've noted that you're on to something... like the Abiootic Oil Stuff, and possible a fusion of your EU and Gravity.
On the rarity of this event. Rare is a relative term. Given the age of the universe and the number of stars, it's almost certain that this is happening every where. But happening within range of our current instruments? When we are at a stage of development to understand the event?
Rare is a pretty good word.
"The available observations are best explained by the phenomena you list above."
What observations? That's analogous to saying invisible pink unicorns explain our observations.
"They are predictions, consequences of current theory and Best-Fit to the facts."
Predictions a.k.a. unlucky guesses.
"When the disparity between Human and Chimp chromosomes needed an explanation, Chromosonal Fusion was the predicted cause. It turned out to be right, not because of lucky guesses, but because of observation, experimentation and theory."
Biological organisms have similarities. Shock and awe.
"I do not know whether you are Humble before the Ancients or Arrogant before the Moderns... But I do wonder... what predictions have you made that have been supported by observation? Are you simply a champion of downtrodden, disabused psuedoscientists? A cheerleader of sorts?"
I am most humble before the ancients and have a very low opinion of most moderns. My prediction is that my theories are correct.
"You've only dusty scrolls and debunked nonsense. (except where I've noted that you're on to something... like the Abiootic Oil Stuff, and possible a fusion of your EU and Gravity."
Gravitation and evolution are debunked nonsense. Electric universe and extreme human antiquity are the new consensus.
Jeffery,
Get thee to the mountains, away from light pollution, and observe the worlds colliding.
Biological organisms have similarities. Shock and awe.
Congratulations! You are now as smart as Wendy Wright. There is nothing more grounded in fact than Evolution and Gravity.
Gravitation and evolution are debunked nonsense. Electric universe and extreme human antiquity are the new consensus.
One person is not a consensus. It is a mental condition.
Get thee to the mountains, away from light pollution, and observe the worlds colliding.
I was watching the skies long ago, my friend. Meteor showers are nothing new, but they still astound. Why do you persist that scientists do not believe in impacts?
By the way, your prediction is nonsense and you know it.
"One person is not a consensus. It is a mental condition."
You can't count higher than one?
I'm not big on planetary impacts or the planetary electrical discharges, not because I'm convinced they never happened, rather, because some people subscribe to recent planetary impacts or recent planetary electrical discharges.
There is copious evidence for planatary electrical discharges, in Electric Universe theory it is called Electrical Discharge Machining.
But there is very little evidence for recent (withing the last 7,000 years) events of this kind.
The craters on the Moon and Mercury are much more consistent with electrical discharges like the ones which have been presently observed on Jupiter's moon Io.
But Science doesn't have a handle (and neither do the EU theorists) on the timing of these events.
The historical references at best refer to Venus in a cometary phase where its orbit may have been effected by intense aurora electrical activity emitted by the Sun, not swinging planets per se.
Although, the evidence presented in the Youtube Alien Sky part a and Alien Sky part b can't be completedly discounted either.
Frankly, I can sit back and simply say, "I don't have to be convinced or one way or the other, I can simply say, 'I don't know' and that's okay -- I still have and open-mind."
Anaconda,
"Frankly, I can sit back and simply say, 'I don't have to be convinced or one way or the other, I can simply say, 'I don't know' and that's okay -- I still have and open-mind.'"
Wise.
Aphrodite Comaetho. Comet Venus...=)
Post a Comment