JimsAstronomy

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Our Sun has brothers and sisters?

--------- #1455 - Our Sun was born with a family of stars.
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- Stars form from a gigantic cloud of intergalactic gas and dust. It has to be very large in order to have the gravity needed to collapse and create the pressure needed to form stars. This is never a smooth occurrence. Many disturbances and shockwaves end up producing multiple stars from the collapsing cloud. Astronomers expect that when our Sun first formed 4.6 billion years ago it formed with a cluster of a thousand other stars. Where are these stars today?
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- Our nearest star is 4.3 lightyears away. In 4.6 billion years the other stars should still be within 300 lightyears of us. They would have nearly the exact chemical composition as our Sun. Can we find them? We should be able to identify them once we do.
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- How do we know that our Sun formed 4,600,000,000 years ago?
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- Meteorites from the Solar System’s early years contain decay products, isotopes of nickel-60 and iron-60. Some have been dated to be 2,600,000 years old., relatively young. These isotopes had to be created in supernovae explosions. These supernovae were likely within 0.07 lightyears distance at the time.
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- The Sun’s present isolation and location in the Milky Way is half way out from the galaxy center, a radius of 26,000 lightyears. Our Solar System has been orbiting the Galaxy at 124 miles per second, 446,400 miles per hour. Since the Sun was born it has made 27 orbits about the center of the Galaxy.
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- In 1960 star clusters were first discovered in the Milky Way. The thousands of stars were so dense they were at first mistaken for a single star.
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- If the Sun did start in such a cluster of stars and if they numbered 3,500 within a diameter of 10 lightyears, then some 50 similar stars should still be located with 300 lightyears of our Sun’s orbit. Astronomers are trying to find one of these stars that have the same chemical makeup as our Sun.
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- We know that the Sun and the Solar System were born close to the other stars because the Sun and the Earth are composed of heavy elements that could only be created in supernovae explosions of other stars.
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- A cloud of gas starts out at 1,000,000 Solar Mass and stars to collapse due to gravity. When the gas and dust becomes most heavily concentrated one or more massive stars form. Often spinning binary stars form.
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- When a star forms it emit’s a shockwave of ultraviolet radiation for the first time. The expanding radiation ionizes the surrounding gas in the front of the shockwave. When the shockwave reaches concentrations of gas in the cloud it causes new stars to from, like our Sun.
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- When the ionization wave hits anew born sun the surplus gas is boiled off. the proto planetary disc is exposed to direct ultraviolet radiation. After 2,000,000 the more massive stars explode. The more massive the star the shorter its lifetime. The material in the explosion is included in the planetary forming systems, in the accretion disks of solar systems.
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- After the most massive stars explode in the cluster gravity is reduced and the smaller stars begin to drift apart. The stars that were born in the same cluster as the Sun move away from each other at a few miles per second. Today, after 4,000,000,000 years and 27 orbits around the Milky Way these stars are tens of thousands of lightyears apart.
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- Although they may be up to 1,000 lightyears away these stars should still be following the same path around the Milky way. Also, they should have the same composition of element as the Sun. Astronomers are confident they will be able to find some of these star that were born with our Sun. Our Sun’s way off brothers and sisters may have planets just like ours. ( See Review #1456 “ Our First Alien Encounter” ) An announcement will be made shortly, stay tuned.
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Saturday, April 7, 2012

Special Full Moon on May 7th

--------- #1450 Full Moon on Delaney’s and Doug’s birthdays.
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- Delaney’s birthday is April 7 and there is a Full Moon. One month later on Doug’s birthday, May 7, a spectacular event will occur in astronomy. This Full Moon will be the largest and the closest and will not happen again until 2014.
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- On May 7 the Moon will be only 221,802 miles away. As the Full Moon leaves Delaney’s birthday and approaches Doug’s birthday, May 1^st it will pass just south of Mars. On May 4^th it passes just south of Saturn. Be sure to put your binoculars on Saturn’s moon and our Moon to get the full effect. On May 9^th you won’t see it but the Moon passes just south of Pluto. On May 7^th we have the Full Moon, but, actually it is only a Half Moon.
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- Amazingly the back half of the Moon that we never get to see is totally different then the half that we do see. The Moon is in a synchronous orbit with the Earth. It rotates exactly once during each orbit of 27.55 days keeping the same face towards us all the time.
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- On the backside of the Moon virtually all the smooth dark “ seas” are absent. All the features seem to be created differently. (See Review #1291 to learn what ma have caused this. It involves a second moon that smashed into our Moon at a slow speed.) All the features on the back side have Russian names. They got there first so took the opportunity to name every thing they saw. I am not sure if these names are going to show up in American textbooks. We‘ll see.
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- Hidden in the shadows of features on the Moon is as much as 1 to 2 % water frost. This is an amazing and an unexpected discovery. When American astronauts got there they left 4 seismometers on the lunar surface. From these another surprise is that when struck by an meteorite or a discarded rocket stage the Moon rings like a bell. And, the ringing lasts for hours. This must mean that the Moon’s interior is far different than Earth’s.
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- The Moon is still cooling and shallow moonquakes are still occurring within 125 miles below the surface. The largest moonquake recorded was 5.9 on the Richter scale.
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- The Moon’s orbit is an oval path not a circle. It looks more like daisy peddles traced out in the sky, or an oval hula hoop that never returns to the same starting place in space. Also the Moon does not orbit the equator. Instead it follows the path of the Sun through the sky. Following the ecliptic the Moon spends 2 or 3 nights per month in each Zodiac Constellation. On April 7 it is in Virgo. On May 7 it is in Scorpio
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- The Full Moon is nearly a perfect circle. It is out of round by only 4 miles. The Full Moon appears very bright in the night sky, but, it is really 400,000 times dimmer than the Sun. The Moon reflects 12% of the sunlight. Amazing as it may seem this is enough for a Full Moon to raise the temperature on Earth by 0.04 degrees Fahrenheit from its reflected sunlight. Studies have determined that the nights of the Full Moon are cloudier than other nights. There may even be a small correlation between Full Moon’s and earthquakes. The Earth will flex 9 inches when the Moon is closest to the Earth and lined up with the Sun on the opposite side. That means that May 7^th will see some extreme tides but hopefully no shaking, except the party music.
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- The pull of the Moon on Earth is slowing the Earth’s rotation down 0.001 seconds per 100 years. No need to reset your watch. The lost energy due to these tidal interactions is slowly spiraling the Moon’s orbit away from us. But, only 1.5 inches per year. ( See review #1243 to learn how the Moon was formed 4,500,000,000 years ago.)

Friday, April 6, 2012

Full Moons have a lot to say?

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Why astronomers believe in Blackholes?

--------- #1441 - Evidence to believe in Blackholes
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- Attachments : Artist Rendering
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- Astronomer’s are positive Blackholes do exist. Although no one has ever seen one. There is evidence that a massive star has collapsed into a Blackhole. And, that the center of galaxies contain massive Blackholes. There is a 4,000,000 Solar Mass Blackhole in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.
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- The above describes the 2 types of Blackholes:
--------------------- Stellar Blackholes that are created by a massive star supernova leaving a mass remnant of 3 to 10 Solar Mass. If it is less than 3 Solar Mass the remnant remains a Neutron Star, a White Dwarf.
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-------------------- Super massive Blackholes at the center of galaxies are millions to billions Solar Mass. They were around shortly after the Big Bang and when stars and galaxies first formed.
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- Blackholes are regions of space in which the gravity is so great nothing escapes, not even electromagnetic radiation that could be used to detect its existence. So, they can not be “seen”. Astronomers must use the gravity to detect the Blackhole as it’s gravity effects other objects.
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- X-ray detectors in the 1960’s were the first to detect binary stars in which one star heats material to millions of degrees due to friction of an in falling material in their accretion disks. The super heated atoms emit X-rays. The Blackhole is invisible until the gas and material from the companion star falls into it. Then, the accretion disk lights up in X-rays.
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- Astronomers collect data from the visible stars in order to understand the behavior of the invisible star which is likely a Blackhole. The orbit of the visible star can be calculated by measuring the redshift as the star moves away from us and the blue shift in the light spectrum as the star moves towards us. The orbit velocity and the radius measured with this data allows the astronomer to calculate the mass of the object at the center of the orbit. This is no different then the method to calculate the mass of the Sun by measuring the velocity and orbits of the planets.
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- If the mass is less than 3 Solar Mass the invisible object is a Neutron Star. If the mass is more than 3 Solar Mass the object is a Blackhole.
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- To date astronomers have found 20 Stellar Blackholes. Cygnus X-1 is an X-ray binary. The Hot Blue Giant star HDE226868 orbits at 43 miles per second, ( 155,000 miles per hour), completing its orbit in 5.6 days. The invisible companion star was calculate to be 15 Solar Mass. The Blue giant star is 19 Solar mass. The invisible star by deduction must by a Blackhole.
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- A super massive Blackhole exist at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. For 15 years astronomers have tracked dozens of stars orbiting the center of our Galaxy. The invisible mass at the center of these orbiting stars is calculate to be 4,000,000 Solar mass within a region about the diameter of our Solar System. Mass and volume allow the calculation of density. Once density is defined you can know if you have identified a Blackhole.
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- During these observations in 2003 astronomers saw an infrared flash at the center that lasted for 30 minutes. The infrared emissions were created by material heating up as it fell into the Event Horizon and disappeared into the Blackhole. Our Galaxy Blackhole is relatively quiet and in falling material is not often seen.
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- Astronomers have similarly discovered Blackholes in other galaxies:
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---------------- M87 in the Virgo Cluster is 50 million light years away. Mass is calculated to be 6,600,000,000 Solar Mass. This is over 1,000 times bigger than the milky Way’s Blackhole.
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--------------- NGC4889 and NGC 3842 are each 10,000,000,000 Solar Mass at the center.
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--------------- M106 - NGC4258 has a mass of 30,000,000 Solar Mass. This mass was discovered identifying “water masers” that emit specific frequencies of light.
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------------- M31, M87, M81, NGC2273 all emitting high speed jets.
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- Quasars are the 4^th reason astronomers believe Blackholes exist. Quasars are extremely luminous cores of distant galaxies. Early evolution produced super massive Blackholes at the center of galaxies whose gravity was so strong it distorted space-time twisting the magnetic fields. The magnetic field lines funneled radiation into high-speed jets perpendicular to the galaxy’s disk.
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- Jets produce radio to X-ray to Gamma Ray radiation moving at 90% the speed of light and slamming into the interstellar medium which produces further electromagnetic emissions. Closest to the Blackhole X-ray emission came from the base of the jets. Further out the jets produced radio emissions. X-rays were also produced as the material was spiraling into and past the Event Horizon. Once past the Event Horizon the radiation stops.
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- Are there medium sized Blackhole? Stellar Blackholes are 3 to 10 Solar Mass. Galactic Blackholes are 4 million to 10,000 million Solar Mass. What about in between?
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- Quasars tell us that Blackholes first formed when the Universe was 770,000,000 years old. Calculations tell us that the maximum rate Blackholes can double their mass is in 50,000,000 years. We would expect to be able to find a continuous range of Blackholes from 100 to 100,000 Solar Mass because the growth can be cut off at any stage. Hot gas traveling at millions of miles per hour is propelled outward from the Blackhole’s center. The gas extends out to 15 lightyears distance.
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- When the Blackhole’s mass reaches 1/1000^th the mass of the galactic bulge this leaf blower effect pushes the gas out from the center and prevents the Blackhole from growing any bigger. That would stop the growth. Only 11 candidates have been found in the middle range of 200,000 to 2,000,000 Solar Mass.
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- Astronomers hope that the newer telescopes under development that have a resolution of 10 micro arc seconds will allow them to witness a Blackhole’s Event Horizon. The best candidate is M87. Astronomers hope to see the accretion disk of material light up as it is swallowed by the immense gravity of this Blackhole. A first! An announcement will be made shortly, stay tuned.
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Global Warming in 2006 and today?

--------- #1448 Global Warming in 2006 and today?
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- After 5 years, 2001 to 2006, environmentalists and lawmakers had concluded “ Global Warming” is real and human activity is causing it. Mainly CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels create a greenhouse gas that is steadily warming the planet..
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- Greenland ice sheets have doubled their rate of slide. By 2100 the sea levels will rise by 20 feet.
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- CO2 is a few hundred parts per million in the atmosphere. As a greenhouse gas CO2 lets sunlight in but prevents infrared from the warming Earth from radiating back out. The CO2 reflects heat back to the ground keeping it trapped in the atmosphere warming the entire globe.
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- During the last ice age ( see Review # 1436 for information ) CO2 was 180 parts per million. In the modern era the CO2 level was 200 parts per million. In 2006 it was 381 parts per million. 19 of the 20 hottest years on record occurred in the last 20 years. 2005 was the hottest year in the century.
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- In Greenland 53 cubic miles of ice had melted into the sea. 10 years earlier it was 22 cubic miles per year. Estimates were that this process would raise seal levels 23 feet. The Antarctic holds enough ice to raise the sea levels to by 215 feet.
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- When the white snow and ice shrinks the reflection of sunlight is reduced, more radiation is absorbed, more ice melts. It becomes a positive feedback loop.
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- The last ice age was 8,000 years ago. Much of the permafrost still exists. As it melts, decomposes, it releases more CO2 and methane gas. Again, we create another positive feedback loop. Permafrost contains 800 gigatons of carbon. Compare that to human carbon output of 7 gigatons per year.
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- The Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean brings warm water up from the tropics keeping Europe’s climate relatively mild. Warm water is lighter than cold water and floats to the surface. When the Gulf Stream reaches Europe it release heat and sinks to the bottom to return to the tropics in deep ocean currents. The water gets reheated and returns. However, fresh water from the melted glaciers is lighter than the salt water. This excessive concentration of fresh water enters the northern waters and blocks the gulf Stream cycle.
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- Global warming is bringing Spring arrival earlier. This in turn melts the snow earlier. Washington, Oregon, and California are seeing droughts because the snow pack is gone too early in the season. Global warming is causing more droughts. More wild fires are occurring as a result. That too puts more carbon into the atmosphere.
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- Animals go if the forests go.
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- 141 nations have ratified the Kyoto Treaty designed to reduce CO2 emission in each nation. The US has 5% of the population but produces 25% of the CO2 emissions The US has not ratified the Kyoto Treaty. The Bush administration would remain intransigent , refusing to sign.
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- Some 200 cities in the US have agreed to meet the Kyoto Treaty guidelines on their own. 9 states have agreed to a cap and trade program to reduce CO2 emissions. California passed the toughest automobile emissions law in the nation in 2005.
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- Environmentalists predict 450 parts per million CO2 levels. Mercury and Venus and Mars have all died as hospitable planets. The Global Warming activists believe Earth will be next due to these CO2 emissions.
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------------------- Nations production of CO2 emissions in thousand tons:
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---------------------- US ------------------- 1,580,175
---------------------- China ---------------- 1,131,175
---------------------- India ------------------- 347,577
---------------------- Canada ----------------- 154,392
---------------------- Australia ---------------- 96,657
---------------------- Egypt -------------------- 38,118
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- 2006 companies in the US as top polluters:
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---------------------------------- 1 ---------------- DuPont
---------------------------------- 2 ---------------- US Steel
---------------------------------- 3 ---------------- Conoco Phillips
---------------------------------- 4 ---------------- GE
---------------------------------- 5 ---------------- Eastman Kodak
---------------------------------- 6 ---------------- Exxon
---------------------------------- 7 ---------------- Ford
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---------------------------------- 96 ---------------- Kimberly-Clark
---------------------------------- 97---------------- Harley-Davidson
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---------------------------------- 100 ---------------- Illinois Tool Works
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-------------------------- 2006 cities with the most pollution:
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---------------------------------- 1 ---------------- Bakersfield, CA
---------------------------------- 2 ---------------- LA, Long Beach
---------------------------------- 3 ---------------- Visalia, CA
---------------------------------- 4 ---------------- Fresno, CA
---------------------------------- 5 ---------------- Merced, CA
---------------------------------- 6 ---------------- Houston, Texas
---------------------------------- 7 ---------------- Sacramento, CA
---------------------------------- 8 ----------------- Dallas, Texas
---------------------------------- 9------------------ New York
---------------------------------- 10 ---------------- Philadelphia
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- Nations with the most oil production in millions of barrels per day:
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---------------------------------- 1 ---------------- Saudi Arabia ------------ 10.37
---------------------------------- 2 ---------------- Russia------------------------ 9.27
---------------------------------- 3 ---------------- US---------------------------- 8.69
---------------------------------- 4 ---------------- India-------------------------- 4.09
---------------------------------- 5 ---------------- Mexico----------------------- 3.83
---------------------------------- 6 ---------------- China------------------------- 3.62
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- Nations as the top oil consumers in millions of barrels per day:
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---------------------------------- 1 ---------------- US ----------------------- 20.5
---------------------------------- 2 ---------------- Chin------------------------ 6.5
---------------------------------- 3 ---------------- Japan----------------------- 5.4
---------------------------------- 4 ---------------- Germany------------------- 2.6
---------------------------------- 5 ---------------- Russia---------------------- 2.6
---------------------------------- 6 ---------------- India------------------------ 2.3
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- That was 2006. It would be interesting to see the same measurements made for 2012. Needs more research. How would the data compare? An announcement will be made shortly, stay tuned.
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Monday, April 2, 2012

How the Greeks measured the circumference of Earth?

--------- #1449 Eratosthenes measures the Earth.
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-Eratosthenes was a Greek scholar in the 3^rd century B.C. He knew the Earth was a sphere even 1,700 years before Columbus. Eratosthenes set about to determine how bid the Earth was.
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- He lived in the town of Syene, Egypt. today this town is know as Aswan. He noticed that on the Summer Solstice, June 21, the longest day of the year that the Sun was directly overhead. the sunlight would shine to the bottom of a deep well in the center of the town of Syene.
- Eratosthenes traveled to the town of Alexander which was 50 days by camel. When it was the same time on June 21st, the Sun was not directly overhead because he was farther north. He took is 10 foot staff and noted its shadow as 16 inches long on the ground.
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- He knew that an average days ride by camel would cover 10.5 miles. The entire trip took 50 days.
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- He had enough information to calculate the circumference of the Earth.
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- Can you get the answer he got?
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Monday, April 2, 2012

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Puzzle for students to learn math?

--------- #1447 A Roman Circle decimates the students.

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- The Roman army had a way to punish cowardice or mutiny among its soldiers. Every 10^th soldier in the group of mutineers was selected by lot to be executed. This is where the word “ decimated” comes from. The punishment dates back to 370 A.D. 1000 mutineers were arranged in a circle and tied to posts. The soldier at post #1 was shot and then every other soldier around the circle was executed. One by one. The last one executed i s #999. #1000 soldier survives. The next living soldier is at post #2. He is executed and every other soldier around the circle again. The last living soldier is released to warn the other soldiers not to be cowards.
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- At what post should you stand in the circle of death in order to survive?
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- Let’s make the problem less violent and a lot easier. Put a classroom of kids in a circle sitting in their chairs facing the center of the circle. The chairs are numbered 1 through 30. The teacher gets behind chair #1 and asks that student to stand up behind the #1 chair. Now the teacher instructs every other student around the circle to stand. After once around the circle continue with every other student until only one remains seated. Which student remains seated in their chair?
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Sunday, April 1, 2012