Cosmic Collisions

Cosmic Collisions PDF Author: Lars Lindberg Christensen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387938559
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 142

Get Book

Book Description
Like no other telescope ever invented, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has given us magnificent high resolution views of the gigantic cosmic collisions between galaxies. Hubble's images are snapshots in time and catch the colliding galaxies in different stages of collision. Thanks to a new and amazing set of 60 Hubble images, for the first time these different stages can be put together to form a still-frame movielike montage showing the incredible processes taking place as galaxies collide and merge. The significance of these cosmic encounters reaches far beyond aesthetics. Galaxy mergers may, in fact, be some of the most important processes that shape our universe. Colliding galaxies very likely, hold some of the most important clues to our cosmic past and to our destiny. It now seems clear that the Milky Way is continuously undergoing merging events, some small scale, others on a gigantic scale. And the importance of this process in the lives of galaxies is much greater than what was previously thought.

Cosmic Collisions

Cosmic Collisions PDF Author: Lars Lindberg Christensen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387938559
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 142

Get Book

Book Description
Like no other telescope ever invented, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has given us magnificent high resolution views of the gigantic cosmic collisions between galaxies. Hubble's images are snapshots in time and catch the colliding galaxies in different stages of collision. Thanks to a new and amazing set of 60 Hubble images, for the first time these different stages can be put together to form a still-frame movielike montage showing the incredible processes taking place as galaxies collide and merge. The significance of these cosmic encounters reaches far beyond aesthetics. Galaxy mergers may, in fact, be some of the most important processes that shape our universe. Colliding galaxies very likely, hold some of the most important clues to our cosmic past and to our destiny. It now seems clear that the Milky Way is continuously undergoing merging events, some small scale, others on a gigantic scale. And the importance of this process in the lives of galaxies is much greater than what was previously thought.

Cosmic Collisions

Cosmic Collisions PDF Author: Dana Desonie
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0805038442
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 129

Get Book

Book Description
An encyclopedia encompassing a variety of natural science subjects relating to the understanding of weather and climate including the technology and policy discussions which have become part of contemporary environmental and political debates impacting forestry, aviation, famine relief, and pollution. Each entry is a short essay written by one of the over 200 distinguished contributing scholars; entries are cross-referenced and are written at different levels of technicality, making the reference suitable for scientists and non- scientists alike. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Cosmic Collisions

Cosmic Collisions PDF Author: Dana Desonie
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
ISBN: 1466862831
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 183

Get Book

Book Description
Cosmic collisions have forever shaped the planets in our solar system, sculpting Earth and our Moon. They are still happening right in our neighborhood, as we saw in July 1994 when comet fragments bombarded the surface of Jupiter. What if a collision of that magnitude were to occur on Earth? Would the effect be anywhere near that of the collision that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago? Scientists have just begun to track distant asteroids and comets that may pose a threat to Earth in years to come. In Scientific American Focus: Cosmic Collisions Dana Desonie traces the history of cosmic collisions and proposes various solutions to what many view as our impending doom, answering these questions and more: -How often does Earth experience a cosmic collision? -Did a massive collision kill off the dinosaurs? -How do scientists track and predict collisions? -What did we learn from the Jupiter collision of 1994? -How real is the threat of a collision in our future? -How can we defend our planet?

Ancient Astronauts, Cosmic Collisions

Ancient Astronauts, Cosmic Collisions PDF Author: William H. Stiebing
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1615926976
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 226

Get Book

Book Description
Controversial archaeological and astronomical "discoveries" have been the subject of countless news stories, best-selling books, movies, and television programs. Promoted (but seldom critically evaluated) are the theories that markings in the desert of Peru are the remains of an ancient airfield used by space visitors, that the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt exhibits advanced technology unknown to the ancient Egyptians, and that there were near-collisions between planets of our solar system in historical times.This book critically evaluates many of these popular hypotheses about man''s early history. It presents the most important evidence and arguments for and against theories of a universal flood, the lost continent of Atlantis, mysterious pyramid powers, pre-Columbian voyages to America by ancient Egyptians and Phoenicians, and Velikovsky''s cosmic catastrophism.Professor Stiebing stresses the need for careful and objective analysis of the "evidence" used to support radical reconstructions of the past. The book discusses radio-carbon dating, archaeological stratigraphy, textual interpretation, and epigraphy as well as emphasis on the proper use of data provided by geology, astronomy and other sciences. It is written in non-technical language and will appeal to a wide audience.

Cosmic Collisions: Asteroid vs. Comet

Cosmic Collisions: Asteroid vs. Comet PDF Author: Marc J. Kuchner
Publisher: Candlewick Press
ISBN: 1536237108
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 47

Get Book

Book Description
What happens when two massive hunks of hurtling space debris slam into each other? Welcome to round one in the Cosmic Collisions series—an exciting children’s debut from an expert astrophysicist. There’s a comet speeding in from the outer solar system, and it’s about to slam into an asteroid. Who will be left standing after this interplanetary smackdown? The pockmarked asteroid, a veteran fighter who’s already seen some action? Or the dazzling comet, with its incredible velocity and a tail that stretches millions of miles? Kicking off a dynamic series on cosmic collisions, Asteroid vs. Comet starts by comparing the two opponents, then offers hints and context to encourage readers to use real science to form a hypothesis. Action-packed full-color illustrations with a graphic, comic-book feel will attract reluctant readers and kids who love smash-and-crash, along with budding scientists. Curious readers can find back matter addressing the question of fact versus fiction, how to become a citizen scientist, and comets and asteroids in the news.

Fire in the Sky

Fire in the Sky PDF Author: Gordon L. Dillow
Publisher: Scribner
ISBN: 1501187759
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Get Book

Book Description
This “accessible and always entertaining” (Booklist) combination of history, pop science, and in-depth reporting offers a fascinating account of the asteroids that hit Earth long ago and those streaming toward us now, as well as how prepared we are against asteroid-caused catastrophe. One of these days, warns Gordon Dillow, the Earth will be hit by a comet or asteroid of potentially catastrophic size. The only question is when. In the meantime, we need to get much better at finding objects hurtling our way, and if they’re large enough to penetrate the atmosphere without burning up, figure out what to do about them. We owe many of science’s most important discoveries to the famed Meteor Crater, a mile-wide dimple on the Colorado Plateau created by an asteroid hit 50,000 years ago. In his masterfully researched Fire in the Sky, Dillow unpacks what the Crater has to tell us. Prior to the early 1900s, the world believed that all craters—on the Earth and Moon—were formed by volcanic activity. Not so. The revelation that Meteor Crater and others like it were formed by impacts with space objects has led to a now accepted theory about what killed off the dinosaurs, and it has opened up a new field of asteroid observation that is brimming with urgency. Dillow looks at great asteroid hits of the past and modern-day asteroid hunters and defense planning experts, including America’s first Planetary Defense Officer. Satellite sensors confirm that a Hiroshima-scale blast occurs in the atmosphere every year, and a smaller, one-kiloton blast every month. While Dillow makes clear that the objects above can be deadly, he consistently inspires awe with his descriptions of their size, makeup, and origins. Both a riveting work of popular science and a warning to not take for granted the space objects hurtling overhead, Fire in the Sky is, ultimately, a testament to our universe’s celestial wonders.

Colliding Worlds

Colliding Worlds PDF Author: Simone Marchi
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198845405
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 222

Get Book

Book Description
Some 4.6 billion years ago, a planetary system was born form a disc of gas and dust surrounding a young star. Specks of dust, pushed into dense clumps, collided stuck together, and grew. While the gas disappeared, the growing bodies clashed in a final violent phase, leaving a series of planets, and much debris. The planets jostled and moved around as they sought a stable arrangement, knocking many small fragments out of the system altogether while others forms a distant icy fringe. The massive violent collisions of this time gouged out vast craters form the newborn planets, and sometimes created moons. Such was the birth of our Solar System. Only recently have scientists begun to find subtle clues of these ancient, violent times. Remarkably, they are still there, if we look carefully at the Earth's oldest rocks, at Mars and the Moon with their ancient surfaces, and at the asteroids, which are themselves startlingly varied small worlds. Clues are also to be found in the meteorites that have landed on Earth. From such splinters, from the precious collection of lunar rocks brought back by the Apollo astronauts, and the information gleaned by spacecraft and the Mars rovers, we are slowly building up a picture of the early days of the planets.

Collision Course!

Collision Course! PDF Author: Fred Bortz
Publisher: StarWalk Kids Media
ISBN: 1630831123
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 64

Get Book

Book Description
Bortz takes readers on a whirlwind tour of the origins of the universe, the impact of comets and asteroids on the history of the Earth and the Moon, what we have learned from current research about these space rocks, and what we might expect in the future. Newly updated in 2014 to include the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteorite, as well as the latest technological developments.

Galaxy Collisions

Galaxy Collisions PDF Author: Curtis Struck
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387853715
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 285

Get Book

Book Description
The spectacular images of galaxy collisions capture the imagination. This book will show what is out there in the universe, what it’s like in other galaxies, what they might look like, and how cosmic processes might affect life in other solar systems. It will explain crucial stages in the development of physical structure in the universe, and the effect of galaxy scale processes. Professor Struck will explore all the issues surrounding galaxy collisions. He will begin with a brief broad review of the background on galaxies, the history of their discovery, and how this has been driven by steadily improving technology. Chapters 2 gives details of the early stages of different types of galaxy collision - Rings of Fire, Tidal Swings and Retrograde and Sideways Reels - while Chapter 3 describes collisions between galaxies of very different masses: minor merger or dwarf destruction. Chapter 4 covers ultra-luminous infrared galaxies and major mergers and Chapter 5 briefly examines the techniques used for computer simulation results and how increasing computer capacity has affected the development of this field. The following chapter looks at understanding the physical processes of triggered star formation and nuclear activity. Chapters 7-9 look at the broader view of cosmological structure growth which determines the environment and conditions in which galaxy collisions occur. In the densest environments, this process repeats itself on the larger scale of galaxy clusters. The concluding chapter considers what a galaxy collision looks like from a solar system like ours. Although the galaxy is completely restructured and the night sky view would change greatly over the course of several hundred million years, the direct effects on our planet would be few and infrequent, with only a small probability of being truly catastrophic. These issues will be explored along with the ideas that galaxies must reach a certain evolutionary "maturity" before they can even form solar systems, and that there are habitable zones within galaxies. Thus, galaxy scale processes, like collisions, can determine the fate of life on Earth-like planets.

Catastrophic Events Caused by Cosmic Objects

Catastrophic Events Caused by Cosmic Objects PDF Author: Vitaly Adushkin
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402064527
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 357

Get Book

Book Description
An asteroid or comet will inevitably strike the Earth some day, and potentially cause great destruction. This volume considers hazards due to collisions with cosmic objects, particularly in light of recent investigations of impacts by the authors. Each chapter, written by an expert, contains an overview of an aspect and new findings in the field. Coverage describes and numerically estimates the main hazardous effects.