Alien – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

What Do Sunsets Look Like From Other Planets?

By Guest PostJanuary 17, 2012ScienceAlien, aspen, astrophysicist, atmosphere, colorado, conference, exoclimes, exoclimes 2012, extrasolar planets, frederic pont, fundamental problems, Galaxy, gloomy orange, hd 189, hd 189733 b, hd 209, hd 209458 b, Hubble Space Telescope, modern astronomy, neutral sodium lines, osiris, planet forming discs, planetary atmospheres, planets, sodium street lighting, solar system, spectral, sun, sunset, sunset images, transmission spectrum, university of exeter, website

A University of Exeter astrophysicist has shown what sunsets look like on planets outside our solar system.

He has worked out the colour of sunsets on two planets: HD 209458 b and HD 189733 b, known as ‘extrasolar planets’ because they are outside our solar system.

Extrasolar planets orbit stars, in a similar way to the Earth orbiting the Sun. Professor Frédéric Pont of the University of Exeter has used the extrasolar planets’ ‘transmission spectrum’, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, to work out the colour of the ‘sunsets’ created by these stars.

Writing on the website ExoClimes.com, where he has posted the two sunset images he has produced, Professor Pont said: “Unlike its sister planet HD ’189, the planet HD ’209 (‘Osiris’) has a sunset that looks truly alien. The star is white outside the atmosphere, since its temperature is close to that of the Sun. It then acquires a bluish tinge as it sinks deeper, because the absorption by the broad wings of the neutral sodium lines (the spectral lines responsible for the gloomy orange of sodium street lighting) remove the red and orange from the star light. (more…)

Francis Galton’s Eugenic Novel Kantsaywhere Published Online

By Guest PostNovember 20, 2011Culturealdous huxley, Alien, brave new world, eugenic marriage, eugenic novel, father of eugenics, forensic fingerprinting, francis galton, genetic composition, human populations, john wyndham, kantsaywhere, karl pearson, matthew sweet, miss allfancy, polymath, psychometric test, scientist, social context, the chrysalids, twentieth century science fiction

Francis Galton’s eugenic novel Kantsaywhere has been published for the first time by UCL.

The novel, which is accompanied by a new introduction that considers its controversial literary and social context, was rejected for publication shortly before Galton’s death in 1911. Now, UCL has decided it to make it publicly available for the first time as part of a year of events commemorating the 100th anniversary of his death.

Francis Galton is often referred to as the ‘father of eugenics’, as he was the first to propose that human populations could be engineered to improve their genetic composition – an idea that has been highly contentious throughout the 20th century. In addition to coining the term ‘eugenics’, Galton was a polymath and scientist who, amongst other achievements, devised a system for forensic fingerprinting. (more…)

If Aliens Attack!!

By ShamsOctober 30, 2007Science FictionAlien, alien attack, Galaxy, life in the Universe, Milky Way, Orion arm, planet Earth

According to a recent AP poll that interviewed little above 1000 adults, 14% of the participants told they have seen a UFO. We all know what UFO means, unidentifying flying object. That object which sometimes flies but without any license and disappears leaving the spectator in a puzzle about the Universe. And seeing a UFO flying, is a rare event in life without a single doubt and must need luck as well.

(more…)

Tag Archives: Alien

What Do Sunsets Look Like From Other Planets?

Francis Galton’s Eugenic Novel Kantsaywhere Published Online

If Aliens Attack!!