NASA: Hubble Captures a Galactic Waltz

These days people take these things for granted.  I've even read the words "This kinda thing looks better in movies!"

I scream!

Just look at the image.  This is real and out there.  No CGI movie screenshot.

http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/hubble-captures-a-galactic-waltz

This curious galaxy — only known by the seemingly random jumble of letters and numbers 2MASX J16270254+4328340 — has been captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope dancing the crazed dance of a galactic merger. The galaxy has merged with another galaxy leaving a fine mist, made of millions of stars, spewing from it in long trails.

Despite the apparent chaos, this snapshot of the gravitational tango was captured towards the event’s conclusion. This transforming galaxy is heading into old age with its star-forming days coming to an end. The true drama occurred earlier in the process, when the various clouds of gas within the two galaxies were so disturbed by the event that they collapsed, triggering an eruption of star formation. This flurry of activity exhausted the vast majority of the galactic gas, leaving the galaxy sterile and unable to produce new stars.

As the violence continues to subside, the newly formed galaxy’s population of stars will redden with age and eventually begin to cool and dim one by one. With no future generations of stars to take their place, the galaxy thus begins a steady path of fading and quieting.

Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt
Text credit: European Space Agency

Last Updated: Nov. 25, 2015

Editor: Ashley Morrow

NASA: Journey to Pluto and Beyond

NASA Scientist to Discuss "New Horizons: Journey to Pluto and Beyond" at Library of Congress Lecture

New Horizons scientists made this false color image of Pluto using a technique called principal component analysis to highlight the many subtle color differences between Pluto's distinct regions. The image data were collected by the spacecraft’s Ralph/MVIC color camera on July 14 at 11:11 AM UTC, from a range of 22,000 miles (35,000 kilometers). This image was presented by Will Grundy of the New Horizons’ surface composition team on Nov. 9 at the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in National Harbor, Maryland.

 

Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

 

 

The public is invited to a free talk called “New Horizons: Journey to Pluto and Beyond” with Dennis Reuter in the Pickford Theater, third floor, Madison Building, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Dec. 8, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET.

Dennis Reuter, a New Horizons co-investigator from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is the instrument scientist for Ralph, the New Horizons color imager and infrared spectrometer. His talk will highlight the first close-up images of Pluto.

New Horizons has taken the first high-resolution views of the Pluto system, which represents an unexplored class of solar system bodies – small planets in the Kuiper Belt.

"Not only does Ralph allow us to ‘see’ things as if we ourselves were there, its infrared spectra will allow us to tell what specific molecules are on the surfaces of Pluto and its moons, how they are distributed, and what their environments are like," Reuter said.

"We've already seen how capable Ralph is from infrared and visible images taken of Jupiter in 2007 during the gravity assist maneuver that sped New Horizons to Pluto. The idea that planetary science will soon have that information for the Pluto system too is just remarkable!"

The Library of Congress maintains one of the largest and most diverse collections of scientific and technical information in the world. The Science, Technology and Business Division provides reference and bibliographic services and develops the general collections of the library in all areas of science, technology, business and economics. For more information, visit www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/.

The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and the largest library in the world and holds nearly 151.8 million items in various languages, disciplines and formats. The library serves Congress and the nation both on-site in its reading rooms on Capitol Hill and through its award-winning website at www.loc.gov.

For inquiries about this or upcoming talks at the Library of Congress, the public can contact the LOC Science, Technology and Business Division at 202-707-5664. ADA accommodations should be requested five business days in advance at 202-707-6382 (voice/tty) or ada@loc.gov.
The lecture will be later broadcast on the Library’s webcast page and YouTube channel “Topics in Science” playlist.
For more information about the New Horizons mission, visit:

www.nasa.gov/newhorizons

For more information, visit:

http://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/ 

For directions, visit:

http://www.loc.gov/visit/maps-and-floor-plans/

---

Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-4044
Robert.J.Gutro@nasa.gov

Last Updated: Dec. 1, 2015

Editor: Ashley Morrow

What Does A Stat Say....don't worry -it's not a joke!

I like to check out the stats for the blog every-so-often as it helps to see if I'm posting to myself!

On average there are usually about 270-300 views a day.  On certain days, however, it can be low -yesterday there were 196 views but that is STILL 196 views.  The blog originally got 5-8 views per day and last month's total of 8, 307 isn't bad -considering it's rare I hear from anyone about postings!

Pageviews today                   266 Pageviews yesterday             196 Pageviews last month            8,307 Pageviews all time history      65,400

65, 400 as total views isn't bad either.  In 2011 the blog was just set up to promote the books (yeah, shows that never helped sales!) and there were 42 posts if I remember rightly.  What am I talking about? Just check the home page:


2011 (40)       2012 (48)       2013 (41)     2014 (71) 
Not bad. But this year there have already been 248 posts.

I don't care that much about blog stats because they don't mean that much to me but it does show that there are a lot of visitors to the blog and if only 2% forwarded sighting reports ...well, wow.

But I'll trundle along but THANKS for stopping by to check things out!

Big cat sightings

There is a reason I retired after being a UK police forces exotic fauna advisor.  Anyway, if I learnt one thing between 1975-2007 it was that you need scale to estimate a cat's size.

This cat does not look in the least bit melanistic (black) but seems to have a mottled pattern.  Could be one of the smaller "non native" cats.

 Seriously, all the data shows these cats have been around and breeding since "at least" the 19th century -the police know it, the farmers and villagers know it, naturalists know it but we have to say "non native" because first the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries & Food (MAFF) and then the Department for Environment Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) say they are not there.  Ask DEFRA about the drawer full of "big cat" paw print casts in Bristol. I was shown them by accident in 1998.

 "Hybrid of a wild and domesticated cat".......utter s**t water.

Big cat sightings: 'Huge' black beast photographed stalking through suburban gardens

• 17:56, 2 Jul 2015
• By Tom Bevan

Carole Desforges spotted the mystery animal prowling on the lawn opposite her home on the outskirts of Plymouth in Devon

Beast: Some are questioning whether this strange creature could be the latest big cat sighting

Strange images of a huge black beast stalking through suburban gardens could be fresh evidence of big cats on the loose in Britain.

Office worker Carole Desforges spotted a mystery animal prowling on the lawn opposite her home on the outskirts of Plymouth in Devon.

She managed to get a few snaps of it through the window before it ran off.

Carole, 59, first thought it was just a fox - but having reviewed her pictures she is now not so sure.
Some friends have suggested it could be a puma, lynx, leopard - or an unknown beast of Plymouth.
But Carole said: " I guess it remains a mystery.

"I enjoy the speculation about it all.

"I don't know what it is, but people have been suggesting it could be some kind of big cat.
"A puma or a lynx have both been mentioned.
 
"I don't know what it is, but I have never seen anything like it before.

"I was in the living room and saw something blurry outside through the living room door.

"I grabbed my phone and took a picture.

"I originally thought it was a fox but since I shared the photo, people have been having all sorts of ideas."
Her son Dave Desforges added: "Mum might think it's a fox, but I am not convinced."

Latest figures show there have been an estimated 200 big cat sightings in Devon and Cornwall over the last 13 years.

A tiger was said to have been spotted in Exmouth in Devon.

A puma was spotted in Efford by a Plymouth man who called to report it to police.

The number of calls, which hit 220, peaked in 2001 when there were 30 in a year.

Four people have also reported to the emergency services they believe their livestock could have been killed by big cats thanks to claw marks on the corpses.

Not all sightings are reported to police, with some going straight to big cat groups.

Danny Bamping of the British Big Cat Society said: "In Britain 75 per cent of the reports are of big black cats, but the unanswered question is what they are.

"There's no doubt in my mind that there could be black leopards, but the animal seen was possibly a hybrid of a wild and domesticated cat."

A Black Fox

Well, the nice man at the Mail laughed and said "of course you can use it -it's not new!"  So here we go: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2121148/Is-omen-Mysterious-BLACK-FOX-reappears-British-countryside-time-2008.html

Oh, a few years back there were black foxes in Devon but I've not heard from the lady down there since 2006? A white one was running about Cambridgeshire in the late 1990s.

 Yes, fox cubs are born black and here you can see why that other fox item tells of the black fox dying. Its mother probably got killed and it hadn't learnt the skills to survive.

Some nice footage someone sent the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7626207.stm

Is it an omen? Mysterious BLACK FOX reappears in British countryside for first time since 2008

• John Moore from Bassingbourn, near Royston, Herts, saw the creature, with its distinctive white-tipped tail, in fields behind his house
• Only one other black fox has been spotted in Britain before in Preston

By Jill Reilly

 

Published: 17:42, 27 March 2012 | Updated: 02:06, 28 March 2012 

 

According to legend, a black fox brings bad luck, but an amateur photographer could hardly believe his good fortune when he spotted the rare animal near his house. 

It is believed to be only the second time a black fox has been spotted in Britain.
John Moore, 58, from Bassingbourn, near Royston, Herts, saw the creature, with its distinctive white-tipped tail, in fields behind his home.

Killed: The black fox, with its distinctive white-tipped tail, runs through a field close to the village

Bad omen? The accident happened on a busy road in Bassingbourn just four days after the fox was first spotted

Unusual: The black fox is so rare - with the colouring caused by a defect gene - that there are only a handful of the breed left in the country

Lucky: John Moore from Bassingbourne in Cambridgeshire

His wife Cheryl, 64, first spotted what she thought to be a black sack blowing in the wind last week.


Mr Moore then spotted it for himself last Thursday but it has disappeared by the time he managed to get his camera out.

He then spent four days watching for the black fox, which has a distinctive white-tipped tail and is believed to be one of just a handful in the country.


'I've heard black foxes are mythical creatures because they supposedly don't exist,' he said.

'My neighbour thought it was a stray dog but I looked through my binoculars and realised it was definitely a fox, especially because of its white-tipped tail.

'I didn't realise how rare it was until I did some research. An RSPCA officer told my neighbour the organisation had never seen one before as they are that rare.

The black fox is in fact an ordinary red fox which has black fur or is going through a phase where the colour of its fur is particularly dark. 

The phenomenon is normally seen in growing cubs and generally the fox will develop to have a dark chestnut coat. 

But a few red foxes will remain black due to a rare genetic flaw dating back hundreds of years. Only a handful of them are thought to exist in Britain.

Unwelcome sight: In medieval times, the black fox was considered a bad omen by superstitious villagers

Colouring: The black fox is in fact an ordinary red fox which has black fur or is going through a phase where the colour of its fur is particularly dark

WHY DOES THE BLACK FOX REPRESENT BAD LUCK?

In Gaelic tradition, black foxes are bringers of bad luck.

Rural communities used to tell of a fox as 'black as night, so that it could live in a man's shadow and never be seen.'

Centuries-old superstitions are often found attached to black animals, such as black dogs and black cats. 

It is thought to originate from when the black dog was said to bring disaster and doom to whoever saw the animal. 

In Medieval times, villages were very afraid of the sighting of a black fox and considered it to predict trouble or bad luck. 

In North America, foxes with black coats are often found with a variable amount of white or white-banded hair in the dark coat.

Mr Moore added: 'I first saw the black fox last week so when it appeared again yesterday I was ready with my camera.

'I managed to get within 100 metres of it but then it ran off.

'I was really pleased with the photos. I wanted to get them because when we spotted it before no one believed us.

'They thought we must have been mistaken, but from these pictures there's no mistaking it.'

Mr Moore even believes there is a second black fox living in the fields.
'I caught a glimpse of a second one but I'm not sure if it's a cub or a male and female fox,' he added.

The red fox was introduced to America by the peans and black foxes exist in much greater numbers there because they were not hunted as widely. 

In the UK their pelts were highly prized in the fur trade and it is believed the genetic strain became much scarcer. 

Only one other black fox has been spotted in Britain before in Preston, Lancashire in 2008.

Some people took it as a bad omen as only a few weeks later the banks in Britain nearly collapsed. 

But it seems the bad luck was turned inwards and a few weeks later a woman found the dead animal on her farm in Heapey, near Chorley, Lancashire, after it had been seen by neighbours hanging around the area, looking gaunt.

Omen: Only one other black fox has been spotted in Britain before in Preston, Lancashire in 2008 in a graveyard - but it was found dead weeks later

Kevin Hehir, 48, from Ribbleton in Preston, spotted the animal on September 8 whilst he was out walking and managed to take pictures and record footage. 

At the time, he said: 'I thought it was the Devil looking at me. Then I thought, "It's a myth, there's no such thing". But I managed to get right up to it and it's definitely a young black fox.'

On hearing it had died, he added: 'What a shame. At the time it looked weary and like it was on its last legs. I'm pleased that I managed to get a picture of it. Far from being unlucky for me it brought the sunshine and dry weather for the harvest.'
 *************************************************************

http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/the-red-paper-canids/paperback/product-22092321.html 

Yes, It Is The "Public Appeal" Time!

 A wallaby photographed in Lancashire.


I know I make these appeals now and then and I never ever get any responses but if I am one thing it is thick persistent.

If you live within the City and County of Bristol, I would very much like to hear from you if you have seen a UFO. If you have video footage of a UFO.  If you believe you live in a haunted house then, again, please get in touch.  Strange creature, big cat -let me know.

And if you live in the United Kingdom the same thing applies.  I would very much like to hear from witnesses to any of the above and, please, be assured, after a few decades I have heard and seen a lot and I do not laugh at people no matter how odd an event might seem (even to them).

I ought to also point out that I am, as an historian, also interested in hearing of strange or weird events and sightings family members may have had in the past and spoke about -and if there are any photos....!

So, please, if you can help contact me at the usual email rather than public Comments on the blog.
THANKS

blacktowercg@hotmail.com

The tale of the mysterious Girt Dog of Ennerdale...Really?

I really almost had my head explode when I read this article.  Was it a late "April Fool"?  Just read this http://www.lancashirelife.co.uk/out-about/wildlife/the_tale_of_the_mysterious_girt_dog_of_ennerdale_1_4020788

The tale of the mysterious Girt Dog of Ennerdale

03 April 2015

A photographs of a captured thylacine from the 1930s

Emily Rothery goes on the trail of a dog-like creature that brought terror to the Lakes

An artist s impression by 

 

 

Helen Thorburn

There are many dog-like creatures found in the folklores of northern Britain and they have some weird and wonderful names - Barquist, Gytrash, Padfoot, The Grim, Striker or Skriker.

They are names that once struck fear into the hearts of all who believed in their existence. The mythical black creature was considered to be an apparition that appeared at night and was said to portend death. It was reputed to be much larger than a normal dog with huge glowing eyes and was often associated with electrical storms and the devil.

They are said to be myths dating back to Celtic times but in the Lake District in the early 19th century a mysterious creature known as The Girt Dog of Ennerdale was eventually found to be an altogether different kind of hound.

In 1810 a savage predator began mercilessly killing sheep in the Cumberland valley of Ennerdale. The attacks went on for months with up to eight sheep a day being slaughtered. Alarm spread, children were kept inside for safety’s sake and a £10 reward was offered for its capture.

 

A thylacine bagged by an Australian hunter

 

 

Eventually it was spotted but it was not what the locals expected. It was described as having the qualities of both a large cat and a large dog, tawny in colour with dark stripes running down its back.
Local farmers and their neighbours abandoned normal duties to track down the blood-thirsty carnivore, which seemed to have an uncanny ability to evade capture. It ignored poisoned meat that was put down and led the hunters a merry dance as they followed it on forays into Wasdale and then south into Lancashire.

It was said that normally brave hunting dogs that had been set on its trail would cower and whimper when a scent was picked up. Thus a belief began to take hold that the creature was indeed supernatural.
One experienced hunter by the name of Will Rothery was one of the first to get a clear shot but was so alarmed as the beast approached that he dropped his musket, lost his reputation and made a run for it.
As news of the wily predator spread across the county the locals were joined by professional huntsmen but still the beast evaded capture until eventually, after a long chase, the Girt Dog was run to ground and mortally wounded by a man named John Steel. By this time it was said to have killed 300 sheep and terrified a whole community.

The Girt Dog’s bloody reign had come to an end and the carcass, which weighed 112lbs was paraded around the area before being stuffed and displayed in The Hutton Museum in nearby Keswick. Unfortunately, in the 1950s a curator decided it was becoming moth-eaten and threw it out.

It is now commonly believed that the Girt Dog of Ennerdale was, in fact, a thylacine, a wolf-like marsupial, also known as a Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf. The exotic predator had possibly escaped from a travelling menagerie or circus, but the true origins will never be known for certain.

Hounded out
The thylacine, commonly known as the Tassie tiger, has been considered extinct for nearly 80 years but recently a team of intrepid British naturalists believe that compelling evidence of its presence has been found in Tasmania’s north west.

It is thought this was a relatively shy, nocturnal creature with a stiff tail and abdominal pouch like a kangaroo.

Its reputation as a sheep thief led to a bounty being placed on its head and this resulted in its likely extinction.

 ________________________________________________________________

Okay, let us get this straight.  It is a popular misconception that in hunting the term "bag" or "bagged" means a shot fox or animal.  The term originated in fox hunting where captive foxes were released from sacks ("bags") for hunts.  If the houndsmen could get to the fox before the hounds then the fox was "bagged" for the next hunt.  This is all detailed in The Red Paper: Canids along with hunting books and literature and examples.  http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/the-red-paper-canids/paperback/product-22092321.html

I am also sick and tired that people cannot buy books or do any original research but cite absolute fantasy sources as references.

Was the Girt Dog of Ennerdale a Thylacine?  Was it an escaped Tiger?  Well, I covered the matter and even went direct to the reference sources always quoted but never, it seems, ever read by writers.  It's all in Canids as well as Some More Things Strange & Sinister http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/some-more-things-strange-sinister/paperback/product-18763730.html

No, not going to tell you.  Buy a book!

Another Perfect Example Of WHY You Should Always Double-Check -Update 30 07 2022

There was a case in Rogerson's IntCat from 1977 and as I could not find details anywhere else I decided to purchase the source cited by Rogerson -Portraits Of Alien Encounters by Nigel Watson.

The book arrived.  I checked the index. No location or source as in IntCat.  I read the book.  Then re-read it -it is quite a good book and gives a lot of background to some cases that were only mentioned in brief in FSR or BUFORA Journal.  So if you can get a copy (published in 1990) I'd recommend it for some fascinating case studies.

However, even on second reading I couldn't find the report.  Even Nigel thought it was in the book.  So I contacted him again and he checked but could not find it -so he's checking on an article he wrote that might mention the case.

But this is a perfect example of what I wrote about yesterday: you check the original source. In this case, again, the IntCat cited original source...was not.  Now if you are putting together a slap-dash potpourri then you can expect this.  However, if you are pronouncing on the short-comings of investigators and researchers and cases then you need to make sure that if you are creating a data base those criticisms do not come back to bite your arm-chaired arse.

Yet, several Ufologists suggested that this was a "great" or "worthwhile" catalogue and reliable. And they cite the catalogue -online and in print.

I just hope the more expensive books do contain the reports claimed!

update

In fact the case in question was not in the more expensive book and Nigel Watson could not find any case notes. Unbelievable. This is why critics can so easily dismiss Ufology because they can respond with; "So you made this up? You didn't make it up? So where is the file and case notes?"

As for Rogerson to call him a "sceptic" is an insult to sceptics. A sceptic is someone who follows the trail of evidence whether physical or anecdotal and reaches a conclusion based on that with no prejudice.

A debunker is someone who does not look at evidence and if he/she does and it is not what they want to read will change or put a spin on it so it falls into their outlook on the subject and 'proves' they are right.

Rogerson not only got facts wrong -deliberately or by quoting suspect sources or gave wrong sources. The Emma Funk case he notes was reported on p. 49 of Coral and James Lorensens The New UFO Breakthrough. I knew for a fact that this book was by Brad Steiger and Joan Whritenour and it is a very few brief lines. As a source it is therefore "noted" but offers nothing.

Rogerson's IntCat is full of such glaring errors as well as very biased conclusions and is not really a referable catalogue but more a ramble for debunking.

Be warned!