Update: July 01, 2008

STORMY WEATHER By Pam Eastlick

By Pam Eastlick for THE DEEP on line

Welcome to The Deep science and technology column where we cover topics from the deep sea to deep space and beyond.

Well, last week we cleaned out the 'Medicine' file and this week, it's time to work on the 'Space' file, a subject that's near and dear to my heart! Our first imaginary journey is a long one; we're going to travel to the heart of the Milky Way to learn what some new research is telling us about Galactic Central.

EXPLOSION AT GALACTIC CENTRAL

A team of Japanese astronomers using data from NASA, Japanese and European satellites has discovered that our galaxy's central black hole let loose a powerful flare three centuries ago. This finding helps solve a long-standing mystery. Many other galaxies have active black holes at their centers, but the core of the Milky Way is silent. The researchers studied X-ray images and discovered that clouds of gas near the central black hole brightened and faded quickly in X-ray light as they responded to X-ray pulses emanating from just outside the black hole. When gas spirals inward toward the black hole, it heats up to millions of degrees and emits X-rays. As more and more matter piles up near the black hole, the greater the X-ray output. These X-ray pulses take 300 years to travel the distance between the central black hole and a large cloud known as Sagittarius B2, so the cloud responds to events that occurred 300 years earlier. When X-rays reach the cloud, they collide with iron atoms, kicking out electrons that are close to the atomic nucleus. When electrons from farther out fill in these gaps, the iron atoms emit X-rays. But after the X-ray pulse passes through, the cloud fades to its normal brightness. A region only 10 light years across was glowing in Sagittarius B2, the researchers determined that the Milky Way's central black hole was a million times brighter three centuries ago when it unleashed an incredibly powerful flare.

The galactic center is about 26,000 light-years from Earth, meaning we see events as they occurred 26,000 years ago. So, in terms of actual dates, the activity occurred about 26,300 years ago (although the 26,000 light-year distance is only a best estimate).What caused the flare-up? Astronomers think that the area around the black hole is usually clear but occasionally stars or dust clouds approach too closely and are drawn in by the immense gravity generated by an infinitely dense object. Who knows, we may see more fireworks in our lifetimes!

STORMY WEATHER

We've all heard of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. It's a gigantic storm that can be as large as two Earths placed side-by-side. It isn't a typhoon though, typhoons are areas of low pressure and the Great Red Spot is an enormous spinning high pressure zone. You still wouldn't want to get caught in it. The winds in the Great Red Spot blow at around 250 mph and if you were at the edge of the storm, it would take you six days to make one trip around it. A couple of years ago, astronomers were delighted when three of the 'white ovals' also found in Jupiter's cloud tops merged and slowly turned red. The new storm has been named "Little Red". Now astronomers using information from several sources including observations from the Pluto-bound spacecraft New Horizons; data from the Hubble Space Telescope orbiting Earth, and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, have discovered that Little Red has possibly the fastest winds in the solar system. The new observations clock Little Red's maximum wind speeds at about 400 mph, which is a WHOLE lot faster than the150 mph threshold that makes a Category 5 storm on Earth. Little Red is still developing and some of its changes still have scientists scratching their heads. Jupiter's venerable Great Red Spot has decreased steadily in size over the past several decades. In addition, a rare "global upheaval" in Jupiter's atmosphere began before the New Horizons spacecraft flew by Jupiter last year.
This upheaval involved the disappearance of activity in the South Equatorial Belt (which left the GRS as an isolated storm), the appearance of a south tropical disturbance north of Little Red, and other spectacular cloud changes. The observations also offered clues to the mystery of why the Great Red Spot and Little Red are, well, red. Little Red has been getting steadily stronger and its wind speed has been increasing over the last several years. During that period the storm turned red. Scientists have thought for a long time that the red color was being pulled up from lower layers of Jupiter's atmosphere and Little Red certainly supports that conclusion.

And now we come to one of those cool stories that show how science changes every day. In eighth grade, I first studied metamorphosis, the cool trick that caterpillars use to change from crawling worms to some of the most beautiful creatures on the planet. I remember learning that the caterpillar becomes sort of a 'soup' in the pupae and then the soup rearranges itself to become a butterfly. What went on in between was a sort of magic to me and as it turns out, sort of magic to just about everyone else, including the scientists. But researchers are beginning to unlock the 'black box' of the pupa and they've discovered some surprising things.

THAR' SHE BLOWS!

Hunting the great white whale. Those of you who ever read Moby Dick have an indelible picture of the dead Ahab's arm as he seemed to wave his men on from where he was entangled in the ropes around Moby Dick, the great white whale. And now . . . . . Moby Dick has been found! Well, not exactly. Moby Dick was a sperm whale and scientists aboard the NOAA research vessel Oscar Dyson in the North Pacific have sighted a slightly different animal. But it's still a creature of great rarity and even myth: a white killer whale. Holly Fearnbach, a research biologist at NOAA's National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle, was able to photograph the whale's white fin and back. This whale is probably not a true albino because it has signs of darker pigmented areas on its body. However, because of its prominent coloring, the white whale will be easy to track and help scientists follow him and his pod across the North Pacific. White killer whales have been seen in the Aleutian Islands before, as well as in the Bering Sea and off the Russian coast. Scientists are working to confirm whether or not the whale sighted Feb. 23 is the same animal as any of those previous seen.

Russian coast. Scientists are working to confirm whether or not the whale sighted Feb. 23 is the same animal as any of those previous seen. How's your breathing been lately? Have your eyes been irritated? Sneezing a lot? It may not be just the allergies caused by the end of the dry season (assuming, of course, that it's actually ending). There may be something a little more sinister causing your misery.

Cruise on over to the Deep Website at www.thedeepradioshow.com to learn more about space exploration, white whales, MRSA and many other topics. Enjoy!