Stocks and News
Home | Week in Review Process | Terms of Use | About UsContact Us
   Articles Go Fund Me All-Species List Hot Spots Go Fund Me
Week in Review   |  Bar Chat    |  Hot Spots    |   Dr. Bortrum    |   Wall St. History
Stock and News: Hot Spots
  Search Our Archives: 
 

 

Dr. Bortrum

 

AddThis Feed Button

https://www.gofundme.com/s3h2w8

 

   

02/18/2004

Cosmic Gems and Distances

Yesterday I noticed a roach, about an inch and a quarter long, on
the sidewalk in the courtyard of our Marco Island condo unit.
Actually, here in Florida I think they call such insects by other,
more palatable names – I seem to recall palmetto bug as one of
those names. Then, just around the corner, I saw one of Florida’s
ubiquitous little lizards chomping down on one of these bugs,
which was fully half the size of the lizard. Now I know why
Floridians are so tolerant of the lizards. They’re nature’s way of
keeping the roach population in check.

I was also surprised to find in the green lawns of our condo
development a 1- to 2-inch long crab sidling along sideways.
When I encountered another such crab on the beach, it at first
took a swipe at my foot with its one oversized claw. Realizing
the futility of its move, it then positioned the claw lengthwise
along its side and stayed perfectly still while I moved my foot
around it trying to get some response. With its claws drawn in, it
resembled a small piece of wood and was relying on this
camouflage to fool its predator.

Our rented condo this year overlooks a the marina on a small bay
and, sitting on our lanai a few days ago, I was surprised to see a
dolphin appear right under us. I hadn’t realized that dolphins
wander so far out of their ocean or Gulf habitats. There are also
pelicans galore frequenting the bay and I’ve had plenty of
opportunity to confirm their flight pattern that employs the
“ground effect” that I wrote about in my column of 12/11/2003.
The birds glide so close to the water that their wingtips touch the
water, at which point a few wing flaps adds enough momentum
to let them glide again. It’s amazing how one doesn’t tire of
watching them do this time after time – it’s somehow quite
relaxing.

Today, I was amazed to see at least 20-30 complete starfish,
limbs intact, washed up on the beach. They ranged in size from
about 4 to 12 inches in diameter. This was the first time in a
decade of beach walking here that I’ve seen more than a handful
of starfish on a given day. I also realize that, in more than two
weeks here, I haven’t seen a single dead fish (“real” fish, as
distinguished from starfish) on the beach. This is truly
surprising, especially after the last two years of red tide, when
dead fish abounded. Unfortunately, this week’s local new
programs indicate that the red scourge is working its way south
from Sarasota and probably will be in back in our area soon.

OK, I know that I’ve talked about fish extensively in the last
couple weeks so let’s turn our attention from the beach to the
sky. Today’s Naples Daily News carried an item about the
discovery of a tiny galaxy that was formed only about 700 or so
million years after the Big Bang. This makes the galaxy, 13
billion light years from Earth, the most distant object ever seen.
I found a picture of the galaxy on the SEDS (Students for the
Exploration and Development of Space) HST Web site. It’s
interesting that the Hubble Space Telescope picture was taken
back in 1996. It apparently took recent spectroscopic
measurements on the galaxy at the W. M. Keck Observatory in
Hawaii to show just how far away the galaxy is.

Why did it take so long? The Hubble picture was really a picture
of a cluster of galaxies that is only about 5 billion light years
away from us, relatively close. There was this little smear in the
photo. The nearby galaxy cluster served as a lens that distorted
and magnified the image of the distant galaxy to form in such a
way that it ended up as this little crescent-shaped smear. Such
smearing is a common characteristic of lensing of one galaxy by
another intervening galaxy or galaxy cluster. The smeared image
of the distant galaxy, 700 light years across, has been analyzed
and “unsmeared” to reveal intense regions of star formation. To
me, it is mind boggling that the time machine that is the Hubble
telescope allows us to see something going on 13 billion years
ago!

There was another news item last week about another discovery
that not only was relevant to the Valentine theme but also
provides a clue, not to our past but to our future. Specifically,
this discovery foretells what will happen closer to home some 5
to 7 billion years from now. Longtime readers may recall that I
have an interest in diamonds, having tried unsuccessfully to
synthesize them while at Bell Labs many years ago. I’ve written
about other more successful ventures in diamond synthesis,
notably in Russia, that could upset the de Beers ability to control
the diamond market. I’ve also written about speculation that on
the outer planets Neptune and Uranus diamonds may be raining
from the sky!

Well, perhaps you saw the news item that describes what can
certainly be termed the mother of all diamonds, a truly monstrous
gem. In jewelry terms, this sparkler is a mere 10 billion trillion
trillion carats! If, like me, you have trouble visualizing a gem of
that many carats, it might help to put it another way - the
diamond is a sphere some 2500 miles across! This baby is
bigger than our Moon! Unfortunately, if you’re thinking of
purchasing this bauble for your love for next Valentine’s Day,
you’re too late. This gem is some 300 trillion miles away!
That’s 50 light years, so I’m afraid that, even with the fastest
possible mode of transport at the speed of light, you have to
allow a hundred years for the round trip.

On the other hand, if you’re the patient type, you might want to
wait about 7 billion years. By then, a similar diamond will be
available only about 90 million miles away. You say that sounds
like it could be located in or on our sun? You’re right. In about
7 billion years the sun will have died and become a so-called
white dwarf. Its interior will consist mainly of carbon, which
will crystallize, forming a diamond core surrounded by a
relatively thin covering of hydrogen and helium. Of course, by
that time our own planet will have long been incinerated when
the sun expanded out near or past our orbit before shrinking to
become a white dwarf. Hopefully, you will have moved out far
enough to avoid this calamity and also will have benefited from
scientists soon finding the secret to perpetual youth we discussed
last week.

The current super diamond was discovered by a group led by
Travis Metcalfe of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for
Astrophysics. The monstrous diamond forms the core of a white
dwarf located in the constellation Centaurus in our own Milky
Way galaxy. An obvious question is how in the world can we
tell that the center of a particular star in this constellation has a
crystallized diamond in its center? I looked for the answer on the
Harvard Web site and it seems that the secret is in the “ringing”
of the star. The white dwarf is like a gong and rings or pulses in
a “harmonious” fashion. I’m not clear as to what manner of
pulsations are picked up by the astronomers, but the procedure is
similar to that used to determine our Earth’s interior structure
and composition from seismic waves and their interactions.

After trying to comprehend these astronomical findings, I’m
ready to go back to my beach walking and sitting on our lanai to
watch the pelicans. My feeble brain needs a bit of relaxation.

Allen F. Bortrum



AddThis Feed Button

 

-02/18/2004-      
Web Epoch NJ Web Design  |  (c) Copyright 2016 StocksandNews.com, LLC.

Dr. Bortrum

02/18/2004

Cosmic Gems and Distances

Yesterday I noticed a roach, about an inch and a quarter long, on
the sidewalk in the courtyard of our Marco Island condo unit.
Actually, here in Florida I think they call such insects by other,
more palatable names – I seem to recall palmetto bug as one of
those names. Then, just around the corner, I saw one of Florida’s
ubiquitous little lizards chomping down on one of these bugs,
which was fully half the size of the lizard. Now I know why
Floridians are so tolerant of the lizards. They’re nature’s way of
keeping the roach population in check.

I was also surprised to find in the green lawns of our condo
development a 1- to 2-inch long crab sidling along sideways.
When I encountered another such crab on the beach, it at first
took a swipe at my foot with its one oversized claw. Realizing
the futility of its move, it then positioned the claw lengthwise
along its side and stayed perfectly still while I moved my foot
around it trying to get some response. With its claws drawn in, it
resembled a small piece of wood and was relying on this
camouflage to fool its predator.

Our rented condo this year overlooks a the marina on a small bay
and, sitting on our lanai a few days ago, I was surprised to see a
dolphin appear right under us. I hadn’t realized that dolphins
wander so far out of their ocean or Gulf habitats. There are also
pelicans galore frequenting the bay and I’ve had plenty of
opportunity to confirm their flight pattern that employs the
“ground effect” that I wrote about in my column of 12/11/2003.
The birds glide so close to the water that their wingtips touch the
water, at which point a few wing flaps adds enough momentum
to let them glide again. It’s amazing how one doesn’t tire of
watching them do this time after time – it’s somehow quite
relaxing.

Today, I was amazed to see at least 20-30 complete starfish,
limbs intact, washed up on the beach. They ranged in size from
about 4 to 12 inches in diameter. This was the first time in a
decade of beach walking here that I’ve seen more than a handful
of starfish on a given day. I also realize that, in more than two
weeks here, I haven’t seen a single dead fish (“real” fish, as
distinguished from starfish) on the beach. This is truly
surprising, especially after the last two years of red tide, when
dead fish abounded. Unfortunately, this week’s local new
programs indicate that the red scourge is working its way south
from Sarasota and probably will be in back in our area soon.

OK, I know that I’ve talked about fish extensively in the last
couple weeks so let’s turn our attention from the beach to the
sky. Today’s Naples Daily News carried an item about the
discovery of a tiny galaxy that was formed only about 700 or so
million years after the Big Bang. This makes the galaxy, 13
billion light years from Earth, the most distant object ever seen.
I found a picture of the galaxy on the SEDS (Students for the
Exploration and Development of Space) HST Web site. It’s
interesting that the Hubble Space Telescope picture was taken
back in 1996. It apparently took recent spectroscopic
measurements on the galaxy at the W. M. Keck Observatory in
Hawaii to show just how far away the galaxy is.

Why did it take so long? The Hubble picture was really a picture
of a cluster of galaxies that is only about 5 billion light years
away from us, relatively close. There was this little smear in the
photo. The nearby galaxy cluster served as a lens that distorted
and magnified the image of the distant galaxy to form in such a
way that it ended up as this little crescent-shaped smear. Such
smearing is a common characteristic of lensing of one galaxy by
another intervening galaxy or galaxy cluster. The smeared image
of the distant galaxy, 700 light years across, has been analyzed
and “unsmeared” to reveal intense regions of star formation. To
me, it is mind boggling that the time machine that is the Hubble
telescope allows us to see something going on 13 billion years
ago!

There was another news item last week about another discovery
that not only was relevant to the Valentine theme but also
provides a clue, not to our past but to our future. Specifically,
this discovery foretells what will happen closer to home some 5
to 7 billion years from now. Longtime readers may recall that I
have an interest in diamonds, having tried unsuccessfully to
synthesize them while at Bell Labs many years ago. I’ve written
about other more successful ventures in diamond synthesis,
notably in Russia, that could upset the de Beers ability to control
the diamond market. I’ve also written about speculation that on
the outer planets Neptune and Uranus diamonds may be raining
from the sky!

Well, perhaps you saw the news item that describes what can
certainly be termed the mother of all diamonds, a truly monstrous
gem. In jewelry terms, this sparkler is a mere 10 billion trillion
trillion carats! If, like me, you have trouble visualizing a gem of
that many carats, it might help to put it another way - the
diamond is a sphere some 2500 miles across! This baby is
bigger than our Moon! Unfortunately, if you’re thinking of
purchasing this bauble for your love for next Valentine’s Day,
you’re too late. This gem is some 300 trillion miles away!
That’s 50 light years, so I’m afraid that, even with the fastest
possible mode of transport at the speed of light, you have to
allow a hundred years for the round trip.

On the other hand, if you’re the patient type, you might want to
wait about 7 billion years. By then, a similar diamond will be
available only about 90 million miles away. You say that sounds
like it could be located in or on our sun? You’re right. In about
7 billion years the sun will have died and become a so-called
white dwarf. Its interior will consist mainly of carbon, which
will crystallize, forming a diamond core surrounded by a
relatively thin covering of hydrogen and helium. Of course, by
that time our own planet will have long been incinerated when
the sun expanded out near or past our orbit before shrinking to
become a white dwarf. Hopefully, you will have moved out far
enough to avoid this calamity and also will have benefited from
scientists soon finding the secret to perpetual youth we discussed
last week.

The current super diamond was discovered by a group led by
Travis Metcalfe of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for
Astrophysics. The monstrous diamond forms the core of a white
dwarf located in the constellation Centaurus in our own Milky
Way galaxy. An obvious question is how in the world can we
tell that the center of a particular star in this constellation has a
crystallized diamond in its center? I looked for the answer on the
Harvard Web site and it seems that the secret is in the “ringing”
of the star. The white dwarf is like a gong and rings or pulses in
a “harmonious” fashion. I’m not clear as to what manner of
pulsations are picked up by the astronomers, but the procedure is
similar to that used to determine our Earth’s interior structure
and composition from seismic waves and their interactions.

After trying to comprehend these astronomical findings, I’m
ready to go back to my beach walking and sitting on our lanai to
watch the pelicans. My feeble brain needs a bit of relaxation.

Allen F. Bortrum