SETI public: Fw: [badastronomy] Bad Astronomy Newsletter Issue #49 (Mar. 8, 2004)

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----- Original Message -----
From: Phil Plait, aka The Bad Astronomer<mailto:badastro_at_badastronomy.com>
To: badastronomy_at_yahoogroups.com<mailto:badastronomy_at_yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2004 12:51 AM
Subject: [badastronomy] Bad Astronomy Newsletter Issue #49 (Mar. 8, 2004)

THE BAD ASTRONOMY NEWSLETTER

Issue #49
March 8, 2004
http://www.badastronomy.com>
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/badastronomy>

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Bad Astronomy Newsletter #49

Contents:

   1) Debunking Richard Hoagland's Mars Nonsense
   2) Mars Had Standing Water!
   3) Hubble's Deepest View Ever
   4) Subscribe/Unsubscribe info

* * * * * * * * * * * *

1) Debunking Richard Hoagland's Mars Nonsense

This has been a long, long time coming.

Richard Hoagland is better known as the "Face on Mars" guy. For years
he has been relentlessly pounding his message that the face on Mars
is an alien artifact, that there is am ancient city on Mars that can
give us the key to a whole new field of physics, that NASA is
involved in a giant conspiracy (involving the Masons, at least)
to keep all this from the brainwashed masses, and a host of other
nonsense. He has appeared on "Coast to Coast AM" many times,
as well as other radio shows and the odd TV show as well.

Well, after all these years, I've had enough. With all the good science
coming from JPL and NASA about Mars, I decided I couldn't sit by and
let him spout all this foolishness without rebuttal. To be sure, other sites
exist which take him to task, but none that I could find really gives a
broad overview and specifics; usually they debunk one or two of his
claims. I am tackling quite a few, as well as giving what I hope is
a clear explanation of exactly why he is wrong. And he *is* wrong,
often and emphatically.

Here is the place to start:

http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/hoagland/index.html>

I encourage comments, with the usual caveat that I get about a zillion
emails, and the queue right now is at about 400 waiting to be answered.
If there is something you think I should add, or change, feel free to let
me know, but to save time and effort, please tell me if I can use your
name so I can cite you ("Bad Reader Percival Lowell noted...").

* * * * * * * * * * * *

2) Mars Had Standing Water!

The press conference I mentioned in the last newsletter was pretty
interesting. Mars used to have standing water! We all suspected this,
I guess, but it's nice to have evidence to back it up.

Basically, the rocks analyzed by Opportunity have evidence that
they soaked in water for a long time (though they are not
sure if the rocks formed in the water, or were later flooded).
The little balls of rock, called "blueberries", are concretions,
mineral deposits which grow with time. The rock was porous, and
and the blueberries grew in the vacant spots.

The rocks contained sulfate salts, which form in water. The rocks
have a much higher content of sulfates and bromine than the soil,
again indicating the rocks were under water for some time.

Spirit, the other rover, also found more evidence of water
where it landed, though not as much as where Opportunity is.

Scientists wouldn't say how long ago the water was there, or how
long it was there. It seems fair to say it was a long time ago,
perhaps a billions years ago, but no one is giving a definite number yet.

For more info, you can read the NASA press release at

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2004/74.cfm>

or articles at space.com:

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/opportunity_news_040302.html>

and

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/spirit_water_040305.html>

* * * * * * * * * * * *

3) Hubble's Deepest View Ever

On Tuesday, March 9 (today, as many of you read this!) NASA will release
a Hubble image that represents the deepest view of the Universe ever taken.
I have not yet seen it as I write this, so I cannot comment too much on it,
except to say that my friends who work on Hubble data who have seen it
get a knowing smile on their face when I asked them about it recently.
This must be one dynamite image.

The press conference will be streamed at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern) at

http://www.stsci.edu/institute/center/information/streaming/HubbleUltraDeepField>

and you can download images at

http://hubblesite.org/news/2004/07>

at 9:30 a.m, after the press conference.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

4) Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information

If, for some weird reason, you want to unsubscribe to this
newsletter, just send email to badastronomy-unsubscribe_at_yahoogroups.com<mailto:badastronomy-unsubscribe_at_yahoogroups.com>
with no body text. Make sure you send it from the address to which the
newsletter is sent! Alternatively, you can unsubscribe from the
Yahoo!Groups website. Go to

http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/groups/groups-32.html>

for more info.

Remember, the newsletters are archived on the website at

http://www.badastronomy.com/newsletter/index.html>

so even if you unsubscribe you can still read them there. I suggest
staying subscribed so you get them as soon as I send them.

Also, I do *not* sell your email addresses, but I am pretty sure the evil Yahoo!
people, which is why I am moving this newsletter to my own website eventually.
Take a gander at the Yahoo!Groups privacy message if it makes you
feel better, or worse:

http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us/>

Note that the email addresses *are* visible to me, but I have no prurient
use for them. If that makes you nervous for whatever reason, feel free to
unsubscribe and simply read the archived newsletters at the website listed
above.

**************************

Phil Plait
The Bad Astronomer
badastro_at_badastronomy.com<mailto:badastro_at_badastronomy.com>
http://www.badastronomy.com>

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