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The deep interior of Neptune, Uranus and Earth may contain some solid ice. Through first-principle molecular dynamics simulations, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists, together with University of California, Davis collaborators, used a two-phase approach to determine the melting temperature of ice VII (a high-pressure phase of ice) in pressures ranging from 100,000 to 500,000 atmospheres. For pressures between 100,000 and 400,000 atmospheres, the team, led by Eric Schwegler, found that ice melts as a molecular solid (similar to how ice melts in a cold drink). But in pressures above 450,000 atmospheres, there is a sharp increase in the slope of...

Orbit of solar system object SQ372 (blue) compared with the orbits of Neptune Pluto and Sedna (white, green, red). Credit: N. Kaib. Astronomers announced today that a new "minor planet" with an unusual orbit has been found just two billion miles from Earth, closer than Neptune. Using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, astronomers detected a small, comet-like object called 2006 SQ372, which is likely made of rock and ice. However, its orbit never brings it close enough to the sun for it to develop a tail. Its unusual orbit is an ellipse that is four times longer than it...

Neptune is the planet farthest from the Sun (Pluto is now considered only a dwarf planet), Neptune is the planet farthest from the Earth, and to our knowledge, there has been absolutely no industrialization out at Neptune in recent centuries. There has been no recent build-up of greenhouse gases there, no deforestation, no rapid urbanization, no increase in contrails from jet airplanes, and no increase in ozone in the low atmosphere; recent changes at Neptune could never be blamed on any human influence. Incredibly, an article has appeared in a recent issue of Geophysical Research Letters showing a stunning relationship...

Climate: A world that can't shut out Al Gore, environmental alarmists and hot-air celebrities can't avoid the hysterical warnings that Earth is warming. But who knew that Neptune appears to be getting hotter, too? In a study recently published in Geophysical Research Letters, H.B. Hammel of the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo., and G.W. Lockwood of Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz., found that Neptune's brightness appears to correlate with temperature changes on Earth. They also noted that Neptune's temperature warmed from 1980 to 2004.

In our Solar System, four planets stand out for their sheer mass and size. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune indeed qualify as "giant planets" because they are larger than any terrestrial planet and much more massive than all other objects in the Solar System, except the Sun, put together. According to Dr. Guillot, "the giant planets, because of their gravitational might, they have played a key role in the formation of the Solar System, tossing around many objects in the system, preventing the formation of a planet in what is now the asteroid belt, and directly leading to the formation...

Smaller and cooler than the gas giants, Neptune and Uranus are classified as ice giants. It’s a good name, since they do have large quantities of water ice mixed in with a largely hydrogen and helium atmosphere. There’s very little water at the cloud tops, but the percentage of water increases as you descend towards the heavier core. Could there be a layer on Neptune with enough pressure and temperature for liquid water to form into vast oceans? And if not Neptune, what about a Neptune-like planet orbiting another star? First, a little about Neptune. This “ice giant” planet orbits...

Rather than look for the light reflected directly by these objects (as is customary astronomy practice), this project will search for those very rare moments when one of these objects passes between the telescopes and a nearby background star. This brief "eclipse" lasts less than a second, but will allow the scientists to study objects that are much too faint to be seen in reflected sunlight, even with the largest telescopes.

In these last days, the Bible says it will be a time of mass hybridization and the mixture and corruption of human DNA by fallen angels, also known as "Aliens." The government is and has been, conditioning the existence of aliens through Hollywood, science fiction, cartoons, and other sources. However, they are not telling you the whole truth. These Aliens are not ascended masters, or enlightened ones, or beings from galaxies millions of miles away, nor are they our forefathers or original creators. They are fallen angels who were kicked out of heaven for their rebellion against the headship...

Neptune's largest moon, Triton, was originally a member of a duo orbiting the Sun but was kidnapped during a close encounter with Neptune, a new model suggests. Triton is unique among large moons in that it orbits Neptune in a direction opposite to the planet's rotation, which long ago led scientists to speculate that the moon originally orbited the Sun. But until now, no convincing theory for how Triton paired with Neptune existed. Gravity might have pulled Triton away from its companion to make it an orbiting satellite of Neptune, researchers report in a new study published in the May...

FASLANE, Scotland (NNS) -- Three ships led by Commander, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 24 departed Faslane, Scotland, March 11, having completed Neptune Warrior, a coalition course off the coast of Scotland with ships from the United Kingdom and Germany and aircraft from France. Capt. Carl W. Cramb, commander, DESRON 24, led the three ships, USS Ross (DDG 71), USS Barry (DDG 52), and USS Elrod (FFG 55), during their transit to Scotland and then commanded one of the international Task Groups during Neptune Warrior. Joint Maritime Operational Training Staff (JMOTS) Northwood in the United Kingdom led the Neptune Warrior course. The...

FASLANE, Scotland (NNS) -- Three U.S. ships, led by Commander, Destroyer Squadron (COMDESRON) 24 arrived in Faslane, Scotland, to participate in a coalition course with ships from the United Kingdom, Germany and Denmark, Feb. 23. Capt. Carl W. Cramb, commander, DESRON 24, embarked on USS Ross (DDG 71), will lead one side’s maritime component during the course, including ships from Germany, the United Kingdom and USS Elrod (FFG 55). The second maritime component will be led by the commanding officer of HMS Edinburgh (D97), a destroyer from the United Kingdom, and will also include USS Barry (DDG 52). “The staff...

This small body, known as 2001 QR322, leads Neptune around its orbit in such a way as to maintain, on average, approximately equal distance from Neptune and the Sun. As such, it mimics the Trojan asteroids of Jupiter which orbit the Sun in two clouds approximately 60 degrees ahead of and behind Jupiter. The first Jovian Trojan was discovered in 1906 and approximately 1,560 such objects are known today. However, until the discovery of 2001 QR322, Trojan-like objects associated with other giant planets had not been found.

`NAWA, Afghanistan (Army News Service, Aug. 22, 2005) – It wasn’t even noon yet and already Sgt. Christopher Turner had been hit in the face by concrete fragments, forced to deputize a chaplain to man his under-strength aid station, and given emergency CPR to an officer who had stopped breathing. “I’m just managing the chaos,” Turner said cheerfully as he prepped another IV bag for use. Turner, 29, originally from Glenrothes, Scotland, is a medic attached to the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment. He has been busy since the battalion began combat operations in Eastern Afghanistan...

Probe to 'look inside' asteroids By Paul Rincon BBC News Online science staff in Paris, France Studies of asteroids would aid Earth-protection strategies A new space mission concept unveiled at a Paris conference aims to look inside asteroids to reveal how they are made. Deep Interior would use radar to probe the origin and evolution of two near-Earth objects less than 1km across. The mission, which could launch some time later this decade, would also give clues to how the planets evolved. The perceived threat of asteroids colliding with our planet has renewed interest in space missions to understand these...

Reworked images reveal hot Venus By Dr David Whitehouse Mars it is not: Reprocessed Venus image As the world looks at Mars, an American scientist has produced the best images ever obtained from the surface of a rather different planet - Venus. The second planet from the Sun is blanketed with a thick layer of cloud. Computer researcher Don Mitchell used original digital data from two Soviet Venera probes that landed in 1975. His reprocessed and recalibrated images provide a much clearer view of the Venusian surface which is hotter even than the inside of a household oven. Original digital...

New Hubble Photos of Uranus and Neptune Jan 22, 2004 - Image credit: Hubble Atmospheric features on Uranus and Neptune are revealed in images taken with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The observations were taken in August 2003. The top row reveals Uranus and Neptune in natural colors, showing the planets as they would appear if we could see them through a telescope. The images are made of exposures taken with filters sensitive to red, green, and blue light. In the bottom images, astronomers used different color filters...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 October 20 Neptune and Triton from Palomar Credit & Copyright: D. Banfield, P. D. Nicholson, & B. J. Conrath (Cornell), Palomar Obs., JPL, NASA Explanation: How's the weather on Neptune? Tracking major weather patterns on the Solar System's outermost gas giant can help in the understanding of global weather patterns here on Earth. Each summer for the past five years, Neptune has been imaged and major weather...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 June 13 Neptune: Still Springtime After All These Years Credit: L. Sromovsky and P. Fry (Univ. Wisconsin - Madison) et al., NASA Explanation: In the 1960s spring came to the southern hemisphere of Neptune, the Solar System's outermost gas giant planet. Of course, since Neptune orbits the Sun once every 165 earth-years, it's still spring for southern Neptune, where each season lasts over four decades. Astronomers have...

Three New Moons Found Around Neptune - Researchers WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Astronomers have found three previously unknown moons around Neptune, bringing the total for the distant giant planet to 11, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics reported on Monday. hese moons are the first to be discovered around Neptune since the NASA (news - web sites) Voyager II flyby in 1989, and the first discovered with a ground-based telescope since 1949, the center said in a statement. The three new moons were difficult to detect, since they are only about 18 to 24 miles in diameter and their distance from the...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 September 22 Two Hours Before Neptune Credit: Voyager 2, NASA Explanation: Two hours before closest approach to Neptune in 1989, the Voyager 2 robot spacecraft snapped this picture. Clearly visible for the first time were long light-colored cirrus-type clouds floating high in Neptune's atmosphere. Shadows of these clouds can even be seen on lower cloud decks. Most of Neptune's atmosphere is made of hydrogen and helium, which...