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Sunday, March 25, 2012
NASA's Kepler Discovers 11 Systems Hosting 26 Planets
An anonymous reader writes "NASA's Kepler mission has discovered 11 new planetary systems hosting 26 confirmed planets. These discoveries nearly double the number of verified planets and triple the number of stars known to have more than one planet that transits, or passes in front of, the star. Such systems will help astronomers better understand how planets form."
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Mysterious cloud spotted on Mars
Wayne Jaeschke
Amateur astrophotographer Wayne Jaeschke captured this image of a "terminator projection" rising up from the edge of the Martian disk at about the 1 o'clock position on March 22. The inset photo is a 200 percent enlargement of the region around the projection. For more, check out Exosky.net, Jaeschke's website.
By Alan Boyle
Amateur astronomers are puzzling over a seemingly anomalous cloud that has shown up on images of Mars taken over the past few days. Is it really a cloud, or a trick of the eye? Does it really extend 150 miles up from the surface, as some of the observers suggest? And what churned up all that stuff, anyway? The amateurs and the pros will be trying to resolve those questions before the phenomenon fades away.
"It's not completely unexpected," Jonathon Hill, a member of the team at the Mars Space Flight Facility at Arizona State University, told me today. "But it's bigger than we would expect, and it's definitely something that our atmosphere guys want to take a look at."
Hill and his colleagues will be looking at the area where the cloud was spotted using the Thermal Emission Imaging System, or THEMIS, which is one of the instruments on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter.
"In the command upload we're preparing to send today, we've included observations that will hopefully capture some of these recent clouds," Hill wrote in an email. "Our THEMIS camera on Mars Odyssey is capable of acquiring simultaneous visible and thermal infrared images, so our atmospheric researchers are pretty excited about the possibility of not only getting a good look at the cloud structures, but also their temperatures."
THEMIS will be checking out heightened cloud activity around Mars' shield volcanoes as well as around the southern site spotted by the amateurs. Pictures from a camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, called the Mars Color Imager, or MARCI, might provide further clues about the southern cloud feature. And amateur astronomers are sending out the alert for observers to keep a close watch on the Red Planet over the coming days.
There's been lots of buzz about the high-altitude cloud on Cloudy Nights and other online discussion forums for skywatchers. Sky & Telescope's Sean Walker says the puff of white was first noticed on March 20 by Wayne Jaeschke, an amateur astrophotographer from Pennsylvania. Since then, other observers have identified the feature in images going back as far as March 12.
All sorts of hypotheses have been proposed: Could it be debris kicked up by a meteoric impact? Is it a huge weather system? Is it merely a funny kind of glint caused by a combination of lighting and atmospheric conditions?
In an email, Jaeschke told me that the feature is "still there, although it has decreased in size over the past two days."
"This has led some to believe that it was some sort of transient-type event," Jaeschke said. So it's crucial to make as many observations of the area as possible over the next few days.
Wayne Jaeschke created this animated GIF image of Mars with the cloud coming into view on the upper right edge of the planet's disk. For more from Jaeschke, check out his Exosky website.
Walker says the feature is currently well-placed for viewing from the Americas. He says it should show up on the edge of Mars' disk around 1:10 a.m. ET Saturday, and 39.5 minutes later on each succeeding night. Consult the photos above for guidance on where to point a medium-size telescope ? keeping in mind that these images are inverted to appear as they would through a telescope, with south pointing "up." Arizona State University's Hill says the area in question is called Terra Cimmeria.
Observation reports should be sent via email to Richard McKim, director of the British Astronomical Association's Mars Section. (The linked website includes McKim's email address, as well as a picture of the chap.)
Solving this mystery ? if it indeed turns out to be an honest-to-goodness mystery rather than a mere quirk?? may require additional data from the big guns of the astronomy world. But in any case, the episode illustrates once again how much amateurs can contribute to uncovering the wonders of the cosmos.
"When it comes to Mars, amateurs and professionals working together give you way more insight into ongoing processes, because with so many amateurs, you're continuously monitoring changes in the planet," Hill told me. "They provide a perspective and a context that we don't usually get."
More about amateur astronomy:
Tip o' the Log to Sky & Telescope's Sean Walker and Kelly Beatty, as well as Wayne Jaeschke.
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding Cosmic Log's Google+ page to your circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.
Source: http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/23/10831821-mysterious-cloud-spotted-on-mars
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Church to host community prayer walk
Perfecting Faith Church will host a community prayer walk on Saturday, March 31, 2012 at 9:00 a.m.?
Participants of this event will meet at the Kellie Ballentine Allstate Agency located at 162 Langford Road, Blythewood, SC? 29016.?
The purpose of the Blythewood Community Prayer Walk is for Perfecting Faith Church to provide an opportunity for neighbors to come together as a community of believers through prayer.
Source: http://northeastcolumbia.wistv.com/news/arts-culture/51846-church-host-community-prayer-walk
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2012 Car, Truck, and SUV Sale Event #106466
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Average tax refund so far: about $3,000
By Allison Linn
The IRS has already handed out tens of millions of income tax refunds, and the average refund amount is about?$3,000.
IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman told a House subcommittee Thursday that the IRS had received more than 70 million individual tax returns as of March 10, up about 5 percent from the same time last year.
Shulman said the IRS had issued 59.2 million refunds as of March 10, for a total of $174 billion.
The $3,000 refunds are about the same as last year, according to Shulman?s testimony before a Ways and Means subcommittee.
If you?re more of a procrastinator than an early bird, don?t worry: You still have some time. The tax due?datehas been extended to April 17 this year.
Related:
For identity theft victims, paying taxes is a nightmare
How big a tax refund do you expect to get this year?
Real Estate Investment Outlook | RealEstateEconomyWatch.com
It is becoming increasingly clear that the U.S. economy is improving, creating a more favorable backdrop for residential real estate investment. ?Our nation?s economy is kicking into second gear; monthly job gains have exceeded 200,000 for three consecutive months, providing the necessary fuel to create modest economic growth. An improving economy translates into positive wage growth, boosting consumer confidence which in turn, boosts home buying.
Sales of existing homes registered 4.59 million annualized units in February, reflecting a housing recovery that began in mid-2011. Similarly, sales of new homes registered 313,000 annualized units in February, compared to 295,000 annualized units in July of last year. Home sales are firming as job growth has stepped up over the past half year. In addition, housing affordability remains high due to historic low mortgage rates, creating pent-up demand for homes. This provides a favorable long term outlook for future property values, creating opportunities for investors.
The current U.S. foreclosure situation has created unprecedented property acquisition opportunities. According to Realty Trac, about 800,000 properties went into the foreclosure process in 2011. ?I expect about 1 million residential properties will move from delinquency into REO in 2012, returning to levels experienced before the robo-signing slowdown. This should keep property values down for investors seeking discounts on foreclosures and short sales throughout most of this year. The combination of distressed property price discounts in the near term, relatively strong rent growth and improving property values (due to improving housing conditions) in the longer-term, bodes well for residential property investors.
Regionally, Florida?s housing situation represents one of the most favorable residential property investment markets in the nation. Many existing Florida homeowners possess underwater mortgages and have struggled to stay current on loan payments. This has generated a serious distress property sale situation in Florida- perhaps even worse than the dire foreclosure situations in Arizona and Nevada. In addition, Florida has a large backlog of foreclosures because the foreclosure process takes longer in Florida than it does in most other states.
Florida home values have plummeted almost 50 percent since the meteoric highs of the housing boom in the mid-2000s. Since Florida is a primary ?destination? for baby boomers seeking retirement/vacation homes, the outlook for long-term property demand is favorable. Florida property values are projected to stay depressed or just modestly rise over the next year. However, when Florida?s foreclosure situation bottom?s out, relatively strong housing demand due to the state?s ?destination? tag, is expected to raise home values over a longer-term investment horizon (5 years and greater).
Looking forward, the outlook for our nation?s housing markets is brighter than it has been for some time, but the housing recovery will proceed at a slow pace. The upward trend in existing and new home sales over the past six months has been modest relative to the plummet in sales between 2005 and 2009. Downside risks for housing are lessening, but high gas prices, troubles in the euro zone, and the potential for rising mortgage interest rates still muddy the outlook. In summary, 2012 offers favorable investment opportunities to investors seeking competitive annual returns (rents) and significant price gains over a longer term time horizon.
Source: http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2012/03/real-estate-investment-outlook/
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Friday, March 23, 2012
College Basketball Invitational schedule
College Basketball Invitational Schedule and Results
(All times EDT)
First round
March 13
Texas Christian 83, Milwaukee 73
Princeton 95, Evansville 86
Washington State 89, San Francisco 75
March 14
Butler 75, Delaware 58
Oregon State 80, Western Illinois 59
Pittsburgh 81, Wofford 63
Pennsylvania 74, Quinnipiac 63
Wyoming 78, North Dakota State 75
--
Quarterfinals
March 19
Pittsburgh 82, Princeton 61
Butler 63, Pennsylvania 53.
Oregon State 101, Texas Christian 81
Washington State 61, Wyoming 41
--
Semifinals
March 21
Pittsburgh 68, Butler 62 (OT)
Washington State 72, Oregon State 55
--
Finals
(Best of three)
March 26
Pittsburgh vs Washington State, 10 p.m., at Pullman, Wash. (HDNet)
March 28
Washington vs. Pittsburgh, 7 p.m., at Pittsburgh (HDNet)
March 30
(if necessary)
Washington vs. Pittsburgh, 7 p.m., at Pittsburgh (HDNet)
Source: http://pheed.upi.com/click.phdo?i=cecd3c3333c8d3de67ea28ae35ae4982
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