|
|
« Tons more water found on Moon | Asteroid did doom the dinos »
Probe flies by ‘alien space station’
You are currently browsing comments. If you would like to return to the full story, you can read the full entry here: “Probe flies by ‘alien space station’”.
Comments Closed
6 Comments
Award-winning telescope
Are you looking for a portable, quality telescope that finds its own way around the sky? Celestron's NexStar 4 SE has had excellent reviews for its fine optics and automatic "Goto" that just works and won a group test in C5's The Gadget Show. Buy it from Amazon in the U.S.
or click here if in the UK.
Buying a telescope
Skymania offers advice whether you want to buy a new telescope or learn how to use one.
• Orion Best Beginner Telescopes (Affiliate link)
• Looking for a perfect gift for someone? Celestron's SkyMaster 15x70 binoculars will be loved by beginners and advanced amateurs alike.
• Discover space for yourself and do fun science with a telescope. Here is some advice on how to choose a telescope.
• There is a bewildering variety of instruments on sale. Here's our simple guide to the different types of telescope.
• A telescope can make a great birthday present. Here are some pointers to buying a telescope as a gift.
• Orion Best Beginner Telescopes (Affiliate link)
• Looking for a perfect gift for someone? Celestron's SkyMaster 15x70 binoculars will be loved by beginners and advanced amateurs alike.• Discover space for yourself and do fun science with a telescope. Here is some advice on how to choose a telescope.
• There is a bewildering variety of instruments on sale. Here's our simple guide to the different types of telescope.
• A telescope can make a great birthday present. Here are some pointers to buying a telescope as a gift.
Mr. Sutherland:
Despite the interest in the examination of the moon Phobos, your article contains factual errors which are not only incorrect but, unfortunately, defamatory.
Dr. Fred Singer never briefed Eisenhower on the topic, nor suggested that the moon was either "hollow" or an "alien spaceship" — a complete fantasy on your part!
The facts are that it was Russian astronomer Shklovsky who suggested that Phobos was hollow (like a balloon) — and artificial.
Opik and Dr. Singer suggested the correct explanation for the observed Phobos orbit changes: tidal deceleration. Dr. Singer followed up with calculations, eventually published in Geophysical Journal of Royal Astronomical Society in 1968.
Please issue a correction and retraction of this false claim immediately.
What is your source for "Dr Fred Singer, special advisor to the White House, told the President that the moon could not therefore be a natural object and might be an ancient abandoned spacecraft." I cannot find an authoritative source for this, which may explain why SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN has removed your post from their site.
Can you provide a source for the claim that Dr. S. Fred Singer ever claimed that Phobos is artificial or hollow or that he ever so advised President Eisenhower?
Thanks for the interest.My source was the official blog of the European Space Agency which operates the Mars Express probe: http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/7/1020
I have now edited the story to make clear Professor Singer's role in the Phobos riddle, and to give him due credit for helping produce the true explanation for the moon's behaviour.
Dr Singer has also contributed the following comments:
Some corrections, if I may:
1. Although my original publication in Geophys J of the Royal Astron Soc [1968] did suggest that both Phobos and Deimos might be captured asteroids (based on the similarity of their initial orbits — both parabolic), I no longer hold this view. I know of no physical mechanism ( their masses are too small) and the probability is vanishingly small.
I regret that I have never published a formal retraction and that my initial suggestion has apparently acquired wide currency.
Pls note that I still believe that the Moon was captured and that the widely popular 'impact hypothesis'.has problems with the laws of physics besides being improbable. I hope to publish all this before long.
2. The tidal deceleration of Phobos does not depend on its shape; it would work on a perfect sphere. The tidal deformations are raised on Mars, not on Phobos. Its actual non-spherical shape simply determines its orientation (not its orbit)
3. The origin of Ph and D is still a mystery. I have eliminated the possibility of co-formation with Mars on physical grounds. I do have a hypothesis but it is very ad hoc; My recent presentation at a CalTech conference on Mars (published as an abstract) did not elicit much reaction.
There is also the question of why Ph and D have such a different appearance. It may have to do with their different orbits.
Sincerely, SFS