New Coal-Black Planet is Darkest Ever Discovered

A surprising news catches my attention when i'd viewed the Yahoo! News.

An alien planet world blacker than coal, the darkest planet known, has been discovered in the galaxy.

The world in question is a giant the size of Jupiter known as TrES-2b. NASA's Kepler spacecraftdetected it lurking around the yellow sun-like star GSC 03549-02811 some 750 light years away in the direction of the constellation Draco.

The researchers found this gas giant reflects less than 1 percent of the sunlight falling on it, making it darker than any planet or moon seen up to now.  [The Strangest Alien Planets]

"It's just ridiculous how dark this planet is, how alien it is compared to anything we have in our solar system," study lead-author David Kipping, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told SPACE.com. "It's darker than the blackest lump of coal, than dark acrylic paint you might paint with. It's bizarre how this huge planet became so absorbent of all the light that hits it."

Whereas Jupiter has clouds streaking it white and red, reflecting more than a third of the sunlight reaching it, TrES-2b apparently lacks reflective clouds, super-heated as its atmosphere is to more than 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit (980 degrees Celsius) by a star just 3.1 million miles (5 million kilometers) away from it.

"However, it's not completely pitch black," co-author David Spiegel of Princeton University said in a statement. "It's so hot that it emits a faint red glow, much like a burning ember or the coils on an electric stove."

The researchers propose that light-absorbing chemicals such as vaporized sodium and potassium or gaseous titanium oxide in the planet's atmosphere could help explain why it is so dark. Still, none of these can fully explain why the world is as stealthily cloaked as it is.

"It's a mystery as to what's causing it to be so dark," Kipping said. "There's a good chance it's a chemical we haven't even thought of yet."

The astronomers think TrES-2b is tidally locked like our moon, such that one side of the planet always faces the star. This would lead it to change phases as it orbits its star just as our moon waxes and wanes from new to crescent to full, causing the total brightness of the star plus the planet to vary slightly over time.

"By combining the impressive precision from Kepler with observations of over 50 orbits, we detected the smallest-ever change in brightness from an exoplanet — just 6 parts per million," said Kipping. "In other words, Kepler was able to directly detect visible light coming from the planet itself."

These extremely small fluctuations in light proved that TrES-2b is incredibly dark. A more reflective world would have shown larger brightness variations as its phase changed.

Although TrES-2b currently is the darkest known planet, similar worlds around other stars undoubtedly await discovery, the researchers said. For now, it reinforces the idea that our solar system may not be as typical as we once thought, with an extraordinary variety of worlds potentially filling our galaxy.

Additional investigation of the more than 1,200 prospective worlds that Kepler has detected could turn up other unusually dark planets. The spacecraft, which launched in March 2009, is planned to run until at least November 2012.

"If Kepler gets an extended mission as we're hoping, it would be a huge boost to this kind of research," Kipping said.

Kipping and Spiegel detailed their findings in a study accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

REFERENCE:

1. http://news.yahoo.com/coal-black-alien-planet-darkest-ever-seen-220601419.html

Mother's Day

THE MOTHER'S DAY HISTORY

          The history of Mother's Day is centuries old and goes back to the times of ancient Greeks, who held festivities to honor Rhea, the mother of the gods. The early Christians celebrated the Mother's festival on the fourth Sunday of Lent to honor Mary, the mother of Christ. Interestingly, later on a religious order stretched the holiday to include all mothers, and named it as the Mothering Sunday. The English colonists settled in America discontinued the tradition of Mothering Sunday because of lack of time. In 1872 Julia Ward Howe organized a day for mothers dedicated to peace. It is a landmark in the history of Mother's Day.

          In 1907, Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948), a Philadelphia schoolteacher, began a movement to set up a national Mother's Day in honor of her mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis. She solicited the help of hundreds of legislators and prominent businessmen to create a special day to honor mothers. The first Mother's Day observance was a church service honoring Anna's mother. Anna handed out her mother's favorite flowers, the white incarnations, on the occasion as they represent sweetness, purity, and patience. Anna's hard work finally paid off in the year 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a national holiday in honor of mothers. 

          Slowly and gradually the Mother's day became very popular and gift giving activity increased. All this commercialization of the Mother's day infuriated Anna as she believed that the day's sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit.

          Regardless of Jarvis's worries, Mother's Day has flourished in the United States. Actually, the second Sunday of May has become the most popular day of the year. Although Anna may not be with us but the Mother's day lives on and has spread to various countries of the world. Many countries throughout the world celebrate Mother's Day at various times during the year, but some such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium also celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May. 

THE MOTHER'S DAY PROCLAMATION

         Julia Ward Howe’s is best known for writing famous poem, ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic’. Julia Howe’s ‘Mother's Day Proclamation’ was one of the earliest calls to celebrate Mother's Day in the United States. Written in 1870, Howe's Proclamation was a reaction to the destruction caused by American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. Julia witnessed some of the worst effects of the war. It was not only the death and diseases, which killed and maimed the soldiers. Working with the widows and orphans of soldiers made her realize that effect of war go beyond the loss of soldiers’ life in battle.  Distressed by her experience and the realities of war, in 1870 Julia Ward Howe took up a new cause. Seeing Franco-Prussian War inevitable, she called for women to rise up and oppose the war in all its forms. She wanted women from all around the world to come together to recognize what we hold in common above what divides us, and commit to finding peaceful resolutions to conflicts. She issued a Proclamation in hope to gather women together to share the responsibility of shaping the society at political level. This powerful proclamation advocated the need for official Mother’s Day celebration. She was the first person in US to recognize the need for Mother’s Day holiday.

          Following this Proclamation, in 1872 the Mother's Peace Day Observance was held on the second Sunday in June. Such observances became common and paved the way for Mothers' Day Holiday in US. Though she failed in her attempt to get formal Mother's Day for Peace, she is known for her significant contributions towards this day. Later it was in 1914, Anna Jarvis succeeded in declaring Mother’s Day as official holiday.

          The modern Mother’s Day celebration with flowers, gifts has little resemblance to Howe’s original idea. Here is the Proclamation that explains, which explains the goals of Mother's Day in the United States.

Mother's Day Proclamation

  Arise then...women of this day!
  Arise, all women who have hearts!
  Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
  Say firmly:
 "We will not have questions answered by irrelevant 

              agencies,
  Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with 

              carnage,
  For caresses and applause.
  Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
  All that we have been able to teach them of charity, 

              mercy and patience.
  We, the women of one country,
  Will be too tender of those of another country
  To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

  From the bosum of a devastated Earth a voice goes 

              up with
  Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
  The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
  Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
  Nor violence indicate possession.
  As men have often forsaken the plough and the 

             anvil at the summons of war,
  Let women now leave all that may be left of home
  For a great and earnest day of counsel.
  Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and 

             commemorate the dead.
  Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as 

             to the means
  Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
  Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, 

             not of Caesar,
  But of God -

  In the name of womanhood and humanity, I 

             earnestly ask
  That a general congress of women without limit of 

             nationality,
  May be appointed and held at someplace deemed 

             most convenient
  And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
  To promote the alliance of the different 

             nationalities,
  The amicable settlement of international questions,
  The great and general interests of peace.

MOTHERING SUNDAY

          The early Christians in England celebrated the Mother's festival on the fourth Sunday of Lent (the 40 day period leading up to Easter) to honor Mary, the mother of Christ. Interestingly, later on a religious order stretched the holiday to include all mothers, and named it as the Mothering Sunday. People working out of their homes were expected to return to the "mother" church (the spiritual power that gave them life and protected them from harm). It also became an occasion for family reunions. Besides attending church services in honor of the Virgin Mary, children (particularly those working as domestic servants, or as trainees, being given the day off to visit their mother and family) used to come back home with gifts, flowers, and unique Mothering Day cakes and spend the day with their mothers. Today, the Mother's Day is a day when children give presents, flowers, and home made cards to their mothers to express their love.

REFERENCE:

1. http://www.dayformothers.com/

DSLR - Digital Single-Lens Relfex Camera

           DSLR are digital cameras that use a mechanical mirror system and pentaprism to direct light from the lens to an optical viewfinder on the back of the camera. This cameras are often prefered by professional still photograpers because they allow an accurate preview of framing close to the moment of exposure, and because DSLRs allow the user to choose from a variety of interchangeable lenses. Most DSLRs also have a function that allows accurate preview of depth of field.
           The reflex design scheme is a major difference between a DSLR and an ordinary digital point-and-shoot camera, which typically exposes the sensor constantly to the light projected by the lens, allowing the camera's screen to be used as an electronic viewfinder.
           How to decide which DSLR camera is for you? There are 8 factors in to consider when choosing a DSLR.


      1. Price – a good place to start when thinking about buying a DSLR is obviously price. DSLRs price range in price from some quite affordable deals at the lower end to extremely high prices at the professional end. Set yourself a budget for your purchase early on but make sure that you keep in mind that you’ll need to consider other costs of owning one including:
       > Lenses (some deals offer ‘kit lenses’ but you should consider upgrading – see below for more on this)
       > Batteries (all models will come with one but if you are travelling you might need a spare)
       > Memory Cards (some models come with one but most are inadequate in terms of size. Even if you’re lucky enough to have one included you’ll probably want to upgrade to at least a 1 gigabyte card).
       > Camera Bag (some dealers will throw one in – but once again don’t expect a high quality ‘free’ bag.         Your DSLR is something worth protecting – invest in a good bag)
       > Filters (at the least you’ll want to get a UV filter for each lens you purchase – but you might also want to consider other types down the track also).
       >Extended Warrantees (there’s a variety of opinions on whether they’re good or not – but they’re worth considering)


      2. What will You use it For? – when you head into a camera store to purchase any type of question the first thing most sales people will ask you what type of photography you want to do. It is well worth asking yourself this question up front as it will help you think through the type of features and accessories you’ll need.

          Will this be a general purpose camera for recording ‘life’? Are you wanting to travel with the camera? Is it for sports photography? Macro Photography? Low Light Photography? Make a realistic list of the type of photography you will use it for (note I said ‘realistic’ – it’s easy to dream of all kinds of things you’ll photograph – but in reality most of us only do half what we think we will).

      3. Size – DSLRs are all more sizeable than compact point and shoot cameras but there is a fair bit of variation in size between them also. Some photographers don’t mind carrying around weighty gear but if you’re going to use it for on the go photography (travel, bushwalking etc) then small and light models can be very handy. 

      4. Previous Gear - the attractive thing about DSLRs is that in many cases they are compatible with some of the gear you might already have.
           >This is particularly the case for lenses. The chances are that if you have a film SLR that your lenses might well be compatible with a DSLR made by the same manufacturer. Don’t assume that all lenses will be compatible (particularly older gear) but it’s well worth asking the question as it could save you considerable money.
          > If you have a point and shoot camera you might also want to look at the type of memory card that it takes as some models of DSLRs could also be compatible with them. This probably won’t be a major consideration as memory cards are considerably cheaper than they used to be but it could be a factor to consider.

      5. Resolution – ‘how many megapixels does it have’ is a question that is often one of the first to be asked about a new camera. While I think ‘megapixels’ are sometimes over emphasised (more is not always best) it is a question to consider as DSLRs come with a wide range of megapixel ratings. Megapixels come into play as you consider how you’ll use your images. If you’re looking to print enlargements then more can be good – if you’re just going to print in small sizes or use them for e-mailing friends then it’s not so crucial.

      6. Sensor Size – Another related question to consider is how big the image sensor is. The term ‘crop factor’ comes up when you talk about image sensor size – I’ll upack this further in a future article as it’s perhaps a little complicated for the scope of this one. In general a larger sensor has some advantages over a smaller one (although there are costs too). But I’ll unpack this in a future post (stay tuned).

     7. Future Upgrades - will you be in a position to upgrade your camera again in the foreseeable future? While entry level DSLRs are attractively priced they tend to date more quickly than higher end models and you run the risk of growing out of them as your expertise grows and you thirst for more professional features. Ask yourself some questions about your current level of expertise in photography and whether you’re the type of person who learns how to master something and then wants to go to a higher model that gives you more control and features. It’s a difficult question but you might find it’s worthwhile to pay a little more in the short term for a model that you can grow into.

     8. Other Features

             Most DSLRs have a large array of features that will probably overwhelm and confuse you at first as you compare them with one another. All have basic features like the ability to use aperture and shutter priority, auto or manual focus etc but there’s also a lot of variation in what is or isn’t offered. Here are some of the more common features that you might want to consider:

      Burst Mode – the ability to shoot a burst of images quickly by just holding down the shutter release – great for sports and action photography. DSLRs vary both in the number of frames that they can shoot per second as well as how many images they can shoot in a single burst.
      Maximum Shutter Speed – most DSLRs will have a decent range of speeds available to you but some will have some pretty impressive top speeds which will be very useful if you’re into sports or action photography.

      ISO Ratings - Similarly, most DSLRs will offer a good range of ISO settings but some take it to the next level which is useful in low light photography.

      LCD Size – It’s amazing how much difference half an inch can make when viewing images on your cameras LCD. I noticed this recently when testing a camera with a 2.5 inch screen after using my own 1.8 inch one. While it might not change the way you shoot photos (people tend to use viewfinders at this level to frame shots) it certainly can be nice to view your shots on a larger screen.

      Anti Shake – in the past few weeks a range of new DSLRs have been announced by manufacturers in the lead up to the Christmas rush. One of the features that is featuring more and more in them is anti shake technology. While it’s been common to get ‘image stabilisation’ technology in lenses the idea of it being built into camera bodies is something that is attractive.

      Dust Protection – another feature that has started appearing in the latest round of cameras is image sensor dust protection (and in some cases self cleaning for image sensors) – something that will help alleviate a lot of frustration that many DSLR photographers have. To this point this is a feature that is mainly on lower end DSLRs but it’s bound to appear on new professional models also.

       Connectivity – Getting photos out of your DSLR and into a computer or printer generally happens these days via USB but some people like FireWire and/or Wireless.

       Semi-Auto Modes – As with point and shoot cameras – many DSLRs (especially lower end ones) come with an array of shooting modes. These generally include ‘portrait’, ’sports’, ‘night’ etc. If you rely upon these modes on your point and shoot you may well use them on your DSLR too. Higher end DSLRs often don’t have them.

       Flash – Generally professional grade DSLRs don’t offer built in flash and just have a hotshoe while entry level DSLRs include a built in flash.

             In the single-lens reflex camera the photographer sees the scene through the camera lens. This avoids the problem of parallax which occurs when the viewfinder or viewing lens is separated from the taking lens.

             Now you have an idea on which DSLR camera is right for you. Grab one now!

REFERENCE:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_single-lens_reflex_camera#Comparison_with_digital_point-and-shoot_camera
2. http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-buy-a-dslr-camera