Recent Changes

Explanation: What's the closest active galaxy to planet Earth? That would be Centaurus A, only 11 million light-years distant. Spanning over 60,000 light-years, the peculiar elliptical galaxy is also known as NGC 5128. Forged in a collision of two otherwise normal galaxies, Centaurus A's fantastic jumble of young blue star clusters, pinkish star forming regions, and imposing dark dust lanes are seen here in remarkable detail. The colorful galaxy portrait was recorded under clear Chilean skies at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. Near the galaxy's center, left over cosmic debris is steadily being consumed by a central black hole with a billion times the mass of the Sun. As in other active galaxies, that process likely generates the radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray energy radiated by Centaurus A.
See Explanation. ClickingClicking on the
Explanation: Despite their resemblance to R2D2, these three are not the droids you're looking for. Instead, the enclosures house 1.8 meter Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) at Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert region of Chile. The ATs are designed to be used for interferometry, a technique for achieving extremely high resolution observations, in concert with the observatory's 8 meter Very Large Telescope units. A total of four ATs are operational, each fitted with a transporter that moves the telescope along a track allowing different arrays with the large unit telescopes. To work as an interferometer, the light from each telescope is then brought to a common focal point by a system of mirrors in underground tunnels. Above these three ATs, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are the far far away satellite galaxies of our own Milky Way. In the clear and otherwise dark southern skies, planet Earth's greenish atmospheric airglow stretches faintly along the horizon.
{http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1204/lyridcrater_goldpaint_annotated_960.jpg} See Explanation.Moving the cursor over the image will bring up an annotated version.Clicking on the image will bring up the highest resolution versionavailable.
Explanation: Did you see it? One of the more common questions during a meteor shower occurs because the time it takes for a meteor to flash is typically less than the time it takes for a head to turn. Possibly, though, the glory of seeing bright meteors shoot across and knowing that they were once small pebbles on another world might make it all worthwhile, even if your observing partner(s) could not share in every particular experience. Peaking over the past few days, a dark moonless sky allowed the Lyrids meteor shower to exhibit as many as 30 visible meteors per hour from some locations. A bright Lyrid meteor streaks above picturesque Crater Lake in Oregon, USA, in the above composite of nine exposures taken last week. Snow covers the foreground, while the majestic central band of our home galaxy arches well behind the serene lake. Other meteor showers this year include the Perseids in mid-August and the Leonids in mid-November, both expected to also dodge the glare of a bright Moon in 2012.
See Explanation. ClickingClicking on the
Explanation: What's the closest active galaxy to planet Earth? That would be Centaurus A, only 11 million light-years distant. Spanning over 60,000 light-years, the peculiar elliptical galaxy is also known as NGC 5128. Forged in a collision of two otherwise normal galaxies, Centaurus A's fantastic jumble of young blue star clusters, pinkish star forming regions, and imposing dark dust lanes are seen here in remarkable detail. The colorful galaxy portrait was recorded under clear Chilean skies at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. Near the galaxy's center, left over cosmic debris is steadily being consumed by a central black hole with a billion times the mass of the Sun. As in other active galaxies, that process likely generates the radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray energy radiated by Centaurus A.
{http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1204/M57-HST-Subaru-LLgendler.jpg}
{http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1204/arctichenge_vetter_960.jpg} See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will downloadthe highest resolution version available.This is my favorite because of the auro boreiallas_ it's beautiful!!
Explanation: It was all lined up even without the colorful aurora exploding overhead. If you follow the apex line of the recently deployed monuments of Arctic Henge in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raufarhöfn|Raufarhöfn]] in northern Iceland from this vantage point, you will see that they point due north. A good way to tell is to follow their apex line to the line connecting the end stars of the Big Dipper, Merak and Dubhe, toward Polaris, the bright star near the north spin axis of the Earth projected onto the sky. By design, from this vantage point, this same apex line will also point directly at the midnight sun at its highest point in the sky just during the summer solstice of Earth's northern hemisphere. In other words, the Sun will not set at Arctic Henge during the summer solstice in late June, and at its highest point in the sky it will appear just above the aligned vertices of this modern monument. The above image was taken in late March during a beautiful auroral storm.

Explanation: What's the closest active galaxy to planet Earth? That would be Centaurus A, only 11 million light-years distant. Spanning over 60,000 light-years, the peculiar elliptical galaxy is also known as NGC 5128. Forged in a collision of two otherwise normal galaxies, Centaurus A's fantastic jumble of young blue star clusters, pinkish star forming regions, and imposing dark dust lanes are seen here in remarkable detail. The colorful galaxy portrait was recorded under clear Chilean skies at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. Near the galaxy's center, left over cosmic debris is steadily being consumed by a central black hole with a billion times the mass of the Sun. As in other active galaxies, that process likely generates the radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray energy radiated by Centaurus A.
{http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1204/three_ats_beletsky920.jpg} See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will downloadthe highest resolution version available.
Explanation: Despite their resemblance to R2D2, these three are not the droids you're looking for. Instead, the enclosures house 1.8 meter Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) at Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert region of Chile. The ATs are designed to be used for interferometry, a technique for achieving extremely high resolution observations, in concert with the observatory's 8 meter Very Large Telescope units. A total of four ATs are operational, each fitted with a transporter that moves the telescope along a track allowing different arrays with the large unit telescopes. To work as an interferometer, the light from each telescope is then brought to a common focal point by a system of mirrors in underground tunnels. Above these three ATs, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are the far far away satellite galaxies of our own Milky Way. In the clear and otherwise dark southern skies, planet Earth's greenish atmospheric airglow stretches faintly along the horizon.
{http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1204/lyridcrater_goldpaint_annotated_960.jpg} See Explanation.Moving the cursor over the image will bring up an annotated version.Clicking on the image will bring up the highest resolution versionavailable.
Explanation: Did you see it? One of the more common questions during a meteor shower occurs because the time it takes for a meteor to flash is typically less than the time it takes for a head to turn. Possibly, though, the glory of seeing bright meteors shoot across and knowing that they were once small pebbles on another world might make it all worthwhile, even if your observing partner(s) could not share in every particular experience. Peaking over the past few days, a dark moonless sky allowed the Lyrids meteor shower to exhibit as many as 30 visible meteors per hour from some locations. A bright Lyrid meteor streaks above picturesque Crater Lake in Oregon, USA, in the above composite of nine exposures taken last week. Snow covers the foreground, while the majestic central band of our home galaxy arches well behind the serene lake. Other meteor showers this year include the Perseids in mid-August and the Leonids in mid-November, both expected to also dodge the glare of a bright Moon in 2012.
{http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1204/NGC5128_starshadows900.jpg} See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will downloadthe highest resolution version available.
Explanation: What's the closest active galaxy to planet Earth? That would be Centaurus A, only 11 million light-years distant. Spanning over 60,000 light-years, the peculiar elliptical galaxy is also known as NGC 5128. Forged in a collision of two otherwise normal galaxies, Centaurus A's fantastic jumble of young blue star clusters, pinkish star forming regions, and imposing dark dust lanes are seen here in remarkable detail. The colorful galaxy portrait was recorded under clear Chilean skies at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. Near the galaxy's center, left over cosmic debris is steadily being consumed by a central black hole with a billion times the mass of the Sun. As in other active galaxies, that process likely generates the radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray energy radiated by Centaurus A.
{http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1204/M57-HST-Subaru-LLgendler.jpg}

Vocabulary
abyssal zone, intertidal zone, nertic zone, oceanic zone
{http://www.darrenh2o.com/cande.htg/water4.gif} abyssal zone- the deepest part of the ocean 2000-6000 meters
benthos:the floor and fauna found benthic zone densityon the bottom ,or in the bottom sediments, of a sea, lake, or other body of water.
Hadal zone (the deep):the ecological zone along the deep ocean florr between the bathyal had zone.‍Hadal zone (the dark and deep part)--
ecological zone: along the deep ocean floor that is between the bathyal had zone.
{ocean_zones.jpg} The Hadal Zone is the deepest and does include the Trenches
The Hadal Zone is the deepest and does include the Trenches
intertidal zone:also known as the foreshore and seashore and somtimes reffed to as the littoral‍intertidal zone:the foreshore/seashore somtimes reffed to as the littoral
mixed zone:a local term from the loskop project referring to the loasal unit of the bushveld complex where severl inclusions of the host rocks.‍mixed zone:referring to the loasal unit of the bushveld complex where severl inclusions of the host rocks.
nertic zone Check Out this Website!‍nertic zone
{http://students.cis.uab.edu/archived/troberge/coral.jpg} external image coral.jpg
ocean food chains‍ocean food chains:
{http://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=1626422124727&id=e6aff87549deb70b5394f9117d7901ac&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.imachordata.com%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2011%2f02%2fsbbfoodchain1.gif}
A food chain is a sequence of organisms in which each is food for the next member in the sequence. The surface of the sea swarms with billions of microscopic plants, called diatoms. With other plants such as seaweed, diatoms form the first link in most marine food chains. All subsequent links in the food chain are consumers, or the animals. (
http://www.mos.org/oceans/life/webs.html)
ocean food web‍ocean food web
{http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/students/forams/images/arctic_marine_food_web_90.jpg} Marine food web for the Arctic
example ::
Phytoplankton generate organic carbon through photosynthetic reactions.
Phytoplankton are eaten by the zooplankton, who are in turn eaten by fish, on up to large marine mammals. Organic carbon that settles to the sea floor is usually consumed by marine organisms there.
oceanic zone‍oceanic zone:
{http://funnel.sfsu.edu/courses/geol102/graphics/kareng/life.env.jpg}
The oceanic zone begins in the area off shore where the water measures 200 meters (656 feet) deep or deeper. It is the region of open sea beyond the edge of the continental shelf and includes 65% of the ocean’s completely open water
plankton‍plankton:
The collection of small or microscopic organisms, including algae and protozoans, that float or drift in great numbers in fresh or salt water, especially at or near the surface, and serve as food for fish and other larger organisms.
{http://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=1632775380079&id=2573a90417b2380996e70fe9d7f5d4d4&url=http%3a%2f%2fyecheadquarters.org%2fimages%2fcreation%2fplankton.jpg}
phytoplankton‍phytoplankton:
Some phytoplankton are bacteria, some are protists, and most are single-celled plants
{http://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Phytoplankton/images/phytoplankton_types.jpg} Illustrations of types of phytoplankton.
photic zone‍photic zone:
the surface layer of the ocean that recieves sunlight
{http://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=1634885250951&id=bd7f25200d127857e743aa0c5abff254&url=http%3a%2f%2f3.bp.blogspot.com%2f_Hj5-4y4gHVw%2fSjvvxv1XVAI%2fAAAAAAAADfE%2flbF-BWCWV_8%2fs400%2ffishontrasts.jpg}
pelagic zone‍pelagic zone:
{http://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=1625357158327&id=e1ab47eda0618371f2d74812022bd3cc&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.teara.govt.nz%2ffiles%2fdi8752enz.jpg}
Any water in a sea or lake that is not close to the bottom or near to the shore can be said to be in the pelagic zone.
Pelagic life decreases with increasing depth. It is affected by light intensity, pressure, temperature, salinity, the supply of dissolved oxygen and nutrients, and the submarine topography. In deep water, the pelagic zone is sometimes called the open-ocean zone
salinity‍salinity
How are large animals affected by salinity? Whales, sharks and porpoise.
The measure of the salt content in the ocean water is explained via salinity. The average salinity of ocean water is 35 parts per 1,000 grams of water. The salt affects what types of marine life live in which particular habitat, and it also prevents the oceans from freezing; salinity fluctuation can also affect the less salt-tolerant marine life and in some cases cause organisms to move to outlying areas such as the mouth of rivers. Climate, weather, currents and seasons can all have an affect on salinity.
( What Affects Marine Life? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8083874_affects-marine-life.html#ixzz1nEBussgf)
How does the ocean become salty?:
dissolving action of rains and streams which transported their mineral washings to the sea. Some of the ocean's salts have been dissolved from rocks and sediments below its floor. Other sources of salts include the solid and gaseous materials that escaped from the Earth's crust through volcanic vents or that originated in the atmosphere.
What factors affect salinity of the ocean? Please include Images of these factors.::
It is affected by such factors as melting of ice, inflow of river water, evaporation, rain, snowfall, wind, wave motion, and ocean currents that cause horizontal and vertical mixing of the saltwater.
{http://ts1.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=1575128268888&id=bcb073a6d6cf95fbbdeebb0c6914fcbe&url=http%3a%2f%2fblog.cyber-rain.com%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2009%2f10%2frain.jpg} rain
{http://ts2.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=1621899610157&id=e86a9ac7260ebce6cfabfe9b9a9b5988&url=http%3a%2f%2ficepictures1.com%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2011%2f07%2fPolar-Ice-Caps-Melting.jpg} melting ice caps
How is salinity of the ocean measured?
Starting in 2008, the Aquarius mission will measure global SSS with unprecedented resolution. The science instruments will include a set of three radiometers that are sensitive to salinity (1.413 GHz; L-band) and a scatterometer that corrects for the ocean's surface roughness. The spacecraft will be contributed by Argentina's Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE).
http://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/oceanography/physical-ocean/salinity/
surface zone.‍surface zone.:
Zone1The surface layer of the ocean is known as the epipelagic zone and extends from the surface to 200 meters (656 feet). It is also known as the sunlight zone because this is where most of the visible light exists. With the light come heat. This heat is responsible for the wide range of temperatures that occur in this zone.
thermocline‍thermocline:
The thermocline is the transition layer between the mixed layer at the surface and the deep water layer. The definitions of these layers are based on temperature.
transition zone‍transition zone ^^^^ thermo cline and transitional layer is the same :)
zooplankton
{ocean_food_web_2.jpg} ocean_food_web_2.jpg

Continental Margin
the zone of the ocean floor that separates the thin
oceanic crust from thick continental crust.
Continental shelf
the extended perimeter of each continent and associated
coastal plain
continental slope
The continental shelf is where the shallow waters of the ocean meet the shore.
Farther out, the water gets progressively deeper, and this is the continental slope
submarine canyon
a steep-sided valley cut into the sea floor of the
continental slope, sometimes extending well onto the continental shelf
oceanography-
is a science that draws on the methods and knowledge of geology, chemistry, physics, and biology to study all aspects of the world ocean.
{http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/Antarctic_frontal-system_hg.png/220px-Antarctic_frontal-system_hg.png}
bathmetry-
the measurement of ocean depths and the charting of the shape or topography of the ocean floor
{http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Atlantic-trench.JPG/250px-Atlantic-trench.JPG}
sonar-
allows scientists to study the ocean floor in a more efficient and precise manner than ever before.
{http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HQ0nqj9OesI/TeT7IkygbJI/AAAAAAAAAAY/0Rco5M5zddM/s1600/tags-51-mcgship3.gif}
submersible-
allows scientists to study the ocean floor in a more efficient and precise manner than ever before.
{http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/ALVIN_submersible.jpg}
satellite-
Satellites are able to measure small differences by bouncing microwaves off the ocean surface
{http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/satellite-radio.jpg}
seafloor sperading
{http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/nemo/explorer/concepts/images/Seafloor_spreading.jpg}
ocean basin floor-
is the area of the deep-ocean floor between the continental margin and the oceanic ridge
{http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/images/margin.gif}
abyssal plain-
is a very level area of the deep-ocean floor, usually lying at the foot of the continental rise.
{http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Oceanic_divisions.svg/220px-Oceanic_divisions.svg.png}
seamounts-
seamount is an isolated volcanic peak that rises at least 1000 meters above the deep-ocean floor, and a guyot is an eroded, submerged seamount.
{http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTYph9xTee79oEItbifiqjexAEuwQUSGmCu1mwJ_Ncr4b5RlVw7hnNB2CT2}
oil
{http://www.whoi.edu/cms/images/oceanus/top1_89473.jpg}
natural gas
{http://www.constructiondigital.com/innovations/SubSea%207%20Natural%20Gas%20Construction%202%20.jpg}
salts
{http://www.geoexpro.com/ckfinder/userfiles/images/2008%20-%20Vol%205/No%205/Salts%20Effects%20on%20Petroleum%20Systems/seaffloor464.gif}

{Vesuvius Kills 20.docx}