World

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks Closest Approach To Sun April 21

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12P/Pons–Brooks is a periodiccomet with an orbital period of 71 years. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet with an orbital period between 20 and 200 years, and is also one of the brightest known periodic comets, reaching an absolute visual magnitude ~5 in its approach to perihelion. Courtesy/wikipedia

Space News:

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks will make its closest approach to the sun on April 21. Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is a Halley-type periodic comet that was first discovered by Jean-Louis Pons on July 12, 1812, and then independently rediscovered by William Robert Brooks in Read More

Los Alamos Mountaineers’ April 23 Meeting Features Talk By Rick Rubio On Climbing Ecuador’s Highest Peaks

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Rick Rubio and his party on the glaciated summit of Chimborazo, the highest peak in Ecuador. Courtesy/Mountaineers

By BILL PRIEDHORSKY
Los Alamos Mountaineers

Rick Rubio will speak about climbing Ecuador’s volcanoes at the April 23 Los Alamos Mountaineers meeting. Rubio, along with five friends, climbed five of Ecuador’s volcanoes in December 2023, culminating with a climb of 6,263-meter (20,548 foot) Chimborazo.

Chimborazo, 39th highest summit in the Andes, is farthest point on Earth’s surface from the Earth’s center, due to its location along the planet’s equatorial bulge. It was Read More

Encore Earth Day Presentation Of Eclipse Stories With Chick Keller At Los Alamos Nature Center Planetarium April 20

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PEEC News:

Saturday, April 20, at the PEEC Earth Day festival, Dr. Chick Keller will share stories of eclipse missions in the 1970s.

Dr. Keller will share insights about the 1970s airborne studies of the sun’s corona during total solar eclipses – conducted at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory.

By taking the eclipse observations airborne, lab scientists, including Keller and Art Cox, were able to extend their study of totality, as well as reduce interference from the atmosphere.

Dr. Keller will talk about the successes and failures of some of these missions, sharing fantastic photographs Read More

Los Alamos High School Astronomy Club Views 2024 Total Solar Eclipse From Fort Worth, Texas – Shares Photographs

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Los Alamos High School Astronomy Club members traveled to view and photograph the April 8, 2024 solar eclipse in Fort Worth, Texas. The photos were taken with a Canon Rebel 8 and Canon 500mm lens and edited with Adobe Lightroom Classic. More photos taken by LAHS Astronomy Club members can be found at www.lahsastronomy.com. Photo by Gavin Bent/LAHS Class of 2027, Astronomy Club Board member

The solar eclipse viewed April 8, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo by Gavin Bent/LAHS Class of 2027, Astronomy Club Board member

The solar eclipse viewed April 8, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo by Gavin Bent/LAHS Read More

Gessing: LNG Permit Ban Absurd

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By PAUL GESSING
President
New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation

What if I told you that one federal government policy could do the following: 

          • Undermine Russia’s war against Ukraine (without the US spending a dime);
          • Strengthen economic ties between the US and Asian and European nations;
          • Reduce CO2 emissions; and
          • Increase US tax revenues and American jobs (including in New Mexico).

The policy I’m referring to is to allow American exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Thanks to American technological prowess the US is producing enough energy not only for itself, but for the world as well.

Sadly, Read More

Air Force Research Laboratory’s Aloha Telescope Celebrates 10 Years Empowering Students Through Outreach

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Dr. Shadi Naderi, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) research scientist and STEM technical lead; Capt. Charles Schramka, AFRL research scientist; Scott Hunt, technical director for the AFRL’s Directed Energy Directorate and 15th Space Surveillance Squadron; and Maj. Keegan McCoy, research flight commander for the  AFRL’s Directed Energy Directorate and 15th Space Surveillance Squadron, stand in front of the Aloha telescope in commemoration of the outreach program’s 10-year anniversary, March 29, 2024.The astronomy outreach program has reached 6,000 students and 175
Read More

Unique Documentary Examining ‘Community In Conflict’ Over Internment Camp Marker April 21 At SALA

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Internment Camp internee Bill Nishimura at the Santa Fe Internment Camp Marker. Courtesy photo

SALA News:

A unique documentary film examining a “Community in Conflict” will be shown again at SALA Los Alamos Event Center 2-4 p.m. Sunday, April 21, at the invitation of SALA members Nancy and John Bartlit.

The event is free. High school students studying New Mexico’s role in WWII history are especially welcome to learn Film Director Claudia Katayanagi’s quest to understand the decades-long controversy over the Santa Fe Internment Camp Marker. Albuquerque Co-Producer Nikki Nojima Louis (whose Read More

Biblical Archaeologist To Speak In Los Alamos April 28

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Dr. Steven Collins, PhD

Los Alamos Church of Christ News:

The Los Alamos Church of Christ will be hosting Dr. Steven Collins, PhD, for a lecture open to the community from 9-10:30 a.m. and at 5 p.m. Sunday, April 28. 

Among a varitey of biblical archaeology topics Dr. Collins will discuss is the identity of the Egyptian Pharoh at the time of Moses as well as recent findings at the site of Sodom and Gomorah.

Dr. Collins is among the world’s foremost biblical archaeologists. He is Director of the School of Archaeology at Veritas International University and serves as Consulting Research Professor Read More

NNSA To Conduct Aerial Radiation Assessment Over 2024 Boston Marathon Race Route April 11-15

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NNSA’s twin-engine Bell 412 helicopter, equipped with radiation-sensing technology, will fly in a grid pattern over downtown Boston and the Boston Marathon race route April 11-15. Courtesy/NNSA

NNSA News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will conduct low-altitude helicopter flights over downtown Boston and the Boston Marathon race route, Thursday, April 11, through Monday, April 15, in preparation for the 2024 Boston Marathon.

NNSA’s Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST) aircraft will measure expected background Read More