[ Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool - 1 - 11:04:27 ]
Hello.

[ Brenden-EAstudents - 2 - 11:04:54 ]
Hello from East Ascension High !

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 12 - 11:09:26 ]
Hello Everyone! thanks for coming to today's chat with astronomer Sten Odenwald! Sten is here and ready to answer your questions!

[ Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool - 15 - 11:10:52 ]
Hi Sandy

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 17 - 11:12:05 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] Hi Sandy
Hi Josh! Glad you could join us today!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 19 - 11:12:29 ]
RE: [Brenden-EAstudents] Can you tell me why the solar wind causes the earth's magnetosphere to be "compressed" or distorted on the side facing the sun ? ( in between the earth and sun)
The solar wind contains both particles and trapped magnetic fields. These are capable of producing pressure. the particles travel at hundreds pof kilometers per second and produce quite a stiff interplanetary breeze. When this stuff hits the magnetic field of the earth, it pushes it inwards just like blowing on a partially inflated balloon would.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 21 - 11:13:18 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] do you know anything about Mars?
Josh: What exactly do you want to know about Mars. Please be more specific for Sten :-)

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 23 - 11:13:38 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] is there really a hole in the ozone?
Yes there is a region...which reappears each year...where the density of ozone molecules is much lower than in the atmosphere outside the arctic region...this has ben well documented scientifically.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 25 - 11:15:04 ]
RE: [EAstudents] How old is the sun and when will it burn out?
The sun is currently just over 4.5 billion years old. It will enter its red giant phase in about 6 billion years and become a white dwarf/planetary nebula system about 1 billion years later. Earth life will be extinguished in another 700 million years though. :<

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 26 - 11:15:42 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] I have studied space for 5 years
Its pretty cool stuff isnt it? Dont get too lost in the science fiction stuff though.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 28 - 11:16:45 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] how deep is the Valles Mareniers
I dont have the exact numbers, but it is about 5 kilometers or so below the average surface level of mars.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 32 - 11:18:26 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] will the ozone ever go away? and what will happen if it does?
Im not an atmospheric chemist, but I dont think it will ever fall to zero globally. The ozone layer migfht get pretty chewed up in the arctic regions, and over some continents...but it seems to be capable of 'healing' itself if we stop pumping the wrong chemicals into the atmosphere

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 35 - 11:19:38 ]
RE: [EAstudents] Do you think that black holes all lead to the same place, if anywhere?
We have no idea what the insides of black holes look like. The mathematical descriptions are for an 'idealized' world...which we do not live in!!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 37 - 11:20:43 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] can you give me info on how high olympus mons is?
Gulp...its 27 kilometers high!!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 40 - 11:22:09 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] won't the polar ice caps melt if we do pump the wrong chemicals in to the atmosphere
I dont think so...but the real kicker is the amount of carbon dioxide we put in the atmosphere, and that has already heated the earth enough to cause some glaciers to recede. At this rate, in a few centuries, we may indeed have smaller icecaps and a higher ocean level.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 41 - 11:23:23 ]
RE: [EAstudents] How did our asteriod belt between Mars and Jupiter form?
We think its just left-over stuff from when the solar system was formed. Its hard to form any large objects there because Jupiter perturbs the orbits of material there. We also see lots of orbiting junk around other stars too so it is a common leftover.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 43 - 11:24:38 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] is all this stuff on global warming really true?
I think so. There are some disputes about the CAUSES for the warming, but the best data we have right now does show a distinct warming trend. It is hotter now, worldwide, than it has been for the last 12,000 years according to a recent study of paleoclimateology

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 44 - 11:25:44 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] your NASA website is huge!! My friend and I was on it before.It was totally awesome!!!
You should thank your parents for the money they provided via taxes for NASA!!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 46 - 11:27:14 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] How many Earths can fit inside Jupiter's great red spot?
Hmm...I sem to recall a cartoon sketch that showed it was three earths wide!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 49 - 11:28:40 ]
Did you know that on february 10, 1999 pluto will once again become the 9th planet? On February 8-9 it will be the 8th with Neptune the outermost, then by February 11th pluto will be the 9th...and stay that way for the next 200 years.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 51 - 11:29:54 ]
RE: [EAstudents] Are there any asteriods that we know of that could hit us in the near future? If one did hit us how much damage would it do to Earth?
We know of no cataloged asteroids that will hit the earth in the next 100 years or so...but its the uncataloged ones we worry about. We detect about 20 of those every year, and typically a few of those get close enough to the earth to be put on a 'watch' list.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 53 - 11:30:55 ]
RE: [StenOdenwald/Astronomer] Did you know that on february 10, 1999 pluto will once again become the 9th planet? On February 8-9 it will be the 8th with Neptune the outermost, then by February 11th pluto will be the 9th...and stay that way for the next 200 years.
Sten, no way, really?! Explain...

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 54 - 11:31:02 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] will global warming cause global disasters?
yes. It will cause tropical storms and hurricanes to be more violent. It will shift the growing seasons around and push some marginal growing regions into desert-like conditions. It all depends on how much heating you get.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 55 - 11:31:26 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] when is this asteroid going to pass the Earth?
Which one?

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 59 - 11:35:35 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] according to your studies, and the movie Armegeddon, when do you think armegeddon will really happen?
If you mean a direct hit by an asteroid...I dont really know. The odds are that we get hit by 1-kilometer asteroids every million years or so, and dinosaur killers every 50 million. We could be overdue for either of these depending on the laws of probability..but we have detailed orbits now for objects 1 kilometer or larger, so they are not a real threat to us anymore. Its the 100-meter 'city killers' I worry about!!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 61 - 11:36:21 ]
RE: [EAstudents] What would happen if Neptune and Pluto crashed into each other while crossing each others' orbit?
They never will according to the orbital calculations. For the next billion years they will never come less than a few hundred million miles of each other.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 62 - 11:37:20 ]
RE: [Jeremy-EAstudents] How close can you get to the sun before you would burn up ?
Hmm...You can probably get within 10 million miles before your cooling system overloads and you are inside the outer layers of the corona.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 64 - 11:38:02 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] I don't know what it is called, I saw it on television about 2 months ago.They said that it will pass within another 60 years.But that wasan't good enough. I was wondering if you knew.
Wish I could help...but it doesnt jog my memory...such as my mind is these days!!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 67 - 11:38:52 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] will global warming cause the polar regons to melt?
If the temperature keeps going up every century the way it is now...yes...the polar caps will melt in a few hundred years give or take.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 69 - 11:40:14 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] what is the inner core of the sun made of ? i mean besides gas
It is a gas of hydrogen and helium nucleii plus a a small impurity ( 6 percent) of the other elements. It seaathes at a temperature of 15 million degrees and a density of over 100 grams/cc. Electrons are stripped from their atoms and youy have a pure plasma.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 74 - 11:42:46 ]
RE: [EAstudents] How do you think the end of the world will happen?(Your Opinion)
as the sun continues to grow and evolve, the temperature of the earth over the next 100 million years will increase by 10s of degrees...by 500 million years from now, more water will be in the atmosphere as the oceans begin to evaporate. the surface temperature then will be 40 degrees warmer than today...on average. A run away green house will be in place and will incinerate the biosphere by 1 billion years from now...this is a forecast based on mathematical models.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 75 - 11:43:28 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] what is the diameter of the sun?
Hmmm...about 696,000 kilometers in radius x 2 = diameter.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 78 - 11:44:35 ]
RE: [Raquel-Raquel/SP/Brazil] Hi ! Can you explain why the Earth magnetic pole will invert soon ?
Well...it probably wont be anytime soon...but in the next 5-10,000 years there will probably be a polarity flip. This has happened every 200-300,000 years during the last few million years.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 80 - 11:45:54 ]
RE: [Raquel-Raquel/SP/Brazil] Hi ! Can you explain why the Earth magnetic pole will invert soon ?
The earths core...like the sun...is a magnetic dynamo and is subject to polarity reversals that are similar to the sunspot cycle in origin. the details of how this happens is not very well understood because we cant look at the relevant regions where the good stuff is happening!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 82 - 11:47:06 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] will it cause a huge flood?
Thge loss of the icecaps will probably take a few decades and cause all land that is only a few feet above current sea level to be completely inundated. Florida will almost vanish.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 84 - 11:48:10 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] were you there when the Challenger blew up? If so, what was it like?
No...I was here in washington when the accident happened. Very sad....Experts predict that we may be due for another one before we finish completing the Space Station.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 86 - 11:49:09 ]
RE: [Jeremy-EAstudents] Could the sun ever crash into the moon
No...the moon could never crash into the sun ( the sun is way bigger!!)...unless the sun were a red giant then it could swallow mercury, venus earth and the moon...whole.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 88 - 11:50:07 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] where are you right now,Sten?
Josh: Sten works at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, which is just outside of Washington, DC.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 89 - 11:50:25 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] are you famous? If so, I've never heard of you until today.
Im not famous...just one of 6500 astronomers you will never hear about. I have a fun book out called' The Astronomy Cafe' which answers 365 of the most popular qustions about astronomy..visit my website http://www2.ari.net/home/odenwald/cafe.html for more details.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 92 - 11:52:09 ]
RE: [Raquel/SP/Brazil] What causes an aurora borealis ? Is it related to solar winds ?
Aurora are caused by currents of electrons that slam into the atmosphere and stimulate atoms of oxygen and nitrogen to fluoresce. These currents come from the outer regions of the magnetosphere, and sometimes these currents are triggered by the solar wind and ejections of mass called 'coronal mass ejections' or CMEs

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 93 - 11:53:47 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] how many comets crashed into the earth? and can you be a little less scientific or tecnical, i am only in 4th grade.
We think that in 1909 in a region called Tunguska, that a comet may have struchk the earth...but it would only have been 50 meters across. really...an iceberg in space not the kind of comets you think about in the sky like halleys' or hale Bopp..those are 10 to 50 kilometers across!!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 97 - 11:55:13 ]
RE: [Raquel/SP/Brazil] If the sun is more massive than the moon, why don't we have solar tides ?
we do!! they are about 1/3 the size of the lunar tides. Because the sun is so far away, the tides you would get because of its mass is offset by it being so far away and a weaker source of tidal forces.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 100 - 11:58:14 ]
RE: [Raquel/SP/Brazil] Do you know any book that describe the fourth dimension and hyperspheres ?
There is a physicist that recently wrote a book about Hyperspace. Its a pretty good story and he did a good job telling it. He is Japaneese and his last kame is Kaifu of something.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 101 - 11:59:16 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] how long do you have to go to school to join NASA?
Well.. I went through 4 years of college, and 6 years of graduate school to get my PhD., then I did research for 15 years until 1991 when I applied for a job with nasa.

[ Raquel/SP/Brazil - 102 - 11:59:23 ]
Thanks Dr.Odenwald !!!!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 103 - 12:00:26 ]
RE: [Raquel/SP/Brazil] Thanks Dr.Odenwald !!!!
you might also look at my article on hyperspace and science fiction at the Astronomy Cafe!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 105 - 12:02:00 ]
RE: [StenOdenwald/Astronomer] Well.. I went through 4 years of college, and 6 years of graduate school to get my PhD., then I did research for 15 years until 1991 when I applied for a job with nasa.
Josh: When you get a chance, be sure to read Sten's autobiography at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/sso/team/odenwald.html Here you will find out many details about Sten's life and how he got to where he is today! It's very interesting and I know you'll enjoy reading it :-)

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 107 - 12:02:28 ]
RE: [Josh-MissKnam/CedarCreekSchool] Sten, it is the end of the day for us. I liked talking with you. Thanks for answering my questions. I hope we can talk again. Bye.
Cool!! See you later, and kep thinking about space!!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 108 - 12:03:02 ]
EVERYONE: It's time for Sten to get back to work now. Thank you all for participating today. You asked some tough questions! Check out the schedule for the next chat with Sten.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 109 - 12:03:35 ]
RE: [Raquel/SP/Brazil] I did . But I would like something deeper , with formulas and maths !
Then you probably need a book on general relativity, and will have to learn about tensors. They are real cool, but that is the next level you will have to go to...its worth it!!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 110 - 12:04:13 ]
See ya all later! It has been more than fun...

[ Raquel/SP/Brazil - 111 - 12:04:20 ]
Thank you ! :)