Astronomy and Space

[Gfamily]

Boeing's long delayed Starliner space capsule launched yesterday, on its second test flight. (The second test flight was necessary because the first one did not go well in 2019). The failure of 2 thrusters on yesterday's flight is being downplayed, but it does indicate that Boeing has a long way to go before it can re-establish its reputation for competence.

If it's clear across the UK this evening at about 11pm, there is a relatively high passage of the ISS, and while it's passing over UK, the Starliner capsule will be making its final approach before docking. I've no idea how visible the Starliner will be, but it'll be worth having a pair of binoculars to see if you can see a separate point of light next to the ISS.

For us in NW England, the ISS will be visible from about 23:08 BST - and will take about 6 minutes to cross the sky.
The docking itself is scheduled for 00:10 BST.

[Gfamily]

I sent this message to my BIL and SIL in California about an astronomical event that may be somewhat exceptional for one night only.

If it's clear tonight at about 10pm there may be a very intense meteor shower visible from the US.

There's a comet (Schwassmann-Wachmann 3) that returns every 5½ years that seems to be breaking up, and we may be passing through its debris this year. The meteors can appear anywhere in the sky, so best to get a recliner and look to the south east between 9:30 and 11:30 this evening. No equipment needed. Only a possibility, but worth keeping an eye out for. It's badly timed for us in UK so we'll miss it.

The peak time is reckoned to be at about 5:00 UT - so translate to whatever your local timezone.

[dyqik]

I sent this message to my BIL and SIL in California about an astronomical event that may be somewhat exceptional for one night only.

If it's clear tonight at about 10pm there may be a very intense meteor shower visible from the US.

There's a comet (Schwassmann-Wachmann 3) that returns every 5½ years that seems to be breaking up, and we may be passing through its debris this year. The meteors can appear anywhere in the sky, so best to get a recliner and look to the south east between 9:30 and 11:30 this evening. No equipment needed. Only a possibility, but worth keeping an eye out for. It's badly timed for us in UK so we'll miss it.

The peak time is reckoned to be at about 5:00 UT - so translate to whatever your local timezone.

9pm Eastern, so conveniently just as it gets properly dark.

[Martin Y]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/61617907

"This is the Perseid meteor shower..." No. It isn't. It's a dramatic view of star trails plus perhaps two meteors playing Where's Wally.

[Gfamily]

Visible aerosol explains the appearance of Uranus

Spoiler:

Uranus.jpg (125.69 KiB) Viewed 1785 times

Well, it amused me!

[Martin Y]

Just needed a way to crowbar in bleaching instead of whitening to achieve peak puerility.

[Gfamily]

First images from the JWST to be released today and tomorrow.

One today at 10pm BST, and four more (I think) tomorrow at 3:30pm BST.

Can be watched on NASA TV.

[Grumble]

First images from the JWST to be released today and tomorrow.

One today at 10pm BST, and four more (I think) tomorrow at 3:30pm BST.

Can be watched on NASA TV.

Nothing on there at the moment, are you sure?

[dyqik]

First images from the JWST to be released today and tomorrow.

One today at 10pm BST, and four more (I think) tomorrow at 3:30pm BST.

Can be watched on NASA TV.

Nothing on there at the moment, are you sure?

It's at 5pm, in a couple of minutes.

It's been put off to 5:30.

https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive

[Gfamily]

First images from the JWST to be released today and tomorrow.

One today at 10pm BST, and four more (I think) tomorrow at 3:30pm BST.

Can be watched on NASA TV.

Nothing on there at the moment, are you sure?

It's at 5pm, in a couple of minutes.

It's been put off to 5:30.

https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive

Waiting on the President, I gather

[dyqik]

Nothing on there at the moment, are you sure?

It's at 5pm, in a couple of minutes.

It's been put off to 5:30.

https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive

Waiting on the President, I gather

Aren't we all?

[Gfamily]

It's at 5pm, in a couple of minutes.

It's been put off to 5:30.

https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive

Waiting on the President, I gather

Aren't we all?

Just Biden' our time...

[Grumble]

Is he having a nap or something?

[dyqik]

Is he having a nap or something?

I guess getting called Sleepy Joe all the time does give him an excuse.

[dyqik]

This is very on-brand for the JWST project though.

[Grumble]

Now it’s started, but how much blather will there be?

[Grumble]

Was that it? Didn’t even get a full screen of the image. Ah well, tomorrow should be a better show.

[dyqik]

Was that it? Didn’t even get a full screen of the image. Ah well, tomorrow should be a better show.

The full resolution image is on the NASA website

[WFJ]

Huge lens flare. Is that not an issue for observations?

[dyqik]

Huge lens flare. Is that not an issue for observations?

Not really, no.

It's a natural consequence of JWST's segmented mirror - like Keck, TMT, ELT, MMT, etc.

It can be deconvolved from images, or images can be taken at multiple boresight angles, if necessary. But for most things, it's not that important.

[Gfamily]

Huge lens flare. Is that not an issue for observations?

Diffraction patterns from a combination of the mirror segments and the secondary mirror supports.
It'll have an effect on faint objects very close to bright objects, but the main targets are going to be faint objects and hopefully not too close to bright ones.

[Grumble]

Was that it? Didn’t even get a full screen of the image. Ah well, tomorrow should be a better show.

The full resolution image is on the NASA website

That’s what we wanted. Wow

[plodder]

The slidey thing here: https://www.theguardian.com/science/202 ... axy-images

It's not lined up right, right? These are two different bits of space?

[shpalman]

The slidey thing here: https://www.theguardian.com/science/202 ... axy-images

It's not lined up right, right? These are two different bits of space?

Here's an actual comparison between Hubble and James Webb images: https://youtu.be/VvDqxFLcZKk

[Gfamily]

For an idea of the scale, imagine the photo on your phone's screen.
Now imagine you're a goalkeeper and the other goalkeeper is showing you this image from their goalline (I don't know why they have your phone, but bear with me). That's the area of the image* on the sky.


*Appx 7cm at 100 metres.