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Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2022 6:10 pm
by basementer
The opposite error: a couple of years ago, a friend said that they'd seen Mars near the moon during a lunar eclipse. I replied that I remembered not seeing it, so to speak, and guessed if they'd seen something red nearby it might have been Antares.
In checking, I found out for the first time where the name of the star Antares comes from. It's anti-Ares, the rival of Mars. Obvs really.
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2022 10:53 pm
by Grumble
I saw two shooting stars tonight. My first two. Very bright - not loads brighter than the stars but the brightest things I could see, really fast - much fast than satellites or planes, absolutely no mistaking them for anything else. They went in the same direction about a minute or so apart. Didn’t see any more, but it was a genuine, literal, thrill.
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2022 11:56 pm
by monkey
Grumble wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 10:53 pm
I saw two shooting stars tonight. My first two. Very bright - not loads brighter than the stars but the brightest things I could see, really fast - much fast than satellites or planes, absolutely no mistaking them for anything else. They went in the same direction about a minute or so apart. Didn’t see any more, but it was a genuine, literal, thrill.
Geminids innit. It's cloudy here and even if it wasn't, there's a lot of light pollution, so don't think I'll see much, even if I try.
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2022 11:59 pm
by Gfamily
Grumble wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 10:53 pm
I saw two shooting stars tonight. My first two. Very bright - not loads brighter than the stars but the brightest things I could see, really fast - much fast than satellites or planes, absolutely no mistaking them for anything else. They went in the same direction about a minute or so apart. Didn’t see any more, but it was a genuine, literal, thrill.
It's the time of year for the Geminids meteor shower, so that sounds very likely.
Interestingly*, the Geminids are not associated with a comet, but with an asteroid, the Earth orbit crossing asteroid
Phaethon.
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2022 7:55 am
by Grumble
Thought they might be Geminids, wish I’d seen more than two. I was between trees a lot of the time.
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2022 5:45 pm
by dyqik
The Atacama Large Millimeter Array has been down since October due to a cyber attack
https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/1 ... 212a/full/
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2022 7:47 am
by Grumble
How large can a millimetre get anyway?
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2022 11:22 am
by dyqik
Grumble wrote: ↑Tue Dec 20, 2022 7:47 am
How large can a millimetre get anyway?
Depends how close it is.
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2022 12:11 pm
by Gfamily
dyqik wrote: ↑Tue Dec 20, 2022 11:22 am
Grumble wrote: ↑Tue Dec 20, 2022 7:47 am
How large can a mill ftimetre get anyway?
Depends how close it is.
Also, how fast it's going away from you
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2022 12:48 am
by dyqik
SPIDER, a CMB balloon experiment, finally managed to launch from McMurdo today.
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 7:28 am
by shpalman
the first satellites launched from British soil failed to reach orbit
Back in Cornwall spectators did a “conga” dance around a replica of the rocket at the perimeter of the spaceport
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 10:57 am
by Grumble
Saying they were launched from British soil is stretching a point. To my mind they aren’t launched until they drop off the plane.
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 11:39 am
by lpm
Who gives a f.ck. It's like we're in the 1950s and Britain is pretending it's in the space race. We need to acclimatise fast to being a pathetic country without healthcare, law courts and social welfare. "Don't look down at the queue for the food bank, look up at a British Rocket."
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 12:59 pm
by tenchboy
Sims she do stop at Cambourne after all.
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 2:31 pm
by Gfamily
You'll have likely seen the doctored photo that Grant Shapps tweeted where ex PM Johnson had been airbrushed out
@garius, the author of
The Brexit Tapes offered a free copy to the best version of the image...
- tweet 1.jpg (27.81 KiB) Viewed 3184 times
https://twitter.com/garius/status/1612775552305201153
The best I've seen so far
- Tweet 2.jpg (65.92 KiB) Viewed 3184 times
]
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2023 5:33 pm
by Gfamily
If you have a pair of 'eclipse glasses' (made specifically for watching eclipses), the Sun is currently featuring a Sunspot that is about 4x the diameter of the Earth, which makes it just about visible without magnification.
Don't try looking with the naked eye.
If you don't have a suitable pair, you can use a pair of binoculars to project an image of the Sun onto white card - there should be multiple sunspots visible.
My image using a filtered telescope from a couple of days ago.
- Sunspot.jpg (227.24 KiB) Viewed 3098 times
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2023 6:13 pm
by Martin Y
Ooh. Nice. For context, what portion of the sun's diameter are we seeing there?
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2023 7:09 pm
by Gfamily
Martin Y wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 6:13 pm
Ooh. Nice. For context, what portion of the sun's diameter are we seeing there?
The image is about 1/5 the sun's diameter. I've realised that the Spot shown isn't actually the one that was naked eye.
Which was about twice the width of the one above.
- AR 3190.png (92.57 KiB) Viewed 3015 times
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:02 am
by tenchboy
Has anyone been out for a look at the comet yet?
- comet.png (314.12 KiB) Viewed 2936 times
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:22 am
by Gfamily
tenchboy wrote: ↑Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:02 am
Has anyone been out for a look at the comet yet?
comet.png
MrsG and I saw it last Thursday just after midnight. Used binoculars (required), couldn't make out any colour, nor a tail, but the fuzzy patch was about 1/3 degree across.
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2023 4:36 pm
by basementer
Near Polaris? That would explain why it hasn't made the news in my area.
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2023 4:49 pm
by shpalman
I haven't been out to look for it since the nights which would be clear enough are too f.cking cold for going outside.
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2023 8:16 am
by Martin Y
Nipped out with binoculars. Located a definite smudge. Didn't hang around long enough for my night vision to improve as shivering is incompatible with holding binoculars steady.
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 12:29 pm
by Gfamily
Got a good evening at Astrofarm France (run by a friend, it offers holidays for Astronomers). Got a few images of a variety of things over a couple of hours yesterday
Including this of the Comet - cold but worth it
- COMET Affinity 1000px.jpg (227.92 KiB) Viewed 2794 times
Re: Astronomy and Space
Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2023 9:52 pm
by Pishwish
A Progress (cargo) spacecraft attached to the ISS has developed a coolant leak, apparently similar to the leak that affected the most recent Soyuz spacecraft sent to the ISS.
Quality control would seem to be the most likely cause.