Astronomy and Space

Get your science fix here: research, quackery, activism and all the rest
Post Reply
monkey
After Pie
Posts: 1906
Joined: Wed Nov 13, 2019 5:10 pm

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by monkey » Tue Aug 23, 2022 4:46 pm

Grumble wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 3:56 pm
monkey wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 3:54 pm
Cool picture of Jupiter from JWT, with auroras - clicky.

I also liked that article made it pretty clear that the image was false colour, but I think that was just to avoid people emailing in saying "Jupiter's The Red Planet. Red. That's not red." Could've done better though, They missed it in one of the captions.
A colleague of mine claimed that because it was false colour that meant the image was made up.
At least little bit right IMO, which is why I think it's important to tell people that "this thing isn't that colour, the image isn't even made of visible light".

monkey
After Pie
Posts: 1906
Joined: Wed Nov 13, 2019 5:10 pm

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by monkey » Tue Aug 23, 2022 4:53 pm

dyqik wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 4:45 pm
Grumble wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 3:56 pm
monkey wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 3:54 pm
Cool picture of Jupiter from JWT, with auroras - clicky.

I also liked that article made it pretty clear that the image was false colour, but I think that was just to avoid people emailing in saying "Jupiter's The Red Planet. Red. That's not red." Could've done better though, They missed it in one of the captions.
A colleague of mine claimed that because it was false colour that meant the image was made up.
Here's a true color version of that image for them.
Haha. But...

That's not true colour, cos my monitor dosen't put out IR*. And you can perceive Near Infrared light, it's just your response is a few orders of magnitude lower, so you need a bright light and it to be dark to do it. It looks red.


*ETA. Actually, it probably does, but it's probably the wrong amount.

User avatar
Grumble
Light of Blast
Posts: 4746
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2019 1:03 pm

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Grumble » Tue Aug 23, 2022 5:38 pm

monkey wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 4:46 pm
Grumble wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 3:56 pm
monkey wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 3:54 pm
Cool picture of Jupiter from JWT, with auroras - clicky.

I also liked that article made it pretty clear that the image was false colour, but I think that was just to avoid people emailing in saying "Jupiter's The Red Planet. Red. That's not red." Could've done better though, They missed it in one of the captions.
A colleague of mine claimed that because it was false colour that meant the image was made up.
At least little bit right IMO, which is why I think it's important to tell people that "this thing isn't that colour, the image isn't even made of visible light".
I did make that point to him, you can’t see infra red so of course they change the colours. Don’t know if it went in, I wasn’t hanging around.
where once I used to scintillate
now I sin till ten past three

monkey
After Pie
Posts: 1906
Joined: Wed Nov 13, 2019 5:10 pm

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by monkey » Tue Aug 23, 2022 6:05 pm

Grumble wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 5:38 pm
monkey wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 4:46 pm
Grumble wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 3:56 pm


A colleague of mine claimed that because it was false colour that meant the image was made up.
At least little bit right IMO, which is why I think it's important to tell people that "this thing isn't that colour, the image isn't even made of visible light".
I did make that point to him, you can’t see infra red so of course they change the colours. Don’t know if it went in, I wasn’t hanging around.
You can see near infrared, in the right conditions (bright source, dark background).

Even more fun is that if the light gets really bright, like with an ultrafast laser focused to a small spot, you get two photon absorption and you perceive it as half the wavelength (with a slight shift).

User avatar
dyqik
Princess POW
Posts: 7527
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:19 pm
Location: Masshole
Contact:

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by dyqik » Tue Aug 23, 2022 7:01 pm

monkey wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 4:53 pm
dyqik wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 4:45 pm
Grumble wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 3:56 pm


A colleague of mine claimed that because it was false colour that meant the image was made up.
Here's a true color version of that image for them.
Haha. But...

That's not true colour, cos my monitor dosen't put out IR*. And you can perceive Near Infrared light, it's just your response is a few orders of magnitude lower, so you need a bright light and it to be dark to do it. It looks red.


*ETA. Actually, it probably does, but it's probably the wrong amount.
The first problem is that MS Paint doesn't use a colorspace that can describe the IR, rather than your monitor. And neither does .png format.

User avatar
shpalman
Princess POW
Posts: 8241
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2019 12:53 pm
Location: One step beyond
Contact:

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by shpalman » Tue Aug 23, 2022 7:31 pm

Jupiter.

Is.

Visible.

In.

The.

Visible.

Image
having that swing is a necessary but not sufficient condition for it meaning a thing
@shpalman@mastodon.me.uk

monkey
After Pie
Posts: 1906
Joined: Wed Nov 13, 2019 5:10 pm

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by monkey » Tue Aug 23, 2022 8:17 pm

dyqik wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 7:01 pm
monkey wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 4:53 pm
dyqik wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 4:45 pm


Here's a true color version of that image for them.
Haha. But...

That's not true colour, cos my monitor dosen't put out IR*. And you can perceive Near Infrared light, it's just your response is a few orders of magnitude lower, so you need a bright light and it to be dark to do it. It looks red.


*ETA. Actually, it probably does, but it's probably the wrong amount.
The first problem is that MS Paint doesn't use a colorspace that can describe the IR, rather than your monitor. And neither does .png format.
I was going to talk about gamuts, but had to get back to work :). I'm not sure what the hue of the NIR light you perceive is, but it does seem doubtful that it'd be in the RGB gamut. The furthest that the responses of red and green cones is around 710 nm, so the ratio of the response to light past there might make it look like it's back inside the visible bit of the chromacity diagram though. Blue cones probably won't be having much effect.

But the problem is the monitor. The colourspace is just 3 numbers which don't have to be applied to RGB pixels, they just have to be scaled correctly for the pixels you are using. Just* swap the filters in a monitor for some suitable NIR ones (you'd probably have to change the light bulb too). Then we all go round yours to have a look.

User avatar
dyqik
Princess POW
Posts: 7527
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:19 pm
Location: Masshole
Contact:

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by dyqik » Tue Aug 23, 2022 9:16 pm

shpalman wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 7:31 pm
Jupiter.

Is.

Visible.

In.

The.

Visible.
Not with an IR instrument, it isn't.

User avatar
Grumble
Light of Blast
Posts: 4746
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2019 1:03 pm

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Grumble » Tue Aug 23, 2022 9:26 pm

shpalman wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 7:31 pm
Jupiter.

Is.

Visible.

In.

The.

Visible.

Image
Hardly the point of the new images
where once I used to scintillate
now I sin till ten past three

User avatar
Bird on a Fire
Princess POW
Posts: 10137
Joined: Fri Oct 11, 2019 5:05 pm
Location: Portugal

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Bird on a Fire » Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:30 am

IvanV wrote:
Tue Aug 23, 2022 11:55 am
Bird on a Fire wrote:
Sun Aug 21, 2022 2:58 am
Stayed up reading and eating crisps tonight because the aurora forecast was pretty good. The clouds cleared about 1.45am, and
You are lucky to see aurora this early in the arriving autumn. The amount of sufficiently dark night is only about 2-3 hrs - though that now increases rapidly. And Iceland is so cloudy that getting breaks in the clouds sufficient to see them makes it hard at any time of year, let alone in such a narrow window of proper darkness.

I've been to Iceland a couple of times in later August when there might have been a chance. On one of those trips, I was camping at Myvatn at this precise date in August, and someone told me in the morning that if I'd gone for a look at 1am, I'd have seen the aurora. Irritatingly, I had got up for a pee at that time, but didn't think to walk away from the floodlights by the loo block and look up. Being sodding freezing under the clear sky - there was a frost - was a disincentive. The next night it snowed - Myvatn is quite high at 300m; people had to be rescued from Askja in the NE interior. And the night after that a storm blew in - by now we were by the coast in the Eastfjords - and we had to abandon a day to sitting in the tent and a coffee-shop. The weather can keep you entertained in Iceland.
I was indeed! I've been keeping an eye on an aurora forecast app https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... l=en&gl=US which bases its predictions on solar activity and cloud cover. Last Saturday was the best day solar-wise till my last weekend here (early September), when the weather will be dicier. Glad I took a punt

And yes, I love it here. I find simply being in the landscape (away from Reykjavik) almost a mindful experience. The clouds are constantly changing (even between shades of grey), and even here in the lowlands near Selfoss the landscape never fails to impress.

I should be spending a fair bit of time here over the next 3 years, which is excellent.
We have the right to a clean, healthy, sustainable environment.

IvanV
Stummy Beige
Posts: 2663
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 11:12 am

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by IvanV » Thu Aug 25, 2022 10:50 am

Bird on a Fire wrote:
Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:30 am
And yes, I love it here. I find simply being in the landscape (away from Reykjavik) almost a mindful experience. The clouds are constantly changing (even between shades of grey), and even here in the lowlands near Selfoss the landscape never fails to impress.

I should be spending a fair bit of time here over the next 3 years, which is excellent.
Hopefully you can go back at a time when the puffins, etc, will be there. Going to Látrabjarg, the SW tip of the Westfjords, with what claims to be the biggest bird cliff in "Europe" (wrong side of the oceanic rift really) is always one of my absolute favourite things. Though these days I think mass tourism might have affected the experience. It was just a tiny parking patch with space for a handful of cars at the end of a truly horrible road on the occasions I have been there. They were talking about building a visitor centre with a tunnel-accessed balcony on the cliff, but I think that was quashed, and there's just a big car park and some walk ways.

There's an unbelievably lovely and economical place to stay in the area of Iceland you are in, which is Fljótsdalur hostel, if you have some time off. It has a turf roof, a huge library, and it sits on the side of a valley with views looking directly south to Eyjafjallajokull. There is now the option of an indoor shower, but for many years the only option was the garden shower - a bucket of water with holes in the bottom - works better than you might think. It's about 20km up a road from Hvolsvollur. It's tarmacked until the last 6km or so, which can be rather horrible depending when it last got graded. It's drivable by all traffic as far as the youth hostel, but beyond the yoho its ("proper") 4wds only. I've been very lucky to be there in persistently sunny weather most times I visited. I think you can go there in the shoulder seasons, it claims to be open April to October, but they don't clear the snow off the last few km, so those dates are weather dependent. The owners are only there in the summer, but the farm next door looks after it at other times. It was made into a hostel in the 1960s by my friend, the late Dick Phillips, who pioneered Icelandic tourism for the British, beginning in the 1960s. Dick used to say that Iceland was such a great place for watching birds because the crows are all ravens, the curlews are all whimbrels, and the swans are all whoppers. The hostel is now owned by Judi and Paul Stevens.

User avatar
bjn
Stummy Beige
Posts: 2915
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:58 pm
Location: London

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by bjn » Thu Aug 25, 2022 8:17 pm

Martin Y wrote:
Sun Aug 21, 2022 11:46 pm
So what I should have done in the first place is just go to YouTube and search for "aurora borealis in real time".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T75IKSXVXlc

Compered to that I think the stuff I thought was time lapse really was time lapse, but the real thing does have features which move and change really quite quickly.
That’s about as fast as I thought it moved.

User avatar
Gfamily
Light of Blast
Posts: 5180
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2019 1:00 pm
Location: NW England

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Tue Sep 13, 2022 5:19 pm

A heads-up that the Moon will occult the planet Uranus tomorrow evening (Weds 14th Sept).
For people in the UK the occultation starts around 22:25 - 22:35 BST as the waning gibbous moon is rising in the East (exact timing depends on where you are).
You'll need a low horizon (it'll be at about 12 degrees above the horizon) and binoculars or a telescope as Uranus is only magnitude 5.7 compared to the moon at magnitude -10.1 (2 million times brighter).

Uranus is the only 'bright' thing near to the moon at the time, so if you can see a dot of light near to the moon then you know you've seen Uranus.
Seeing the actual occultation will be tricky because of the difference in brightness, but Uranus will re-emerge from behind the dark limb of the moon about 52 minutes later, which should be more obvious; so it'll be worth staying out to try and see that.
Unfortunately, our weather forecast isn't looking great, but if someone sees it (and maybe sees Uranus for the first time) it'll have been worth it.

Views a few minutes before and a few minutes after - relative positions may vary depending on your location what you use to view.
Occultation.png
Occultation.png (243.15 KiB) Viewed 2908 times
My avatar was a scientific result that was later found to be 'mistaken' - I rarely claim to be 100% correct
ETA 5/8/20: I've been advised that the result was correct, it was the initial interpretation that needed to be withdrawn
Meta? I'd say so!

IvanV
Stummy Beige
Posts: 2663
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 11:12 am

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by IvanV » Thu Sep 15, 2022 11:15 am

Unfortunately there were high thin clouds, thin enough to see the moon fine, but thick enough to prevent me seeing all but a handful of the brightest stars even with binocular enhancement.

High thin clouds preventing you seeing all but a handful of the brightest stars seems to be situ normalis anglicus, especially at warmer times of year, made worse by the light pollution if you are anywhere near large towns, lighting up those high thin clouds and turning the sky grey. Being high, the source of the light pollution can be quite a way away to turn them grey.

User avatar
Gfamily
Light of Blast
Posts: 5180
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2019 1:00 pm
Location: NW England

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Thu Sep 15, 2022 11:58 am

IvanV wrote:
Thu Sep 15, 2022 11:15 am
Unfortunately there were high thin clouds, thin enough to see the moon fine, but thick enough to prevent me seeing all but a handful of the brightest stars even with binocular enhancement.

High thin clouds preventing you seeing all but a handful of the brightest stars seems to be situ normalis anglicus, especially at warmer times of year, made worse by the light pollution if you are anywhere near large towns, lighting up those high thin clouds and turning the sky grey. Being high, the source of the light pollution can be quite a way away to turn them grey.
We didn't see anything at all, not even the moon visible.
Did anyone see the bright fireball that seems to have crossed the country South/North at about 10pm (BST) ? There were reports from across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and a fair few videos made on phones. The UK Meteor Network reckon that it was a piece of space debris rather than anything 'natural'.
My avatar was a scientific result that was later found to be 'mistaken' - I rarely claim to be 100% correct
ETA 5/8/20: I've been advised that the result was correct, it was the initial interpretation that needed to be withdrawn
Meta? I'd say so!

User avatar
Gfamily
Light of Blast
Posts: 5180
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2019 1:00 pm
Location: NW England

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Fri Sep 30, 2022 11:57 am

On the morning of Tuesday 25th October, there will be a partial Solar Eclipse visible from UK.

If you would like to have five pairs of solar glasses, you can order a pack from the GoStargazing website. These were donated by Astronomers without Borders (left over from the 2017 USA Total Eclipse), but as there were import charges incurred, there is a nominal charge of £3.50 to cover those expenses and postage etc.

https://gostargazing.co.uk/2022/09/28/s ... l-eclipse/
My avatar was a scientific result that was later found to be 'mistaken' - I rarely claim to be 100% correct
ETA 5/8/20: I've been advised that the result was correct, it was the initial interpretation that needed to be withdrawn
Meta? I'd say so!

Pishwish
Clardic Fug
Posts: 162
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2019 7:43 pm

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Pishwish » Sat Oct 15, 2022 12:50 am

Scottish rocket company Skyrora tries to launch a suborbital rocket from Iceland.

User avatar
Gfamily
Light of Blast
Posts: 5180
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2019 1:00 pm
Location: NW England

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Wed Oct 19, 2022 10:55 pm

A rather splendid JWST image in the IR, of the Eagle Nebula (known for the "Pillars of Creation" image from the Hubble Space Telescope)
Image

Couldn't help but share it.
My avatar was a scientific result that was later found to be 'mistaken' - I rarely claim to be 100% correct
ETA 5/8/20: I've been advised that the result was correct, it was the initial interpretation that needed to be withdrawn
Meta? I'd say so!

User avatar
Gfamily
Light of Blast
Posts: 5180
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2019 1:00 pm
Location: NW England

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Mon Nov 28, 2022 4:30 pm

The Artemis 1 mission is livestreaming
https://video.ibm.com/channel/b4dEcL3bJKW
Artemis1 livestream.jpg
Artemis1 livestream.jpg (33.15 KiB) Viewed 2185 times
My avatar was a scientific result that was later found to be 'mistaken' - I rarely claim to be 100% correct
ETA 5/8/20: I've been advised that the result was correct, it was the initial interpretation that needed to be withdrawn
Meta? I'd say so!

User avatar
Gfamily
Light of Blast
Posts: 5180
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2019 1:00 pm
Location: NW England

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Mon Nov 28, 2022 4:33 pm

Just gone back and spotted that the Moon is eclipsing the Earth
Livestream 2.jpg
Livestream 2.jpg (24.46 KiB) Viewed 2185 times
and now it can't livestream, because the moon is in the way...
My avatar was a scientific result that was later found to be 'mistaken' - I rarely claim to be 100% correct
ETA 5/8/20: I've been advised that the result was correct, it was the initial interpretation that needed to be withdrawn
Meta? I'd say so!

User avatar
Gfamily
Light of Blast
Posts: 5180
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2019 1:00 pm
Location: NW England

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Tue Nov 29, 2022 5:55 pm

Gfamily wrote:
Mon Nov 28, 2022 4:30 pm
The Artemis 1 mission is livestreaming
https://video.ibm.com/channel/b4dEcL3bJKW
Artemis1 livestream.jpg
Artemis.jpg
Artemis.jpg (23.27 KiB) Viewed 2155 times
in space, no one can hear you stream!
My avatar was a scientific result that was later found to be 'mistaken' - I rarely claim to be 100% correct
ETA 5/8/20: I've been advised that the result was correct, it was the initial interpretation that needed to be withdrawn
Meta? I'd say so!

User avatar
dyqik
Princess POW
Posts: 7527
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:19 pm
Location: Masshole
Contact:

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by dyqik » Wed Nov 30, 2022 8:26 pm

The Mauna Loa Observatory has been cut off by a lava flow across the access road.

That same lava flow is heading towards the Hawaii Saddle Road (which is built on top of a 1935 lava flow from Mauna Loa), and the junction with the Mauna Kea access road, although it'll take a few more days to get there according to the forecasts.

User avatar
dyqik
Princess POW
Posts: 7527
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:19 pm
Location: Masshole
Contact:

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by dyqik » Fri Dec 02, 2022 9:51 pm

The lava front has slowed now that it's getting down into the saddle between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, and is probably a week away from the Saddle Road and the Mauna Kea access road.

The eruption hasn't slowed though.

User avatar
Gfamily
Light of Blast
Posts: 5180
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2019 1:00 pm
Location: NW England

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Tue Dec 06, 2022 2:10 pm

A friend unexpectedly spotting Mars in the night sky reminds me of the professor of cosmology who reported seeing a 'transient' (potentially a new Nova or Supernova) to The Astronomer's Telegram reporting system in 2018
https://mobile.twitter.com/SciBry/statu ... 2863423488?
My avatar was a scientific result that was later found to be 'mistaken' - I rarely claim to be 100% correct
ETA 5/8/20: I've been advised that the result was correct, it was the initial interpretation that needed to be withdrawn
Meta? I'd say so!

User avatar
dyqik
Princess POW
Posts: 7527
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:19 pm
Location: Masshole
Contact:

Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by dyqik » Tue Dec 06, 2022 2:31 pm

Gfamily wrote:
Tue Dec 06, 2022 2:10 pm
A friend unexpectedly spotting Mars in the night sky reminds me of the professor of cosmology who reported seeing a 'transient' (potentially a new Nova or Supernova) to The Astronomer's Telegram reporting system in 2018
https://mobile.twitter.com/SciBry/statu ... 2863423488?
Fortunately I need to know where the planets are for work, because we use them for calibration targets. Which means I know where Mars etc. might be when out walking the dog.

I did visually notice the dimming of Betelgeuse, but only after I knew it was happening.

Post Reply