Astronomy and Space

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basementer
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by basementer » Tue Dec 06, 2022 6:10 pm

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.
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Grumble » 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.
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by monkey » Tue Dec 13, 2022 11:56 pm

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.

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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Tue Dec 13, 2022 11:59 pm

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.
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Grumble » Wed Dec 14, 2022 7:55 am

Thought they might be Geminids, wish I’d seen more than two. I was between trees a lot of the time.
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by dyqik » Mon Dec 19, 2022 5:45 pm

The Atacama Large Millimeter Array has been down since October due to a cyber attack
https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/1 ... 212a/full/

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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Grumble » Tue Dec 20, 2022 7:47 am

dyqik wrote:
Mon Dec 19, 2022 5:45 pm
The Atacama Large Millimeter Array has been down since October due to a cyber attack
https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/1 ... 212a/full/
How large can a millimetre get anyway?
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by dyqik » Tue Dec 20, 2022 11:22 am

Grumble wrote:
Tue Dec 20, 2022 7:47 am
dyqik wrote:
Mon Dec 19, 2022 5:45 pm
The Atacama Large Millimeter Array has been down since October due to a cyber attack
https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/1 ... 212a/full/
How large can a millimetre get anyway?
Depends how close it is.

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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Tue Dec 20, 2022 12:11 pm

dyqik wrote:
Tue Dec 20, 2022 11:22 am
Grumble wrote:
Tue Dec 20, 2022 7:47 am
dyqik wrote:
Mon Dec 19, 2022 5:45 pm
The Atacama Large Millimeter Array has been down since October due to a cyber attack
https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/1 ... 212a/full/
How large can a mill ftimetre get anyway?
Depends how close it is.
Also, how fast it's going away from you
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by dyqik » Thu Dec 22, 2022 12:48 am

SPIDER, a CMB balloon experiment, finally managed to launch from McMurdo today.

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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by shpalman » Tue Jan 10, 2023 7:28 am

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
having that swing is a necessary but not sufficient condition for it meaning a thing
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Grumble » Tue Jan 10, 2023 10:57 am

shpalman wrote:
Tue Jan 10, 2023 7:28 am
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
Saying they were launched from British soil is stretching a point. To my mind they aren’t launched until they drop off the plane.
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by lpm » Tue Jan 10, 2023 11:39 am

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."
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by tenchboy » Tue Jan 10, 2023 12:59 pm

Sims she do stop at Cambourne after all.
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Tue Jan 10, 2023 2:31 pm

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
tweet 1.jpg (27.81 KiB) Viewed 3107 times
https://twitter.com/garius/status/1612775552305201153

The best I've seen so far
Tweet 2.jpg
Tweet 2.jpg (65.92 KiB) Viewed 3107 times
]
My avatar was a scientific result that was later found to be 'mistaken' - I rarely claim to be 100% correct
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Wed Jan 18, 2023 5:33 pm

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.
Image

My image using a filtered telescope from a couple of days ago.
Sunspot.jpg
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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
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Martin Y » Mon Jan 23, 2023 6:13 pm

Ooh. Nice. For context, what portion of the sun's diameter are we seeing there?

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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Mon Jan 23, 2023 7:09 pm

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
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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
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by tenchboy » Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:02 am

Has anyone been out for a look at the comet yet?
comet.png
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:22 am

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.
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
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by basementer » Mon Jan 30, 2023 4:36 pm

Near Polaris? That would explain why it hasn't made the news in my area.
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by shpalman » Mon Jan 30, 2023 4:49 pm

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.
having that swing is a necessary but not sufficient condition for it meaning a thing
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Martin Y » Tue Jan 31, 2023 8:16 am

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.

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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Fri Feb 10, 2023 12:29 pm

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
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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!

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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Pishwish » Sat Feb 11, 2023 9:52 pm

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.

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