Astronomy and Space

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basementer
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by basementer » Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:46 am

Rather nice grouping of the crescent moon above Jupiter and Saturn this evening.
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Thu Dec 17, 2020 10:47 am

basementer wrote:
Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:46 am
Rather nice grouping of the crescent moon above Jupiter and Saturn this evening.
Keep an eye out on the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on Monday - the closest they've been since 1623 - but that was too close to the Sun to have been visible, so the closest visible conjunction since 4th March 1226 (25th Feb Old Calendar).
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by shpalman » Sat Dec 19, 2020 6:12 pm

The weather's being sh.t and the conjunction is happening in the wrong bit of sky for me to be able to see anything from here anyway.
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 snoozeofreason » Sun Dec 20, 2020 3:26 pm

Gfamily wrote:
Thu Dec 17, 2020 10:47 am
basementer wrote:
Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:46 am
Rather nice grouping of the crescent moon above Jupiter and Saturn this evening.
Keep an eye out on the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on Monday - the closest they've been since 1623 - but that was too close to the Sun to have been visible, so the closest visible conjunction since 4th March 1226 (25th Feb Old Calendar).
Due to the time of year, any discussion of this on the media is accompanied by a mandatory attempt to link it to the star of Bethlehem. No one points out that people in the classical era were perfectly capable of working out where the planets would appear in the sky, so any genuinely wise man from the east would have just gone "Ahem, I think you'll find that this 'mysterious star' is actually a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn."
In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them. The human body was knocked up pretty late on the Friday afternoon, with a deadline looming. How well do you expect it to work?

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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by JQH » Sun Dec 20, 2020 3:39 pm

shpalman wrote:
Sat Dec 19, 2020 6:12 pm
The weather's being sh.t and the conjunction is happening in the wrong bit of sky for me to be able to see anything from here anyway.
I need to chop down a few trees and demolish a tower block.
And remember that if you botch the exit, the carnival of reaction may be coming to a town near you.

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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by shpalman » Sun Dec 20, 2020 3:39 pm

snoozeofreason wrote:
Sun Dec 20, 2020 3:26 pm
Gfamily wrote:
Thu Dec 17, 2020 10:47 am
basementer wrote:
Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:46 am
Rather nice grouping of the crescent moon above Jupiter and Saturn this evening.
Keep an eye out on the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on Monday - the closest they've been since 1623 - but that was too close to the Sun to have been visible, so the closest visible conjunction since 4th March 1226 (25th Feb Old Calendar).
Due to the time of year, any discussion of this on the media is accompanied by a mandatory attempt to link it to the star of Bethlehem. No one points out that people in the classical era were perfectly capable of working out where the planets would appear in the sky, so any genuinely wise man from the east would have just gone "Ahem, I think you'll find that this 'mysterious star' is actually a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn."
The whole thing about the star and the wise men was made up by whoever wrote the gospel of Matthew, along with the whole thing about Herod killing all the children under two years old, to make Jesus seem more important to his target audience.

But a wise man from the east would have noticed the conjunction of two wandering stars to be particularly portentious in terms of probably having to make changes at work but be ready for a surprise in your love life or something.
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 Chris Preston » Tue Dec 22, 2020 5:09 am

Saw the conjunction last night, just after sunset. Jupiter and Saturn were one point of light to the naked eye, but easy separated with binoculars.
Here grows much rhubarb.

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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by basementer » Tue Dec 22, 2020 9:14 am

I've seen them! The sky was clear briefly before they set - Saturn in the background with visible rings, and Jupiter with two crisp Galilean moons all together in the same field of view. "Once in a lifetime" is an understatement.
Money is just a substitute for luck anyway. - Tom Siddell

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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Tue Dec 22, 2020 11:11 am

We saw them on Sunday, through binoculars and a small telescope at 52x magnification.

If I make it to my 101st birthday, there's another decent conjunction of the two in April 2060 (just over 1 degree apart).
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 » Fri Jan 01, 2021 10:22 am

It seems that SpaceX has plans for its next launcher to 'be caught by the launch tower' rather than having its own landing legs.
Given the precision they seem to be achieving with their landings so far, this doesn't seem unreasonable, but it does show how much they have achieved in changing what can be done.

It's even being suggested that they could have a turn-around time of hours between landing and re-launching.

https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/30/elon- ... unch-tower
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 dyqik » Fri Jan 01, 2021 7:43 pm

Gfamily wrote:
Fri Jan 01, 2021 10:22 am
It seems that SpaceX has plans for its next launcher to 'be caught by the launch tower' rather than having its own landing legs.
Given the precision they seem to be achieving with their landings so far, this doesn't seem unreasonable, but it does show how much they have achieved in changing what can be done.

It's even being suggested that they could have a turn-around time of hours between landing and re-launching.

https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/30/elon- ... unch-tower
It could be even faster with a post bag/train system and a trampoline.

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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by shpalman » Sun Jan 03, 2021 10:12 am

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 basementer » Sun Jan 03, 2021 4:36 pm

shpalman wrote:
Sun Jan 03, 2021 10:12 am
Image

This is a photo of the sun taken at night.
I think they faked the colour, it's really monochrome.
Money is just a substitute for luck anyway. - Tom Siddell

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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Allo V Psycho » Sun Jan 03, 2021 4:40 pm

shpalman wrote:
Sun Jan 03, 2021 10:12 am
Image

This is a photo of the sun taken at night.
That is very cool indeed (no pun intended). Thanks for that.
AvP

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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Sun Jan 03, 2021 4:50 pm

I'm not exactly sure how the image was created, but there's some detail here...
https://physics.stackexchange.com/quest ... of-the-sun

It's a very low resolution image though - the neutrino source in the Sun subtends an angle of about only about 3 arc minutes (1/20th of a degree), whereas the 'image of the source' subtends about 30 degrees.

Fascinating fact - the energy generation per cubic metre in the Sun is less than the heat energy generated in a well managed compost heap.
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 bjn » Sat Jan 09, 2021 9:55 am

Gfamily wrote:
Sun Jan 03, 2021 4:50 pm
I'm not exactly sure how the image was created, but there's some detail here...
https://physics.stackexchange.com/quest ... of-the-sun

It's a very low resolution image though - the neutrino source in the Sun subtends an angle of about only about 3 arc minutes (1/20th of a degree), whereas the 'image of the source' subtends about 30 degrees.

Fascinating fact - the energy generation per cubic metre in the Sun is less than the heat energy generated in a well managed compost heap.
The volume to surface area thing works wonders.

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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Fri Jan 15, 2021 2:53 pm

ICYMI

New Shepard had a test launch yesterday - filmed by a drone from above.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1350084147935494144
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 Grumble » Sat Jan 16, 2021 10:27 pm

Anyone else watching the test fire? Of the new NASA engines
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Grumble » Sat Jan 16, 2021 10:33 pm

They actually fired, but cut it short. Ah well. I guess it’s a step on the road.
where once I used to scintillate
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Fri Jan 29, 2021 10:03 pm

I don't know who here has seen Luke Jerram's amazing "Museum of the Moon" and "Gaia" artworks (7 metre globes of the Moon and Earth respectively).

Anyhow, he's now* produced a Mars globe. Can't wait to see it.

It's being promoted by UK Space at the Natural History Museum in advance of the landing of Perseverance mission on the Moon
JL Mars.jpg
JL Mars.jpg (79.11 KiB) Viewed 4535 times
* ETA - apparently - this was 'now' in 2019
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 Grumble » Fri Jan 29, 2021 10:26 pm

Gfamily wrote:
Fri Jan 29, 2021 10:03 pm
I don't know who here has seen Luke Jerram's amazing "Museum of the Moon" and "Gaia" artworks (7 metre globes of the Moon and Earth respectively).

Anyhow, he's now* produced a Mars globe. Can't wait to see it.

It's being promoted by UK Space at the Natural History Museum in advance of the landing of Perseverance mission on the Moon

JL Mars.jpg

* ETA - apparently - this was 'now' in 2019
Is Perseverance going to the moon now?
where once I used to scintillate
now I sin till ten past three

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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Fri Jan 29, 2021 10:46 pm

Grumble wrote:
Fri Jan 29, 2021 10:26 pm
Gfamily wrote:
Fri Jan 29, 2021 10:03 pm
I don't know who here has seen Luke Jerram's amazing "Museum of the Moon" and "Gaia" artworks (7 metre globes of the Moon and Earth respectively).

Anyhow, he's now* produced a Mars globe. Can't wait to see it.

It's being promoted by UK Space at the Natural History Museum in advance of the landing of Perseverance mission on Mars

JL Mars.jpg

* ETA - apparently - this was 'now' in 2019
Is Perseverance going to the moon now?
No idea what you mean
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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Grumble
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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Grumble » Fri Jan 29, 2021 10:53 pm

:D
where once I used to scintillate
now I sin till ten past three

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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Martin Y » Sun Jan 31, 2021 10:09 pm

I'm not going to Mars. It's about to be eaten by that giant space-whale skellington.

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Re: Astronomy and Space

Post by Gfamily » Tue Feb 02, 2021 6:53 pm

SpaceX's SN9 lining up for a 10km altitude lift off and return - I assume they are hoping for some time today...
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/02 ... clearance/
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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