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Old 17-08-2014, 17:02
afcbfan
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There's going to be a lovely conjunction of Venus and Jupiter in the pre-dawn sky tomorrow morning. They'll appear to be just 0.2 degrees apart; the full Moon diameter being 0.5 degrees, by way of comparison.
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Old 18-08-2014, 05:06
afcbfan
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...and very pretty they look, too. By all accounts they're in the same binocular field-of-view as the Beehive Cluster. Too light to see them, though, unfortunately.
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Old 24-08-2014, 17:24
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OK, so just where is this flocking comet?

Comet C2014 E2-Jacques

l looked last night with both sets of binoculars and l saw diddly. Has anyone else seen this comet?

In other news, spectacular images of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko have come back from the ESA's Rosetta probe and in three month's time, a little lander will be sent down to the surface of this particular dirty snowball.

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Sp...et_destination

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=co...w=1024&bih=599
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Old 24-08-2014, 17:43
renard gris
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If you look at the top picture in the above link, the comet looks a bit like a deformed hairdryer!
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Old 24-08-2014, 19:28
cmq2
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In other news, spectacular images of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko have come back from the ESA's Rosetta probe and in three month's time, a little lander will be sent down to the surface of this particular dirty snowball.
Up to five potential landing sites will be announced tomorrow. http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2014/08...he-race-is-on/
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Old 24-08-2014, 20:25
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Up to five potential landing sites will be announced tomorrow. http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2014/08...he-race-is-on/
I just cannot wait for this - the Rosetta mission is one of the most ambitious in history.

Fingers crossed that all goes to plan.
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Old 24-08-2014, 22:18
cmq2
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I just cannot wait for this - the Rosetta mission is one of the most ambitious in history.

Fingers crossed that all goes to plan.
ESA said the biggest risk was rebound. 67P's mass is so small there is virtually no gravity. If the lander cannot sink in and take hold it will bounce off into the void.

The anticipated hardness of the surface will be one factor in choosing between all the green spots marked on the animation.

The pasty look of the surface in the approach images suggests to the ESA team it is less of a problem than thought when the mission was planned.
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Old 25-08-2014, 15:14
cmq2
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67P landing site candidates: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Sp...search_narrows

Each circle covers a square kilometre.
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Old 25-08-2014, 19:25
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67P landing site candidates: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Sp...search_narrows

Each circle covers a square kilometre.
I hope that Philae lander succesfully makes it down to the surface on whichever landing site is eventually chosen. Apparently, Philae will deploy small harpoons so as to remain safely anchored to the surface of the comet.
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Old 25-08-2014, 19:46
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I hope that Philae lander succesfully makes it down to the surface on whichever landing site is eventually chosen. Apparently, Philae will deploy small harpoons so as to remain safely anchored to the surface of the comet.
There are screws on on the landing arms/legs and a small engine to push downwards too.
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Old 26-08-2014, 09:00
njp
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I find the whole idea of a craft being able to orbit such a tiny object rather astonishing. I know Rosetta is in a sort of powered triangular pseudo-orbit at the moment, but in September it will supposedly approach close enough to enter a proper orbit. I'm guessing the thrusters will still need to be used occasionally, given the irregularity of the comet's gravitational field, and to compensate for events such as the departure of the lander.
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Old 30-08-2014, 17:37
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Although it's old news, I only came across this the other day:

Ultimate solar system could contain 60 Earths
Why settle for one habitable planet, when you can have 60? An astrophysicist has designed the ultimate star system by cramming in as many Earth-like worlds as possible without breaking the laws of physics. Such a monster cosmic neighbourhood is unlikely to exist in reality, but it could inspire future exoplanet studies.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/...l#.VAH5t1E24xA (likelihood not very high)

Back in our own solar system:

New Horizons snaps historic photos of Pluto's largest moon in motion
An instrument aboard NASA's New Horizon's spacecraft has given us a distant first glimpse of the Pluto system in advance of the craft's historic encounter with the on-again off-again planet and its moons next summer. The 12 images, captured by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager, show one full rotation of Charon.
http://hub.jhu.edu/2014/08/13/new-horizons-pluto-moon

Alan Stern and a Big Milestone on the Way to Pluto
New Horizons passed through the orbit of Neptune on August 25th. By cosmic coincidence, this was the 25th anniversary of Voyager 2’s flyby of that big, blue world. We catch Principal Investigator Alan Stern right after a celebration in Washington.
http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/...milestone.html

/!\ The following Pluto link contains bad words:

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Old 30-08-2014, 17:45
Duffman2000
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Although it's old news, I only came across this the other day:

Ultimate solar system could contain 60 Earths
Why settle for one habitable planet, when you can have 60? An astrophysicist has designed the ultimate star system by cramming in as many Earth-like worlds as possible without breaking the laws of physics. Such a monster cosmic neighbourhood is unlikely to exist in reality, but it could inspire future exoplanet studies.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/...l#.VAH5t1E24xA (likelihood not very high)

Back in our own solar system:

New Horizons snaps historic photos of Pluto's largest moon in motion
An instrument aboard NASA's New Horizon's spacecraft has given us a distant first glimpse of the Pluto system in advance of the craft's historic encounter with the on-again off-again planet and its moons next summer. The 12 images, captured by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager, show one full rotation of Charon.
http://hub.jhu.edu/2014/08/13/new-horizons-pluto-moon

Alan Stern and a Big Milestone on the Way to Pluto
New Horizons passed through the orbit of Neptune on August 25th. By cosmic coincidence, this was the 25th anniversary of Voyager 2’s flyby of that big, blue world. We catch Principal Investigator Alan Stern right after a celebration in Washington.
http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/...milestone.html

/!\ The following Pluto link contains bad words:

Thanks for that information, I don't think even any books I've read even give such a decent quality of information as you just have.
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Old 30-08-2014, 23:51
Keyser_Soze1
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Although it's old news, I only came across this the other day:

Ultimate solar system could contain 60 Earths
Why settle for one habitable planet, when you can have 60? An astrophysicist has designed the ultimate star system by cramming in as many Earth-like worlds as possible without breaking the laws of physics. Such a monster cosmic neighbourhood is unlikely to exist in reality, but it could inspire future exoplanet studies.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/...l#.VAH5t1E24xA (likelihood not very high)

Back in our own solar system:

New Horizons snaps historic photos of Pluto's largest moon in motion
An instrument aboard NASA's New Horizon's spacecraft has given us a distant first glimpse of the Pluto system in advance of the craft's historic encounter with the on-again off-again planet and its moons next summer. The 12 images, captured by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager, show one full rotation of Charon.
http://hub.jhu.edu/2014/08/13/new-horizons-pluto-moon

Alan Stern and a Big Milestone on the Way to Pluto
New Horizons passed through the orbit of Neptune on August 25th. By cosmic coincidence, this was the 25th anniversary of Voyager 2’s flyby of that big, blue world. We catch Principal Investigator Alan Stern right after a celebration in Washington.
http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/...milestone.html

/!\ The following Pluto link contains bad words:

Excellent post - cheers!
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Old 31-08-2014, 19:57
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Thanks for that information, I don't think even any books I've read even give such a decent quality of information as you just have.
Excellent post - cheers!
Thanks guys for those kind words.

Next year, we'll see the arrival of the Dawn probe at Ceres and the New Horizons probe at Pluto/Charon. They will no doubt provide a wealth of new insights and information about these smaller members of the Solar System.

This is our best image of Ceres http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._optimized.jpg and this is our best image of Pluto http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/wi...le-660x528.jpg so there is quite clearly room for improvement.

My best guess is that Ceres might look a bit like Callisto (one of Jupiter's moons) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...iter,_NASA.jpg and that Pluto and Charon might look a bit like Triton (Neptune's largest satellite) http://whillyard.com/science-pages/o...on-voyager.jpg. We shall see.

One of interesting things about Pluto and Charon is that they are effectively a double planet system because they both orbit around a common centre of gravity http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ble_planet.png. Not only that, Charon is completely tidally locked to Pluto so that it always appears in the same place in the sky and never moves as things appear from Pluto's surface http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...o_%28by%29.jpg.

Pluto and Charon are also tidally locked in a synchronous orbit. Pluto's rotational period is 6.3 days. It takes 6.3 days for Charon to make one revolution around Pluto. Thus, the two bodies continuously face each other.
http://www.seasky.org/solar-system/pluto-charon.html
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Old 31-08-2014, 20:08
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Thanks guys for those kind words.

Next year, we'll see the arrival of the Dawn probe at Ceres and the New Horizons probe at Pluto/Charon. They will no doubt provide a wealth of new insights and information about these smaller members of the Solar System.

This is our best image of Ceres http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._optimized.jpg and this is our best image of Pluto http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/wi...le-660x528.jpg so there is quite clearly room for improvement.

My best guess is that Ceres might look a bit like Callisto (one of Jupiter's moons) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...iter,_NASA.jpg and that Pluto and Charon might look a bit like Triton (Neptune's largest satellite) http://whillyard.com/science-pages/o...on-voyager.jpg. We shall see.

One of interesting things about Pluto and Charon is that they are effectively a double planet system because they both orbit around a common centre of gravity http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ble_planet.png. Not only that, Charon is completely tidally locked to Pluto so that it always appears in the same place in the sky and never moves as things appear from Pluto's surface http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...o_%28by%29.jpg.

Pluto and Charon are also tidally locked in a synchronous orbit. Pluto's rotational period is 6.3 days. It takes 6.3 days for Charon to make one revolution around Pluto. Thus, the two bodies continuously face each other.
http://www.seasky.org/solar-system/pluto-charon.html
You would make an excellent host for an astronomy show on BBC Four or some other channel!
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Old 31-08-2014, 20:24
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You would make an excellent host for an astronomy show on BBC Four or some other channel!
Thanks. I do arrange public involvement events each year in cooperation with my local council including an astronomy event and this year's one is solar astronomy and we'll be using daytime solar telescopes to view the the Sun (weather permitting).

A few years ago, l wanted to completely change my line of work and l got so far as discussing writing for Astronomy Now magazine with the then editor Stuart Clark. However, l became very unwell and had to put all my plans on hold.

PS I actually think that Chris Lintott and Maggie Aderin-Pocock do a great job on the Sky at Night and they clearly know their stuff.
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Old 31-08-2014, 20:30
Duffman2000
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Thanks. I do arrange public involvement events each year in cooperation with my local council including an astronomy event and this year's one is solar astronomy and we'll be using daytime solar telescopes to view the the Sun (weather permitting).

A few years ago, l wanted to completely change my line of work and l got so far as discussing writing for Astronomy Now magazine with the then editor Stuart Clark. However, l became very unwell and had to put all my plans on hold.

PS I actually think that Chris Lintott and Maggie Aderin-Pocock do a great job on the Sky at Night and they clearly know their stuff.
The sky last night where I live was a lovely shade of deep blue and turquoise colour, so I guess good for telescopes, tight?
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Old 06-09-2014, 10:11
cmq2
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No exposed ice seen on surface of 67P: http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2014/09...-comet-67pc-g/

Photo enhancement shows a narrow hazy coma and jets from the neck of the comet: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily...am-images.html

The comet is black as charcoal so not photo-realistic, or visible to the naked eye - even from Rosetta.
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Old 07-09-2014, 13:35
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A newly discovered asteroid the size of a whale will fly by New Zealand tomorrow morning. Nicknamed Pitbull, the giant chunk of rock was spotted by scientists for the first time a week ago and is thought to be as much as 4.5 billion years old.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=11320269
http://live.slooh.com/stadium/live/s...014-rc-pitbull (live now)
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Old 07-09-2014, 14:27
Duffman2000
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A newly discovered asteroid the size of a whale will fly by New Zealand tomorrow morning. Nicknamed Pitbull, the giant chunk of rock was spotted by scientists for the first time a week ago and is thought to be as much as 4.5 billion years old.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=11320269
http://live.slooh.com/stadium/live/s...014-rc-pitbull (live now)
Wonder if anyone in any of the nearby islands such as Cook Islands will get to see it too?
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Old 07-09-2014, 15:37
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Wonder if anyone in any of the nearby islands such as Cook Islands will get to see it too?
I think the asteroid will be at closest approach at teatime here so in Australia, New Zealand, etc. it should be early morning. We might get some pictures from any of the Siding Springs, Arkaroola or Gingin optical observatories in Australia. There might also be radar mapping of the asteroid too because that can be a really useful investigative tool: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ra...ed=0CAYQ_AUoAQ
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Old 07-09-2014, 23:21
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...such as programmes that feature details of Britain's very own space programme:

Helen also unpicks a Cold War secret that lurks amongst the Needles: in the 1950s, the Victorian gun battery here became the test site for the British space missile programme. We hear from former rocketeer Mike Elliott, who used to work on the Black Knight system.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04fcb4n
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/galleries/p0258pwz

Once We Had A Rocket -Part 1 - In 1971, Britain launched the rocket Black Arrow which placed the only British launched satellite into orbit. The men who designed, built and tested the rocket tell the story of Britain's space race.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUJo...14VNBM86NrkG9Q

Ray Wheeler, Chief Design Engineer, discussing Black Arrow - part of a life story interview recorded for An Oral History of British Science at the British Library
http://sounds.bl.uk/Oral-history/Sci...X0035XX-0011V0

While having access to nuclear bombs provides an immense advantage - they are still limited by the method of delivery - which for Britain in the early 1950s was the V-bomber. Ballistic missiles provided the more effective solution, capapble of carrying nuclear warheads over vast distances, even between continents. So in 1954, Britain began the development of Blue Streak, a mid-range ballistic missile capable of launching nuclear strikes at ranges of up to 3700 km.
http://www.veoh.com/watch/v631486299...apons+-+Part+3

Incidentally, the United Kingdom became 6th nation to have orbital launch capability on 28 October 1971 with the launch of the Prospero satellite by the Black Arrow launcher.
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Old 08-09-2014, 22:00
gemma-the-husky
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Comets.

here's the truth. when you read "worlds in collision" you realise that comets are not billions of years old. they are young, and decaying quickly as their comas stream off into space. that's is why Halley's comet was a mighty thing in 1066, but a damp squib a few years ago.

Read "worlds in collision" now.
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Old 08-09-2014, 22:18
Keyser_Soze1
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Comets.

here's the truth. when you read "worlds in collision" you realise that comets are not billions of years old. they are young, and decaying quickly as their comas stream off into space. that's is why Halley's comet was a mighty thing in 1066, but a damp squib a few years ago.

Read "worlds in collision" now.
Erm... no.
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