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Space and Astronomy Thread |
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#2676 |
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A salty ocean is lurking beneath the surface of Jupiter's largest moon, Ganymede, scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope have found.
See a A salty ocean on Ganymede |
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#2677 |
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Join Date: Jun 2006
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NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has performed a record-setting maneuver to adjust its approach to Pluto ahead of its historic flyby this summer.
See record setting burn |
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#2678 |
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Join Date: Feb 2014
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Hydrothermal vents, warm mineral rich oceans - the odds for abiogenesis away from earth just keep getting better and better.
Sod Mars - as interesting as it is it has nothing on the huge moons of the gas giants - if we are going to find alien life it will probably be on one of them and Enceladus is currently the front-runner just ahead of Europa. A totally astounding thing to contemplate. ![]() I just wish I had been born far later - what incredible wonders I am going to miss once I am gone. http://astronomynow.com/2015/03/12/h...oon-enceladus/ http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astro...mal_vents.html http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...-space-planet/ http://finance.yahoo.com/news/discov...182029759.html Edit. I have just seen the news on Ganymede as well - remarkable.
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#2679 |
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Crawley, West Sussex
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There is quite a bit of magnetic activity in the polar regions at the moment. The Kp Index, which runs from 0-9, is currently 8 and so there is a possibility of visible aurora tonight if it keeps going, but probably only in the northern part of the UK, but of course it might reduce again before dark.
However, if it intensifies to 9, who knows how far south it could reach. This and this might be worth watching. And before anyone asks, this is nothing to do with tomorrow's eclipse. |
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#2680 |
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Join Date: Apr 2005
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Update of aurora possibility.
The 1800 UTC Kp Index figure was still at 8 and the outer limit of the auroral oval is showing as about as far south as Fort William. |
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#2681 |
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Crawley, West Sussex
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The outer limit of the auroral oval is now showing as about as far south as about The Humber and the southern part of N. Ireland.
Edit: It is fluctuating and has now moved back to southern Scotland. |
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#2682 |
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Quote:
And before anyone asks, this is nothing to do with tomorrow's eclipse.
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#2683 |
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Quote:
I did, of course, mean Friday's eclipse
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#2684 |
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Join Date: Nov 2008
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Quote:
It's always the same - you wait ages for one bloody eclipse and then two turn up at once!
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#2685 |
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Join Date: Apr 2005
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The magnetic activity has now subsided again with the Kp Index back down to 4 this morning and the Auroral Oval well north of the UK. No obvious signs of further activity for now.
Looking at news reports it seems that the oval was showing just about the same as people were observing visually (where it was clear enough). |
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#2686 |
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Join Date: Apr 2005
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Quote:
It's always the same - you wait ages for one bloody eclipse and then two turn up at once!
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#2687 |
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Join Date: Nov 2008
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Quote:
Although I realise that you were joking about my mistake, you are, in fact, more correct than it seems. There is a partial lunar eclipse in two weeks time, though not visible from the UK.
Then, after approximately 6 months during which the Earth goes about half way round its own orbit, the nodes are again lined up perfectly with the Sun and the sequence of two or three eclipses separated by two weeks happens again. You can have anywhere from 4 to 7 eclipses of both kinds in any year, but two of the 4 minimum could be the very elusive penumbral lunar eclipses, as in 2016. Check it out: Eclipses in 2015 March 20: Total solar eclipse April 4: Total lunar eclipse September 13: Partial solar eclipse September 28: Total lunar eclipse Eclipses in 2016 March 9: Total solar eclipse March 23: Penumbral lunar eclipse September 1: Annular solar eclipse September 16: penumbral lunar eclipse So you do wait 6 months for one, then two turn up at once. ![]() Although the penumbral lunars are almost indistinguishable as seen from Earth, on the Moon they represent a partial eclipse of the Sun by the Earth, and with the atmosphere glowing red and possibly night time city lighting (I don't know if it would be visible from that distance) must be quite spectacular. Probably worth the trip to see actually. |
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#2688 |
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Join Date: Feb 2014
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Quote:
It's because the lunar nodes, which are the two places where the Moon crosses the ecliptic in its orbit around the Earth, are currently lined up with the Sun, therefore after a solar eclipse the Moon takes 14-ish days to travel half way round its orbit and you get a lunar eclipse. Sometimes it has time to get all the way back round again and you get another solar eclipse (of some sort).
Then, after approximately 6 months during which the Earth goes about half way round its own orbit, the nodes are again lined up perfectly with the Sun and the sequence of two or three eclipses separated by two weeks happens again. You can have anywhere from 4 to 7 eclipses of both kinds in any year, but two of the 4 minimum could be the very elusive penumbral lunar eclipses, as in 2016. Check it out: Eclipses in 2015 March 20: Total solar eclipse April 4: Total lunar eclipse September 13: Partial solar eclipse September 28: Total lunar eclipse Eclipses in 2016 March 9: Total solar eclipse March 23: Penumbral lunar eclipse September 1: Annular solar eclipse September 16: penumbral lunar eclipse So you do wait 6 months for one, then two turn up at once. ![]() Although the penumbral lunars are almost indistinguishable as seen from Earth, on the Moon they represent a partial eclipse of the Sun by the Earth, and with the atmosphere glowing red and possibly night time city lighting (I don't know if it would be visible from that distance) must be quite spectacular. Probably worth the trip to see actually. Is anyone watching Buzz Aldrin on Stargazing Live - what a great bloke he really is - a true legend in a world full of famous non-entities. And this never gets old - the repulsive shit deserved it. ![]() https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wptn5RE2I-k |
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#2689 |
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Quote:
Indeed - there are an awful lot more eclipses than most people realise - including the moronic religious nutjobs who are always predicting the end of the world.
Is anyone watching Buzz Aldrin on Stargazing Live - what a great bloke he really is - a true legend in a world full of famous non-entities. And this never gets old - the repulsive shit deserved it. ![]() https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wptn5RE2I-k
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#2690 |
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Join Date: Feb 2014
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Quote:
yes i was watching!!! i love Buzz fantastic enthusiasm....loved him still being competitive with the navy
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#2691 |
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: London
Posts: 4,020
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Quote:
yes i was watching!!! i love Buzz fantastic enthusiasm....loved him still being competitive with the navy
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#2692 |
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Proposals for future Titan expeditions
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31854559 |
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#2693 |
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Join Date: Apr 2009
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Martian aurora http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31953800
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#2694 |
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Join Date: Apr 2009
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Latest from Rosetta http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31965458
and Ceres http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31985284 |
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#2695 |
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: ♫ At The Keyboard ♫
Posts: 11,556
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4pGWgfVfgU
Awesome timelapse of the total eclipse from a plane - showing the approach and departure of the Moon's shadow.
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#2696 |
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 18,874
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Death is the last great adventure
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#2697 |
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Join Date: Feb 2014
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Quote:
Death is the last great adventure
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#2698 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
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http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4521 Quote:
There was no tape draped across a finish line, but NASA is celebrating a win. The agency's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity completed its first Red Planet marathon Tuesday -- 26.219 miles (42.195 kilometers)
Andhttp://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4516 Curiosity Rover Finds Biologically Useful Nitrogen on Mars |
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#2699 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
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Astronomy related: LHC restart: Short circuit slows preparations.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-32038186 Great article. Gives an idea of what's required to steer just a little bit of plasma at those speeds. |
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#2700 |
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Join Date: May 2003
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Theory about the early solar system, derived from the study of exoplanets, where Jupiter moved much closer to the Sun and caused the destruction of the original inner planets before the pull of Saturn took it outwards and left Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars to form from the debris:
http://www.latimes.com/science/scien...323-story.html |
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