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Old 12-03-2015, 19:14
HenryGarten
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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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Old 12-03-2015, 19:39
HenryGarten
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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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Old 12-03-2015, 22:41
Keyser_Soze1
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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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Old 17-03-2015, 16:50
albertd
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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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Old 17-03-2015, 18:13
albertd
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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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Old 17-03-2015, 19:19
albertd
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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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Old 17-03-2015, 19:36
albertd
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And before anyone asks, this is nothing to do with tomorrow's eclipse.
I did, of course, mean Friday's eclipse
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Old 17-03-2015, 21:49
Keyser_Soze1
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I did, of course, mean Friday's eclipse
It's always the same - you wait ages for one bloody eclipse and then two turn up at once!
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Old 17-03-2015, 23:26
atg
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It's always the same - you wait ages for one bloody eclipse and then two turn up at once!
That's a good summary of Lunar orbital mechanics actually
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Old 18-03-2015, 09:18
albertd
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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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Old 18-03-2015, 10:37
albertd
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It's always the same - you wait ages for one bloody eclipse and then two turn up at once!
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.
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Old 18-03-2015, 18:56
atg
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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.
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.
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Old 18-03-2015, 20:59
Keyser_Soze1
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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.
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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Old 18-03-2015, 21:40
planets
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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
yes i was watching!!! i love Buzz fantastic enthusiasm....loved him still being competitive with the navy
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Old 18-03-2015, 22:51
Keyser_Soze1
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yes i was watching!!! i love Buzz fantastic enthusiasm....loved him still being competitive with the navy
Yeah that was funny - and he looks in great shape for a man of his years!
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Old 19-03-2015, 00:09
atg
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yes i was watching!!! i love Buzz fantastic enthusiasm....loved him still being competitive with the navy
Wasn't the Apollo 12 crew all Navy? Perhaps they should have mentioned it.
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Old 19-03-2015, 10:39
Eddie Badger
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Proposals for future Titan expeditions
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31854559
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Old 19-03-2015, 11:25
Eddie Badger
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Martian aurora http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31953800
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Old 21-03-2015, 14:19
Eddie Badger
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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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Old 21-03-2015, 16:51
BeethovensPiano
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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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Old 21-03-2015, 17:10
Billy_Value
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Death is the last great adventure
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Old 21-03-2015, 21:37
Keyser_Soze1
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Death is the last great adventure
Not really - you are dead after all - not very conducive to a stimulating experience.
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Old 24-03-2015, 22:21
BeethovensPiano
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http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4521

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)
And

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4516

Curiosity Rover Finds Biologically Useful Nitrogen on Mars
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Old 24-03-2015, 22:36
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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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Old 25-03-2015, 23:51
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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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