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Space and Astronomy Thread
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WhatJoeThinks
26-08-2016
Originally Posted by TelevisionUser:
“Yes, and glorified fireworks, which is what they really are, will only get humanity so far (and that's not been very far at all).”

Umm... I think it is, you know. Just because the Universe is vast beyond comprehension, perhaps even infinite, does not mean that getting into Low Earth Orbit or walking on the Moon isn't an incredibly impressive feat.

Yes, they are glorified fireworks if you like. In the same sense that the human race are glorified apes.
Keyser_Soze1
26-08-2016
Originally Posted by TelevisionUser:
“Yes, and glorified fireworks, which is what they really are, will only get humanity so far (and that's not been very far at all).”

What the hell are you showing false photos of the faked moon landings for?

On another matter - I am really looking forward to the JWST directly imaging some of the Kuiper belt objects such as Eris in the near future.

Some more recent articles

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37158561

http://phys.org/news/2016-08-spitzer...ope-phase.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...space-science/

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...space-science/
archiver
27-08-2016
As we venture out into the universe, with necessarily high speed probes, I wonder if Lloyds will insure the voyages. If we aim them at possibly inhabited worlds, shouldn't we consider the damage they could cause if we scored a hit? I even wonder if there are strict speed limits in some parts.

Wouldn't want some grumpy aliens arriving with evidence of destruction caused by human carelessness. 'Sorry' may not cover it, but Lloyds (or similar) cover may be astronomical.
TelevisionUser
28-08-2016
...and now for something completely different and scary !

Yes, it's Ghost Galaxy time:

Ghost galaxy is 99.99 per cent dark matter with almost no stars
The Milky Way has a dark twin. A dimly lit massive galaxy, called Dragonfly 44, consists of a record 99.99 per cent dark matter, and could help rewrite our theories of galaxy formation. Dragonfly 44 is the Milky Way’s doppelgänger in mass, but its opposite in number of stars and structure.
archiver
28-08-2016
^^ When the SMBH is away, the WIMPs will play.
TelevisionUser
01-09-2016
Yay! More micro-planety things:

In the race to discover a proposed ninth planet in our solar system, Carnegie’s Scott Sheppard and Chadwick Trujillo of Northern Arizona University have observed several never-before-seen objects at extreme distances from the Sun in our solar system. Sheppard and Trujillo have now submitted their latest discoveries to the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center for official designations.

In a galaxy far, far away:

A new record for the most distant galaxy cluster has been set using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes. This galaxy cluster may have been caught right after birth, a brief, but important stage of evolution never seen before. The galaxy cluster is called CL J1001+0220 (CL J1001 for short) and is located about 11.1 billion light-years from Earth. The discovery of this object pushes back the formation time of galaxy clusters — the largest structures in the universe held together by gravity &mash; by about 700 million years.
brangdon
01-09-2016
SpaceX have lost a rocket and payload during a pre-launch test. No-one was hurt, but the payload was a satellite valued at $200m. The explosion was spectacular. The cause isn't yet known, but seemed to originate in the second stage oxygen tank during propellant loading. Apparently having the payload on the rocket for these tests saves a day off the schedule.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-37247077
archiver
01-09-2016
Originally Posted by TelevisionUser:
“In a galaxy far, far away:

A new record for the most distant galaxy cluster has been set using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes. This galaxy cluster may have been caught right after birth, a brief, but important stage of evolution never seen before. The galaxy cluster is called CL J1001+0220 (CL J1001 for short) and is located about 11.1 billion light-years from Earth. The discovery of this object pushes back the formation time of galaxy clusters — the largest structures in the universe held together by gravity &mash; by about 700 million years.”

Made me wonder what the mysterious "&mash;" is which, along with gravity, holds the cluster together.

I guess they meant — which is '& mdash;' The article was interesting too. Thanks again.
Keyser_Soze1
01-09-2016
This is one of the best threads on here.

An mysterious alien signal?

Nope!

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-...ens-180960292/

http://www.livescience.com/55954-mys...hly-cause.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...space-science/
atg
01-09-2016
Originally Posted by brangdon:
“SpaceX have lost a rocket and payload during a pre-launch test. No-one was hurt, but the payload was a satellite valued at $200m. The explosion was spectacular. The cause isn't yet known, but seemed to originate in the second stage oxygen tank during propellant loading. Apparently having the payload on the rocket for these tests saves a day off the schedule.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-37247077”

That was a hell of an "anomaly".
TelevisionUser
02-09-2016
Originally Posted by brangdon:
“SpaceX have lost a rocket and payload during a pre-launch test. No-one was hurt, but the payload was a satellite valued at $200m. The explosion was spectacular. The cause isn't yet known, but seemed to originate in the second stage oxygen tank during propellant loading. Apparently having the payload on the rocket for these tests saves a day off the schedule.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-37247077”

i.e. Bang! That was meant to be a triumph illustrating the successful use of a recycled rocket but it was not to be.

Originally Posted by atg:
“That was a hell of an "anomaly".”

That is the understatement of the year and I assume that they don't yet have a clue as to which component(s) went wrong.

And now for something really new:

NASA's Dawn Mission Spies Ice Volcanoes on Ceres
Observations by NASA's Ceres-orbiting Dawn spacecraft indicate that "ice volcanos" have erupted on the dwarf planet in the recent past and that Ceres' crust is an odd ice-rock mixture that has never been observed before, scientists reported in a series of six new studies published online today (Sept. 1) in the journal Science.
Eadfrith
02-09-2016
This was a new rocket not a recycled one.
atg
03-09-2016
Originally Posted by TelevisionUser:
“That is the understatement of the year and I assume that they don't yet have a clue as to which component(s) went wrong.
”

Im glad he didn't say "obviously a major malfunction", which is probably the biggest understatement ever.
Beecosy
03-09-2016
Loved the recent Jupiter images. My old A level Physics tutor said "Astronomy and astrophysics isn't all about looking at the pretty pictures" when he found out I was interested in studying this at University
WhatJoeThinks
03-09-2016
Originally Posted by archiver:
“Made me wonder what the mysterious "&mash;" is which, along with gravity, holds the cluster together.

I guess they meant — which is '& mdash;' The article was interesting too. Thanks again.”

I can confirm that gravitational clusters in the early Universe were indeed held together by &mdash, which is now the primary candidate for dark matter. Since &mdash are essentially short, one-dimensional 'strings' they remain undetectable by normal methods.
atg
03-09-2016
Originally Posted by Beecosy:
“Loved the recent Jupiter images. My old A level Physics tutor said "Astronomy and astrophysics isn't all about looking at the pretty pictures" when he found out I was interested in studying this at University ”

And did you? If so, where?
Eadfrith
05-09-2016
Philae !! http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Sp...a/Philae_found
WhatJoeThinks
06-09-2016
Originally Posted by Eadfrith:
“Philae !! http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Sp...a/Philae_found”

Great news!

I've been playing Kerbal Space Program for the past week, so I'm now a fully-fledged armchair expert on orbital dynamics. Thinking back, the way that Rosetta deployed Philae now seems fairly peculiar. IIRC the lander was propelled from the orbiter in a radial direction (directly downwards), which was bound to increase its orbital velocity, causing it to bounce for miles. As I understand it, the lander should have been propelled in a retrograde direction, decreasing its orbital velocity (so from the point of view of the orbiter it would have looked like it was heading off into space to begin with, before gradually moving towards the comet).

Obviously I'm bound to be wrong. I'm not cleverer than all the space scientists at NASA even with 20-20 hindsight. I'm just finding this sort of thing interesting to ponder at the moment.
njp
06-09-2016
Originally Posted by WhatJoeThinks:
“Great news!

I've been playing Kerbal Space Program for the past week, so I'm now a fully-fledged armchair expert on orbital dynamics. Thinking back, the way that Rosetta deployed Philae now seems fairly peculiar. IIRC the lander was propelled from the orbiter in a radial direction (directly downwards), which was bound to increase its orbital velocity, causing it to bounce for miles. As I understand it, the lander should have been propelled in a retrograde direction, decreasing its orbital velocity (so from the point of view of the orbiter it would have looked like it was heading off into space to begin with, before gradually moving towards the comet).

Obviously I'm bound to be wrong. I'm not cleverer than all the space scientists at NASA even with 20-20 hindsight. I'm just finding this sort of thing interesting to ponder at the moment.”

Without applying too much thought to this, isn't the issue that the gravitational pull was so low that the orbiter essentially had to be flown around the comet? So it was never really in orbit. And if you then propelled the lander anywhere other than straight down, it would just disappear into space. It was never being "deorbited".
WhatJoeThinks
06-09-2016
Originally Posted by njp:
“Without applying too much thought to this, isn't the issue that the gravitational pull was so low that the orbiter essentially had to be flown around the comet? So it was never really in orbit. And if you then propelled the lander anywhere other than straight down, it would just disappear into space. It was never being "deorbited".”

Ahh.. I didn't realize that. I've just watched a video that mentioned 67P's gravity only being around 1mm/s², so I suppose that makes sense. Although as I understand it, provided that the comet has its own 'sphere of influence' (has it? I've no idea) then it could be orbited - just incredibly slowly. Of course, the comet's rotation would then be the biggest obstacle. Not to mention the shape!

I suppose the radial approach would have worked perfectly if the tie-down bolts hadn't failed.

[Edit] I'm just thinking out loud here. I'm certainly not trying to pooh-pooh NASA's efforts. I watched the Rosetta mission with the greatest admiration and punched the air like a fellow American when they pulled it off. Go science!
Keyser_Soze1
06-09-2016
Linked to this site before but it seems to have the fastest updates of the ones I read.

http://phys.org/space-news/
Beecosy
06-09-2016
Originally Posted by atg:
“And did you? If so, where?”

Studied at Aberystwyth University.
TelevisionUser
11-09-2016
Tonight, 10pm on BBC Four:

Interstellar: The Journey to Proxima b
Interstellar travel has always seemed impossible - the realm of science fiction rather than reality. But that view is now changing. On this month's Sky at Night the team are joined by Jim al-Khalili to investigate if it will be possible to travel to the sun's nearest neighbouring star - Proxima Centauri - within our lifetimes.
RobinOfLoxley
11-09-2016
My EPGs still showing The Comet's Tale, which I've seen before.

Lots of good stuff tonight. 2 x PVRs is very useful sometimes

Edit: Oh that's at 2100. It's the Sky at Night
TelevisionUser
18-09-2016
I have a few new items to report:

Star-mapping mission shows Milky Way to be larger than thought. The Milky Way has been mapped in greater detail than ever before. And a first quick look indicates that our home galaxy is larger in extent than scientists had thought before, says Gisella Clementini, an astronomer at the Astronomical Observatory of Bologna in Italy.


Space storms could crash upper Midwest’s power grid. When the lights go out, the cause is often regional: Ice storms in the northeastern United States or hurricanes in the southeast. Now, a new study shows that the upper Midwest can have its own special sort of grid-destroying storm—space weather.

Field Report From Mars: Sol 4482 - September 2, 2016. Opportunity has arrived at "Lewis and Clark Gap" with a new view to the south. It is about to leave Marathon Valley for good and head south into the next valley. This marks the beginning of the current extended mission plan.

In research just published, Australian scientists have taken a critical step towards understanding why different types of galaxies exist throughout the universe. The research, made possible by cutting-edge Australian Astronomical Observatory instrumentation, means that astronomers can now classify galaxies according to their physical properties rather than human interpretation of a galaxy’s appearance.

China’s Tiangong 2 space lab successfully blasts off. The Tiangong 2 space lab launched at 1404 GMT (10:04 a.m. EDT; 10:04 p.m. Beijing time) Thursday on top of the Long March 2F T2 rocket. The next stepping stone in China’s human spaceflight program launched Thursday, delivering a destination and living quarters to orbit for two astronauts preparing for liftoff next month on a planned 33-day expedition, the country’s longest space mission to date.
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