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Space and Astronomy Thread
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HenryGarten
13-12-2008
Originally Posted by sg_:
“Two very bright stars out towards the south/south western area of the sky again. Are these still Jupiter and Venus only them drifting further and further apart?.

The one more to the west has a slightly red tinge off it, unless my eyes are playing tricks on me”

Yes that is Jupiter and Venus. They have moved quite far in a week.
Ricardodaforce
13-12-2008
Originally Posted by sg_:
“Two very bright stars out towards the south/south western area of the sky again. Are these still Jupiter and Venus only them drifting further and further apart?.

The one more to the west has a slightly red tinge off it, unless my eyes are playing tricks on me”

They are still there.
Ricardodaforce
13-12-2008
Also Neptune is to nw of Venus and Mercury is to the se of Jupiter.
Dave5158
13-12-2008
Deleted. Already mentioned above.
HenryGarten
19-12-2008
Apparently NASA are to sell the shuttles at £28 million each. I guess at DS could get two?
ElMarko
19-12-2008
I guess one is going to the Smithsonian.
TelevisionUser
20-12-2008
The NASA probe, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, has detected carbonate minerals on Mars for the first time. This would appear to indicate, in certain places at least, that some of the primordial seas that Mars initially were a relatively benign place without being an extreme pH environment. However, whether early life was able yo get a foothold in such places is another matter entirely.

More on this story can be found here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7791060.stm and here at http://www.newscientist.com/article/...d-on-mars.html.
Ricardodaforce
20-12-2008
Pity that the real Buran was destroyed.
Ricardodaforce
20-12-2008
The final Ariane 5 mission of the year launches in just over an hour. Live coverage on the Arianespace web site.
Ricardodaforce
25-12-2008
I got a telescope for Christmas - woohoo!!
Carlos_dfc
26-12-2008
Originally Posted by Ricardodaforce:
“I got a telescope for Christmas - woohoo!!”

What model is it Ricardo?
Is it your first telescope?

Also looks like a clear night tonight - well, it does here anyway.
Maybe get some viewing done

Orion, Gemini, Auriga, Taurus - get higher and better as the night goes on (some good stuff round there)
Cygnus and Lyra a good area to view early on, but dropping towards the NW from about 8pm onwards
Andromeda, including the galaxy, overhead 7-8pm then heading over t the west later on.
Cassiopeia - 'star-cluster-central' - sweeps right to left, high to the North, over the course of the night.
Saturn will be up at a height worth viewing, from around mudnight onwards. Below thw rear-end of Leo - brightest thing in the East, can't miss it.
Rings difficult to see at the moment though - almost edce-on to us.
And Venus - VERY bright to the South-West - visible as soon as it starts to get dark - no surface detail can be seen, but it shows phases like the Moon - just over half-phase at the moment, but getting bigger, with the crescent thinning gradually throughout Jan/Feb and into early March.
Ricardodaforce
27-12-2008
Yes it is my first telescope. It's a Celestron AstroMaster 130 EQ. I'm expecting a clear sky tonight and I can't wait to use it for the 1st time!
Carlos_dfc
28-12-2008
Hi Ricardo
Sorry, didn't realise you'd replied, threads have been dropping down the board very fast the last few days.

Nice scope to get you going - very similar to my first 'serious' scope (after the cheapo Tasco I had in my teens)
Those Astromaster reflectors are optically the same as the SkyWatcher Explorer reflectors, and have a good quality parabolic mirror.

Now begins the fun though - getting to grips with the equatorial mount, then you'll be wanting more eyepieces, and other bits of kit - prepare to need deep pockets - LOL

If you need any help or advice - or just wanna chat with other enthusiasts - have a look at my forum (link in profile)
Lots of friendly and knowledgeable guys on there, always willing to help out beginners - and some good banter.
TelevisionUser
28-12-2008
As it's that time of year, here's a pic of the Christmas Tree star cluster that's 2,600 light years away http://www.astronomynow.com/images/081223.jpg. Now that surely beats most displays on Earth!

Just for reference, the formal designation is NGC 2264 and it can be found in the constellation of Monoceros the Unicorn. The pic itself was taken by the European Southern Observatory in Chile (http://www.eso.org/public/).
Carlos_dfc
28-12-2008
You can actually see the stars of the open cluster ngc2264 quite easily, with a small telescope, or decent binoculars - and it does indeed have that tri-angular 'christmas-tree' shape.

I've seen the cluster many times with binocs, although it is upside-down in binocs, but appears the right way up in a telescope. (astronomical telescopes flip the image upside-down)
The nebulous gasses aren't so easy to see - a very large aperture telescope, or long exposure photograph is required.

Quite easy to find too - so long as you can find the constellation of Orion - just look for a line of 3 stars to the south/southeast, which mark his belt.

Above that are two bright-ish stars - Betelgeuse and Bellatrix
The Christmas tree is left of those, pretty much a direct line through those two, points right at the Christmas tree.

Then from the Christmas tree, down and right, roughly the same as an average binocular field of view (about 5°) is the Rosette nebula - again, you won't see the nebulosity with binoculars, but you will see the star cluster embedded in it - you'll know when you've found it because the 6 most prominent stars in the cluster make two tiny parallel lines of 3 stars.

And if you are out looking anyway - might as well take a look at the Orion nebula - below the 'belt' of Orion is a line of 3 stars - the middle one is actually a glowing cloud of gas.
And this nebula you CAN see in binoculars - quite easily.
Look also immediately above and below the Orion nebula for two more open clusters above, and one below (ngcs 1981, 1977 and 1980 respectively)

This might help...
http://i43.tinypic.com/biqwr5.jpg


If you see this Ricardo - would be a nice starting session for the new scope

Cloud-permitting, of course
TelevisionUser
29-12-2008
I'm glad you brought up the subject of Orion, Carlos_dfc, as it is so full of interesting astronomical objects.

Although it might be taking a bit of artistic licence, I do think that in its own way, the Flame Nebula in Orion (NGC 2024), just by Alnitak resembles a Christmas Tree so I thought I'd post a pic here http://www.astrocruise.com/milky_way/flame.htm.

I couldn't resist posting a link showing a wider shot featuring the beautiful neighbouring Horsehead Nebula as well: http://www.astrocruise.com/milky_way/HH_0712.htm. Looks like a chess piece cast adrift in the vastnesses of the universe, doesn't it?
Ricardodaforce
29-12-2008
Sadly another cloudy night here, so I still haven't used my new telescope!
Ricardodaforce
31-12-2008
Nasa has just released a fascinating report into the shuttle Columbia disaster. Details here.
Mark.
31-12-2008
I thought I'd ask on here about this that's happening tonight: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3206/...34e9849b_o.jpg

What is the bright object? Is it a planet?
welshkid
31-12-2008
Originally Posted by Mark.:
“I thought I'd ask on here about this that's happening tonight: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3206/...34e9849b_o.jpg

What is the bright object? Is it a planet?”

Sure is, it's Venus.

More details here: http://www.spaceweather.com/
TelevisionUser
31-12-2008
Here's where I'd appreciate some feedback from other Forum Members. For me, the most beautiful celestial object has to be NGCs 6992, 6995 & 6960 which is much better known as the Veil Nebula in Cygnus. Such a pretty sight and yet formed from the most destructive of stellar explosions.

There's a pic here at http://www.newforestobservatory.com/...-in-cygnus.jpg and I'd now be interested to know what your nominations are.
afcbfan
01-01-2009
Happy International Year of Astronomy, everyone

Originally Posted by TelevisionUser:
“Here's where I'd appreciate some feedback from other Forum Members. For me, the most beautiful celestial object has to be NGCs 6992, 6995 & 6960 which is much better known as the Veil Nebula in Cygnus. Such a pretty sight and yet formed from the most destructive of stellar explosions.

There's a pic here at http://www.newforestobservatory.com/...-in-cygnus.jpg and I'd now be interested to know what your nominations are.”

Kind of a, 'Seven Wonders of the Universe' thing? I vote for my favourite spiral galaxy, M81. The last Hubble picture of it is just stunning: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ima...81_hst_big.jpg
Ricardodaforce
03-01-2009
Originally Posted by afcbfan:
“Happy International Year of Astronomy, everyone

”

Have you subscribed to the 365 days of astronomy podcast?

NASA's awesome rovers have now been on Mars 5 years.
Ricardodaforce
04-01-2009
Interesting article in New Scientist:

They might have the right stuff, but astronauts are only human. And superstition, sentimentality and the need to commemorate key events affect them just like anybody else. But unlike the rest of us, these folks have the ability to make cosmic gestures with the stuff of everyday life.

What kind of stuff? Some is fairly ordinary before it leaves the grip of Earth's gravity - think stamps and coins - and some is already extraordinary. Some wreckage from the world's worst terrorist incident is now sitting on Mars, for example. And when two bicycle mechanics lofted the world's first manned, powered aeroplane off a windy beach in 1903 they could not have conceived that one day parts of their flying machine would soar through the void, land safely on the Moon - and then fly 385,000 kilometres back to Earth. (You might even say the astronauts who did that had the Wright stuff. Sorry.)


Here's the list.
TelevisionUser
04-01-2009
Originally Posted by afcbfan:
“Happy International Year of Astronomy, everyone

Kind of a, 'Seven Wonders of the Universe' thing? I vote for my favourite spiral galaxy, M81. The last Hubble picture of it is just stunning: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ima...81_hst_big.jpg”

Yep, that is a most beautiful sight, afcbfan. You can clearly see the structure and form of the galaxy in that pic.

There are certainly many stunning images of star clusters, nebulas and galaxies out there - the universe is a most magnificent place to explore visually, is it not?
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