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Old 13-04-2010, 12:36
HenryGarten
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Massive prominces on the sun right now. See http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/images/latest_eit_304.gif
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Old 13-04-2010, 17:36
BeethovensPiano
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WOW !!!

I wonder if the new SDO caught it?
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Old 16-04-2010, 18:37
tiger2000
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This weekend is the 40th Anniversary of the splashdown of Apollo 13, I remember it well watching it Sunday teatime on my parents tiny old B&W tv. The BBC have interviewed their then Space Correspondent Reg Turnill to mark the event.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8613766.stm
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Old 18-04-2010, 21:48
celestial
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My workmate says he has inside knowledge that we'll soon have our own UK Space Agency. I've actually read the articles about this possibility on the net, but he seems to indicate that he has this extra secret information, which he's not divulging and he's really winding me up now as he knows I love stuff about space and the universe etc. and would dearly love it, if the UK was to get its own space agency....in competition with NASA of course

Does anyone else have anymore info, his smug face is really doing my head in!
It was nice to see that my mate was correct all the way back in February and here's me thinking he was just a bullshi**er
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Old 19-04-2010, 19:59
Assa2
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Had nice drive up the M40 on Saturday evening watching the sun drop into a deep, volcanic ash induced red sunset then chasing Venus and a razor-thin crescent Moon all the way home. Tried to take some photos of the Moon with my new 300mm lense but I couldn't find a steady enough base for a 2-3 sec exposure. Need to get a good tripod.
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Old 23-04-2010, 10:15
Assa2
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8601172.stm

Wow, where did this baby come from? It can supposedly remain in orbit for 270 days, can adjust it's orbit numerous times and is fully autonomous. Makes you wonder what the military are going to use it for with those sorts of capabilities. It certainly isn't just a shuttle replacement to haul stuff into orbit!
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Old 23-04-2010, 11:42
Mandark
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It's one of those 'white' projects that went black and but has had to be revealed because you can't hide a rocket launch. This is why NASA gets a raw deal. They probably couldn't afford to run this and run the space shuttle so the military which their vast aircraft projects budget took it over.

What is does show though is that the US military has not yet been able to create a single stage to orbit spacecraft with jet and rocket capability - that can take off on a runway, fly off into orbit then come back down and land again.
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Old 24-04-2010, 14:13
TelevisionUser
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8601172.stm

Wow, where did this baby come from? It can supposedly remain in orbit for 270 days, can adjust it's orbit numerous times and is fully autonomous. Makes you wonder what the military are going to use it for with those sorts of capabilities. It certainly isn't just a shuttle replacement to haul stuff into orbit!
There's more on the history and development of the X-37B here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-37B.

It looks like it has the potential to be a cost efficient replacement for the Shuttle in terms of terms of ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station. That said, it is smaller and less versatile than the Shuttle and from the looks of things it might only be large enough for a crew of 3 or so.

Much more testing will almost certainly be needed before it becomes crew-rated and can be considered safe for human transport.
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Old 24-04-2010, 15:25
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Nature magazine has done a few articles to celebrate all that good science over the past 20 years that's come from the Hubble Space Telescope and here's the link:

http://www.nature.com/news/specials/...ex.html#legacy

That single piece of kit has done so much for our increased understanding of cosmology that it really should be awarded a Nobel prize despite it being an inanimate object.
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Old 28-04-2010, 22:47
Kablamo
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Beehive cluster almost next to mars right now (if you're in the right area, otherwise, you will need binoculars).
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Old 29-04-2010, 11:29
Assa2
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Beehive cluster almost next to mars right now (if you're in the right area, otherwise, you will need binoculars).
Mars is sat right behind my house during the first part of the evening at the moment which is a bit annoying. Got my T-adapter in the post and had a go at some photography the other night. Not quite as successful as I hoped mainly due to having to take the photos manually so getting a fair amount of shake on the long exposures. It also really showed how bad my scope really is. Passable for eye-ball observations but not good enough for camera work.

Saturn is looking nice again although a tad too close to the full moon over the last couple of nights.
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Old 29-04-2010, 13:10
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Beehive cluster almost next to mars right now (if you're in the right area, otherwise, you will need binoculars).
I was out at a dark site on the night of New Moon (7th), and the Beehive was a very easy naked-eye target.
Mars was a few degrees to the right of it that night - and has now shifted to a few degrees left of it.
Best nights were around the 16th, & 17th, when Mars was only about a degree from the centre of the Beehive, and appeared to graze the top edge of it.


What's your set-up Assa? (Scope, mount, camera)
And what are you trying to image? - Mars itself, the Beehive, or widefield shots......
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Old 29-04-2010, 13:58
Assa2
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What's your set-up Assa? (Scope, mount, camera)
And what are you trying to image? - Mars itself, the Beehive, or widefield shots......
Carlos, I have an Optrons 6" reflector which is pretty shoddy, a Canon EOS 500D and a basic T mount. The main issues I have are the quality of the scope - the mirror is not good and the focus/eye-piece mount is very loose so the camera does not sit very well. I'll probably invest in a longer lense for the camera as the shots I got with my 300mm were pretty nice and once I dig out my old tripod I'll be able to do some reasonable lunar shots and widefield stuff. Then later in the year I'll look at investing in a better scope. I'll carry on using what I've got though as I learn the basics. The Canon is pretty nice as it hooks up to my laptop and I can get live view on the screen.
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Old 02-05-2010, 09:57
BeethovensPiano
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You can get very good images with just a compact camera pointed into the eyepiece, this is what I have tried.
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Old 02-05-2010, 10:00
BeethovensPiano
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And more great stuff from SDO

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news...10_plasmarain/
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Old 14-05-2010, 18:55
HenryGarten
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3rd last shuttle due away at 7.20pm.
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Old 14-05-2010, 19:23
BeethovensPiano
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Liftoff !!!
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Old 14-05-2010, 19:34
afcbfan
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A pity it couldn't have launched an hour or so later; we'd have easily seen the Shuttle and External Fuel Tank as they passed over. I don't suppose it's worth trying to see them in this light? They were *really* bright the one time I saw them.
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Old 19-05-2010, 17:47
BeethovensPiano
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http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00002498/

Opportunity: longest-lived landed Mars mission
May. 19, 2010 | 08:26 PDT | 15:26 UTC

Today is sol 2,246 of Opportunity's mission to Mars; as I write, it's just before 7:00 local solar time. If this sol passes, as her previous 2,245 have done, with Opportunity still alive and speaking to Earth, she will have surpassed a record set on November 12, 1982: Opportunity will pass Viking Lander 1 as the longest-lived landed Mars mission.
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Old 24-05-2010, 00:05
Kablamo
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Awesome clear night tonight. Loads of open clusters visible around the Swan.
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Old 24-05-2010, 00:16
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Is that Venus in the East tonight - really low and very bright?
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Old 24-05-2010, 00:21
Kablamo
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Is that Venus in the East tonight - really low and very bright?
Venus sets in the west with the sun and right now, after the Sun.

In the East, really low... right now?

Probably Altair - right above it there is Vega which is very bright and to the left of Vega it is The Swan. That's the east tonight... or right now.

Yes, lower down is Altair, right above that is Tarazed that are both part of Aquila. Above them, is Vega and between them to the left is The Swan, it's a cross shape.
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Old 24-05-2010, 00:23
HenryGarten
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Is that Venus in the East tonight - really low and very bright?
Venus set at about 11.40pm tonight.
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Old 24-05-2010, 00:27
nethwen
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Venus sets in the west with the sun and right now, after the Sun.

In the East, really low... right now?

Probably Altair - right above it there is Vega which is very bright and to the left of Vega it is The Swan. That's the east tonight... or right now.

Yes, lower down is Altair, right above that is Tarazed that are both part of Aquila. Above them, is Vega and between them to the left is The Swan, it's a cross shape.
Sorry, I meant to say in the West.

I was about to close my bedroom curtains about an hour ago and saw a planet or star very low and shining very brightly. I even went outside with my binoculars for a closer look.

I wish I knew more about astronomy. I am fascinated with watching the sky but don't very often know what it is that I'm looking at. And, I have to admit, I've never heard of the Swan.
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Old 24-05-2010, 00:30
Kablamo
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Sorry, I meant to say in the West.

I was about to close my bedroom curtains about an hour ago and saw a planet or star very low and shining very brightly. I even went out with my binoculars for a closer look.

I wish I knew more about astronomy. I am fascinated with watching the sky but don't very often know what it is that I'm looking at. And, I have to admit, I've never heard of the Swan.
There is so much to gain and learn from it. It's all small steps of learning constellations and the movement of the sky but each step of the way gives you something new to learn and see.

The Summer doesn't have much darkness but it has a lot of packed stars for you to see.
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