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Space and Astronomy Thread
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jon8769
05-01-2011
Originally Posted by Bagpipes:
“I thought I'd share some wonderful pictures of Earth taken from space by NASA astronaut Douglas Wheelock: http://triggerpit.com/2010/11/22/inc...naut-wheelock/”

Stunning photos... thanks for posting the link
afcbfan
10-01-2011
A press conference tonight from the Kepler Mission Team announcing the discovery of a new exoplanet; coverage starts at 20.30 GMT on NASA TV.

You can search for new planets yourself by sifting through the Kepler data at http://www.planethunters.org/ It's easy and fun
Darthchaffinch
10-01-2011
Originally Posted by Bagpipes:
“I thought I'd share some wonderful pictures of Earth taken from space by NASA astronaut Douglas Wheelock: http://triggerpit.com/2010/11/22/inc...naut-wheelock/”

amazing- thanks for posting!
afcbfan
10-01-2011
Reminder for the press conference starting soon giving details of the first Earth-sized planet discovered by the Kepler Mission Team.
TelevisionUser
13-01-2011
Originally Posted by afcbfan:
“A press conference tonight from the Kepler Mission Team announcing the discovery of a new exoplanet; coverage starts at 20.30 GMT on NASA TV.

You can search for new planets yourself by sifting through the Kepler data at http://www.planethunters.org/ It's easy and fun ”

NASA were, quite rightly in my view, accused of hyping up the arsenic metabolising bacteria a few weeks ago and they received public criticism from New Scientist magazine and the Independent newspaper.

They've gone and done exactly the same thing again when this new exoplanet discovery was described as:

Quote:
“among the most profound in human history”

That is total hype and distortion; yet another un-Earthlike planet, Kepler 10b, has been found - that's all.

It's 4x the mass of Earth, it's surface temperature is 1300*C and it orbits round its parent in 0.84 Earth days meaning that this planet's roasted alive - permanently! Just compare that with our Mercury which orbits round the Sun in 88 Earth days.

It is nothing like Earth and NASA's report and claims were wholly unjustified as well as being irresponsible. If they'd found an Earth-mass planet in a stable orbit sufficiently far away from the parent star so that liquid water could exist then that would be an exciting find.

But certainly not some mega-Mercury hell planet!
afcbfan
13-01-2011
Here's a cool site: Eyes on the Solar System: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/eyes/

Explore the Solar System, hitching rides on planets, satellites, comets and spacecraft in real time, with 100 years' worth of data, from 1950 to 2050.
Assa2
14-01-2011
Originally Posted by TelevisionUser:
“NASA were, quite rightly in my view, accused of hyping up the arsenic metabolising bacteria a few weeks ago and they received public criticism from New Scientist magazine and the Independent newspaper.

They've gone and done exactly the same thing again when this new exoplanet discovery was described as:



That is total hype and distortion; yet another un-Earthlike planet, Kepler 10b, has been found - that's all.

It's 4x the mass of Earth, it's surface temperature is 1300*C and it orbits round its parent in 0.84 Earth days meaning that this planet's roasted alive - permanently! Just compare that with our Mercury which orbits round the Sun in 88 Earth days.

It is nothing like Earth and NASA's report and claims were wholly unjustified as well as being irresponsible. If they'd found an Earth-mass planet in a stable orbit sufficiently far away from the parent star so that liquid water could exist then that would be an exciting find.

But certainly not some mega-Mercury hell planet!”

While I agree the hype is slightly OTT, it's fair to say that this is the next step towards finding a realistically Earth-like planet. Up to now (disregarding the previous Earth-like which now looks to have been a ghost) all exo-planets have been gas giants. This is the first one which can with a reasonable level of certainty be classed as terrestrial. That's quite a step forward. Next step will be to refine the technique to identify similar sized terrestrial exo-planets in more distant orbits and smaller mass planets until they reach a point of finding a close approximation of Earth in a close approximation of Earth's orbit. Next will come spectroscopic analysis of such a planet's atmosphere until one day we find one with the tell-tale signs of life. I think there's a good chance of that happening in the next 50 years.
*marv*
14-01-2011
Originally Posted by TelevisionUser:
“NASA were, quite rightly in my view, accused of hyping up the arsenic metabolising bacteria a few weeks ago and they received public criticism from New Scientist magazine and the Independent newspaper.

They've gone and done exactly the same thing again when this new exoplanet discovery was described as:



That is total hype and distortion; yet another un-Earthlike planet, Kepler 10b, has been found - that's all.

It's 4x the mass of Earth, it's surface temperature is 1300*C and it orbits round its parent in 0.84 Earth days meaning that this planet's roasted alive - permanently! Just compare that with our Mercury which orbits round the Sun in 88 Earth days.

It is nothing like Earth and NASA's report and claims were wholly unjustified as well as being irresponsible. If they'd found an Earth-mass planet in a stable orbit sufficiently far away from the parent star so that liquid water could exist then that would be an exciting find.

But certainly not some mega-Mercury hell planet!”


But it is one of the smaller Exo-planets we have discovered and is more earth like than the usual objects they discover that are just gas giants. Its shows we are advancing and getting closer to discovering an Earth like planet. Surely this is welcome news and its not as if it was first on BBC News at Six O'clock.
atg
14-01-2011
Originally Posted by TelevisionUser:
“If they'd found an Earth-mass planet in a stable orbit sufficiently far away from the parent star so that liquid water could exist then that would be an exciting find.”

We are sitting on it.

This is moderately exciting in the context of the progress in exoplanet hunting. 16 years ago we did not know about a single one.
stargazer61
14-01-2011
Whooooooooooa ...just found this thread!
BeethovensPiano
14-01-2011
Originally Posted by Assa2:
“While I agree the hype is slightly OTT, .”

I think you must have all read the official NASA press releases incorrectly, no where does it say Earth LIKE planet but Earth SIZED or "small rocky planet". Big difference
BeethovensPiano
14-01-2011
Originally Posted by Assa2:
“While I agree the hype is slightly OTT, .”

I think you must have all read the official NASA press releases incorrectly, no where does it say Earth LIKE planet but Earth SIZED or "small rocky planet". Big difference
TelevisionUser
14-01-2011
Originally Posted by BeethovensPiano:
“I think you must have all read the official NASA press releases incorrectly, no where does it say Earth LIKE planet but Earth SIZED or "small rocky planet". Big difference”

I have two comments:

1. The implication is still there that it's similar to Earth;
2. At 4.6x Earth mass, it's also not correct to say it's similar to Earth in terms of mass (unlike Venus at 0.82 Earth masses); the best that can be said is that the mass of this planet is in the same order of magnitude as Earth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_magnitude which would not necessarily imply an especially close relationship.

NASA ought to get their poor PR act together because if they don't then they'll start to lose credibility over their excessive and over the top claims.
atg
15-01-2011
Originally Posted by TelevisionUser:
“NASA ought to get their poor PR act together because if they don't then they'll start to lose credibility over their excessive and over the top claims.”

I think it's more about the media (over)reaction than what they actually say, to be honest, but then they do need to start taking that into account before they make announcements.
dsnik
15-01-2011
My daughter is studying the solar system at school at the moment so we got the old telescope out last night and had a look at Jupiter and its Galilean moons.

Later using Kstars I see that Uranus is pretty close to Jupiter at the moment. Never having seen Uranus is it difficult to identify with binoculars or a small scope.
f_196
15-01-2011
I've finally got my first telescope.

All rather exciting. Shame it's been throwing it down here for the last 36 hours.

Itching to use it!!!
stargazer61
15-01-2011
Originally Posted by dsnik:
“My daughter is studying the solar system at school at the moment so we got the old telescope out last night and had a look at Jupiter and its Galilean moons.

Later using Kstars I see that Uranus is pretty close to Jupiter at the moment. Never having seen Uranus is it difficult to identify with binoculars or a small scope.”

If you have got an Android phone, download for free Google Sky map. You can just point your phone at the sky and it will identify stars, planets ,etc. There is also a find facility....type what you want to see and follow the arrows
dsnik
15-01-2011
Originally Posted by stargazer61:
“If you have got an Android phone, download for free Google Sky map. You can just point your phone at the sky and it will identify stars, planets ,etc. There is also a find facility....type what you want to see and follow the arrows”

Thanks for that however I don't have an Android phone at the moment. It is my birthday soon and I have hinted.

I do have a good idea where to look through the PC star map. I was wondering from anyone who has seen it through binoculars or small telescope, Is it obviously a planet or does it look like another faint star?
stargazer61
15-01-2011
Originally Posted by dsnik:
“Thanks for that however I don't have an Android phone at the moment. It is my birthday soon and I have hinted.

I do have a good idea where to look through the PC star map. I was wondering from anyone who has seen it through binoculars or small telescope, Is it obviously a planet or does it look like another faint star?”

In case no-one has already suggested it download Stellarium onto your PC...it is free, completely safe, you can set your location, fast forward by minutes, hours, days etc etc. Will give you the whole night sky. You can search, zoom in and out, etc.

Very, very easy to use. You should be aware that the tool bars are hidden! just pass your cursor along the bottom of the screen or down the left hand side and they will appear!

You may be able to recognize Uranus just by its hue with 10 x 50 binoculars, which most people find faintly blue or green. It is very difficult to spot though......you do need to be loking in the precise location and, unlike seeing jupiter and its moons, you will only see a pinpoint of light
TelevisionUser
15-01-2011
Originally Posted by stargazer61:
“If you have got an Android phone, download for free Google Sky map. You can just point your phone at the sky and it will identify stars, planets ,etc. There is also a find facility....type what you want to see and follow the arrows”

...and the corresponding app for the iPhone goes by the name of Star Walk for anyone who's got an iPhone.
atg
15-01-2011
Originally Posted by dsnik:
“Thanks for that however I don't have an Android phone at the moment. It is my birthday soon and I have hinted.

I do have a good idea where to look through the PC star map. I was wondering from anyone who has seen it through binoculars or small telescope, Is it obviously a planet or does it look like another faint star?”

It does look exactly like a star, but being so close to Jupiter makes it easy to find, if you know the exact relative positions, and is as easy to see as Jupiter's moons. I haven't looked in the last couple of weeks, but it is well within the same field of view. I was looking for the green colour, but it is not distinctive enough to really distinguish it from the nearby faint stars.

I have been sky watching for 35 years, but had never positively identified it before, even though I had looked!

Now for Neptune...
dsnik
15-01-2011
Thanks for the advice guys,
All I need now is another clear night.
tiger2000
20-01-2011
More Testing for the new Mars Rovers has been completed

http://youtu.be/YasCQRAWRwU

More details on how JPL hope the rover will actually reach the serface of Mars next year.

http://youtu.be/_KLxmGLZQSY
balthasar
29-01-2011
If I was looking for a book about Russia and the space race, are there any titles that anyone
would care to recommend?
HenryGarten
29-01-2011
Originally Posted by balthasar:
“If I was looking for a book about Russia and the space race, are there any titles that anyone
would care to recommend?”

One possibility is "Space Race" by Deborah Cadbury.

Lots of copies available very cheaply on abeBooks.
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