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Old 10-04-2011, 19:34
tiger2000
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yes only 2 programmes i can see might be worth watching
The Sky at Night and First Men in the Moon were shown earlier this year but are woth a look if you haven't seen them, the programmes on The Shuttle, Soviet Space Program and Titan look interestering.
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Old 12-04-2011, 18:39
tiger2000
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30 Years ago today

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00dm82w

50 Years ago today

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12895822
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Old 12-04-2011, 20:33
emails
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The Sky at Night and First Men in the Moon were shown earlier this year but are woth a look if you haven't seen them, the programmes on The Shuttle, Soviet Space Program and Titan look interestering.
i have yet to watch this when i get the time,but thanks for letting me know
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Old 12-04-2011, 21:10
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...but the difference is that they are on radio and here they are:

Witness
Yuri Gagarin
It is 50 years since Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00fvmwh

Random Edition
1961 First Man in Space 50th Anniversary Special
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0105vtr

Discovery
Fifty Years of Human Spaceflight - The Yuri Gagarin Legacy
Experts discuss the future of the Russian space programme
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00fvmnd

Afternoon Play
Titanium
The story of Gagarin's first space flight through the eyes of his training partner Titov
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01061ht

All good stuff - enjoy!
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Old 14-04-2011, 01:02
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Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky.
With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star.
The name "Sirius" is derived from the Ancient Greek Σείριος Seirios ("glowing" or "scorcher").


Sirius appears bright because of both its intrinsic luminosity and its proximity to Earth.
At a distance of 2.6 parsecs (8.6 ly), the Sirius system is one of Earth's near neighbors.
Sirius is about twice as massive as the Sun and has an absolute visual magnitude of 1.42.
It is 25 times more luminous than the Sun


The heliacal rising of Sirius marked the flooding of the Nile in Ancient Egypt and the "dog days" of summer for the ancient Greeks,


Sirius, known in ancient Egypt as Sopdet (Greek: Sothis), is recorded in the earliest astronomical records.

During the era of the Middle Kingdom, Egyptians based their calendar on the heliacal rising of Sirius, namely the day it becomes visible just before sunrise after moving far enough away from the glare of the Sun.
This occurred just before the annual flooding of the Nile and the summer solstice,after a 70-day absence from the skies.

The hieroglyph for Sothis features a star and a triangle.
Sothis was identified with the great goddess Isis, who formed a part of a trinity with her husband Osiris and their son Horus, while the 70-day period symbolised the passing of Isis and Osiris through the duat (Egyptian underworld).


Many cultures have historically attached special significance to Sirius, particularly in relation to dogs.
Indeed, it is often colloquially called the "Dog Star" as the brightest star of Canis Major, the "Great Dog" constellation.

Sphinx is facing Sirius at the time when the star rises over the horizon at sunrise at the summer solstice, the time when the Nile started flooding, and the Egyptians probably held great ceremonies when that happened.

The day that the Star Sirius returned, appearing just ahead of the Sun at dawn, was considered to be the beginning of the ancient Egyptian New Year.

In our day and age, this day falls on or about August 1. Three thousand years ago this day occurred in early July.
This shift of dates is due to the apparent slow shifting of the stars from our point of view on earth.
Before the building of the Aswan Dam the Nile floods still began to rise and get their start in late June and by August 1st the inundation of the land of Egypt was going strong.

The ancient Egyptians believed that their most beloved Goddess, the Divine Mother, Isis, was the Soul of the Star Sirius and they saw Sirius as a cosmic manifestation of Her.
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Old 14-04-2011, 01:08
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quote
The day that the Star Sirius returned, appearing just ahead of the Sun at dawn, was considered to be the beginning of the ancient Egyptian New Year.
In our day and age, this day falls on or about August 1. Three thousand years ago this day occurred in early July.
end quote

Sad to think that the first rising of Sirius above the horizon has now shifted by so many days since say 5000 years ago.

Maybe in 3000 BC the first appearance of Sirius above the horizon coincided with the rising of the river Nile ?

Though I suppose with the Aswan dam they dont get floods anymore in the Delta !
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Old 14-04-2011, 10:19
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Sirius is also a binary star system. Sirius Beta was the first white dwarf star ever discovered. Sirius was the first star I ever observed at Mill Hill Observatory during my degree and as I have a special interest in Egyption astronomy it has special significance to me.
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Old 17-04-2011, 00:33
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hello! Was just looking at this again today and thought I'd share it in this thread for those who might not have seen it before -

http://www.kiroastro.com/writings/perspective

Makes you feel that little bit small
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Old 17-04-2011, 22:26
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hello! Was just looking at this again today and thought I'd share it in this thread for those who might not have seen it before -

http://www.kiroastro.com/writings/perspective

Makes you feel that little bit small
...and one day soon, megahuge Betelgeuse http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betelgeuse will go bang big time and will light up the night-time sky and be visible during the daytime too !

It's also a pity that Venus does not orbit where Mars does now because it would probably be a perfectly inhabitable planet.
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Old 23-04-2011, 16:49
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Red dwarves and black plants

Recent research has indicated that any plants on life-bearing planets orbiting around red dwarf stars could by either black or grey in colour so as to make maximum use of the predominantly red and infrared output from these red dwarf stars.

It would certainly look strange to human eyes with perhaps a huge blood red star permanently on the horizon and black grasses and shrubs. More here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13130740.

$269.3 million to go to spaceship developments

NASA has just given away $269.3 million to four commercial companies to allow them to continue development work on possible replacements to the space shuttle. The companies concerned are SpaceX http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_x, Boeing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing, Sierra Nevada Corporation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Nevada_Corporation and Blue Origin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Origin. More on this story here http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110418/..._space_taxis_1.

Space & Astronomy themed programmes

We have 3 today and they are all radio programmes. Two are available via iPlayer and they are In Business http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010dw0k which looks at private space ventures and Science Cafe http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00848zw about the National Astronomy Meeting in Llandudno, Wales.

Tonight, on BBC Radio 4 at 8pm, there's Archive Hour presented by Professor Brian Cox http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jkv2j about the late American astronomer Carl Sagan.
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Old 25-04-2011, 21:21
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Some great progams there
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Old 25-04-2011, 21:30
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Interesting article:

Was the early Universe One Dimensional

http://www.space.com/11470-universe-...cs-theory.html
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Old 25-04-2011, 21:35
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And Hubble's 21st Birthday

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/arc...leases/2011/11
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Old 27-04-2011, 09:31
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Voyager Event

NASA will hold a special NASA Science Update at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT) on Thursday, April 28, to discuss the unprecedented journey of NASA's twin Voyager spacecraft to the edge of our solar system. The event will be held at NASA Headquarters in Washington and will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed at http://www.nasa.gov . In addition, the event will be carried live on Ustream, with a live chat box available, at http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2.
.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-124b
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Old 27-04-2011, 09:39
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Two of NASA's greatest successes.

Once Hubble had his contact lenses fitted
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Old 29-04-2011, 08:44
tiger2000
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Endeavour last launch tonight @ 8:47pm BST.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13225009

NASA TV HD >>> http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv
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Old 29-04-2011, 09:15
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The weather there has been horrendous. Lets hope things are ok for later
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Old 29-04-2011, 10:22
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Shuttle and storms:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/5667102383/
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Old 29-04-2011, 12:26
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Endeavour's last launch will be visible about 20 mins later over the UK

http://www.universetoday.com/85166/s...-final-launch/

Yes! You can watch the Shuttle fly over the UK roughly 20 minutes after launch (launch time is currently set for 3:47 p.m. EDT – 8:47 p.m. UK Time) if the timing is right and skies are clear. It will be accompanied by its bright orange external fuel tank as it sails across the sky
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Old 29-04-2011, 12:43
tiger2000
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Endeavour's last launch will be visible about 20 mins later over the UK

http://www.universetoday.com/85166/s...-final-launch/
What happens to the fuel tank, does it completly burn up or is it targeted to land in the ocean?.
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Old 29-04-2011, 13:05
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What happens to the fuel tank, does it completly burn up or is it targeted to land in the ocean?.
It burns up over the ocean. Only the Solid Rocket Boosters are recovered from the sea and re-used - athough with only one more launch I suppose that won't be happening this time.

I saw the shuttle and external tank a couple of years ago from the uk. an early morning lauch from here. The orange colour of the tank was very vivid.
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Old 29-04-2011, 13:55
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An actual video of the re-entry is hard to find; I have seen it though. The Tank exploded when the remaining fuel ignited, I assume. I'll see if I can find it. *Edit* Easier than I thought. You can find the link here: http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...?topic=18922.0

I shall be watching the excellent coverage from Spaceflightnow with Miles O'Brien. It starts at 15.00.
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Old 29-04-2011, 14:32
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Actually, make that 16.00. Got my GMTs and BSTs mixed up.
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Old 29-04-2011, 15:10
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An actual video of the re-entry is hard to find; I have seen it though. The Tank exploded when the remaining fuel ignited, I assume. I'll see if I can find it. *Edit* Easier than I thought. You can find the link here: http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...?topic=18922.0
.
Fantastic...never seen that before.
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Old 29-04-2011, 17:19
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Shuttle launch scrubbed for *at least* 48 hours.
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