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Space and Astronomy Thread |
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#2051 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 1,024
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Watch out for Aurora activity over the skies of the UK tonight, anyone brave enough to dodge the showers and cold. It's expected arrival from a X-5 CME is around 0625, but give or take 6 hours each way.
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#2052 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Black Country lad in Yorkshire
Posts: 118,047
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Venus seems to be really big tonight
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#2053 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: The Malibu Club
Posts: 13,430
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Is the orangey dot just a bit to the left of tonight's moon Mars?
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#2054 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 2,646
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Yeah, that's Mars (at it's closest to Earth for 2012
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#2055 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: The Malibu Club
Posts: 13,430
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Quote:
Yeah, that's Mars (at it's closest to Earth for 2012
I'd heard that it could be seen, but I had no idea I'd actually be able to see it without any equipment. I was fascinated!
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#2056 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Bishop-Auckland / Darlington
Posts: 6,636
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Quote:
i do know that there has been a star camp at kielder lately i couldn't get there
![]() The sky is stunning on a good night - but be prepared for wet weather - they picked the right place to build a reservoir. The Spring event is in a fortnight's time - Might be a few pitches left if you're lucky - I won't be at that one - only the second one I've missed since 2004 The Autumn event is the big one (October) - Book early if you want an electric pitch though - they're usually all booked several months in advance. |
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#2057 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Bishop-Auckland / Darlington
Posts: 6,636
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Quote:
Thanks for confirming
I'd heard that it could be seen, but I had no idea I'd actually be able to see it without any equipment. I was fascinated!Coupla nights ago I was viewing it at 180x through a telescope, and could make out the small, but prominent polar cap, and a dark area called the Syrtis Major |
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#2058 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Essex
Posts: 289
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^^^
I wondered if it was Mars. I was using my telescope earlier and caught a glimpse and hadn't noticed before. I don't think I've ever seen it on purpose as it were. Lol |
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#2059 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 19,567
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#2060 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Wiltshire
Posts: 4,372
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OMG I've just seen Saturn for the first time. Raced inside and grabbed the binoculars and it became a larger dot. Raced back inside and grabbed my 10 year old daughters first telescope (a National Geographic) and I could make out the rings
As Ellie said in 'Contact'.... so beautiful...... also so mesmerising....That's five planets in a week.....I need to sit down... |
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#2061 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Solihull
Posts: 7,274
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Quote:
OMG I've just seen Saturn for the first time. Raced inside and grabbed the binoculars and it became a larger dot. Raced back inside and grabbed my 10 year old daughters first telescope (a National Geographic) and I could make out the rings
As Ellie said in 'Contact'.... so beautiful...... also so mesmerising....That's five planets in a week.....I need to sit down... |
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#2062 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: → ♥
Posts: 4,637
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My telescope bracket is broken, so unfortunately I can't use it for a while and I'm missing out on all the great stuff happening these past few weeks.
I have however set my sights on starting my natural sciences degree next year and eventually planetary science (unless something else grabs my attention) Very excited!
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#2063 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,252
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Quote:
OMG I've just seen Saturn for the first time. Raced inside and grabbed the binoculars and it became a larger dot. Raced back inside and grabbed my 10 year old daughters first telescope (a National Geographic) and I could make out the rings
As Ellie said in 'Contact'.... so beautiful...... also so mesmerising....That's five planets in a week.....I need to sit down... *stamps foot* |
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#2064 |
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Guest
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 3,812
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Quote:
Possibly the one they featured on The Sky At Night this month. Looked a very wet affair by all accounts. I'm not sure a Star Camp is my idea of a good time but a star party might be fun. Don't see why such a thing should be booze-free.
Today is a good day.....my Telrad has finally arrived.....and what a surprise it's cloudy tonight ![]() It's been an ok week of viewin for moi, mainly just planetary stuff. All the big hitters....Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. Roll on April when Saturn will be out at a more sociable time! |
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#2065 |
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Guest
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 3,812
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Quote:
OMG I've just seen Saturn for the first time. Raced inside and grabbed the binoculars and it became a larger dot. Raced back inside and grabbed my 10 year old daughters first telescope (a National Geographic) and I could make out the rings
As Ellie said in 'Contact'.... so beautiful...... also so mesmerising....That's five planets in a week.....I need to sit down... My first Saturn moment was around 8 yrs ago when I got my first scope. I could make out the rings as 'handles' either side of the planetary disc and the moon Titan orbiting close by as nothing more than a pinprick of light. Watching the planet move over the EP made me feel like I was spinning off the edge of the world. Nowadays with my modest scope (a 10" Dob) I can pick out multitudes of moons (most is 7 in one go), the inner C ring, Cassini Division, cloud bands, and of course the magnificanet A & B ring structures. It looks like someone's stuck a model at the end of the telecope. One of my biggest pleasures in Astronomy is seeing people's reactions looking through a scope for the first time. People always remark how quickly objects travel across the EP, and when I correct them that the majority of the movement they see is the Earth's rotation, it's always met with a 'whoooah' and stunned silence for a minute. It kinda brings it home the Earth isn't this solid immoveable object and we are along for the ride whether we like it or not!! It suddenly makes you feel very humbled and vulnerable. A spare £250 will get you a 8" dob....well worth the investment for anyone looking to get into amateur Astronomy. Carlos are you doing SGL7 next week???? |
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#2066 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 2,746
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Just went outside to take a look at Jupiter and Venus. I think I spotted 2 cloud belts on Jupiter, but I was disappointed I could not see the red spot.
Unfortunately I only have a rubbish pair of binoculars though I would love a proper telescope, I will have to get one when I am earning my own money.
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#2067 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Wiltshire
Posts: 4,372
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That's really sweet to hear , I quite enjoy reading people's first 'wow' moments, and Saturn seems to generate the biggest wow factor of all. In telescopes of all sizes it's truly mesmerising, I love letting it drift across the eyepeice and seeing it serenly breeze on by. Just you wait until you see it through a bigger scope, it just gets better and better.
My first Saturn moment was around 8 yrs ago when I got my first scope. I could make out the rings as 'handles' either side of the planetary disc and the moon Titan orbiting close by as nothing more than a pinprick of light. Watching the planet move over the EP made me feel like I was spinning off the edge of the world. Nowadays with my modest scope (a 10" Dob) I can pick out multitudes of moons (most is 7 in one go), the inner C ring, Cassini Division, cloud bands, and of course the magnificanet A & B ring structures. It looks like someone's stuck a model at the end of the telecope. One of my biggest pleasures in Astronomy is seeing people's reactions looking through a scope for the first time. People always remark how quickly objects travel across the EP, and when I correct them that the majority of the movement they see is the Earth's rotation, it's always met with a 'whoooah' and stunned silence for a minute. It kinda brings it home the Earth isn't this solid immoveable object and we are along for the ride whether we like it or not!! It suddenly makes you feel very humbled and vulnerable. A spare £250 will get you a 8" dob....well worth the investment for anyone looking to get into amateur Astronomy. Carlos are you doing SGL7 next week???? |
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#2068 |
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Guest
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 3,812
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Quote:
Just went outside to take a look at Jupiter and Venus. I think I spotted 2 cloud belts on Jupiter, but I was disappointed I could not see the red spot.
Unfortunately I only have a rubbish pair of binoculars though I would love a proper telescope, I will have to get one when I am earning my own money.http://www.skyandtelescope.com/obser...t/3304091.html So for instance today/tonight it'll be in the centre at approx 16:34, and 02:30. It's just a case of keeping your eye out for when it'll be viewable at a social hour This app gives you the locations of the moons in real time: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/obser...script/jupiter One last thing is that Jupiter is moving away from us at present as we’ve ‘overtaken’ it on the inside track orbiting the sun. Every night it’ll appear a little smaller and this makes features harder to pick out. The difference when it’s at opposition (closest to us) will be very obvious, the planet is much larger in the eye piece and consequently it’s features. You’re doing well to view it with binoculars, I can’t hold them still enough to see the moons let alone atmospheric bands!! Hope this helps |
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#2069 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Solihull
Posts: 7,274
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Well I dug my scope out last night, did some viewing with my daughter then started taking some photos off my camera tripod (actually a bit dissappointed with the Venus / Jupiter shots - think it needs the Moon do give it a sense of proportion). I was just getting the camera set up on my scope when the clouds rolled in and spoilt my fun. Looks ike the clouds are here to stay for a while so no more fun to be had this week for me.
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#2070 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 2,746
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Quote:
The Great Red Spot is actually quite an elusive object to first observe, it's a lot paler in real life in comparison to pictures. Jupiter also has a very fast rotation; it takes just under 10 hours to do a full rotation. That means the GRS won't be in view for very long when it's facing us. You'll have a couple of hours at best to watch it track round and disappear from view. This tool is pretty useful for getting rough ideas when the GRS is on show. The time given is when it's central on Jupiter's planetary disc, so you will be able to see it an hour or so either side.
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/obser...t/3304091.html So for instance today/tonight it'll be in the centre at approx 16:34, and 02:30. It's just a case of keeping your eye out for when it'll be viewable at a social hour This app gives you the locations of the moons in real time: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/obser...script/jupiter One last thing is that Jupiter is moving away from us at present as we’ve ‘overtaken’ it on the inside track orbiting the sun. Every night it’ll appear a little smaller and this makes features harder to pick out. The difference when it’s at opposition (closest to us) will be very obvious, the planet is much larger in the eye piece and consequently it’s features. You’re doing well to view it with binoculars, I can’t hold them still enough to see the moons let alone atmospheric bands!! Hope this helps I will have to keep an eye on that website. I didn't even think about looking for moons, will try that too.
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#2071 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 19,567
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Very interesting pictures of Luna 23 and Luna 24 on the surface of the moon.
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#2072 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 90
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My partner thinks i'm a right boff and a geek for being interested in Astronomy. Lol. I showed him all the planets the other night, and he was just like "Yeah, they just look like stars to me"... Oh, the untrained eye!
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#2073 |
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Guest
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,346
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Brilliantly fun APOD entry today. Would've been even better if her left arm was in the right place.
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#2074 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Storbritannia
Posts: 28,927
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Very interesting pictures of Luna 23 and Luna 24 on the surface of the moon.
That reminds me, there's ESA's website about Mars and missions to the red planet here http://exploration.esa.int/science-e...objectid=44997 and the ESA recently reported that the results of the radar mapping experiment aboard the Mars Express orbiting probe indcated that Mars once had a northern hemisphere ocean: But the ESA says the MARSIS findings provide some of the best evidence yet that large bodies of water once existed on the surface of Mars and that liquid water played a role in martian geological history. "Previous Mars Express results about water on Mars came from the study of images and mineralogical data, as well as atmospheric measurements. Now we have the view from the subsurface radar," says Olivier Witasse, ESA's Mars Express Project Scientist. "This adds new pieces of information to the puzzle but the question remains: where did all the water go?" http://www.gizmag.com/esa-marsis-rad...s-ocean/21393/ lncidentally, that particular study does tend to back up the previous photographic and laser study reports of apparent shoreline features on Mars: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...f-picture.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-water-99d.html Mars just gets more interesting all the time... |
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I'd heard that it could be seen, but I had no idea I'd actually be able to see it without any equipment. I was fascinated!

Very excited!
