The Astronomy Tower

[WagWag]

Good eye, Kuli. I didn't notice the swirl of clouds forming that gaping maw.

[WagWag]

A cool image of Saturn with six of its 62(+) moons. From left to right we have Titan (discovered in 1655), Mimas, Tethys, Enceladus, Dione and Rhea. Tonight Saturn reaches opposition in our sky offering the best telescopic views of the planet and its moons.

*The six moons may be hard to see, there are three to the left of Saturn and three to the right. The second from the left, Mimas, is a tiny pin-point of light appearing above and to the left of the third moon, Tethys.

[WagWag]

[JWaggy]

Inverted sun and star-field. Sweet image.

[johaninsc]

that's a cool pic

kinda reminds me of an image of a cell from under a microscope




..and welcome back WagWag


good to see your thread up again

[JWaggy]

that's a cool pic

kinda reminds me of an image of a cell from under a microscope




..and welcome back WagWag


good to see your thread up again

Ah, thanks man. I appreciate it.

[Kulindahr]

Hey! I think I have a star system under my bed!

[JWaggy]

An image from the first ever flyby of Saturn's moon Methone. That is one smooth moon.

[Kulindahr]

^ Looks like an egg!

[JWaggy]

^ Looks like an egg!

I know, right? Something is definitely brewing under the surface.

[JWaggy]

Another one of Saturn's moons, Dione. This is a mosaic from pictures taken by the Cassini spacecraft in April of 2010. There is some great detail in this. Here is a larger version of the image.

[Kulindahr]

I know, right? Something is definitely brewing under the surface.

But if something's brewing, that would mean it's a keg....

[Kulindahr]

Another one of Saturn's moons, Dione. This is a mosaic from pictures taken by the Cassini spacecraft in April of 2010. There is some great detail in this. Here is a larger version of the image.

Those faults on the upper left limb look like something nearly cracked it open.

[Keeland]

^ Looks like an egg!

Looks like a Mac Mighty Mouse.

it's a sign! From Steve Jobs!

[JWaggy]

But if something's brewing, that would mean it's a keg....

Better tap it then. Space brew, coming soon.

[JWaggy]

A cool video that pulls imagery from many different sources to paint a picture of sorts of the the history of our universe.

[Kulindahr]

^
I've gotten that one from three different people by email.

[JWaggy]

^
I've gotten that one from three different people by email.

Damn. I'm late to the game it seems.

[mark1111]

Its the first time I saw it, thanks!

[oakpope]

http://htwins.net/scale2/

[lambdaboy]

I lived in South Florida and will never forget the night at midnight I went out side and watched the shuttle take off 144 miles north of me and the sky lit up like day light aweome.

- - - Updated - - -

I lived in South Florida and will never forget the night at midnight I went out side and watched the shuttle take off 144 miles north of me and the sky lit up like day light aweome.

[JWaggy]

http://htwins.net/scale2/

This is great! Thanks for sharing.

[JWaggy]

I lived in South Florida and will never forget the night at midnight I went out side and watched the shuttle take off 144 miles north of me and the sky lit up like day light aweome.

Must have been quite the sight!

[ChickenGuy]

http://htwins.net/scale2/

That's really interesting! I saw a similar one to that before.

I must admit however that the further to both extreme ends I go, the more freaked out I get.

[JWaggy]

Here we have the Flaming Star Nebula and near its center is AE Aurigae--the flaming star itself (so hot that it burns blue). The roiling clouds surrounding the star are mostly made up of interstellar hydrogen, but also contain carbon-rich dust grains. The energy coming from the star is so potent that it knocks electrons away from the atoms in the clouds. When those atoms take back an electron, light is produced. This is how we get light coming from the clouds on top of light coming from the star and why the Flaming Star Nebula is categorized as an emission nebula. See a fuller resolution image of the nebula here.

[swerve]

Hi JWaggy (are you WagWag???)

If so -- what do you know about the Red Box Nebula...



Of all the nebula's -- it is the one that fascinates me the MOST!!!

[Kulindahr]

How long have we known about emission nebulas? I don't remember such a thing from university astronomy.

[JWaggy]

Hi JWaggy (are you WagWag???)

If so -- what do you know about the Red Box Nebula...



Of all the nebula's -- it is the one that fascinates me the MOST!!!

Alright swerve, here's what I could find.

It's not known for sure why the Red Square Nebula (MWC 922) is the shape it is. The leading theory is that the central star(s) is expelling cones of gas and we're viewing them from the side, hence the near perfect right angles. Evidence for the cone theory is the radial spokes that appear that may be running up the sides of the cones. It's thought that if the Red Square Nebula were viewed from a different angle it would look similar to this supernova and its rings.

[JWaggy]

How long have we known about emission nebulas? I don't remember such a thing from university astronomy.

Kuli, I'm not sure when it came into knowledge, but I think they're also known as diffuse nebulae. I could be wrong.

[star-warrior]

Estimates suggest there are 17 billion earth sized planets orbiting stars out there.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20942440

Astronomers say that one in six stars hosts an Earth-sized planet in a close orbit - suggesting a total of 17 billion such planets in our galaxy.

The result comes from an analysis of planet candidates gathered by Nasa's Kepler space observatory.

The Kepler scientists also announced 461 new planet candidates, bringing the satellites' total haul to 2,740.

[Kulindahr]

Estimates suggest there are 17 billion earth sized planets orbiting stars out there.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20942440

Practically, it's a meaningless figure unless we know how many are in the "Goldilocks zone".

Or if we learn to move planets.

[JWaggy]

Estimates suggest there are 17 billion earth sized planets orbiting stars out there.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20942440

Practically, it's a meaningless figure unless we know how many are in the "Goldilocks zone".

Or if we learn to move planets.

A relevant image:



"Current computer models are indicating that at least one in ten stars are orbited by an Earth-sized planet, making our Milky Way Galaxy the home to over ten billion Earths. Unfortunately, this estimate applies only to planets effectively inside the orbit of Mercury, making these hot-Earths poor vacation opportunities for humans. This histogram depicts the estimated fraction of stars that have close orbiting planets of various sizes. The number of Sun-like stars with Earth-like planets in Earth-like orbits is surely much less, but even so, Kepler has also just announced the discovery of four more of those."

Source

[Kulindahr]

^
So we don't really know if there are ANY earthlike planets in the Goldilocks Zone, only that there are some closer to their stars than Mercury to ours.

That's so NOT useful!

[JWaggy]

Driving on the moon in 1972 at nearly 10 kilometers per hour.

[Keeland]

He should have stuck in a stop sign . . . a joke lasting thousands of years.

NASA has a lousy sense of humour.

[dougmc92]

AWESOME PICS!!! But I have to say- I clicked on the thread thinking it was about Harry Potter (The Astronomy Tower- site of Dumbledore's demise)

[Kulindahr]

He should have stuck in a stop sign . . . a joke lasting thousands of years.

NASA has a lousy sense of humour.

Do you really expect that they'd have been interested in spending $25k (at a minimum) to get a stop sign to the moon?

[JWaggy]

AWESOME PICS!!! But I have to say- I clicked on the thread thinking it was about Harry Potter (The Astronomy Tower- site of Dumbledore's demise)

Well, this kind of stuff is just as magical if you ask me.

[JWaggy]

Since we're on the subject of the moon, here is a lovely short of a moon rise filmed two days ago (28th of January, 2013) in Wellington, New Zealand over Mt. Victoria Lookout. The video was captured over 2km away and is a real time, unedited shot.

[Keeland]

Do you really expect that they'd have been interested in spending $25k (at a minimum) to get a stop sign to the moon?

Why not? It costs that much to stick one at an intersection on Earth — and on Earth they aren't funny.

Besides, on the moon a stop sign could be made of cardboard.

The next lunar excursion could include a cardboard tree and a cardboard cop on a cardboard motorcycle hiding behind it.

[goldenmoth]

This is a cool thread. I love space! My favourite podcast is Neil deGrasse Tyson's Star Talk. Planets are just so fascinating.

[ChickenGuy]

BUMP!

I found a really good walkthrough tour of the International Space Station. It's very interesting and informative!

It was done by NASA astronaut Sunita Williams last November, on the day she was about to leave for home after a five-month stay onboard. It shows you loads of stuff like their labs and workstations, their 'kitchen', the airlock and the spacesuits they use for EVAs, the Soyuz capsules that take them to and from Earth, and even how they use the toilet. ()

If the vid is too long, then skip to 11:30 - it's the part where she's in the 'Cupola' observation port looking down on Earth below. Great views and grand scene.



Some more facts:

The International Space Station is now manned by a permanent rotating crew of six. Three of the six are always Russian. They rotate half the crew every two/three months (the Soyuz can only take three at any one time). An individual stays up there for five/six months as part of an Expedition crew. They are launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Since the first crew arrived in the year 2000, the ISS has been always manned by at least two.

They are now on Expedition 35. Three landed back on Earth in Kazakhstan two weeks ago, and a new additional three-member crew launch TODAY (Thursday) about 14 hours from now. The live launches of the Soyuz rocket can be watched on NASA TV.

I think that's everything I wanted to say.

[ChickenGuy]

The 2012 transit of Venus across the Sun, as seen by the Japanese solar-observing spacecraft Hinode which is monitoring and studying the Sun from Earth orbit.

[ChickenGuy]

A time-lapse rotation of the major asteroid Vesta, taken by NASA's Dawn spacebrobe, which is currently on an extended journey through the asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter. Dawn spent over a year in orbit of Vesta, which is one of the largest asteroids in the Solar System, and the brightest asteroid seen from Earth.



The spacecraft also sent back the most detailed composite image of Vesta to date.

Dawn left orbit and departed Vesta in September 2012 and is now en route for a scheduled encounter with the largest asteroid, Ceres, in February 2015.

[ChickenGuy]

A cosmic game of billiards....

Try and follow the spacecraft.



This was how NASA's MESSENGER probe had to travel to achieve Mercury orbit. The trouble of going 'directly' there is that the spacecraft would be going too slow to ever get into orbit. Mercury travels so fast that any spacecraft must 'pick up speed' and the only way to do that is a series of fly-bys of Earth, Venus and Mercury en route.

MESSENGER was launched in 2004 and had to make a fly-by of Earth (2005), two of Venus (2006, 2007) and three of Mercury (2008, 2008, 2009) before finally having enough speed to enter orbit in 2011, becoming only the second spaceprobe ever to reach Mercury after Mariner 10 in 1974.