The Astronomy Thread

[xsited1]

Stunning Video: Comet Collides With the Sun - FoxNews.com

NASA's solar observatory captured a stunning video of a comet streaking towards the sun between Tuesday and Wednesday -- and the aftermath when it collided with the tremendous ball of plasma.

The video, captured by NASA's Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), appears to show a fireball jet out following the collision. That's not quite what happened, NASA explained. Instead, a coronal mass ejection coincidentally blasted out to the right just as the comet approaches and is vaporized by the sun.

 

[freedombecki]

Stunning Video: Comet Collides With the Sun - FoxNews.com

NASA's solar observatory captured a stunning video of a comet streaking towards the sun between Tuesday and Wednesday -- and the aftermath when it collided with the tremendous ball of plasma.

The video, captured by NASA's Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), appears to show a fireball jet out following the collision. That's not quite what happened, NASA explained. Instead, a coronal mass ejection coincidentally blasted out to the right just as the comet approaches and is vaporized by the sun.

That's sun defense if I do say so.

 

[freedombecki]

Post all things Astronomy whether political or not.

I'll start.

Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, sometimes has open nights for the public. Back in the 90s, I once saw Saturn through their main telescope, the 24" Alvan Clark Refracting Telescope. The view was breathtaking.

View attachment 12977

View attachment 12978

Lowell Observatory

I was following the Casini probe of Saturn's rings, a couple of years back. It was truly a magnificent series of up close and personal looks the rings and moons of Saturn. I found this at the NASA APOD website.

If the Saturn flyby does not show up below (I've never done an embedded code before and am just guessing, click on "this" in the paragraph above for an amazing show of the Casini flyby from 2007 to 2010. You should because if you are an American taxpayer, you paid for it!

http://vimeo.com/11386048

(hoping it takes)

Well, nothing I did worked. I expanded the link to include "This at the NASA APOD website." So sorry. Maybe a kindly administrator will someday drop by and fix it. It's terrific.

 

[freedombecki]

Okay, here's a simpler one...from March 8, 2011 and shows Saturn, the moon, Titan, and rings from Cassini: (rolling up sleeves)

How thin are the rings of Saturn? Brightness measurements from different angles have shown Saturn's rings to be about one kilometer thick, making them many times thinner, in relative proportion, than a razor blade. This thinness sometimes appears in dramatic fashion during an image taken nearly along the ring plane. The robot Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn has now captured another shot that dramatically highlights the ring's thinness.​

All credits here: APOD: 2011 March 8 - Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini

 

[waltky]

Granny says its a sign of the end times - all dem lefty lib'rals better repent an' get right with Jesus...

Three eclipses start with midnight eclipse of the sun
June 1, 2011 - Three eclipses will happen over the next month. As rare as that is, it all starts with another rarity - a midnight eclipse of the sun.

Over the next month, the world will experience three eclipses: two partial solar eclipses a month apart and one total lunar eclipse exactly in between, and it all starts with a so-called "midnight" eclipse of the sun. A solar eclipse at midnight? How is such a thing possible? It can happen near midsummer in the high Arctic, the land of the midnight sun. And it will happen this week on June 1 and 2, visible in the northernmost reaches of North America, Europe, and Asia. These two solar eclipse sky maps available here detail what observers could see during some of the upcoming eclipses of the sun and moon in June.

'Midnight' solar eclipse of June 2

The eclipse begins on Thursday, June 2, at dawn in northern China and Siberia, then moves across the Arctic, crossing the International Date Line and ending in the early evening of Wednesday, June 1, in northeastern Canada. That’s right: The eclipse begins on Thursday and ends on Wednesday because of the International Date Line. Because observers in northern Russia and Scandinavia will be observing it over the North Pole, they will actually see it in what is, for them, the middle of the night of June 1 and 2.

Solar eclipse no one will see on July 1

Exactly a month later, on Friday, July 1, an equally bizarre eclipse will occur in the Antarctic. Because this is the southern winter, the sun will be below the horizon for almost all of Antarctica, except for a small uninhabited stretch of coast due south of Madagascar. The only place the eclipse will clear the horizon will be in a small area of the Southern Ocean, far to the south of South Africa. Chances are that this eclipse will be witnessed only by penguins and sea birds.

Lunar Eclipse of June 15

Exactly halfway in between these two partial solar eclipses, there will be a total eclipse of the moon on Wednesday, June 15. The eclipse will be visible for millions of people in Africa, the Middle East and southwestern Asia. It will be visible as the moon rises in the early evening in South America and Europe, and as the moon sets before dawn in eastern Asia and Australia. Unfortunately, it will not be visible anywhere at all in North America.

Source

 

[preciseenergy]

Hey this is actually cool...

 

[freedombecki]

Granny says its a sign of the end times - all dem lefty lib'rals better repent an' get right with Jesus...

Three eclipses start with midnight eclipse of the sun
June 1, 2011 - Three eclipses will happen over the next month. As rare as that is, it all starts with another rarity - a midnight eclipse of the sun.

Over the next month, the world will experience three eclipses: two partial solar eclipses a month apart and one total lunar eclipse exactly in between, and it all starts with a so-called "midnight" eclipse of the sun. A solar eclipse at midnight? How is such a thing possible? It can happen near midsummer in the high Arctic, the land of the midnight sun. And it will happen this week on June 1 and 2, visible in the northernmost reaches of North America, Europe, and Asia. These two solar eclipse sky maps available here detail what observers could see during some of the upcoming eclipses of the sun and moon in June.

'Midnight' solar eclipse of June 2

The eclipse begins on Thursday, June 2, at dawn in northern China and Siberia, then moves across the Arctic, crossing the International Date Line and ending in the early evening of Wednesday, June 1, in northeastern Canada. That’s right: The eclipse begins on Thursday and ends on Wednesday because of the International Date Line. Because observers in northern Russia and Scandinavia will be observing it over the North Pole, they will actually see it in what is, for them, the middle of the night of June 1 and 2.

Solar eclipse no one will see on July 1

Exactly a month later, on Friday, July 1, an equally bizarre eclipse will occur in the Antarctic. Because this is the southern winter, the sun will be below the horizon for almost all of Antarctica, except for a small uninhabited stretch of coast due south of Madagascar. The only place the eclipse will clear the horizon will be in a small area of the Southern Ocean, far to the south of South Africa. Chances are that this eclipse will be witnessed only by penguins and sea birds.

Lunar Eclipse of June 15

Exactly halfway in between these two partial solar eclipses, there will be a total eclipse of the moon on Wednesday, June 15. The eclipse will be visible for millions of people in Africa, the Middle East and southwestern Asia. It will be visible as the moon rises in the early evening in South America and Europe, and as the moon sets before dawn in eastern Asia and Australia. Unfortunately, it will not be visible anywhere at all in North America.

Source

Thanks, Walt. It's nice to know when and where eclipses are taking place. Three this close seems uncommon to me.

 

[freedombecki]

Hey this is actually cool...

Welcome to USMB, preciseenergy. I was wondering if there was an Astronomy thread for all things in the heavens so I searched and found this one. I followed the Cassini probe for several years at other places where I started Astronomy threads. I don't even own a telescope, but I learned so much just by going to APOD on a daily basis for years. This thread feels like home. Science has made giant leaps since I was in high school.

I was thinking about space travel that started back when I was in High School with Russians and Americans competing in the race for space, and wound up reading Neil Armstrong's bio. It's a terrific read.

We've learned so much about space with Rover, Cassini, and many other NASA endeavors, not to mention all the sharing going on between the various observatories, worldwide. Some of them are built in 4 locations to get a more comprehensive picture of the distant stars and galaxies.

Thanks, xsited-1, for starting this thread.

 

[waltky]

Truck-size asteroid zips close to Earth...

Asteroid zips close to Earth
6/2/2011 : Truck-size space rock will hang around a while but shouldn't pose threat, astronomers say

An asteroid the size of a small motorhome zoomed near Earth on Wednesday night, coming closer to us than the moon ever does. The 23-foot-long (7-meter) space rock, named 2009 BD, came within 215,000 miles (346,000 kilometers) of Earth at around 8:51 p.m. ET. The moon's average distance from us is about 239,000 miles (385,000 kilometers). 2009 BD never threatened to hit Earth on this pass, researchers said. But even if the asteroid had slammed into us, it wouldn't have been a big deal.

"2009 BD is a small object, 7 meters, and poses no threat," scientists with NASA's Asteroid Watch program tweeted yesterday. "Rocky objects this size would break apart in our atmosphere and cause no damage." [ Photos of Asteroids in Deep Space ] The asteroid's small size also made it a tough target for skywatchers. A large telescope was necessary to see it on Wednesday night, researchers said.

Sticking around for a while

After the close pass, 2009 BD didn't recede into the depths of space, like most asteroids do after such encounters. Rather, it is continuing to stick close to Earth, stalking our planet on its trip around the sun. In fact, the space rock will remain within 10 lunar distances of us for the next month or so, researchers said. That's because 2009 BD is no ordinary asteroid. It's what astronomers call a "co-orbital object," meaning its path around the sun roughly parallels that of Earth. Just where such objects come from is an intriguing question, with some researchers speculating that they may be pieces ejected from the moon.

More Truck-size asteroid zips close to Earth - Technology & science - Space - Space.com - msnbc.com

 

[freedombecki]

Waltky, here's a photo of the midnight eclipse you mentioned above at Nasa's APOD:

June 3, 2011

Explanation: On June 1, the shadow of the New Moon was cast across a land of the midnight Sun in this year's second partial solar eclipse.

Credits and continuation of article here: Midnight's Solar Eclipse

I hadn't seen it elsewhere.

 

[xsited1]

Dark-matter hunters share $500,000 prize

Dark matter is thought to be all around us, yet scientists can't see it, touch it, or even figure out what it is.

Now four astronomers who helped befuddle the world by discovering evidence for dark matter have won a prestigious cosmology prize. Scientists infer the existence of dark matter by its gravitational influence on the regular, visible matter around it.

The scientists will share the $500,000 purse that comes with the 2011 Cosmology Prize of the Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation.

A ghostly ring of dark matter floating in the galaxy cluster ZwCl0024+1652, one of the strongest pieces of evidence to date for the existence of dark matter.​

Click this link--> http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/C...logy_Science/Space/Dark-matter/darkmatter.swf

 

[freedombecki]

Dark-matter hunters share $500,000 prize

Dark matter is thought to be all around us, yet scientists can't see it, touch it, or even figure out what it is.

Now four astronomers who helped befuddle the world by discovering evidence for dark matter have won a prestigious cosmology prize. Scientists infer the existence of dark matter by its gravitational influence on the regular, visible matter around it.

The scientists will share the $500,000 purse that comes with the 2011 Cosmology Prize of the Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation.

A ghostly ring of dark matter floating in the galaxy cluster ZwCl0024+1652, one of the strongest pieces of evidence to date for the existence of dark matter.​

Click this link--> http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/C...logy_Science/Space/Dark-matter/darkmatter.swf

Great post, xsited1.

I got to looking around by googling "what is dark matter?" and came up with this 'less-is-known-than-is' gem:

What Is Dark Matter?

By fitting a theoretical model of the composition of the Universe to the combined set of cosmological observations, scientists have come up with the composition that we described above, ~70% dark energy, ~25% dark matter, ~5% normal matter. What is dark matter?

We are much more certain what dark matter is not than we are what it is. First, it is dark, meaning that it is not in the form of stars and planets that we see. Observations show that there is far too little visible matter in the Universe to make up the 25% required by the observations. Second, it is not in the form of dark clouds of normal matter, matter made up of particles called baryons. We know this because we would be able to detect baryonic clouds by their absorption of radiation passing through them. Third, dark matter is not antimatter, because we do not see the unique gamma rays that are produced when antimatter annihilates with matter. Finally, we can rule out large galaxy-sized black holes on the basis of how many gravitational lenses we see. High concentrations of matter bend light passing near them from objects further away, but we do not see enough lensing events to suggest that such objects to make up the required 25% dark matter contribution.

However, at this point, there are still a few dark matter possibilities that are viable. Baryonic matter could still make up the dark matter if it were all tied up in brown dwarfs or in small, dense chunks of heavy elements. These possibilities are known as massive compact halo objects, or "MACHOs". But the most common view is that dark matter is not baryonic at all, but that it is made up of other, more exotic particles like axions or WIMPS (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles).

Credits: Dark Energy, Dark Matter

You picked a great topic of many in contemporary space knowledge, and I enjoyed the read.

 

[Missourian]

The “Bucket List” for Backyard Stargazers

1. A Supernova
2. The Great Orion Nebula
3. A Bright Comet
4. The Southern Sky
5. A Meteor Storm
6. The Transit of Venus
7. The Green Flash
8. Total Solar Eclipse
9. Sunrise on the Moon
10. The Omega Centauri Star Cluster

The “Bucket List” for Backyard Stargazers | One-Minute Astronomer

I have not seen a supernova, but I did see a nova that was visible to the naked eye when I was very young:

V1500 Cygni or Nova Cygni 1975 was a bright nova occurring in 1975 in the constellation Cygnus.

Nova Cygni 1975 | StarDate Online

Miss the transit of Venus one year from today, you won't get another chance in your lifetime...so mark your calenders.

 

[xsited1]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJt0LJZG2k]Bio Station Alpha on Mars. The latest discovery by David Martines. Original Video [/ame]

 

[freedombecki]

Explanation: One of the brightest supernovas in recent years has just been recorded in the nearby Whirlpool galaxy (M51). Surprisingly, a seemingly similar supernova was recorded in M51 during 2005, following yet another one that occurred in 1994. Three supernovas in 17 years is a lot for single galaxy, and reasons for the supernova surge in M51 are being debated. Pictured above are two images of M51 taken with a small telescope: one taken on May 30 that does not show the supernova, and one taken on June 2 which does. The June 2 image is one of the first images reported to contain the supernova. The images are blinked to show the location of the exploded star. Although most supernovas follow classic brightness patterns, the precise brightening and dimming pattern of this or any supernova is hard to predict in advance and can tell astronomers much about what is happening. Currently, the M51 supernova, designated SN 2011dh, is still bright enough to follow with a small telescope. Therefore, sky enthusiasts are encouraged to image the Whirlpool galaxy as often as possible to fill in time gaps left by intermittent observations made by the world's most powerful telescopes. Views of the developing supernova are being uploaded here.​

Credits

Starship Asterisk says M31 is 31 million light-years away from the earth, and for those with telescopes, that "the face-on Whirlpool is currently high in the northern evening sky and well placed for viewing. SN 2011dh's J2000 coordinates (in Canes Venatici, near Ursa Major) are right ascension 13h 30m 5.1s, declination +47° 10′ 11″. It's positioned 2.3 arcminutes east and 1.5 arcminutes south of the galaxy's center, roughly midway between a pair of comparably bright field stars, and should remain visible for a few weeks.".

What is a light-year?

A light-year, also light year or lightyear (symbol: ly) is a unit of length, equal to just under 10 trillion kilometres (1016 metres, 10 petametres or about 6 trillion miles). As defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a light-year is the distance that light travels in a vacuum in one Julian year.[1]

The light-year is often used to measure distances to stars and other distances on a galactic scale, especially in non-specialist and popular science publications. The preferred unit in astrometry is the parsec, because it can be more easily derived from, and compared with, observational data. The parsec is defined as the distance at which an object will appear to move one arcsecond of parallax when the observer moves one astronomical unit perpendicular to the line of sight to the observer, and is equal to approximately 3.26 light-years.[1]​

Thirty-one million light years is 31,000,000 times more distant that one light year.

I've been following APOD for years, and I am fascinated by how far a light year is and how far away we're now able to see with advanced technologies.

 

[freedombecki]

Bio Station Alpha on Mars. The latest discovery by David Martines. Original Video

xsited1, I was looking for something else when I ran into this bit of information that could help your U-Tube bud see better, but he will have to share his findings with the Canadians who may already know what that is on your linked exploration of Mars, if it is on the up-and-up, that is:

Quebec was also a strategic choice for the establishment of the Canadian Space Agency. A total of three Quebeckers have been in space since the creation of the CSA: Marc Garneau, Julie Payette and Guy Laliberté. Quebec has also contributed to the creation of some Canadian artificial satellites including SCISAT-1, ISIS, Radarsat-1 and Radarsat-2.[62][63][64] The province is one of the world leaders in the field of space science and contributed to important discoveries in this field.[65] One of the most recent is the discovery of the complex extrasolar planets system HR 8799. HR 8799 is the first direct observation of an exoplanet in history.[66][67] Olivier Daigle and Claude Carignan, astrophysicists from Université de Montréal have invented the most sensitive astronomical camera in the world.[68][69][70] This new sensitive camera is 500 times more powerful than those currently on the markets.[71] The Mont Mégantic Observatory was recently equipped with this powerful camera.[72]

Quebec, Wikipedia

I was actually looking for this: The Manacouagan Impact Crater, Quebec, Canada

Credits

 

[Missourian]

Clear Sky Astronomy Forecasts for your location.

Clear Sky Chart Homepage​

 

[Sheldon]

Hold on to your butts... then end is coming!

Nature News Blog: Huge solar flare races towards Earth

The flare, which is moving towards Earth at some 1,400 kilometres per second, is expected to cause a storm in our planet’s magnetic field within the next 24 hours. NASA says it is unlikely that there will be major disruptions to satellite and communication systems or power grids.

However, if you live at a high-enough latitude watch out tonight for what should be spectacular Northern lights (Aurora Borealis).

 

[freedombecki]

Hold on to your butts... then end is coming!

Nature News Blog: Huge solar flare races towards Earth

The flare, which is moving towards Earth at some 1,400 kilometres per second, is expected to cause a storm in our planet’s magnetic field within the next 24 hours. NASA says it is unlikely that there will be major disruptions to satellite and communication systems or power grids.

However, if you live at a high-enough latitude watch out tonight for what should be spectacular Northern lights (Aurora Borealis).

Massive Solar Flare Misses Earth, but Are We Ready for the Big One? | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

Hopefully, we will weather this. Seems there are times of solar flares historically.

 

[freedombecki]

Explanation: If you travel several kilometers off a main highway through Wyoming, you may see an unusual sight. In particular, near Buford, Wyoming, USA, you could run across the geometric Ames Monument, visible on the right, built to commemorate the financiers of a historic transcontinental railroad across North America. The above spectacular wide field mosaic, however, has also captured other geometric designs, many of them far in the distance. On the far left, for example, is a lunar halo surrounding by a lunar corona surrounding the setting Moon. On the right, however, is the arch of the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy surrounding the pyramidal structure. Illuminating the horizon to the right of the monument are the city lights of Cheyenne. The menagerie of images used to create this 360-degree composite were all taken during a single night last month. Still, the digital stitching of images taken over such a long period of time has led to a few unnatural land and sky justapositions. Can you identify any?

Credits