Astronomy stuff - Life, the Universe & Everything

Discussion in 'The Lounge Bar' started by geoff501, Sep 20, 2010.

  1. papiermache

    papiermache Well-Known Member

    Good luck, NASA.

     
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  2. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Jupiter and Saturn are set to cross paths in the night sky, appearing to the naked eye as a "double planet".

    The timing of this conjunction, as the celestial event is known, has caused some to suggest it may have been the source of a bright light in the sky 2,000 years ago.

    That became known as the Star of Bethlehem.
    The planets are moving closer together each night and will reach their closest point on 21 December.




    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-55364664
     
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  3. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    Which just happens to be the winter solstice. Signs and wonders in the heavens?
     
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  4. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    I thought a bit ominous


    A good view from the Long Mynd though if the weather is clear
     
  5. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    Driving down the narrow track from the top of the Long Mynd past the gliding school is scary enough in broad daylight on a dry summer's day. It would almost certainly be safer for us to go to the top of the Black Hill. The view will be every bit as good if it is a clear night.
     
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  6. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    If I drive that way I will be using my :tank:, especially if it's on 21 Dec enroute to Craven Arms - spooky

    TD
     
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  7. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    I like to frighten people with that drive ha ha
     
  8. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    If you approach the Long Mynd from Church Stretton, it doesn't seem as steep, even though the road is narrow. Going over the top and going down the other side feels worse as there appears to be a sudden drop over the edge.
     
  9. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    I have been looking through my photographs for a picture that gives you an idea of the Ratlinghope side of the Long Mynd but cannot find any. I know that I have some somewhere.
    This is about the closest that I can find and it was taken to show the afterglow rather than the drop.

    Long Mynd.JPG
     
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  10. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    This is the well known view from the Carding Mill Valley looking towards Church Stretton.

    Church Stretton.JPG
     
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  11. SDP

    SDP Incurable Cometoholic

    What I don't understand about this is the 21st December bit. According to a stargazing app I've got on my iPad, the planets are currently perfectly in line with each other. Only pity is that there's no point in trying to see them in real life because it's currently very overcast here in north Worcestershire.
     
  12. papiermache

    papiermache Well-Known Member

  13. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

  14. SDP

    SDP Incurable Cometoholic

    Saw them last night low in the sky towards the south west. Actually one bright dot (Jupiter) with a duller dot (Saturn) very visually close. Forecast not good for tonight. Fingers crossed.
     
  15. papiermache

    papiermache Well-Known Member

    I pointed the "compact" camera ( old Canon G1X with manual override options, longest lens about 120mm in old school terms with "digital enhancement" ) in the right direction two days ago and got this but it could be a parallel universe or a couple of internet satellites, or next door's fairy lights. It was really more yellow to look at. Marley's Ghost ? Overcast here now but has been clear for two nights running.

    Conjunction 19:12:2020.jpg
     
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  16. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Astronomers Thrill at Giant Comet Flying into Our Solar System

    The huge object may be the biggest comet ever seen. And it is already showing signs of activity as it approaches the orbit of Saturn...

    Far beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto, a dark and mysterious expanse of space tantalizes astronomers. Here, as many as trillions of comets are thought to swarm, hurled to their present locale by Jupiter or other planets billions of years ago. They form a giant sphere known as the Oort cloud that envelops the solar system and stretches out to perhaps a couple of light-years from the sun. No one really knows just how many comets exist in the Oort cloud or its true extent because so little illuminating sunlight reaches that remote region. But occasionally a passing star or galactic tides will stir these icy leftovers from the solar system’s dawn, causing comets to fall toward the distant sun and into the observability of our telescopes. These so-called long-period comets have an orbit of thousands or millions of years and are predominantly small, no more than a few kilometers across. Yet last week astronomers announced the discovery of one with truly behemoth proportions: a giant comet that may measure hundreds of kilometers from edge to edge. “It was pretty shocking,” says Pedro Bernardinelli of the University of Pennsylvania, one of the researchers who found the object. Now efforts to train more telescopes in the comet’s direction to unearth its secrets of the deep are well underway.


    C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein) - Wikipedia
     
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  17. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Meteor wows Norway after blazing through night sky
    Norwegians have been left awestruck by what experts say was an unusually large meteor that illuminated the night sky in the country's south-east.

    Footage shows powerful flashes of light over Norway, followed by what witnesses described as loud bangs on Sunday.

    Norwegian police say they received a flurry of emergency calls but there were no reports of injuries or damage.

    A team of experts are hunting for the meteor, which they believe landed in a forest near the capital, Oslo....
     
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  18. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

  19. papiermache

    papiermache Well-Known Member

  20. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Five major planets to line up in rare planetary conjunction

    Five major planets in our solar system will shine brightly in a row during a rare planetary conjunction from Friday.

    If the sky is clear, the naked eye alone will be enough to see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn glowing before dawn.

    It's a special opportunity to see Mercury, which is usually obscured from view by the Sun's bright light.

    The conjunction is best seen on Friday but will remain visible until Monday from most parts of the world.

    The last time this conjunction happened was 2004 and it won't be seen again until 2040.

    The planets will appear "like a string of pearls spread out from close to the horizon", explains space scientist and chief stargazer at the Society for Popular Astronomy Prof Lucie Green.

    It is also a special event because the planets will appear in the order they are positioned from the sun.

    That isn't always the case for planetary conjunctions because of our perspective from Earth looking into the solar system, Prof Green says.

    On Friday a crescent Moon will also join the line-up, appearing between Venus and Mars.

    image.png

    The northern hemisphere, including the UK, will get the best views between 45 and 90 minutes before sunrise. Look eastwards and very close to the horizon, ideally from a high spot like a hill. Large buildings or trees will obscure the view. You'll need to rise early, because as soon as the sun comes up it will wash out the sky, obscuring the planets.

    But they can be seen with the naked eye - Prof Green advises sky-gazers not to use equipment like binoculars or telescopes because of the risk of looking directly into the Sun.

    Start by looking for the planet furthest away, which is Saturn. Then count back through the planets until you find Venus, which is usually very bright.

    The final planet in the line-up should then be Mercury. Prof Green says it took her many years to see it because it's a hard planet to spot. "It is very satisfying if you can see this faint twinkling planet," she says.

    Observers in the tropics and the southern hemisphere should get better views because the planets will rise higher in the pre-dawn sky, but an early start will still be needed.
     
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