Cool astronomy photos

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:35 am

Can you spot the asteroids? Three of them:

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Imag ... _asteroids

I only found one…

Anaxagoras · Post by **Anaxagoras** » Wed Oct 14, 2020 4:51 am

I see two. One is in the lower left quadrant moving from left to right. a second one is in the lower right quadrant at about the level and moving from 10 o'clock to 4 O'clock.
There also seems to be a movement near the second-largest star near the top and slightly to right of center in the image. Like something appears and disappears.

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Thu Oct 15, 2020 2:19 am

Witness wrote: ↑Mon Oct 12, 2020 9:36 pm ↑ Great vid! Here's the same with comments:

This is exactly what I expected a proto-planet to look like at the point in between agglomeration and the point where gravity starts to crush the cluster of boulders into a spherical shape. Very cool.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Thu Oct 15, 2020 10:25 pm

Mars is at opposition.

By this guy.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Fri Oct 16, 2020 11:07 pm

Not really news (2010), but interesting factoid:

Big Mystery: Jupiter Loses a Stripe

Lost: A giant belt of brown clouds big enough to swallow Earth twenty times over. If found, please return to Jupiter.

May 20, 2010: In a development that has transformed the appearance of the solar system's largest planet, one of Jupiter's two main cloud belts has completely disappeared.

"This is a big event," says planetary scientist Glenn Orton of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab. "We're monitoring the situation closely and do not yet fully understand what's going on."

These side by side images of Jupiter taken by Australian astrophotographer Anthony Wesley show the SEB in August 2009, but not in May 2010.
Known as the South Equatorial Belt (SEB), the brown cloudy band is twice as wide as Earth and more than twenty times as long. The loss of such an enormous "stripe" can be seen with ease halfway across the solar system.

"In any size telescope, or even in large binoculars, Jupiter's signature appearance has always included two broad equatorial belts," says amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley of Australia. "I remember as a child seeing them through my small backyard refractor and it was unmistakable. Anyone who turns their telescope on Jupiter at the moment, however, will see a planet with only one belt--a very strange sight."

Wesley is a veteran observer of Jupiter, famous for his discovery of a comet hitting the planet in 2009. Like many other astronomers, he noticed the belt fading late last year, "but I certainly didn't expect to see it completely disappear," he says. "Jupiter continues to surprise."

https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/s ... oststripe/ for the rest.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Mon Oct 26, 2020 2:06 am

Nasa to make major announcement of ‘exciting news’ about the moon

Nasa will hold a major event to announce an “exciting new discovery” about the Moon, it has said.

The space agency did not reveal details about the discovery, but said that it “contributes to Nasa’s efforts to learn about the Moon in support of deep space exploration”.

It also said that the discovery had come from the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or Sofia.

Sofia is a modified Boeing 747 that flies higher than much of the atmosphere, allowing its built-in, 9-foot telescope to get a clear view of our solar system and the broader universe. The plane is able to get up above 99 per cent of the atmosphere’s water vapour, which normally obscures our view of space.

The telescope instruments at the centre of the flying observatory gather infrared light, meaning it can “pick up phenomenon impossible to see with visible light”, Nasa noted in its announcement.
...
Nasa’s notice of the event made heavy reference to the Artemis programme, which hopes to send the first woman and next man to the Moon in 2024, with the hope of using it as a base to launch missions to Mars from the 2030s. They will be the first people to set foot on the Moon since 1972.
...
The event will take place at noon eastern time, or 5pm in the UK, on Monday, 26 October, Nasa said. Audio will be streamed live on its website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-styl ... 09506.html

shemp · Post by **shemp** » Mon Oct 26, 2020 2:18 pm

They found Jimmy Hoffa. And Judge Crater.

robinson · Post by **robinson** » Mon Oct 26, 2020 4:47 pm

They found water

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Tue Oct 27, 2020 1:15 am

Reflections of the Ghost Nebula

Do any shapes seem to jump out at you from this interstellar field of stars and dust? The jeweled expanse, filled with faint, starlight-reflecting clouds, drifts through the night in the royal constellation of Cepheus. Far from your own neighborhood on planet Earth, these ghostly apparitions lurk along the plane of the Milky Way at the edge of the Cepheus Flare molecular cloud complex some 1,200 light-years away. Over two light-years across and brighter than the other spooky chimeras, VdB 141 or Sh2-136 is also known as the Ghost Nebula, seen at toward the bottom of the featured image. Within the reflection nebula are the telltale signs of dense cores collapsing in the early stages of star formation.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Sat Nov 07, 2020 2:42 am

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Mon Nov 16, 2020 11:17 pm

Ryugu, taken by the Japanese Hayabusa 2 space craft.

shemp · Post by **shemp** » Mon Nov 16, 2020 11:52 pm

Abdul Alhazred wrote: ↑Fri Nov 06, 2020 5:18 pm Moon over ISS

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201106.html

But where's Miami?

shemp · Post by **shemp** » Mon Nov 16, 2020 11:53 pm

Witness wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 11:17 pm
Ryugu, taken by the Japanese Hayabusa 2 space craft.

Bullshit! It's just a melted down slag pile from Fukushima!

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Mon Nov 16, 2020 11:59 pm

shemp wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 11:53 pm Bullshit! It's just a melted down slag pile from Fukushima!

You naive optimist. It's the whole Universe who looks like a pile of dirt.

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Tue Nov 17, 2020 3:19 am

shemp wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 11:53 pm
Witness wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 11:17 pm
Ryugu, taken by the Japanese Hayabusa 2 space craft.

Bullshit! It's just a melted down slag pile from Fukushima!

It's the insulation in my attic.

Fid · Post by **Fid** » Tue Nov 17, 2020 7:30 pm

They really should have included Shemps penis for scale.
That is standard right?

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Tue Nov 17, 2020 11:16 pm

Orion with Barnard's loop:

Source: https://old.reddit.com/r/Astronomy/comm ... _portrait/

The map, for the names:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_(constellation)

Fid · Post by **Fid** » Wed Nov 18, 2020 11:39 pm

Way long years ago while snuggling with my dad he pointed out M42. Son, he said that's Orion's balls. I was too young to get the reference but to this day Orion and Canis Major still brings a tear.

Anaxagoras · Post by **Anaxagoras** » Fri Nov 20, 2020 8:24 am

Some sad news to report:

The end is near for famed Arecibo Observatory's damaged telescope

Actually the end seems to have arrived already. All that remains is to demolish the remaining structure and salvage whatever parts may be salvagable.

(CNN)After decades of aiding astronomical discoveries, one of the most powerful telescopes on Earth will cease its observation of the universe after sustaining irreparable damage.
The 305-meter telescope at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico will be decommissioned, according to an announcement made by the US National Science Foundation on Thursday.
The spherical radio/radar telescope includes a radio dish 1,000 feet across and a 900-ton instrument platform suspended 450 feet above it. Cables connected to three towers hold the telescope in place.

This photo shows damage caused to Arecibo Observatory in August.

An auxiliary cable came loose from a socket on one of the towers in August, creating a 100-foot gash in the dish. Engineers were assessing and working on a plan to repair the damage when another main cable on the tower broke on November 6.
When it broke, the cable crashed into the reflector dish below, causing additional damage.
After the break on November 6, engineers inspected the rest of the cables and discovered new breaks as well as slippage from some of the sockets on the towers. Multiple engineering companies reviewed the damage. They determined that the telescope could collapse because it is "in danger of catastrophic failure" and the cables are weaker than expected.
Even if engineers could safely fix all the damage and add cables to support the telescope, it would likely have stability issues in the future.
The latest review revealed that damage to the telescope could not be stabilized without risking staff and the construction team. This led to the NSF making the decision to decommission the telescope after 57 years.

"NSF prioritizes the safety of workers, Arecibo Observatory's staff and visitors, which makes this decision necessary, although unfortunate," said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan in a statement.
"For nearly six decades, the Arecibo Observatory has served as a beacon for breakthrough science and what a partnership with a community can look like. While this is a profound change, we will be looking for ways to assist the scientific community and maintain that strong relationship with the people of Puerto Rico."
While no direct cause for the breaks has been identified, corrosion is suspected as the main issue. The observatory has withstood hurricanes, earthquakes and tropical storms over the years.
The observatory, which was featured in the James Bond film "GoldenEye," was completed in 1963 and has been helmed by the NSF since 1970. It is operated and managed by a team at the University of Central Florida, the Universidad Ana G. Méndez and Yang Enterprises Inc.

The telescope has supported and contributed to important discoveries in radio astronomy as well as planetary and solar system research, including gravitational waves.
The Arecibo telescope played a key role in discovering the first planet outside our solar system and has helped astronomers identify potentially hazardous asteroids en route to Earth.
"Until these assessments came in, our question was not if the observatory should be repaired but how. But in the end, a preponderance of data showed that we simply could not do this safely. And that is a line we cannot cross," said Ralph Gaume, director of NSF's Division of Astronomical Sciences, in a statement.

A legacy of discoveries
Over the years, Arecibo Observatory has revealed new details about our planet's ionosphere, the solar system and worlds beyond it.
Observations made by the telescope helped discover the first binary pulsar in 1974 (which led to the 1993 Nobel Prize in physics), supported NASA's Viking mission, produced the first radar maps of Venus' surface and spotted the first exoplanet in 1992.

It had a good run. Perhaps a newer radio telescope will replace it someday.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 12:45 am

↑ Now that Arecibo is out:

China has finished building the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), the world’s largest single-aperture telescope

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-hu ... _Telescope
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-11-06/C ... index.html

Anaxagoras · Post by **Anaxagoras** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 1:14 am

One capability that Arecibo had which the Chinese dish lacks, at least currently, is radar transmitters which were useful for determining the orbits of near-earth asteroids. Scott Manley mentioned this in a Youtube video:

The importance of determining the orbits of near-earth asteroids is that you can predict whether any of them might be headed our way anytime soon.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Wed Dec 02, 2020 2:12 am

NGC 6822: Barnard's Galaxy

Grand spiral galaxies often seem to get all the glory, flaunting their young, bright, blue star clusters in beautiful, symmetric spiral arms. But small galaxies form stars too, like nearby NGC 6822, also known as Barnard's Galaxy. Beyond the rich starfields in the constellation Sagittarius, NGC 6822 is a mere 1.5 million light-years away, a member of our Local Group of galaxies. A dwarf irregular galaxy similar to the Small Magellanic Cloud, NGC 6822 is about 7,000 light-years across. Brighter foreground stars in our Milky Way have a spiky appearance. Behind them, Barnard's Galaxy is seen to be filled with young blue stars and mottled with the telltale pinkish hydrogen glow of star forming regions in this deep color composite image.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201128.html

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 2:39 am

Arecibo antennas fall in to dish

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 3:30 am

South pole of Enceladus, Cassini 2014.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Sun Dec 06, 2020 2:44 am

Jupiter and Saturn will come within 0.1 degrees of each other, forming the first visible "double planet" in 800 years

When their orbits align every 20 years, Jupiter and Saturn get extremely close to one another. This occurs because Jupiter orbits the sun every 12 years, while Saturn's orbit takes 30 years — every couple of decades, Saturn is lapped by Jupiter, according to NASA.

However, 2020's conjunction is especially rare — the planets haven't been observed this close together since medieval times, in 1226.

"Alignments between these two planets are rather rare, occurring once every 20 years or so, but this conjunction is exceptionally rare because of how close the planets will appear to one another," Rice University astronomer Patrick Hartigan said in a statement. "You'd have to go all the way back to just before dawn on March 4, 1226, to see a closer alignment between these objects visible in the night sky."

Aligning with the solstice on December 21, 2020, the two planets will be just 0.1 degrees apart — less than the diameter of a full moon, EarthSky says. The word "conjunction" is used by astronomers to describe the meeting of objects in our night sky, and the great conjunction occurs between the two largest planets in our solar system: Jupiter and Saturn.
...
How to watch the great conjunction

Through the entirety of December, skywatchers will easily be able to spot the two planets. For the next three weeks, you can look up each evening to watch them get closer and closer in the sky.

Jupiter currently appears brighter than any star in the sky. Saturn is slightly dimmer, but still just as bright as the brightest stars, with a recognizable golden glow.

Saturn will appear just to the east of Jupiter, and will even look as close to the planet as some of its own moons. Unlike stars, which twinkle, both planets will hold consistent brightness, easy to find on clear nights.

The event is observable from anywhere on Earth, provided the sky is clear. "The further north a viewer is, the less time they'll have to catch a glimpse of the conjunction before the planets sink below the horizon," Hartigan said.

The planets will appear extremely close for about of month, giving skywatchers plenty of time to witness the spectacular alignment throughout the holiday season. The event aligns with the December solstice, marking the shortest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere.

This will be the "greatest" great conjunction for the next 60 years, until 2080. Hartigan said that, following that conjunction, the duo won't make such a close approach until sometime after the year 2400.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jupiter-sa ... cember-21/

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Sun Dec 06, 2020 3:29 am

Finally, the Dark Crystal will be made whole.

robinson · Post by **robinson** » Sun Dec 06, 2020 1:27 pm

Tidal forces are going to do interesting things

As will the magnetic fields

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Sun Dec 06, 2020 3:59 pm

Go on, ask Ogra what's the grand conjunction. Go on, ask. What's the grand conjunction?

THE END OF THE WORLD.......or the beginning.

Hrrmp!

ab02bac1ffefece253903c44fe83d7dc989d3bc3.jpg

I'm actually surprised that the doomsday profits haven't announced the next doomsday as the grand conjunction. Or maybe they have and are preparing the Koolaid party right now.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 3:23 am

Anaxagoras · Post by **Anaxagoras** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 11:33 pm

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 3:54 am

Yes, these paths are sunlight - ONE YEAR (!) of exposure in a self-made pinhole camera. You can see cloudy days here, as well as winter days witn no leaves on the tree

https://old.reddit.com/r/spaceporn/comm ... _exposure/

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Thu Dec 10, 2020 3:29 am

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Fri Dec 11, 2020 4:02 am

Edge-On Galaxy NGC 5866

Why is this galaxy so thin? Many disk galaxies are just as thin as NGC 5866, pictured here, but are not seen edge-on from our vantage point. One galaxy that is situated edge-on is our own Milky Way Galaxy. Classified as a lenticular galaxy, NGC 5866 has numerous and complex dust lanes appearing dark and red, while many of the bright stars in the disk give it a more blue underlying hue. The blue disk of young stars can be seen extending past the dust in the extremely thin galactic plane, while the bulge in the disk center appears tinged more orange from the older and redder stars that likely exist there. Although similar in mass to our Milky Way Galaxy, light takes about 60,000 years to cross NGC 5866, about 30 percent less than light takes to cross our own Galaxy. In general, many disk galaxies are very thin because the gas that formed them collided with itself as it rotated about the gravitational center. Galaxy NGC 5866 lies about 44 million light years distant toward the constellation of the Dragon (Draco).

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201115.html

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:23 am

Spoiler:

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Tue Dec 22, 2020 4:05 am

Light pollution:

Fid · Post by **Fid** » Tue Dec 22, 2020 12:48 pm

Regarding light pollution. Some years ago I had the pleasant experience of a night at the Kaibab Inn near (in the USA version of near) the Grand Canyon.

Even without my 11x80 binocs at something like 7000 ft above msl I could see many of the Messier objects in Sagittarius and Scorpius. It was a humbling and wonderful experience.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Tue Dec 22, 2020 10:42 pm

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Wed Dec 23, 2020 12:09 am

I wanted to push myself a little here and see how detailed an image I could get using just one data run for the Great Conjunction. Here's the result.

This is a single run of color data from my C11 telescope using my .7x reducer to get the whole scene in frame at one time. The image isn't the highest quality out there, but unlike most of those better images, this isn't a composite image put together with other shots. Instead, this is an attempt to recreate the reality of what I saw tonight, flaws and all. Reality is not perfect.

I'm happy to answer any questions, and feel free to check out my Instagram for more of my work.

Gear:

Celestron 11" EdgeHD telescope

ZWO ASI290MC astro camera

.7x reducer

https://old.reddit.com/r/spaceporn/comm ... iter_were/

Fid · Post by **Fid** » Wed Dec 23, 2020 5:09 am

Well done to whoever did this!
I shall for now refrain from killing the first born Jewish boyos until there's oh... I dunno ...a supernova or something.

Seriously though the scale of that picture is almost unbelievable. It took years for spacecraft to go from one planet to the next.

I consider myself lucky to have seen such an event .