Cool astronomy photos

robinson · Post by **robinson** » Sun Apr 26, 2020 12:27 pm

But I don’t care enough to look it up

Anaxagoras · Post by **Anaxagoras** » Sun Apr 26, 2020 12:38 pm

It occurred to me that it's probably 10¹⁰, not 1010. When you copy and paste, the superscript is lost.

Duh, I get it. That's like 10 billion, fwiw.

robinson · Post by **robinson** » Sun Apr 26, 2020 12:42 pm

That’s what I thought

robinson · Post by **robinson** » Sun Apr 26, 2020 8:42 pm

https://twitter.com/physicsj/status/125 ... 85889?s=21

robinson · Post by **robinson** » Sun Apr 26, 2020 8:43 pm

One could also say nothing is moving

It all depends on where put the camera

robinson · Post by **robinson** » Sun Apr 26, 2020 8:45 pm

Before you object, something accelerating is considered moving, if it is changing direction

But then it gets real complicated

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Sun Apr 26, 2020 10:44 pm

Anaxagoras wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2020 12:38 pm It occurred to me that it's probably 10¹⁰, not 1010. When you copy and paste, the superscript is lost.

Duh, I get it. That's like 10 billion, fwiw.

Of course. Didn't see that flaw in copy/paste.

The interesting point is that globular clusters are nearly as old as the universe. As we have good theories of stellar evolution that really constrains the cosmological theories, and for some time the problem was that the universe seemed younger than the clusters, which is of course absurd.

But the agreed upon age being now around 13.5 billion years, everything's OK. :)

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Sun Apr 26, 2020 10:46 pm

robinson wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2020 8:45 pm something accelerating is considered moving, if it is changing direction

Seems you swapped "moving" and "accelerating".

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Wed Apr 29, 2020 11:09 pm

Hotarubi · Post by **Hotarubi** » Thu Apr 30, 2020 12:50 am

Where was that taken?

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Thu Apr 30, 2020 1:06 am

Hotarubi wrote: ↑Thu Apr 30, 2020 12:50 am Where was that taken?

Point Reyes, CA.
Here's a slightly less cropped version:

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Fri May 08, 2020 1:41 am

Curiosity's latest drill hole in a rock nicknamed "Edinburgh". The hole is about 0.6 inches (1.6 cm) in diameter and 2 inches (5 cm) deep. This photo was taken by night on 22 March 2020, the surface being lightened by LEDs.

https://i.imgur.com/gFkjWiO.gif

The brave little machine still at it! :)

Rob Lister · Post by **Rob Lister** » Fri May 08, 2020 1:45 am

I'd do it

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Fri May 08, 2020 1:49 am

Rob Lister wrote: ↑Fri May 08, 2020 1:45 am I'd do it

The hole? :shock:

Rob Lister · Post by **Rob Lister** » Fri May 08, 2020 1:59 am

Just the hole. I'm not a pervert!

Cute, young tourist photographer visits farm in deep south. Sees two young farmers leaning on their fence.

"Hey, can I take your picture?" she asks.

"Well shur," they reply.

She stands there fiddling with her camera for time on end.

"Whut's she doin'?" asked farmer 1 of farmer 2.

"Tryin' to focus," replied farmer2.

Farmer 1 was stunned, "Bofus!?"

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Sat May 09, 2020 3:48 am

https://i.imgur.com/ECSC2kI.jpg
Source: https://old.reddit.com/r/Astronomy/comm ... ve_to_the/

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Mon May 11, 2020 1:16 am

Witness wrote: ↑Fri May 08, 2020 1:49 am
Rob Lister wrote: ↑Fri May 08, 2020 1:45 am I'd do it
The hole? :shock:

Curiosity's already 'ader.

Sloppy seconds?

Rob Lister · Post by **Rob Lister** » Mon May 11, 2020 1:42 am

Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice decide to have group sex. But they want it to be safe sex.

Bob has a rubber, and so does Ted. Two rubbers between them.

Is it possible for Bob to fuck both Carol and Alice AND for Ted to fuck both Carol and Alice with just two rubbers if washing the rubbers is not an option?

shemp · Post by **shemp** » Mon May 11, 2020 1:47 am

Rob Lister wrote: ↑Mon May 11, 2020 1:42 am Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice decide to have group sex. But they want it to be safe sex.

Bob has a rubber, and so does Ted. Two rubbers between them.

Is it possible for Bob to fuck both Carol and Alice AND for Ted to fuck both Carol and Alice with just two rubbers if washing the rubbers is not an option?

This was on one of my third-grade math tests.

Anaxagoras · Post by **Anaxagoras** » Mon May 11, 2020 2:12 pm

I suppose it depends on what you mean by "safe". It's definitely possible to avoid the risk of either of the women getting pregnant. Just a matter of which hole to fuck.

Rob Lister · Post by **Rob Lister** » Mon May 11, 2020 2:26 pm

Spoiler:

You're welcome.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Mon May 11, 2020 10:25 pm

LOOK: Jupiter hi-res photo captured by astronomers using ‘lucky’ technique

https://i.imgur.com/Srhj9vG.jpg

Astronomers have captured one of the highest resolution photos of Jupiter taken from Earth through a technique called “lucky imaging.”

The said technique involves taking “very short” exposure images in infrared of the planet and only using the sharpest ones, when the Earth’s atmosphere is stable. The Gemini Observatory included one of the final images in a statement on its site last Thursday, May 7.

The said picture was made using the Gemini North telescope on Hawaii’s dormant volcano Mauna Kea. It also shows the warm, deep layers of the planet’s atmosphere glowing through its cloud cover, making it appear like a jack-o-lantern.

“The Gemini data were critical because they allowed us to probe deeply into Jupiter’s clouds on a regular schedule,” said Michael Wong of University of California, Berkeley, who led the research team.

He added that the new images rival “the view from space.” The new information also confirmed that the dark spots in Jupiter’s “Great Red Spot” are actually gaps in its cloud cover, and are not caused by cloud color variations.

The images are part of a multi-year program between the observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope to support NASA’s mission to Jupiter called Juno.

https://technology.inquirer.net/99275/l ... -technique

Rob Lister · Post by **Rob Lister** » Wed May 13, 2020 10:20 am

Comet Swan

VISIBILITY RIGHT NOW [5/13/2]

C/2020 F8 (SWAN) is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
It is visible looking in the South direction at an altitude of 59° above the horizon.
Given its current magnitude, C/2020 F8 (SWAN) is easily visible with the help of a small binocular.
See also C/2020 F8 (SWAN) rise and set times.
Go to interactive sky chart

https://theskylive.com/c2020f8-info

https://i.imgur.com/1Pr1HgM.png

I have some binoculars around here somewhere.

Also:
https://twitter.com/c2020f8

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Thu May 14, 2020 2:21 am

Rob Lister wrote: ↑Wed May 13, 2020 10:20 am Comet Swan

It rains. (And the temperature is down to ~ 10 °C.) :x

sparks · Post by **sparks** » Wed May 27, 2020 5:00 pm

Rob Lister wrote: ↑Mon May 11, 2020 1:42 am Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice decide to have group sex. But they want it to be safe sex.

Bob has a rubber, and so does Ted. Two rubbers between them.

Is it possible for Bob to fuck both Carol and Alice AND for Ted to fuck both Carol and Alice with just two rubbers if washing the rubbers is not an option?

Of course. Especially if one is unconcerned about Carol and Alice continued good health. They won't get preggers, but they may come down with the assorted nasty rashes and occasional outbreaks, etc. provided Bob and Ted aren't the only men Carol or Alice have been fucking in an unprotected fashion. :)

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Wed May 27, 2020 8:56 pm

This Citizen Science Gig Pays People to Match Space Photos

Astronomers at the Hubble Image Similarity Project are employing their out-of-work neighbors to help them train a neural net to recognize celestial objects.

https://i.imgur.com/WAR92Q9.jpg

...

Griffith, thus underemployed, perked up right away when her friend Jonathan Obermaier, furloughed from a local brewery, pointed her to a gig on their Hampden neighborhood Facebook page: Astronomers from the Space Telescope Science Institute, just down the road, wanted to pay out-of-work service professionals like her to analyze images from Hubble, Earth’s most iconic telescope. The analyzers would pore over pretty pictures and determine how similar they were to each other for about $1,500, at a rate of around $20 per hour. It’s called the Hubble Image Similarity Project.

...

And they are doing something for her in return—paying her. That’s in contrast with most citizen science projects, which rely on volunteers. It was a very conscious choice for the institute’s astronomers, as cutting paychecks has to be. Joshua Peek and Rick White, the scientists who founded this project, saw so many of their neighbors suddenly without incomes that they wanted to help out. Their own careers and funding are more insulated from the immediate economics of Covid-19, and the astronomers saw an opportunity to create short-term work for others while helping themselves.

Peek—whose family helped organize their block’s pandemic mutual aid group—felt like the aphorism “Think globally; act locally” applied to this situation too. So, for cosmic mutual aid, he says, instead of turning to the whole internet—where most citizen science work is sourced—he turned to his neighbors, “rather than people who are anonymous around the world.”

https://www.wired.com/story/this-citize ... ce-photos/

For the curious, the globular cluster in the article is NGC 1466. Details here: Hubble Explores the Formation and Evolution of Star Clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Mon Jun 01, 2020 12:52 am

Everything in the Solar System: https://i.redd.it/zvbij5ozx0251.png (big graphic, you'll have to click)

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Tue Jun 02, 2020 2:10 am

Really makes it look like the Death Star took out a planet between Mars and Jupiter, don't it?

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Thu Jun 04, 2020 12:09 am

https://i.imgur.com/opPJOBA.jpg

It's actually called the Seagull Nebula, but so many people say it looks like the Phoenix.

IC 2177 is an H II region of nebulosity centered on the Be star HD 53367. This nebula was discovered by Welsh amateur astronomer Isaac Roberts and was described by him as "pretty bright, extremely large, irregularly round, very diffuse."

It is 3,600 light years from Earth.

This nebula is captured with narrowband filters to help battle against light pollution in the Detroit area and processed in the Hubble Palette.

Source & technical details: https://old.reddit.com/r/interestingasf ... ix_nebula/

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Sat Jun 06, 2020 2:31 am

https://i.imgur.com/mt1OpAb.jpg

robinson2 · Post by **robinson2** » Sat Jun 06, 2020 1:57 pm

And atmosphere

robinson · Post by **robinson** » Sat Jun 06, 2020 2:17 pm

Stop stealing my lines

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Sun Jun 07, 2020 3:59 am

Abdul Alhazred wrote: ↑Sat Jun 06, 2020 1:20 pm France has better wine.

Italians grow wine grapes on an old volcano: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aglianico_del_Vulture.

I recommend. :)

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Mon Jun 08, 2020 10:27 pm

Grammatron · Post by **Grammatron** » Thu Jun 11, 2020 10:35 pm

https://spacenews.com/nasa-confirms-jws ... unch-date/

WASHINGTON — The head of NASA’s science directorate confirmed June 10 that the James Webb Space Telescope will miss its March 2021 launch date, a slip that was all but inevitable as the coronavirus pandemic slowed work on the spacecraft.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Thu Jun 11, 2020 11:31 pm

Rob Lister · Post by **Rob Lister** » Fri Jun 12, 2020 1:04 am

Grammatron wrote: ↑Thu Jun 11, 2020 10:35 pm https://spacenews.com/nasa-confirms-jws ... unch-date/

WASHINGTON — The head of NASA’s science directorate confirmed June 10 that the James Webb Space Telescope will miss its March 2021 launch date, a slip that was all but inevitable as the coronavirus pandemic slowed work on the spacecraft.

Well, if not that, something else. The riots would suffice.

Rob Lister · Post by **Rob Lister** » Fri Jun 12, 2020 12:50 pm

You can't call in sick to a riot.

Rob Lister · Post by **Rob Lister** » Sun Jun 21, 2020 7:46 am

For our Japanese residents, but just barely ...

You are watching timeanddate.com's live stream of the annular solar eclipse that is currently in progress in parts if Africa and Asia.

meh, watching an eclipse on youtube is pretty dull, and Graham Jones doesn't help. But I'd love to see it in person, in Asia.

But it's hot outside there so I'd watch it from inside.

On a couch.

Via youtube.

p.s. Newser was calling it an annual solar eclipse. Which caused me to blink.

Newser) – Star-lovers will get a rare treat this weekend when an annual solar eclipse accompanies the summer solstice

https://www.newser.com/story/292515/how ... lipse.html

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Tue Jun 23, 2020 1:10 am

Rob Lister wrote: ↑Sun Jun 21, 2020 7:46 am p.s. Newser was calling it an annual solar eclipse. Which caused me to blink.

It's "annular", of course. :mrgreen:

Taken from India:

https://i.imgur.com/oj7Fk0X.jpg