Any Astronomy Buffs Here?

[sagegrouse]

Also notice Saturn high in the sky in the evening.

Larry
DevilHorse

Speaking of Saturn:

Jupiter and Saturn are getting closer, as they near their once-in-20-years conjunction on December 21, 2020. At their closest, they'll be only 0.1 degrees apart. That's just 1/5 of a full moon diameter.Nov 20, 2020

They will be in the West in the early evening before and after that date -- it should be good viewing around 6 PM at my latitude (38 deg. N). I am hoping to have Saturn and its rings with Jupiter and its moons in the field of my scope at the same time.

[DevilHorse]

On December 17, a 3 mile wide Asteroid named Phaeton will miss earth by quite a bit. It will continue to miss Earth within the next 400 years, but beyond that it is uncertain. I expect by then we will have more tools to deflect such objects. But a 3 mile diameter rock, moving at astronomical speeds, is something we'll have to see and deal with, sooner or later. Astronomers will be the first line of defense by finding these objects.

https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrE...B2YUWNtD3zQUQ-

Larry
DevilHorse

[bundabergdevil]

Never heard of a Beaver Moon before but apparently there is one tonight.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ay/6456070002/

[OldPhiKap]

Never heard of a Beaver Moon before but apparently there is one tonight.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ay/6456070002/

Hmm. I though that was two different things.

[bundabergdevil]

Hmm. I though that was two different things.

Keep that up and you’ll go blind.


Seriously, I thought my wife was taking the piss. I had her repeat herself three times.

[OldPhiKap]

Keep that up and you’ll go blind.

No, just kept it up enough to need glasses.

[CameronBornAndBred]

The radio telescope at Arecibo has completely collapsed.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/huge-puer...123335082.html

[bundabergdevil]

The radio telescope at Arecibo has completely collapsed.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/huge-puer...123335082.html

Oh, wow. That’s too bad. That was in several movies, right? Contact, 007...

[CameronBornAndBred]

In more positive news, China landed on the Moon today.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/china-suc...154101997.html

[duke79]

The radio telescope at Arecibo has completely collapsed.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/huge-puer...123335082.html

My daughter spent a week at Arecibo doing research with her Physics professor when she was in college, studying pulsars. Sad day in Astrophysics.

[DevilHorse]

In more positive news, China landed on the Moon today.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/china-suc...154101997.html

I've had my eye on this one. The Chinese have had many failures. Hopefully this one is a success.

There are lots of unmanned missions happening in the next year. I'm looking forward to Perserverance (US Rover w/ Helicopter) landing on Mars on 2/18/2021. Set your Bat Watches.

Larry
DevilHorse

[duke79]

I've had my eye on this one. The Chinese have had many failures. Hopefully this one is a success.

There are lots of unmanned missions happening in the next year. I'm looking forward to Perserverance (US Rover w/ Helicopter) landing on Mars on 2/18/2021. Set your Bat Watches.

Larry
DevilHorse

Did the Chinese land their unmanned craft anywhere near the Alien bases on the dark side of the moon? (or is this the wrong thread for this question?)

[bundabergdevil]

Did the Chinese land their unmanned craft anywhere near the Alien bases on the dark side of the moon? (or is this the wrong thread for this question?)

Where else would they harvest the monolith crop?

[CameronBornAndBred]

Did the Chinese land their unmanned craft anywhere near the Alien bases on the dark side of the moon? (or is this the wrong thread for this question?)

Not this time, but they did land their previous one on the dark side of the moon. So far, they are the only nation to do so. Unfortunately, they are keeping all the photos of the alien bases to themselves.

[OldPhiKap]

Not this time, but they did land their previous one on the dark side of the moon. So far, they are the only nation to do so. Unfortunately, they are keeping all the photos of the alien bases to themselves.

There’s no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact, it’s all dark.

[DevilHorse]

Not this time, but they did land their previous one on the dark side of the moon. So far, they are the only nation to do so. Unfortunately, they are keeping all the photos of the alien bases to themselves.

The Dark Side of the Moon, although a great name for a music album, is an obvious misnomer. It is really the far side of the moon that is not seen by our earthbound telescopes due to tidal forces, known simply as "spin-orbit coupling." Spin-orbit coupling is actually used as a terminology to describe various unrelated phenomena in physics that relate things that revolve around each other; it is actually quite a generic description. If you google it you can find various sub-atomic versions of the same name.

The Lunar/tidal variety will eventually cause the moon to crash into the earth. At least we'll have a better view of the supermoon by then.

Larry
DevilHorse

[OldPhiKap]

The Lunar/tidal variety will eventually cause the moon to crash into the earth.

Larry
DevilHorse

Great! I have that on my 2020 Disaster Bingo card!

[DevilHorse]

Great! I have that on my 2020 Disaster Bingo card!

You realize that crossing that off your Bingo card means you probably no longer HAVE a Bingo card?!

Larry
DevilHorse

[OldPhiKap]

You realize that crossing that off your Bingo card means you probably no longer HAVE a Bingo card?!

Larry
DevilHorse

Don't care. I'm THAT competitive.

[CameronBornAndBred]

The Lunar/tidal variety will eventually cause the moon to crash into the earth. At least we'll have a better view of the supermoon by then.

Larry
DevilHorse

Since the Moon is drifting away from the Earth, by the time that ever happens, it will have to make a long journey back, and both Earth and the Moon will likely be crispy critters in the growing Sun. (From what I've read, we're talking about something like 65 billion years from now, which is almost 14 1/2 times how old the Earth is now.)