Any Astronomy Buffs Here?

[DevilHorse]

Anyone see anything impressive from the meteor shower last night? I saw a couple meteors but nothing I would consider a shower or storm.

No! It wasn't for lack of trying. Saw 3 in 1/2 hour and called it quits. But the temperature was perfect and it was nice and quiet.
I did see a line on twitter stating that this was a hoax put on by the Chiropractic Association. I laughed (until I felt a twinge in my neck).

Larry
DevilHorse

[DevilHorse]

Here is the high level report:
https://www.guardianmag.press/2022/0...uestions.html/

Just as background, as many of you may know, distances to other galaxies (not in the Red Shift category) is sometimes measured by observing known "common" phenomenon, such as Nova, that have fixed brightness, so distance to far off places can be measured based on distance (so called 1/r squared calculations to measure relative brightness magnitudes). In this case, when an FRB occurs, the size is expected to a certain amount, but at a known distance to a galaxy, it is a different amount. So either the distance is wrong, or the output of the FRB is wrong, suggesting a second mechanism or a different mechanism.

Other resolvable phenomena, such as pulsars are only resolvable within our galaxy or our nearest neighbor galaxies (i.e., the Megallanic Clouds), and can't be used to resolve distance to moderately distant galaxies.

I'm glad we don't live near a Magnetar.

Larry
DevilHorse

[duke79]

Here is the high level report:
https://www.guardianmag.press/2022/0...uestions.html/

Just as background, as many of you may know, distances to other galaxies (not in the Red Shift category) is sometimes measured by observing known "common" phenomenon, such as Nova, that have fixed brightness, so distance to far off places can be measured based on distance (so called 1/r squared calculations to measure relative brightness magnitudes). In this case, when an FRB occurs, the size is expected to a certain amount, but at a known distance to a galaxy, it is a different amount. So either the distance is wrong, or the output of the FRB is wrong, suggesting a second mechanism or a different mechanism.

Other resolvable phenomena, such as pulsars are only resolvable within our galaxy or our nearest neighbor galaxies (i.e., the Megallanic Clouds), and can't be used to resolve distance to moderately distant galaxies.

I'm glad we don't live near a Magnetar.

Larry
DevilHorse

My daughter is a Ph.D student in Astrophysics at McGill in Montreal and this is her particular field of interest - studying FRB's and pulsars. She studies under one of the best known researchers and astrophysicists in world, Victoria Kaspi, in this area. As a non-scientist, I don't really understand it but apparently one of the hot areas of astrophysics.

[DevilHorse]

What is the difference between a meteor, meteorite, meteoroid? Evidently this eventuality was anticipated and can be compensated for, but there will be a slight bit of distortion:
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61744257

Larry
DevilHorse

[DevilHorse]

There are a number of articles out about the European GAIA Spacecraft Data release of the mapping of stars in our galaxy. There is a lot to unpack here:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/13/world...scn/index.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61791271

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01660-9

Starquakes! Stars coming and going from our galaxy.

Discovering 800k binary systems out of 2000M stars in the Milkyway. That doesn't mean that is all there is out there; that is only the ones that were catalogued. A handy rule that I was taught in an intro Astronomy class was that half of the stars you see in the sky are binary systems (that would make 2/3 of the stars are in binary relationships).

Larry
DevilHorse

[Skydog]

What is the difference between a meteor, meteorite, meteoroid? Evidently this eventuality was anticipated and can be compensated for, but there will be a slight bit of distortion:
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61744257

Larry
DevilHorse

Oops! Not reassuring that this happened so quickly. Wonder how many strikes per year (expected and actual) it will have to endure?

[camion]

There's a nice article in Scientific American on the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft which are in the 45th year of their 4 year mission. They've started to power down some instruments to conserve energy.

Linky

One of the many remarkable things about the probes is the computing power they didn't have.

"To handle all these challenges, the Voyagers, each about the size of an old Volkswagen Beetle, needed some onboard intelligence. So NASA's engineers equipped the vehicles' computers with 69 kilobytes of memory, less than a hundred thousandth the capacity of a typical smartphone. In fact, the smartphone comparison is not quite right. “The Voyager computers have less memory than the key fob that opens your car door,” Spilker says. All the data collected by the spacecraft instruments would be stored on eight-track tape recorders and then sent back to Earth by a 23-watt transmitter—about the power level of a refrigerator light bulb."

[DevilHorse]

The visible planets will be in order/sequence on Friday morning and Saturday morning, with a crescent moon being in the position of the earth:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/planets...upiter-saturn/

It is a rare event and will only be visible, in total, for a few minutes just before dawn (assuming no clouds).

Larry
DevilHorse

[DevilHorse]

The Europa Clipper is out surveying Jupiter's moons:
https://www.space.com/europa-clipper...-into-ganymede

Its' mission will be coming to an end soon and it will need to take a (useful) dive somewhere. Originally they figured they'd just crash into Jupiter, but now they are dithering between Ganymede and Callisto. Earth's spacejunk is everywhere.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/...n-space-debris

When reading this article, one thing stuck out at me. I though of Arthur C. Clarke's 2010. All of these worlds are yours, but hands off Europa (or some such thing). Well, that's the way Earth is treating the moons of Jupiter. Because of the potential for life on Europa, we are staying clear of contaminating that moon. I guess the moon, Venus, and Mars are waste dumps in the eyes of NASA and the ESA.

Larry
DevilHorse

[crimsondevil]

I guess the moon, Venus, and Mars are waste dumps in the eyes of NASA and the ESA.

Fans of The Expanse know what can happen when Venus is treated as a waste dump...

b17364c0de74a7567dc47f81b33035d4.jpg

[DevilHorse]

Good News. We are officially being teased as to what they are seeing. Apparently the quality is high.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022...ebb-telescope/

10:30am on July 12th the images start being released.

Larry
DevilHorse

[CameronBornAndBred]

Dang...if you go spend time in space, don't plan on running any marathons when you get back. Ever.
Science has known that astronauts suffer bone loss on extended stays in microgravity, but this recent study is eye opening.

The study’s authors found that six months in space resulted in decades worth of bone deterioration

.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/space-sta...170918432.html

[DevilHorse]

The MIRI component of the JWST is ready for science, as of 6/30/2022:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/06/...o-for-science/

As is explained in this article:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021...ri-instrument/
The MIRI will allow viewing of space in the infrared, which can't be done on earth because everything (the telescope and everything around us/it) are just too hot. So we expect to see new things through MIRI.

The better telescope already operating on JWST, that is now ready to deliver pictures (for public viewing on July 12) is just a better (more precisely focused) telescope. That is in contrast to MIRI which will give different wavelengths. Consider how RadioAstronomy opened our eyes to different ways to see the the solar system and the universe. Similar new discoveries are hoped for with MIRI.

More information about MIRI is provided here:
https://sci.esa.int/web/jwst/-/46826...rument-on-jwst

There are still 2 more components of the JWST to come online to provide new science.

Larry
DevilHorse

[Wander]

A couple pics. First, a picture from the first spacecraft (BepiColombo, a European/Japanese mission) to visit Mercury in 7 years:

_120791479_mercury2.jpg

Next, a piece of "litter" on Mars (debris from Perseverance landing, found later by the rover):

FVTzA4TUYAAmHzb.jpg

By the way, Europa Clipper has not launched yet. It will be an incredible mission when it does, studying Europa's liquid water ocean.

[DevilHorse]

The MIRI component of the JWST is ready for science, as of 6/30/2022:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/06/...o-for-science/

As is explained in this article:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021...ri-instrument/
The MIRI will allow viewing of space in the infrared, which can't be done on earth because everything (the telescope and everything around us/it) are just too hot. So we expect to see new things through MIRI.

The better telescope already operating on JWST, that is now ready to deliver pictures (for public viewing on July 12) is just a better (more precisely focused) telescope. That is in contrast to MIRI which will give different wavelengths. Consider how RadioAstronomy opened our eyes to different ways to see the the solar system and the universe. Similar new discoveries are hoped for with MIRI.

More information about MIRI is provided here:
https://sci.esa.int/web/jwst/-/46826...rument-on-jwst

There are still 2 more components of the JWST to come online to provide new science.

Larry
DevilHorse

How to watch JWST first pictures:
https://www.cnet.com/science/space/h...rce=reddit.com

Larry
DevilHorse

[-jk]

How to watch JWST first pictures:
https://www.cnet.com/science/space/h...rce=reddit.com

Larry
DevilHorse

Thanks. Odds are, though, I’ll wait for you to post some awesome links.

-jk

[OldPhiKap]

How to watch JWST first pictures:
https://www.cnet.com/science/space/h...rce=reddit.com

Larry
DevilHorse

Thanks. Odds are, though, I’ll wait for you to post some awesome links.

-jk

I was thinking the same thing.

How to watch JWST first pictures: DH has us covered.

[DevilHorse]

Thanks. Odds are, though, I’ll wait for you to post some awesome links.

-jk

I'll recharge my transporter and see what I can do.

But as far as astronomy reveals goes, nothing will beat the July 1994 Hubble pictures of Shoemaker Levy 9, which were coming in in real time at night. Watching astronomers going nuts is fun stuff. Here is an encapsulation of the event:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbsqWozEBBw
The real time experience was quite different.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard...s-comet-impact # things get interesting at about 5 minutes

Larry
DevilHorse

[DevilHorse]

James Webb not only was a great NASA administrator, and has a space telescope named after him, but he also finishes 3rd in the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog eating contest today!
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/othe...3y5ppglekhguv0

and manages to avoid the altercation with the Joey (JAWS) Chestnut takedown of a protestor in the middle of the contest:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1544002803848339460

James Webb and Joey Chestnut are Amazing.

Larry
DevilHorse

[Indoor66]

James Webb not only was a great NASA administrator, and has a space telescope named after him, but he also finishes 3rd in the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog eating contest today!
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/othe...3y5ppglekhguv0

and manages to avoid the altercation with the Joey (JAWS) Chestnut takedown of a protestor in the middle of the contest:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1544002803848339460

James Webb and Joey Chestnut are Amazing.

Larry
DevilHorse

Webb is truly a man for all seasons. 😉