Any Astronomy Buffs Here?

[CameronBornAndBred]

Interesting article on Rouge Planets:
https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-b...s-are-orphans/

Some mental chewing gum for when you have the time.

Larry
DevilHorse

Based on what we know of stars, gravity, and cosmic evolution, we can make a ballpark estimate of the total number of planets in the Universe, and it likely outnumbers our stars by anywhere from a factor of 100 to 100,000.

That's rather mind boggling. And it makes space really cluttered. You better have your numbers right before you make that jump to lightspeed!
"Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, boy! Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?" - Han Solo

[-jk]

Interesting article on Rouge Planets:
https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-b...s-are-orphans/

Some mental chewing gum for when you have the time.

Larry
DevilHorse

Fascinating. I wonder what happens when one of these rogue/orphan planets wanders through a solar system. The perturbations could be interesting. Collisions more so.

Fortunately space is vast and the odds are ever in our favor.

-jk

[CameronBornAndBred]

Fascinating. I wonder what happens when one of these rogue/orphan planets wanders through a solar system. The perturbations could be interesting. Collisions more so.

Fortunately space is vast and the odds are ever in our favor.

-jk

It's slow and depressing, but the excellent movie Meloncholia uses that scenario as the premise for the film. (Spoiler alert, it ends very badly for Earth.)

[DevilHorse]

That's rather mind boggling. And it makes space really cluttered. You better have your numbers right before you make that jump to lightspeed!
"Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, boy! Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?" - Han Solo

Obviously Han didn't have an LIDAR tools to automate dark planet avoidance.

Even if you were to "land/stop/reappear" inside of a solar system, it is very unlikely that you would hit anything.

Let's have some fun with math and put that to the test.

Han's problem is materializing inside a planet or star. We can calculate the relative values, assuming the Millennium Falcon just randomly appears in a solar system.

I did a back of the envelope calculation of what the volume of the planets and sun are relative to a sphere the size of the (approximate) radius of Pluto (i.e., volume of our Solar System). The sun contains about 500 times the volume of our 4 biggest planets (gas giants) combined; that's roughly 1.4 x 10^18 KM^3 (Kilometer cubed). The approximate volume of our solar system is: 7.9 x 10^27 KM3. So the ratio of "the volume of mass in our solar system" to "the volume of our solar system" is 1.8 x 10^-10 ; the ratio of volumes is the probability of hit vs miss. That means that if you (randomly) show up in our solar system, the chances of materializing inside a mass (mass/vacuum) is 1.8 in 10 Billion (1.8 / 10,000,000,000).

Taking this to the next level, the nearest star is Proxima Centauri, which is 4 x 10^13KM away. Since there is nothing of appreciable volume between our sun and the next star, we will calculate the volume of space represented by a sphere with a radius of the distance between here and Proxima Centauri; that comes out to: 8.5 x 10^40 KM3.

So the probability of materializing into interstellar space vs. our solar system, between these 2 close stars, is approximately: 1x10^-13. That's 1 in a Tredecillion for those who keep score.

So finally, the probability of hitting mass in our solar system vs. anywhere between our sun an Proxima Centauri is about 2x10^-21 . That's about 2 in a Sextillion.

for comparison, the chances of being hit by lightning is about 1 in 10^6.
Chances of hitting the Powerball jackpot is 1 in 3 x 10^8.

Han Solo best not to set coordinates too close to a (known) planet, but otherwise he should be OK. I can't imagine that zipping around in Star Wars light speed is too hazardous (really) if everyone is doing it.

Larry
DevilHorse

[DevilHorse]

It's slow and depressing, but the excellent movie Meloncholia uses that scenario as the premise for the film. (Spoiler alert, it ends very badly for Earth.)

When Worlds Collide ! 1951 great movie. From the 1933 novel. I think there was another book, After Worlds Collide (no movie).

Larry
DevilHorse

[DevilHorse]

NASA will take its' first big step back to the moon in a long time.

The Artemis spacecraft will have its first two-hour window set for the launch of Artemis I on Aug. 29 starting at 8:33 a.m. EDT.t a week.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/track-n...n-in-real-time

Also, the JWST took an infrared picture of Jupiter:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/wp-conte...27_Jupiter.png
Depending on which version you see, you might catch rings, auroras, and lots of details.

A Greek and a Roman mythological figure for you today.

Larry
DevilHorse

[DevilHorse]

For those of you who need a live feed to watch the Artemis launch this morning, here is one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr5UmJg7Vtg

Not obvious if the 8:33am ET will go off on schedule. There is a 2 hour window to get the flight in today.
There is an issue with engine 3 this morning so hopefully they can overcome this.

Larry
DevilHorse

[DevilHorse]

For those of you who need a live feed to watch the Artemis launch this morning, here is one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr5UmJg7Vtg

Not obvious if the 8:33am ET will go off on schedule. There is a 2 hour window to get the flight in today.
There is an issue with engine 3 this morning so hopefully they can overcome this.

Larry
DevilHorse

Scrubbed till friday at the earliest.

Better safe than sorry.

Larry
DevilHorse

[DevilHorse]

Scrubbed till friday at the earliest.

Better safe than sorry.

Larry
DevilHorse

The next attempted take-off has been set for Saturday Sept 3 at 2:17pm.

Larry
DevilHorse

[DevilHorse]

The JWST has made a few discoveries involving exoplanets in recent days:

Discovering Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere of a known exoplanet:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard...net-atmosphere
The parameters of this planet are mind boggling. A gas giant, one quarter the mass of Jupiter, but 1/8 of the distance from its star that Mercury is. A 4 day year. That planet must be a deformed spheroid with serious oblateness.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spheroid

Direct observation of an exoplanet; not the transit method that is usually employed:
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/spac...anet-rcna45907
A gas giant, 12 times the mass of Jupiter and 100 AUs from the host star. Our Jupiter is 5 AUs from our sun.

Larry
DevilHorse

[DevilHorse]

The second try to launch the Artemis I rocket to the moon is set for Saturday September 3 (today), with the target launch time of 2:17 ET and a 2 hour launch window.

Larry
DevilHorse

[CameronBornAndBred]

The second try to launch the Artemis I rocket to the moon is set for Saturday September 3 (today), with the target launch time of 2:17 ET and a 2 hour launch window.

Larry
DevilHorse

Scrubbed due to fuel link. Sigh.

[DevilHorse]

A new image from the JWST has dropped. It is before/after pictures of the Tarantula Nebula:
https://www.space.com/james-webb-spa...cope-tarantula

Found an article on how you can download a JWST picture onto your Phone or Computer:
https://en.as.com/latest_news/how-to...or-computer-n/

A reminder, since there are no Duke stamps, the JWST stamp will be publicly available on Friday (Thursday is first day of issue).
https://www.space.com/james-webb-spa...postal-service
If you can't make it to the post office, try stamps.com. The USPS will charge $1 above face value no matter how many stamps you buy.
BTW, they just announced a 'Peanuts' sheet that will be coming out soon. For you Schulz fans. No snoopy constellation yet.
But this reminder:
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronom...snoopy-module/

Larry
DevilHorse

[DevilHorse]

If you're staying up late on Thanksgiving, the DART mission (to hit an asteroid with a missile to 'practice' deflection) is planned to take off at 1:20 on Friday morning EST.
https://www.space.com/nasa-dart-aste...ssion-webcasts

Start shifting your sleep pattern for the Gonzaga game.

Larry
DevilHorse

Does anyone remember DART. Sending a rocket to space to hit a small asteroid to see if its trajectory can be changed? September 26, at 7:14, that craft is due to hit Dimorphos, the small satellite around Didymos.
https://www.iflscience.com/nasa-is-g...p9HLIgYYJE9-dU

NASA has been observing the orbit of Dimorphos closely so it can tell if crashing DART into it will have a measurable effect.

Larry
DimorphosHorse

[DevilHorse]

Does anyone remember DART. Sending a rocket to space to hit a small asteroid to see if its trajectory can be changed? September 26, at 7:14, that craft is due to hit Dimorphos, the small satellite around Didymos.
https://www.iflscience.com/nasa-is-g...p9HLIgYYJE9-dU

NASA has been observing the orbit of Dimorphos closely so it can tell if crashing DART into it will have a measurable effect.

Larry
DimorphosHorse

More dirt on DART. Better graphics:
https://spaceexplored.com/2022/09/08...er-this-month/

Larry
DidymousHorse

[CameronBornAndBred]

This is nice to see. A rocket carrying a New Shepard capsule (sans passengers) had issues mid-flight, but the safety systems kicked in and did what they are designed to do.

The New Shepard rocket and capsule system developed by US billionaire Jeff Bezos has had to abort a mission mid-flight over the Texas desert.

The rocket experienced what appeared to be a propulsion failure about one minute after leaving the launch pad.

A motor pushed the capsule clear, enabling it to make a soft return to the ground with the aid of parachutes.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/bezos-roc...151838835.html

[DevilHorse]

Well this will cause a lot of speculation:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/15/world...scn/index.html

Larry
DevilHorse

[camion]

Well this will cause a lot of speculation:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/15/world...scn/index.html

Larry
DevilHorse

The samples are scheduled to be returned to Earth in 2033 I believe. They say that they will need to analyze the samples in an Earth lab to determine whether the organics were truly indicative of life.


So, a decade to wait after this teaser.

[DevilHorse]

The samples are scheduled to be returned to Earth in 2033 I believe. They say that they will need to analyze the samples in an Earth lab to determine whether the organics were truly indicative of life.


So, a decade to wait after this teaser.

Elon Musk suggests that his latest timeline for humans on Mars is 2029. Assuming his plan also includes a return trip, maybe he can pick up those samples bring them back. I'd be surprised if there were objections.

Larry
DevilHorse

[DevilHorse]

More dirt on DART. Better graphics:
https://spaceexplored.com/2022/09/08...er-this-month/

Larry
DidymousHorse

DART is Monday!

The spacecraft will collide with Dimorphos at 4:14 p.m. PT/7:14 p.m. ET on Monday, Sept. 26. Live coverage is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET via NASA TV.

Shana Tovah to all celebrating the New Year (also on Monday).

Larry
DevilHorse