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General Astronomy/Cosmology Thread


A.J

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Posted
  • Location: Chorlton (h) Cheadle Royal (o)
  • Location: Chorlton (h) Cheadle Royal (o)

Is anyone trying to observe the transit of Mercury? Here in Manchester it's wonderfully sunny, but windy, so much so that both my binoculars and the bit of paper I was trying to project the sun onto were shaking and flapping like mad. Still, I made out a wee dot. I'll try again later at home, I have a bracket to hold binoculars on a tripod somewhere.

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Posted
  • Location: Derbyshire Peak District South Pennines Middleton & Smerrill Tops 305m (1001ft) asl.
  • Location: Derbyshire Peak District South Pennines Middleton & Smerrill Tops 305m (1001ft) asl.

Yes its a little windy but here's my attempt with an old spotting scope, You can just make it out off centre to the lower right. The faint spot off centre to the upper left is a sunspot.

 

20160509_163718.png

Edited by Polar Maritime
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Posted
  • Location: Whaley Bridge - Peak District
  • Location: Whaley Bridge - Peak District

I'm exploiting the parents service's every hour or two in marking the transit time using projection, helps having a extra pair of hands and thankfully the wind has settled down here a little in allowing more stable observing.

DSC_0049.JPG

Untitled.jpg

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  • 2 months later...
Posted
  • Location: Ireland, probably South Tipperary
  • Weather Preferences: Cold, Snow, Windstorms and Thunderstorms
  • Location: Ireland, probably South Tipperary

We're hosting an AMA on /r/science that might be of interest here:

Science AMA Series: I’m Dr. Patrick McCarthy, interim president for the Giant Magellan Telescope. I’m leading the team building the world’s largest telescope. AMA!

Hi Redditors, I’m Pat McCarthy, and I’m looking forward to talking about life as a working astronomer with you! A little about me: I’m best known for my work observing the formation of the earliest galaxies and my study of distant low frequency cosmic radio sources. In the late 1990s, my colleagues and I were among the first to explore the distant universe – galaxies and quasars more than halfway back towards the big bang!
I joined the Carnegie Observatories as a Carnegie Fellow in 1988, after completing my PhD at the University of California at Berkeley. In 1991, I received the Hubble Fellowship, during the second year of its program and I joined the faculty at Carnegie in 1993.
For more than a decade I worked at Carnegie in an office next to the one used by Einstein during his summer visits to Pasadena and just above Edwin Hubble’s office. I was part of the team that developed the last, and most powerful instrument, to be deployed on the Hubble Space Telescope. This instrument has allowed us to see galaxies when the Universe was only 500 million years old! I am now working to support development of the next generation of giant telescopes on the ground, telescopes that Hubble could only dream of.
Today, I lead the team of scientists and engineers building the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), an enormous instrument comprised of seven primary mirror segments—the seven largest mirrors ever made—that will stretch to more than 80 feet across once complete. The GMT will explore the cosmos to observe the first stars in the universe, offering images 10 times sharper than those coming from the Hubble Space Telescope. Since 2008, I’ve served as the head of the non-profit corporation, GMTO, that is charged with carrying out the development, construction and operation of the telescope and related facilities. My day-to-day responsibilities include ensuring that the telescope and its instruments will be able to address the key questions at the forefront of astrophysics in 2020 and beyond.

Proof! 

I’ll be back at 1 pm EST (10 am PST, 6 pm UTC) to answer your questions, ask me anything!

https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/4u28ga/science_ama_series_im_dr_patrick_mccarthy_interim/

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Posted
  • Location: Leeds/Bradford border, 185 metres above sea level, around 600 feet
  • Location: Leeds/Bradford border, 185 metres above sea level, around 600 feet

Pretty sure i saw a meteor at about 00:30 last night. Are we passing through a comet tail?

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Posted
  • Location: Birmingham
  • Location: Birmingham

Looking forward to the Perseids meteor shower - well the peak anyway as we're already within the period where we can see them. Have already spotted a few meteors when the night skies have been clear recently.  

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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.
  • Weather Preferences: Thunder, snow, heat, sunshine...
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.

Oh dear...time I called home:Calling Interstellar Craft...

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Posted
  • Location: South East UK
  • Weather Preferences: Thunderstorms/squalls/hoar-frost/mist
  • Location: South East UK
On 28/07/2016 at 13:28, weather09 said:

Looking forward to the Perseids meteor shower - well the peak anyway as we're already within the period where we can see them. Have already spotted a few meteors when the night skies have been clear recently.  

Ive seen a few over the last 3 nights with green trails, looks like a cloud-fest tonight so annoying:wallbash:, maybe friday night will be better...

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Posted
  • Location: Kensington
  • Location: Kensington

Looks like  rosseta has landed on its final destination   looking forward to the pics being sent back.

Edit  here is one 5 or so miles from the comet

ross.jpg

Edited by weirpig
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...
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Posted
  • Location: Sunderland
  • Weather Preferences: Hot Summer, Snowy winter and thunderstorms all year round!
  • Location: Sunderland

 a belated reply, but yes, it is indeed Venus

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Posted
  • Location: Near King's Lynn 13.68m ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Hoar Frost, Snow, Misty Autumn mornings
  • Location: Near King's Lynn 13.68m ASL
Posted
  • Location: Kensington
  • Location: Kensington
2 minutes ago, Yarmy said:

saw that  earlier.  Possibly a new planet that orbits a seperate sun that could sustain life.?   Or Nibiru if you watch You Tube

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Posted
  • Location: Exeter, Devon, UK. alt 10m asl
  • Location: Exeter, Devon, UK. alt 10m asl

I've seen a blog suggesting it will the announcement of additional planets around TRAPPIST-1 based on the blogger's looking into the the relevant scientists recent publications and correspondence.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRAPPIST-1

Will have to wait and see if that is the case and if so, if there is any additional info along the lines of some of the UK press stories doing the rounds.

My view - I'm wondering if they've found Donald Trumps home planet?

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Posted
  • Location: Haute Vienne, Limousin, France (404m ASL)
  • Weather Preferences: Warm and sunny with night time t-storms
  • Location: Haute Vienne, Limousin, France (404m ASL)
2 hours ago, swebby said:

I've seen a blog suggesting it will the announcement of additional planets around TRAPPIST-1 based on the blogger's looking into the the relevant scientists recent publications and correspondence.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRAPPIST-1

Will have to wait and see if that is the case and if so, if there is any additional info along the lines of some of the UK press stories doing the rounds.

My view - I'm wondering if they've found Donald Trumps home planet?

Here we go:

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39034050

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Posted
  • Location: Haute Vienne, Limousin, France (404m ASL)
  • Weather Preferences: Warm and sunny with night time t-storms
  • Location: Haute Vienne, Limousin, France (404m ASL)
2 hours ago, Mokidugway said:

Fancy that for hols spike

IMG_1146.JPG

I do, Moki!

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...
Posted
  • Location: Powys Mid Wales borders.
  • Location: Powys Mid Wales borders.

New Way to Make Plasma Propulsion Lighter and More Efficient.

Plasma propulsion is a subject of keen interest to astronomers and space agencies. As a highly-advanced technology that offers considerable fuel-efficiency over conventional chemical rockets, it is currently being used in everything from spacecraft and satellites to exploratory missions. And looking to the future, flowing plasma is also being investigated for more advanced propulsion concepts, as well as magnetic-confined fusion.

https://www.universetoday.com/135708/new-way-make-plasma-propulsion-lighter-efficient/

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 11.08.2016 at 14:59, Sprites said:

Ive seen a few over the last 3 nights with green trails, looks like a cloud-fest tonight so annoying:wallbash:, maybe friday night will be better...

I often can't see the sky clearly when it's needed. That time it's been raining the whole night through :diablo: The one good thing about it, I've found http://solarstory.net/comets/. They have a live video feed from the outside of the International Space Station.

Edited by Beehelp
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  • 4 months later...
Posted
  • Location: Powys Mid Wales borders.
  • Location: Powys Mid Wales borders.

ESO Telescopes Observe First Light from Gravitational Wave Source

Merging neutron stars scatter gold and platinum into space.

ESO’s fleet of telescopes in Chile have detected the first visible counterpart to a gravitational wave source. These historic observations suggest that this unique object is the result of the merger of two neutron stars. The cataclysmic aftermaths of this kind of merger — long-predicted events called kilonovae — disperse heavy elements such as gold and platinum throughout the Universe. This discovery, published in several papers in the journal Nature and elsewhere, also provides the strongest evidence yet that short-duration gamma-ray bursts are caused by mergers of neutron stars.

For the first time ever, astronomers have observed both gravitational waves and light (electromagnetic radiation) from the same event, thanks to a global collaborative effort and the quick reactions of both ESO’s facilities and others around the world.

https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1733/

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