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[GONz]

Well will you have a look at that ???

IKAROS's sail deployed!

Source : http://news.discovery.com/space/japans-solar-sail-photographed-in-orbit.html

 

[DrForester]

The Orientale Basin.

Get Your 122 Mb .TIF with a resolution of 13,590 x 13,590 Here

http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/data/pr/tiff/orient_100m.tif

 

[The_Inquisitor]

Hold on guys.

Does anyone know how the fuck I could use my Rebel XS to take space photos properly?

I have a 50mm prime, 15-55 kit lens, and a 70-200mm L lens.

 

[Hootie]

Any explanation as to why the Moon was clearly visible in the sky all throughout the day today? And now it looks slightly bigger than usual and reddish/brown colored.

 

[big_z]

Any explanation as to why the Moon was clearly visible in the sky all throughout the day today? And now it looks slightly bigger than usual and reddish/brown colored.

2012?

actually im curious myself.

 

[Extollere]

Any explanation as to why the Moon was clearly visible in the sky all throughout the day today? And now it looks slightly bigger than usual and reddish/brown colored.

Those pills you took.

 

[Wallach]

Any explanation as to why the Moon was clearly visible in the sky all throughout the day today? And now it looks slightly bigger than usual and reddish/brown colored.

It's a harvest moon (although you don't call it a harvest moon except in September, I don't remember what they're called in June).

 

[Eiji]

Any explanation as to why the Moon was clearly visible in the sky all throughout the day today? And now it looks slightly bigger than usual and reddish/brown colored.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

Hold on guys.

Does anyone know how the fuck I could use my Rebel XS to take space photos properly?

I have a 50mm prime, 15-55 kit lens, and a 70-200mm L lens.

A telescope and telescope adaptor for Canon bodies.

 

[Splinter]

You guys will probably like this (if it hasn't been posted before.)

Trans Neptunian objects ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Neptunian_object )

The planet Sedna

Eris, another dwarf planet that orbits our Sun.

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And Nemesis, a hypothetical star that orbits our sun that disrupts comets in the Oort cloud enough to cause them to eventually shoot towards our solar system... fucking us up.

This red dwarf sun is theorized to be the reason for Sedna's highly eccentric elliptical orbit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemesis_(star)

 

[Teknoman]

Any explanation as to why the Moon was clearly visible in the sky all throughout the day today? And now it looks slightly bigger than usual and reddish/brown colored.

Was like that for awhile last year, except not reddish brown.

 

[Naked Snake]

Japanese space kite, bitches!

Awesome!

 

[Windu]

 

[mckmas8808]

That image is soooooo awesome. Just the thought that the shuttle is going into space is amazing to watch from that point of view.

 

[The Librarian]

Very cool.

 

[Memphis Reigns]

Seeing that photo makes you realize "holy shit we are launching that shuttle off of a planet and into space!"

Really puts our accomplishments into perspective and makes you wonder where we will be in a few centuries.l

 

[abstract alien]

That has to be one of the best photos I've ever seen.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

Seeing that photo makes you realize "holy shit we are launching that shuttle off of a planet and into space!"

Really puts our accomplishments into perspective and makes you wonder where we will be in a few centuries.l

As much as I'd hate to be pessimistic, this is crap we've been doing for 50 years. We haven't progressed much considering some of the breakthroughs we were doing in the 50s and 60s.

 

[Memphis Reigns]

As much as I'd hate to be pessimistic, this is crap we've been doing for 50 years. We haven't progressed much considering some of the breakthroughs we were doing in the 50s and 60s.

Oh trust me I am deeply concerned that we haven't progressed much with our space flight technology but for some reason this photo gave me hope that we are destined to venture to the stars and will eventually do so.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

Oh trust me I am deeply concerned that we haven't progressed much with our space flight technology but for some reason this photo gave me hope that we are destined to venture to the stars and will eventually do so.

Yes we will one day. Perhaps 100 years from now, perhaps 200. Space Mining asteroids for minerals and fuel will be what kick starts intersteller travel.

 

[Lucky Forward]

Fun interview with Buzz Aldrin wherein he discusses space poop disposal...

A: Sometimes we’d dispose of it during an EVA (extra-vehicular activity), when we were getting rid of a bunch of extra stuff. We did that on Gemini 12. I remember we were headed local horizontal, local vertical, and we opened the hatch and I had three bags worth gripped between my legs,

Q: Three bags of…?

A: Yeah, yeah. And I just tossed them like this. (Pantomimes throwing bags over his shoulders.) Straight up! Being very familiar with orbital mechanics, I should have realized what I’d just done. I’d put those three bags on a free return trajectory. (Laughs.) Straight back to us!

Q: This is starting to sound like a Farrelly Brothers comedy.

A: So an orbit later, we looked out the window and there were three bags in a row, heading straight for us.

Q: Did you recognize what they were right away? A couple of years ago you hinted that you might’ve seen a UFO during a space mission. Is it possible you were just looking at floating bags of your own poo?

A: (Laughs.) No, not at all. They were very close. We could certainly tell what they were.

 

[Naked Snake]

Fun interview with Buzz Aldrin wherein he discusses space poop disposal...

:lol

 

[abstract alien]

And just when you think you kinda sorta maybe get what black holes are about...

A black hole cannot be viewed directly because light cannot escape it. However, matter swirling around a black hole, usually gas and dust, heats up and emits radiation that can be detected. However, deep in the center of a supermassive black hole, stars can also be found.

I found it on a random site of facts, but is there any sort of truth to this? I makes absolutely no sense to me in the slightest.

 

[UrbanRats]

And just when you think you kinda sorta maybe get what black holes are about...



I found it on a random site of facts, but is there any sort of truth to this? I makes absolutely no sense to me in the slightest.

WAT? °___°

 

[Dynoro]

First image of an extrasolar planet

And its 8 times the mass of Jupiter (its the little speck above the star)

 

[Naked Snake]

What's the measurement of that scale? 1 inch? (lolz) 1 degree? And what's the point of standard compass directions in three dimensional space?

 

[The Librarian]

What's the measurement of that scale? 1 inch? (lolz) 1 degree? And what's the point of standard compass directions in three dimensional space?

It helps you find your way around the pretty picture.

 

[Extollere]

It probably has to due with it's orientation in the sky, as it relates to Earth. I'm no scientist, but that's my guess.

On a side note, this is pretty cool - Jupiter and Mars both appear as fuzzy dots like that through binoculars and low power telescopes. I wonder how long it will be until we get a more detailed picture of how the planet actually looks, if ever.

 

[Neverender]

I just finished watching Cosmos, can anyone recommend a good space-themed documentary series? I liked the philosophical themes that Cosmos often related to, so something similar would be good but I'm still down for a straight up informative documentary.

 

[innervision961]

I just finished watching Cosmos, can anyone recommend a good space-themed documentary series? I liked the philosophical themes that Cosmos often related to, so something similar would be good but I'm still down for a straight up informative documentary.

The BBC "Wonders of the Solar System" is amazing! It is akin to the "modern" version of Cosmos. (although no one can hold a candle

Spoiler

in the dark

to Sagan, RIP)

Morgan Freeman and the Science channel's "Through the Wormhole" is pretty groovy.

History Channel's "The Universe" (can't really recommend though, as I haven't watched it)

Honorable Mentions: The Planets, Naked Science and if and when Hubble

 

[Neverender]

The BBC "Wonders of the Solar System" is amazing! It is akin to the "modern" version of Cosmos. (although no one can hold a candle

Spoiler

in the dark

to Sagan, RIP)

Morgan Freeman and the Science channel's "Through the Wormhole" is pretty groovy.

History Channel's "The Universe" (can't really recommend though, as I haven't watched it)

Honorable Mentions: The Planets, Naked Science and if and when Hubble

I will check out all of these! Thank you!

 

[Walshicus]

The BBC "Wonders of the Solar System" is amazing! It is akin to the "modern" version of Cosmos. (although no one can hold a candle

Spoiler

in the dark

to Sagan, RIP)

It wasn't bad, but suffers from the annoying tendencies that all space documentaries have these days; it tries too hard to relate EVERYTHING to terrestrial phenomena, and overstates the search for life.

 

[bigmit3737]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z3cVQcfb-w&playnext_from=TL&videos=KCh0u6kxCP0

That was amazing. More please!

 

[Naked Snake]

The BBC "Wonders of the Solar System" is amazing! It is akin to the "modern" version of Cosmos. (although no one can hold a candle

Spoiler

in the dark

to Sagan, RIP)

I watched three episodes of "Wonders of the Solar System" so far. Loved the first two (especially the second one), didn't enjoy the third one as much. Two more to go.

I saw a couple of episodes from The Universe and really liked them (first one and last one from season one). I read the first two seasons are great.

 

[Memphis Reigns]

First image of an extrasolar planet

And its 8 times the mass of Jupiter (its the little speck above the star)

Wait what? I thought we weren't going to have a direct image of an extrasolar planet until JWST? Maybe I was just thinking we won't have an earth-like image until then. Either way, so awesome.

 

[fallout]

A little more close to home, NASA put together a list of Ten Cool Things Seen in the First Year of LRO.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/first-year.html

There's some really neat stuff in there, but this one stood out to me:

The Apollo 14 Near Miss of Cone Crater

While all of the Apollo missions are fascinating, the Apollo 14 activities provided a particularly interesting story to see in the images from LRO. The mission called for Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell to go to Fra Maura where they would attempt to gather samples from the rim of Cone Crater. Without having the aid of the lunar rover and having to drag a cart full of scientific equipment along with them, the trek from the descent module to Cone Crater proved to be a physically intense one.

After traversing nearly a mile (1400 meters), the steep incline of the crater rim, the high heart rates of the astronauts and the tight schedule of the activity resulted in mission control ordering them to gather whatever samples they could and return to the landing module. They never reached the edge of the crater.

Though geologists say it did not greatly affect the success of the scientific goal, the astronauts were personally disappointed in failing to make it to the top. Images from LRO now show precisely just how far the astronauts traveled and how close they came to reaching the crater, their tracks ending only about 100 feet (30 meters) from the rim!

(click image for larger version)

 

[UrbanRats]

First image of an extrasolar planet

And its 8 times the mass of Jupiter (its the little speck above the star)

Ok, a stupid question: How come that we can photograph a planet 500 LY away, but we can't see a planet 4 LY away, from the Alpha Centauri system? I guess it doesn't work quite like this, but being nearer, shouldn't it be much easy to see?

 

[Extollere]

Ok, a stupid question: How come that we can photograph a planet 500 LY away, but we can't see a planet 4 LY away, from the Alpha Centauri system? I guess it doesn't work quite like this, but being nearer, shouldn't it be much easy to see?

Bear in mind that the planet from that photo is fucking HUGE. Also, It's orbit appears to be "facing" us, making it much easier to see. Alpha Centauri is also a 2 (or 3) star system, which would probably make it extremely difficult to resolve images of planets no matter what direction their orbit faces. At least I'd imagine so. I don't think they've discovered any planets in the system thus far, and big Jupiter like planets (as the one from the photo above) might not exist due to the gravitational and angular momentum effects in the 2 star system. Terrestrial planets, if they exist there, would still be far too small and delicate to resolve through telescope technology at this time, even at only 5 light years away (a ridiculous distance still... yet not far at all). However a planet 8 times larger in mass than Jupiter can be seen in a single star system with the right conditions elsewhere.

 

[RankoSD]

Here's some neat stuff:

When we look up on a clear night we can see about 5.000 of the closest stars and our eyes struggle to see beyond the 1.000 light years because of the dust that blanket space and dims the distant starlight.
So, without a telescope we can only see a small portion of the entire 100.000 light year wide Milky Way.

Here's the picture of what our eyes can actually see:

 

[Naked Snake]

^ Wow, damn!

I'm getting a telescope one day for sure.

 

[thelegend69697]

Shuttle Launch + Sky Divers = Awesome #2852

Not actually the space shuttle. This is the June 7 2007 liftoff of a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Still an awesome photo.

 

[Orgun]

Wouldnt like to be caught in this when it ignites

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1709.html

Smoother Landings
Spacecraft attempting to land on an unfamiliar surface need to perform a maneuver called “deep throttling" -- a step that allows the vehicle to precisely throttle down to perform a smooth, controlled landing. NASA and industry partners have demonstrated this type of engine control capability to help design a more reliable and robust descent engine that could be used to land space exploration vehicles on the moon, an asteroid or another planet.

The Common Extensible Cryogenic Engine, also known as CECE, recently completed the fourth and final series of hot-fire tests on a 15,000-pound thrust class cryogenic technology demonstrator rocket engine, increasing the throttling capability by 35 percent over previous tests. This test series demonstrated this engine could go from a thrust range of 104 percent power down to 5.9 percent. This equates to an unprecedented 17.6:1 deep-throttling capability, which means this cryogenic engine can quickly throttle up and down.

Image Credit: NASA

 

[The_Inquisitor]

Wouldnt like to be caught in this when it ignites

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1709.html

Smoother Landings
Spacecraft attempting to land on an unfamiliar surface need to perform a maneuver called “deep throttling" -- a step that allows the vehicle to precisely throttle down to perform a smooth, controlled landing. NASA and industry partners have demonstrated this type of engine control capability to help design a more reliable and robust descent engine that could be used to land space exploration vehicles on the moon, an asteroid or another planet.

The Common Extensible Cryogenic Engine, also known as CECE, recently completed the fourth and final series of hot-fire tests on a 15,000-pound thrust class cryogenic technology demonstrator rocket engine, increasing the throttling capability by 35 percent over previous tests. This test series demonstrated this engine could go from a thrust range of 104 percent power down to 5.9 percent. This equates to an unprecedented 17.6:1 deep-throttling capability, which means this cryogenic engine can quickly throttle up and down.

Image Credit: NASA

Is that ice buildup on the edges of the rocket from simulating the colder temperatures in space? I don't even want to know what the cost of that temperature chamber is. :lol :lol

 

[Lucky Forward]

Is that ice buildup on the edges of the rocket from simulating the colder temperatures in space? I don't even want to know what the cost of that temperature chamber is. :lol :lol

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/multimedia/cece.html

How can a rocket engine that generates 5,000 degree steam and 13,800 lbs of thrust form icicles at the rim of its nozzle? It's cryogenic. The Common Extensible Cryogenic Engine, CECE for short, based on the design of the heritage Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RL10 engine, has completed its third round of intensive testing. This technology development engine is fueled by a mixture of minus 297F liquid oxygen and minus 423F liquid hydrogen. The engine components are super-cooled to similar low temperatures. As the CECE burns its frigid fuels, gas composed of hot steam is produced and propelled out the nozzle creating thrust. This high speed, hot gas mixture is essential for propulsion. The steam is cooled by the cold engine nozzle, condensing and eventually freezing at the nozzle exit to form icicles. Using liquid hydrogen and oxygen in rockets will provide major advantages for landing astronauts on the moon. Hydrogen is very light but enables about 40 percent greater performance (force on the rocket per pound of propellant) than other rocket fuels. Therefore, NASA can use this weight savings to bring a bigger spacecraft with a greater payload to the moon than with the same amount of conventional propellants. CECE is a step forward in NASA's efforts to develop reliable, robust technologies to return to the moon -- and a winter wonder.

They don't say so explicitly, but I think the super-cooled fuel is actually circulated through the engine bell on its way to the rocket chamber in order to keep the engine bell cool, so its outer surface is freezing cold.

 

[HolyCheck]

In Australia if you get out of the city it's pretty much remote everywhere with nothing around and you look at the sky and it's all OMFG THERE'S SO MANY STARS. You can definitely see the Milky Way, but it's not as amazing as that time lapse video, obviously.

I'm reading through the last page or so now.... so excuse if I post again... or edit this post with a quote.. or just reply .... (and yes I'm aware derFeef's post has been linked too about buying a telescope [I haven't done it yet ] has been quoted!) and I'm really loving that I live about 30Kilometres out of Adelaide in the Hills, I can actually make out the band of the Milky Way (is that how the kids are reffering it as) when I look up [Bright band of stars] And It blows my mind every single night... my urge to spend $2000 on a decent telescope, over the $400 I could spent at the National Geographic store any day, rises and rises every single evening after 7pm....

 

[OriginalThinking]

Why did I never look in this thread? New desktop and Google search background found!!

 

[Hawk SE]

For the love of this thread, I have seen no Whirlpool Galaxy:

CLICK FOR BIGGER VERSION

 

[The_Inquisitor]

This thread keeps reminding me that after college I am going to get a 2000+ mm telescope and rig it to my DSLR to photograph the cosmos.

I promise to post pictures when I get it done.

 

[McNei1y]

And just when you think you kinda sorta maybe get what black holes are about...



I found it on a random site of facts, but is there any sort of truth to this? I makes absolutely no sense to me in the slightest.

Soooo there are Objects inside this Black Hole? Are they stating that it actually leads to some dimension or that it creates "space" within it? I'm confused. !!

 

[iNvid02]

i cant describe how some of the pictures, and facts about space in general make me feel, its so weird. its like a good feeling but im not sure what. all i know is i love space :lol