Starship Asterisk*

http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2013/11/29/comet-ison-update-nov-29-still-kicking/ wrote:

[b][color=#0000FF]Comet ISON early this morning Friday Nov. 29. Clearly, the comet has some life left. It’s both brighter and broader than yesterday evening.[/color][/b]

---

Comet ISON update Nov. 29 – Still kicking!
by Astrobob, Nov. 29

<<ISON refuses to die. Maybe it’s perspective or better illumination of the comet’s dust through forward scattering (backlighting by sunlight – like seeing someone’s breath on a cold day) or further vaporization of the remaining chunks of ISON’s nucleus. Whatever the cause, the comet has clearly brightened over the past six hours. Around 6 o’clock Thursday evening, ISON was fainter than first magnitude Antares. Now it’s at least magnitude 0. Bring it on!>>

geckzilla wrote:The latest news from the live NASA hangout on ISON is that it has very probably disintegrated.

neufer wrote:

Ludo wrote:
Why aren't there anymore up to date reports on the space weather site or in the link mentioned in this post? Quite a lot has happened to Ison since yesterday I imagine...

http://www.nasa.gov/ison/

Ann wrote:In space no one can smell your smell.

geckzilla wrote:

Nitpicker wrote:
The smell of astronomical objects is so rarely discussed. Anyone know any olfacto-astronomers?

Calabash!

Nitpicker wrote:

...

neufer wrote:

A Zubenelgenubi by any other name would smell as sweet.

...

It is my favourite star name.

...

The smell of astronomical objects is so rarely discussed. Anyone know any olfacto-astronomers?

Ludo wrote:
Why aren't there anymore up to date reports on the space weather site or in the link mentioned in this post? Quite a lot has happened to Ison since yesterday I imagine...

Nitpicker wrote:

neufer wrote:
A Zubenelgenubi by any other name would smell as sweet.

It is my favourite star name.

The smell of astronomical objects is so rarely discussed. Anyone know any olfacto-astronomers?

• Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth

http://futurama.wikia.com/wiki/Smell-O-Scope wrote:
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2 ... -Scope.png
http://www.comedycentral.com/video-clip ... melloscope

"If a dog craps anywhere in the universe,
you can bet I won't be out of the loop."
―Hubert J. Farnsworth[source]

<<The Smell-O-Scope was an invention created by Professor Farnsworth. It allowed users to smell odors over extremely long distances. Though it was damaged in Bender's Big Score, it later returned, intact, in The Beast with a Billion Backs. Another, smaller version, shaped like a large cake, was also featured in The Beast with a Billion Backs.>>

neufer wrote:A Zubenelgenubi by any other name would smell as sweet.

Chris Peterson wrote:

Anthony Barreiro wrote:

Chris Peterson wrote:
... Alpha Libra is right next to Saturn, so it's also lost in the twilight.)

Alpha Librae --I know you're quietly campaigning to put the Latin genitive case in the dustbin of history, but we are talking about a star that belongs to the constellation Libra, not about the brightest constellation named Libra, so the genitive makes more sense than the nominative case. One thing I love about the study of astronomy is that it connects us to other people around the world and throughout history, including the opportunity to learn a bit of Latin, Greek, and Arabic.

Nope, using the Latin genitive in an English sentence makes no sense to me. Alpha Libra - the brightest star in the constellation Libra. I don't care if others follow the convention, but I choose not to do so. Since there's no possibility of confusing the meaning, either construction should be fine. (I don't want to get rid of the Latin genitive; when I'm reading Latin, it makes perfect sense!)

Anthony Barreiro wrote:

Chris Peterson wrote: ... Alpha Libra is right next to Saturn, so it's also lost in the twilight.)

Alpha Librae --I know you're quietly campaigning to put the Latin genitive case in the dustbin of history, but we are talking about a star that belongs to the constellation Libra, not about the brightest constellation named Libra, so the genitive makes more sense than the nominative case. One thing I love about the study of astronomy is that it connects us to other people around the world and throughout history, including the opportunity to learn a bit of Latin, Greek, and Arabic.

Chris Peterson wrote: ... Alpha Libra is right next to Saturn, so it's also lost in the twilight.)

Nitpicker wrote:

ristau5741 wrote:what was that object streaking across the video at a high rate of speed in the upper right hand corner about 15-17 seconds into the video???
that thing was flying...

Being a time lapse video, everything is moving much faster than it would naturally. My guess is the streak is a satellite -- they tend to be more visible at dusk and dawn.

Chris Peterson wrote:

Anthony Barreiro wrote:Does anyone know what equipment was used to make this time lapse video? I watched Comet ISON through 11x56mm binoculars the same morning, November 22, although about eight hours after this video was shot, due to my more western longitude. Mercury, Alpha Librae, and Saturn were visible to the unaided eye. In the video I can only see ISON and Mercury. I'm trying to understand the discrepancy.

Given the FOV and sort of equipment most serious imagers use, I'd guess this was taken with a full-frame DSLR and something around a 70 mm lens. Looks like the start was about 5 am. Saturn was only just rising at the end, where the sky is saturating the image, which is why you can't see it. Your eye has a wider effective dynamic range than the camera. In order to have captured Saturn on the sensor, the exposure time would need to be reduced. (Saturn is about as far below Mercury as Mercury is sideways from ISON. Alpha Libra is right next to Saturn, so it's also lost in the twilight.)

Anthony Barreiro wrote:Does anyone know what equipment was used to make this time lapse video? I watched Comet ISON through 11x56mm binoculars the same morning, November 22, although about eight hours after this video was shot, due to my more western longitude. Mercury, Alpha Librae, and Saturn were visible to the unaided eye. In the video I can only see ISON and Mercury. I'm trying to understand the discrepancy.

ristau5741 wrote:what was that object streaking across the video at a high rate of speed in the upper right hand corner about 15-17 seconds into the video???
that thing was flying...