Search found 157 matches

by Sam
Sat Dec 10, 2011 5:17 pm
Forum: The Observation Deck: Latest Sky Photography
Topic: Submission Gallery: Lunar eclipse, 2011 December 10
Replies: 63
Views: 303387

Re: Submission Gallery: Lunar eclipse, 2011 December 10

Oh it was so beautiful! Pictures taken near Charles City, IA https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/389795_252549154807988_100001587151877_698324_584287689_n.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/390678_252549221474648_100001587151877_698325_1660436162_n.jpg https://...
by Sam
Fri Dec 02, 2011 3:25 am
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: Young Moon Meets Evening Star (2011 Dec 01)
Replies: 18
Views: 3199

Re: APOD: Young Moon Meets Evening Star (2011 Dec 01)

The picture shows exaggerated elliptical orbits to more clearly answer your question. Wow, that picture really helps, thanks! :b: However, I also found this page: The general geometry of how the dichotomy occurs is easy to understand. It is where the inferior planet’s position is at right angles to...
by Sam
Thu Dec 01, 2011 7:09 pm
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: Young Moon Meets Evening Star (2011 Dec 01)
Replies: 18
Views: 3199

Re: APOD: Young Moon Meets Evening Star (2011 Dec 01)

From the first link, " Venus shines ," I learned that the dichotomy of Venus (disc is exactly 50% illuminated) always occurs 4-6 days before or after greatest elongation. How is this so? I thought that at greatest elongation the Sun-Venus-Earth angle is 90°. If this is true, shouldn't dich...
by Sam
Thu Dec 01, 2011 1:06 am
Forum: The Asterisk Café: Discuss Anything Astronomy Related
Topic: Suddenly last Xmas.
Replies: 15
Views: 3087

Re: Suddenly last Xmas.

neufer wrote:I don't think that we've ever seen a picture of Beyeond.
Sure we have :!:
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
by Sam
Fri Nov 18, 2011 6:26 am
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: Pleiades to Hyades (2011 Nov 17)
Replies: 23
Views: 3676

Re: APOD: Pleiades to Hyades (2011 Nov 17)

APOD Robot wrote:...gentle constellation Taurus.
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
by Sam
Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:31 pm
Forum: The Observation Deck: Latest Sky Photography
Topic: Recent Submissions: 2011 October 10-13
Replies: 25
Views: 6255

Re: Recent Submissions

Chris, those are beautiful, thank you.
by Sam
Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:28 pm
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: QR Codes: Not for Human Eyes (2011 Oct 04)
Replies: 408
Views: 79257

Re: APOD: QR Codes: Not for Human Eyes (2011 Oct 04)

:idea: First, I like this APOD because it makes me reflect on our technological identity: On one hand, we've created, over a very short time, machines capable of reading, extracting, and organizing the tons of information we put out. The Wikipedia page on bar codes is fascinating and worth a read. O...
by Sam
Sat Oct 01, 2011 5:03 am
Forum: Ship's Log: APOD Retrospectives and Collections
Topic: APOD Retrospective: October 1
Replies: 1
Views: 4763

Re: APOD Retrospective: October 1

2003 An Unusual Event Over South Wales http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0310/fireball_burnett.jpg Jon Burnett, a teenager from South Wales, UK, was photographing some friends skateboarding last week when the sky did something very strange. By diverting his camera, he was able to document this rare s...
by Sam
Sat Sep 24, 2011 10:34 pm
Forum: The Observation Deck: Latest Sky Photography
Topic: Recent Submissions: 2011 September 19-25
Replies: 22
Views: 4417

Re: Recent Submissions

Perseus, Pleiades, and Corn on the first day of Autumn --
Sam
by Sam
Sat Sep 24, 2011 12:45 pm
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: Earth's Cloudy Twin (1996 Sep 23)
Replies: 2
Views: 1505

Re: APOD: Earth's Cloudy Twin (1996 Sep 23)

orin stepanek wrote:I don't have the answer to your question, but wow; that is an old APOD! :)
Indeed! Thanks to bystander for bringing it to my retrospective attention: http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=25355.

--
Sam
by Sam
Sat Sep 24, 2011 12:41 pm
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: September's Aurora (2011 Sep 23)
Replies: 12
Views: 3353

Re: APOD: September's Aurora (2011 Sep 23)

I recommend spending some time looking at the Yellowknife area in Google maps- :shock: -it's like nothing I've ever seen.
Places like that make me realize how frighteningly big the world is.
by Sam
Fri Sep 23, 2011 5:09 am
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: Earth's Cloudy Twin (1996 Sep 23)
Replies: 2
Views: 1505

APOD: Earth's Cloudy Twin (1996 Sep 23)

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_960923.jpg Earth's Cloudy Twin Explanation: If Venus weren't so cloudy it would be more similar to Earth. This picture by the Galileo spacecraft shows just how cloudy Venus is. Venus is very similar to Earth in size and mass - and so is sometimes referred to as ...
by Sam
Thu Sep 22, 2011 5:50 pm
Forum: Open Space: Discuss Anything
Topic: Astronomically Bad Jokes (Or good)
Replies: 453
Views: 115395

Re: Astronomically Bad Jokes (Or good)

neufer wrote:Art And Science Statues, London
"The nakedness of woman is the work of God"
-William Blake
by Sam
Sat Aug 27, 2011 5:41 am
Forum: The Observation Deck: Latest Sky Photography
Topic: HiRISE Updates (2011 Aug 17)
Replies: 23
Views: 2737

Re: HiRISE Updates (2011 Aug 17)

rstevenson wrote:So now we have 4 Hertz and 8 Hertz -- I feel a tune coming on!
Somewhere ...
by Sam
Fri Aug 19, 2011 4:12 am
Forum: Open Space: Discuss Anything
Topic: Core
Replies: 11
Views: 1321

Re: Core

Earth's Crust Missing In Mid-Atlantic ScienceDaily (Mar. 2, 2007) http://images.sciencedaily.com/2007/03/070301103112.jpg Cardiff University scientists will shortly set sail (March 5) to investigate a startling discovery in the depths of the Atlantic. Scientists have discovered a large area thousan...
by Sam
Sun Aug 14, 2011 5:58 pm
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: Juno Rockets Toward Jupiter (2011 Aug 09)
Replies: 39
Views: 7299

Re: APOD: Juno Rockets Toward Jupiter (2011 Aug 09)

Consider also the mayhem and speculation that would ensue if we were to find, on another world, life so closely related to our own. The cases for the two opposing hypotheses, - "Life originated on Mars and came to Earth!" vs. - "Life originated on Earth and went to Mars!" would b...
by Sam
Sat Aug 13, 2011 6:18 pm
Forum: The Asterisk Café: Discuss Anything Astronomy Related
Topic: What did you see in the sky tonight?
Replies: 1303
Views: 1104934

Re: What did you see in the sky tonight?

I guess this was a few nights ago now, but after seeing the submissions here and here , I am now convinced that I was lucky enough to happen to be looking at the moon through binoculars just as it occulted Pi Sagittarii! (I had been confused due to a misreading of the timing charts at http://www.lun...
by Sam
Fri Aug 12, 2011 1:10 pm
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: NGC 7331 and Beyond (2011 Aug 12)
Replies: 36
Views: 8323

Re: APOD: NGC 7331 and Beyond (2011 Aug 12)

Using the inverse of the square of distance, isn't the statement about 1/10 size are ten times further away incorrect? You're thinking of gravity . Angular diameter varies with the arctangent of the distance (unless there happens to be a lot of gravity in between). http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikip...
by Sam
Mon Aug 08, 2011 8:11 pm
Forum: The Asterisk Café: Discuss Anything Astronomy Related
Topic: What color is the Milky Way, and what does this color mean?
Replies: 20
Views: 5715

Re: What color is the Milky Way, and what does this color me

bystander wrote:
neufer wrote:Don't you know that the PROPER way to break up
a 3-Musketeers is into 3 (or possibly 4) pieces.
But you still have to start with two!
Not necessarily:
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
by Sam
Mon Aug 08, 2011 2:22 am
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: MyCn18: An Hourglass Planetary Nebula (2011 Aug 07)
Replies: 24
Views: 5762

Re: APOD: MyCn18: An Hourglass Planetary Nebula (2011 Aug 07

I discovered, from the hydrogen link, the origin of the phrase, "Oh the humanity!"

(I thought it was the from the unknown 20th century poet, Newman.)
by Sam
Sat Aug 06, 2011 3:22 pm
Forum: The Asterisk Café: Discuss Anything Astronomy Related
Topic: What did you see in the sky tonight?
Replies: 1303
Views: 1104934

Re: What did you see in the sky tonight?

owlice wrote:: gnashes teeth with envy :
: weeps into her tea :
No! Don't be sad.
You rather inspired me: if Owlice can fly to Edmonton or such to see it, I can surely drive two hours.

--
Sam
by Sam
Sat Aug 06, 2011 2:40 pm
Forum: The Asterisk Café: Discuss Anything Astronomy Related
Topic: What did you see in the sky tonight?
Replies: 1303
Views: 1104934

Re: What did you see in the sky tonight?

Ahem. I saw:
Northern Lights
Milky Way
Lightning
Perseids

AT THE SAME TIME
From an observation tower in central Minnesota
while listening to mysterious creatures munching 100 feet below.
Pretty sure I also heard an owl.
So happy.
:D