Starship Asterisk*

Thank you for all those informative responses - most appreciated by this newbie. :D The Wikipedia article on Escape Velocity says, On the surface of the Earth, the escape velocity is about 11.2 kilometers per second ( ~ 6.96 mi/s), which is approximately 34 times the speed of sound (Mach 34) and sev...

I've looked and looked at this Apod, trying to work out why, if it is going up to an orbit of 20,000+miles, the trail doesn't continue straight up. Why does the J curve happen?

There is probably an absolutely obvious answer - but I promise that I won't respond with Duh!

Margarita

Try and try again...
This is posted via my mobile phone rather than my Nexus tablet pc.
It is the same photo that I was trying to upload - odd.
M.

Oh WOW! I have only just found this thread and have read it from start to finish! :derp: :thumb_up: I came onto the forum with serious intent to ask an intelligent (possibly...) Question about today's Apod and have been waylaid by all these gorgeous animals. Regarding Orin and Chris's dogs and such ...

Thank you very much, Anthony, that was a beautifully clear explanation and, as with all good teaching, is so obvious once set out clearly.

Margarita

Anthony Barreiro wrote:<<

From two kilometers distant, the people would have tiny angular dimensions, accounting for how much smaller they look than the half-degree wide Moon.

Can you explain, please, Anthony?
Many thanks
Margarita

I didn't know that... you could crochet a police car. A Finnish woman has done just that. Here you can see pictures of how she did it. Don't expect to be able to read the explanations, however, and don't expect me to translate them, because they are all in Finnish. http://translate.google.com/trans...

owlice wrote:Ah, that's a lovely video!

This is a magical video. I turned off the music because it is the utter silence of gazing into 'space' that gives me goose bumps. Astronomer Patrick Moore never lost his first love for The Moon, and I can see why.

Margarita

I didn't know that... you could crochet a police car. A Finnish woman has done just that. Here you can see pictures of how she did it. Don't expect to be able to read the explanations, however, and don't expect me to translate them, because they are all in Finnish. Ann Incredible... But, ¿¿¡¡WHY!!??

Terry D wrote:Hello all. I'm Terry D, an avid backyard stargeezer with an 18" Obsession dob who finally acted on my life-long interest in astronomy just seven years ago. I'm a little bit older than rock-and-roll, but feel far younger

I love the term 'stargeezer', Terry! Welcome aboard.
Margarita

Owlice wrote What is the collective term for Messier objects?? Regardless of whether I have chosen the right one (suggestions are welcome) for the title of this thread, here are APODs for every Messier object featured relatively on its own over the years A Melange of Messiers? Whatever the collecti...

The bright star above-right of the picture’s center (above-left of the moon) is 1st magnitude Fomalhaut, Alpha Piscis Austrini (in Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish). This star is easily visible from mid-northern latitudes. Above the comet’s arching tail, the pair of brighter stars in a slightly ...

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/search I don't know how well Cornell covers European birds, as I've never had occasion to check, but it is one of the best bird sites on the web. Many thanks. I found my bird - it was a crane. There is a good photo in Wikipedia which shows the blunt end to the win...

I saw a large bird with square tipped wings flying directly overhead, just about sunset. Probably some sea bird going to roost inland. But I could not recognise it. It was probably a heron or even a crane, tho my book of Birds of Tenerife doesn't give cranes for living here. All my bird books have p...

Anthony wrote:
By a happy coincidence Sky and Telescope's This Week's Sky at a Glance gives more detailed instructions for finding Canopus.

How serendipitous. Thanks a lot.

Margarita

Tandil is beautiful, the rocks in Tandil are part of the Tandilia system and are among the oldest rock formations on earth, about 2000 millon years old (I wrote that number right). Back then they were as high as the Himalayas and Earth was only populated by simple organisms. Thousands of years of e...

Got it! Thank you, Luigi.
My friends Marta and Alejandra come from Tandil - I hadn't realised it was still the province of BA . Argentina really is vast.
Margarita

Can ye not see that he is IRISH? O'Rion, begob. :lol2: ........begob :?: :?: ........ Irish —a mild oath Variants of BEGOB be·gob or be·gobs Origin of BEGOB euphemism for by God http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/begob begob (dated, dialectal, Ireland) by God 1894, Arthur Morrison, Martin He...

This casts some light on why the Dung Beetle was the image of a god to the Ancient Egyptians, maybe?
http://www.mythphile.com/2012/01/ancien ... ab-beetle/

Thank you again for the nice comments I'm really happy that you liked the image and I'm also happy to share the south hemisphere skies with my fellow North Hemisphere sky-watchers. I used calsky to predict the ISS pass, it's very easy to see with the naked eye, you will see it dimming in brightness...

Watching for the ISS is a great way to learn the compass directions from your observing location, as well as altitudes above the horizon. It's also a great way to develop patience, as you watch for a second magnitude flicker climbing from the horizon, or waiting for a negative magnitude "super...

There are a number of websites that will tell you when the ISS will be visible from your location. I use http://www.calsky.com/ . Calsky will automatically send you an email alert when the ISS will be visible from your location, with times, directions, and magnitudes. You are a Star! I'll sign up s...

I saw COLD! Below 0'F cold, Orion, and a few bright spots that the 3/4 moon wasn't hideing. Orion was shivering so much, that i thought his sword was going to fall off. Then he woulda been runnin around with his Wee Dirk exposed Aye, laddie... if he be a Scotsman. But the name Orion seems to be mis...

This is a fascinating picture! (Snipped) I love watching the ISS move across the sky, and it's often a bit surprising to me how long it takes to fly from one horizon to the other. And then I think about the fact that it orbits the Earth every 90 minutes, and realize that it's flying really fast, ev...

I wonder if I would be able to see Canopus from here in Tenerife? I had not realised how near to Sirius it is. We are 28°N 16°W. Yes, provided that you have a clear view to the South, Magarita. It should be highest around 11:15 PM local time due South (but at only about a quarter of the height of S...