Starship Asterisk*

I wonder if the Earth’s bar would be large enough to form a grand spiral inside. Probably not big enough to do so but it’s vexing we can’t get a full on view of the Milky Way!

Eric

Looking at the middle of the nebula… https://nykdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/F694E93E-2E29-40EF-BACB-716A3C567335-420x420.jpeg I can’t help but think of a resemblance to Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam”… https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/ymQAAOSwBahVUiG1/s-l400.jpg And for Orin :D … https://i....

Man they really punched the crap out of that asteroid!

Eric

One thing I don’t care for with composites like these is the way they process it without any atmospheric haze. It’s razor sharp down to the horizon which would only be true in a vacuum, it’s a contributing factor as why so many of these things look so “fakey” IMO. I don’t have a problem per se with ...

Let alone, all the people . :roll: I don't think all the water in all the humans would be that much. If approximately humans are made of 30 liters of water, It means around 240,000,000,000 liters, which is just 240 million cubic meters. If I have done the calculations correctly, that means all of t...

Can someone clarify why the ball representing "liquid fresh water" is so much larger than the one representing "all fresh-water lakes and rivers"? I thought at first that the difference must be held up in Arctic and Antarctic ice, but it's telling us "liquid fresh water&quo...

“Rationally, "planet" should define any body that is sufficiently massive to form a spherical shape under its own gravity and which orbits a star (or originated in orbit around a star). From there we can further classify them. That whole "clears its orbit of debris" qualificatio...

We know what Earth's north star is. What are the approximate north stars of each planet? And what is the sun's north star? Do all moons have the same tilt as their planet? All moons don’t but at Saturn alone four of it’s major share the same inclination to within a third of a degree. That’s a great...

We know what Earth's north star is. What are the approximate north stars of each planet? And what is the sun's north star? Do all moons have the same tilt as their planet? All moons don’t but at Saturn alone four of it’s major share the same inclination to within a third of a degree. That’s a great...

“Rationally, "planet" should define any body that is sufficiently massive to form a spherical shape under its own gravity and which orbits a star (or originated in orbit around a star). From there we can further classify them. That whole "clears its orbit of debris" qualification...

When I was young (I was born in 1940) and fascinated by Mars, it was mainstream to believe that there was vegetation on Mars. After all, the dark areas changed with the seasons! Now it is close to certain (close, not certain) that there is no life at all on Mars, and so far no trace of previous lif...

planets_iau.jpg planets of our solar system & 2 dwarf planets! Kitty's are doing research! Uh they prefer to be called “little” planets :lol2: Adorable kitties as usual, your pics always bring a smile to my face. Eric I never did like that the planet status was changed! To me a planet is a plan...

orin stepanek wrote: ↑Sun Sep 11, 2022 2:48 pm planets_iau.jpg
planets of our solar system & 2 dwarf planets!
Kitty's are doing research!

Uh they prefer to be called “little” planets
Adorable kitties as usual, your pics always bring a smile to my face.

Eric

The Sun, for lack of a better term, is quite furry or hairy. Fascinating filter and image.

Eric

Could we guess Venus so slowed because it is internally liquid and has strong tidal forces from the Sun ? Mercury must not be liquid as it is small. Mercury actually has a liquid outer core. Venus is still a mystery, it might be practically all liquid, in-between or all solid. There’s not enough in...

As an old atari 8 bit fanboy this…
ROCKS!

Hi everyone, Forgive me but I just wanted you to know of the passing of my kitty Scrappy. She was 17 and she spent uncountable hours stargazing with me and snuggling with me as I read astronomy texts and APOD😺 She was my family and my best friend and I will miss her. I just wanted to share this with...

How to calculate when these transits happen in your location? Is there a website or a platform for that?? I am familiar with Heavens-above, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to tell me when a certain satellite like Tiangong will cross the moon or the sun. https://transit-finder.com/ Is very useful ...

Such beauty. I envy the photographer :) Does anyone know what that yellow light is? It is shining in the sea at the left of the picture, Is it a reflection?? It looks like a buoy reflecting the light of the flash. You can see it in this picture I believe as the rectangular object in the water in th...

This whole image is vexing. I dialed up the time and location in Sky Safari and Stellarium and nothing adds up. First off the shower radiant is separated by a good 100+ degrees in azimuth from the moon and is also higher in the sky. What appears to be the Pleiades shouldn’t be there it should be wa...

Okay I think I might have figured it out… https://www4.img2go.com/v2/dl/web7/download-file/b3f43297-1fde-4931-8854-c5036bff84a8/254BC491-5A01-4940-8152-CE78DF7ECEC2.jpg Sorry I can’t get the image to show. It’s just not my day… He must have used a very wide angle lens. Ann you are absolutely correct...

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2208/perseids2022jcc2k800.jpg Beautiful composition! But I wonder about this: APOD Robot wrote: Joining the Full Moon opposite the Sun, bright planet Saturn also shines in the frame at the upper right. Is that really Saturn? I think I can see the Pleiades at far rig...

Three nights of meteors from Colorado. 300 of them... mostly Perseids. The Moon interfered, of course, but has been removed from the composite. _ 2022-Perseids-(all)_lg.jpg Fantastic work Chris, thanks for sharing! I’m curious about what kind of scope and imager you used? Did you use a light intens...

A pity the video stops in 2019. I think astronomers have detected 5000 exoplanets now. Ann Just staggering when you think how far we have come in just a few years. I don’t think in the 90’s that anyone really thought we’d be this wildly successful in discovering planets in just over two decades! Eric

I wonder why Nasa doesn;t use the same technology as Facebook to produce stereo or 3-D pictures. How many people have an old set of red and blue paper spectacles lying around? I actually bought a couple of nice pairs on ebay to keep handy. I’ve ben dying to find a pair made of real glass but no luc...