Comments and questions about the
APOD on the main view screen.
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APOD Robot
- Otto Posterman
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Contact:
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by APOD Robot » Thu May 05, 2016 4:07 am
The SONG and the Hunter
Explanation: Near first quarter, the Moon in March lights this snowy, rugged landscape, a view
across the top of Tenerife toward La Palma in the Canary Islands Spanish archipelago. The large
Teide volcano, the highest point in Spain, looms over the horizon. Shining above are familiar bright stars of
Orion, the Hunter. Adding to the dreamlike scene is the 1 meter diameter prototype telescope of the global network project called the
Stellar Observations Network Group or SONG. The SONG's fully robotic observatory was captured during the 30 second exposure while the observatory dome, with slit open, was rotated across the
field of view.
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daddyo
- Science Officer
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by daddyo » Thu May 05, 2016 4:30 am
I like the "glass dome" architecture, 360 view and weather resistant
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Boomer12k
- :---[===] *
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by Boomer12k » Thu May 05, 2016 7:51 am
I thought it was a "glass dome" too, until I read the description. I love Orion...
:---[===] *
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hleejpn
- Asternaut
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Thu May 05, 2016 12:21 pm
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by hleejpn » Thu May 05, 2016 12:26 pm
Is that a lenticular cloud over the Teide volcano? Well, upon closer inspection with these old eyes, it is something with the observatory.
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Case
- Commander
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- Location: (52°N, 06°E)
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by Case » Thu May 05, 2016 12:51 pm
hleejpn wrote:Is that a lenticular cloud over the Teide volcano? Well, upon closer inspection with these old eyes, it is something with the observatory.
Indeed, I think it is part of the rotating dome too, transparant in the photo because of the movement during the exposure, as the same shape is on the left side of the dome.
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heehaw
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by heehaw » Thu May 05, 2016 1:38 pm
One of the things I most enjoy about life is repeatedly finding out how stupid I am. How could I have never thought of that way of photographing a telescope inside a dome? But I didn't. Makes me wonder again whether there is simple yet undiscovered physics out there, waiting for someone.
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Chris Peterson
- Abominable Snowman
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by Chris Peterson » Thu May 05, 2016 1:53 pm
heehaw wrote:One of the things I most enjoy about life is repeatedly finding out how stupid I am. How could I have never thought of that way of photographing a telescope inside a dome? But I didn't. Makes me wonder again whether there is simple yet undiscovered physics out there, waiting for someone.
I'm surprised you haven't encountered similar photos. They are common enough. I've seen them for many of the world's major observatories, and quite a few small ones like this.
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Fred the Cat
- Theoretic Apothekitty
- Posts: 975
- Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2016 4:09 pm
- AKA: Ron
- Location: Eagle, Idaho
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by Fred the Cat » Thu May 05, 2016 4:36 pm
How appropriate that today's APOD comes via Spain. Happy
Cinco de Mayo everyone! The
Canary Islands look like a good place to celebrate the festivities.
Freddy's Felicity "Only ascertain as a cat box survivor"
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BMAONE23
- Commentator Model 1.23
- Posts: 4076
- Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2005 6:55 pm
- Location: California
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by BMAONE23 » Thu May 05, 2016 5:10 pm
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Coil_Smoke
- Ensign
- Posts: 83
- Joined: Sun Nov 17, 2013 7:57 am
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by Coil_Smoke » Thu May 05, 2016 5:15 pm
heehaw wrote:One of the things I most enjoy about life is repeatedly finding out how stupid I am. How could I have never thought of that way of photographing a telescope inside a dome? But I didn't. Makes me wonder again whether there is simple yet undiscovered physics out there, waiting for someone.
Like the true nature of gravity? Like... It's not an attractive force ? Or something
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BMAONE23
- Commentator Model 1.23
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by BMAONE23 » Thu May 05, 2016 7:25 pm
Personally, I find the concept of gravity to be very attractive but I am also repulsed by the thought of Anti Gravity
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Ann
- 4725 Å
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- Joined: Sat May 29, 2010 5:33 am
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by Ann » Thu May 05, 2016 7:50 pm
BMAONE23 wrote:Personally, I find the concept of gravity to be very attractive but I am also repulsed by the thought of Anti Gravity
That statement carries a lot of weight.
Personally, I keep seeing "The SONG and the Hu..." as I look at the board index. I keep thinking that "Hu..." stands for "Human", back when there were very few songs and very few humans, and I get all this neolithic imagery in my head.
Ann
Color Commentator
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BMAONE23
- Commentator Model 1.23
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by BMAONE23 » Thu May 05, 2016 9:15 pm
Funny,
At first glance my mind thought of it as "The Song of the Hummingbird"
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Tszabeau
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by Tszabeau » Thu May 05, 2016 11:21 pm
I wonder if the dome was rotating clockwise or counter-clockwise.
Is the red ring 1 meter in diameter?
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MarkBour
- Subtle Signal
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- Location: Illinois, USA
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by MarkBour » Fri May 06, 2016 12:58 am
How can you use a ground-based scope with a 1-meter mirror as an exoplanet hunter? I would have guessed that this was impossible. One thing I've read is that they are going to aim primarily at bright stars. I wonder what other things they are doing that are special. Perhaps some "adaptive" techniques to overcome the atmosphere effects?
To echo heehaw's comment, but with a different twist on it, I enjoy being continually surprised at the cleverness of astronomers, when they find a way to get data that I would have never uncovered.
Mark Goldfain
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Chris Peterson
- Abominable Snowman
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by Chris Peterson » Fri May 06, 2016 1:16 am
MarkBour wrote:How can you use a ground-based scope with a 1-meter mirror as an exoplanet hunter? I would have guessed that this was impossible. One thing I've read is that they are going to aim primarily at bright stars. I wonder what other things they are doing that are special. Perhaps some "adaptive" techniques to overcome the atmosphere effects?
There are exoplanets that amateurs can observe (photometrically) with 10 and 12 inch scopes. A meter-class scope can potentially survey for a great many, or be used for follow-up measurements after they are detected by Kepler or some other instrument.
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MarkBour
- Subtle Signal
- Posts: 1377
- Joined: Mon Aug 26, 2013 2:44 pm
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by MarkBour » Sun May 08, 2016 3:02 am
Chris Peterson wrote:MarkBour wrote:How can you use a ground-based scope with a 1-meter mirror as an exoplanet hunter? I would have guessed that this was impossible. One thing I've read is that they are going to aim primarily at bright stars. I wonder what other things they are doing that are special. Perhaps some "adaptive" techniques to overcome the atmosphere effects?
There are exoplanets that amateurs can observe (photometrically) with 10 and 12 inch scopes. A meter-class scope can potentially survey for a great many, or be used for follow-up measurements after they are detected by Kepler or some other instrument.
That's really nice to know. I'm glad you don't need a billion-dollar space launch to contribute to this field.
Mark Goldfain