Starship Asterisk*

Barry wrote:I have several astro targets that I've superimposed the full moon on here:

http://barryetter.zenfolio.com/p1045793279

Uwe wrote:"Typical view of a nearly full moon", well, a little nit-picking, in this image it is correct for maybe Australia, with Mare Crisium at the lower left.

Guest wrote:
I have followed APOD for years and never realised these structures were actually so large (albeit feint) in the sky.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feint wrote:
<<Feint is a French term that entered English via the discipline of swordsmanship and fencing. Feints are maneuvers designed to distract or mislead, done by giving the impression that a certain maneuver will take place, while in fact another, or even none, will. In military tactics and many types of combat, there are two types of feints: feint attacks and feint retreats.

A feint attack is designed to draw defensive action towards the point under assault. It is usually used as a diversion to force the enemy to concentrate more manpower in a given area, to weaken the opposing force in another area. Unlike a related diversionary maneuver, the demonstration, a feint involves actual contact with the enemy.

A feint retreat is performed by briefly engaging the enemy, then retreating. It is intended to draw the enemy pursuit into a prepared ambush, or to cause disarray. For example, the Battle of Hastings was lost when Saxons pursued the Norman cavalry. This forfeited the advantage of height and the line was broken, providing the opportunity to fight in single handed combat on a neutral vantage point, a battle for which the Saxons were not ready. The Parthian shot is another example of a feint retreat, where mounted Parthian archers would retreat from a battle and then, while still riding, turn their bodies back to shoot at the pursuing enemy.>>

Ann wrote:M31 is quite large in our skies, and since it is approaching us, it is growing bigger every day

Ann

chuckster wrote:There are a lot of celestial objects like this aren't there ? Too dim or too far out of our visual range of light for us to
see up there. What a great project for some observatory, to design and build a view screen, like, say, a Federation
starship bridge would have, that can display objects in our sky in all frequencies, and at relative scales. To think that
Andromeda is THAT BIG, and we can't see it . . .I feel gypped !!!!

Chris Peterson wrote:

chuckster wrote:There are a lot of celestial objects like this aren't there ? Too dim or too far out of our visual range of light for us to
see up there. What a great project for some observatory, to design and build a view screen, like, say, a Federation
starship bridge would have, that can display objects in our sky in all frequencies, and at relative scales. To think that
Andromeda is THAT BIG, and we can't see it . . .I feel gypped !!!!

Andromeda is quite easy to see under relatively dark skies. Even to the naked eye, it is larger than the Moon. The problem is, the Moon is small- we are fooled by its brightness into thinking it is much larger than it actually is. Even things we easily see, like the Pleiades, are larger than the Moon... but it's hard to convince somebody of that when you're out under the stars.

Chris Peterson wrote:Andromeda is quite easy to see under relatively dark skies. Even to the naked eye, it is larger than the Moon.

DvR wrote:

Ann wrote:M31 is quite large in our skies, and since it is approaching us, it is growing bigger every day

Ann

How fast is it approaching? I want to be prepared

Barry wrote:I have several astro targets that I've superimposed the full moon on here:
http://barryetter.zenfolio.com/p1045793279

Chris Peterson wrote:

chuckster wrote:There are a lot of celestial objects like this aren't there ? Too dim or too far out of our visual range of light for us to
see up there. What a great project for some observatory, to design and build a view screen, like, say, a Federation
starship bridge would have, that can display objects in our sky in all frequencies, and at relative scales. To think that
Andromeda is THAT BIG, and we can't see it . . .I feel gypped !!!!

Andromeda is quite easy to see under relatively dark skies. Even to the naked eye, it is larger than the Moon. The problem is, the Moon is small- we are fooled by its brightness into thinking it is much larger than it actually is. Even things we easily see, like the Pleiades, are larger than the Moon... but it's hard to convince somebody of that when you're out under the stars.