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Skywatch

Started by Palehorse, January 03, 2012, 12:51:07 PM

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libby

All of life is a process of testing and initiation, always preparing for a higher level of consciousness -- and illumination. -- John Horn

libby

Quote from: Locutus on September 19, 2012, 01:00:43 PM
On a serious note, I'm kind of saddened that one of the orbiters didn't end up at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.  Those people played a large role in the shuttle program; controlling every mission from the time it cleared the tower in Florida, until the time it landed back on Earth.  I know there were only three, and that NASA kept one for display at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but I can't imagine that some of those people at the JSC don't have a bitter pill to swallow over the whole thing.
I agree. I have a friend whose husband worked there during those exciting times.
All of life is a process of testing and initiation, always preparing for a higher level of consciousness -- and illumination. -- John Horn

libby

Quote from: The Troll on September 25, 2012, 11:14:18 AM
  I personally think that will be a long time for NASA to come up with something that will compare with the the Space Shuttle and what it did.  A marvelous piece of science technology and American manufacturing quality.  :salute:  :4th3:
:yes:
All of life is a process of testing and initiation, always preparing for a higher level of consciousness -- and illumination. -- John Horn

Locutus

In a precursor to Skywatch 2013, I find this discovery from earlier in the week absolutely exciting beyond measure.

The astronomy community was abuzz with news about a comet discovery on Tuesday, leading to speculation that it could make a spectacular flyby of the sun, giving Earth a ringside seat of an extremely bright celestial event. It could become so bright that it even outshines the moon.

On the other hand, it might not. Confused? Well, that's comets for you.


The only thing that is certain is that a "big" cometary body has been discovered just beyond the orbit of Jupiter and it has an orbital trajectory that will take it very close to the sun -- only 0.012 AU, or 1.8 million kilometers from the solar surface -- toward the end of November 2013.

Its discovery is based on observations made by the 16-inch (0.4-meter) Santel reflector of the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON) in Russia. As pointed out by my colleague Alan Boyle over at Cosmic Log, since its discovery, "astronomers have gone back through their files to find 'pre-discovery' images and calculate the comet's orbit." The comet has been designated as C/2012 S1, but it is being referred to as Comet ISON, unsurprisingly.

"In the best case, the comet is big, bright, and skirts the sun next November. It would be extremely bright -- negative magnitudes maybe -- and naked-eye visible for observers in the Northern Hemisphere for at least a couple of months," Karl Battams, of the NASA-supported Sungrazer Comet Project, told Spaceweather.com.



http://news.discovery.com/space/new-comet-discovered-will-it-be-spectacular-120925.html
One of the gravest dangers to the survival of our republic is an ignorant electorate routinely feeding at the trough of propaganda.   -- Locutus

"We are all connected; To each other, biologically. To the earth, chemically. To the rest of the universe atomically."  -- Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson

Locutus

One of the gravest dangers to the survival of our republic is an ignorant electorate routinely feeding at the trough of propaganda.   -- Locutus

"We are all connected; To each other, biologically. To the earth, chemically. To the rest of the universe atomically."  -- Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson

Locutus

We haven't had a good comet since comets Hyakutake in 1996 and Hale-Bopp in 1997.  I'm extremely excited about this new discovery.   :yes:
One of the gravest dangers to the survival of our republic is an ignorant electorate routinely feeding at the trough of propaganda.   -- Locutus

"We are all connected; To each other, biologically. To the earth, chemically. To the rest of the universe atomically."  -- Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson

Henry Hawk

Quote from: Locutus on September 28, 2012, 11:55:43 AM
We haven't had a good comet since comets Hyakutake in 1996 and Hale-Bopp in 1997.  I'm extremely excited about this new discovery.   :yes:

8)  I agree  :yes:
"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."
Ecclesiastes 10:2 - It all makes sense to me now...


"The future ain't what it used to be."– Yogi Berra

"Square roots are rarely found on any plant." FTW

Locutus

Quote from: Henry Hawk on September 28, 2012, 12:18:23 PM

8)  I agree  :yes:

I'll be pulling out my big boy telescope for this event. 
One of the gravest dangers to the survival of our republic is an ignorant electorate routinely feeding at the trough of propaganda.   -- Locutus

"We are all connected; To each other, biologically. To the earth, chemically. To the rest of the universe atomically."  -- Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson

followsthewolf

Ignorance and fanaticism are ravenous. They require constant feeding.

Bo D

So ... the Mayans were off by a year?  :wink:
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."  Carl Sagan

Locutus

Quote from: Olias on September 28, 2012, 01:30:45 PM
So ... the Mayans were off by a year?  :wink:

LOL!!  We're kind of alike.  That exact thought crossed my mind when I first read about the discovery.   In a joking manner of course.  ;D
One of the gravest dangers to the survival of our republic is an ignorant electorate routinely feeding at the trough of propaganda.   -- Locutus

"We are all connected; To each other, biologically. To the earth, chemically. To the rest of the universe atomically."  -- Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson

libby

   :happy:  Thank you for posting that, Locutus! That's news to me. (I have so much stacked up to read I doubt I'll ever catch up.) Now I we all have something to look forward to -- that we can look up and share.  How exciting.  :science:
All of life is a process of testing and initiation, always preparing for a higher level of consciousness -- and illumination. -- John Horn

Locutus

Here's a plot of Comet ISON's orbit:

One of the gravest dangers to the survival of our republic is an ignorant electorate routinely feeding at the trough of propaganda.   -- Locutus

"We are all connected; To each other, biologically. To the earth, chemically. To the rest of the universe atomically."  -- Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson

Palehorse

Quote from: Locutus on September 28, 2012, 01:33:16 PM
LOL!!  We're kind of alike.  That exact thought crossed my mind when I first read about the discovery.   In a joking manner of course.  ;D
Quote from: Olias on September 28, 2012, 01:30:45 PM
So ... the Mayans were off by a year?  :wink:

That makes three of us. I actually had not heard other than a blurb about this until you posted it. And once I read it I had that exact same thought!  8)

THEN I thought, what if that trajectory is a bit off, and that thing crashes INTO the sun?  :spooked:
R.I.P. - followsthewolf - You are MISSED! 4/17/2013

That which fails to kill me. . .should run!

Any "point" made by one that lacks credibility, is only as useful as toilet paper; and serves the same purpose. ~ Palehorse 4/22/2017

May you find charity when it is needed, and the ability to extend it when it is not. ~Palehorse 7/4/2012

To the last, I grapple with thee; From Hell's heart, I stab at thee; For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee.~Herman Melville

Locutus

Quote from: Palehorse on September 29, 2012, 05:31:39 PM


THEN I thought, what if that trajectory is a bit off, and that thing crashes INTO the sun?  :spooked:

I certainly hope that doesn't happen.  It's supposed to be brightest after perihelion.  If it doesn't escape the sun, the show will be over before it ever starts. 
One of the gravest dangers to the survival of our republic is an ignorant electorate routinely feeding at the trough of propaganda.   -- Locutus

"We are all connected; To each other, biologically. To the earth, chemically. To the rest of the universe atomically."  -- Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson