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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Fri Dec 27, 2019 6:25 pm 
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Darkside wrote:
You know, if it were not for supernova you would not be alive today?
Any elements heavier than and including iron must have been created in a supernova.
So the iron in you blood? The mercury in your thermometer? The gold in your wedding band? All created in the depths of an exploding star



We are stardust
We are golden

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Fri Dec 27, 2019 6:33 pm 
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Joni Mitchell wrote:
Darkside wrote:
You know, if it were not for supernova you would not be alive today?
Any elements heavier than and including iron must have been created in a supernova.
So the iron in you blood? The mercury in your thermometer? The gold in your wedding band? All created in the depths of an exploding star



We are stardust
We are golden

I don't know if this means this thread has "made it" or if it's a sign of the apocalypse.

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 5:27 pm 
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Eyes to the skies fanatics!
Its early january again and that means its Quadrantids season. The meteor shower is expected to peak around 3am saturday morning. You could catch 20 to 30 meteors an hour in dark locations.
Once again a waxing moon might wash some out but we should see quite a few regardless. If you're looking in the general direction of the big dipper you should see them streaking in all directions from a central point near there.
Here's hoping for clear skies.

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 5:29 pm 
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How do we know meteors aren't actually angels coming down to Earth?

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 5:33 pm 
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Boilermaker Rick wrote:
How do we know meteors aren't actually angels coming down to Earth?

Because we're not ignorant rubes?

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 5:38 pm 
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Darkside wrote:
Boilermaker Rick wrote:
How do we know meteors aren't actually angels coming down to Earth?

Because we're not ignorant rubes?
Some of us are.

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Sat Jan 11, 2020 2:08 pm 
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Darkside wrote:
Something really crazy might be about to happen in our galactic neighborhood, something massive, something life changing, something that will change our view of the stars forever.
Betelgeuse, the bright orange shoulder of Orion has long been known to be a red supergiant star. It's so big, and so close (galactically speaking) that it is the only star other than our sun that we have been able to resolve as more than a singular point of light in the sky. We can actually resolve the disc of the star. Were it to be in place of the sun, its surface would extend beyond the asteroid belt between mars and jupiter, and may actually extend to the orbit of jupiter.

So whats changing? Betelgeuse is a red supergiant as noted before, and thus when it dies, it will go supernova. A supernova a a dramatic death of a star. It happens once the core of the star can no longer fuse heavier and heavier elements and give off nuclear fusion energy. For a star like our sun that will likely be when its helium reserves exhaust. Our sun will expand, shed its outer layers and eventually cool into a dwarf star. But Betelgeuse can fuse heavier elements and still extract energy from them. However, eventually it will be left with an iron core and when that happens... boom.

A supernova will emit nearly as much light in a few weeks as an entire galaxy does in that timespan. And this one is in our backyard.

Why do we think it might be happening now? Betelgeuse is rapidly dimming, something we believe will happen just before a detonation. Back in october, betgeuse was the 9th brightest star in the sky. Today, it ranks 20th. And it's getting dimmer.

If betelgeuse were to go supernova, it would be about as bright in the sky as a full moon. Maybe brighter. The event could last for months. Then, one of the most familiar constellations in the sky (and the personal favorite of your pal Darko) will be forever changed.

What's the catch? Well, betelgeuse is a variable star. It does dim and brighten again on two different cycles, one roughly 6 years and one of 425 days. It may be the synchronous point of those two cycles that's causing this historic dimming. Interestingly enough our own sun is going through a synchronous dual cycle right now of it's own, resulting in the deepest solar minimum in hundreds of years. But back to Betelgeuse. It's possible that the star is just going thru a cycle, and if so we should notice it brightening up in less than 2 months. Many astronomers are fairly confident it will be another 10,000 to 100,000 years before it goes. It's also possible its gonna blow very, very soon.

If Betelgeuse were to go supernova, it's weird to think that it actually exploded sometime in the 1400s. It just took that long for the light to reach Earth. Imagine that, maybe a hundred years before Columbus sailed to the Americas the star blew up and we're just now observing it.

I spent some time outside last night looking at my favorite constellation. Betelgeuse is certainly dimmer. It's not something you need special instruments to see. You can just tell by looking at it. Imagining the Hunter without the same familiar shape is... well it's hard to describe how it feels. That formation has been there, stable in the sky for 10 million years. Every pair of human eyes that has looked to the sky and seen it has seen it just the way was see it today. Could it be different forever in just a few short months?

The last supernova in our galaxy was in 1604. This is indeed a rare event.

So when you go outside, maybe take a moment to gaze upon Orion the Hunter, and appreciate it. It may change forever. And you may witness it.


So here's a plot of the brightness of Betelgeuse over the last 2 and a half years or so to illustrate just how much dimming we've seen.


Image

Pretty steep decline. And it's still declining.

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 7:00 pm 
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Image
Well there goes the big asteroid some weirdo was worried about. As known for the last 17 years or so... it missed by more than 3.5 LD.

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 7:02 pm 
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Oh! And an update on Betelgeuse, still dimming although it is past due to start brightening... and its... changing... shape...

https://youtu.be/o1ls7Gr9LTE

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 7:05 pm 
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Darkside wrote:
Image
Well there goes the big asteroid some weirdo was worried about. As known for the last 17 years or so... it missed by more than 3.5 LD.


Is LD Lunar Distance, distance from Earth the Moon? If so, my sources tell me it was closer to 15x LD.

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 7:09 pm 
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GoldenJet wrote:
Darkside wrote:
Image
Well there goes the big asteroid some weirdo was worried about. As known for the last 17 years or so... it missed by more than 3.5 LD.


Is LD Lunar Distance, distance from Earth the Moon? If so, my sources tell me it was closer to 15x LD.

You are correct sir. 3.5 million miles, not LD. Thank you for your correction.

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 7:10 pm 
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Darkside wrote:
Image
Well there goes the big asteroid some weirdo was worried about. As known for the last 17 years or so... it missed by more than 3.5 LD.

Image


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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 7:10 pm 
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Darkside wrote:
GoldenJet wrote:
Darkside wrote:
Image
Well there goes the big asteroid some weirdo was worried about. As known for the last 17 years or so... it missed by more than 3.5 LD.


Is LD Lunar Distance, distance from Earth the Moon? If so, my sources tell me it was closer to 15x LD.

You are correct sir. 3.5 million miles, not LD. Thank you for your correction.

Although, in the spirit of our lord and savior Donald Trump, one could point out that I was correct, 15 LD is more than 3.5 LD and I do a lot of research, tons of it, more than some professors some would say, and I'm terrific at my astronomy.

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 8:36 pm 
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News from the world of Astronomy. First Betelgeuse. Its no longer dimming, it's actually now brightening. So I suppose that the supernova might bot be happening. Or maybe it is. Let's just see what happens. But the supernova doesn't look good.

Next is comet Atlas!

Image

It's going to dive inside the orbit of mercury on may 31st. That might completely obliterate it or it could cause it to brighten up enough to see clearly, maybe even in fading daylight. Cool.
The other objects of note here are the owl nebula near the bottom of the image and M108 galaxy at the upper right.

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 9:51 pm 
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Wonderful crescent moon low in the western sky down here at around 7:45.

Impossibly thin, rust colored in appearance, really fun to stare at.


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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 9:55 am 
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We got us a new moon?

Sweet.
https://earthsky.org/space/new-natural- ... h-2020-cd3

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 6:57 pm 
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Darkside wrote:
Image
Well there goes the big asteroid some weirdo was worried about. As known for the last 17 years or so... it missed by more than 3.5 LD.


Please explain what happened in that video. Did that arrow represent a space object hitting another object and then one or the other deflecting off to a new direction?

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 1:59 pm 
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Darkside wrote:
News from the world of Astronomy. First Betelgeuse. Its no longer dimming, it's actually now brightening. So I suppose that the supernova might bot be happening. Or maybe it is. Let's just see what happens. But the supernova doesn't look good.

Next is comet Atlas!

Image

It's going to dive inside the orbit of mercury on may 31st. That might completely obliterate it or it could cause it to brighten up enough to see clearly, maybe even in fading daylight. Cool.
The other objects of note here are the owl nebula near the bottom of the image and M108 galaxy at the upper right.

This comet is brightening and getting... larger.
Its atmosphere is expanding as the comet gets closer to the sun and the surface is sublimating. It is currently around 100x brighter than it was forecasted to be. Currently around +8 magnitude, still too dim to be seen with the naked eye but that will change. It could get as bright as +1 or amazingly enough, -10 which would be bright enough to cast shadows.
Take that with a grain of salt. It could break up, burn up, or otherwise stay dim. Comets are notoriously difficult to predict outside of their orbits. Stay tuned.

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2020 2:00 am 
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Three things to discuss...
1... venus today went thru the pleiades. Exciting stuff. It happens every 8 years or so. Tomorrow, venus is still very close to the pleiades so you can see a planet in very close proximity to a star cluster, a beautiful star cluster mind you, one in which with binoculars you can see dust swirling around forming blue giant stars. That bright light in the west at sunset is your guide.

2. Comet ATLAS continues to brighten and it is forming a tail. In the next month it might brighten up to daylight visibility? Or maybe it breaks up and fizzles out. Time will tell.

3. Plan on watching Lyrid meteors april 21 and 22. More updates on that as it gets closer but for now mark the calendar.

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2020 2:46 am 
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I feel like I owe you an apology regarding Betelgeuse.
Back around December, Betelgeuse got dramatically dimmer and the excitement around the community was that it may go supernova.
A supernova is an explosion of a giant star like Betelgeuse when it exhausts its hydrogen, then helium, oxygen and so on until it fuses elements into heavier and heavier atoms until it reaches iron. Iron consumes more energy than it gives off when fused.
Basically a star is a balance of gravity pulling in vs the created energy pushing out via fusion. Eventually, in a large enough star, gravity wins.
When gravity wins, it compresses atoms beyond the weak nuclear force and atoms "rebound". When talking about a star so large, such as betelgeuse (which if it were centered where the sun is its outer surface would extend near jupiters orbit,) it explodes. The explosion can release enough energy that its brightness can exceed the billions of stars in its host galaxy for months on end.
Anyway, it seems that Betelgeuse off gassed a large cloud of material, not terribly uncommon for a large star.
It just so happened that this occurred along with two different phases of variability of brightness that caused historic dimming. The outgassing and the two phases happening all at the same time caused three phases of dimming that caused Betelgeuse to be dimmer than at any time in recorded human history.
It didnt blow. It seems it's far from going supernova, perhaps thousands of years.
So are we disappointed? Yes. And no. It's my favorite constellation by far, so I'm happy shes intact.
And we did witness a historic dimming of of one of the brightest stars in our (north america, high latitude) winter sky.

Shine on you crazy diamond.

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2020 2:53 am 
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Venus in the pleiades...

Image

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2020 2:55 am 
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Comet atlas getting a tail... and brightening....


Image

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 5:25 pm 
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And just like that, the news on comet ATLAS is changing. It might have broken up. It dimmed somewhat, and is being affected by non gravitational forces, which are the result of outgassing pushing the comet, like maybe a balloon deflating pushing the mass of the balloon away from earth's gravity.

Image

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Sat Apr 11, 2020 10:00 pm 
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Mercury probe passes earth to pick up speed.


Image


Kind of cool, huh?

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Sat Apr 11, 2020 10:02 pm 
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Very cool.

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Sat Apr 11, 2020 10:05 pm 
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So I'm buying a new telescope soon. DW has a camera she can attach to this telescope. So we're going to experiment with astrophotography. Does anyone have any targets they've been interested in for our first targets?

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Sun Apr 12, 2020 10:22 am 
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Uranus.

I like these updates.


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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Fri Apr 17, 2020 6:38 pm 
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Meteor shower alert!
Lyrids are just a few days away, set to peak on the 21st and 22nd. But don't let that stop you from looking this weekend. You might be able to catch a few anytime this weekend, especially after midnight and best just before dawn.
Tuesdays peak might be 15 bright meteor an hour.
And for the first time in a while, no moon to interfere.

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Fri Apr 17, 2020 7:22 pm 
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Yeah comet atlas is fucked...

Image

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 Post subject: Re: Astronomical events!
PostPosted: Fri Apr 17, 2020 7:31 pm 
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What's going on in that pic?


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