The Space Thread -

audioluvr

^^^ COOL!

treitz3

The Angel Nebula - Is this a painting or a photograph?

In this classic celestial still life composed with a cosmic brush, dusty nebula NGC 2170, also known as the Angel Nebula, shines near the image center. Reflecting the light of nearby hot stars, NGC 2170 is joined by other bluish reflection nebulae, a red emission region, many dark absorption nebulae, and a backdrop of colorful stars. Like the common household items that still life painters often choose for their subjects, the clouds of gas, dust, and hot stars featured here are also commonly found in this setting -- a massive, star-forming molecular cloud in the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros). The giant molecular cloud, Mon R2, is impressively close, estimated to be only 2,400 light-years or so away. At that distance, this canvas would be over 60 light-years across.

Tom

treitz3

Voyager - NASA's longest lived mission logs 45 years in space after re-establishing communication with Earth.

In case you didn't know or hear about this - Voyager 2 is located more than 12.3 billion miles (19.9 billion kilometers) from Earth, and a mistaken antenna redirect has interrupted communication between Voyager 2 and the ground antennas of NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN). Data being sent by the spacecraft is no longer reaching the DSN, and the spacecraft is not receiving commands from ground controllers.

Voyager 2 is programmed to reset its orientation multiple times each year to keep its antenna pointing at Earth; the next reset will occur on Oct. 15, which should enable communication to resume. The mission team expects Voyager 2 to remain on its planned trajectory during the quiet period.

UPDATE, Aug. 1, 2023: Using multiple antennas, NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) was able to detect a carrier signal from Voyager 2. A carrier signal is what the spacecraft uses to send data back to Earth. The signal is too faint for data to be extracted, but the detection confirms that the spacecraft is still operating. The spacecraft also continues on its expected trajectory. Although the mission expects the spacecraft to point its antenna at Earth in mid-October, the team will attempt to command Voyager sooner, while its antenna is still pointed away from Earth. To do this, a DSN antenna will be used to “shout” the command to Voyager to turn its antenna. This intermediary attempt may not work, in which case the team will wait for the spacecraft to automatically reset its orientation in October.

UPDATE, Aug. 4, 2023: NASA has reestablished full communications with Voyager 2.

The agency’s Deep Space Network facility in Canberra, Australia, sent the equivalent of an interstellar “shout” more than 12.3 billion miles (19.9 billion kilometers) to Voyager 2, instructing the spacecraft to reorient itself and turn its antenna back to Earth. With a one-way light time of 18.5 hours for the command to reach Voyager, it took 37 hours for mission controllers to learn whether the command worked. At 12:29 a.m. EDT on Aug. 4, the spacecraft began returning science and telemetry data, indicating it is operating normally and that it remains on its expected trajectory.

As an added FYI, there is this to watch for your consideration -



Tom

mrbigbluelight

What a ride !!!!

Thanks for that info, Tom

This is a great thread

treitz3

Okay, so we see plenty of things far, far, FAR away from Earth. Let's take a step back and take a closer look at just the swath of our own solar system. This should put things into a greater appreciation of the sheer vastness of space....unfathomable is an understatement.

When you have a spare 8 minutes, this one is worth your time. The perspective is eye opening. Enjoy.

https://youtu.be/pR5VJo5ifdE

Tom

treitz3

NGC 7822. Late last month NASA and ESA released a swirling infrared vista capturing an evolutionary snapshot of the formation of two nascent stars, known collectively as Herbig-Haro 46/47.

According to the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, which is responsible for JWST's operations, the most likely explanation is that the question mark is actually a remote galaxy or pair of galaxies getting tangled in each other's gravitational pull.








Tom

mrbigbluelight

My amateur guess is that there is a black hole between the two, pulling matter from each.
Very interesting pictures.

treitz3

Scientists are still debating about this and it may not be solved for quite some time. Your explanation could very well be the case. It could be that one galaxy is being ate up by a black hole and the other one is 65,000 light years away from the other, left undisturbed. Yet, from our perspective, it appears as if the two are interconnected.

It's a new finding that I'm pretty confident will be explored/studied (in all spectrum's) in the coming decades.

That said, let's move back toward Earth for a second, shall we? Ever wondered what the surface of Venus looks like?



The last photo (above) from the surface of Venus is now 40 yrs old. The Venera-14 lander reached the surface in 1982, lasting 52 minutes in Venus' temperature of 450°C (847°F)! Photo courtesy of NASA.

Tom

mhardy6647

The Perseid meteor shower peaks this Friday and Saturday night - "just after midnight" in northern New England.
https://fairbanksmuseum.org/eye-on-the-night-sky/

pitdogg2

mrbigbluelight wrote: »

My amateur guess is that there is a black hole between the two, pulling matter from each.
Very interesting pictures.

OR Marvin the martian is up there holding up a picture in front of the camera......giggling....

audioluvr

mhardy6647 wrote: »

The Perseid meteor shower peaks this Friday and Saturday night - "just after midnight" in northern New England.
https://fairbanksmuseum.org/eye-on-the-night-sky/

I went out last night about midnight and saw nothing but the Andromeda Galaxy and the rising moon (which was pretty cool).

treitz3

Tom

audioluvr

Hubbles is cooler

treitz3

The (now) Dwarf Planet Pluto -



As a reminder, Pluto is no longer considered a "Planet" in our solar system. A quick and short answer as to why - The International Astronomical Union (IAU) downgraded the status of Pluto to that of a dwarf planet because it did not meet the three criteria the IAU uses to define a full-sized planet. Essentially Pluto meets all the criteria except one—it “has not cleared its neighboring region of other objects.”

Tom

treitz3

Amazing perspective - The Andromeda galaxy isn't bright enough for us to fully see with our naked eye. But if you can do a longer exposure with high light sensitivity, this picture actually does show how big the galaxy would appear to us.

To be exact Andromeda, from our point of view, is 6 times wider than the moon.

With a telescope you could see the center of the galaxy, and it would already fill your entire eyepiece. But with the naked eye it's just too dim to see. Only on very dark (moonless probably) nights in very dark areas with barely any light pollution would you vaguely be able to see the center of Andromeda with the naked eye.

Just try to imagine how absolutely mind bogglingly big it is to appear that large in our sky, while it's 2.5 million light-years away!

Tom

audioluvr

I see it clearly will binoculars at my house. It's not that pretty though in real time.

mhardy6647

It was a lovely night last night here, so Mrs. H and I spent about an hour sitting out back, starting about 11 pm, watching the sky for the Perseids. We were rewarded within moments, both of us seeing a kind of dim but unmistakable streak. We saw about a half-dozen in toto. Given the time frame we were looking, that's not bad at all. We were both really sleepy by midnight, so we threw in the towel & went to bed. Thus the vicissitudes of old age.

Viewing conditions were very good. The sky wasn't really dark but for a summer evening it was quite respectable (e.g., the Milky Way was clearly visible overhead). I was too lazy to set up the camera & take some long exposures, unfortunately.

so... Here's an old night sky photo taken in August 2019.



I like this photo because the galaxy that holds our sun and earth looks like it's coming out of our chimney.

nooshinjohn

The outer dust bands of Andromeda are already mingling with those of the Milky Way…

treitz3

Tom

maxward

Recent Perseid photo?

treitz3

Dunno. The only commentary where I found this photo stated, "Perfect shot". That's all the information I have on it, unfortunately. Cool photo, nonetheless.

Tom

nooshinjohn

treitz3 wrote: »

Tom

View from Alderaan as the Death Star opened fire…

treitz3

Little bit of history...





Tom

huggies

For those interested in the pretty pictures, check out Astrobin.com. Amateur and pro's alike host tons of astrophotography pictures. Astro technology for the amateur has come along way in the last 10 years. Space is amazing. Dark Shark was one of my early goals learning the hobby.

Treitz, did you take any of those pics?

treitz3

No sir. My real hobby is 2 channel audio. I have always been very interested in everything else that exists out there beyond this big, blue marble though. Ever since I was a kid.

Tom

treitz3

The Ring of Fire happens today! If you are in the area, be on the lookout for it.



Most sky watchers in North, Central, and South America will be able to see at least a partial solar eclipse; the eclipse will not be visible outside these areas. All eclipse-watchers will need to use specialized solar filters or an indirect viewing method (like a pinhole projector) to safely watch the eclipse.

Tom

Nesmith98

What in the Wizard of Oz is going on here?

treitz3 wrote: »

Tom

jdjohn

Space debris in orbit around the Earth:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/how-much-space-debris-is-in-earth-orbit/vi-AA1iovcC?rc=1&ocid=socialshare&cvid=f3f2647b8bd54a21d4f853d99179e303&ei=64
Be careful out there

treitz3

So, I ran across some interesting photos of the recent ring of fire from around the world. This one, to me, showed a very interesting point of view.

An eclipse on the horizon at sunrise. The Sun appears reddened by the intervening Earth’s atmosphere. An inversion layer in the atmosphere makes part of the Sun appeared doubled near the horizon.

But, this one was not taken last week. This picture was actually captured in December 2019 from Al Wakrah, Qatar.



Tom

Milito

Looks like there should be some b***'s being held back in there.