Side Note. M31 (Andromeda) is on a path to collide with the Milky Way, destroying both galaxies in the process. Don't worry, it won't happen until 4 billion years from now ... almost 2 billion years after Earth is inhabitable.
stfu! i'm scared & pissed now. for the rest of my life i'll be worried now.
i believe in reincarnation. this has my grand plans shot to shit
I have limited access to a telescope. This past week I saw Saturn, Mars, Spica, M13, Vega, Deneb, and Altair (the Summer Triangle). Also saw Cygnus and Albireo. Several people I was with saw shooting stars.
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hedonist
standing on the edge of forever Posts: 24,524
Not only did nothing show here, but for some reason we both had a shit-night of sleep. Saturday night should, ideally, provide THE best sleep of the week.
hrrmph.
Although, around 3:30am, I STILL couldn't get into the sleep-zone so got up and sat by the window, hit the bowl a couple of times. Moon was aligned between two bright stars, on the diagonal. So unexpected and pretty, kind of made up for not being able to see the showers from here.
(chadwick - sorry, but your post brought me a smile)
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brianlux
Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,680
Not only did nothing show here, but for some reason we both had a shit-night of sleep. Saturday night should, ideally, provide THE best sleep of the week.
hrrmph.
Although, around 3:30am, I STILL couldn't get into the sleep-zone so got up and sat by the window, hit the bowl a couple of times. Moon was aligned between two bright stars, on the diagonal. So unexpected and pretty, kind of made up for not being able to see the showers from here.
(chadwick - sorry, but your post brought me a smile)
Hedonist- it's always a bummer when sleep eludes. Not many of us are Keith Richards.
Chadwick- regarding your reincarnation- look at it this way: All your thoughts are electrical impulses in you brain that emanate out into space. Tiny traces of these electrical impulses travel through space which, according to Einstein is curved. By the time those thoughts come back around, maybe the two galaxies will have gotten over their little feud, another one will have taken their place and you'll have a safe place to land.
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Not only did nothing show here, but for some reason we both had a shit-night of sleep. Saturday night should, ideally, provide THE best sleep of the week.
hrrmph.
Although, around 3:30am, I STILL couldn't get into the sleep-zone so got up and sat by the window, hit the bowl a couple of times. Moon was aligned between two bright stars, on the diagonal. So unexpected and pretty, kind of made up for not being able to see the showers from here.
(chadwick - sorry, but your post brought me a smile)
perhaps the two bright stars you were seeing beside the moon weren't stars after all but were planets, yes/no?
i forget their names but there were two planets dancing around the sky this past winter and spring. i'd watch them every night whilst walking the park. one being brighter than the other.... trying to remember which planets they are.......hhhmmmm
my posted usually bring tears and someone wanting to punch me in the fudd. i am pleased you smiled
yes every sound, every single breath and whatever other energies we got goin on does travel up into the universe. this is why karma and the like are so very important.
yes every sound, every single breath and whatever other energies we got goin on does travel up into the universe. this is why karma and the like are so very important.
Yes! So true!
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.
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hedonist
standing on the edge of forever Posts: 24,524
Not only did nothing show here, but for some reason we both had a shit-night of sleep. Saturday night should, ideally, provide THE best sleep of the week.
hrrmph.
Although, around 3:30am, I STILL couldn't get into the sleep-zone so got up and sat by the window, hit the bowl a couple of times. Moon was aligned between two bright stars, on the diagonal. So unexpected and pretty, kind of made up for not being able to see the showers from here.
(chadwick - sorry, but your post brought me a smile)
perhaps the two bright stars you were seeing beside the moon weren't stars after all but were planets, yes/no?
i forget their names but there were two planets dancing around the sky this past winter and spring. i'd watch them every night whilst walking the park. one being brighter than the other.... trying to remember which planets they are.......hhhmmmm
my posted usually bring tears and someone wanting to punch me in the fudd. i am pleased you smiled
You are not fudd-punchworthy - this is meant in the best of ways.
And now that you mention it, I think one of those stars is actually Venus.
Not only did nothing show here, but for some reason we both had a shit-night of sleep. Saturday night should, ideally, provide THE best sleep of the week.
hrrmph.
Although, around 3:30am, I STILL couldn't get into the sleep-zone so got up and sat by the window, hit the bowl a couple of times. Moon was aligned between two bright stars, on the diagonal. So unexpected and pretty, kind of made up for not being able to see the showers from here.
(chadwick - sorry, but your post brought me a smile)
how long did you look. You have to look for a very long time to see just one sometimes
Not only did nothing show here, but for some reason we both had a shit-night of sleep. Saturday night should, ideally, provide THE best sleep of the week.
hrrmph.
Although, around 3:30am, I STILL couldn't get into the sleep-zone so got up and sat by the window, hit the bowl a couple of times. Moon was aligned between two bright stars, on the diagonal. So unexpected and pretty, kind of made up for not being able to see the showers from here.
(chadwick - sorry, but your post brought me a smile)
perhaps the two bright stars you were seeing beside the moon weren't stars after all but were planets, yes/no?
i forget their names but there were two planets dancing around the sky this past winter and spring. i'd watch them every night whilst walking the park. one being brighter than the other.... trying to remember which planets they are.......hhhmmmm
They were Jupiter & Venus.
Jupiter & Venus are very probably what you seen hedonist. They're making their appearance pre-dawn rather than post-dusk...
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hedonist
standing on the edge of forever Posts: 24,524
Jupiter & Venus are very probably what you seen hedonist. They're making their appearance pre-dawn rather than post-dusk...
Ah, thank you, rollings. Except the moon was smack-dab in-between them! It was really quite gorgeous, unexpectedly so, at that sleepy hour.
I've used the term "humbling" so much when I compare the tininess of myself to all of THAT out there...though we're both (all) nature, the proportions of it all and of me to it, well...I still sometimes need and welcome the reminder.
Yet again, my mind tries to get a grip on the ungrippable.
(yet again, thanks, Jeanwah!)
and a sidenote - good god it's been beautiful out there these early mornings!
I've been waking up early and see a bright star off to the East, it must be a planet. It's really beautiful.
And last night I got a call from my dad to check the sky at 9:40; the international space station went through the sky from the Northwest. It looked like a traveling star, just this bright bean of light traveling through the sky until it dimmed out. Pretty cool!
I've been waking up early and see a bright star off to the East, it must be a planet. It's really beautiful.
That would be Venus.
In the evening, Mars and Saturn are just above the west horizon pretty close to each other. Mars is on the left, Saturn on the right. With a pair of binoculars, you should be able to make out four of Saturn's moons.
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hedonist
standing on the edge of forever Posts: 24,524
Yes! She's been shining bright. It really is a wonder to see it so clearly, especially in that sleepy-just-awake state of mind.
(an aside - every time I hear the song "Venus" by Frankie Avalon, I'm compelled to change it to "Penis", sung loudly and con brio! Immaturity can be a blast sometimes )
I've been waking up early and see a bright star off to the East, it must be a planet. It's really beautiful.
That would be Venus.
In the evening, Mars and Saturn are just above the west horizon pretty close to each other. Mars is on the left, Saturn on the right. With a pair of binoculars, you should be able to make out four of Saturn's moons.
Vega shines high overhead on August and September evenings, with a bright and beautiful radiance that can't be missed. The star made astronomical history in 1836 when it became one of the first to have its distance measured, the magnitude of the feat as impressive as the magnitude of the star itself.
A good two centuries before the unveiling of Vega's distance, Galileo (1564-1642) actually suggested how to compute stellar distances - but lacked the technology to follow through on his own idea. In fact, the success of his "double star" method only came about after a long incubation, not to bear fruit until Wilhelm Struve (1793-1864), Friedrich Bessel (1784-1864) and Thomas Henderson's (1798-1844) individual yet nearly simultaneous triumphs in the nineteenth century.
Galileo's proposed "double star" solution is as simple as it is ingenious. An observer watches a double star through a telescope over the course of a year, noting any change of angular distance between the pair of stars. For a sample of how the procedure works, simply walk outside on a starry night. Shut your right eye and align your finger with any star, looking at it with your left eye. Then shut your left eye, opening your right. You'll notice that your finger appears to move in relationship to that star.
Your right eye represents the Earth's change of position after six months, and your finger shows how the nearer star is expected to shift in respect to the more distant one. If you can accurately measure this shift (parallax), then you can also calculate the nearer star's distance.
Comments
i believe in reincarnation. this has my grand plans shot to shit
thanks for ruining my morning...my life
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
hrrmph.
Although, around 3:30am, I STILL couldn't get into the sleep-zone so got up and sat by the window, hit the bowl a couple of times. Moon was aligned between two bright stars, on the diagonal. So unexpected and pretty, kind of made up for not being able to see the showers from here.
(chadwick - sorry, but your post brought me a smile)
Hedonist- it's always a bummer when sleep eludes. Not many of us are Keith Richards.
Chadwick- regarding your reincarnation- look at it this way: All your thoughts are electrical impulses in you brain that emanate out into space. Tiny traces of these electrical impulses travel through space which, according to Einstein is curved. By the time those thoughts come back around, maybe the two galaxies will have gotten over their little feud, another one will have taken their place and you'll have a safe place to land.
i forget their names but there were two planets dancing around the sky this past winter and spring. i'd watch them every night whilst walking the park. one being brighter than the other.... trying to remember which planets they are.......hhhmmmm
my posted usually bring tears and someone wanting to punch me in the fudd. i am pleased you smiled
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
yes every sound, every single breath and whatever other energies we got goin on does travel up into the universe. this is why karma and the like are so very important.
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
Yes! So true!
And now that you mention it, I think one of those stars is actually Venus.
how long did you look. You have to look for a very long time to see just one sometimes
They were Jupiter & Venus.
Jupiter & Venus are very probably what you seen hedonist. They're making their appearance pre-dawn rather than post-dusk...
I've used the term "humbling" so much when I compare the tininess of myself to all of THAT out there...though we're both (all) nature, the proportions of it all and of me to it, well...I still sometimes need and welcome the reminder.
Scale of the Universe.....after it loads, drag the marker to the left or right....
P.S. for most people, it's worth the minute or so "load" time
http://www.primaxstudio.com/stuff/scale_of_universe/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19332091
(yet again, thanks, Jeanwah!)
and a sidenote - good god it's been beautiful out there these early mornings!
And last night I got a call from my dad to check the sky at 9:40; the international space station went through the sky from the Northwest. It looked like a traveling star, just this bright bean of light traveling through the sky until it dimmed out. Pretty cool!
In the evening, Mars and Saturn are just above the west horizon pretty close to each other. Mars is on the left, Saturn on the right. With a pair of binoculars, you should be able to make out four of Saturn's moons.
(an aside - every time I hear the song "Venus" by Frankie Avalon, I'm compelled to change it to "Penis", sung loudly and con brio! Immaturity can be a blast sometimes
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/curiosity-rover-landing-time-hd-224131860.html
Thanks for sharing....
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-latest-pictures-of-mars-look-exactly-like-something-from-earth-2012-8
Yes! Awesome!
Vega shines high overhead on August and September evenings, with a bright and beautiful radiance that can't be missed. The star made astronomical history in 1836 when it became one of the first to have its distance measured, the magnitude of the feat as impressive as the magnitude of the star itself.
A good two centuries before the unveiling of Vega's distance, Galileo (1564-1642) actually suggested how to compute stellar distances - but lacked the technology to follow through on his own idea. In fact, the success of his "double star" method only came about after a long incubation, not to bear fruit until Wilhelm Struve (1793-1864), Friedrich Bessel (1784-1864) and Thomas Henderson's (1798-1844) individual yet nearly simultaneous triumphs in the nineteenth century.
Galileo's proposed "double star" solution is as simple as it is ingenious. An observer watches a double star through a telescope over the course of a year, noting any change of angular distance between the pair of stars. For a sample of how the procedure works, simply walk outside on a starry night. Shut your right eye and align your finger with any star, looking at it with your left eye. Then shut your left eye, opening your right. You'll notice that your finger appears to move in relationship to that star.
Your right eye represents the Earth's change of position after six months, and your finger shows how the nearer star is expected to shift in respect to the more distant one. If you can accurately measure this shift (parallax), then you can also calculate the nearer star's distance.