Amazing isn't it. So small in some ways but try to walk across it and so huge in others.
America Forgot How to Talk to its Zombie Spaceship
A long-lost, pioneering spaceship [ISEE-3—International Sun-Earth Explorer—launched in 1978]—still functional thanks only to chance and human error—is coming home for the first time in three decades. It wants to explore new worlds. But we've forgotten how to talk to it.
This article likes—its em dashes.
America Forgot How to Talk to its Zombie Spaceship
A long-lost, pioneering spaceship [ISEE-3—International Sun-Earth Explorer—launched in 1978]—still functional thanks only to chance and human error—is coming home for the first time in three decades. It wants to explore new worlds. But we've forgotten how to talk to it.
This article likes—its em dashes.
I want the Amateur HAM Radio operators to get permission to try.
I want the Amateur HAM Radio operators to get permission to try.
They can try, but "approaching Earth" is likely way outside of the range of HAM radios. The last time it was in the neighborhood of Earth's orbit (1986) it was about 6.5 million miles away.
And even if the HAM radio operators can communicate with spacecraft, it's been on a gravity-assist trajectory since 1983 after doing three lunar fly-bys. There's literally no way to change where it's going.
Besides, the European Space Agency is going to land a spacecraft on a comet this summer. We're going to get far more data out of that than anything a 35 year-old spacecraft could give us (doubly so because it would take decades and decades to get IESS-3 on another comet intercept trajectory...if we could actually change it's orbit).
So that ship is doomed to perpetually just go between the Earth and Sun for all eternity? I'm impressed it still has 12 of 13 sensors functional. That's amazing engineering.
Tell us about the telescope, Fastmav?
Tell us about the telescope, Fastmav?
Umm, well its pretty good for looking at the moon, but not much else, I don't know much else about the sky to find jupiter/saturn, the two other things this thing should be powerfull enough to look at. I can see where a better telescope would be much better, but I think its not for me, I just hate looking thru that tiny hole.
Unfortunately this is another thing like learning guitar. A cheap instrument is frustrating to use and gives discouraging results. Cheap scopes are going to have focus issues, chromatic aberration, and tiny, claustrophic field of views. For the best bang for the buck look for a 4.5" or greater Dobsonian reflector. You can get one with a couple of decent Plossl eyepieces for under $200.
But yeah, it takes some money to get big expansive, immersive views. Ultimately Naglers and a binoviewer are amazing.
Haunting new Hubble image shows a galaxy being ripped to shreds
It's sort of terrifying how many little dots of light there actually are in the sky. When you consider that a lot of those dots of light are galaxies with their own vast amount of stars it doesn't help.
Of course some of those dots are actually super-clusters with LOTS of galaxies, so that helps.
Oh wait, no it doesn't.
Just though this thread should have a link over to the gravity waves thread, in case anyone hadn't spotted it.
The universe we can see is big, but it's probably only a part of the universe that exists. And there may be other universes as well. 
Well worth posting here and in the Neil thread
I don't know if this has been posted yet, but this is a great representation of the scale of our solar system. It shows the distance to Mars, our nearest neighbor, in a way that gives a great indication of how far we have to go. As most people in this thread will know, we currently have a spaceship that has left our solar system (Voyager 1), and is about 62 times the distance shown in the linked website. Never mind our nearest solar neighbor, Proxima Centauri, which is about 4.2 light years, or 2837 times further than Voyager 1 is. Absolutely mind-boggling. It always makes me feel tiny and insignificant, and at the same time awestruck and in love with science, when I contemplate these things.
The universe we can see is big, but it's probably only a part of the universe that exists. And there may be other universes as well.
so wait, those that say the universe is only 15b years old are flat earthers? 
I don't know if this has been posted yet, but this is a great representation of the scale of our solar system. It shows the distance to Mars, our nearest neighbor, in a way that gives a great indication of how far we have to go. As most people in this thread will know, we currently have a spaceship that has left our solar system (Voyager 1), and is about 62 times the distance shown in the linked website. Never mind our nearest solar neighbor, Proxima Centauri, which is about 4.2 light years, or 2837 times further than Voyager 1 is. Absolutely mind-boggling. It always makes me feel tiny and insignificant, and at the same time awestruck and in love with science, when I contemplate these things.
Apparently mars in in another universe, one in which there are no stars.
so wait, those that say the universe is only 15b years old are flat earthers?
No, they're pretty sure about the age, but we may not be able to see to the edges, because it's too big, and light hasn't gotten here yet.
There may be parts of our universe we will never see; from our point of view, it will never even exist.
Clearest photo yet of Mercury - false color to indicate mineral layer differences:
Poor thing is a bit beat up
Awesome photo!
Female Doggo, that's what ya get with no atmo. Suck it.
Female Doggo, that's what ya get with no atmo. Suck it.
Falling meteoroid caught on a skydiver's helmet-cam.
They call it a meteorite, but it isn't one until it hits the ground, IIRC.
Cool! And scary for the skydiver, considering he was only a few feet from being seriously injured, if not killed.
Here's a more in-depth video with English subtitles.
Cool! And scary for the skydiver, considering he was only a few feet from being seriously injured, if not killed.
Here's a more in-depth video with English subtitles.
I just saw this on another site and came here to post it. Almost unbelievable that they saw it fly by in real time.
Wow, that's really cool, and lucky they didn't get hit!
Ocean on Saturn moon may have ingredients for life
cool stuff, the more we learn about the numerous moons in our solar system the more optimistic I am that we'll find someday find solid evidence of some kind of life elsewhere even in our own solar system.
Ocean on Saturn moon may have ingredients for life
cool stuff, the more we learn about the numerous moons in our solar system the more optimistic I am that we'll find someday find solid evidence of some kind of life elsewhere even in our own solar system.
Soon we'll be able to harvest their native life, mix it up with complex lipids and acids, and have Enceladus dressing.
Ocean on Saturn moon may have ingredients for life
cool stuff, the more we learn about the numerous moons in our solar system the more optimistic I am that we'll find someday find solid evidence of some kind of life elsewhere even in our own solar system.
Very cool, indeed! With the billions of galaxies in the universe, it seems likey that at least some of them have solar systems harboring some form of living organisms in their Goldilocks zone. But these new discoveries in our own backyard that suggest the possiblity of living organisms outside the Goldilocks zone drastically increase the probability of life throughout the universe.
So we already suspected that Europa had an ocean like Earth's, and now it looks like there's one on Enceladus too. Well, I guess that solves the problem of how to find life: just look on planets starting with E.
So we already suspected that Europa had an ocean like Earth's, and now it looks like there's one on Enceladus too. Well, I guess that solves the problem of how to find life: just look on moons starting with E.
FTFY
Pages