New Discoveries *2* - ...Extraplanetary, deep space, CONTINUED

Palomar · 2004-01-14 09:15:40

*No, it's not a "new discovery," but I'll place it in the thread anyway (don't want to start a new thread, etc.). What an awesome image! Of all the Apollo pics I've ever seen, this one really blows me away. It's almost like you can step into the photo and go climb that hill yourself!

[http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040113.html]http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040113.html

My god, to actually have set foot on a different celestial body...regardless if you're first or tenth. Totally mind-boggling, even after all these decades. I still feel that "rush" of excitement.

I really envy the first person to set foot on Mars.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-01-14 15:53:40

No, it's not a "new discovery," but I'll place it in the thread anyway (don't want to start a new thread, etc.). What an awesome image! Of all the Apollo pics I've ever seen, this one really blows me away. It's almost like you can step into the photo and go climb that hill yourself!
[http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040113.html]http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040113.html
Wonderful, ... but ???
1. Look in the right side of the picture, under the sun and a little bit to the left, and you'll see something reflecting light there, in the background. What's that ?!
2. The hill under the sun appears foggy. Why ? Should this happen in void ? It's a normal lens effect ?

*Erm...well, it says this is a "digitally stitched mosaic panorama." Perhaps that might explain some of what you are questioning?

Otherwise, I really don't know. I just want to go climb that hill (although I'd prefer one on Mars!).

--Cindy

P.S.: Thanks for the information on Antares, and for the "green star mini-debate" :;):

Palomar · 2004-01-16 06:50:59

[=http://www.space.com/spacewatch/mars_moons_040116.html]Rings Around Mars?

*This new article at space.com discusses Phobos, which means "fear" and Deimos, which means "panic" (mythology -- Phobos and Deimos were attendants and companions of Mars). Lots of facts and details, including an item I'd read (and posted here previously) many months ago from the Astropix folks: That in 40 to 50 million years Phobos "could conceivably" crash into Mars, as it is drawing closer to Mars by a rate of 0.7 inches or 1.8 cm per year. However, THIS article goes on to state that before Phobos would crash into Mars, Mars' "strong tidal forces" would break Phobos up into little particles...that would "encircle Mars in a series of thin rings."

Awesome.

--Cindy

Byron · 2004-01-16 07:01:42

[http://www.space.com/spacewatch/mars_moons_040116.html]Rings Around Mars?
*This new article at space.com discusses Phobos, which means "fear" and Deimos, which means "panic" (mythology -- Phobos and Deimos were attendants and companions of Mars). Lots of facts and details, including an item I'd read (and posted here previously) many months ago from the Astropix folks: That in 40 to 50 million years Phobos "could conceivably" crash into Mars, as it is drawing closer to Mars by a rate of 0.7 inches or 1.8 cm per year. However, THIS article goes on to state that before Phobos would crash into Mars, Mars' "strong tidal forces" would break Phobos up into little particles...that would "encircle Mars in a series of thin rings."
Awesome.
--Cindy

Interesting article, Cindy. I thought this part was particularily interesting:

In fact, if Deimos? orbit were just 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) lower, its orbital period would indeed match Mars? rotation exactly; Deimos would then appear to move around Mars in a synchronous orbit and would hover eternally over one particular spot on the Martian surface.

Wouldn't that be an interesting oddity? Perhaps future settlers will nudge Diemos into a synchronous orbit and have one heck of a geostationary satellite in Martian orbit...lol. As for Phobos, I'm sure future humans will either mine it out of existence or move it to a higher and safer orbit. (KSR, the crazy SF author he is, he crashes the poor thing into Mars, causing all kinds of destruction...lol.)

B

Rxke · 2004-01-16 11:06:57

1. Look in the right side of the picture, under the sun and a little bit to the left, and you'll see something reflecting light there, in the background. What's that ?!
2. The hill under the sun appears foggy. Why ? Should this happen in void ? It's a normal lens effect ?

BGD...

that reflection is part of a hill in the sun, and the fog... do you mean the 'halo' around the sun?

The picture is 8bits b/w, meaning only 256 steps between total black and total white, that's the explanation why you see 'rings' ('banding' in graphics speak)
Also, film has a limited 'density-range' meaning it can only display a certain number of 'shades of gray', that's why that hill looks 'all whte' wich it isn't, the film just couldn't capture the subtle details... you could say it's overexposed.
But i did notice a strange 'smudge' in the surface part beneath the sun, looks like a digital artifact, though...
We should have to look at the originals to be sure, or a hi-res PICT,TIFF or RAW file,not a compressed jpg-file...

Rxke · 2004-01-16 11:14:11

Meanwhile, Hubble is still going strong, delivering another tour-de-force... [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3387919.stm]BBC

Palomar · 2004-01-16 11:33:50

Meanwhile, Hubble is still going strong, delivering another tour-de-force... [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3387919.stm]BBC

*Excellent; thanks for referring it Rik. This is also definitely good news:

"Asked how Hubble is performing Dr Beckwith said: 'Hubble is doing beautifully. It's working better than when it was new. We have not yet reached the limit of what it can do.'"

An adjoining article:

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3402597.stm]Ray Bradbury excited by Mars effort

"We've been very lazy and stupid over the years," he told BBC News Online.

"We can't stay on Earth forever. We've got to move on. It's time we went to Mars to build a colony there."

--Cindy

Josh Cryer · 2004-01-16 11:55:45

[=http://www.apolloarchive.com/apollo_archive.html]www.apolloarchive.com blew me away.

Check out the videos.

Palomar · 2004-01-16 12:31:38

[http://www.apolloarchive.com/apollo_archive.html]www.apolloarchive.com blew me away.
Check out the videos.

*Oh my god.

I've got to have "The Mighty Saturns - Saturn I and IB" DVD set!

They were so gorgeous.

I want one for my backyard...don't know what the neighbors will say (well, yes -- actually I do know what they'd say...)

I wish I could have seen one of them launched in real life, from the stands. Their launches were so glorious to watch on TV. I always get goosebumps and a rush when viewing those old clips, even today.

--Cindy

Josh Cryer · 2004-01-16 14:17:36

I've been browsing the Apollo Lunar Journal for fun again, it's a really huge archive of stuff, that I've never been able to get through all the way (I've watched all the landings, and read the transcripts, but being able to view the images nope).

Caught this rather lovely image from Apollo 17: [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/as17-134-20384.jpg]http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/as17-134-20384.jpg

Just thought you might like that Cindy.

Apollo Lunar Journal: [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/frame.html]http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/frame.html

Rxke · 2004-01-16 16:19:32

wow (the pics you linked) that is weird, and not an artifact. probably dirt, but still strange...

smudge (hmmm, did i invent that... could be... i meant, some 'smearing out' of some stuff in the picture, like they wiped the picture with a solvent or something...)

*takes a look again at the Apollo pics...*
ummm... the foggyness and my 'smudge' is the same thing, notice there are two of those... Definitely badly compressed, also notice the halo, there is some secondary refraction in the form of a 'pentacle'(???) artefact, normally you'd see that very sharp, here it's errr. hazy...
Conclusion: the pic looks good, if you don't look too lose (grinnin as a fool, i am)

Rxke · 2004-01-16 16:21:48

smudge is in my English to Dutch 'woordenboek' it means like (ink)stains you smear out....

Rxke · 2004-01-17 02:11:51

BGD, I hope i didn't give the impession i thought you wee one of those nutcases! (Yes, nutcases, there's a picture somewhere on the 'net with one of the the newer pics of Mars, with a gazillion arrows and blowups pointing to 'cannisters, alien machinery' etc... Hilarious, if it was not so sad... )

Rxke · 2004-01-17 02:28:25

Hmmm... What did i say.. Hubble still going strong... Let's hope it does fo quite a while in the future, 'caus it looks like there will be no new service mission... [http://www.nasawatch.com/misc/01.16.04.hst.html]according to this internal memo...

note: it's not a budge-cut, but a safety-related decision...

Palomar · 2004-01-17 07:15:50

Josh: "Caught this rather lovely image from Apollo 17: [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/as17-134-20384.jpg]http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/as17-134-20384.jpg

Just thought you might like that Cindy."

*Yes, thanks. It's always interesting how the flag looks in those photos (yes, I know due to lower gravity, no atmosphere, etc...)...looks like it's been terribly overstarched and in need of a good ironing. And the Earth right there...very nice. I'm not sure I've seen that particular photo before...

BGD, interesting article about Wild 2's nucleus.

As for men going extinct. Bah; not true. Not while there are healthy, red-blooded hetero women like me around! I would NOT want to live in a world without men. Would NOT...no...no thank you! Enough said.

--Cindy

P.S.: A similar "news item" was being passed around last year that in a few hundred years blonde-haired people would be a thing of the past, being genetically weeded out -- going extinct. That was later proven to be bogus. Funny thing is, it was reported as factual and discussed on a major TV news broadcast.

Byron · 2004-01-17 07:55:37

As for men going extinct. Bah; not true. Not while there are healthy, red-blooded hetero women like me around! I would NOT want to live in a world without men. Would NOT...no...no thank you!

Well, I for one, do not think you or our future descendents will have to worry about this predictiment. The story the BGD quoted from is bogus science, pure and simple. What mammalian species have we seen going to one sex only?? That's right, the answer is exactly *zero*. Evolution of the genes, like everything else in nature, is usually self-correcting...eventually the "infertile" men and their chromosomes will be weeded out of the population. Besides, in just a few decades, we humans will be able to edit our genes at will...if there's a problem somewhere, we'll just fix it...lol.

My biggest fear in regards to the future evolution of homo sapians is what will happen when our genetic make-up becomes subject to our own whims and desires. It may not happen right away, due to high costs, limited public acceptance, etc, but knowing how technology tends to take over like an unstoppable steamroller, it's not difficult to envision a future when everyone has children that fits the "social image" of what the human body should look like, i.e., "perfect" in every way possible. Same thing with intelligence...what parent doesn't want a smart child? Also, you'll be able to say goodbye to homosexuals...once that gene is found it'll surely become a thing of the past very quickly. They'll be no children with eyeglasses or hearing aids, no children with learning disabilities....but no one will be exceptional, either, since everyone will be plastic clones of one another.

Not the type of world I'd want to live in, that's for sure ???

B

Palomar · 2004-01-17 08:20:05

[=http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040114/sc_nm/bush_space_mars_dc_1]Finally...some recognition

*Although neither Mr. Mandell nor the reporter mention "Mars Direct," what is outlined sure puts Mars Direct in mind. I'm glad this was pointed out:

"A faster method -- ranging in price from $20 billion to $100 billion as opposed to an earlier NASA estimate of about $400 billion -- "

Terraforming is mentioned and briefly discussed; Mandell isn't in favor of it.

---

In yet another article, congressman Dave Weldon is calling for a return to space capsules:

[http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s … sules_dc_1]http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm....es_dc_1

--Cindy

sethmckiness · 2004-01-17 09:06:37

Byron.... have you been watching Gattaca?

Palomar · 2004-01-18 10:53:57

[=http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=13435]Inside a stellar nursery...

*Beautiful image of the Tarantula Nebula via the Spitzer Space Telescope, with oodles of information.

"One such dusty object is the Tarantula Nebula. Located in the southern constellation of Dorado, in a nearby galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud, this glowing cloud of gas and dust is one of the most dynamic star-forming regions in our local group of galaxies. It harbors some of the most massive stars in the universe, up to 100 times more massive than our own Sun, and is the only nebula outside our galaxy visible to the naked eye." - !

---

[http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040117.html]Stunning Saturn

*This photo took my breath away when I clicked on Astropix yesterday. Magnificent.

Check out the article pertaining to Galileo, found in the "first to be amazed" link.

---

[http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040115.html]Orion Deep Field

*Orion is currently in the night-time sky, to the SE shortly after dark. Orion Nebula is visible even in small telescopes and binoculars. I'm taking my telescope out again tonight, if the weather holds.

--Cindy

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