Starship Asterisk*

So, something similar will likely be the fate of our own Sun, correct? From the link - Planetary Nebulae Planetary nebulae (PN) represent the last stages of evolution for low- and intermediate-mass stars whose Main Sequence mass was less than about 8 solar masses. After evolving through the Asympto...

Interesting adjective "elongated". Implies ovoid, but outermost wisps are almost perfectly circular. We do not know the viewing aspect. Could be looking down the barrel of somethig like the butterfly nebula. In fact, we understand both the viewing aspect and the 3D structure of the Ring N...

The instruments of the observers of the 16th and 17th centuries were less precise than the 150 mm amateur telescopes, but with the desire to discover they solved it. When the Ring Nebula is observed with an amateur telescope, a milky circle appears to the eye with a dark center and nothing more res...

Had Messier discovered this planetary nebula with the same fine details seen here, I'm sure he would have ditched the term "planetary" nebula right away! We read over and over that it's a misnomer; what would be a better term? Red giant remnant? I've always liked the term, and wouldn't la...

This image really showcases just how tiny this phenomenon really looks to the unaided eye. Still, though, it's a great image! Actually, to the unaided eye, it looks much larger. What this picture illustrates is just how small it actually is, despite the powerful illusion of it appearing much larger...

Thanks for the suggestion, Chris, I didn't think of that! :D 🐐 That's a lovely goat, by the way. What's her name? She looks very feminine to me! :D 👱🏾‍♀️ Ann Gretel. She'll be kidding in a couple of weeks. Thanks for teaching me a new word, Chris! I only knew one meaning of the word "kidding&q...

Ann wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2024 5:51 pm Yesterday the weather here in Malmö was nice, and I was out walking in the parks downtown, taking many pictures with my fairly simple mobile phone.

Hmm. Springtime in Malmö. Here's Springtime in Guffey. Yesterday at 9am, today at 9am.
_

Well I was going to ask at what point we differentiate between a star cluster and dwarf spheroidal galaxy, but thanks to the color commentary I am guessing the black hole at the center may be a factor. :idea: Some globular clusters have central black holes. I think there are at least two difference...

So many unanswered questions - flabbergast to the max. First - what mechanism causes a star to rotate at such an enormous rate? Sucking gas off another star won’t do it. Second - try tracking down the two assertions about LEO I. Central density comes from a model which requires a central black hole...

Well I was going to ask at what point we differentiate between a star cluster and dwarf spheroidal galaxy, but thanks to the color commentary I am guessing the black hole at the center may be a factor. :idea: Some globular clusters have central black holes. I think there are at least two difference...

I'm still somewhat puzzled by JWST colour choices. Is there a scientific reason why they chose pink/red for NGC 604 but a kind of rusty brownish not-really-red for the Tarantula Nebula? Is it to reflect different molecular properties or are these different colours for no real reason? 604.png 2070.j...

I'm still somewhat puzzled by JWST colour choices. Is there a scientific reason why they chose pink/red for NGC 604 but a kind of rusty brownish not-really-red for the Tarantula Nebula? Is it to reflect different molecular properties or are these different colours for no real reason? 604.png 2070.j...

P. Mitchell wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:08 pm These are not 'contrails'.

They are most certainly the condensation trails produced by passing jet airplanes. Contrails.

from beneath https://www.globe.gov/documents/16792331/47233527/cld_pers1.jpg/f3c94d07-4a38-414c-b856-1566e7e7c5ae?t=1581356571539 Right... but relevance to my comments? ok I am fitting the shadow, the trails and Sun… and you are right, Sun is high in the sky Contrail Shadow X (2024 Apr 23)-.jpg I'm...

I agree with others here that we are seeing the shadows of the contrails cast down onto the clouds, not up. (I'm not convinced it's even possible to have a contrail shadow cast up onto a cloud... the Sun would have to be on or slightly below the horizon, and I think the directly illuminated cloud w...

NGC 2403 This spiral galaxy in Camelopardalis is often compared to M33, but is imaged much less often. Visually, it is a bright binocular object. It is strikingly populated by H II regions, one of which is so large it has its own catalog designation (NGC 2404) inside its parent galaxy. NGC 2403 is ...

I agree with others here that we are seeing the shadows of the contrails cast down onto the clouds, not up. (I'm not convinced it's even possible to have a contrail shadow cast up onto a cloud... the Sun would have to be on or slightly below the horizon, and I think the directly illuminated cloud wo...

Bartolo wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2024 1:54 pm How wide are Mt Etna's smoke rings?

Well, the image was made about 70km from Etna, so given the Moon is a half degree wide, the smoke rings are about 0.08 degrees, and must therefore be about 100 meters across.

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Apr 21, 2024 4:25 pm Two questions about some info from the links:

1. Why does the Jove probe spin - stability I guess? But doesn't that negatively impact the ability to take pictures? And how fast is it spinning?

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press_kit ... pacecraft/

saturnine wrote: ↑Sun Apr 21, 2024 1:14 pm

Roy wrote: ↑Sun Apr 21, 2024 12:55 pm Could really do better with the William Tell Overture instead of that squirrel music.

I think “Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity” by Holst is quite appropriate.

Until you recognize that Holst was addressing astrology, not astronomy!

1) it would have been nice to state the date rather than say it was the 16th pass…like that tells us anything. 2) on a personal note, I hate when people add music to space videos. Could really do better with the William Tell Overture instead of that squirrel music. The APODs focus on the “ oh, Wow!...

Hey there, I'm the author of this composite. These images were captured with my lens on a star tracker in Arkansas. The camera was not level at the time of the exposures because I didn't make any adjustments to the camera during tracking by adjusting where the camera was on the right ascension axis...

Alright, I'll ask: why aren't the two "diamonds" on the same line through the center of the eclipse? The centers of the Sun and Moon are coincident at totality, so why aren't the two diamond colinear with the center? The centers of the two bodies are only coincident at mid-totality if you...

But I suppose even if there are only two bodies in a system, like, say, the Sun and Jupiter, the Sun may - and will - change mass over time through its evolution along the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram due to changes in its nuclear fusion processes. So I'd think that could also eventually perturb Jup...

I wonder what makes the comet get too close to the Sun ? I'd imagine gravity pull .. but then, how long it must have taken that comet to reach that stage (i mean how many times it must have made rounds around Sun and how many years it must have been doing it before finally getting too close and get...