Starship Asterisk*

I don't know that the change was necessary <snip> Are all natural satellites of a planet moons , or do they have to be a particular size before they are designated as such (in the same way that only some natural bodies in orbit around a star are planets, and others are not)? But now I do know it wa...

Oooooh, lucky you! I have wanted to see auroras since I was in the 4th grade and "aurora borealis" was on my spelling list! I used to stand outside the inside-the-DC-Beltway house I grew up in staring into the northern sky just hoping dreaming wishing I'd see an aurora! Not only was the la...

Thanks for the link to this page; if I had ever read about the "magnetic ropes" which help fuel auroral substorms, I'd forgotten about them.

Next year for spring vacation: Alaska for auroras!

bystander wrote:I don't think Christo has wrapped any Saturnian moons.

Yet.

I learned the word "collinear" and about Lagrange points and Trojan asteroids/moons. I love APOD!!

I don't know that the change was necessary (though I'm not an astronomer/astrophysicist, nor do I play one on TV); the Space.com article does not refer to the Trojans of Neptune as "moons." Are all natural satellites of a planet moons , or do they have to be a particular size before they a...

Nepture has trojans, too, according to this article.

I was wondering if, in general, natural satellites in Lagrange points tend to be smooth. I suspect the point of the animation is to show the 'gentle "wash cycle" sloshing motion of Lagrange orbits' that may account for the smoothness of such bodies.

Helene is smooth, and according to Wikipedia, one of four Lagrange (trojan) moons in the Saturnian system; the others are Telesto, Calypso, and Polydeuces. Telesto and Calypso are also pretty smooth; couldn't find a picture of Polydeuces which showed its surface. (Likely not imaged yet at a distance...

What a lovely picture; thanks for sharing it!

All that's needed for this pic is a soundtrack, which would have to be Throat Culture's Easter Island Head.

Moai -- on my list (my long long list) of things to see with mine own eyes someday.

There is no reflection of the "second sun" on the water. I think this lends support for the window theory.

You rock the universe!! Thank you!!

Merci beaucoup plus encore, Robert! Loved the video; a great view of some of the inhabitants and locales of this little blue-green orb we call home.

tmneff wrote:"As for inter-galaxy warfare, when viewed from our Galaxy's center, no causalities are expected. "

And here I thought causality was at the core of astrophysics.

Nice to know I'm not the only language PITA who looks at APOD!

(It's been fixed, BTW.)

Dan Cordell wrote:The Leonid meteor shower is coming up on November 15th.

November 15th? I thought it was the 19th.