Starship Asterisk*

Hey, I was going to try to correct my original post to say " And all but one (Sirius) of the 10 brightest stars in Canis Major are farther closer than 60 ly from us. ", but the interface doesn't give me the edit button! I wonder why. EDIT : but it's letting me edit this post just fine. St...

SpaceCadet wrote: ↑Tue Mar 29, 2022 4:34 am Where is Saturn in this photo?

The description reads: "Besides Venus and Mars, the morning sky now also includes the more distant planet Saturn"

It's not in this image. Saturn is hidden behind the landscape, or hadn't risen yet.

m_v = 10.95
Clicking the 2MASS J17554042+6551277 link will take you to the SIMBAD data page for that star. There are several magnitudes for different spectral bands.

Hi Ann Personally I'm intrigued by a blue-white foreground star masquerading(?) as a supernova.It sure looks like a supernova to me. Probably intuition. SN 1999by was right next to it ;-) However, the star should effectively be a foreground star, since it was already visible in 1999. https://spacef...

Great observation, that us newbies may not think about. IF you are actually on the near side of the moon, you would never see an Earthrise! Unless something went VERY wrong! That's not the case. The moon's obliquity and orbit eccentricity lead to the moon tracing out an oval shape about 13.5° by 5....

JohnD wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 11:48 pm Is the blue star in front of the Gold, from us, then?

If I interpret your question correctly, then the answer is no.
Albireo A (gold star) has the larger parallax so it's closer to us (i.e., the gold star in front of the blue star from us)

Very interesting! Thanks for the report Galaxies: LEDA 3097829 ESO 219-25 6dFGS gJ130634.9-493149   NGC 4945.JPG Wow, thank you so much! Those are a few of the ones I was looking at. Looking them up now :) You're welcome. At least you have identifiers, and I think the links will be helpful too.

I'm curious if anyone has identified any of the other galaxies in the image, like the one highlighted here, for instance. Beyond my capabilities :) I, too, have been unsuccessful. If you go to Simbad , you can actually see the galaxy, extremely faintly, to the right of NGC 4945. You can click on it...

For all practical purposes, consider 50% of the mass energy is converted in the accretion disk, compared to about 0.5% in fusion. It's hard to fathom, and kind of ironic that the weak force is the primary channel for the highest emitted powers in the Universe.

Hey! I was very surprised, and complimented, to see my 2012 post linked identifying many familiar stars.
As of today, considering the difficulty of identifying APOD star fields I've identified over the years, I think this one falls in the top 3.

Thanks!

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_220123.jpg Saturn, Tethys, Rings, and Shadows Explanation: Seen from ice moon Tethys , rings and shadows would display fantastic views of the Saturnian system. Haven't dropped in on Tethys lately? Then this gorgeous ringscape from the Cassini spacecraft will ha...

... Very nice work! Do you happen to know how much the plume lag behind JWST? It would be nice to point out exactly where JWST should be in the image in relation to the more visible plume. Well, I'm unable to estimate the lag accurately, but after an additional analysis constraint and more complete...

... Very nice work! Do you happen to know how much the plume lag behind JWST? It would be nice to point out exactly where JWST should be in the image in relation to the more visible plume. Well, I'm unable to estimate the lag accurately, but after an additional analysis constraint and more complete...

I observed this shower many years ago, mainly to experience its short duration (~6 hours). I was skeptical I'd be able to sense a peak within a 6-hour timeframe, but I was actually surprised I could. The peak was distinct enough that I quit observing about 4:00am after not seeing any reasonable coun...

An emailer points out The sun most certainly does not rise at its southernmost point (N hemisphere) on the solstice. That happens around January 5, +/-. (today!) This is correct insofar as the Sun's southernmost point occurs during the day of the December solstice -- which does not necessarily coin...

Pon - Thank you very much for the time and care you've spent following the posts, clarifying and correcting our understanding of your images, and sharing your many years of experience recording and figuring out the plume(s). For us, one APOD sometimes does not tell enough information, and for sever...

Yes, I think that is the case. There are a large number of possible halo orbits that could have been chosen. Certainly, some such path is a requirement for a metastable existence near L2. But this orbit was carefully designed because the mission is only possible if the probe is in constant sunlight...

Yes. But that isn't actually an orbit, because there's nothing at L2 that can be orbited. So it's actually a complex pattern of station keeping that keeps the telescope in the vicinity of L2. Yes, and my response is tailored to him answering yes as you did. I interpreted his reply as saying the &qu...

Wow! The resolution and looks 3D. I've not seen a Jovian image like this before. I like the enhancements.

Pon - Thank you very much for the time and care you've spent following the posts, clarifying and correcting our understanding of your images, and sharing your many years of experience recording and figuring out the plume(s). For us, one APOD sometimes does not tell enough information, and for severa...

Very cool. Better to be in constant sun with the known effect of a constant sun shield than in inconstant shadows. I was wondering what the purpose of that complex orbit was! So what about the orbit do you think is complex? Are referring to the halo orbit around L2? Yes. But that isn't actually an ...

After more than 50 years involved in the biological health sciences, retirement is allowing me to explore some subjects that have always fascinated me. I check the APOD photo daily and always read the “discussion” to see what you brainy people think. Please excuse this rather amateur posting but I ...

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap181013.html https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap181012.html https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap171224.html https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120329.html Ok, so those rocket plumes and trails have varied appearances, but none look like a sphere. The sphere is harder to explain. But I did ...

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Tue Dec 28, 2021 9:54 pm So, if the two bright spots on either side are sun dogs, what is the bright fountain-looking thing on top?

Upper tangent arc
Atmospheric Optics
Tangent Arcs

The cat reminds me of Clark Griswold daydreaming about his future pool, among other things...