APOD: Launch of the IXPE Observatory (2021 Dec 22)

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APOD: Launch of the IXPE Observatory (2021 Dec 22)

Post by APOD Robot » Wed Dec 22, 2021 5:07 am

Image Launch of the IXPE Observatory

Explanation: Birds don't fly this high. Airplanes don't go this fast. The Statue of Liberty weighs less. No species other than human can even comprehend what is going on, nor could any human just a millennium ago. The launch of a rocket bound for space is an event that inspires awe and challenges description. Pictured here, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, Florida earlier this month carrying the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). IXPE is scheduled to observe high-energy objects such as neutron stars, black holes, and the centers of distant galaxies to better determine the physics and geometries that create and control them. From a standing start, the 300,000+ kilogram rocket ship lifted IXPE up to circle the Earth, where the outside air is too thin to breathe. Rockets bound for space are now launched from somewhere on Earth every few days.

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Re: APOD: Launch of the IXPE Observatory (2021 Dec 22)

Post by Ann » Wed Dec 22, 2021 5:33 am

APOD 22 December 2021 satellite launch annotated.png

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Blastov

Re: APOD: Launch of the IXPE Observatory (2021 Dec 22)

Post by Blastov » Wed Dec 22, 2021 8:32 am

I LOVE the ripples creating the squiggles. i wonder if the bigger squiggles in any way represent the sound pressure arriving from the rocket roar

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Re: APOD: Launch of the IXPE Observatory (2021 Dec 22)

Post by trumanmc » Wed Dec 22, 2021 11:44 am

It could be the sound from the rocket shacking the camera. I saw STS-87 Shuttle launch from 2 miles away and it was like something was pounding my chest!

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Re: APOD: Launch of the IXPE Observatory (2021 Dec 22)

Post by sir_oki » Wed Dec 22, 2021 12:48 pm

Ann wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 5:33 am
APOD 22 December 2021 satellite launch annotated.png
Hello Ann, I'm the original photographer.

1. I'm not sure what star that is, I might be able to determine that based on my coordinates and time. I'll look into it.
2. Yes, the first stage of Falcon 9 is separated there. After Main Engine Cutoff (MECO), the first stage separates and the gridfins guide it towards the droneship. The fainter trail is Falcon's second stage, which is a single vacuum engine.
3. The ripples were caused by me moving out of the water and fish swimming around. The ripples were discrete, so there wasn't a lot of interaction to produce a blur that you might be used to seeing. The lack of wind helped with that as well.

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Re: APOD: Launch of the IXPE Observatory (2021 Dec 22)

Post by orin stepanek » Wed Dec 22, 2021 2:32 pm

IxpeLaunch_Sirokie_1875.jpg
Nice photo of rocket launch! A Lot to watch here :shock:
Explanation: Birds don't fly this high. Airplanes don't go this fast. The Statue of Liberty weighs less. No species other than human can even comprehend what is going on, nor could any human just a millennium ago. The launch of a rocket bound for space is an event that inspires awe and challenges description. Pictured here, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, Florida earlier this month carrying the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). IXPE is scheduled to observe high-energy objects such as neutron stars, black holes, and the centers of distant galaxies to better determine the physics and geometries that create and control them. From a standing start, the 300,000+ kilogram rocket ship lifted IXPE up to circle the Earth, where the outside air is too thin to breathe. Rockets bound for space are now launched from somewhere on Earth every few days.
Very interesting APOD today :)
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Re: APOD: Launch of the IXPE Observatory (2021 Dec 22)

Post by neufer » Wed Dec 22, 2021 4:16 pm

sir_oki wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 12:48 pm
Ann wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 5:33 am
APOD 22 December 2021 satellite launch annotated.png
Hello Ann, I'm the original photographer.

1. I'm not sure what star that is, I might be able to determine that based on my coordinates and time. I'll look into it.

2. Yes, the first stage of Falcon 9 is separated there. After Main Engine Cutoff (MECO), the first stage separates and the gridfins guide it towards the droneship. The fainter trail is Falcon's second stage, which is a single vacuum engine.

3. The ripples were caused by me moving out of the water and fish swimming around. The ripples were discrete, so there wasn't a lot of interaction to produce a blur that you might be used to seeing. The lack of wind helped with that as well.
Why do Will & daughter Judith Shakespeare's
. signatures look so strange & wiggly :?: :arrow:
--------------------------------------------------------
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............................................
Aemelia (The Comedy of Errors)
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Re: APOD: Launch of the IXPE Observatory (2021 Dec 22)

Post by Ann » Wed Dec 22, 2021 6:18 pm

sir_oki wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 12:48 pm
Ann wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 5:33 am
APOD 22 December 2021 satellite launch annotated.png
Hello Ann, I'm the original photographer.

1. I'm not sure what star that is, I might be able to determine that based on my coordinates and time. I'll look into it.
2. Yes, the first stage of Falcon 9 is separated there. After Main Engine Cutoff (MECO), the first stage separates and the gridfins guide it towards the droneship. The fainter trail is Falcon's second stage, which is a single vacuum engine.
3. The ripples were caused by me moving out of the water and fish swimming around. The ripples were discrete, so there wasn't a lot of interaction to produce a blur that you might be used to seeing. The lack of wind helped with that as well.
Thank you for your explanation! :D

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Re: APOD: Launch of the IXPE Observatory (2021 Dec 22)

Post by johnnydeep » Wed Dec 22, 2021 9:53 pm

Ann wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 6:18 pm
sir_oki wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 12:48 pm
Ann wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 5:33 am
APOD 22 December 2021 satellite launch annotated.png
Hello Ann, I'm the original photographer.

1. I'm not sure what star that is, I might be able to determine that based on my coordinates and time. I'll look into it.
2. Yes, the first stage of Falcon 9 is separated there. After Main Engine Cutoff (MECO), the first stage separates and the gridfins guide it towards the droneship. The fainter trail is Falcon's second stage, which is a single vacuum engine.
3. The ripples were caused by me moving out of the water and fish swimming around. The ripples were discrete, so there wasn't a lot of interaction to produce a blur that you might be used to seeing. The lack of wind helped with that as well.
Thank you for your explanation! :D

Ann
Yes, though I still don't understand the statement about the ripples: "The ripples were discrete, so there wasn't a lot of interaction to produce a blur that you might be used to seeing." What would the reflection look like if the water was a solid mirror instead? Wouldn't it be just as blurry as the rocket trail in the air?
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Re: APOD: Launch of the IXPE Observatory (2021 Dec 22)

Post by Fred the Cat » Thu Dec 23, 2021 12:48 am

Actually quite apropos! The bright area looks like an eye. The reflection is what we see now and above; a clearer view. :thumb_up:
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Re: APOD: Launch of the IXPE Observatory (2021 Dec 22)

Post by neufer » Thu Dec 23, 2021 9:10 pm

johnnydeep wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 9:53 pm
I still don't understand the statement about the ripples: "The ripples were discrete, so there wasn't a lot of interaction to produce a blur that you might be used to seeing." What would the reflection look like if the water was a solid mirror instead? Wouldn't it be just as blurry as the rocket trail in the air?
The reflection off a solid mirror would be just as blurry as the rocket trail in the air.
  • By spreading the brightest part of the rocket nozzle flame rapidly around
    as well a dimming it by ineffective water reflection the moving streak is less saturated
    and less obscured by the more lasting but dimmer parts of the flame.

    The ripple structure is probably mostly the result of two discrete surface waves
    propagating in perpendicular directions
    as in a "Blackburn double pendulum":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonograph wrote:
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
<<A Blackburn pendulum is a device for illustrating simple harmonic motion, it was named after Hugh Blackburn, who described it in 1844. This was first discussed by James Dean in 1815 and analyzed mathematically by Nathaniel Bowditch in the same year. A bob is suspended from a string that in turn hangs from a V-shaped pair of strings, so that the pendulum oscillates simultaneously in two perpendicular directions with different periods. The bob consequently follows a path resembling a Lissajous curve; it belongs to the family of mechanical devices known as harmonographs. The drawings created typically are Lissajous curves or related drawings of greater complexity. Mid-20th century physics textbooks sometimes refer to this type of pendulum as a double pendulum.>>

:arrow: Blackburn double pendulum in slow-mo.
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Re: APOD: Launch of the IXPE Observatory (2021 Dec 22)

Post by johnnydeep » Thu Dec 23, 2021 9:23 pm

neufer wrote: Thu Dec 23, 2021 9:10 pm
johnnydeep wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 9:53 pm
I still don't understand the statement about the ripples: "The ripples were discrete, so there wasn't a lot of interaction to produce a blur that you might be used to seeing." What would the reflection look like if the water was a solid mirror instead? Wouldn't it be just as blurry as the rocket trail in the air?
The reflection off a solid mirror would be just as blurry as the rocket trail in the air.
  • By spreading the brightest part of the rocket nozzle flame rapidly around
    as well a dimming it by ineffective water reflection the moving streak is less saturated
    and less obscured by the more lasting but dimmer parts of the flame.

    The ripple structure is probably mostly the result of two discrete surface waves
    propagating in perpendicular directions
    as in a "Blackburn double pendulum":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonograph wrote:
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
<<A Blackburn pendulum is a device for illustrating simple harmonic motion, it was named after Hugh Blackburn, who described it in 1844. This was first discussed by James Dean in 1815 and analyzed mathematically by Nathaniel Bowditch in the same year. A bob is suspended from a string that in turn hangs from a V-shaped pair of strings, so that the pendulum oscillates simultaneously in two perpendicular directions with different periods. The bob consequently follows a path resembling a Lissajous curve; it belongs to the family of mechanical devices known as harmonographs. The drawings created typically are Lissajous curves or related drawings of greater complexity. Mid-20th century physics textbooks sometimes refer to this type of pendulum as a double pendulum.>>

:arrow: Blackburn double pendulum in slow-mo.
Cool. Very interesting similar effect and probable cause of the squiggles in the APOD!
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