Starship Asterisk*

"shows, unexpectedly, that this red-glowing dust is associated with hot plasma." Is it unexpected because there is plasma inside stars, but this is plasma dust in between stars, as if chunks of plasma were blown out of stars? Plasma is just highly ionized gas. That is, a mix of neutral at...

The Hubble image shows M82 in its entirety (well, mostly), whereas the JWST image only shows the center of M82. All the bright white dots in the JWST image are star clusters, and the fainter dots are most likely individual stars. (Well, admittedly, there is a lonely-looking elongated white thing be...

The Hubble image shows M82 in its entirety (well, mostly), whereas the JWST image only shows the center of M82. All the bright white dots in the JWST image are star clusters, and the fainter dots are most likely individual stars. (Well, admittedly, there is a lonely-looking elongated white thing be...

I think it's akin to seeing photographs of the Grand Canyon and being there. The pictures are nice, the anecdotal accounts are impressive, but man oh man you don't get the immensity until you've been there. But the Grand Canyon is HUGE! Compared to a 0.5* wide Sun-Moon combo in the sky, I still can...

I had seen several partials but never a total eclipse. I brought cameras along but after about 20 seconds I decided that I wasn't going to live this experience through the lens. There are countless other photographers more able than I to document this. I needed to see this in person and more import...

I had seen several partials but never a total eclipse. I brought cameras along but after about 20 seconds I decided that I wasn't going to live this experience through the lens. There are countless other photographers more able than I to document this. I needed to see this in person and more import...

How does a total solar eclipse end? " This is the way a total eclipse ends Not with a whimper, but a FLASH-bang !" —— (with apologies to T. S. Eliot) From The Hollow Men" ( T. S. Eliot - 1925 ) This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world en...

One of the links mentions that the length of totality varies - significantly - at different locations. Why is this? Complex orbital motions or something simpler? In April, totality will last longer than it did in 2017. Seven years ago, the longest period of totality was experienced near Carbondale,...

PNG is good for graphics and text images, because it is usually written in a lossless format (but it doesn't have to be... lossy PNG creates much smaller files, more similar to JPEG). So for screen captures, PNG is usually a better format unless you actively require a small file and can accommodate...

Hello! Today's APOD image is considerably larger in file size than it needs to be, as it's been saved using the PNG format. It should likely be using JPEG instead. I am referring to the image at this path: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2404/pinholepalm1024.png I have confirmed I can download the...

One of the links mentions that the length of totality varies - significantly - at different locations. Why is this? Complex orbital motions or something simpler? In April, totality will last longer than it did in 2017. Seven years ago, the longest period of totality was experienced near Carbondale, ...

Hello! Today's APOD image is considerably larger in file size than it needs to be, as it's been saved using the PNG format. It should likely be using JPEG instead. I am referring to the image at this path: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2404/pinholepalm1024.png I have confirmed I can download the...

There are 7 frames here, so that's 3 minutes. Totality at my location (near Evening Shade, Arkansas, 100 meters from the centerline) was 4:13. But totality had already started when I switched to the fast bracketed shots, so the first of it is missed here. The Moon was moving east, so lower right to...

This is kind of fun, an animated version of what we see in today's APOD. Frames are 30 seconds apart. (Might have to click on it to see the animation... depends on your browser.) _ prom_stack.gif Very nice. So, that would mean that the total time represented in the APOD is about 4.5 minutes, which ...

This is kind of fun, an animated version of what we see in today's APOD. Frames are 30 seconds apart. (Might have to click on it to see the animation... depends on your browser.) _ prom_stack.gif Very nice. So, that would mean that the total time represented in the APOD is about 4.5 minutes, which ...

What's the time separation of the photos here: 30 - 40 seconds or so? Also, there's the slightest hint of a pink prominence at 6 o'clock. Why can't we see more of it? I'd say 20 minutes between each image. The prominences are washed out by the corona close to the Sun. To capture both them and the c...

I disagree. I've seen a number of eclipses, and while images can't capture the overall ambience and awe that go with that experience, they blow away the human eye and brain for capturing detail and dynamic range. A good camera, good optics, and good processing far, far exceed what our senses are ca...

Lake Magog, Quebec The picture was actually taken in the town of Magog, QC, on the shore of Lake Memphemagog. Lake Magog is another lake slightly east of Magog. This was Stan's mistake. He acknowledged my correction below my comment of this picture on his Instragram page. Thanks for the correction....

What's the time separation of the photos here: 30 - 40 seconds or so? Also, there's the slightest hint of a pink prominence at 6 o'clock. Why can't we see more of it?

This conversation about digital processing and imagery differences shrinking or enlarging high contrast components of an image brings to mind my experience of the eclipse only a few miles away from where this photo was taken. The eye, occipital lobe visual processing part of the brain and other pro...

I made a pinhole camera for the 1963 partial eclipse, and while it was a once-removed viewing, it was still fun. But, my friend and I also decided on something else concurrently (and against my father's orders): we held a candle up to a broken piece of glass, and for so long that it became too blac...

I made a pinhole camera for the 1963 partial eclipse, and while it was a once-removed viewing, it was still fun. But, my friend and I also decided on something else concurrently (and against my father's orders): we held a candle up to a broken piece of glass, and for so long that it became too blac...

Consensus is one of the most important parts of the scientific method. It means nearly all cosmologists agree on the general origin of the CMB. Which means nearly everyone else should agree, as well. Because experts are experts, and most others are not. If you're not an expert, you're not qualified...

It is hardly a guess. It is scientific consensus, and therefore what most people should consider the likely answer. What does " scientific consensus " mean? The universe was thought to be 13 billion years old based on the dubious quality of the General Theory of Relativity equations. Igno...

Couldn't understand one basic aspect. Why the eclipse is seen starting from west coast in US to east coast in US.. Apparent motion of moon from east to waste should be faster than Sun's apparent motion from east to west.. So I was imagining it'd start from east coast and move towards west coast. An...