Starship Asterisk*

This image really showcases just how tiny this phenomenon really looks to the unaided eye. Still, though, it's a great image!

Always nice to see a reference to the book Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward, but the O-type stellar "egg" here is not the same type of egg as the titular star of the book, which is a neutron star. Though HD 148937 may well become a neutron star in a few million years as the end product of...

Interesting discussion on an APOD I was expecting to see none on! And I took the text at it's word, but it's now (pretty) clear to me that the shadow is cast downward, not up. Thanks!

ayankforyes wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2024 5:18 am First thing I thought of upon seeing this Scotland!

Nice. A prefect match. I guessed you must mean the flag, and I was right:

It seems the link that is supposed to direct to yesterday's APOD instead redirects to the APOD for April 18. That's usually remedied by refreshing (reloading) your browser page. Doing that almost always fixes any stale link issues that I sometimes see. Not working. I don't think it's on my end. zxc...

Rauf wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2024 6:49 pm It seems the link that is supposed to direct to yesterday's APOD instead redirects to the APOD for April 18.

That's usually remedied by refreshing (reloading) your browser page. Doing that almost always fixes any stale link issues that I sometimes see.

. . 2. What does this mean: The movie is a reconstruction of the 114 minutes between 2018-10-29T20:35:00.000 and 2018-10-29T22:29:00.000 in 125-fold time-lapse. It is based on 21 of the JunoCam images taken, and on spacecraft trajectory data provided via SPICE kernel files. In steps of five real-ti...

Wow, that Youtube link is impressive and many of the closeups of the rings could easily be mistaken by those who "want to believe" of being UFOs/UAPs!

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...

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_kits/juno/spacecraft/ Thanks. Yeah, I found the 1.4 rpm figure in Wiki...

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? [ EDIT: only 1.4 rpm, from the Wikipedia link, which is pretty slow! ] 2. What does this mean: The movie is...

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/SN1994D.jpg/800px-SN1994D.jpg Ann ThanX Ann for your wonderful comments. What always bothered me about the NASA image of NGC 4526 is the fact that it gives the impression that the supernova is taking place far out next to the actual galaxy. ...

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...

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?

I had no idea that NGC 3324 referred to the Keyhole Nebula. Guess I was wrong about it referring to the Gabriela Mistral Nebula. You’re correct and the APOD text is wrong. NGC 3324 is an open cluster in the southern constellation Carina, located northwest of the Carina Nebula (NGC 3372)[3][4] at a ...

As usual, I'm failing to place this apparent close-up in the larger image shown here: https://cdn.esahubble.org/archives/images/screen/heic0707a.jpg I'd guess it's the black V slightly to the left and downward from the center, but the angle of that V doesn't seem to match? APOD 19 April 2024 detail...

As usual, I'm failing to place this apparent close-up in the larger image shown here:


I'd guess it's the black V slightly to the left and downward from the center, but the angle of that V doesn't seem to match?

In a two-dimensional image, the corona extends perpendicularly but what of the part that is directed toward or away from us? The actual corona extends in all directions during a “total eclipse” image of the moon. This may entail a SOHO-like orbiter above the sun’s poles following the Cluster missio...

Yeah, because a true two-body system consists of point masses. In the real world, the two bodies aren't points or perfect, homogeneous spheres. So there are other forces involved (like tidal ones), and as you note, masses can change due to lost material. In practice, though, I don't think the chang...

To add to Ann's explanation of gravitational perturbations: it does not need to take a long time. A comet may go around for thousands of years and never get close to the Sun, and then pass too near Jupiter and be deflected so it hits it (not common, but very much possible). Orbital systems with jus...

In a two-dimensional image, the corona extends perpendicularly but what of the part that is directed toward or away from us? The actual corona extends in all directions during a “total eclipse” image of the moon. This may entail a SOHO-like orbiter above the sun’s poles following the Cluster missio...

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...

Superb image, particularly the corona which extends further than in many other images. That's right. But you should always be aware of the spatial conditions. It looks like the corona extends almost to Mercury. In reality, Mercury's orbit is still quite far away... https://live.staticflickr.com/655...

Badbubble wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2024 5:34 pm

Sa Ji Tario wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2024 2:50 pm Where is the Pons-Brooks comet?

It is labled 12P in the image.

Yes. But I have yet to be able to find out why it's alternate designation is "12P". Is it the 12th periodic comet known perhaps?