GLAST - moving cluster

Windrad · Post by **Windrad** » Wed May 31, 2006 5:50 am

In the Glast picture I notice what seems to be a cluster of sources moving left to right through the picture (or glaxy).

Seems to me it could be the sun, moon or planet. It seems to me it moves too fast to be a starcluster.

Windrad.

randall cameron · Post by **randall cameron** » Wed May 31, 2006 6:54 am

Or a prominent comet. Do they emit gamma rays?

makc · Post by **makc** » Wed May 31, 2006 8:14 am

does anybody miss craterchains here? I'm sure he could use this, in fact, alien spaceship with onboard gammaray weapon to prove his theory.

Indigo_Sunrise · Post by **Indigo_Sunrise** » Wed May 31, 2006 11:09 am

Windrad and randall cameron,
I noticed it too, and wondered what it is. I clicked each of the links in the description hoping one would tell what it is, and even though I learned some other interesting facts and saw some great pix, I still couldn't find what the 'moving cluster' is. I find it extremely interesting, though.

I'll be hoping that someone with a bit of knowledge/insight will come along and explain it to us.

harry · Post by **harry** » Wed May 31, 2006 12:34 pm

Hello All

What are we looking at?

Ok! I see it now. Wow! what is it?
Could it be a Solar flare or a neutron star or a pulsar.

The other movement is the clsuter of stars that move left to right. These maybe be due to a distance difference and the rotation of the arth. I'm up in the air with ideas.

Does anybody know?
-------------------------------------------------------
Makc

I miss createrchains

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I miss all the people that disagree with me. They add pepper to the discussion.

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Wed May 31, 2006 1:19 pm

I, too, am curious about what that object is.

~Neal

RogerRabt · Post by **RogerRabt** » Wed May 31, 2006 2:48 pm

Looks like an aircraft to me.

makc · Post by **makc** » Wed May 31, 2006 3:09 pm

RogerRabt wrote:Looks like an aircraft to me.

so slow that it takes 55 days to cross the sky? don't think so.

BMAONE23 · Post by **BMAONE23** » Wed May 31, 2006 4:44 pm

My bet would be either a satallite that, in a 24 hour period, has a sufficient quantity of orbits to locate it that much farther accross the sky along its orbital plane, or possibly the Moon that does treck slowly accross the sky and crosses the galactic plane twice in its 29 day orbit. The last line in the description does mention the "gamma ray moon"

Qev · Post by **Qev** » Wed May 31, 2006 4:46 pm

Are we talking about that faint, extended source that's moving in a sort of sine-wave across the image? I'd imagine that's probably the gamma ray image of the Moon moving across the sky (or well, the simulation of it).

Fred Jaquin · Post by **Fred Jaquin** » Wed May 31, 2006 8:17 pm

This is my fiirst posting. I hope I get it right.

I think that the faint moving object from left to right across the GLAST map is the Moon. for the following reasons. Since it clearly follows the ecliptic it must be part of the solar system (or nearly in the plane of the solar system anyway) and if you watch carefully, using the gamma ray burster on the right to indicate when the animation repearts after its 55 one-day steps you'll see that the moving object has traversed the ecliptic about twice. This time scale is consistent with the 27.3 day sidereal period of the Moon. Further, the caption with the image mentions the Gamma Ray Moon suggesting that it appears in the image. Finally, the moon will traverse about 12 degrees in the sky in a 24 hour period, so its gamma ray signature may appear extended over that range (12 degree = 0.8 hr RA) if the GLAST instrument integrates over a 24-hour period. What bothers me is that the Gamma Ray Moon appers to be moving in the wrong direction around the ecliptic. The Moon should drift eastward (from right to left) on the GLAST map. Instead it appears to drift westward (left to right) through the sky. I have no explanation for this "retrograde" motion of the Moon. - Fred jaquin

l3p3r · Post by **l3p3r** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 5:08 am

I agree it is most likely the moon. Whatever it is, it is definitely moving fast around Earth, and I don't know of any star clusters that do that 8)

harry · Post by **harry** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 12:39 pm

Hello All

There are two images

One is the cluster moving from left to right as discussed.

The second is a outburst like a NOVA, right hand side. It occurs twice I think in 55 days or there abouts.

Is anybody else able to see this.

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 2:01 pm

Thanks, Fred. A very nice explanation. I missed the hint in the last link in the caption text, but I concur that it must reference our nearly 2x in 55 day phenomenon.

The moon should move Eastward referenced to the background Gamma Ray sources, but there are conceivable explanations for why the image may be flipped, mirrored, etc. The caption refers to the center of the galaxy to the right side of the image. I'm more familiar with the visible spectrum of the galaxy, and so could not make heads or tails of the Sagittarius constellation in that region, but someone with a better inherent understanding of our gamma-ray sky could probably comment on the correlation between the orientation of the image and our own night sky.

~Neal

harry · Post by **harry** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 8:48 am

Hello Meal

I like the way you right,,,,,,,,,,very genteel

Starship Asterisk*

GLAST - moving cluster

GLAST - moving cluster

Moving object on the GLAST simulation