Comments and questions about the
APOD on the main view screen.
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APOD Robot
- Otto Posterman
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by APOD Robot » Thu Aug 25, 2022 4:05 am
Tiangong Space Station Transits the Moon
Explanation: The rugged lunar south polar region lies at the top of this colorful portrait of a last quarter Moon made on August 20. Constructed from video frames and still images taken at Springrange, New South Wales, Australia it also
captures a transit of China's
Tiangong Space Station. The transit itself was fleeting, taking the space station less than a second to cross the shadowed and sunlit lunar disk. The low Earth orbiting Tiangong is at an altitude of about 400 kilometers, while the Moon is some
400,000 kilometers away. Subtle color differences along the bright lunar surface are revealed in the multiple stacked frames.
Not visible to the eye, they indicate real differences in chemical makeup across the lunar surface.
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Rauf
- Science Officer
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by Rauf » Thu Aug 25, 2022 8:33 am
How to calculate when these transits happen in your location? Is there a website or a platform for that??
I am familiar with Heavens-above, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to tell me when a certain satellite like Tiangong will cross the moon or the sun.
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XgeoX
- Science Officer
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- AKA: Uncle Rico
Post
by XgeoX » Thu Aug 25, 2022 10:14 am
Rauf wrote: ↑Thu Aug 25, 2022 8:33 am
How to calculate when these transits happen in your location? Is there a website or a platform for that??
I am familiar with Heavens-above, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to tell me when a certain satellite like Tiangong will cross the moon or the sun.
https://transit-finder.com/
Is very useful and will let you know of lunar transits.
Eric
Ego vigilate
Ego audire
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orin stepanek
- Plutopian
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by orin stepanek » Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:31 pm
The brightness of the moon hides it!
Which landing spot would you pick; if given the opportunity!
Orin
Smile today; tomorrow's another day!
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Rauf
- Science Officer
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by Rauf » Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:42 pm
XgeoX wrote: ↑Thu Aug 25, 2022 10:14 am
Rauf wrote: ↑Thu Aug 25, 2022 8:33 am
How to calculate when these transits happen in your location? Is there a website or a platform for that??
I am familiar with Heavens-above, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to tell me when a certain satellite like Tiangong will cross the moon or the sun.
https://transit-finder.com/
Is very useful and will let you know of lunar transits.
Eric
Lots of thanks! It is really useful indeed. I am grateful!
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De58te
- Commander
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by De58te » Thu Aug 25, 2022 2:18 pm
Nice going, China. Speaking of orbiting the Moon, I read on a news site a few days ago that sometime this week or next there is going to be a rocket by NASA or ESA called Artemis 1 launched to the Moon. The first rocket that can carry astronauts to the Moon since Apollo 17, although Artemis 1 will be an unmanned test flight. Anybody heard more about this?
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johnnydeep
- Commodore
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by johnnydeep » Thu Aug 25, 2022 4:21 pm
De58te wrote: ↑Thu Aug 25, 2022 2:18 pm
Nice going, China. Speaking of orbiting the Moon, I read on a news site a few days ago that sometime this week or next there is going to be a rocket by NASA or ESA called Artemis 1 launched to the Moon. The first rocket that can carry astronauts to the Moon since Apollo 17, although Artemis 1 will be an unmanned test flight. Anybody heard more about this?
Of course! It's been all over the news for the past two weeks. At least here in the U.S. Hopefully all goes well with the first actual launch test. I don't think they can afford multiple failed tests like SpaceX can (and, in practice, does!). NASA/Artemis clearly has a different engineering philosophy than SpaceX.
Lots more at
https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/, and elsewhere.
--
"To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}
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Rauf
- Science Officer
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Post
by Rauf » Thu Aug 25, 2022 5:29 pm
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Thu Aug 25, 2022 4:21 pm
De58te wrote: ↑Thu Aug 25, 2022 2:18 pm
Nice going, China. Speaking of orbiting the Moon, I read on a news site a few days ago that sometime this week or next there is going to be a rocket by NASA or ESA called Artemis 1 launched to the Moon. The first rocket that can carry astronauts to the Moon since Apollo 17, although Artemis 1 will be an unmanned test flight. Anybody heard more about this?
Of course! It's been all over the news for the past two weeks. At least here in the U.S. Hopefully all goes well with the first actual launch test. I don't think they can afford multiple failed tests like SpaceX can (and, in practice, does!). NASA/Artemis clearly has a different engineering philosophy than SpaceX.
Lots more at
https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/, and elsewhere.
Same here. However, NASA's officials have made it clear that there can be errors in the launch, because this is the first rocket of it's kind. I would be really glad if everything goes well, and I can't wait for more manned lunar exploring in the future
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beryllium732
- Ensign
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by beryllium732 » Fri Aug 26, 2022 8:27 pm
Why does the moon look so colorful? I thought it was plain gray?
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johnnydeep
- Commodore
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by johnnydeep » Fri Aug 26, 2022 9:27 pm
beryllium732 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 26, 2022 8:27 pm
Why does the moon look so colorful? I thought it was plain gray?
The implication in the description is that during the photo stacking, the colors were enhanced or exaggerated for effect. But I've been unable to confirm how that was done at the linked-to picture author's
Flickr page. I can't find this image there either.
Last edited by
johnnydeep on Fri Aug 26, 2022 9:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
--
"To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}
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Chris Peterson
- Abominable Snowman
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by Chris Peterson » Fri Aug 26, 2022 9:28 pm
beryllium732 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 26, 2022 8:27 pm
Why does the moon look so colorful? I thought it was plain gray?
The Moon looks pretty gray to our eyes. But if we use processing techniques to enhance the actual colors (e.g. increasing the saturation) it becomes apparent that there are mineralogically very different regions on the Moon with their own subtle color differences.
Quite a few color enhanced images of the Moon have been published in recent years (including at least one APOD).