Astronomy, cosmology and space thread

[Lost]

Awesome clip there, Nereus. A reminder of how tiny a speck we are. Imagine how many other little worlds are populated with sentient beings going about there day to day. And there will be many, surely.

Here's a nice little clip of the evolution of our moon. Won't be mega interesting for many but I like this stuff.

[Nereus]

Webb telescope fully deploys sunshield in mission milestone

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/22420 ... -milestone

WASHINGTON: The James Webb Space Telescope fully deployed its tennis-court sized sunshield Tuesday, a critical milestone for the success of its mission to study every phase of cosmic history, NASA said.

"All five layers of the sunshield are fully tensioned," said an announcer at the observatory's control center in Baltimore, where team members cheered, a live feed showed.

The 70-foot (21 metres) long, kite-shaped apparatus acts like a parasol, ensuring Webb's instruments are kept in the shade so they can detect faint infrared signals from the far reaches of the Universe.

c1_4190535.jpg (205.73 KiB) Viewed 869 times

[pharvey]

Yet another significant achievement for the JWST

James Webb Space Telescope extends secondary mirror

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-59885687

[pharvey]

Have to say, I'm still following the link provided by buks - some incredible stats really.

This is also pretty cool: https://webb.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunc ... sWebb.html

[Lost]

Yup, me too!

Good link.

[PeteC]

More story and photos about the full deployment.

James Webb telescope completes epic deployment sequence

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59914936

[Lost]

[Nereus]

A long article better read at the link:

How astronomers discover exoplanet size, mass, composition, atmosphere and signs of life

They sound like distant destinations ripped from the pages of science fiction: a deep blue gas giant where it rains molten glass, or a little iron "cannonball" world which cuts a lap around its star every eight hours.

In recent years, astronomers have not only discovered these extra-solar planets, or exoplanets — and more — they can also paint often incredibly vivid planetary descriptions.

Yet with very few exceptions, exoplanets can't be seen directly.

They're too small or far away to see with a telescope, or the brilliance of their sun overwhelms what little light they give off.

So with this in mind, how do astronomers know what an exoplanet is made of — and if it might be a contender for harbouring life?

The long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope, which is earmarked to be in position mid-2022, will — among other jobs — probe exoplanet chemistry to a whole new level, Dr McKemmish says.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/202 ... /100696122

[PeteC]

Telescope reaches its final destination a million miles from Earth

https://us.cnn.com/2022/01/24/world/jam ... index.html

[pharvey]

^ Quite incredible really. Hope all future operations go as well as they have done so far and we can look forward to some incredible sights. A little way out of town to call for a breakdown!!

[pharvey]

A little closer to home and may be of interest to some - can be seen with the naked eye if you're lucky!

"Watch the International Space Station pass overhead from several thousand worldwide locations. It is the third brightest object in the sky and easy to spot if you know when to look up.
Visible to the naked eye, it looks like a fast-moving plane only much higher and traveling thousands of miles an hour faster!"

Register with the site, give them your Email and location (or nearest town/city) and they'll ping you with an Email to tell you when and where to look up - Hua Hin is on the list!

https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/

[Nereus]

The International Space Station will meet its end in 2031. Where will it crash and what will take its place?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/202 ... /100802664

The clock is ticking for the International Space Station, with NASA last week declaring plans to let it plummet back to Earth in 2031.

The iconic piece of space infrastructure will be nudged out of its orbit and eventually meet its watery demise when it plunges into the ocean and smashes into smithereens.

That day will mark the end of 32 years of space station construction, experiments, photography and — since November 2000 — continuous human habitation, all while hurtling around the planet once every 90 minutes or so.

On New Year's Eve, NASA extended the space station's operations from 2024 to 2030.

Given the space station's decades of international cooperation — not to mention the cash needed to get it up and running (it's the most expensive object ever built) — why will it be dragged down and destroyed?

And once it's gone, what will take its place?

long article at the link

[Dannie Boy]

The article infers that it’s reached (probably exceeded) it’s life expectancy and is too costly to maintain - it’s served it’s purpose but something new is required to replace it, although looking at the potential Ukraine conflict, can’t see there being a repeat of cooperation between the US and Russia?

[PeteC]

There's another article somewhere that the USA will do its own, as will China which is building/launching segments now. I think it said something about another Russia/China joint mission for a larger station as well? Not sure.

[Dannie Boy]

There's another article somewhere that the USA will do its own, as will China which is building/launching segments now. I think it said something about another Russia/China joint mission for a larger station as well? Not sure.

That would fit well with their supposed friendship that was reported at the time of the Olympic Opening Ceremony - anything to oppose the West!!


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