Astronomy, cosmology and space thread

[pharvey]

Anywho, what Musk and Space X have done has moved things fast forward. Great for Space Exploration, but certainly not great for the debris in Space or World Security (think Starlink and Satellites).

I'm glad it's Elon that has a sophisticated tech net around the world and not the warmongers that are, once again, driving us into world wars.

Oh, I'm not having a pop at Musk or Space X (as such) - it's quite incredible what was achieved with this latest "Test Flight" and I'm fascinated with Space exploration, Astronomy etc. I'm just not a fan of the physical junk and political crap it creates.

Musk may have the "Sophisticated Tech" as you mention, but look at his ties to the likes of Russia and China (and others). Even if those ties were not there, there's real possibility (well probability) that the tech can and will be abused by those afore mentioned "Warmongers".

[Dannie Boy]

I’m sure all you space enthusiasts will be interested in this project - it does actually sound quite exciting!!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1482xzrge1o

[hhinner]

I’m sure all you space enthusiasts will be interested in this project - it does actually sound quite exciting!!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1482xzrge1o

Interesting coming just after seeing Prof Cox explaining what science believes to be the mechanics of the 'volcanic' plumes ejected by Europa in episode 1 of solar system.

[pharvey]

I’m sure all you space enthusiasts will be interested in this project - it does actually sound quite exciting!!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1482xzrge1o

Oh, absolutely! I've been following this and other projects for quite some time - great to see this getting ready for launch, though we won't see results for quite a while!!

[pharvey]

^ And just an hour away from launch (+/- 5pm GMT)

[Lost]

An exciting era of new space exploration we're entering.

[pharvey]

Quite incredible...

"Discover the first page of ESA Euclid’s great cosmic atlas and marvel at millions of stars and galaxies captured in pristine detail, in a huge 208-gigapixel mosaic. The mosaic covers an area of the Southern Sky more than 500 times the area of the full Moon as seen from Earth.

This video takes you through a rare sky dive. Starting from a vast cosmic panorama bedazzled by some 14 million galaxies, a series of ever-deeper zooms brings you to a crisp view of a swirling spiral galaxy, in a final image enlarged 600 times compared to the full mosaic.

Although the scenes are enticing, they are not taken for their beauty, but to help us advance our understanding of the cosmos. Many of the 14 million galaxies in the initial vista will be used to study the hidden influence of dark matter and dark energy on the Universe.

Unveiled as a teaser of the wide survey, the mosaic accounts for 1% of the area that Euclid will cover over six years, and was obtained by combining 260 observations collected in just two weeks.

This first chunk of Euclid’s survey was revealed on 15 October 2024 at the International Astronautical Congress in Milan, Italy, by ESA’s Director General Josef Aschbacher and Director of Science Carole Mundell."

More @ https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration ... smic_atlas
.

[Nereus]

For pharvey:

https://www.scitech.org.au/explore/the-sky-tonight/

It has been more than a year since the Euclid spacecraft was launched by the European Space Agency

Image: Artist impression of the Euclid telescope. Credit: European Space Agency

As a quick recap: Euclid, now located about 1.5 million km from Earth – 5x further than the Moon – is a survey telescope. Its mission, which it has chosen to accept, is to spend 6 years looking for as many galaxies as it can, ultimately mapping 1/3 of the sky to a distance of about 10 billion light years. Euclid is enormous, both in size and scope, as the 1.2m diameter mirror of the telescope collects enough light information to beam back to Earth about 100GB of data per day.

10-sky-tonight-november-2024.jpg (56.72 KiB) Viewed 2034 times

[pharvey]

^ Thanks indeed Nereus

[STEVE G]

This is pretty impressive, Space X managed to relaunch a Falcon 9 booster in less than two weeks from it's last flight:

SpaceX recently hit some notable milestones with its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, and even in the full context of history, the performance of the vehicle is pretty incredible.

Last Tuesday, the company launched a batch of Starlink v2-mini satellites from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket, marking the 400th successful mission by the Falcon 9 rocket. Additionally, it was the Falcon program's 375th booster recovery, according to SpaceX. Finally, with this mission, the company shattered its record for turnaround time from the landing of a booster to its launch to 13 days and 12 hours, down from 21 days.
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/12/s ... this-year/

[404cameljockey]

second stage.jpg (74.59 KiB) Viewed 1479 times

[STEVE G]

^ If we're on space humour:

[Robinhood]

Hi,
I've always loved astronomy and had a telescope as a boy. Unfortunately, every time I tried to use it, the lens would suffer condensation, and I never saw anything. So I sold it and bought an air rifle.
Anyway, 50 years on I want to try again. Next year I'm going to stay outside of Chiang Mai for a couple of days, and think the dark sky is my big chance.
I'm looking to borrow, buy or maybe even steal a telescope and have another go. I've heard digital telescopes make things easier. If anyone can help, or offer advice, please get in touch.

[404cameljockey]

So I sold it and bought an air rifle.

The quite obvious alternative!

I'm interested in the replies. I've thought about a telescope in the past, and could maybe budget for a good one next year.

[VincentD]

Just a heads up. The Gemenids meteor shower is visible will be peaking tomorrow.