• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Space: The Final Frontier

Melchiah

Melchiah

Member
Vintage shots.

e2fIBGG.jpg


EKHHxHX.jpg
 
Melchiah

Melchiah

Member
OnFB6DY.jpg


EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_April_17,_1912
A total solar eclipse occurred on April 17, 1912. It is a hybrid event, starting and ending as an annular eclipse, with only a small portion of totality. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across the surface of the Earth, while a partial solar eclipse will be visible over a region thousands of kilometres wide.

Totality was visible over the sea between Spain and France, with annularity continued northeast across Europe and Asia.
This eclipse occurred two days after the RMS Titanic sank in the northwestern Atlantic ocean under the darkness of new moon.
Click to expand...
 
P

Preemo

Banned
guys, we need an official thread for the new Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey premiering on March 9th @ 9pm EST on FOX and FOX affiliates as well as NatGeo.

preferably in the OT forum.
 
A

abstract alien

Member
Preemo said:
guys, we need an official thread for the new Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey premiering on March 9th @ 9pm EST on FOX and FOX affiliates as well as NatGeo.

preferably in the OT forum.
Click to expand...

Hell yes. A small tribute and quote from based Sagan at the top, and from there, we go.

Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.
Click to expand...

That's a nice, all encompassing one.
 
H

Himynameischris

Member
Hello space gaf! I don't know if this is the proper place to post this but I couldn't fine a thread specificly about astronomy. I'm looking to buy a telescope (starter) but I have no idea what I'm doing. I've looked at these on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-PowerSeeker-Refractor-Telescope-21048-OP/dp/B002OKFUCC/ref=sr_1_5?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1393605216&sr=1-5

http://www.amazon.com/Orion-SpaceProbe-Reflector-Telescope-Starter/dp/B00A7N4B2I/ref=sr_1_8?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1393605216&sr=1-8

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-21048-PowerSeeker-80EQ-Telescope/dp/B0007UQNKO/ref=sr_1_12?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1393605216&sr=1-12

http://www.amazon.com/Orion-09843-SpaceProbe-Equatorial-Reflector/dp/B0069WCEPW/ref=sr_1_14?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1393605216&sr=1-14


Are any of these decent? I know they are fairly on the cheap side but I don't want to spend too much money when I'm just starting out. Thanks!
 
F

fallout

Member
chris.trejo said:
Hello space gaf! I don't know if this is the proper place to post this but I couldn't fine a thread specificly about astronomy. I'm looking to buy a telescope (starter) but I have no idea what I'm doing.
Click to expand...
Might just be me, but I generally would not recommend any of those telescopes. The amount of use you'll get out of them will be minimal.

My usual thoughts on this are:

  • Start with a good pair of binoculars. I own a pair of these these) and I still use them on a regular basis, despite owning scopes with much larger aperture. Note that when looking into binos, you'll want something with low magnification and good light gathering capability (i.e., aperture). You won't be able to see a lot of stuff, but it'll help you to learn the night sky and get to know where some of the more prominent objects are.
  • Check out a local astronomy club or star party! These are great resources, often with loaner scope programs and friendly people willing to help you out.
  • If you're really set on a telescope, I highly recommend getting an 8-inch Dobsonian. Cost is usually somewhere around $400, you get a lot of light gathering ability and they're very easy to setup and take down.
Let me know if you have any additional questions. I'm a little pressed for time right now, but I can elaborate more if need be.
 
W

WeAreStarStuff

Member
Goodacre0081 said:
Star about to go supernova. Picture taken by Hubble telescope.

RtTqM5i.png
Click to expand...

Just fantastic.

chris.trejo said:
Hello space gaf! I don't know if this is the proper place to post this but I couldn't fine a thread specificly about astronomy. I'm looking to buy a telescope (starter) but I have no idea what I'm doing. I've looked at these on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-PowerSeeker-Refractor-Telescope-21048-OP/dp/B002OKFUCC/ref=sr_1_5?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1393605216&sr=1-5

http://www.amazon.com/Orion-SpaceProbe-Reflector-Telescope-Starter/dp/B00A7N4B2I/ref=sr_1_8?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1393605216&sr=1-8

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-21048-PowerSeeker-80EQ-Telescope/dp/B0007UQNKO/ref=sr_1_12?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1393605216&sr=1-12

http://www.amazon.com/Orion-09843-SpaceProbe-Equatorial-Reflector/dp/B0069WCEPW/ref=sr_1_14?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1393605216&sr=1-14


Are any of these decent? I know they are fairly on the cheap side but I don't want to spend too much money when I'm just starting out. Thanks!
Click to expand...

If you're looking for cheap, but want the best bang for your buck then Dobs are the way to go:
http://www.telescope.com/Telescopes...c/12/sc/13/p/102009.uts?refineByCategoryId=13

Though I would go for at least 6" aperture:
http://www.telescope.com/Telescopes...c/12/sc/27/p/102026.uts?refineByCategoryId=27

Edit: Just saw fallout's post. I have the same binos that he recommended, and they are indeed fantastic (heavy though for long viewing.)
 
H

Himynameischris

Member
fallout said:
Might just be me, but I generally would not recommend any of those telescopes. The amount of use you'll get out of them will be minimal.

My usual thoughts on this are:

  • Start with a good pair of binoculars. I own a pair of these these) and I still use them on a regular basis, despite owning scopes with much larger aperture. Note that when looking into binos, you'll want something with low magnification and good light gathering capability (i.e., aperture). You won't be able to see a lot of stuff, but it'll help you to learn the night sky and get to know where some of the more prominent objects are.
  • Check out a local astronomy club or star party! These are great resources, often with loaner scope programs and friendly people willing to help you out.
  • If you're really set on a telescope, I highly recommend getting an 8-inch Dobsonian. Cost is usually somewhere around $400, you get a lot of light gathering ability and they're very easy to setup and take down.
Let me know if you have any additional questions. I'm a little pressed for time right now, but I can elaborate more if need be.
Click to expand...

Oh ok great thanks! I'll look into binos then, there is a local astronomy club at school but I can't make it to the meetings since I also work full time. That's ok if I have to spend a little more but I wanted something to learn for now I guess binoculars will be a good way to start. What about books or maps of the sky?? Would I need anything like that? I have an app on my phone but I don't know if I need anything more detailed. Thanks for replying, I'm not in a hurry :)
 
W

WeAreStarStuff

Member
chris.trejo said:
Oh ok great thanks! I'll look into binos then, there is a local astronomy club at school but I can't make it to the meetings since I also work full time. That's ok if I have to spend a little more but I wanted something to learn for now I guess binoculars will be a good way to start. What about books or maps of the sky?? Would I need anything like that? I have an app on my phone but I don't know if I need anything more detailed. Thanks for replying, I'm not in a hurry :)
Click to expand...

Phone apps are great and usually have red light astronomy settings for night time use. I have books as well, but they honestly just sit on a shelf. Once you spend enough on a telescope they will have tracking functionality to find the celestial objects of your desire.
 
H

Himynameischris

Member
WeAreStarStuff said:
Just fantastic.



If you're looking for cheap, but want the best bang for your buck then Dobs are the way to go:
http://www.telescope.com/Telescopes...c/12/sc/13/p/102009.uts?refineByCategoryId=13

Though I would go for at least 6" aperture:
http://www.telescope.com/Telescopes...c/12/sc/27/p/102026.uts?refineByCategoryId=27



Edit: Just saw fallout's post. I have the same binos that he recommended, and they are indeed fantastic (heavy though for long viewing.)
Click to expand...


Oh those are awesome, I always thought those would be much too complex for an amateur but I guess not, I'll go with those binoculars for now and definitely move onto 6" one. Thanks!

WeAreStarStuff said:
Phone apps are great and usually have red light astronomy settings for night time use. I have books as well, but they honestly just sit on a shelf. Once you spend enough on a telescope they will have tracking functionality to find the celestial objects of your desire.
Click to expand...

Ah yeah my app has that, ok cool I'm going to big bear in a few weeks so I'm getting the binoculars right now, thanks!
 
W

WeAreStarStuff

Member
chris.trejo said:
Is a tripod necessary? Seems like all the reviews recommend it.
Click to expand...

I don't have one, but like I said earlier they do get heavy! If this will be your primary viewing tool for a while purchasing the tripod may be a smart idea. Not only will your hands/arms not get tired, but you'll have a steady image.
 
F

fallout

Member
One thing about a tripod and binos is that it can make looking at things straight-up kinda difficult.

chris.trejo said:
Oh ok great thanks! I'll look into binos then, there is a local astronomy club at school but I can't make it to the meetings since I also work full time.
Click to expand...
Keep in mind that they might do events or there might be other groups around. I'm part of a local astronomy club and it's really helped me to grow as an amateur astronomer.

That's ok if I have to spend a little more but I wanted something to learn for now I guess binoculars will be a good way to start. What about books or maps of the sky?? Would I need anything like that? I have an app on my phone but I don't know if I need anything more detailed. Thanks for replying, I'm not in a hurry :)
Click to expand...
As WeAreStarStuff mentioned, phone apps are pretty good. Personally, I generally don't use them and primarily rely on star charts. I don't know why, really.

If I could recommend a book, it would be NightWatch. It's the one that I started with when I was younger. I think it's a great starter book because it has a little bit of everything, including suggestions for objects to look at and star charts for how to find them.

Also, regardless of which way you go, invest in a red flashlight or some red cellophane to cover a white-light flashlight. This is important as it will help to preserve your night vision.
 
P

Partial Gamification

Banned
Every Red Dwarf has at least one planet.

The research also suggests that habitable-zone super-Earth planets (where liquid water could exist and making them possible candidates to support life) orbit around at least a quarter of the red dwarfs in the Sun's own neighbourhood.

These new results have been obtained from analysing data from two high-precision planet surveys – the HARPS (High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher) and UVES (Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph) – both operated by the European Southern Observatory in Chile. By combining the data, the team was able to detect signals that were not strong enough to be seen clearly in the data from either instrument alone.
[....]
"We are clearly probing a highly abundant population of low-mass planets, and can readily expect to find many more in the near future – even around the very closest stars to the Sun."
[...]
To find evidence for the existence of these planets, the astronomers measured how much a star "wobbles" in space as it is affected by a planet's gravity. As an unseen planet orbits a distant star, the gravitational pull causes the star to move back and forth in space. This periodic wobble is detected in the star's light

The team used novel analysis techniques in squeezing the planetary signals out of the data. In particular, they applied the Bayes' rule of conditional probabilities that enables answering the question "What is the probability that a given star has planets orbiting it based on the available data?" This approach, together with a technique enabling the researchers to filter out excess noise in the measurements, made the detections possible.
[...]
The new planets have been discovered around stars between 15 and 80 light years away and they have orbital periods between two weeks and nine years. This means they orbit their stars at distances ranging from about 0.05 to 4 times the Earth-Sun distance - 149 million kilometres (93 million miles).

These discoveries add eight new exoplanets signals to the previous total of 17 already known around such low-mass dwarfs. The paper also presents ten weaker signals for which further follow-up is necessary.
paper
Click to expand...
" If that is accurate, that means there could be around 160 billion planets in the Milky Way alone."
 
N

Naked Snake

Member
I love Google Sky Map http://goo.gl/XO1ElH (similar apps for iOS exist)

Being able to point your phone at the night sky, identify a bright dot, and know "That's Mars" or "That's Saturn", then realize that the photons hitting your eyes are sunlight reflecting off the surface of that planet, is an awesome feeling.

Can you tell which is which from my photos? :p

10013654_10152045920786185_918985255_n.jpg


1962851_10152045920821185_683585560_n.jpg
 
W

Woorloog

Banned
Naked Snake said:
Can you tell which is which from my photos? :p

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1/10013654_10152045920786185_918985255_n.jpg[IMG]

[IMG]https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t1/1962851_10152045920821185_683585560_n.jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]

Too easy.

Funny. I can still remember how Saturn looked when i saw it through a bigger telescope, just before clouds blocked it.
And then there was this time when i saw Jupiter and its four largest moons lined up (2 moons, Jupiter, 2 moons) with a cheap telescope.
The images in my mind are clearer than any photo of anything...
Click to expand...
 
W

WeAreStarStuff

Member
Woorloog said:
Too easy.

Funny. I can still remember how Saturn looked when i saw it through a bigger telescope, just before clouds blocked it.
And then there was this time when i saw Jupiter and its four largest moons lined up (2 moons, Jupiter, 2 moons) with a cheap telescope.
The images in my mind are clearer than any photo of anything...
Click to expand...

I swear every time I look at Jupiter with my telescope it's in a perfect line with its four largest.
 
M

Mario

Sidhe / PikPok
WoodWERD said:
This just showed up on my Google News feed...someone else can start a new thread if they feel so inclined. The pics are pretty amazing:


622x350.jpg


http://www.chron.com/news/strange-w...t-coming-5382677.php?cmpid=hpts#photo-6131486
Click to expand...

That doesn't really look much like a light at all. Looks more like some sort of venting gas or geyser, which in itself would be amazing.

The linked article jumping straight to "aliens" on the basis of photos of that resolution is ridiculous though.

Edit: these photos also don't seem to be on the official mission page at the JPL website, nor on the linked Facebook mission page.
 
F

Freeza Under The Shower

Member
definitely a geyser, which you tell in one of the following close-ups.

also, dust storms (tiny ones that is) are common on Mars.

also: microbes on Mars are aliens too, and we pretty much all but directly confirmed those exist, or at least have existed at some point. News at fucking eleven.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Sonic Frontiers Final Previews
48
3K
Whitecrow replied
  • Poll
(Somewhat) How Not To Retrospective: The Nintendo 64 Chronicles (Sakhura Baguette)
Opinion Analysis Retro
23
2K
Katajx replied
90s game music was legit cool.
2
65
3K
ReBurn replied
[IGN] Ex-Rockstar Dev Sheds Light on Long Lost Game Agent's Development Troubles
25
2K
StueyDuck replied
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth | Review Thread
Rumor Community 8 9 10 11 12
597
51K
sncvsrtoip replied
Top Bottom