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Stellarator
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Upcoming Astronomy & Science Events - and YOU

25 Jul 2018 17:47

On this thread, you can post about upcoming events in the world of science, particularly those related to astronomy, that you are looking forward to. These could be scientific symposiums, university events, astronomy tours, NASA projects and launches - you name it. Write why you are looking forward to it, what it is about, and maybe supply some links if it is circulating on the internet etc. If you did partake in some way in the event - come back here and tell us about it! Post pictures if you have 'em and are comfortable with sharing them.

One of the reasons I am creating this thread now is because as of the posting of this, August is fast coming, and so for me and all the other folks living on the northern hemisphere of our planet, the annual Perseid meteor is just around the corner. Amateur astronomers are eagerly awaiting the night so that they can have a more plausible excuse to stay out for just a little bit longer, while those who engage in astrophotography can finally capture that one magical long-exposure shot of streaking meteorites (yeah, I speak from experience here). On this night of Aug. 11/12, I am planning to have a small gathering in my back yard with some friends and watch the showers. That is my upcoming Event. A meteor shower is of course a classic example because even people who do not consider themselves to be amateur astronomers (sort of hard when all you have to do is look up) can participate.
Last edited by Stellarator on 13 May 2019 02:25, edited 1 time in total.
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midtskogen
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Upcoming Astronomy & Science Events - and YOU

27 Jul 2018 00:30

The Perseids are not a big event for me because the night sky is still a bit bright, but I do try to see at least one meteor. The Geminids are better for me. Tonight, however, I'm looking forward to the lunar eclipse, though also not optimal from my position.
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27 Jul 2018 03:37

The Perseids are neat to watch (if it's dark enough), but they move so fast that in my experience they are difficult to photograph.  Not because they're hard to catch (long shutter is easy), but that they don't put a lot of light on the sensor.  That being said, once in a while you might get an unusually bright or even fireball Perseid which is quite beautiful.  This is my best one from two summers ago:

Image

I'm in completely the wrong location for viewing the lunar eclipse, which is a shame because this is one of the deeper total lunar eclipses for a while.  Hopefully others get good photos. :)

On the more astronomical news/research side of things, I am most looking forward to the results from the Event Horizon Telescope.  Hopefully sometime this year they will have completed the data analysis and release the first ever image of a black hole, with resolution down to the size of its event horizon.  With any luck we'll see the dark shadow it casts against its accretion disk, with a lot of gravitational distortion, somewhat like in the movie Interstellar.
 
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midtskogen
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27 Jul 2018 17:30

I was on a delayed flight which caused me to miss the lunar eclipse (just got a glimpse of the last partial phase).  (And also my baggage didn't arrive...) It's been a bad day in general (the fire alarm at home went off this morning and I was 1300 km from home - I called multiple neighbours, nobody at home, then the fire department who checked it out - can't wait for that bill, but fortunately false alarm.  And also the rental car had multiple engine faults and I wasn't even sure I was going to make the 200 km trip to the airport).

Anyway, there is a hint of noctilucent clouds this night.  And unbelievably hot - it's 00:20am and 25.7 °C.
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Fireinthehole
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27 Jul 2018 17:47

I saw the lunar eclipse, at least the last half of it. I missed the totality due to cloud coverage, but I saw the crescent as the Moon left the umbra. 
 
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27 Jul 2018 21:45

The Perseids are neat to watch (if it's dark enough), but they move so fast that in my experience they are difficult to photograph.  Not because they're hard to catch (long shutter is easy), but that they don't put a lot of light on the sensor.  That being said, once in a while you might get an unusually bright or even fireball Perseid which is quite beautiful.  This is my best one from two summers ago:

Image

I'm in completely the wrong location for viewing the lunar eclipse, which is a shame because this is one of the deeper total lunar eclipses for a while.  Hopefully others get good photos. :)

On the more astronomical news/research side of things, I am most looking forward to the results from the Event Horizon Telescope.  Hopefully sometime this year they will have completed the data analysis and release the first ever image of a black hole, with resolution down to the size of its event horizon.  With any luck we'll see the dark shadow it casts against its accretion disk, with a lot of gravitational distortion, somewhat like in the movie Interstellar.
Pretty much the same story with me regarding the lunar eclipse - which sort of sucks because I have not yet even seen an eclipse of ANY kind! For someone who self styles themselves to be a amateur "astronomer" for almost two decades now, its embarrassing :roll:. I saw a bit of the total solar eclipse last year, but that day...... it was cloudy. Nice picture BTW - are those the Rockies in the background?
The Event Horizon Telescope is very exciting. I'm personally looking forward to some of the results of TESS, among other projects.
As for weather - it was about 51 degrees Celsius in Death Valley today. I don't live there (heh) but near to where I live it was almost 40 degrees. Of course I had to work outside that day:
Image
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13 May 2019 02:33

Today was the first time I ever heard of "Asteroid Day". It marks the eve of the Tunguska explosion, widely held to be the work of a bolide. It is a global resolution maintained by the UN in order to raise awareness about asteroids and what humans can do to protect the Earth from a future impactor. Sort of a strange notion, since a look of Tunguska-type spacerocks tend to hit the Earth quite steadily - only over the oceans instead of the continents.
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Watsisname
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14 May 2019 17:48

I feel that Chelyabinsk should be a stronger motivator for asteroid impact awareness, since it was so well documented, did do damage to a populated area, and if that object had been a little larger or had come in at a steeper angle, it likely would have devastated the city.
 
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midtskogen
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15 May 2019 02:44

Perhaps.  It's fairly safe to assume that devastating impacts are very unlikely to happen over densely populated areas, but Chelyabinsk, while not particularly destructive, shows that there is a real risk.  Chelyabinsk doesn't show well how powerful such impacts can be, though.  A ten kilometer wide crater in Antarctica would.
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John Done
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Upcoming Astronomy & Science Events - and YOU

01 Sep 2020 08:58

Just letting you know about upcoming events - on Sep 20, 2020, you can observe approximate maxima for Mira. 
 
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05 Sep 2020 00:23

at its brightest can it be seen visually?

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