Science and Astronomy News

Stellarator · 15 Nov 2018 03:44

I heard of a private project to send a cellphone sized space probe to Proxima using a laser powered sail that would accelerate the probe to 20% the speed of light and get it there in 20-25 years.

Is there a hyperlink for this project?

15 Nov 2018 04:45

If I'm not mistaken, this is the project
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakthrough_Starshot
I think it has been mentioned in forum before, maybe in the science questions thread.

Stellarator · 15 Nov 2018 05:06

If I'm not mistaken, this is the project
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakthrough_Starshot

Huh, so it was that project. I had thought it was a different, newer one.

A-L-E-X · 16 Nov 2018 00:55

I guess you could consider this science..... NYC just got hit by a surprise snowstorm that was supposed to be rain and there was no plowing and everyone was stuck for 6 hours..... 6 inches of snow fell during rush hour, we last had six inches of snow on April 6 of the previous season and now the first 6 inch snowfall of the new season on November makes it one of the shortest gaps ever for here.

From Twitter

People called us @WCBS880, saying they’ve been sitting still on the George Washington Bridge approaches and elsewhere for more than 5 hours. They are demanding answers for rightful reasons. How does 6 inches of snow paralyze NY and NJ? Disgraceful. @NJTRANSIT bad on a good day

Through 9 pm, the following cities have established or tied daily snowfall records for November 15:

Allentown: 7.2" (old record: 2.0", 1933)

Baltimore: 1.7" (old record: 1.2", 1908)

Islip: 4.3" (old record: Trace, Many Years) **biggest snowstorm so early in the season**

New York City: 6.0" (old record: 1.0", 1906) **biggest snowstorm so early in the season**

Newark: 6.4" (old record: 4.2", 1906) **biggest snowstorm so early in the season**

Philadelphia: 3.6" (old record: 0.2", 1933)

Scranton: 6.0" (tied record set in 1906)

Washington, DC: 1.4" (old record: 0.2", 1906)

Add Harrisburg - 8.3”. Record was 3.3” from 1911.

16 Nov 2018 02:53

I guess you could consider this science

I would consider it Unusual weather

Stellarator · 23 Nov 2018 22:05

[left]BREAKING NEWS! SCIENTISTS IN SHOCK! 'OUMUAMUA IS NOT PROBABLY ALIENS! [/left]
[youtube]wICOlaQOpM0[/youtube]

24 Nov 2018 02:37

It was never said it is Aliens....the media took it too far. the team of scientists just wrote a paper of the possibility for it to be an artificial object. i hate that the media took it too far...because it is also like taking a paper from the team and write something completely different from what they wrote and then ruin their reputation...and this video explains it very good.

A-L-E-X · 24 Nov 2018 02:53

It was never said it is Aliens....the media took it too far. the team of scientists just wrote a paper of the possibility for it to be an artificial object. i hate that the media took it too far...because it is also like taking a paper from the team and write something completely different from what they wrote and then ruin their reputation...and this video explains it very good.

I wonder about those thousands of signals received from a galaxy 3 billion light years away- any more news on that?

midtskogen · 12 Dec 2018 03:02

Remember the Geminids over the 2-3 next days, the most faithful meteor shower of the year. It always gives a steady flow of meteors, and quite a few fireballs as well. Unlike other showers, Geminids are rocky, sometimes reaching as low as 30-40 km above ground.

Here's one that I recorded yesterday:

► Show Spoiler

Analysis for this meteor

A-L-E-X · 12 Dec 2018 03:12

100 meteors per hour! I thought the Perseids were the most faithful and consistent meteor shower but Geminids are right up there too!

midtskogen · 12 Dec 2018 05:14

I much prefer the Geminids. The Perseids move fast and are visible for jusy a fraction of a second, whereas the Geminids may persist for seconds. The Geminid count seems more stable. And the Perseids are barely visible in Norway because of the bright summer nights. And lastly, the Geminids are rocky, asteroid stuff rather than comet stuff.

12 Dec 2018 19:22

I much prefer the Geminids, too. Every meteor shower has a sort of personality, and the hourly rate isn't everything.

I do like that the Perseids are in the summer, so I can enjoy them the whole (brief) night without needing warm clothes. But they are annoyingly fast and usually dim. Even photography with them is more difficult. The catch with the Geminids here is that it's the peak of our wet season, so I almost never get to see them. Doesn't look good for this years show either:

midtskogen · 13 Dec 2018 01:07

The catch with the Geminids here is that it's the peak of our wet season

We have 2/3 cloud cover on averege with little seasonal variation (slightly less in spring, slightly worse around now). The only catch from all cameras previous night was:

► Show Spoiler

I met a wall of ice crystals as I went outside this morning, a kind of ice drizzle that immediately wetted my face despite the -8C. I wonder if all the snow production nearby contributes to this. There is a slight chance of clear patches of sky tonight during the peak of the Geminids.

A-L-E-X · 13 Dec 2018 02:22

Is that why the Geminids have way more fireballs (because they come from asteroids?) I have rarely seen slow bright meteors with Perseids too but it required observation over three consecutive nights to see just one- that one actually had a tail and dropped somewhere over the Ocean to our south I think. I have also seen meteors that do weird things like take right hand turns and change direction, etc.

13 Dec 2018 03:18

I have rarely seen slow bright meteors with Perseids too but it required observation over three consecutive nights to see just one- that one actually had a tail and dropped somewhere over the Ocean to our south I think.

Meteor showers have particles with a distribution of sizes, and even the Perseids sometimes produce fireballs. I did capture one nice Perseid fireball in a shower a few years ago. But you also have to be careful to distinguish meteors associated with the shower from unrelated sporadics. The best way to distinguish them is by their speed and origin on the sky. If the meteor was slow, then it definitely was not a Perseid. Perseids come in at almost 60km/s!

I have also seen meteors that do weird things like take right hand turns and change direction, etc.

Impossible for a meteor.

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