*** The Official Astronomy & Universe Thread ***

Hey guys, quick question. Me and the g/f were out doing some long exposure star shots with just her cam and 50mm lens. We were doing 20 sec exposures, but on return there was this thing i've circled in the pic below, it stood out since it hasn't got a little star trail like the rest of the stars

11vqfps.jpg


Not sure if it's a galaxy or what? Or possibly a Comet Elenin! /tinfoil hat. Any ideas?
 
With my new TeleVue Powermate 2.5x i can really pump up the size of Jupiter.
Problem i am having is bad skies over london and a need to colimate the scope. Looking forward to taking it down south and really pushing the scope.

firsthu.jpg
 
Holliday said:
Hey guys, quick question. Me and the g/f were out doing some long exposure star shots with just her cam and 50mm lens. We were doing 20 sec exposures, but on return there was this thing i've circled in the pic below, it stood out since it hasn't got a little star trail like the rest of the stars

11vqfps.jpg


Not sure if it's a galaxy or what? Or possibly a Comet Elenin! /tinfoil hat. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

By looking at stellariun i think andromeda is a safe bet :)
 
Holliday said:
Not sure if it's a galaxy or what? Or possibly a Comet Elenin! /tinfoil hat. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

That's M31 Andromeda given the star positions :)

I look for the three stars in the bottom left (almost in a line) then take the first star, look for the two stars in a line at 90 degrees then it's just off there.

It is a difficult one as the centre is bright however the rest has a low surface brightness.
 
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Some noob questions here.

I like astronomy. Love thinking about it, just don't know enough about it.

Perhaps some of you who know more about this can answer the following questions for me.... These are some of the things I've recently been thinking about, and just not found the time to google. :)

When we see a shooting star, is that like an entire solar system that's having a real bad day. Which can't be very good for its orbiting planets. Especially if life exists on some. What causes a shooting star? Is it an actual star or is it something else like a meteor burning up in our own atmosphere?

Galaxies.... Can we see any with the naked eye? That us noobs might be mistaking for just another star? Or can we only see stars with our naked eyes?

They say it's impossible to travel faster than the speed of light.. So i guess leaving our own solar system is probably never going to happen is it. For for humanity at least. Unless they find ways to exploit wormholes or time travel.. Which once again, is unlikely. (according to the boffins) Do you think not being able to travel faster than the speed of light, was put in place for a reason? Perhaps to protect ourselves from each other (as in other solar systems / or even galaxies) Nature places natural defences in place, doesn't it. Such as camoflage etc.

Now to go deep...

Do any of you that are well astronomy, actually believe in god? I'll go on record as saying, I personally think god is unlikely.. At least our interpretation of what a god actually is. Perhaps we along with everything else in the Universe is part of some elaborate design of some kind. Maybe a bluprint left by a former very advanced civilisation of a previous universe, knowing, and placing the ingredients to create the big bang, along with the laws of physics, and were able to place the ingredient of life in the plan. However nothing has or ever will control our destiny.

What is your take on all of this.
 
thedoc46 said:
When we see a shooting star, is that like an entire solar system that's having a real bad day. Which can't be very good for its orbiting planets. Especially if life exists on some. What causes a shooting star? Is it an actual star or is it something else like a meteor burning up in our own atmosphere?
Click to expand...

Got it in... two :p While there are a few fast moving stars, probably thrown out of 'place' by a sister star in their binary system going nova, what people call 'Shooting Stars' are the visible path of a meteoroid as it enters the atmosphere to become a meteor, and if it's large enough to land it becomes a meteorite :)

thedoc46 said:
Galaxies.... Can we see any with the naked eye? That us noobs might be mistaking for just another star? Or can we only see stars with our naked eyes?
Click to expand...

We can see a few with the naked eye, the main one being Andromeda, or M31. But like most things in the night sky it does just appear as another point of light. In fact, we can theoretically see anything with an apparent magnitude of six or below, but it really depends on conditions with regards to the atmosphere, light pollution, etc.

thedoc46 said:
They say it's impossible to travel faster than the speed of light..
Click to expand...

Well, we'll see ;)

thedoc46 said:
So i guess leaving our own solar system is probably never going to happen is it. For for humanity at least. Unless they find ways to exploit wormholes or time travel.. Which once again, is unlikely. (according to the boffins) Do you think not being able to travel faster than the speed of light, was put in place for a reason? Perhaps to protect ourselves from each other (as in other solar systems / or even galaxies) Nature places natural defences in place, doesn't it. Such as camoflage etc.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily (or at all really) :D There are several proposed means of "practical" interstellar travel within a human lifetime, using current or viable technology. To undertake today they would require a massive, coordinated, unified effort on behalf of all humanity however which, while a nice ideal, isn't very practical. As technology progresses we will inevitably discover more efficient propulsion techniques and other advancements that will lead to it one day becoming a reality (if we don't all kill ourselves before then :rolleyes:)

Read:

http://www.damninteresting.com/the-daedalus-starship/
http://www.icarusinterstellar.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bussard_ramjet

thedoc46 said:
Do any of you that are well astronomy, actually believe in god? I'll go on record as saying, I personally think god is unlikely.. At least our interpretation of what a god actually is. Perhaps we along with everything else in the Universe is part of some elaborate design of some kind. Maybe a bluprint left by a former very advanced civilisation of a previous universe, knowing, and placing the ingredients to create the big bang, along with the laws of physics, and were able to place the ingredient of life in the plan. However nothing has or ever will control our destiny.

What is your take on all of this.
Click to expand...

Astronomy and Philosophy do go hand in hand. You can't spend hours gazing into the stars without coming to a few realizations about yourself. I don't believe in a god, and i love the idea that we don't, nor can we ever, know even a tiny fraction of 'everything'. I believe that the future lies with us, in humanity. We have so much potential, and yet we are achieving so little. We are approaching a fork in the road, a choice between greed and suffering or compassion and beauty.


This won't make much sense without knowing about this :)


And if you want (more on their channel):

 
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PermaBanned said:
Got it in... two :p While there are a few fast moving stars, probably thrown out of 'place' by a sister star in their binary system going nova, what people call 'Shooting Stars' are the visible path of a meteoroid as it enters the atmosphere to become a meteor, and if it's large enough to land it becomes a meteorite :)



We can see a few with the naked eye, the main one being Andromeda, or M31. But like most things in the night sky it does just appear as another point of light. In fact, we can theoretically see anything with an apparent magnitude of six or below, but it really depends on conditions with regards to the atmosphere, light pollution, etc.



Well, we'll see ;)



Not necessarily (or at all really) :D There are several proposed means of "practical" interstellar travel within a human lifetime, using current or viable technology. To undertake today they would require a massive, coordinated, unified effort on behalf of all humanity however which, while a nice ideal, isn't very practical. As technology progresses we will inevitably discover more efficient propulsion techniques and other advancements that will lead to it one day becoming a reality (if we don't all kill ourselves before then :rolleyes:)

Read:

http://www.damninteresting.com/the-daedalus-starship/
http://www.icarusinterstellar.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bussard_ramjet



Astronomy and Philosophy do go hand in hand. You can't spend hours gazing into the stars without coming to a few realizations about yourself. I don't believe in a god, and i love the idea that we don't, nor can we ever, know even a tiny fraction of 'everything'. I believe that the future lies with us, in humanity. We have so much potential, and yet we are achieving so little. We are approaching a fork in the road, a choice between greed and suffering or compassion and beauty.


This won't make much sense without knowing about this :)


And if you want (more on their channel):

Click to expand...

Thanks for these videos. It's always a joy to sit back and listen to Carl Sagan.
 
Might of been posted, as I don't follow this thread.

But if you want to name the very large array in Mexico get submitting

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15307169

http://www.nrao.edu/namethearray/
Suggest a new name for the Very Large Array!
The most famous radio telescope in the world is about to get a new name. The NRAO's Very Large Array (VLA) is nearing completion of an amazing transformation. Its original, 1970s-vintage electronics have been replaced with state-of-the-art equipment, increasing its technical capabilities by factors of as much as 8,000 and greatly increasing the array's scientific impact.

The result is a completely new scientific facility.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) seeks ideas for a new name for the VLA. Click the link below for an online entry form to submit a name suggestion. You may enter a free-form name, or a word or phrase to come as a prefix before "Very Large Array," or both.

Entries will be accepted until 23:59 EST on December 1, 2011, and the new name will be announced at NRAO's Town Hall at the American Astronomical Society's meeting in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday, January 10, 2012.
Click to expand...
 
NickK said:
Just taken delivery of some Baader LRGB filters .. bring on the colour!
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Can't wait to see the results, I too am thinking of going down this route with a DMK. Where abouts are you imaging from?

Also here is another attempt I had a Jupiter last night, the focus definitely could have been a lot better but I did manage to get the Great Red Spot in shot:

302559_10150329624901268_678356267_8522558_759654199_n.jpg
 
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