JCC The All-New, All-Different JCC Astronomy Thread

I didn't get to see an eclipse.

 

Another amazing photo f Saturn, with not just earth, but several other planets and moons visible

 

Looks like comet Ison has been declared dead. Too close to the Sun and ripped apart.

 

Buuuuuuut here comes comet Lovejoy!

It made a pass like ISON did but survived.





As i read this it appears to have apprached the Sun at 200 meteres in diameter, and left significantly smaller, but retains just a bit under one million tons in mass.

 

ISON obviously took a gravitic slingshot around the sun and went back in time to find some whales.

 

Rather ticked off, we've had great sky-watching weather here except for the two nights the Geminids peaked, which were foggy and rainy.

 

When's V'Ger going to come and kill us all?

 

Well played.

 

The Hand Of God



Spinning 7 times a second near that bright spot in the middle is a neutron star. This lies some 17,000 light years away. The article mentions that they are not sure if this is an optical illusion or if the clouds really are shaped that way.

The comments section turns in to a religious debate.

 

Has anyone found Krypton yet? Oh! Too soon?

 

Yeah, Neil DeGrasse Tyson already did.

The star is in Corvus.

 

"It was right there at one time."



"THEN IT EXPLODED!"

 

He was in a Superman comic? Sad.

 

TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN

 

Kepler finds Earth sized world in a habitable zone 500 light years away

And someone is claiming there is a better than 50% chance there is a technological civilization there

 

4.8 times the mass of Earth, 11.5 billion years old, in the habitable zone, just 13 ly away


Figure 2. Comparison of the relative size of the orbits and the planets of Kapteyn's Star and the inner planets of our Solar System. The two planets of the Kapteyn's star fit within the orbit of Mercury. Planets are magnify x100 and stars x10 with respect to the orbit scale for clarity. The size of the corresponding optimistic (light green) and conservative (dark green) habitable zones are shown.

 

Yo, Rendezvous with Rama Comet.

http://rosetta.esa.int/

 

Yggdrasil

 

Mars comet flyby in 9 days

It is supposed to pass within 90,000 miles of Mars. It is about 5 miles wide though the coma is far greater. It is moving over 100,000 mph.

 

All the planets of the solar system can fit between the Earth and the moon.

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/all-the-planets-in-the-solar-system-fit-between-the-ear-1650144545

 

Half of all stars in the Universe are rogue stars between galaxies

Here on Earth we can at least think about extending beyond to the nearest stars with things like Daedelus or large scale laser propulsion or something. Sitting between galaxies all by yourself? That's it. That's home.