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Post by LCARS on Jan 10, 2007 22:11:23 GMT -5
Or this one: www.heavens-above.comOnce you go through the short process of determining your location then you can see when and where to look for sightings of various cool stuff including iridium flares, one of the other cool predictable night sky events. |
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dtcmor
freely admits to licking rocks
Back to lickin' rocks again!
Member since May 2006
Posts: 898
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Post by dtcmor on Jan 11, 2007 1:07:15 GMT -5
Wow - both cool links!
Thanks for posting them guys!
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Post by Original Admin on Jan 11, 2007 16:23:58 GMT -5
LCARS
"NASA has finally decided to adopt the metric system for all future projects to avoid another embarassing incident leading to the loss of a space vehicle due to an imperial-metric discrepancy."
What vehicle was that? Wasnt a Shuttle that I'm aware of. Just wondered which rocket they lost due to that - and what mission?
Cheers
Mark
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blarneystone
spending too much on rocks
Rocks in my head
Member since March 2010
Posts: 307
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Post by blarneystone on Jan 11, 2007 18:04:56 GMT -5
Thanks for the links guys.. very cool. and Mark.. I watched the vid.. just beautiful. ...but I still hold my breath everytime i watch one go up.
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Post by Condor on Jan 12, 2007 9:03:57 GMT -5
Wow, that was great. Sorry I hadn't read this post earlier. I'm proud to say that during the next mission, a local guy-done-good from El Paso, Texas, will be one of the astronauts going up in the space shuttle. Sure wish is would be me.
Condor
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Jan 12, 2007 16:20:09 GMT -5
LCARS "NASA has finally decided to adopt the metric system for all future projects to avoid another embarassing incident leading to the loss of a space vehicle due to an imperial-metric discrepancy." What vehicle was that? Wasnt a Shuttle that I'm aware of. Just wondered which rocket they lost due to that - and what mission? Cheers Mark Mark, it was the Mars Climate Orbiter, launched in 1998, crashed on Mars in September 1999. The Lockheed Martin Engineering team was using Imperial measurements, while NASA was using metric, and the mixup caused the fatal crash when the spacecraft reached Mars. -Don |
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stefan
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Jan 13, 2007 12:24:00 GMT -5
Yea I remeber that one- waste of SEVERAL MILLIONS of dollars- thank god no life was lost! Hey I see NASA is gonna send up Discovery to upgrade the Hubble!!!!! Looks like they are starting to get things right again!!!
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Jan 13, 2007 13:28:36 GMT -5
...make that several HUNDRED million dollars! I wouldn't want to try to explain THAT one to my boss. ;D
-Don
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Post by Original Admin on Jan 13, 2007 20:09:26 GMT -5
Cheers for that Don - I'll have to read up on it on the nasa site. Sounds unbelievable - but I guess its true. I dont think id have bothered going back into work!!!  |
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Post by LCARS on Jan 14, 2007 1:48:02 GMT -5
Oh, sorry Mark. I've been pretty busy lately & wasn't following this thread. I'm glad there's always someone here to fill in for me in my absence.  Keeping with the space topic, did anyone happen to catch C/2006 P1 McNaught at all over the last few evenings? WELL, I LUCKED OUT & DID! It was supposed to be a faint comet not visible to the naked eye because of it's proximity to the sun in the sky but it has brightened considerably on it's approach to the sun. It was visible in the northern hemisphere over the last few days for a short time after sunset (15-30 minutes depending on your latitude and of course, only where the WSW horizon was clear enough). The image is a composite stack of five frames taken over about 45 seconds to reduce noise and each individual shot was dark framed in the camera to give a resulting image that is very comparable to what is seen with the human eye. |
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Jan 14, 2007 2:06:53 GMT -5
Keeping with the space topic, did anyone happen to catch C/2006 P1 McNaught at all over the last few evenings? The image is a composite stack of five frames taken over about 45 seconds to reduce noise and each individual shot was dark framed in the camera to give a resulting image that is very comparable to what is seen with the human eye. I saw it in 16x80 binoculars on the evenings of Jan. 6 and Jan. 11. It was a bit better placed (in slightly less bright twilight) on January 6, but otherwise I didn't notice much difference over that time. On the 11th I was able to set up the binoculars on a tripod right in the warmth of our living room, with a good view to the SW, and was able to show my daughter the comet just before it slid into the trees. That's the nice thing about a comet in bright twilight -- no need to head to a dark site! Your picture is a very good image of what it looked like, although I wasn't seeing as much of the tail as you captured in your photo, and the binoculars magnified things more. -Don |
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Post by rockds on Jan 14, 2007 19:52:13 GMT -5
you ever seen the shuttle go up in person? Its gotta be one of the coolest things I've ever seen
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flatumbler
starting to spend too much on rocks
Now totally addicted!!!
Member since January 2007
Posts: 191
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Post by flatumbler on Jan 14, 2007 20:07:48 GMT -5
Oh, sorry Mark. I've been pretty busy lately & wasn't following this thread. I'm glad there's always someone here to fill in for me in my absence. Keeping with the space topic, did anyone happen to catch C/2006 P1 McNaught at all over the last few evenings? WELL, I LUCKED OUT & DID!It was supposed to be a faint comet not visible to the naked eye because of it's proximity to the sun in the sky but it has brightened considerably on it's approach to the sun. It was visible in the northern hemisphere over the last few days for a short time after sunset (15-30 minutes depending on your latitude and of course, only where the WSW horizon was clear enough). The image is a composite stack of five frames taken over about 45 seconds to reduce noise and each individual shot was dark framed in the camera to give a resulting image that is very comparable to what is seen with the human eye. Amazing Picture, wish I could have seen that. |
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Post by LCARS on Jan 14, 2007 23:41:36 GMT -5
you ever seen the shuttle go up in person? Its gotta be one of the coolest things I've ever seen I don't live anywhere near where anything gets launched into space so I have to regretfully say no. |
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Jan 15, 2007 19:08:55 GMT -5
Rob- Awesome shot- what camera are you using- or are you imaging? Sadly we have had clouds for the last 2 weeks solid (one partial break for about and hour from 8 to 9 oclock) so I completly missed the comet (figures) but I did try out my LPI on the nieghbors house the other day- I was a bit amazed at the detail- now if it would only clear up (maybe Wednesday night- it is supposed to be Bitter Cold- which usually clears up the skys (or actually the skys are clear allowing it to get bitter cold)
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Post by LCARS on Jan 15, 2007 22:00:03 GMT -5
Rob- Awesome shot- what camera are you using?... Canon G5 with 65mm telephoto lens. Equivelant magnification would be about 8x-9x. Tripod mounted with 2s shutter delay. F5.0 AV, 1.3sec TV + auto-darkframe, int. 50% ND filter and C-polarizer. Taken in RAW format for post-processing and stacking. I locked onto the coma as my allignment target so the terrain appears to shift when in fact it was the comet moving between each image. |
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Post by connrock on Jan 16, 2007 5:30:10 GMT -5
Great thread Mark, I think space exploration is so very interesting.I can't help but wonder "Whats out there?"I go out on our deck many times every night to smoke and just peer up at the skies and try to imagine how they can go on forever. I just read somewhere how the universe is always growing.Growing into where? How can it grow if it already goes on forever? Mind boggling to this humble person! I can remember back when I was a kid and me and my dad were out in the back yard trying to find Sputnik in the sky!We've come a long way since then but not far enough to suit me. Yes we have to start somewhere and learn to crawl before we walk but if we keep walking at this pace we'll never really get to explore space. Speed is the answer to space exploration and here we are trying to do it at the speed of a 3 toed sloth.I think we use too many of our technological resources trying to get out there instead of using them to see how fast we can get out there. Putting people on top of a rocket and blowing them off the face of the earth in a massive fireball just don't cut it when it comes to the distances that must be traveled to truly explore space. Burning fuel in rockets isn't the answer and I don't know just what is but it's out there and we have to find it or we're just wasting time, people's lives and money. I believe man is destined to explore.It's our nature to want to know "What's over that hill".The problem is that the hill we want to see over now is beyond the stars and we're trying to climb it on foot. My mind works in funny ways and as I sit here thinking and typing I can't help but think that there is already a much faster more economical way to travel but if it is brought out to the public the "Oil Mungers" will loose. The faster we use up the earths oil,the faster we'll be able to travel?  Hmmmmmmmmmmmm? connrock |
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Post by Original Admin on Jan 16, 2007 18:47:45 GMT -5
LCARS - thanks for the pic and lucky you (and me for having others support me). Your camera experience and knowledge far surpasses mine and aswell as that I probably couldnt afford your gear - but thanks for the images. Connrock - Im on the boat of "what will be will be" at the moment - having tried to fathom it all out Im all burned up. I think Im fairly in the clue about star stuff and light and elements and time and space - but still - theres this thing that breaks us all - NO QUESTIONS ASKED and I MEAN ZERO QUESTIONS. What caused the Big Bang - and what matter constitutes the (lol kind of) "primeval atom". Im getting to the point that once I pop it I will be in eternal sleep where I know nothing and experience nothing - I do not dream - I am not "punished" and time elapses at a speed which is nothing to do with me. I am hoping that that is the case - I hope for "nothingness". total and utter "nothing". That way I wouldnt know that there was nothing there. Oh - I must be waffling again. As for rocks - my garage is still a freekin mess And I mean a mess it leaked and I had to put bathroom tile sealant on it because thats all my next door neighbor had.  Cheers Mark |
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Jan 16, 2007 18:48:22 GMT -5
Well thought out connrock- But one thing I would like to differ on is the spped at our exploration- I remeber the moon landing (my dad told me I would alwys remember that day) We have come a long way in a very short time- especialy when viewed in the context of space- I mean heck the sunlight that reaches us is already 8 seconds old- the light from the stars that we see is MILLIONS of years (heck in some cases BILLIONS) of years old. The amount that we learn in our short life times is staggering- and we will someday go beyond the reaches of our solar system- I mean we are but a mear blink of an eye in the grand Universe-
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Post by connrock on Jan 17, 2007 5:43:40 GMT -5
stefan,
Well I guess we have come a long way but if I had the chance to live in outer space I'd stay right here,,,,,,,,,
Ya cain't tumbles rocks without that gravity stuff!!
connrock
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