Mon-Jas Charan
Message Board Member
"Poena Vigoratus. Pullus cavo vix. Palma , est eternus"
Posts: 2,630
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Post by Mon-Jas Charan on Feb 12, 2007 23:31:55 GMT -5
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Post by J'aii-Gun Jiinn on Feb 13, 2007 22:47:12 GMT -5
:-/Hopefully,It's not snowing.raining,or cloudy to see this
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Post by Leda EmBorr on Feb 14, 2007 0:22:41 GMT -5
Yeah. I'd like to try some photography this time.
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Mon-Jas Charan
Message Board Member
"Poena Vigoratus. Pullus cavo vix. Palma , est eternus"
Posts: 2,630
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Post by Mon-Jas Charan on Feb 16, 2007 18:11:15 GMT -5
A Naked-Eye Nova in Scorpius February 16, 2007 by Alan MacRobert
Nova Scorpii 2007 wasn't a big deal when two Japanese nova hunters, Yuji Nakamura and Yukio Sakurai, independently discovered it at 9th magnitude on February 4th. But that was then and this is now. The nova has brightened all the way to about magnitude 3.7 as of Friday the 16th.
That puts it in fairly easy naked-eye view if you don't have a too-badly light-polluted sky. Binoculars will show it very well from anywhere.
Scorpius is up in the south-southeast just before the first light of dawn. You can't miss brilliant Jupiter shining near it, as shown here. The nova (which has also been named V1280 Scorpii) is 9° southeast of Antares and a couple degrees northeast of Epsilon Scorpii; at declination –32° 21', right ascension 16h 57.7m. Epsilon Sco, by comparison, is magnitude 2.3.
Be out and looking just before morning twilight begins at your site. To find when this occurs, make sure you've entered your location and correct time zone into our online almanac. Bundle up, and make it an early-morning adventure!
Here are the most recent observations submitted to the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), which should have a comparison-star chart up Real Soon Now. In the meantime, if you make a magnitude estimate, be sure to record which stars you are using as comparisons and what magnitudes you are assuming for them.
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Mon-Jas Charan
Message Board Member
"Poena Vigoratus. Pullus cavo vix. Palma , est eternus"
Posts: 2,630
|
Post by Mon-Jas Charan on Feb 16, 2007 18:27:34 GMT -5
Another comet 2P/Encke (a periodic) is coming in again. This one just might be as good as McNaught because of it's orbital position this time and that the seeing will be in the evening sky here. Currently it's 14th magnitude but is predicted to brighten to possibly 3.5 by the end of April.
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Post by Leda EmBorr on Feb 16, 2007 18:27:57 GMT -5
Scorpius never fully rises above my southern horizon. I can see the top half only. I proved my geekishness when I was in Key West with Oli 2 summers ago, and the entire constellation was above the horizon.... I was thrilled silly!
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Mon-Jas Charan
Message Board Member
"Poena Vigoratus. Pullus cavo vix. Palma , est eternus"
Posts: 2,630
|
Post by Mon-Jas Charan on Feb 16, 2007 18:35:07 GMT -5
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Mon-Jas Charan
Message Board Member
"Poena Vigoratus. Pullus cavo vix. Palma , est eternus"
Posts: 2,630
|
Post by Mon-Jas Charan on Feb 16, 2007 18:39:37 GMT -5
Scorpius never fully rises above my southern horizon. I can see the top half only. I proved my geekishness when I was in Key West with Oli 2 summers ago, and the entire constellation was above the horizon.... I was thrilled silly! Yea I'm a little farther south ... Colorado Springs AP 38° 49' N 104° 43' W
I think Newark is close to you ... 40° 42' N 74° 10' W
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Post by Leda EmBorr on Feb 16, 2007 18:41:41 GMT -5
yes... Newark is very close.... a 30 minute drive east.
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Post by Leda EmBorr on Feb 16, 2007 18:43:37 GMT -5
Way cool..... I'm still watching and waiting... lol! I'll never forget the time I though Arcturus was a UFO.
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Mon-Jas Charan
Message Board Member
"Poena Vigoratus. Pullus cavo vix. Palma , est eternus"
Posts: 2,630
|
Post by Mon-Jas Charan on Feb 19, 2007 13:29:03 GMT -5
Feb. 17, 2007
J.D. Harrington Headquarters, Washington 202-358-5241
Chris Rink Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. 757-864-6786
RELEASE: 07-44
NASA MOVES APOLLO 1 CAPSULE TO NEW STORAGE FACILITY
HAMPTON, Va. - NASA moved the Apollo 1 capsule and related materials approximately 90 feet to a newer, environmentally-controlled warehouse at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., on Saturday, Feb. 17. The move provides better protection for the spacecraft.
Despite routine repairs made throughout the years, the original secure storage container where the vehicle was housed has been deteriorating. NASA officials determined that, due to its age, the container could not be maintained effectively to preserve the capsule.
Astronauts Lt. Col. Virgil I. Grissom, Lt. Col. Edward H. White, and Roger B. Chaffee died when a flash fire swept through the spacecraft during a launch pad test at Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Jan. 27, 1967. Originally known as the AS-204 mission, it was renamed Apollo 1 in honor of the crew.
As directed by the Apollo 204 Review Board, the capsule has been maintained at Langley. The review board's accident report made recommendations that led to design and engineering changes and increased the overall safety for future Apollo missions and six successful lunar landings.
For more information on the Internet about Apollo 1, visit:
history.nasa.gov/Apollo204/
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Post by J'aii-Gun Jiinn on Feb 19, 2007 23:11:58 GMT -5
Got to see the nova in Scorpio this morning a little hazy it almost directly below Jupiter.i was looking for it on my way to work
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Post by Leda EmBorr on Feb 20, 2007 11:34:57 GMT -5
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Post by Leda EmBorr on Feb 21, 2007 23:24:12 GMT -5
OMG... we're going to destroy our future with space debris!!!!
This article is from Space Weather.com:
ROCKET EXPLOSION: Australian astronomer Ray Palmer was photographing the Southern Cross from his observatory in Western Australia on Feb. 19th when a flaming plume cut across the Milky Way. "I had no idea what it was," he says. "It was moving very slowly and I was able to track it for 35 minutes." In mid-apparition the object exploded. Gordon Garradd of New South Wales photographed an expanding cloud filled with specks of debris. Tim Thorpe of South Australia saw it, too. "Quite a surreal scene," he says. What was it? It was a mystery for almost 24 hours until satellite expert Daniel Deak matched the trajectory of the plume in Palmer's photo with the orbit of a derelict rocket booster--"a Briz-M, catalog number 28944." One year ago, the Briz-M sat atop a Russian Proton rocket that left Earth on Feb. 28, 2006, carrying an Arabsat-4A communications satellite. Shortly after launch, the rocket malfunctioned, leaving the satellite in the wrong orbit and the Briz-M looping around Earth partially-filled with fuel. On Feb. 19, 2007, for reasons unknown, the fuel tanks ruptured over Australia. Jon P. Boers of the USAF Space Surveillance System confirms the ID and notes "later, on the other side of the world, our radar saw 500+ pieces in that orbit." Today the count is up to 1111 fragments. "[We're seeing] more fragments as the cloud expands," he explains. One thousand-plus fragments makes this "a major breakup event," says Mark Matney of NASA's Orbital Debris Office at the Johnson Space Center. "There is no immediate threat to the space station, but we're analyzing the orbits to assess any long-term hazard." "Unlike recent high profile breakups, Briz-M is in an orbit that is difficult for most radars to see," adds Boers. "The generation of element sets on all the pieces will take weeks to accomplish." Note: Many readers have asked how this event compares to last month's Chinese anti-sat test, which shattered a derelict satellite in low-Earth orbit producing more than 700 catalogued fragments. The Briz-M event could be worse--or not. It depends on the size and distribution of the 1000+ fragments. Ongoing radar studies will provide a better answer in the days and weeks ahead.
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Post by Leda EmBorr on Mar 1, 2007 0:33:15 GMT -5
Coming up...this Saturday.... ;D crossing my fingers that the weather will cooperate!
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