Space News thread

[BaitongBoy]

Sound crazy to us today, but tell people in 1869 that in one hundred years that man would be flying to the moon, getting out and having a stroll around up there, when they currently even get off the ground.

When my father went to school they said there wouldn't be a man on the moon for another 500 years...

And he saw it in his lifetime...

[Auroria]

^ But try to get a hoverboard from the BTTF movies and it's a big stern no!

[Takeovers]

What would be the result of a "hit?"...

According to the article not much.

The blast would have released about 700 kilotons' worth of energy — dozens of times more powerful than the atomic bomb detonated over Hiroshima.But since it would have occurred from a distance of about 10 miles high, it probably wouldn't have had much effect on the ground; if anything, a high-altitude boom may have sounded as loud as heavy traffic on the ground.

But even worst case it might obliterate one major city. So negligible on a global scale.

[harrybarracuda]

A huge collision between two stars some 1,800 light-years away could add a bright new object to our night sky, say scientists – though this temporary star will only be visible for two or three years.

This is the first time experts have tried to forecast a cosmic explosion like this, and the researchers say there's usually only a "one-in-a-million chance" of being able to predict a new star before it actually appears.

Astronomer Larry Molnar and his team from Calvin College in Michigan have been keeping a close eye on a binary star called KIC 9832227, which is actually two stars orbiting each other.

In this case, we're dealing with a contact binary, where both stars share parts of the same atmosphere, like two peanuts in a shell.

The researchers think these stars are getting closer together, and could collide with each other in 2022.

That kind of merging is what's called a red nova, and the resulting explosion would cause a 10,000-fold increase in brightness – enough for it to be visible from Earth for some time.

"If the prediction is correct, then for the first time in history, parents will be able to point to a dark spot in the sky and say, 'Watch, kids, there’s a star hiding in there, but soon it's going to light up'," says Calvin College dean of research Matt Walhout, who wasn't involved in the study.

The story really began in 2008 with V1309 Scorpii – another binary star that caused a red nova.

Though the incident wasn't predicted ahead of time, observations of it showed the orbital period between the two individual stars dropping faster and faster as the collision approached.

Molnar and his colleagues spotted the same pattern in KIC 9832227 in 2013 and 2014, and continuing throughout 2016 – meaning the time taken for the stars to circle each other is indeed shrinking.

"Bottom line is we really think our merging star hypothesis should be taken seriously right now and we should be using the next few years to study this intensely so that if it does blow up we will know what led to that explosion," says Molnar.

The team is monitoring the star's radio, infrared, and X-ray emissions using a variety of instruments, including the Very Large Array observatory in New Mexico, the Infrared Telescope Facility in Hawaii, and the XMM-Newton spacecraft in orbit around Earth.

Those readings should enable us to figure out if KIC 9832227 is on course to light up the night sky. Then the hunt will be on to find other binary stars like it, and see if we can predict more of these collisions.

If events play out as the astronomers have predicted, we'll be able to see the brilliant red nova explosion in the northern wing of the Cygnus constellation in 2022 – no telescopes necessary.

Remember though that technically this collision – should we be able to witness it – actually happened a long, long time ago, as the light we'll be seeing will be 1,800 years old.

"Nobody has ever managed to predict the birth of a star before so this is really unprecedented," the Royal Astronomical Society's Robert Massey, who wasn't involved with the study, told Sarah Knapton at The Telegraph.

"I think there will be a race among amateur astronomers, and members of the public to spot it first."

The findings have been made available online, while the authors await peer review in the lead up to publication in a scientific journal.

The research is also being used as the basis of a forthcoming documentary called Luminous, and you can watch the trailer below:



http://www.sciencealert.com/here-s-w...ht-sky-in-2022

[Takeovers]

I just checked. That nova is expected to reach the magnitude +2 of brightness. That means it would be one of the 50 brightest stars in the night sky. Meaning it will become easily visible but not something the casual observer will find overwhelming.

Still trying to find out, how long it will remain that bright.

Comparable brightness would be Deneb in Cygnus and the polar star Polaris. Deneb is a nice comparison because the NOVA will be located in the same star constellation Cygnus.

Some of you may know the Summer Triangle of three bright stars, Wega in Lyra, Deneb in Cygnus, Atair in Aquila (Eagle)

Cygnus, the celestial Swan, flies toward lower right and to the horizon, great Deneb, seen toward the upper left, marking its tail. Albireo, down and to the right, marks the Swan's head, Sadr, just up and to the left of center, its breast. Cygnus reversed becomes the Northern Cross, Deneb now at the top, Albireo at the foot, the arms of the cross stretching from upper right to lower left, Sadr at the intersection. The position of the Mira variable Chi Cygni, which is here too faint to be seen, is indicated by the circle. The black hole binary Cygnus X-1 is near the center of the picture, and can be seen on the deep image. The Milky Way is faintly visible in the background. Deneb lies at the northeastern apex of the Summer Triangle. Cygnus has two stars with orbiting planets, the double star 16 Cygni and the triple star HD 188753.

Another image of the constellation Cygnus, with the position of the expected Nova shown as the red circles.

[BaitongBoy]

With the billions of "objects" jetting around in the universe, isn't it more than a bit amazing that we haven't been hit "too hard?"...

I suppose there is an intricate "clockwork" to the whole mass collection, but surely there are more than just a few "rogues" and their "fragments"...

[Luigi]

Andromeda is coming.

You just need to wait a few billion years.


Jupiter plays a large part in keeping us somewhat safe from the smaller stuff.

[Takeovers]

With the billions of "objects" jetting around in the universe, isn't it more than a bit amazing that we haven't been hit "too hard?"...

I suppose there is an intricate "clockwork" to the whole mass collection, but surely there are more than just a few "rogues" and their "fragments"...

"We" have been hit. Last time hit with something really big, the dinosaurs went extinct though life itself was not exterminated.

Hits were much more common in the early solar system. By now much, but not all, of the rogue rocks have been eliminated. At least those existing in the inner solar system. There are plenty of bodies in the outer solar system, mostly the Kuiper belt. But those are rarely disturbed in their orbits enough to enter the inner solar system and be a threat to us. But when it happens, they come unexpected and may be detected late.

[harrybarracuda]

With the billions of "objects" jetting around in the universe, isn't it more than a bit amazing that we haven't been hit "too hard?"...

I suppose there is an intricate "clockwork" to the whole mass collection, but surely there are more than just a few "rogues" and their "fragments"...

"We" have been hit. Last time hit with something really big, the dinosaurs went extinct though life itself was not exterminated.

Hits were much more common in the early solar system. By now much, but not all, of the rogue rocks have been eliminated. At least those existing in the inner solar system. There are plenty of bodies in the outer solar system, mostly the Kuiper belt. But those are rarely disturbed in their orbits enough to enter the inner solar system and be a threat to us. But when it happens, they come unexpected and may be detected late.

You seem to be forgetting about all those asteroids.

[Latindancer]

And possibly even the moon.

[BaitongBoy]

How could we "forget" them?...

[BaitongBoy]

A previously undetected asteroid that could rival the size of a mid-sized office building passed by Earth this week in a close shave that brought the object within half the distance of the moon.

The space rock — with the catchy name 2017 AG13 — was likely somewhere between 36 feet and 115 feet across, a relatively small size that makes asteroids difficult to detect when they are far away from Earth but could be very dangerous if they broke up or hit the ground near a city.

“On the rare occasions where those happen over populated areas, we need to know about them, but there are [about a million] objects that size,” said Gareth Williams, associate director of the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center.

Close passes like the one this week are routine, according to Williams, who conducts his work at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge.

As many as 20 per year come within the same distance, he said, and 154 are known to have come closer, though he added that it is “a little on the large size” in that group.

In the case of 2017 AG13, researchers detected the object on Sunday, and it became clear relatively quickly that it was not a threat. It sailed by Monday at a speed of about 35,000 miles per hour relative to the Earth, Williams said.

“Very quickly after we got the initial sets of observations, it was clear that it was going to make a very close approach, but not close enough that it would hit us this time around,” he said.

The objects rarely hit Earth, but when they do, the results can be dramatic.

For comparison, experts have said that the 2013 meteor that caused a massive blast in the sky above Chelyabinsk, Russia, was about 65 feet across. The meteor that ignited in the Maine sky last summer, causing a large fireball, was estimated at about five feet across.

Researchers have been working in recent years to get a handle on “near-Earth objects,” and a recent federal report said asteroids a little larger than the highest estimate for 2017 AG13 could cause serious problems.

The report cited the 1908 explosion of an estimated 130-foot object that felled trees across hundreds of square miles in central Russia.

“If a similar airburst event were to occur over a major metropolitan area, millions of injuries and casualties could result,” the report said.

The report said 300,000 undetected objects bigger than that size could potentially threaten the planet.

[Takeovers]

You seem to be forgetting about all those asteroids.

The asteroids in the main belt are relatively stable in their orbits. They can be disturbed and get near earth. We would see the real big ones early.

The population of NEAs Near Earth Asteroids that are a bigger threat is reasonably well known and surveys to complete the knowledge are under way.

The recent discovery shows that we are not safe from surprises though. But large pieces that could pose a risk of an Extinction Level Event are really rare and quite well known already. Except those that come in as surprises from the Kuiper belt. If we get really unlucky and one of those hits us on its first pass we would likely not have a good chance to deflect it.

[Takeovers]

The report cited the 1908 explosion of an estimated 130-foot object that felled trees across hundreds of square miles in central Russia.

Ah, the famous Tunguska event. That was clearly an UFO accident, probably their antimatter fuel exploding.

[Luigi]

And possibly even the moon.

Yes, thought to have formed when a Mars size planet/object called Theia hit Earth a few billion years ago. Fortunately not too many of them zipping around the place nowadays, as they could give you a nasty bump on the head.

[Takeovers]

A launch mishap caused a standdown of SpaceX launches. They have identified the possible causes and will resume launching tomorrow.

Here the SpaceX YouTube channel with the hosted webcast. Launch in about 22 hours. The YouTube channel is already up and shows a countdown.




They will launch 10 satellites for a new Iridium satellite constellation from Vandenberg. Weaather looks fine so far.

[hick]

This is gonna' be flippin' orsome!

(I know all you posters on this thread are well aware of this....it's for the lurkers

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), previously known as Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST), is a flagship-class space observatory under construction and scheduled to launch in October 2018.





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A direct, to-scale, comparison between the primary mirrors of the Hubble Space Telescope, James Webb Space Telescope, and the proposed High Definition Space Telescope (HDST).

[Takeovers]

Successful launch and landing of the Falcon 9 today. 10 satellites deployed and nailed the landing of the first stage on the Drone Ship "Just Read The Instructions" dead center.



http://streamable.com/la9m7

[Takeovers]

China has contracted zero-g parabel flights with french company NOVESPACE.

China signs Zero-G deal with Novespace - Air & Cosmos - International



Looks slightly scary, going full throttle down like this. They are called vomit comet for a reason. But they are an essential part of astronaut training.

[BaitongBoy]

What's it all about, Takeovers?...

[Takeovers]

What's it all about, Takeovers?...

These are planes that can fly on a parabolic trajectory. That produces zero gravity for a short period, in the range of minutes. So people can train how to move in these conditions. It then changes quite suddenly to a gravity higher than 1g when they pull up from their dive. These changes are vomit inducing, worse than rollercoasters. So the name vomit comet.

I am not sure but I believe they structurally strengthen these planes from their normal counterparts to better withstand the forces acting on them without disassembling in flight. So for the moment China prefers to contract these flights out to a contractor who already is operating planes.

If you want this experience, there is a russian provider where you can book your flight. I believe, though don't have a link, that there have been fashion shoots for lingerie on such flights. You can probably guess the motivation.

[Luigi]

In the name of science I had to google that.


You are correct Sir. Well, bikini shoots.

[BaitongBoy]

Thanks for that...Appreciated...

[hick]

Thanks for that...Appreciated...

Yeah, thanks Luigi.

[BaitongBoy]

^ Actually, those are just too "fake"...

I want kind of the "upskirt shot" when she loses her coffee and a little lace is graciously "flashed"...Not that plastic shite, up there...

More like "librarian hottie" slips on banana peel and lands with her legs "akimbo"...

Splayed, if you will...