Astronomy

[Wanderer]

We had a rather well-going topic in the old forum, so here's a chance to continue discussions here.

Which of our members are going to be in the path of today's solar eclipse? Paul, are you planning to visit the totality zone? 

Concerning Greece, the phenomenon can only be witnessed from certain areas, mainly from Macedonia as a partial (less than 5%) eclipse. The outer edge of the penumbral shadow will diagonally cross the country from the northwest (Epirus) to the southeast (Rhodes), which means Athens will be excluded from the meagre sight.



The 2008 total solar eclipse

[Florestan]

They say in Romania it will be partial. Actually it is about to start and I'll report back on it.

[Opus106]

Partial. I will try to get some shots (no filters, etc.) and post if it's a success.

Less than 30 minutes to go, but it's partially cloudy completely cloudy, and I hear thunder.

[Opus106]

Update: Just at the nick of time, the clouds moved and I could see the Moon had taken a bite out of big ol' Sol. It was also drizzling, and I was wondering whether to look at the eclipse or look for a rainbow.

But unfortunately I could not get a shot of the event. It was just too bright even for the fastest shutter speed and smallest aperture, in manual mode.

[Florestan]

Sorry for the delay. It was indeed very partial, as only a small bit of the Sun was covered. Interesting to see, nevertheless.

[Wanderer]

It was indeed very partial, as only a small bit of the Sun was covered. Interesting to see, nevertheless.

Yes, Romania was crossed by the 20% line, so a +/-20% partial eclipse was to be expected. Better than here, though! 

opus67, you probably had the most rewarding view than most of us (30-40% partial?). 

[Opus106]

opus67, you probably had the most rewarding view than most of us (30-40% partial?). 

I guess so. I don't know the exact fraction of the solar disk that was covered, but I guesstimate it was around 30%.

[Bogey]

Thanks for the revival of the thread Big W.  I will link this site that we use and find it very helpful each night.  Forget who posted it on the old forum, but many, many thanks to them.

http://www.stellarium.org/

[Lethevich]

IMO the neatest things that have happened recently (other than New Horizons finally being launched - annoyed that Neptune is not being visited, and won't be in even the medium future due to NASA being lame :x) is extrasolar planet discovery. Initially they were only discovering large gas planets, or... not so large ones, but then after 2006, rocky ones started to be discovered. The neat thing is that their sizes are up to 9x earth sized, and given that earth is the largest terrestrial planet in our solar system, these prove that the impression that gives of what is actually possible is quite misleading. There are gas giants that are smaller than these giant rocky planets, which is a bit of a mindfuck at first.

[Opus106]

Thanks for the revival of the thread Big W.  I will link this site that we use and find it very helpful each night.  Forget who posted it on the old forum, but many, many thanks to them.

http://www.stellarium.org/

Arguably the best free planetarium software around
http://ap-i.net/skychart/index.php (available for Linux and Windows)

and for lunar cartography (it's amazing that this is available for free!)
http://ap-i.net/avl/en/start (For Windoze only )

[Opus106]

Solar eclipse as seen from 27,000 ft above sea-level

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=04a_1217608584

(I don't know why I was not able to embed the video directly in the post.)

[Bogey]

Looking forward to this:

Tests aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. Scientists are analyzing results from other samples and will hold a media teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT Tuesday.   http://www.nasa.gov/

[Ciel_Rouge]

I am glad to have found opus67 a fellow user of the magnificent CdC software. I suppose I shall also add my contribution by asking: how about the upcoming LUNAR eclipse on 16 August?

[Opus106]

I am glad to have found opus67 a fellow user of the magnificent CdC software.

I should have guessed, Ciel Rouge, but which planet (or a natural satellite, perhaps) is that with a red sky? 

I suppose I shall also add my contribution by asking: how about the upcoming LUNAR eclipse on 16 August?

If it's not cloudy, you can expect pictures from me.

[Opus106]

Super-BUMP!
Quite possibly my favourite space explorer from recent history, Cassini has sent home pictures of the terrain of Enceladus, of the "Tiger Stripes," from a mere 50 Km from the surface.

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/events/enceladus20080811/index.cfm

[orbital]

Partial, but beautiful moon eclipse this evening  0:)

[Wanderer]

Partial, but beautiful moon eclipse this evening  0:)

...in progress! Ideal conditions over here. 

Tonight's also August Full-Moon Night for many archaeological sites throughout Greece; they remain open to the public by moonlight. I usually take advantage of it by visiting nearby ancient Olympia, but tonight I opted to stay home to observe the eclipse in comfort.

[orbital]

...in progress! Ideal conditions over here. 

Yes, over here as well. I think 80% eclipse right now.

[Florestan]

I watched the moon partial eclipse in a hilly countryside. The conditions were excellent. Will post some pictures later.

[Wanderer]

A new map reveals a complicated outer halo in our galaxy.



A theoretical model of a galaxy like the Milky Way, showing trails of stars torn from disrupted satellite galaxies that have merged with the central galaxy. The region shown is about 1 million light-years on a side; the Sun is just 25,000 light-years from the center of the galaxy and would appear close to the center of this picture.