The Astronomy Thread

Running Dog_sl

shitlord
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The Beagle 2 probe has not been seen or heard from since December 2003 and had been presumed destroyed. But the UK Space Agency chief executive, David Parker, said on Friday that high resolution pictures taken by Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft showed it had actually successfully landed 12 years ago.... "These images are consistent with the Beagle 2 having successfully landed on Mars but then only partially deploying itself."
Lost Beagle 2 spacecraft found on surface of Mars | Science | The Guardian
 

Tuco

I got Tuco'd!
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ceres.png
 

ShakyJake

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Some of you may find this fun:

Space Engine - Home page

If, for example, you wanted to know what the Milky Way would look like from the viewpoint of a planet's surface in the Large Magellanic Cloud -- well, you can do it with Space Engine.
Some screenshots I took from Space Engine...

Taken from a planet orbiting a binary star system inside a globular cluster:


Another planet orbiting a binary star system. This one is in the dwarf elliptical galaxy (Messier 110) that orbits the Andromeda Galaxy (seen here in the sky).


Seriously considering contributing to the project. Apparently the entire thing was created by one guy.
 

Furry

WoW Office
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Most binary stars in actuality are extremely far apart with orbits in the thousands if not tens of thousands of years. If you were on a planet orbiting one of the stars, the second star would appear to be little more than a particularly bright star that was stationary in the sky.
 

Merrith

Golden Baronet of the Realm
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Surprised nothing posted here yet about the new dwarf planet in our solar system they discovered. Or that it's orbit seems odd somehow and one of the possible reasons could be a Super Earth size planet out beyond 250 AU from the sun (pure speculation but something that would explain it's orbit)
 

Big Phoenix

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HAVEN'T CLEARED ORBIT NOT PLANET.

Going to have a nice chuckle if that is confirmed. Tyson gonna be upset.
 

TheBeagle

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I thought it was fairly well established that the Oort cloud is probably full of dozens if not hundreds of proto-planets. Or did I just dream that?
 

Burnem Wizfyre

Log Wizard
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HAVEN'T CLEARED ORBIT NOT PLANET.

Going to have a nice chuckle if that is confirmed.Tyson gonna be upset.
Serious question, do you honestly believe that shit or are you making a joke because when it comes to your blatant ignorance it's really hard to tell what you legitimately don't understand and what you are making fun of.
 

Big Phoenix

Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
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Serious question, do you honestly believe that shit or are you making a joke because when it comes to your blatant ignorance it's really hard to tell what you legitimately don't understand and what you are making fun of.
Have to keep my #1 super fan entertained.
 

iannis

Musty Nester
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I thought it was fairly well established that the Oort cloud is probably full of dozens if not hundreds of proto-planets. Or did I just dream that?
It is widely surmised.

I don't think they've actually managed to see the oort cloud and I don't think even Veejah has gotten close to where it's supposed to happen. But they know it's there because it must be and because comets have predictable orbits.
 

Aaron

Goonsquad Officer
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Talking about Pluto, I seem to remember that it got elevated to full planethood again a while back, but after Googling it it still seems to be considered a Dwarf Planet. Did I imagine it or was there some discussion on it a few months/year ago?
 

Burnem Wizfyre

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It is widely surmised.

I don't think they've actually managed to see the oort cloud and I don't think even Veejah has gotten close to where it's supposed to happen. But they know it's there because it must be and because comets have predictable orbits.
300 more years until Voyager reaches the Oort cloud, 30,000 to exit it according to this report.

Nasa confirms that the Voyager 1 probe has entered interstellar space (again) - Gadgets and Tech - Life and Style - The Independent