Volume 371, Number 3, June I 2001
|Page(s)||1065 - 1077|
|Section||Stellar structure and evolution|
|Published online||15 June 2001|
Spectra of carbon-rich asymptotic giant branch stars between 0.5 and 2.5 μm: Theory meets observation
Institut für Astronomie der Universität Wien, Türkenschanzstraße 17, 1180 Wien, Austria
2 Observatoire de Strasbourg, UMR 7550, 11 rue de l'Université, 67000 Strasbourg, France
3 Niels Bohr Institute, Astronomical Observatory, Juliane Maries Vej 30, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Corresponding author: R. Loidl, firstname.lastname@example.org
Accepted: 13 March 2001
We present a hydrostatic analysis of five carbon rich stars, BH Cru, T Cae, S Cen, RU Pup and Y Hya in the wavelength range between 0.5 and 2.5 μm. All except BH Cru, which is a Mira star, show only modest variability. We identify the absorption features of the molecules CO, CN and C2. The overall energy distribution, which is very sensitive to the effective temperature in the investigated wavelength range, as well as the bands of these molecules put strict limits on the possible values of effective temperature and C/O. We show that our model atmospheres and corresponding synthetic spectra are able to reproduce the observed spectra quite accurately from about 0.7 to 2.5 μm. The discrepancies are mainly due to uncertainties in the molecular input data. We discuss briefly why the variations of the molecular features are small and why dynamic phenomena do not play a very important role in this wavelength range. We identify colour indices based on commonly available filters and potentially suitable for the empirical determination of fundamental parameters of carbon stars.
Key words: stars: AGB and post-AGB / stars: atmospheres / stars: variables / stars: carbon / radiative transfer
© ESO, 2001
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Peekskill Meteorite - a 37.6 gram Specimen
The Peekskill meteorite is among the most historic meteorite events on record. Sixteen separate video recordings document the meteorite burning through the Earth's atmosphere, whereupon it struck a parked car in Peekskill, New York on the night of October 9, 1992 at 7:50 PM. As the story goes...18-year-old Michelle Knapp was home alone when she heard the crash in their driveway while she was watching TV. It was dark...she could not figure out what on earth destroyed her family's car until the next day when it was discovered that it wasn't by anything from this earth but rather a 27-pound meteorite from the sky. They found it had created a small crater under the debris of their car. A real Twilight Zone in the making!
The Peekskill meteorite is an H6 monomict breccia;its filigreed texture is the result of the shocking and heating following the impact of two asteroids in outer space. The meteorite is of the stony variety and approximately 20% of its mass is tiny flakes of nickel-iron. When it struck Earth, the meteorite weighed 27 pounds (12 kg) and measured one foot (0.30 m) in diameter. The Peekskill meteorite is estimated to be 4.4 billion years old.


This set contains 1 full moon, 2 half moon and 2 crescent moon charms for a lovely representation of the phases of the moon. In the northern hemisphere the curved sides of the crescent and half moons face towards the full moon. In the southern hemisphere they face away!
Antique Copper Finish
Height: 5mm, with jump ring 10mm


It turns out that SpaceX is working on not one, but twoat the same time.
Musk then answered a few questions on Twitter, saying that the competition will help SpaceX figure out which location is better for building -- and that the answer might be both.
In November, Muskto Starship.
Meanwhile, SpaceX is working on itsto bring broadband to the world, starting with the launch of 60 satellites into orbit. The launch, which was rescheduled because of high winds Wednesday, is supposed to take place Thursday.
Originally published May 15.
Update, May 16: Adds information on Starlink.


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- "Set your course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship."
- –Omar Bradley
- "And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by."
- –John Masefield
Historical Context Edit
Celestial navigation (or astronavigation, which sounds more scientific than artistic) is the practice of taking angular measurements between a celestial body (sun, moon, planet or star) and a point on the horizon to determine one’s position on the globe. A very useful skill for early sailors venturing out of sight of land. The altitude of the sun above the horizon at noon when compared with the altitude of other bodies gave, for instance, the latitude of the ship. Similarly, an angular measurement to the star Polaris and a similar measurement to a star near the western or eastern horizon could give a fairly accurate longitudinal position.
Polynesian navigation is probably the best known – not to mention earliest – form of celestial navigation; their “wayfarers” memorized the positions of the heavens at all seasons and could cross thousands of miles of open ocean with little error. In Medieval Europe, celestial navigation was considered one of the seven mechanical arts, and the first mariner’s astrolabe was used in the Mediterranean by Muslim merchants. (Perhaps by design, the astrolabe also allowed Muslim travelers to locate the Qibla and calculate the times for the Salat.) Meanwhile, the use of the magnetic compass spread from China across civilization.
Since navigation by “dead reckoning” could have unfortunate results (like running aground and drowning or getting lost and starving), crossing the open seas using the astrolabe and the compass together reached its peak during the “Age of Discovery.” The first circumnavigation of the Earth utilized these tools, along with Magellan’s innate sense of direction (every great admiral of the period had one).
Eventually, of course, the invention of radio, radar and satellite mapping made the entire process much easier and far safer. But even today, sailors rely on the heavens to keep them on course and off the rocks.


Launching a shiny, brand new rocket isn’t exactly easy. Launching a less shiny, used rocket is apparently an even bigger challenge. Today, SpaceX was supposed to send one of its used — sorry, “flight proven” — Falcon 9 rockets skyward to deliver supplies to the crew of the International Space Station, but it has been forced to delay the anticipated event after finding that their hardware wasn’t clean enough to pass inspections.
The company announced the delay last last night, explaining that “particles” were found in the second stage fuel system (which is new, not reused) . So, instead of launching today, the rocket’s next trip into space has been pushed back to Friday.
“Taking additional time for the team to conduct full inspections and cleanings due to detection of particles in 2nd stage fuel system,” SpaceX said in a statement announcing the launch delay. “Now targeting CRS-13 launch from SLC-40 on Dec. 15. Next launch opportunity would be no earlier than late December.”
Sadly, this isn’t the first time the mission has had to be delayed, and SpaceX had originally planned on send the rocket to the ISS on December 8th. At the time, SpaceX said that the delay was required because they needed “additional time for pre-launch ground system checks.” It does not appear that the subsequent delays are related.
Taking additional time for the team to conduct full inspections and cleanings due to detection of particles in 2nd stage fuel system. Now targeting CRS-13 launch from SLC-40 on Dec. 15. Next launch opportunity would be no earlier than late December.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 13, 2017
The ISS crew will be eagerly awaiting the supply ship when it arrives, as it’s bringing several thousands of pounds of food and scientific hardware. The mission is just the latest in what has become a regular partnership between SpaceX and NASA for supply runs between Earth and the space station.
SpaceX hasn’t said whether any of the issues they’ve run into over the past week are actually related to the fact that they’re using a previously-launched rocket for the mission — and they likely wouldn’t admit such a thing anyway — but the company’s business model going forward will be heavily reliant on used hardware. The ultimate goal for SpaceX is to reduce turnaround times between launches by repurposing rocket stages and getting them ready for subsequent flights in a rapid manner.
The reliability of the vehicles and safety of the cargo outweighs all other considerations, which leads to delays when inspections reveal less than perfect results. That’s not to say that these delays wouldn’t have happened with a pristine, new rocket, but it’s something the company will certainly be considering either way.


By using relevant aerospace KPl in effectiveness examination, corporations that belong to the aérospace field will be ready to assess member of staff effectiveness and the cost of their productivity efficiently. Sadhika Tanvi is a subject material Blogger at Business oriented Company Bangalore, an Corporate Natural Est brokerage house business providing specialized products and services in real estate direction, corporate headquarters leasing, online real estate products and services, transaction and investment Management. In addition, there were the Room Plan Advisory Authorities and the Analysis and Engineering Advisory Authorities. The DSW training céntre in Kampala , Uganda was the accepted place for 45 youth workers from Austria, Australia, Kenya, Belgium, Tanzania and Uganda to méet for five times open space technology training (21.-27.06.2009).
The Web design manager has acquired about the https://www.laval-clickandcollab.fr/problems-and-features-of-living-space-holidays/ appearance of twó alien spacecraft in the Eárth’s solar system. The spacecraft were only équipped with attitude control thrusters; aftér orbit installation but before retrofire they could certainly not transformation their orbit. In even more tests, Roberts received brain MRI runs and corresponding data from NASA’s Life Security of Astronaut Health training course for two groups of astrónauts: 18 astronauts who received been in living space for close periods of time aboard thé U.S. Living space Taxi and 16 astronauts who received long been in living space for more extensive time periods of moment, three months typically, aboard the Meeting place Space or room Section.
If we give that humans are morally significant in a way that robots are not, then simply the rates of human living space survey would appear to outweigh the benefits noticeably. The Magellan Assignment to Venus spacecraft entered órbit June 1990 and then proceeded to map the exterior of Venus in unprecedented aspect through 1994. Living space Laws packages the culpability for destruction caused by the place rubble to the land or maybe business responsible for a classic drive introduction. The UW will participaté in NASA’s assignment to submerge a surgeon and robotic gear in a simulated spaceship.
Business Orbital Transport Solutions (COTS) is usually a NASA program that wiIl choose personal space companies to deliver cargo to the World Area Train station. We hope to gather students from around the modern world, connected together with almost any living space devices or maybe engineering design. Despite typical misconceptions, space mining , lunar watér , and space-based solar power power are not practical businesses. From the outset of thé nine-day trial, he followed a time-tested strategy favored by powerful institutions and people, from big banks to Big Tobacco to Bill Cosby’s defense team: paint the accuser as an incompetent, greedy malcontent.
Place areas and man spacecraft inside of orbit are generally also satellites. Putting on leading follows on mindsets, the budding writers given remarks right into the best way NASA are able to create the leading leagues attainable for you to make certain profitable long-duration tasks. With funding from the Country wide Aeronautics and Area Administration (NASA), scientists at the Wake Forest Company for Regenerative Medicine and fellow workers are using individual control tissue to estimate the results of deep area rays. This article constitutes a number of rocket unveiling sites.
NASA is presently helping astronauts to territory on asteroids and expectation to send mankind to a single of the distant place boulders at about a fabulous few years, The weekend The Telegraph reported over. At most future moment, the costs and problems of human spaceflight might become low to accommodate the organization of living space holidays plenty , in which many people wouId be able to adventure spaceflight. The spacecraft, named Shenzhou (Dévine Yacht”), features a orbital module forward, a re-entry module thát can accommodate three astronauts, ánd an aft service module.


Sequestration: NASA Cuts Public Education & Outreach
- Sequestration: NASA Cuts Public Education & Outreach
NASA Internal Memo: Effective immediately, all education and public outreach activities should be suspended, pending further review.
Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
Electronic Mail - < siderostat1989@... >
SpaceWatchtower Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >


Ever look up at the night sky and feel small? Of course you have. Gazing at the stars has a way of putting our tiny lives in perspective and reminding us how insignificant we are against the immense scale of the universe. But what if I told you that understanding our place in the cosmos could help guide you to living a more meaningful life? It’s true. Developing a sense of “cosmic values” – an appreciation for the deep time and immense scale of the universe – has been shown to lead to greater happiness, wisdom and purpose. In this article, we’ll explore how grasping our minuscule role in the grand sweep of cosmic evolution can inspire gratitude, foster compassion, and help you determine what really matters during our brief moment in the sun. So the next time you’re feeling adrift or struggling to find meaning, look up. The answers you’re searching for may be written in the stars.
Defining Cosmic Values
Cosmic values encompass fundamental principles that govern our universe and give life meaning. They define what really matters in existence. Unlike moral values which vary across cultures, cosmic values are absolute and eternal.
The first cosmic value is truth, which means aligning your understanding with the facts of reality. It requires objectively verifying beliefs and not denying evident truths. By pursuing truth, you gain a more accurate picture of the world and your place in it.
Fulfilling Your Purpose
Goodness refers to fulfilling the purpose of your existence. For humans, this means achieving excellence of character, cultivating wisdom and virtue, and making a positive difference. When you live according to goodness, you experience meaning and inner peace.
Beauty manifests itself in the wonders of existence, from the grandeur of galaxies to the intricacy of a single atom. By noticing beauty around you, you tap into a sense of awe and gratitude for life. Make time to stargaze, appreciate art, enjoy music, read inspirational words, observe nature, and cherish each moment.
Cosmic values serve as a compass to guide you through life’s deepest questions and help you reach your highest potential. By understanding them, you gain insight into your purpose and a vision of your role in the grand scheme of things. Make these eternal truths the foundation of your philosophy, and you’ll discover what really matters in this life and beyond.
The Origins of Cosmic Values in Philosophy
Some of the earliest thinkers pondered our place in the universe and what gives life meaning. Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle believed that the world had genuine meaning and purpose, with cosmic values of truth, beauty, and goodness.
The Ancients’ View of Cosmic Purpose
The early Greek philosopher Thales proposed that water was the first principle of the cosmos. Plato envisioned an eternal, transcendent realm of “forms” or ideals that represent ultimate realities. He believed the material world is an imperfect representation of these ideals. For Plato, cosmic values like truth, beauty, and goodness have always existed in this transcendent realm.
Aristotle built on Plato’s ideas but believed cosmic values could be found within the natural world. For Aristotle, all things in the universe have a purpose, and by understanding this purpose we can determine what is good. He believed the ultimate purpose of human life is happiness or flourishing according to virtue.
The Rise of Cosmic Indifferentism
Later philosophers like H.P. Lovecraft embraced a philosophy of cosmic indifferentism, where the actions, thoughts, and moral values of gods are completely indifferent to humanity. For Lovecraft, the universe is vast, cold and meaningless. There are no cosmic values or purpose to life. We are insignifcant specks in an infinite, purposeless void.
This bleak view stands in stark contrast to the ancient Greeks who saw meaning, purpose and cosmic values as fundamental features of existence. While their views seem opposed, both provide insight into humanity’s place in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in between – a universe with room for both meaning and absurdity.
How Cosmic Values Provide Perspective on Humanity’s Place in the Universe
As inhabitants of Earth, it’s easy to adopt an anthropocentric view of the cosmos where humanity seems central. However, embracing a cosmic perspective helps us understand our true place in the grand scale of the universe.
Anthropocentrism vs. Cosmicism
Anthropocentrism places human beings at the center of existence and considers us the most significant entities in the universe. This self-centered view ignores the immense expanse of space and time in which humanity exists. In contrast, cosmicism recognizes humanity as a tiny speck in an ancient, vast, and mostly unknown universe. From this vantage point, human life seems fleeting and insignificant. However, a cosmic perspective can make us appreciate each moment and value human relationships.
Our Cosmic Irrelevance
On a cosmic scale, humanity is but a blip in the universe’s multi-billion year history. The Earth formed around 4.5 billion years ago, yet modern humans have only walked the planet for 200,000 years. In the grand scale of deep time, humanity’s reign will likely be brief. Our solar system is one of billions in the Milky Way galaxy, which itself is just one of billions of galaxies in the observable universe.
Finding Meaning in an Infinite Universe
A cosmic perspective highlights humanity’s irrelevance but also allows us to create meaning. Though life may seem meaningless when faced with the infinite, we can choose to value relationships, experiences, and making the most of our short time in the universe. A cosmic worldview also fosters environmentalism by showing how humanity depends on the Earth’s fragile biosphere. By understanding our place in the universe, we can make the most of our brief moment on Earth.
Applying Cosmic Values to Find Meaning in Life
Connecting to something greater than yourself helps provide a sense of meaning and purpose. Recognizing our shared cosmic heritage fosters empathy, compassion, and unity. Certain principles, like love, integrity, gratitude, and compassion, can guide us to lead purposeful lives.
Applying Cosmic Values
To tap into the meaning and purpose available from a cosmic perspective:
Focus on love. Make the well-being of others and our shared humanity top priorities. Express kindness whenever you can. See others as fellow travelers in life, not obstacles or opponents.
Practice integrity. Align your thoughts, words, and deeds. Be truthful and authentic. Take responsibility for your actions. Do the right thing, even when no one is watching.
Cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Appreciate each moment and the simple pleasures in life. Be grateful for what you have instead of resentful over what you lack. Say “thank you” often.
Show compassion. Put yourself in others’ shoes and be sensitive to their suffering. Reach out to those in need and offer comfort. Forgive others and yourself for mistakes and imperfections.
Think big. Consider your place in the grand scale of the cosmos. Your worries and daily troubles fade in significance against the vastness of the universe. Find meaning in living purposefully and making a positive difference however you can.
Though life’s challenges may sometimes seem overwhelming, these principles can help provide an anchor. By living according to timeless cosmic values, you’ll discover profound meaning, purpose and connection. Focusing on what really matters – things like love, compassion and gratitude – helps make each day count.
Cultivating Cosmic Values Through Contemplation and Connection
Contemplation and cultivating deep connections are vital for understanding our place in the universe. In our fast-paced world, contemplation is challenging but necessary for spiritual growth. Set aside time each day to reflect in silence. Start with just 5 or 10 minutes and build up from there. Some tips for effective contemplation:
- Find a quiet space free of distractions. Turn off your phone and find a place in nature if possible.
- Focus on your breathing. Take deep, slow breaths from your diaphragm to quiet your mind.
- Observe your thoughts without judgment. Let them come and go without attaching to them.
- Expand your awareness. Notice the little details in your surroundings. Appreciate the beauty in small things.
Feeling connected to something greater than ourselves gives life deeper meaning. Connecting to the cosmos allows us to transcend the ego and perceive our shared essence. Some ways to strengthen your cosmic connections:
- Stargaze at night. Gaze up at the stars and moon in wonder. Ponder your small place in the grand scale of the universe.
- Express gratitude. Appreciate life’s blessings and be grateful for the opportunity to experience this world.
- Practice compassion. Show kindness to all beings, as we are all made of stardust and interconnected.
- Find solace in nature. Spend time outside connecting to the natural rhythms of the earth. Feel the energy flowing between you and all living things.
Cultivating contemplation and nurturing cosmic connections lead to greater wisdom, joy and self-understanding. Make the time for these practices and they will enrich your life in untold ways. Our place in the universe becomes clearer when we open our minds and hearts.
So there you have it, a cosmic crash course on humanity’s place in the grand scheme of things. Don’t feel small or insignificant—even though we’re just tiny specks in an unfathomably vast universe, we’re still the universe becoming aware of itself. We get to gaze out at glittering galaxies and contemplate our existence. We get to love and create and find meaning.
The cosmic perspective reminds us that we’re all in this together on our pale blue dot. Our planet is isolated in the immense blackness of space, a lifeboat in a sea of nothingness. We have only each other. We’re fellow travelers on this spaceship Earth, hurtling through the void. Our differences seem petty when viewed from such a distance.
So look up at the night sky, and remember that the light from those stars has traveled for years across the galaxy just to imprint an image on your retina for a fleeting second. You are, quite literally, stardust. Now go out there and live deliberately.


55 Cancri e
(55 Cnc e)
(superearth orbiting a Sun-like star)
55 Cancri e (55 Cnc e)
is a super-Earth of about 8.6 Earth masses,
orbiting a G-type star, but close to the star
with an orbital period of about 18 hours.
Its density was estimated from estimates
of the host star's mass and radius
along with data from observed transits
and the star's radial velocity, yielding
a radius of roughly 2 Earth radii and
a density slightly (5%-10%) more than Earth's.
Given its proximity to he star, the temperature
of the star-facing side has been calculated
to be higher than 2000K.
| || |
|~0||12.6pc||41.1ly||55 Cancri e|
|Coordinates:||55 Cnc e|
equilibrium temperature (Teq)


- Monthly Horoscope: Taurus, January 12222
- Your Partial Lunar Eclipse Horoscope On July 16 Is About Leaving The Past Where It Belongs
- ascendant compatibility in vedic astrology!
- alexandra tarot scorpio 2019;
- January’s Super Blood Wolf Moon Is a Can’t-Miss Lunar Eclipse;
And although hanging out outdoors in the middle of the night in January sounds miserable, the next total lunar eclipse won't happen until May 26, And in case you don't feel like looking IRL , there are also a number of YouTube channels that will be streaming the super blood wolf moon online. On October 8th, Venus will enter Scorpio. In astrology, the planet Venus rules love and prosperity, while the sign Scorpio is associated with passion, poss.
We all know about the havoc wreaked by Mercury retrograde, but what about Pluto? The dwarf planet has been retrograde since April And on October 2, it. Early in the morning on Saturday, September 28, the new moon will rise in Libra, the sign of the Scales.
All new moons symbolize new beginnings, and with t. I spent the weekend with Aubrey Marcus, a wellness guru soothing the souls of modern men. On September 23, the fall equinox arrives and Libra season officially begins.
The seventh sign of the zodiac is associated with balance, beauty, and sociab. On Monday, September 23, day and night will be equal length, and autumn will officially begin. So when the platform Keen invited me. This Friday will fall on September 13th.
- Horoscopes by Jamie Partridge.
- palm astrology images.
- Post navigation.
Cue the spooky music. Mar 24, at Head, teeth, tongue, arteries.http://mcash.flexi-parking.com/3045.php
Monthly Horoscope: Taurus, January 12222
Apr 8, at Kidney, ureter, urinary bladder, veins, skin. Apr 23, at Neck, vocal cords, throat, thyroid gland. May 7, at Genitals, anus, urethra, prostate. May 22, at Shoulders, arms, hands, bronchial tubes, lungs. Jun 5, at Liver, hips, thighs, sacrum. Jun 21, at Solar Eclipse Annular.
Your Partial Lunar Eclipse Horoscope On July 16 Is About Leaving The Past Where It Belongs
Jul 5, at Backbone, joints, knees, skin, hair. Jul 20, at Aug 3, at Aug 19, at Sep 2, at Sep 17, at New Moon S.
Oct 1, at Oct 16, at Oct 31, at Nov 15, at Nov 30, at


I wrote! Reader NotesGo to section
They're not Argentineans around the world, they're... Argentineans through the galaxy! In this note we tell you the story of these two professionals who give us invaluable knowledge for the advancement of mankind. This is a discovery that seems to get closer and closer to the certainty that we are Infimently small in a giant universe and plagued with galaxies.
Due to the gas, dust and stars of our galaxy, it becomes difficult to see what is behind the milky way, mainly in the brightest region. However, suspicion and curiosity drives all researchers to generate hypotheses and theories around what lies behind the milky way. While there are already millions of galaxies observed in the rest of the sky, were only known with certainty and security only tens. But thanks to the work of the astronomers and researchers, Maria Victoria Alonso and Laura Baravalle —together with a team from the University of La Serena in Chile and the collaboration of Carolina Villalón and Darío Graña in the systems area — we managed to know even if it is a little bit more the galaxy we inhabit.
The Cordovan Laura Baravalle and Maria Victoria Alonso led the international project of Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Astronomy (IATE). With his discovery they managed to establish the positions, colors, morphology and size of new galaxies . The two of them and their insurmountable brains discovered more than 5 thousand galaxies.
Researchers started the project in 2012 and, after almost a decade of work, they managed to identify 5,563 galaxies, of which only a few dozen had been previously recognized. Baravalle and Alonso's work was carried out with a team from the IATE and scientists from the Catholic University of Chile, the University of La Serena and Atacama in Chile. The results, meanwhile, were presented in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
In the first part of the study, galaxies were detected by eye, but then generated an algorithm for them to be detected automatically. That is, during these years of research, a working team was formed for the technical part, while they were in charge by observation detect and verify the various galaxies and stars.
“From a girl I had a scientific vocation” , Baravalle tells the media. Although he also states that The astronomy career wasn't easy for him. His secrets were the dedication, patience and also the CONICET scholarships which encouraged her to achieve a rewarding result in the personal and enriching astronomical matter at the global level.
The cosmic and galactic duo already carries 4 international scientific publications on this subject. Their training, knowledge, vocation and dedication are on par with some scholars who since the 90s have been investigating the same region. The challenge for which astronomers continue is to know in depth the galaxies they have discovered.
“In the optician, before you could not see the objects behind our galaxy. People who do extragalactic astronomy study the whole sky except that area. So, the realization of this catalog is a very important fact ” said Alonso, a CONICET researcher and professor at the National University of Córdoba.
Baravalle, who dedicated his thesis on Bachelor's degree, doctorate and postdoctoral to this project, he added: “Also, as a result, the first thing we get are numbers that indicate positions, but when we're going to see the picture and a galaxy appears, it's amazing Out of the whole process, an object comes out there and no one saw! It's the most beautiful part,” he concluded.
After eight years of work, the researchers Cordobesas have opened the doors for new analysis in that unexplored region of heaven. Hereafter, researchers plan, among other things, to continue with machine learning methods. The idea is that they replace the task of visual inspection of galaxy candidates and observe galaxies found with other telescopes, so that they can estimate their distance and so on to deepen the studies of its distribution.
Publication Date: 21/03/2021
We suggest you continue reading the following notes:
Excelente artículo y muy bien documentado con los link... Gracias!!!
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From the Kuiper Belt to Jupiter-Family Comets: The Spatial Distribution of Ecliptic Comets
We present numerical orbital integrations of thousands of massless particles as they evolve from Neptune-encountering orbits in the Kuiper belt for up to 1 Gyr or until they either impact a massive body or are ejected from the Solar System. The median dynamical lifetime of these objects is 4.5 × 10 7years. We found that about 30% of these objects became visible comets. (We refer to a comet with perihelion distance <2.5 AU as a "visible" comet.) Of those, 99.7% were Jupiter-family comets (as defined by their Tisserand parameter, hereafter "JFCs") when they first became visible, although some evolved out of the Jupiter family as time progressed. By comparing the observed orbital element distribution of JFCs to that produced by our simulations we deduce that JFCs are statistically most likely to have physical lifetimes of ∼12,000 years. Based on this estimate of physical lifetimes and the fact that there are ∼110 active, visible JFCs with HT< 9, we conclude that there are currently ∼1.2 × 10 7ecliptic comets (those with T> 2), of sizes consistent with this absolute magnitude, that originated in the Kuiper belt. This conclusion assumes that the rate of objects leaving the Kuiper belt has remained approximately constant over the history of the Solar System. We calculate the orbital distribution of this population and show that ∼90% are beyond the orbit of Neptune at any given time. In addition, we calculate the impact rates of these objects onto the planets. We find that a JFC impact onto Jupiter happens approximately once every 400 years and one on the Earth should occur once every 13 million years.
- Pub Date:
- May 1997
- Earth Science


Philae makes soft landing on a comet in new footage
It’s been one year since Philae landed on a comet. This new animation shows Philae first touching down. It also highlights the incredible two-hour flight to its final resting spot on the comet.
Read more: http://on.mash.to/1N29PbW


edit CNEL, Paris-sur-Mizouri, Osage, Louisianne April 29, 2003 (9 Floreal, CCXI):
- Scientists, curious to see the effects of space upon a body have announced another launch from 'le Cygne.' This launch, planned for early summer, will launch a life form into space, whjere sceintific instruments will monitor the reaction of a living organism to space. The capsule will orbit the Earth, with a landing planned for an as yet undisclosed body of water. Read More...


Exploring Ancient Lunar Legends as first Supermoon in Three Decades set to Dazzle Tonight
The moon has been an object of worship, veneration, and intrigue among ancient civilizations for thousands of years. Now, it is set to capture our admiration once again as a Supermoon lunar eclipse, the first in more than three decades, will dazzle in tonight’s sky.
Supermoons occur when the moon reaches its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit, making it appear significantly larger and brighter than usual. It will be the first Supermoon eclipse since 1982, and the last until 2033, NASA officials said in a newly released video .
End of world theories
The rarity of the Supermoon event has given rise to a number of doomsday theories, among them that the world will be struck by a giant asteroid.
Apocalypse author Robert Rite has claimed that Israel would be the worst affected country. "In this latest series of Total lunar eclipses, we are seeing four of them in a short span of time – this is referred to as a Tetrad: The fact that these 4 Blood moons are occurring during Jewish Holidays portends something big that will occur surrounding Israel and the Middle East," he said.
Another doomsday theorist, Texas pastor John Hagee, author of “Four Blood Moons: Something Is About to Change," said in a statement via The Blaze that “God is trying to tell us something”.
However, NASA has dismissed claims that the Supermoon would bring a meteor strike leading to the end of the world. "There is not one shred of evidence that an asteroid or any other celestial object will impact Earth on those dates," Paul Chodas, manager of Nasa's Near-Earth Object office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory told CBS.
The moon has been shrouded in myths and legends for thousands of years, many of which still persist to this day, and Supermoons even more so. For example, there are many who believe that full moons can drive a person mad, cause natural disasters, and increase crime rates. These beliefs have their roots in ancient religions and superstitions. Indeed, the words “lunacy” and “lunatic” come from the Roman goddess of the moon, Luna, who was said to ride her silver chariot across the dark sky each night.
Luna riding across the night sky in her chariot, Archaeological Museum in Milan (c. 2nd–5th centuries AD). Image source: Wikipedia
Ancient healers and health professionals believed in a strong connection between mania and the moon. For instance, ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (460 – c. 370 BC) wrote that “one who is seized with terror, fright and madness during the night he is being visited by the goddess of the moon.” Roman philosopher and historian, Pliny the Elder (23 – 79 AD), maintained that full moons had a particularly influence upon our brains, being the ‘moistest’ organ, and that this resulted in more crime and violence. In medieval England, people on trial for murder could campaign for a lighter sentence on the grounds of lunacy if the crime occurred during a full moon; meanwhile, psychiatric patients at London’s notorious mental institution, Bethlehem Hospital, were shackled to their beds as a preventive measure during certain lunar phases.
The moon controls fertility
Perhaps because the menstrual and lunar cycles are similar in length, many early civilizations believed that the moon controlled women’s menstruation and could determine when women could become pregnant. Ancient Assyrian astrological texts give advice regarding when women are most fertile, according to the different phases of the moon, and moon deities, such as the Chinese goddess Chang’e, and the Incan Quilla, were believed to control fertility and reproduction.
An image depicting the phases of the moon, used to predict periods of fertility. Image source .
In ancient cultures, the moon's waxing and waning have also made it a symbol of both birth/creation and death/destruction. For example, the Polynesian islanders of the Pacific Ocean saw the moon as a symbol of creation, represented by the creator goddess named Hina, while for the Aztecs of Mexico the moon was Mictecacuiatl, a destructive force which travelled through the night sky hunting out its victims. The Maori people of New Zealand also referred to the moon as the "man eater." For the Tartars of Central Asia, the moon, known as the Queen of Life and Death, was dualistic, representing both the forces of creation and destruction.
Perhaps the greatest myth involving the full moon is the ever-popular werewolf, a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or wolf-like creature during a full moon. The origin of the werewolf legend can be traced back to Germanic paganism and Proto-Indo-European mythology, where lycanthropy (the transformation of man to wolf) is reconstructed as an aspect of the initiation of the warrior class. But the link between moon and wolf is not only associated with lycanthropy. The Greek goddess of the moon was said to keep the company of wolves, while the North American Seneca tribes believing wolves sang the moon into existence.
Depiction of a man wearing a wolf-skin (460 BC). Image source: Wikipedia
It is clear that the glowing silver sphere seen in the night sky has captured the imagination of humans for as long as man has walked the earth and gazed up at the cosmos, and tonight we can appreciate it in all its dazzling beauty.
The full eclipse of the moon will last more than an hour and be visible, weather permitting, from North and South America, Europe, Africa and western Asia. People from around the world can enjoy it through Nasa TV which will air the event from 8pm until at least 11.30pm EDT from the Marshall Space Flight Center. Click here to watch the event live stream online on Nasa's official website.
Featured image: A Supermoon rises over the Tien Shan mountains. Credit: Shamil Zhumatov
Supermoon Lunar Eclipse 2015: Full 'Blood Moon' Coverage – Space.com
The ever persistent myths about the super moon – Edmonton Journal http://www.edmontonjournal.com/ever+persistent+myths+about+super+moon+with+video/10102910/story.html
7 Unusual Myths and Theories about the Moon – History.Com http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/7-unusual-myths-and-theories-about-the-moon
Moon - Myths Encyclopaedia - http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Mi-Ni/Moon.html
It is actually scientifically proven that the moon does control one’s menstruation. Mostly, to be fair, it did so in pre-electricity times, since light does effect women’s body in that way, especially considering the fact that humans' bodies are made up of 75% water, and as you know, it is the moon which governs the tides, thereby having a marked impact on the human body as well, when it is full. This inevitable pull was minimized with the insurgence of electricity, since at this point we have readily available light during the night at all times of the month.
A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world ~ Oscar Wilde
"... I can't remember seeing Osiris in its totallity ..." =
"... I can't remember seeing Osiris in its totallity BEFORE ..."
Forgot to say: what made it even more impressive was that some 15 or 20 degrees to the left of the moon was the star sign Osiris, again, in a christal clear night. And actually I can't remember seeing Osiris in its totallity; whith his bough on the right side more or less aiming at the moon which looked like a planet.......
I saw it tonight or this morning at appr. 4.40 hrs., it was a crystal clear night. Looked very bizar; the moon, cupper reddish but not 'shining' brightly. (It's amazing that you can see the moon in the first place when it's in the shade of the earth; where does the light come from?). It looked a little as if there was another planet or something. Very strange and pretty impressive.
Sadly too misty and light poluted to see it where I was, but some great photos circulating.
Thanks for an interesting article!
Sculptures, carvings & artwork inspired by a love of history & nature: www.justbod.co.uk


Valores, Fe y Vida
Values, faith and life on the border
A nun crosses the border into Juárez every day despite the risks to run a women’s work cooperative.
From the Foxhole
Same Same, But Different
Returning to Vietnam
Veterans return to Vietnam to right wrongs and find peace.
It will be up to voters to decide whether to use $50 million in bonds to rebuild the interchange.
Loud and Clear
Speakers show up en masse to take on APD shootings and the possible public access changeover.
Odds & Ends
Funny because it happens to someone else.
UFOs: Physical Extraterrestrial or Paraphysical Interdimensional
A discussion on how personal, physical observations vary in time and materialization.
Woofstock Pet Expo and Adoption Festival
Featuring an agility course, vaccine and microchip clinic, nail trimming, pet care info booths, raffles and more.
Pieces of Other Worlds: Samples from Across the Solar System
Dr. Carlton Allen discusses scientific research of the formation and evolution of our solar system.


One down, four to go.
A pair of NASA astronauts completed the first of five spacewalks to repair the Hubble Space Telescope today. The entire mission is considered risky because the astronauts are in an orbit densely littered with space junk.
John Grunsfeld and Andrew Feustel floated out of the shuttle Atlantis at 8:52 a.m. ET and finished their work about seven hours and 20 minutes later. Today's spacewalk was the 19th one to ever service Hubble.
The duo's key accomplishment was installing a new camera in the Hubble Space Telescope, giving it the ability to peer even deeper into the cosmos.
After struggling for a bit with a particularly stubborn bolt, they replaced the 15-year-old Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 with a new piano-sized camera that is significantly more powerful than its predecessor. With the new camera, the telescope will be able to take large-scale, clear and detailed photos over a wide range of colors, NASA said.
"Good job installing it," astronaut Mike Massimino told his colleagues. "Getting Wide Field 3 to unlock the secrets of the universe."
"Let there be light," Grunsfeld said as ground controllers checked the power hookups, the Associated Press reported.
Once the new camera was safely in its new home, the astronauts moved the old camera to the slot on the shuttle that had housed the new one. The old camera will be moved to the Smithsonian.
The pair then replaced a data processing computer responsible for sending the camera's images down to Earth.
They also installed a mechanism that will allow future vehicles to attach to the telescope.
Tomorrow, astronauts Mike Good and Mike Massimino, the first astronaut to tweet from space, will conduct the second space walk.
Piece of Space Junk Passes Close to Shuttle Atlantis
The astronauts were told Wednesday night that there was a slight risk of a "conjunction" or collision with debris from an old Chinese weather satellite.
But the 4-inch chunk passed by the shuttle without incident, missing it by several miles Wednesday night. The satellite was intentionally destroyed in January 2007.
"Something the size of a pea could put a hole in the spacecraft," former astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman told "Good Morning America" Wednesday. "They can usually track [pieces of debris] down to two inches. ... What you really worry about are the pieces too small to track, but big enough to do damage."
As his colleagues prepared for the first spacewalk, astronaut Massimino tweeted, "Rendezvous and grapple were great, getting ready for our first spacewalk."
Hubble Space Telescope: Atlantis Makes Rendezvous
Atlantis made its rendezvous with the Hubble space telescope Wednesday , beginning a week-long effort to replace or repair the aging telescope's vital systems.
With the shuttle's commander, Scott Altman, steering Atlantis, astronaut Megan McArthur reached out and grabbed the Hubble with the ship's robot arm. Then she gently lowered the telescope into the shuttle's cargo bay.
"Houston, Atlantis," Altman called to Mission Control. "Hubble has arrived on Atlantis with the arm."
It was a delicate operation, with the two giant spacecraft flying in formation at 17,200 miles per hour, more than 300 miles above Earth's surface.
"I'm going to have to remind myself to breathe, and take it real slow," McArthur had said in an interview with ABC News before the flight.
Astronaut John Grunsfeld -- an astronomer by training -- took the microphone in the crew cabin a few minutes after the capture.
"I'm looking out the window here, and it's an unbelievably beautiful sight," he said.
Grunsfeld is on his fifth spaceflight, and his third to service the Hubble. He has said he felt strongly about the telescope -- even during the two-year period when NASA thought this mission was too risky to fly, and Grunsfeld, then the agency's chief scientist, had to go along with the decision.
Atlantis' Risky Mission to Repair Hubble Telescope
Atlantis' astronauts, who have been training for this mission since 2006, plan a series of five space walks on successive days. The telescope is now locked in a specially-designed cradle at the rear of the shuttle's cargo bay, so that the astronauts can safely work on it.
They have to replace the telescope's batteries, gyroscopes, fine guidance system and other parts. They also carry new insulation to surround the Hubble's body so that it can better withstand the extreme temperatures of space.
The mission, designated STS 125 by NASA, is the last chance to save the Hubble telescope, whose batteries, cameras and gyroscopes are badly in need of replacement.
As the shuttle gradually closed in on the Hubble Tuesday, it underwent a tedious but necessary inspection to make sure it had not been damaged during liftoff. The shuttle Columbia was lost in 2003 because damage to one wing went unnoticed.
When orbiters travel to the International Space Station, they do a flip so that the space station crew can inspect the belly for damage. Since Hubble, obviously, doesn't have a crew to help them out, Atlantis' crew had to do all the work.
The Risks Facing Shuttle Atlantis
"We are going to inspect the vehicle to the same standards as a [space] station mission," Altman told ABC News before the launch. "We are doing that by using the boom out there with the sensors on it."
A boom attached to the end of the shuttle's robot arm was moved slowly over Atlantis' wings and underside Tuesday, with a camera and laser to look for potential damage.
Such work makes the flight a bit longer, Altman said.
This is the fifth and final space shuttle mission to the Hubble. It has been seven years since a shuttle last visited the telescope, and it is in need of a service call.
On this mission, astronauts will install a new wide-field camera and cosmic origins spectrograph, two instruments NASA said should significantly increase Hubble's potential.
Full-Scale Rescue Mission Ready If Needed
But the mission is also the riskiest one attempted by a shuttle since the Columbia accident in 2003.
Not only could debris hit the orbiter during launch, which was what happened to Columbia, orbiting debris could hit the shuttle while the astronauts fix Hubble.
Hubble orbits about 350 miles above Earth, in an area with a higher density of debris. Two satellites collided over Siberia earlier this year, which has increased the risk even more, as junk from that collision drifts lower.
As soon as Atlantis fixes Hubble, and releases it back into orbit, it will immediately maneuver to a lower altitude to reduce the chances of getting hit by space junk.
The most dramatic step NASA has taken to reduce risk is the preparation of a full-scale rescue mission.
In the event that Atlantis sustains damages the crew cannot repair, a second space shuttle, Endeavour, is standing by on another launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center to rescue crew members.
STS 400 can be ready in three days if a rescue is necessary.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.


Volume 516, June-July 2010
|Number of page(s)||5|
|Published online||22 July 2010|
Derivation of stochastic differential equations for sunspot activity
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-1042, USA e-mail: [edward.allen;chisum.huff]@ttu.edu
Accepted: 12 April 2010
Aims. A system of stochastic differential equations (SDEs) is derived for sunspot activity.
Methods. The SDE derivation relies on basic assumptions about a cyclic but randomly varying source of sunspots and on an average lifetime for sunspots. The SDE model parameters are fit to sunspot data for three different 11-year sunspot cycles. Results of calculations for the SDE system are compared with the data for each of the three sunspot cycles.
Results. Certain characteristics are shared by both the SDE model and the data. In particular, the second and third moments about the mean divided by the mean are similar for the SDE system and for the data and appear to be approximately constant over the cycle.
Key words: Sun: activity / sunspots
© ESO, 2010
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From Toby Pereira, Rayne, Essex, UK
It's interesting to see Sean Carroll using anthropic reasoning to argue that we are not in a universe destined to expand forever (18 February, p 9). Such a universe, he says, would see a proliferation of Boltzmann brains, which would outnumber us. This would make it more likely that a random conscious observer would be one of these random fluctuations than a properly evolved human being – a potentially embarrassing situation for some theories.
It is not enough to argue, as Carroll does, that we are not in such a universe. If Boltzmann brains outnumber “normal” brains, then this is a problem wherever and whenever they are: in our universe trillions of light years distant, or in another corner of the multiverse.
We need to understand exactly what might cause some logically possible universes to exist and not others, or to get a statistical grasp on what would be the case if all logically possible universes exist.


How to Stargaze in Utah
Tips on what to pack and when and where to go for one of Utah's favorite post-sunset activities, stargazing
The Milky Way is like a giant spiral neighborhood, and Earth, our perfectly inhabitable home, resides along its outer spiral arm. The Milky Way’s shape is referred to as a fried egg — flat with a bulge in the center — stretching 100,000 light years across with an estimated 100–400 billion stars. When we look into the dark skies with unaided eyes, nearly every star we see is within our galaxy.
Perhaps it’s no wonder that so many of us are drawn to look toward the Milky Way, whether it’s simply to soak in its beauty or be changed in a way that is truly transformative.
“The night sky connects us all in a way that is deeper than we understand,” said Bettymaya Foott, a Moab, Utah, native and director of engagement with the International Dark-Sky Association. “We feel so tiny in comparison to the Milky Way, but we’re also very much a part of it.”
"The night sky connects us all in a way that is deeper than we understand."
When to Go Stargazing
The great advantage to astrotourism is that it doesn’t depend on seasonality. You can see night or dark skies throughout the year. From our northern hemisphere viewpoint, the Milky Way core (or bulge) is always generally south on the horizon. However, the orientation of the galaxy differs throughout the year.
Of course, you’ll want to take note of the weather and avoid nights where cloud cover is prevalent or potential storms are on the horizon.
We see more of the Milky Way, its center, and the highest concentration of stars combining for the most luminous of views during the summer. Looking low on the southern horizon is the constellation of Sagittarius, and its brightest stars make a teapot shape, noted Foott, with the Milky Way rising as steam from the spout.
In the winter months, we are looking toward the outside edge of the galaxy, with fewer stars that are less intense and more subtle. Winter is a wonderful time of year to experience stargazing in part because it’s kinder to the non-nightowls. There are more hours of darkness as the sun goes down earlier in the day and Utah’s typical dry winter air also allows for clearer viewing.
Viewing the Galactic Core
The central part of the Milky Way — the galactic core — shines nightly from March to November.
- March–May: The galactic core will first become visible a few hours before sunrise.
- June–August: View the Milky Way as soon as the sun sets for most of the night.
- September–November: The Milky Way will be best seen in the early evening.
- November–February: The galaxy core will not be visible in the northern hemisphere.
Time of Month
Plan your stargazing during a new moon or within three days before or three days after. A new moon occurs when it is located between Earth and the sun. The moon is thus not visible from Earth, resulting in dark skies that are ideal to see the Milky Way and the faintest of celestial objects and phenomenon (details in dustlines of the galaxy, fainter light against a dark background, etc.) Any light from the moon will wash out the night sky.
Time of Night
Foott said the Milky Way is most clearly seen during true night, after the sun is 18 degrees below the horizon — typically an hour to an hour-and-a-half after sunset. During the northern hemisphere’s summer months, that’s after 10 p.m. And the longer you stay up, the more intense the sky becomes with stars beaming as the night gets darker.
Fear of Darkness
There are numerous ways to experience stargazing, even if someone is unnerved or fearful of the dark.
“Going to view a dark sky is not saying there will be no light. It’s about using the right types and amount of light pointed down toward the ground,” Foott said. “We want people to be comfortable and don’t want them to be scared and in the dark.”
When viewing a dark sky, utilize flashlights or headlamps that have a red light for night vision, versus bright white lights, which will impede your eyes from adjusting to the night and greatly decrease your ability to see the stars and the Milky Way clearly.
You can also ease into the natural nighttime environment through a full-moon hike, offered by numerous state and national parks or local astronomy clubs.
Stargazing with Kids
Kids can make the best astrotourists — maybe because their imaginations seem unlimited. The night sky is a way to keep their curiosity front of mind by encouraging them to find the constellations, a planet, or even make up their own stories about what they see. Kids start digging into the solar system around 3rd grade or even sooner. You may be surprised at what they see and can point out to parents. They might get sleepy sooner than adults, so just make them comfortable, bring snacks and if they doze off, no problem.
Where to Stargaze
Ok, so now you know when to go stargazing, how to do it and what to bring. What about where to go?
Utah is at the heart of a dense cluster of certified parks called The Great Western Starry Way from New Mexico to Montana. The Beehive State boasts some of the finest dark skies in the world where viewing the billions of stars in the Milky Way is becoming an increasingly popular past-time for all ages (Read: Utah After Dark). In Utah alone, the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) has certified 25 (and counting) locations, including communities, parks, and protected areas.
“More than anything, it’s important to experience dark skies without light pollution. With that in mind, you can go and enjoy the night sky wherever you want,” Foott said. That could be camping in Utah’s deserts to a quick trip up the canyons of the Wasatch Back (Read: Seeking Starry Skies Near Salt Lake City). Of course, visiting designated International Dark Sky Places is always encouraged and you will not be disappointed.
If you want to go a bit deeper to learn mythology or point to constellations and view the deep sky through a powerful telescope, it may be necessary to attend a star party or guided program. Visit the websites for Utah’s state and national parks to easily find upcoming free stargazing events, which typically include a ranger or interpretative-led talk. Numerous astrological societies and astronomy clubs across the state also host star parties as enthusiasts bring along their telescopes and amazing knowledge.
“As humans, we’ve been looking up in awe at the night sky as long as humans have been here. It’s innate within us to lay out under the stars and enjoy ourselves and have a wonderful time — it can be life-changing.”
See a full list of Utah's IDA-accredited Dark Sky Parks and Communities.


I'm currently working on a method to estimate M dwarf ages combining different age indicators in a Bayesian framework. The age indicators I'm combining are Hα emission, 3D velocities, position in the color-magnitude diagram (CMD) and rotation period.
During my Ph.D. (2016-2021) I was part of the BDNYC research group where I worked with my advisors Prof. Kelle Cruz and Dr. Jackie Faherty. During this time I worked on the projects described below. My thesis defense was on July 16th 2021 and the recording is available online.
Age-relations for M dwarfs in the CMD
I collected a sample of 74,216 M and L dwarfs with Hα measurments and Gaia DR2 photometry, parallaxes and proper motions. Using this sample I found relations between age indicators and the position in the CMD. Find more about the sample in my paper Kiman et al. 2019. And reproduce this CMD and more with this jupyter notebook.
Age-activity relation for M dwarfs
I characterized the Hα Age-Activity relation for M dwarfs using a sample of age-calibrators with Halpha equivalent widths from the literature. I obtained their ages from known moving groups and white dwarfs co-movers. Read my paper Kiman et al. 2021 to learn more about this work.
Ages of white dwarfs
I developed an open source Python package called wdwarfdate to estimate white dwarf ages from an effective temperature and a surface gravity in a Bayesian framework. The paper describing the code is in prep. The source of wdwarfdate can be found in GitHub.


Top 7 Amazing Facts about the Earth we're living in!
Here are the top 7 interesting facts about the Earth we're living in!
1. Plate Tectonics Keep the Planet Comfortable:
Earth is the only planet in the Solar System with plate tectonics. Basically, the outer crust of the Earth is broken up into regions known as tectonic plates. These are floating on top of the magma interior of the Earth and can move against one another. When two plates collide, one plate will subduct (go underneath another), and where they pull apart, they will allow the fresh crust to form.
This process is very important and for a number of reasons. Not only does it lead to tectonic resurfacing and geological activity (i.e. earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation), it is also intrinsic to the carbon cycle. When microscopic plants in the ocean die, they fall to the bottom of the ocean.
2. Earth is Almost a Sphere
Many people tend to think that the Earth is a sphere. In fact, between the 6th century BCE and the modern era, this remained the scientific consensus. But thanks to modern astronomy and space travel, scientists have since come to understand that the Earth is actually shaped like a flattened sphere (aka. an oblate spheroid).
This shape is similar to a sphere, but where the poles are flattened and the equator bulges. In the case of the Earth, this bulge is due to our planet’s rotation. This means that the measurement from pole to pole is about 43 km less than the diameter of Earth across the equator. Even though the tallest mountain on Earth is Mount Everest, the feature that’s furthest from the centre of the Earth is actually Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador.
|Photo: Dual Love|
3. Earth is Mostly Iron, Oxygen and Silicon:
If you could separate the Earth out into piles of material, you’d get 32.1 % iron, 30.1% oxygen, 15.1% silicon, and 13.9% magnesium. Of course, most of this iron is actually located at the core of the Earth. If you could actually get down and sample the core, it would be 88% iron. And if you sampled the Earth’s crust, you’d find that 47% of it is oxygen.
4. 70% of the Earth’s Surface is Covered in Water:
When astronauts first went into space, they looked back at the Earth with human eyes for the first time. Based on their observations, the Earth acquired the nickname the “Blue Planet:. And it’s no surprise, seeing as how 70% of our planet is covered with oceans. The remaining 30% is the solid crust that is located above sea level, hence why it is called the “continental crust”.
5. The Earth’s Atmosphere Extends to a Distance of 10,000 km:
Earth’s atmosphere is thickest within the first 50 km from the surface or so, but it actually reaches out to about 10,000 km into space. It is made up of five main layers – the Troposphere, the Stratosphere, the Mesosphere, the Thermosphere, and the Exosphere. As a rule, air pressure and density decrease the higher one goes into the atmosphere and the farther one is from the surface.
The bulk of the Earth’s atmosphere is down near the Earth itself. In fact, 75% of the Earth’s atmosphere is contained within the first 11 km above the planet’s surface. However, the outermost layer (the Exosphere) is the largest, extending from the exobase – located at the top of the thermosphere at an altitude of about 700 km above sea level – to about 10,000 km (6,200 mi). The exosphere merges with the emptiness of outer space, where there is no atmosphere.
6. The Earth’s Molten Iron Core Creates a Magnetic Field
The Earth is like a great big magnet, with poles at the top and bottom near to the actual geographic poles. The magnetic field it creates extends thousands of kilometres out from the surface of the Earth – forming a region called the “magnetosphere“.
7. Earth Doesn’t Take 24 Hours to Rotate on its Axis:
It actually takes 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds for the Earth to rotate once completely on its axis, which astronomers refer to as a Sidereal Day. Now wait for a second, doesn’t that mean that a day is 4 minutes shorter than we think it is? You’d think that this time would add up, day by day, and within a few months, the day would be night, and night would be the day.
But remember that the Earth orbits around the Sun. Every day, the Sun moves compared to the background stars by about 1° – about the size of the Moon in the sky. And so, if you add up that little motion from the Sun that we see because the Earth is orbiting around it, as well as the rotation on its axis, you get a total of 24 hours.
|Earth is the planet we have the best opportunity to understand in detail—helping us see how other rocky planets behave, even those orbiting distant stars. As a result, scientists are increasingly monitoring Earth from space. NASA alone has dozens of missions dedicated to solving our planet's mysteries.|
| Facts about the MOON: Top 12 Interesting Things |
At a distance of 384,400 km from the Earth, the Moon is our closest celestial neighbour and only natural satellite. Like the Earth itself, the ...
| Top 7 Loneliest Places on the Planet |
There are times when you want to leave everything behind and looking to take a break from the ongoing societal craps in your life, you ...
| The tallest mountain on Earth: Mount Everest, Mauna Kea in Hawaii, and now Chimborazo in Ecuador? |
Mount Everest which is believed is the highest moutain so far is beaten by Chimborazo, in Ecuador and Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii?


NOTICE: Use the parameters below to customize your search. Regular expressions and bolean "AND" will to match the search. In the case of "Author name", the search is performed using only for the last name.
Found 4 entries in the Bibliography.
Showing entries from 1 through 4
Magnetic clouds are large-scale transient structures in the solar wind with low plasma-beta, low-amplitude magnetic field fluctuations, and twisted field lines with both ends often connected to the Sun. Their inertial-range turbulent properties have not been examined in detail. In this Letter, we analyze the normalized cross helicity, sigma(c), and residual energy, sigma(r), of plasma fluctuations in the 2018 November magnetic cloud observed at 0.25.au by the Parker Solar Probe. A low value of |sigma(c)| was present in th ...
YEAR: 2020   DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/abb021
During the second solar encounter phase of Parker Solar Probe (PSP), two small solar energetic particle (SEP) events were observed by the Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun, on 2019 April 2 and 4. At the time, PSP was approaching its second perihelion at a distance of \~24.8 million kilometers from the solar center, it was in near-radial alignment with STEREO-A and in quadrature with Earth. During the two SEP events multiple narrow ejections and a streamer-blowout coronal mass ejection (SBO-CME) originated from a ...
YEAR: 2020   DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aba5a1
A statistical analysis of 15,210 electron velocity distribution function (VDF) fits, observed within \textpm2 hr of 52 interplanetary (IP) shocks by the Wind spacecraft near 1 au, is presented. This is the second in a three-part series on electron VDFs near IP shocks. The electron velocity moment statistics for the dense, low-energy core, tenuous, hot halo, and field-aligned beam/strahl are a statistically significant list of values illustrated with both histograms and tabular lists for reference and baselines in future w ...
Wilson, Lynn; Chen, Li-Jen; Wang, Shan; Schwartz, Steven; Turner, Drew; Stevens, Michael; Kasper, Justin; Osmane, Adnane; Caprioli, Damiano; Bale, Stuart; Pulupa, Marc; Salem, Chadi; Goodrich, Katherine;
YEAR: 2019   DOI: 10.3847/1538-4365/ab5445
Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics; Interplanetary particle acceleration; Interplanetary shocks; parker solar probe; Physics - Plasma Physics; Physics - Space Physics; Plasma astrophysics; Plasma physics; Solar coronal mass ejection shocks; Solar coronal mass ejections; Solar Probe Plus; Solar wind; Space plasmas
The evolution of the magnetic field and plasma quantities inside a coronal mass ejection (CME) with distance are known from statistical studies using data from 1 au monitors, planetary missions, Helios, and Ulysses. This does not cover the innermost heliosphere, below 0.29 au, where no data are yet publicly available. Here, we describe the evolution of the properties of simulated CMEs in the inner heliosphere using two different initiation mechanisms. We compare the radial evolution of these properties with that found fro ...
YEAR: 2019   DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab4126


The Boundless Universe April 5, 2008 - July 3, 2008
Tell me about the stars, the galaxies, the pulsars and the suns that shine.
Tell me about how you feel when you look up into the heavens, through a telescope or the naked eye.
What comes to mind.
A badge that your profile will wear proudly
Created Apr 5, 2008


This is the Dudley Observatory Skywatch Line for Wednesday, October 7th, and Thursday, October 8th, written by Louis Suarato.
The 68% illuminated, waning gibbous Moon rises at 9:44 p.m. Wednesday in the constellation Taurus. This may be one of your last opportunities to see Mercury about 30 minutes after sunset. Look low over the west-southwest horizon. Binocular will help, but be careful of the bright glow of the sunset. At that time, Saturn and Jupiter will emerge about 25 degrees above the southern horizon. Jupiter will be to the right, and is the brighter of the two planets. The gas giants are about 7 degrees apart. Thursday night, beginning at 7:29 p.m., Jupiter’s moon Callisto is occulted. An occultation is an event when one object is hidden by another object that is between the first object and the observer. Callisto’s orbit will be taking it behind Jupiter. Callisto’s occultation ends at 11:40 p.m., when it reappears from behind the planet. At 7:43 p.m., Io begins its transit across Jupiter. Io’s transit ends at 11 p.m. Thursday. At 9:02 p.m., Io’s shadow will cross the planet. Io’s shadow transit ends at 11:20 that night.
Mars rises at 6:52 p.m., Wednesday in the constellation Pisces. As Mars approaches its opposition on October 13th, it will be the best time to observe the red planet for the next 15 years. Mars opposition occurs only 7 days after Mars closest approach to Earth in years. On October 6th, Mars will be within 38,568,819 miles of Earth. The combination of Mars’ close approach, and its opposition increases it brightness to -2.6 magnitude. Venus rises at 3:39 a.m., Thursday, in Leo.
The Draconid meteor shower peaks overnight Wednesday through Thursday. This is considered a variable meteor shower because the number of meteors per hour depends on where Earth’s orbit intersects the comet 21/P Giacobini-Zinner’s trail in any given year. There were outbursts in 1933 and 1946, and in 2011, European observers were treated to over 600 meteors per hour. The radiant of the Draconids, or the point at which the meteors will originate, is the constellation Draco. Draco is a circum-polar constellation that will be above the Big Dipper after sunset, and will be wrapped around the Little Dipper during Thursday’s early morning hours.


The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will operate several types of telescopes and cameras. The individual camera trigger rates will vary much - from 0.6 to 15 kHz - while the content of the raw data will be heterogeneous. Raw data streams of up to 43 Gbps per telescope must be handled efficiently, from the camera front-ends down to the on-site repository and real-time analysis. In addition, the system must transcode all raw data to a common, pre-calibrated format.
We will present the pipeline that we propose to implement this data acquisition pipeline. It will format the raw data to a common structure, provide facilities to run camera-specific algorithms and compress and write data to the on-site repository. We will also present the Python interface that allows the analysis pipeline to access the data. Eventually, the two strategies foreseen to interface the camera servers will be detailed and the current status of the developments for CTA will be given, with the last performance figures measured.


Is the Moon a UFO?
I know what your thinking. He must be out of his mind. And I do not blame you for having that opinion, however let me present the facts to you before you decide the case of my sanity. I cannot say with conviction that the moon is actually a space ship housing "aliens", I have never been there. So this remains in the murky world of theories, however it is not a theory devoid of any proof or logic. Quite the opposite actually....
The moon has been observed by humanity for our entire recorded history. This object is identified in the aspect that it has a name and we know its there, even so it cannot yet be disqualified as a UFO. Even after six visits to the moon by US astronauts between 1969 and 1972, the moon remains an enigma to scientists in many regards. Scientists had hoped that by studying the moon they could solve some of the mysteries surrounding the formation of our solar system. Before the Apollo missions, the moon was thought to be the Rosetta Stone of the planets. Yet after the missions, lunar scientists were no closer to answering even the most basic of questions about the moon, even on how it formed. Despite 842 pounds of rocks and soil samples, photos and video tapes, and five nuclear powered scientific stations, the mysteries are still there. Indeed, what we have learned in the wake of the missions has only raised more questions.
Consider what writer Earl Ubell wrote: " The lunar Rosetta stone remains a mystery. The moon is more complicated than anyone expected; it is not simply a kind of billiard ball frozen in space and time as many scientists had believed. Few of the fundamental questions have been answered, but the Apollo rocks and recordings have spawned a score of mysteries, a few truly breath stopping." What are these "breath stopping" mysteries? For one, some of the lunar rocks have been found to be 5.3 billion years old. The earth by contrast is thought to be around 4.6 billion years old, while the oldest rocks on the earth are only about 3.5 billion years of age. I suppose the discrepancy lies in that the rocks did not form until the earth had cooled sufficiently. This mystery is compounded by the fact that the dust in which the rocks were located was found to be another billion years older than the rocks themselves. Another discovery was that the moon rocks were a completely different composition than the dust in which they were found. If the dust and the rocks were being formed by impacts, they would be the same. It is a problem without an easy answer.
Another puzzle the moon rocks presented was the fact that they were found to be magnetized. The reason this is so strange is that the moon does not have a substantial magnetic field. The argument could be made that the rocks were magnetized by the earths magnetic field, yet this argument collapses when you consider that if the moon ever got close enough to the earth to pick up a magnetic field, it would be ripped apart by earths gravity. So how were they magnetized? Again, nobody knows. Another mystery surrounds the moons large maria, the large dark areas that speckle the moons surface. That they appear to be the result of large outpourings of molten rock from the interior is not questioned. Yet they cannot easily be dismissed as being the result of natural volcanism either. The maria are relatively smooth, with few craters on them. Yet, in order to explain them as the result of volcanism, they should have been formed at the very early stages of the moons birth. The interior of the moon is relatively cool compared to the earth, and this suggests that any volcanism that took place took place while the moon was still hot: ie. in its early years.
So looking at the facts, it appears that the moon ejected large amounts of molten rock by an unknown means. Another interesting fact about the maria is the presence of mascons located almost directly in the center of each maria area. The mascons are large, dense nearly circular areas underneath the marias. They were detected by the space craft that orbited the moon, as fluctuations in the moons gravity. No one has a clue what they are, unless you are willing to consider they may be artificial in nature. Skeptics will often declare that they are iron meteorites, yet if that were true and they had hit the moon with enough force to go that deep they would have not only vaporized, they would have created huge craters.
I will also quickly comment on the various times that glowing lights have been observed on the moon from the earth. The most common explanation for these events is that they are caused by gasses escaping from the moons interior. Yes that's it, magical glowing gasses (please note my use of sarcasm here). By them self, these events would not seem that odd, yet when considered in light of everything else, they are.
There are many indications that the moon may be hollow. There was actually quite a debate going on about it in the 60's. A NASA scientist named Dr. Gordon MacDonald stated " If astronomical data are reduced, it is found that the data require that the interior of the moon be less dense than the outer parts. Indeed it would seem that the moon is more like a hollow rather than a homogenous sphere." MIT's Dr. Sean C. Solomon wrote " The lunar orbiter experiments vastly improved our knowledge of the moons gravitational field...indicating the frightening possibility that the moon may be hollow." Why did he choose the word frightening? The great skeptic Carl Sagan summed it up in his book Intelligent Life in the Universe: "A natural satellite cannot be a hollow object."
The most startling evidence came on November 20, 1969 when the Apollo 12 crew, upon returning to the orbiter sent the lunar module (LM) crashing back down into the moon. The LM struck the surface about forty miles from the Apollo 12 landing site, where sensitive seismic equipment had been left. It recorded something both astounding and unexpected. The moon reverberated for more than an hour like a bell. The vibration wave took 8 minutes to reach a peak and then decrease. At a news conference that day, one of the co-directors of the seismic experiment, Maurice Ewing, told reporters scientists were at a loss to explain the ringing. "As for the meaning of it, I would rather not make an interpretation now. But it is as if someone had struck a bell, say in the belfry of a church in a single blow and found that the reverberation continued for an hour." Dr. Frank Press of MIT added "None of us have ever seen anything like this here on Earth. In all of our experience it is quite an extraordinary event. That this rather small impact... produced a signal that lasted an hour is quite beyond the range of our experience." The phenomenon was repeated with the Apollo 13's third stage, which was sent crashing by radio command. This time the reverberations lasted 3 hours and 20 minutes.
Many people may recall the astronauts vain attempts to drill into he moons marias. The specialized drills were unable to penetrate more than a few inches, obstensibely due to the presence of titanium. However, this mystery was compounded by the discovery of what appeared to be processed metals. Rocks were found to contain brass, mica and amphibole in addition to the near pure titanium. Uranium 236 and Neptunium 237 - elements not found previously in nature were also found in moon rocks. While trying to explain the presence of these materials, scientists were startled to find rust proof iron in samples from the Sea of Crisis. Iron that does not rust is unknown in nature and is well beyond mans present technology.
Now for myself, the most compelling piece of evidence of the moons unnatural origins come from one of my favorite books The Cambridge Atlas of Astronomy. In the chapter on the moon, three possible origins for the moon are given.
1) It formed with the Earth ; ie from the same material that formed the Earth.
2) It was created during a collision with a large comet or planetoid with the Earth.
3) It was a rogue satellite captured by the Earth.
I am happy to say that according to The Atlas, all three theories have been completely debunked. ( Happy because I love a good mystery). The composition of the moon is different than the Earth. The Earth has a lot of iron, the moon has almost none. The age of the moon rocks and samples is older than anything on the Earth. So that totally rules out number 1 and most of number 2. Indeed, the differing compositions of the 2 bodies and their age difference really does rule out number 2. However, in support of debunking that argument, the fact is there is no evidence that the Earth was ever involved in such a collision, and there is no debris left over orbiting the Earth. Another puzzling fact, the moon is the only satellite in the solar system which does not orbit a planet in the plane of the planets rotation.
Which brings us to number 3, the moon was a wandering planetoid that was captured by the Earth. Not only that, but was captured in such a way that the same side always faces the Earth, (thus the dark side of the moon). And the moon is the exact distance away to be the exact same apparent size as the suns disc. You can see that if you are fortunate to be in an area of totality during a solar eclipse. Taking into account the size of the moon, you know what the chances of this all occurring naturally are? Well they are so close to being zero that it is considered the most unlikely of the scenarios. The odds are so astronomical as to be impossible. So there you are, the moon is a UFO!
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Finally, we have a wedding date for Rapper Kanye West and reality star Kim Kardashian. The couple will walk down the aisle on 24 May.
The couple, who already have one child, only got engaged in October but Kanye West seems to be so keen to make Kim his wife that he has brought their Paris wedding forward to 24 May.
According to reports, the couple chose that date because it’s when astronomers are predicting a comet will burst through Earth’s atmosphere and create a brilliant meteor shower, lighting up the sky – we wouldn’t expect anything less from Kimye’s wedding!
Kim, 33, recently revealed the ceremony will be small, intimate affair, but apparently Kanye, 36, has taken the lead when it comes to wedding planning.


Occasionally, I while away sleepless nights turning the pages of Zdeněk Kopal’s A New Photographic Atlas of the Moon. I discovered it in a second hand bookshop on the Isle of Man. It’s an intriguing book, packed with full-page photos of the lunar surface, photos dating from the earliest unmanned Russian missions to the Apollo programme. Especially interesting are the images of the elusive far side of the moon. (One cannot help but be reminded how much the Russian space programme achieved where the moon is concerned, despite the fact that no cosmonaut has yet set foot on it).
Reading it at night, on the verge of sleep, it is easy to imagine yourself dropping into the pages and walking on the surface, trecking, for example, across the floor of the crater Ptolemeus, towards its distant, mountainous rim, or traversing the uncanny, double-walled basin of Schrodinger on the far side. Since the gravity of the moon is one sixth that of the Earth, it seems reasonable to assume one could cover, roughly, six times the distance on a moon walk as one could walking on Earth.
However, despite the fantastic landscape and the starlit sky, there is something missing from my moon walks. They lack something I inevitably encounter on my real walks across the earth’s surface: signs of human activity. It strikes me as interesting that, although I seek out wild places, there is a satisfaction to be found in encountering faint paths, ruins, the traces of earthworks and so on.
Thinking along these lines, I happened to pick up Robert Macfarlane’s book, The Old Ways and read this quote from Emerson:
All things are engaged in writing their history… Not a foot steps into the snow, or along the ground, but prints in characters more or less lasting, a map of its march. The ground is all memoranda and signatures; and every object covered over with hints. In nature, this self registration is incessant, and the narrative is the print of a seal.
Perhaps when out walking I’m seeking not wilderness but a wildness where my species’ presence feels not overwhelming but proportional, like the presence of one species among many. And perhaps, although history can seem nightmarish when written or spoken about, perhaps there is comfort to be found in the unspoken history, the traces. It strikes me that, whether or not I care to admit it, were I walking on the moon in real life, even though I had travelled through space for days to get there, to encounter the landing site of a probe or an Apollo mission would be a highlight of the trip.


If an asteroid was heading for Earth, could we stop it?
If a large asteroid was heading for Earth, do you think that we now have the technology to either stop it or deflect it?
I have my doubts about that, after watching a few shows on the science channel. If it happens I hope I'm at ground zero so I can watch! lol
No. There are many things headed toward Earth. Because of the way time and space work, the image of light that we see from the stars and visible planets are many, many years old. We would have to enact time travel to change the course set billions of years ago.
We are basically cockroaches waiting for the Big Shoe, a really big Shoe...
Here's a Magnetar, a dead star that resembles Earth's core, has been coming for a while. (geologically) If a Magnetar were to reach half way to our Moon's surface, it would wipe out the information on every credit card on Earth. Their magnetic field are 10,000 million times stronger than Earth's.
This image is courtesy of www.ESA.int
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Dr. Steven Dick, Former NASA Chief Historian, will present a public lecture in Notre Dame’s Digital Visualization Theater, Jordan Hall of Science, on Saturday, February 23rd at 7 PM.
In 2006 Pluto was controversially demoted to dwarf planet status. This infamous episode is the point of departure for a discussion of the nature of discovery over the last 400 years of telescopic astronomy. What constitutes a “new class” of astronomical object? Who decides if a spiral galaxy, quasar, or pulsar is a new class? Has dark matter really been “discovered”? And how do these claims come to be accepted among scientists and the public?


This may be a silly question, but is it possible to do full moon landscapes with the moon so bright when it's full? Haven't quite figured it out yet if it IS possible. I've got a D300, a 28-80mm, 70-210mm, and borrowing a 70-300mm lens. Any tips or input?
#1. "RE: Full moon landscapes?" In response to Reply # 0
Yes, you can, but timing is critical and a lot depends on the exact time of the full moon, which determines the exact time of the full moon rise on any given month. Some months work out better than others.
You can not shoot in full darkness or deep dusk unless you do some sort of HDR processing with multiple images.
On the night of the full moon the moon rises as the sun sets, or +/- 20 minutes or so in any given month.
When the full moon first rises the light is very well balanced with the moon. As the moon rises the sky and your terrestrial scene darkens.
The moon also gets about 2 stops or more brighter the first 3-10° of altitude. But that depends on atmospheric conditions and in the dry Southwest you probably get less atmospheric extinction than most other places.
The full moon, high in the sky, is about 1 stop under sunny 16, sometimes called "luney 11". When first rising above the horizon the moon is perhaps 3 stops under sunny 16. That is probably about the overall ambient exposure sometime around sunset or just after.
And remember you are shooting opposite the setting sun. The sky is not as bright as it is doing the traditional sunset or dusk shot into the west.
You then quickly run into dynamic range problems. You can buy a few stops, maybe up to 4 or so?, using grad filters.
Here is an example:
The image was shot within one minute of sunset. The moon rose 12 minutes prior and is at 2°. The moment of full moon was 7 hours prior, causing the moon to rise shortly before sunset.
Nikon D2h 70-200 f/2.8 VR @180mm f/5.6 1/160s ISO 400 Aperture Priority - Exp Comp -1.0 stops (I wanted it on the dark side and did not want to burn the red channel in the moon or the reflection on the water)
These are unique images because the exact circumstances can rarely be repeated. Each full moon is different; I thought this one worked out well.
Not sure if this is what you have in mind, but I think this is what you have to do. You balance the ambient to the moon, and that generally happens within moments of sunset.
With a thick humid air, or thin clouds, sometimes the time can be extended because the moon is unusually extinguished near the horizon.
The day before full moon you can generally shoot a nice full moon within an hour or so before sunset. Those can be nice too, especially when the timing of the full moon is such that it rises only about 30-40 minutes before sun set.
#2. "RE: Full moon landscapes?" In response to Reply # 0
I'm adding this image to illustrate that the moon brightness gets out of hand very quickly.
This was shot 5 1/2 minutes later. Neither image has any exposure adjustments or localized brightness/contrast type of work.
This image is on the ragged edge of blowing the red channel in the moon. Personally I don't like that color/contrast (the look) of the moon; I prefer a darker look, like my first image, that better images the details.
Since this is not blown I can fix this although my PP skills may not be up to turning it into something I like. But if I had shot it a few minutes later it would have been hopeless.
It's a very tight window and it depends on getting a low horizon. If you are trying to get a moon rising over the mountains, for example, that is a more difficult problem because the moon will likely be luny 11 before it rises over the mountain.
And you would have to do that the day before the full moon so that the moon rises over the mountain just about at sunset. I would think that would be a complex set of timings to put together.
#4. "RE: Full moon landscapes?" In response to Reply # 2 Wed 22-May-13 03:06 AM by scara36
Excellent tips! and excellent explanation. Yes, my thought/hope was to get it rising over our highest mtn (I live in Northern Arizona at 7000ft, and out tallest mtn is nearly 13000ft). From what I'm finding on PhotoEphemeris, yes the moon will have to be over 10degrees (actually closer to 14) before it is high enough to be seen above the mtn, and I've checked many different vantage points. As you've explained, tho, the best shots would be closer to the horizon. I am going out tomorrow to capture it nearly full rising over the mtn, and it's at a time of day that I'm sure it will come out well. With a completely full moon, tho, I too had noticed that the higher it got, the darker the foreground, etc got, making landscapes near impossible without making the moon just a ball of light, which I absolutely didn't want.
Ok, well for now, I will work with this information and perhaps not this month's full moon, but the next I will try to find a vantage point that will allow me to see the horizon...or at least something less than 13000ft!
#5. "RE: Full moon landscapes?" In response to Reply # 4 Wed 22-May-13 03:36 AM by nrothschild
On Thursday evening, May 23, at Flagstaff the moon will be at 13° 54' at the moment of true sundown. What more could you ask for
Remember what I said about the day before . And don't forget your grad filters . I think you might need a grad to do that, or you might have to do a two frame HDR.
I've blown a few of these shots because I didn't have my filters in hand at the critical moment. Now I would probably just do an HDR.
Because of all those nice mountains you have, it would actually help you to have some sort of altitude/angle gauge.
Something like this is very inexpensive and readily available. You would use that with your camera set up. If you have a lens hood, take it off. You frame the scene, then place it flat against the front of the lens.
Edit: not touching the glass, but against the rim of the lens (the filter ring)
Edit 2: for angle measurement, use the longest lens you have, pointed exactly where you expect the moon to peep over the mountain
I use something very similar to help align my equatorial mounts. That Home Depot gauge is actually better than what I use because it can be used in two different axis. (I think?)
You should also consider doing the conjunction challenge. I was thinking about you, after that great new moon shot. You may be one of the few Nikonians in the world that has at least fairly reliable clean horizons.
#6. "RE: Full moon landscapes?" In response to Reply # 5
Will look into the altitude/angle gauge. I was actually just checking on PhotoEphemeris a completely different area to try to get the moon where I want it on Thursday, since you suggested the day before a full moon to shoot it easier. It's not so much that I can't find a place closer to the horizon (I can, if I drive far enough. High desert you can see forever and it's within an hour 1/2 drive). I just have always wanted a photo of it coming over Mt Humphreys; it's the tallest mtn in the state, and I just have this fascination with it. It's so photogenic and majestic. Now that I'm exploring the astro side of photography (which also has always been a fascination; blame that on a junior high crush! LOL), I thought can it be done? Full moon over Humphreys? Combination of both fascinations. So, that said, it was also about finding the moon rising in the right place. So many variables here! Think I found a place. I post anything if it works.
About that challenge, I remember you mentioned it in another thread. Remind me: what was it and what were the best times for it? If it's this weekend, not so sure I can do it. At the base of Mt Humphreys is a place called Hart Prairie and there's a nature preserve there that I'm volunteering at all weekend. (If you're familiar with the Nature Conservancy, it's one of their preserves). If it's not this weekend, I might give it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised at the new moon shot. Great learning experience...and lesson in patience.
#8. "RE: Full moon landscapes?" In response to Reply # 6
I think you should shoot the full moon over that mountain. It's a great idea! It is a complex setup, and remember that the moon rises in a different place each successive day. What works in a trial run may be a problem the day or two. Similarly two successive full moons will rise in somewhat different places.
For that you need a compass, your magnetic declination (from the NGS web site) and the azimuth at moon rise from Photographer's Ephemeris.
It may take some effort, and many tries, but I suspect the results will be worth it!
Mercury, Venus and Jupiter are bunching together to form a "Conjunction". It is actually happening right now.
May 26 is the tightest arrangement of the conjunction but it is also very good several days before and after. You may be able to sandwich it on either side of your weekend.
June 10 has a very challenging new moon, plus two of the planets.
June 11 has a still fairly challenging new moon, plus two planets in the scene.
I think that after May 30 it will become very tough to get all 3 planets because Jupiter is fairly rapidly sinking lower each day. But you might find a window for that.
Any time between now and mid-June or so is a great time to shoot those planets. You need a very low horizon around where the sun sets, but you seem to have found one already for that new moon shot. But the closer you can get to the true horizon (and I mean within a degree if possible), the better off you are. And with your dry air and altitude you could get some amazing dusk shots at the horizon.
If you like the idea of this, remember that you can shoot that full moon just about any month of the year, but this planetary arrangement, with 3 planets in the dawn or dusk sky, is very rare. It will be years before you can do it again. I've looked several years ahead and see nothing similar.
#3. "RE: Full moon landscapes?" In response to Reply # 0
Sarah - I don't have any readily available samples of my efforts, but I want to heartily endorse Neil's detailed and correct explanation. His discussion of timing is exquisite.
Like a great many questions like this, the answer is rooted in thoroughly understanding what is happening. For example, the "Loonie 11" rule is based on the fact that the sun lights the full moon much as it does the earth at noon. The moon however, has a reflectivity -- or albedo, as astronomers say -- that is somewhat less than that of the earth: it's a little darker overall.