Sheltie
Fratty and out of touch.
When I was about 7 years old there was a gumball machine at the local supermarket checkout that sold white rocks with luminous powder on them as moon rocks "straight from the moon" for 10 cents. I honestly thought I had bought a moon rock. Of course back then the moon and astronauts were all the rage.
Toroid
Founding Member
Apollo 11 & Luna 15 went to the moon at the same time.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=843lQkF7J9Uhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/hist...instead/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.2f00d422377b
Luna 15 - Wikipedia
www.youtube.com/watch?v=843lQkF7J9Uhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/hist...instead/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.2f00d422377b
Luna 15 - Wikipedia
Sheltie
Fratty and out of touch.
What amazes me is that the Soviet Union had a space shuttle program that was only a few years behind the US: Buran (spacecraft) - Wikipedia
They produced one shuttle that carried out a successful unmanned flight. It was never used again after that, however, and it sat for years in a nearly abandoned hanger. One day the roof of the poorly maintained hanger collapsed on top of the craft, destroying it and killing several workers. Very sad.
They produced one shuttle that carried out a successful unmanned flight. It was never used again after that, however, and it sat for years in a nearly abandoned hanger. One day the roof of the poorly maintained hanger collapsed on top of the craft, destroying it and killing several workers. Very sad.
coubob
Celestial
I had a moon rock for a bit. No Lie. ya see i live in Shawnee OK ,home of Gordon Cooper, his aunt lived 2 house down from me as a kid. and she invited me one day. She had all sorts of things of his she said he wanted to keep that he felt safe with it there. she had this blue container that had moon rock in it she said and she gave it to me. It had the weirdest smell. i went home to show my dad, he was in the back yard and when i showed him he said foolish lady and threw it down a dirt alley. i was so pissed. i searched for months for it amongst all the other rocks on the road, just a little bit of rotten luck that i have had.
Toroid
Founding Member
Can you describe the smell or compare it to something earthly? I saw a program that described how the astronaut's suits would sustain damage by moon dust almost like volcano ash effecting lung tissue. I pondered if it could be nanotech to defend the moon from intruders.
Toroid
Founding Member
coubob
Celestial
The smell couldve been from the plastic container that it was in (( a 5inch round 6inch tall light blue with white top and it had all the Apollo missions around it)i havent seen another like it), and it was 40+ years ago. spent gunpowder is not what i remember it being like though.
Toroid
Founding Member
The last full moon of the decade will happen tomorrow 12/12 at 12:12 am.
December ‘cold’ full moon is the decade’s last
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOBsbSsf1BM
December ‘cold’ full moon is the decade’s last
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOBsbSsf1BM
nivek
As Above So Below
nivek
As Above So Below
Astronomers Spot Possible 'Minimoon' Orbiting Earth
For just the second time ever, astronomers may have detected a natural object orbiting the Earth in addition to the moon. This so-called 'minimoon' was reportedly spotted by researchers at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory. Scientifically known as a 'temporarily captured object,' the curious interloper measures approximately six to 12 feet in diameter and is believed to have been circling our planet for the last three years.
Although the suspected natural nature of the minimoon still needs to be ultimately confirmed, if it is indeed a rocky body and not a piece of space junk, '2020 CD3,' as it has come to be known, would only be the second temporarily captured object ever found with the first being discovered back in 2006. As its scientific designation suggests, the interstellar visitor's proverbial misadventure being caught by the Earth's gravity will soon come to an end as astronomers say will likely escape our orbit this coming April.
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For just the second time ever, astronomers may have detected a natural object orbiting the Earth in addition to the moon. This so-called 'minimoon' was reportedly spotted by researchers at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory. Scientifically known as a 'temporarily captured object,' the curious interloper measures approximately six to 12 feet in diameter and is believed to have been circling our planet for the last three years.
Although the suspected natural nature of the minimoon still needs to be ultimately confirmed, if it is indeed a rocky body and not a piece of space junk, '2020 CD3,' as it has come to be known, would only be the second temporarily captured object ever found with the first being discovered back in 2006. As its scientific designation suggests, the interstellar visitor's proverbial misadventure being caught by the Earth's gravity will soon come to an end as astronomers say will likely escape our orbit this coming April.
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Toroid
Founding Member
I finished reading Radu Cinamar's book "The Etheric Crystal: The Third Tunnel." Radu was allowed to watch a holographic viewer provided by a man from a city under Romania called Apellos. He saw the history of the moon. It's an ancient Sirian ship placed in orbit around Earth to attract the dust cloud around our planet allowing more sun light to reach the surface. It was placed around the time Maldek/Tiamat exploded 65-70 million years ago. When he tried to view the destruction it was blurred by some higher consciousness. The power source was a blue-white star in the center of the ship. The Sirian woman who came up with the idea was named Orma.
1963
Noble
5 Years ago... but still an awesome picture. 
The moon passed between Nasa's Deep Space Climate Observatory and the Earth, allowing the satellite to capture this rare image of the moon's far side in full sunlight. We normally don't see this side of the moon. As the moon is tidally locked to the earth and doesn't rotate, we only ever see the one face from the earth. Awesome shot!
Cheers.
The moon passed between Nasa's Deep Space Climate Observatory and the Earth, allowing the satellite to capture this rare image of the moon's far side in full sunlight. We normally don't see this side of the moon. As the moon is tidally locked to the earth and doesn't rotate, we only ever see the one face from the earth. Awesome shot!
Cheers.
1963
Noble
Hi Sheltie, i'll have a couple of quid on that one mate. ... Which bookies gives those odds mate?
EarthSky asked Myles Standish about the similarity in the size of Earth’s moon and sun, as seen from Earth. He is a mathematical astronomer and a former professor at Yale University. He worked for CalTech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He has published over 300 articles, mostly in the field of solar system dynamics and celestial mechanics. He said this similarity is unique among the planets and moons that make up our local family in space, our solar system. In other words, it doesn’t occur with any other planets and moons in our immediate neighbourhood of space.
But there may be millions or billions of undiscovered solar systems.
So what are the odds of the moon and sun appearing nearly the same size from Earth? No one knows.
Coincidence that sun and moon seem same size? | EarthSky.org
Cheers Buddy.
Sheltie
Fratty and out of touch.
Interesting take on it. I never thought about it that way. I suppose when you consider the mind boggling number of potential stars, moons, and planets throughout the universe, almost anything is possible and almost every odd is unknowable.Hi Sheltie, i'll have a couple of quid on that one mate. ... Which bookies gives those odds mate?
EarthSky asked Myles Standish about the similarity in the size of Earth’s moon and sun, as seen from Earth. He is a mathematical astronomer and a former professor at Yale University. He worked for CalTech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He has published over 300 articles, mostly in the field of solar system dynamics and celestial mechanics. He said this similarity is unique among the planets and moons that make up our local family in space, our solar system. In other words, it doesn’t occur with any other planets and moons in our immediate neighbourhood of space.
But there may be millions or billions of undiscovered solar systems.
So what are the odds of the moon and sun appearing nearly the same size from Earth? No one knows.
Coincidence that sun and moon seem same size? | EarthSky.org
Cheers Buddy.
I find it encouraging, however, that the author you reference apparently believes thousands of years from now when total eclipses are no longer possible there will still be humans on the planet to witness the transformed phenomenon.
AD1184
Celestial
When you talk of the exactness of the equality of the ratio of the orbits of the earth and moon, and the ratio of the sizes of the sun and moon, how exact is the relationship?
The ratio of the mean equatorial radius of the sun, and the mean radius of the moon is about 400.6. The ratio of the mean distance between centres of the earth and sun, and the mean distance between centres of the earth and moon is about 388.6. The difference in the ratios is therefore about 3%, so it is not quite an exact equality.
The orbital distance of the moon varies by about ±7.2% of its mean value over the course of an orbit. This equates to the moon at apogee subtending an angle about 12% smaller at perigee, compared to at apogee. The orbital distance of earth and sun varies ±1.67% about its mean value over the course of an orbit.
The relation in apparent sizes between the sun and moon is therefore an approximate equality, and not an exact one, but still an interesting coincidence.
But this coincidence is one only of our current epoch. The moon is receding from the earth in its orbit as the earth and moon give up their rotational angular momentum and exchange it for orbital angular momentum, through a phenomenon known as tidal locking (by which the moon always shows the same face towards earth). It is currently receding at about an inch-and-a-half per year, but is thought to have formed only about 15,000 miles from the earth more than four billion years ago.
This temporary nature of the coincidence is rather like that of the star Polaris being an indicator of true north. To within a degree of arc, a line projected along the earth's axis northwards onto what astronomers call the celestial sphere points at Polaris. However, the earth's axis wobbles in a movement called precession, completing a rotation across the night sky in approximately 26 000 years. with an angular radius of 23.5 degrees, the magnitude of the tilt of the earth's axis. When Polaris was so named, in the 16th century, it was not nearly as close to the north pole as it is at the moment, although it was the closest prominent star to the north pole. In classical antiquity, when astronomy first began to be formally studied, it was not even close, and Polaris was not considered to be a useful pole star.
The ratio of the mean equatorial radius of the sun, and the mean radius of the moon is about 400.6. The ratio of the mean distance between centres of the earth and sun, and the mean distance between centres of the earth and moon is about 388.6. The difference in the ratios is therefore about 3%, so it is not quite an exact equality.
The orbital distance of the moon varies by about ±7.2% of its mean value over the course of an orbit. This equates to the moon at apogee subtending an angle about 12% smaller at perigee, compared to at apogee. The orbital distance of earth and sun varies ±1.67% about its mean value over the course of an orbit.
The relation in apparent sizes between the sun and moon is therefore an approximate equality, and not an exact one, but still an interesting coincidence.
But this coincidence is one only of our current epoch. The moon is receding from the earth in its orbit as the earth and moon give up their rotational angular momentum and exchange it for orbital angular momentum, through a phenomenon known as tidal locking (by which the moon always shows the same face towards earth). It is currently receding at about an inch-and-a-half per year, but is thought to have formed only about 15,000 miles from the earth more than four billion years ago.
This temporary nature of the coincidence is rather like that of the star Polaris being an indicator of true north. To within a degree of arc, a line projected along the earth's axis northwards onto what astronomers call the celestial sphere points at Polaris. However, the earth's axis wobbles in a movement called precession, completing a rotation across the night sky in approximately 26 000 years. with an angular radius of 23.5 degrees, the magnitude of the tilt of the earth's axis. When Polaris was so named, in the 16th century, it was not nearly as close to the north pole as it is at the moment, although it was the closest prominent star to the north pole. In classical antiquity, when astronomy first began to be formally studied, it was not even close, and Polaris was not considered to be a useful pole star.
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nivek
As Above So Below
Is there a piece of our moon behind Mars?
Scientists have discovered that an asteroid trailing behind Mars could actually be a fragment of the Moon. The space rock, which is known by the catchy name (101429) 1998 VF31, is one of a number of trojan asteroids in our solar system - objects which share the same orbital path as one of the planets.
What makes this particular example so interesting, is the fact that its composition seems to hint that it may in fact be a piece of the Earth's moon which must have been chipped off during a collision at some point in the distant past before ending up trailing the orbit of Mars.
Researchers at the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium (AOP) in Northern Ireland used the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile to examine how sunlight reflects off the asteroid's surface and then compared the data to that of other bodies in the solar system.
They were surprised to find that the Moon was the closest match. According to study co-author Galin Borisov, the data was a "dead-ringer for parts of the Moon where there is exposed bedrock such as crater interiors and mountains."
While it isn't a dead certainty that the asteroid is a piece of the Moon, it is certainly an intriguing find and could represent further indication of the solar system's violent past. Who knows, there could even be other - perhaps larger chunks of the Moon out there still to find.
(101429) 1998 VF31 - Wikipedia
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Scientists have discovered that an asteroid trailing behind Mars could actually be a fragment of the Moon. The space rock, which is known by the catchy name (101429) 1998 VF31, is one of a number of trojan asteroids in our solar system - objects which share the same orbital path as one of the planets.
What makes this particular example so interesting, is the fact that its composition seems to hint that it may in fact be a piece of the Earth's moon which must have been chipped off during a collision at some point in the distant past before ending up trailing the orbit of Mars.
Researchers at the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium (AOP) in Northern Ireland used the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile to examine how sunlight reflects off the asteroid's surface and then compared the data to that of other bodies in the solar system.
They were surprised to find that the Moon was the closest match. According to study co-author Galin Borisov, the data was a "dead-ringer for parts of the Moon where there is exposed bedrock such as crater interiors and mountains."
While it isn't a dead certainty that the asteroid is a piece of the Moon, it is certainly an intriguing find and could represent further indication of the solar system's violent past. Who knows, there could even be other - perhaps larger chunks of the Moon out there still to find.
(101429) 1998 VF31 - Wikipedia
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