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Here we can discuss anything that relates to astronomy or cosmology. From space exploration, stars, constellations, exoplanets, quasars, pulsars, colonization, terraformation, etc. Feel free to express your love for the stars and all the wonders known and unknown. To begin this discussion, I want to express my fascination with the Voyager program, most particularly, the Voyager 1 probe and why it is my favorite spacecraft thus far.

 

 

It is currently the farthest man-made object we've ever sent into the vast frontiers of space. Big as a compact car, soaring faster than a bullet at 38,610 mph, carrying what could be the very last remnant of humanity (its golden record). It's moving faster than its younger brother, Voyager 2; the two are going in completely different trajectories.

 

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This probe is responsible for taking some of the most remarkable images of Jupiter and its stormy turbulent atmosphere and its exotic moons―one is a frozen world of mysteries waiting to be unveiled; the other is a volcanic wasteland full of active volcanoes that make Mauna Loa in Hawaii seem dormant. Those are just a teaspoon of Jupiter's 63 known moons.

 

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Its cameras also captured glorious views of Saturn and its moon Titan, a world hidden beneath its hazy nitrogen-rich atmosphere, the only known satellite to possess such an atmosphere, and it's the only nitrogenous atmosphere in the Solar System aside from Earth's. 

 

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Below is the very last photo that was taken before the cameras of Voyager 1 were turned off in order to save energy for its other instruments to detect interstellar charged particles. If you look very closely at that brown vertical band, right in the middle you will see a faint, barely visible, and pale blue dot. That's Earth. That's us. All of our empires, religions, history, science originated from this tiny pale blue dot. All of the collective memories and experiences of every human that has ever lived―everything they had seen, everyone they had known, everything they had accomplished, all of their contributions to our society, every woman and man they had loved and had raised families with―it all happened here ...

 

sig-3908573.sig-3908573.Pale_Blue_Dot.pn

 

Just a couple years ago, Voyager 1 had finally breached the heliosphere. It will take 300 years to reach the Oort cloud that surrounds the Solar System followed by 28,000 to 30,000 years until it finally exists the large mass of comets. After that, it will heading towards either the constellation Camelopardalis or Ophiuchus. In 40,000 years it pass within 1.6 light years of Gliese 445, a red dwarf star located near Polaris. 

 

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Now what I'm curious to know is if it will pass close by any other stars or planetary bodies beyond that point. What stars, star systems, or exoplanets do we know of beyond Gliese 445? What lies beyond the constellation Camelopardalis? I guess only time will tell.

 

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Edited by Christopher
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Oh, i love the Astronomy!

I started liking it while looking at the Milky Way, it just looks awesome. I sadly never saw it live, so i really wanna see it.

 

ESO-VLT-Laser-phot-33a-07.jpgmilky-way-mount-shasta.jpg?1342794653

 

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I've never known too much about astrology but the universe outside of our hemisphere is a great wonder.

 

One of my favorite objects out there is a mountain range of clouds that's supposedly as old as the universe itself. I forget what it's called. Celestial something or other?

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Who else here is super psyched that in just over a week we are going to have the first close up images of Pluto.

Are we indeed? I've mostly paid attention to the Curiosity stuff. I haven't heard much from that either though.

 

Does anyone know a good place to keep up with science news? I'm always behind cuz I get most of my info from other people.

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Who else here is super psyched that in just over a week we are going to have the first close up images of Pluto.  

 

I just hope they have the camera pointed right.  If they are the slightest bit off on their calculations//guesswork we will have frames with empty space in them instead of pluto.

 

It is also sad that the 4 dark splotches are going to be on the far side as the probe passes.

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I'm really excited about that. On July 14th, we should be getting the first high resolution pictures of Pluto. About time. 

 

Discordian, if you want to read more about it, here is the article I came across:

 

http://www.engadget.com/2015/07/02/nasa-new-horizons-pluto-update/


Just imagine. If all goes well with New Horizons, we should be getting pictures like this of the mysterious ice world:

 

pluto2.jpg

 

This is of course an artist's rendering.

 

It's also been noted that Pluto might have an atmosphere, contrary to what scientists have been thinking for so many years. We might be able to observe its climate patterns once the probe passes within close enough distance.

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I'm really excited about that. On July 14th, we should be getting the first high resolution pictures of Pluto. About time. 

 

Discordian, if you want to read more about it, here is the article I came across:

 

http://www.engadget.com/2015/07/02/nasa-new-horizons-pluto-update/

Just imagine. If all goes well with New Horizons, we should be getting pictures like this of the mysterious ice world:

 

pluto2.jpg

 

This is of course an artist's rendering.

 

It's also been noted that Pluto might have an atmosphere, contrary to what scientists have been thinking for so many years. We might be able to observe its climate patterns once the probe passes within close enough distance.

Looks a bit like the Earth

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This is my new favorite thread. Interesting stuff.

 

I didn't think Voyager had enough velocity to leave orbit of our solar system completely. I knew about the probe to Pluto this year, but I didn't know it's only two weeks away. I'm pretty excited right about now.

 

As for my own two cents... has anyone wondered about Mars' moons, Phobos and Daemos? The one that orbits closer to the surface has strange-looking trenches going around it. I once read that could have been from impacts or volcanos on the Martian surface. If that's true, some of those projectiles are bound to have landed on Earth.

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This is my new favorite thread. Interesting stuff.

 

I didn't think Voyager had enough velocity to leave orbit of our solar system completely. I knew about the probe to Pluto this year, but I didn't know it's only two weeks away. I'm pretty excited right about now.

 

As for my own two cents... has anyone wondered about Mars' moons, Phobos and Daemos? The one that orbits closer to the surface has strange-looking trenches going around it. I once read that could have been from impacts or volcanos on the Martian surface. If that's true, some of those projectiles are bound to have landed on Earth.

Never heard of them! Will look at it

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I didn't think Voyager had enough velocity to leave orbit of our solar system completely. I knew about the probe to Pluto this year, but I didn't know it's only two weeks away. I'm pretty excited right about now.

 

Well there is a diagram explaining how Voyager 2 achieved solar escape velocity in its encounter of Jupiter and Saturn (the slingshot effect):

 

5gOWB.png

 

Can't seem to find the diagram for Voyager 1, but I imagine it must have been similar. In addition, they don't appear to be slowing down and in fact have been keeping a constant speed according to NASA's latest calculations of around 38,000 miles per hour. Incredible. Escape velocity really depends on what you're trying to escape from and how far away from it you are. If you're in the vicinity of the sun, and you're trying to escape the gravity, you need 525 km/s. If you're trying to escape the solar system, and you're at Neptune's distance from the sun, you only need 7.7 km/s. So had Voyager 1 not used the gravitational slingshot of Jupiter and Saturn, it would not have made it through into interstellar space, never mind the heliosphere, and never mind the termination shock. :D

 

 

 

has anyone wondered about Mars' moons, Phobos and Daemos? The one that orbits closer to the surface has strange-looking trenches going around it. I once read that could have been from impacts or volcanos on the Martian surface. If that's true, some of those projectiles are bound to have landed on Earth.

 

 

Ah yes, Phobos! I believe Deimos also has some trenches around it, at least not as visible as its larger sibling. I don't know too much about that, but I think you have the right idea. It's a shame Phobos is bound to be ripped apart by Mars' gravity once it reaches its Roche limit. It's my favorite of the two moons. Fortunately I won't be alive by then. 

 

Also, since you seem quite knowledgeable on this topic, do you happen to know of any celestial bodies beyond Gliese 445? Do you know of anything that could lie beyond the constellations Camelopardalis and Ophiuchus?

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Who else here is super psyched that in just over a week we are going to have the first close up images of Pluto.  

 

Whoa really?! :o How do I not know about stuff like this? ^_^ Can't wait to see them :D

 

Btw I'll be coming back to this thread frequently, astronomy is certainly something that's interested me for quite some time now, ever since we started learning facts about certain stars in eighth grade I've been astounded and amazed at the beauty of our galaxy :P

 

Something I really wish I could achieve one day is to be able to identify all the constellations in the night sky. I believe I spotted Cygnus and the Big Dipper the other night and finding Orion has become a cakewalk :catface: *sigh* I still remember a night I went to an outdoor movie theater with my mom and one of her friends.....it was like the sky was fully alive. There was not a spot visible without stars, everything looked radiant and majestic. The most beautiful night I ever experienced for sure :)

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Whoa really?! :o How do I not know about stuff like this? ^_^ Can't wait to see them :D

 

Btw I'll be coming back to this thread frequently, astronomy is certainly something that's interested me for quite some time now, ever since we started learning facts about certain stars in eighth grade I've been astounded and amazed at the beauty of our galaxy :P

 

Something I really wish I could achieve one day is to be able to identify all the constellations in the night sky. I believe I spotted Cygnus and the Big Dipper the other night and finding Orion has become a cakewalk :catface: *sigh* I still remember a night I went to an outdoor movie theater with my mom and one of her friends.....it was like the sky was fully alive. There was not a spot visible without stars, everything looked radiant and majestic. The most beautiful night I ever experienced for sure :)

I sadly never really saw a night sky full of Stars :( I hope i will see one soon, i can't wait to see milky way!

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I love astronomy, it's my favorite science! Hopefully we'll be able to leave our Solar System one day... The only problem is that our rockets are still too slow.

And interesting stuff :)

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Oh boy. This is one of my biggest obsessions, up there with MLP and gaming. :3 I absolutely love Astronomy and space. The sheer vastness of the universe and our galaxy, the mysteries that it hides and also the beauty mixed with terror that it holds, it is an endless source of wonder for me. I find myself looking up pictures and videos of different space objects quite often. Learning more and more about astronomy, to me, makes this life and our place in the universe so much more fascinating. :)

 

This brings me to a game that I have been absolutely obsessed with over the past few weeks, Elite Dangerous. That game is a space lover's dream and I absolutely adore it.  :lol:  Being able to see our galaxy and explore it is incredible.

 

I will definitely be posting more to this thread, space is my jam.  :wacko:  Space Jam. 

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I've never known too much about astrology but the universe outside of our hemisphere is a great wonder.

Astrology is the superstition stuff that allegedly predicts the future by reading the motion of celestial objects.

Astronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects.

 

I say we need to send more robots to space.

rosetta_route.png

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Astrology is the superstition stuff that allegedly predicts the future by reading the motion of celestial objects.

Astronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects.

 

I say we need to send more robots to space.

sig-3910402.rosetta_route.png

Whoops. Guess I typo'd that pretty bad. :P

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