# Stardust - for Astronomy lovers



## Grand Guru (13/7/21)

I’m fond of astronomy and astrophysics. I read every article and watch every YT video that I come across. I’m sure some of the fellow vapers share this passion too. Here is a thread to share the knowledge!

​

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## Silver (13/7/21)

I too am fascinated by the skies and stars @Grand Guru 

Who remembers Halley’s Comet, last sighted in 1986?

I will never forget the night I saw it. Was at the Kruger park and my late dad showed it to me as a teenager and explained it. He loved the stars too. Such a special time. We were at the lookout point in the Olifants Camp. What a perfect spot. I remember seeing it so bright it was amazing

here’s a pic, not mine but just to recall the situation back then




Courtesy of Wikipedia :

*Halley's Comet* or *Comet Halley*, officially designated *1P/Halley*,[2] is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–76 years.[2][10][11][12] Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the only naked-eye comet that can appear twice in a human lifetime.[13] Halley last appeared in the inner parts of the Solar System in 1986 and will next appear in mid-2061.[14]

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## Raindance (13/7/21)

Silver said:


> I too am fascinated by the skies and stars @Grand Guru
> 
> Who remembers Halley’s Comet, last sighted in 1986?
> 
> ...


Thanks @Silver bookmarked the date and will be looking out for it.

Regards

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## Grand Guru (13/7/21)

Raindance said:


> Thanks @Silver bookmarked the date and will be looking out for it.
> 
> Regards


Alzheimer

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## Grand Guru (14/7/21)

This was on the 5th of July.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jul/05/starwatch-weve-got-aphelion-the-suns-further-away

*Starwatch: we’ve got aphelion the sun’s further away*

At the furthest point in its orbit, Earth is now 5M kilometres more distant from the sun than in January...

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## ARYANTO (14/7/21)

My niece, Magda Streicher-Brits

is a well renowned astronomer and suggested we go look here for more info etc

https://www.assabfn.co.za/deepsky.htm ,
https://docplayer.net/62861542-Astronomy-delights-magda-streicher.html
And fascinating enough I found the name of one of our most likeable mods ...

''Slender and lithe forms are typically
associated with wild birds. When we look
up at the stars we also find interesting
shapes and patterns. As it combines
the world of the wild and the world of
the night sky, it is not that difficult to
find a constellation like* Grus *the Crane
presenting itself to our imagination. In
real life the Blue Crane is very special,
and is our South African national bird.''
[Acknowledgement to Magda]

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## Grand Guru (20/7/21)

https://www.universetoday.com/15188...f-you-dropped-a-ball-across-the-solar-system/

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## Grand Guru (22/7/21)

*AMATEUR ASTRONOMER DISCOVERS NEW MOON OF JUPITER*

https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/amateur-astronomer-discovers-new-moon-of-jupiter/

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## Grand Guru (22/7/21)

Very interesting read.

*A century of astronomy revealed Earth’s place in the universe*

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/space-exoplanet-century-astronomy-earth-universe

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## ARYANTO (23/7/21)

@Grand Guru and @Dela Rey Steyn - this is for you stargazers 

your thoughts ?

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## Grand Guru (23/7/21)

ARYANTO said:


> @Grand Guru and @Dela Rey Steyn - this is for you stargazers
> 
> your thoughts ?



I thought I was having an LSD trip

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## Grand Guru (27/7/21)

*Hubble Captures a Spectacular Three-Way Gravitational Tug-of-War Between Interacting Galaxies*

SciTechDaily: Hubble Captures a Spectacular Three-Way Gravitational Tug-of-War Between Interacting Galaxies. https://scitechdaily.com/hubble-cap...onal-tug-of-war-between-interacting-galaxies/

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## Adephi (27/7/21)



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## Grand Guru (27/7/21)

Adephi said:


>



Imagine the scene!

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## Adephi (27/7/21)

Grand Guru said:


> Imagine the scene!



Oh yes.

But I have the feeling we might be disappointed. They predict this will be vissible from May next year. Considering the star is 650 lightyears away I feel there should have been more than just a flickering by now. Maybe a some gamma rays or something should have been picked up.

Would be fascinating if this does happen.

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## Grand Guru (29/7/21)



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## Grand Guru (31/7/21)

I find the comment quite accurate

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## Grand Guru (22/8/21)



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## Grand Guru (5/9/21)



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## DarthBranMuffin (5/9/21)

Grand Guru said:


>




Gspot... i mean gforce... this guy figured one of them out... that is why he is flying solo still...

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## Grand Guru (8/9/21)

https://www.businessinsider.co.za/i...ts-of-south-africa-tonight-8-september-2021-9

*Tonight, JHB and Bloem get a great chance to see the Space Station. (Cape Town, not so much)*

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## Puff the Magic Dragon (8/9/21)

Grand Guru said:


>




QED
superglue

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## Grand Guru (8/9/21)

https://www.cnet.com/news/space-sta...s-breathtaking-view-of-the-edge-of-the-earth/

*Space station astronaut captures breathtaking view of the edge of the Earth*
*
*

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## Grand Guru (8/9/21)

The international space station
photo taken with a DSLR Camera

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## Grand Guru (13/9/21)

https://phys.org/news/2021-09-largest-virtual-universe-free-explore.html

*Largest virtual universe free for anyone to explore*
by Center for Computational Astrophysics

Reactions: Like 1 | Winner 4 | Informative 1


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## Grand Guru (15/9/21)



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## Grand Guru (15/9/21)

Wow! Never seen so beautiful images in my life!

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## Dela Rey Steyn (16/9/21)

https://www.space.com/amp/jupiter-impact-flash-photo-video

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## Grand Guru (18/9/21)

I'm jealous...

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58594365

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## Grand Guru (29/9/21)

He was the Albert Einstein of the 19th century!

https://www.space.com/who-was-james-clerk-maxwell-physicist

*Who was James Clerk Maxwell? The greatest physicist you've probably never heard of.*

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## Grand Guru (6/10/21)

*One of the largest comets ever seen is headed our way*

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/...he-largest-comets-ever-seen-is-headed-our-way

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## Grand Guru (7/10/21)

*Satellite Captures Stunning Gravity Waves Over La Palma From Cumbre Vieja*

https://scitechdaily.com/satellite-...ves-over-la-palma-from-cumbre-vieja-eruption/

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## Raindance (7/10/21)

Grand Guru said:


> *Satellite Captures Stunning Gravity Waves Over La Palma From Cumbre Vieja*
> 
> https://scitechdaily.com/satellite-...ves-over-la-palma-from-cumbre-vieja-eruption/


Not the kind of gravity waves I was thinking of.

Regards

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## Grand Guru (7/10/21)

Raindance said:


> Not the kind of gravity waves I was thinking of.
> 
> Regards


Still interesting to see though

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## Adephi (12/10/21)

https://nypost.com/2021/10/11/northern-lights-could-be-visible-in-nyc-due-to-solar-flare/

Get ready, Earthlings, the sun is expected to wreak some havoc on our planet Monday — with an enormous solar flare that could disrupt power grids, affect spacecraft and make the northern lights visible in New York.

Edit: just saw the article is a few days old and it would have been yesterday. Would have been cool though.

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## Grand Guru (12/10/21)

Adephi said:


> https://nypost.com/2021/10/11/northern-lights-could-be-visible-in-nyc-due-to-solar-flare/
> 
> Get ready, Earthlings, the sun is expected to wreak some havoc on our planet Monday — with an enormous solar flare that could disrupt power grids, affect spacecraft and make the northern lights visible in New York.


It was a blue Monday, as usual!

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## Grand Guru (13/10/21)

This one may aend us back to stone age, at least for a few days 

https://www.tweaktown.com/news/8212...-an-enormous-solar-flare-very-soon/index.html

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## Intuthu Kagesi (13/10/21)

Grand Guru said:


> This one may aend us back to stone age, at least for a few days
> 
> https://www.tweaktown.com/news/8212...-an-enormous-solar-flare-very-soon/index.html


Eishkom will in all likelihood use this to justify their latest load shedding

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## Grand Guru (13/10/21)



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## Grand Guru (14/10/21)

Admiral Kirk in space. Really awesome!

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## Intuthu Kagesi (15/10/21)



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## Grand Guru (11/11/21)

*NASA delays next moon landing until 2025 at the earliest*
*
https://nypost.com/2021/11/10/nasa-delays-next-moon-landing-to-2025-at-the-earliest/*

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## Grand Guru (22/11/21)



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## Grand Guru (22/11/21)

We are so insignificant

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## Intuthu Kagesi (22/11/21)

Grand Guru said:


> We are so insignificant



Agreed ... for a moment, think of our universe in terms of a Bohr diagram ... and consider that our universe could be but a single molecule in a greater universe

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Grand Guru (22/11/21)

Intuthu Kagesi said:


> Agreed ... for a moment, think of our universe in terms of a Bohr diagram ... and consider that our universe could be but a single molecule in a greater universe


Since what we can see is just a fraction of the universe, your observation is very likely to be true!

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## Grand Guru (22/11/21)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2020/01/21/how-far-is-it-to-the-edge-of-the-universe/

*How Far Is It To The Edge Of The Universe?*

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## Intuthu Kagesi (23/11/21)

Grand Guru said:


> https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2020/01/21/how-far-is-it-to-the-edge-of-the-universe/
> *How Far Is It To The Edge Of The Universe?*



Interesting debate this is ... For now, I'm leaning towards the infinite torus model, where our universe continues to expand 
*
Is space infinite? We asked 5 experts*
August 10, 2021 10.12pm SAST
https://theconversation.com/is-spac... universe is finite,universe is centred on us.

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## Grand Guru (25/11/21)



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## Grand Guru (29/11/21)



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## Grand Guru (5/12/21)



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## Grand Guru (14/12/21)



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## Intuthu Kagesi (20/12/21)

This isn't a video about Astronomy per se, rather it's about the computers used to land on the moon back in 1969, on a computer with less processing power than you currently have in a regulated mod, let alone a cellphone.

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## Grand Guru (22/12/21)

Interesting

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## Grand Guru (25/12/21)

This space telescope is a game changer

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## Grand Guru (25/12/21)



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## Grand Guru (25/12/21)

Unlike what us said in the video, the telescope will be orbiting at 1.5 million Km from earth and not 150 million Km.

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## Grand Guru (31/12/21)

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/9-must-see-stargazing-events-to-watch-in-2022

*9 must-see stargazing events to watch in 2022*

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## Grand Guru (2/1/22)

*A jaw-dropping look at Hubble Space Telescope best images – including Saturn’s rings*

https://nypost.com/2022/01/02/hubble-space-telescope-best-images-including-saturns-rings/

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## Intuthu Kagesi (4/1/22)



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## Raindance (4/1/22)

Intuthu Kagesi said:


> View attachment 247619


There we go, several millennia of Buddhist teachings and philosophy contained in one easy to remember statement.

Regards

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## Grand Guru (13/1/22)

Don't look up! (Epic movie by the way)

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/11/world/asteroid-earth-flyby-scn/index.html

*A kilometer-wide asteroid will make its closest pass by Earth next week*

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## Raindance (13/1/22)

Best landing footage thus far. 

Regards

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## Grand Guru (14/1/22)

Raindance said:


> Best landing footage thus far.
> 
> Regards



Around 23:00…. Very impressive indeed

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## Intuthu Kagesi (14/1/22)

Raindance said:


> Best landing footage thus far.
> Regards


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## Grand Guru (17/1/22)

One of the best videos around the question of the existence of ET life. I watched 2 years ago and came across it again today.

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## Grand Guru (24/1/22)

Beautiful

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## Grand Guru (25/1/22)



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## Grand Guru (25/1/22)

Can’t wait to see the images this telescope will take

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## Adephi (29/1/22)



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## Intuthu Kagesi (25/2/22)

Pandemics, World War 3 and just in case we survive all that ... we have two black holes waiting to swallow us up 

https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/colossal-black-holes-locked-in-dance-at-heart-of-galaxy

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## Grand Guru (11/3/22)

Inspiring

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## Grand Guru (11/3/22)

Yet, the Moon is orbiting Earth in a locked situation and if it wasn’t for the moon, life on Earth would’ve been much different.

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## Grand Guru (16/3/22)

This was more than half a century ago!


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## Grand Guru (18/3/22)

Winner winner!

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## Grand Guru (18/3/22)

YouTube links not working anymore either... 









NASA Releases First "Fully Aligned" Image From James Webb Space Telescope


NASA has released a stunning new image taken by its James Webb Space Telescope that shows a star fully in focus surrounded by a dizzying vista of galaxies.




futurism.com

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## Adephi (26/3/22)

Some footage of the designing and testing of the Artemis Lunar mission released as a music video.

This is marketing.

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## Grand Guru (27/3/22)



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## Grand Guru (19/4/22)

inspiring

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## Adephi (19/4/22)

Adephi said:


>



Just a reminder, this is predicted for next month. So far nothing yet.

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## Grand Guru (1/5/22)



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## Raindance (16/5/22)

What I managed to shoot of this mornings lunar eclipse.

Regards

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## Grand Guru (16/5/22)



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## Adephi (17/5/22)



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## Grand Guru (30/5/22)

Just a prediction

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## ARYANTO (14/6/22)

If any of you have a night-sky view tonight , there is a ''super moon'' according to my astrologer niece 



Strawberry Super Moon 2022 Lights Up The Night Sky On *June 14*

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## Grand Guru (14/6/22)

Amazing view

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## Grand Guru (17/6/22)



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## Grand Guru (12/7/22)



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## ARYANTO (13/7/22)

Tonight is no ordinary night on the calendar: A new Supermoon – also referred to as a Super Buck Moon this time – will be visible in the skies above South Africa on Wednesday

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## Grand Guru (15/7/22)

K2, the brightest comet in our solar system, will swing by Earth. Here's when to see it.


The bright K2 comet — previously the farthest active comet ever spotted — approaches the Earth on July 13 and 14. Here's what it is and how to see it.



www.usatoday.com

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## Puff the Magic Dragon (17/7/22)



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## Raindance (21/7/22)

Puff the Magic Dragon said:


>



This is a hoax just like the star collision clickbait this youtuber posted. Also reposted here somewhere above.

Regards

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## Adephi (21/7/22)

NASA's Artemis 1 moon rocket gets Aug. 29 launch date


The first three opportunities for lunar launch are in late August and early September, pending tweaks to the megarocket.




www.space.com

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## Adephi (21/7/22)

Raindance said:


> This is a hoax just like the star collision clickbait this youtuber posted. Also reposted here somewhere above.
> 
> Regards


I also noticed it's been 10 minutes from the most visible point for the last 2 weeks.

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## Grand Guru (25/8/22)

'Ridiculously Detailed' New Image of The Moon Is a Masterpiece of Space Photography


Time to upgrade your wallpapers, people.




www.sciencealert.com

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## Adephi (29/8/22)

It would have been today, but apparently there are issues with the hydrogen refueling.

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## ARYANTO (30/8/22)

Adephi said:


> It would have been today, but apparently there are issues with the hydrogen refueling.



''NASA’s Artemis 1 launch has been postponed due to a malfunctioning RS-25 engine on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The engine was to be bled with liquid hydrogen and oxygen to condition it before launch but team engineers noticed that one of the engines was not bleeding as expected. The next available launch window is on Friday, September 2nd.''

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## Grand Guru (31/8/22)

Round 2









Artemis I launch updates: NASA announces new launch date will be Saturday


NASA's space capsule, called Artemis I, will travel for roughly 40 days -- reaching as close as 60 miles from the moon.




abcnews.go.com

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## Adephi (3/9/22)

Adephi said:


> It would have been today, but apparently there are issues with the hydrogen refueling.



Scrub again. Hydrogen leaks seem to be a problem here.


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## Grand Guru (27/9/22)



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## DavyH (27/9/22)

BANG!

Good shooting, NASA! The hard data are going to be fascinating.

The overall energy release was expected to be around 10 billion kJ, which sounds like a lot until you consider that the Little Boy released 15 kilotons of energy over Hiroshima, or about 1.3 x 10^5x the size of the DART impact (my arithmetic could do with some checking here). 

The use of nukes in space is banned by treaty, but you would think there would be an exemption for a test like this. Nevertheless, if there's an appreciable orbital deviation this is an outstanding success.

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## Grand Guru (19/10/22)

Here is a video of a phenomenon à I wasn’t aware about: the moon libration showing how the moon despite being geolocked we still manage to see a little of its far side due to its elliptical orbit around the Earth. Very interesting!

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## DavyH (20/10/22)

Grand Guru said:


> Here is a video of a phenomenon à I wasn’t aware about: the moon libration showing how the moon despite being geolocked we still manage to see a little of its far side due to its elliptical orbit around the Earth. Very interesting!



In other words the moon is not made of cheese. It's made of jelly, since it wobbles 

About 59% of the moon's surface visible from earth over an extended period. It's a very cool phenomenon. I didn't watch the video, so I don't know if it's answered there, but I wonder if that's decreasing or increasing as the moon moves away from the earth.

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## Grand Guru (20/10/22)

DavyH said:


> In other words the moon is not made of cheese. It's made of jelly, since it wobbles
> 
> About 59% of the moon's surface visible from earth over an extended period. It's a very cool phenomenon. I didn't watch the video, so I don't know if it's answered there, but I wonder if that's decreasing or increasing as the moon moves away from the earth.


it wobbles

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## ARYANTO (7/11/22)

*South Africa to miss out on total blood moon eclipse*​Tuesday's Beaver Blood Moon total lunar eclipse will be the last until 2025 but will not be visible to South Africans with a naked eye. ​








South Africa to miss out on total blood moon eclipse | Review


Tuesday's Beaver Blood Moon total lunar eclipse will be the last until 2025 but will not be visible to South Africans with a naked eye.




reviewonline.co.za

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## Adephi (16/11/22)

Maybe there will be some luck into getting this off the ground today.

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## DavyH (16/11/22)

YES, Aretemis 1.

Hell yes!

I just wish NASA would take some lessons on inflight camera work from SpaceX. They've had over 60 years to practice and still can't compete with the upstart private company.

Looking forward to multiple blue marble shots and multitudes of flat earthers to troll...

Reactions: Like 1


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## Grand Guru (19/11/22)




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