Astronomy thread/Kìng a teri tanhìyä tìftia

[Toliman]

I begin to see Venus in the evening sky

Yeah, Venus start be visible again
Maybe tomorrow evening I could observe Venus and Moon surface again after longer time, forecast looks good.

[Vawmataw]

Have you ever heard about this:

http://www.astronomy.com/magazine/weirdest-objects/2015/03/40-double-quasar-0957561

[Toliman]

Have you ever heard about this:

http://www.astronomy.com/magazine/weirdest-objects/2015/03/40-double-quasar-0957561

Yeah, I heard. Looks interesting.
Hmm, it has 16.7 mag (if I had right data)... looks as good challenge for my new telescope (when I will away from my city again and if sky conditions will be excellent)

[Toliman]

I begin to see Venus in the evening sky

And I saw Venus today too
I shortly stargazed today during evening twilight (before a while xD). I observed Venus, Moon surface and few brighter double stars. Transparency was just averable (maybe even less than averable) but seeing was excellent so especially Moon surface was very nice (also thanks my 18 inch telescope too xD). Nice were also Epsilon Lyrae quadruple star and Gamma Andromedae double star (that diference between bigger orange star and second bluish star is just awesome). Thanks excellent seeing I could use huge magnifications so details of Moon surface were very impressive.

[Toliman]

First Giant Planet around White Dwarf Found
ESO observations indicate the Neptune-like exoplanet is evaporating

Researchers using ESO's Very Large Telescope have, for the first time, found evidence of a giant planet associated with a white dwarf star. The planet orbits the hot white dwarf, the remnant of a Sun-like star, at close range, causing its atmosphere to be stripped away and form a disc of gas around the star. This unique system hints at what our own Solar System might look like in the distant future.

https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1919/

[Vawmataw]

This unique system hints at what our own Solar System might look like in the distant future.

Srane

[Toliman]

This unique system hints at what our own Solar System might look like in the distant future.

Srane

Yeah



I had clear sky this morning so I stargazed short time before morning dawn. Due strong moonlight I observed only double stars again, but seeing was very good again so it was quite good observation. I observed bright pieces like as Castor, Algieba, Izar, Cor Caroli, Mizar + few less bright double stars in rising spring constellations. The best double star of this observation was Izar - very close pair with big colour contrast of both stars.

[Toliman]

ALMA Spots Most Distant Dusty Galaxy Hidden in Plain Sight

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have spotted the light of a massive galaxy seen only 970 million years after the Big Bang. This galaxy, called MAMBO-9, is the most distant dusty star-forming galaxy that has ever been observed without the help of a gravitational lens.

Dusty star-forming galaxies are the most intense stellar nurseries in the universe. They form stars at a rate up to a few thousand times the mass of the Sun per year (the star-forming rate of our Milky Way is just three solar masses per year) and they contain massive amounts of gas and dust. Such monster galaxies are not expected to have formed early in the history of the universe, but astronomers have already discovered several of them as seen when the cosmos was less than a billion years old. One of them is galaxy SPT0311-58, which ALMA observed in 2018.

Because of their extreme behavior, astronomers think that these dusty galaxies play an important role in the evolution of the universe. But finding them is easier said than done. "These galaxies tend to hide in plain sight," said Caitlin Casey of the University of Texas at Austin and lead author of a study published in The Astrophysical Journal. "We know they are out there, but they are not easy to find because their starlight is hidden in clouds of dust."


https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/press-release/alma-spots-most-distant-dusty-galaxy-hidden-in-plain-sight/



ALMA radio image of the dusty star-forming galaxy called MAMBO-9. The galaxy consists of two parts, and it is in the process of merging.

[Toliman]

HUBBLE SNAPS THE BEST CLOSE-UPS YET OF SPEEDY VISITOR FROM THE STAR
https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2019/news-2019-61.html



Interstellar comet 2I/Borisov

[Toliman]

Sounds interesting

'COTTON CANDY' PLANET MYSTERIES UNRAVEL IN NEW HUBBLE OBSERVATIONS
https://hubblesite.org/sites/hubble/contents/news-releases/2019/news-2019-60.html

NEW TYPE OF WORLD IS UNLIKE ANYTHING FOUND IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM

When astronomers look around the solar system, they find that planets can be made out of almost anything. Terrestrial planets like Earth, Mars, and Venus have dense iron cores and rocky mantles. The massive outer planets like Jupiter and Saturn are mostly gaseous and liquid. Astronomers can't peel back their cloud layers to look inside, but their composition is deduced by comparing the planet's mass (as calculated from its orbital motion) to its size. The result is that Jupiter has the density of water, and Saturn has an even lower density (it could float in a huge bathtub). These gas giants are just 1/5th the density of rocky Earth.

Now astronomers have uncovered a completely new class of planet unlike anything found in our solar system. Rather than a "terrestrial" or "gas giant" they might better be called "cotton candy" planets because their density is so low. These planets are so bloated they are nearly the size of Jupiter, but are just 1/100th of its mass. Three of them orbit the Sun-like star Kepler 51, located approximately 2,600 light-years away.

The puffed-up planets might represent a brief transitory phase in planet evolution, which would explain why we don't see anything like them in the solar system. The planets may have formed much farther from their star and migrated inward. Now their low-density hydrogen/helium atmospheres are bleeding off into space. Eventually, much smaller planets might be left behind.

"Super-Puffs" may sound like a new breakfast cereal. But it's actually the nickname for a unique and rare class of young exoplanets that have the density of cotton candy. Nothing like them exists in our solar system.

New data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have provided the first clues to the chemistry of two of these super-puffy planets, which are located in the Kepler 51 system. This exoplanet system, which actually boasts three super-puffs orbiting a young Sun-like star, was discovered by NASA's Kepler space telescope in 2012. However, it wasn't until 2014 when the low densities of these planets were determined, to the surprise of many.

The recent Hubble observations allowed a team of astronomers to refine the mass and size estimates for these worlds — independently confirming their "puffy" nature. Though no more than several times the mass of Earth, their hydrogen/helium atmospheres are so bloated they are nearly the size of Jupiter. In other words, these planets might look as big and bulky as Jupiter, but are roughly a hundred times lighter in terms of mass.

[Vawmataw]

This thread is already 7 years old.

During my trip to Disney, I remember I've seen Venus, Canopus and a meteor.

[Toliman]

Really And also, this thread will have 3000 replies soon



Yesterday evening, sky was cloudy but after midnight clouds went away so after new year celebration I took my telescope outside for new year observation Sky conditions were very good but air was frosty: - 11°C
I observed galaxies and globular cluster in spring constellations. The most epic were galaxies M51 and M101 and also central region of Virgo Cluster

[Toliman]

I stargazed tonight. Thanks very good forecast I decided for way from my city to one place with very good night sky. I started to observe after midnight (so already after moonset) and it was great observation - sky conditions were excellent, totally spectacular. Air was dry and super transparent and sky was very dark. Only temperature was not too pleasant, air was again frosty: -10°C   But it was very nice night, I observed globular clusters and galaxies in spring constellations.

Globular clusters - I observed M3, M53, NGC5053, NGC4147, M5, NGC5466, M68 , NGC5634 and three globulars from Palomar catalogue:

Palomar 3 - tiny and faint globular cluster in Sextans. It has 13.9 mag and I was able see it as faint but distinct nebulous spot. Thanks excellent sky conditions I have not bigger problems with this object.

Palomar 4 - very faint and tiny globular cluster in Ursa Major. It has 14.2 mag and it's difficult to observation because surface brightness of this cluster is very low + it's really very tiny object. I was able see it but it required averted vision and stronger magnification. It was visible as tiny and very faint spot.

Palomar 5 - very faint globular cluster in Serpens. This is relatively bright object (11.8 mag) but observation is very difficult because his surface brightness is very low. Thanks excellent sky conditions I was successfull when I used stronger magnification.

So after tonight observation I sucessfully observed 9 clusters from Palomar catalogue of 15 very obscure globular clusters... 6 items still remain
Tonight I also wanted observe some very faint NGC galaxies however I observed only smaller number of bright Messier galaxies because thanks excellent sky conditions I saw incredible details... I was not able to convince myself for moving to fainter galaxies I observed M65, M66, M81, M82, M51, M101, M94, M63, M64 and M104.
I am not able doscribe what I saw here... spiral arms of M51, dust lines at M82 and M104, slellar associations of M101. Yeah, M101 was the most epic object of this observation. Already during yesterday observation it was very nice, but tonight it was totally epic object. This galaxy has nice spiral arms but his observation is duficult due very low surface brightness, but tonight they were spectaculary nice visible. I was able saw many stellar associations in her spiral arms, I was able identify all stellar associations from this image:

Spoiler

It was very nice observation

[Vawmataw]

Txantsan nìwotx

At least you did see NGC galaxies

[Toliman]

At least you did see NGC galaxies

Yeah

It was really great night, weather, sky conditiond, seeing - all was excellent. What about your weather, forecast is still not good?

[Vawmataw]

Kehe

[Toliman]

Keftxo
I hope that you will have good weather soon.

[Toliman]

Tonight I had again clear sky so I went to stargaze after moonset again. Sky conditions were great again, comparable with previous night. It's just pity that already tomorrow weather should change to worse.
I observed mostly that faint galaxies which I originally wanted observe yesterday: faint galaxies in central part of Virgo cluster, Abell 1656 (Coma cluster) and few other fainter galaxies in spring constellations. Except this I also again observed few globular clusters and also observed planetary nebula M97.

The most interesting objects which I observed:

Abell 1656 (Coma cluster) - 330 million light year distant cluster of galaxies in area of Coma Berenices constellations. Thanks excellent sky conditions and my powerfull telescope this was really something... when I used widescreen eyepiece and targeted on core of this cluster, I was able to see almost 30 galaxies in one field of view! I saw 51 galaxies from this cluster, the brightest member has 11.5 mag (NGC4889) and the most fain galaxy of this cluster (which I was able to see) had 15 mag.

Hickson 68 - small but very compact group of galaxies in Canes Venatici - there is 5 galaxies on area only 10 arcmin. The brightest member has 11.4 mag (NGC5350) and the faintest has 13.5 mag. It's really very compact group: two galaxies from tis group are close only one arcmin so big magnification was needed.

Palomar 5 - faint globular cluster which I observed yesterday - I observed it again because yesterday I observed it shortly before end of astronomy night and I had not enough time for longer observation. Tonight I observed it more detailed. This cluster is relatively bright (11.8 mag) but thanks bigger size it has very low surface brightness. I was able see it as faint bigger grained nebulous spot and I also noticed few separated tiny stars, however I am not sure whether they are members of this globular cluster.

[Toliman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix1lzur2QLQ

[Toliman]

NASA'S GREAT OBSERVATORIES HELP ASTRONOMERS BUILD A 3D VISUALIZATION OF EXPLODED STAR
https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2020/news-2020-03

In the year 1054 AD, Chinese sky watchers witnessed the sudden appearance of a "new star" in the heavens, which they recorded as six times brighter than Venus, making it the brightest observed stellar event in recorded history. This "guest star," as they described it, was so bright that people saw it in the sky during the day for almost a month. Native Americans also recorded its mysterious appearance in petroglyphs.

Observing the nebula with the largest telescope of the time, Lord Rosse in 1844 named the object the "Crab" because of its tentacle-like structure. But it wasn't until the 1900s that astronomers realized the nebula was the surviving relic of the 1054 supernova, the explosion of a massive star.

Now, astronomers and visualization specialists from the NASA's Universe of Learning program have combined the visible, infrared, and X-ray vision of NASA's Great Observatories to create a three-dimensional representation of the dynamic Crab Nebula.

The multiwavelength computer graphics visualization is based on images from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes. The approximately four-minute video dissects the intricate nested structure that makes up this stellar corpse, giving viewers a better understanding of the extreme and complex physical processes powering the nebula. The powerhouse "engine" energizing the entire system is a pulsar, a rapidly spinning neutron star, the super-dense crushed core of the exploded star. The tiny dynamo is blasting out blistering pulses of radiation 30 times a second with unbelievable clockwork precision.

Astronomers and visualization specialists from the NASA's Universe of Learning program have combined the visible, infrared, and X-ray vision of NASA's Great Observatories to create a three-dimensional representation of the dynamic Crab Nebula, the tattered remains of an exploded star.

The multiwavelength computer graphics visualization is based on images from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes.


https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2020/news-2020-03