Astronomy / The Universe

[Cade]

What happens when an upper stage engine fires before the faring separates?

 

This. (bottom video)

 

This is what happens.

 

oops.

 

 

Edited February 10, 2022 by Cade

[Cade]

SpaceX announce Raptor 2, a new generation of engines.

More powerful than their current Raptor engines.

Simplified design.

Around half the cost.

 

They're knocking it out of the park these days.

29 of these feckers on the Starship first stage.

Orbit nae bother.

[Jambo_jim2001]

Looking good for the JWT 

 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60771210.amp

Edited March 16, 2022 by Jambo_jim2001

[Unknown user]

On 11/02/2022 at 22:27, Cade said:

SpaceX announce Raptor 2, a new generation of engines.

More powerful than their current Raptor engines.

Simplified design.

Around half the cost.

 

They're knocking it out of the park these days.

29 of these feckers on the Starship first stage.

Orbit nae bother.

 

I watched a tour of the factory on Smarter Every Day, fantastic stuff

[Cade]

7 hours ago, Jambo_jim2001 said:

Looking good for the JWT 

 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60771210.amp

 

It's amazing that not only did everything work as intended, but that the resolution is far superior to what they had imagined possible.

 

Cannot wait to see the science coming in from the JWST.

[JFK-1]

Galaxies can be seen in the background. I'm sure I can see actual features and it's not even focused on them.

 

[superjack]

2 hours ago, JFK-1 said:

Galaxies can be seen in the background. I'm sure I can see actual features and it's not even focused on them.

 

I wonder what a photo of the same star from hubble would be like as a comparison. 

[John Gentleman]

31 minutes ago, superjack said:

I wonder what a photo of the same star from hubble would be like as a comparison. 

The star is 2000 light years away so, yes, Hubble could easily take a snapshot. The difference is the JWST imaged it at the near-infrared wavelength, whereas Hubble would image it in the visible light wavelength. The star (and the objects surrounding it) would look more yellow/blue/white -- what we humans would call 'true colour'.
Maybe NASA could do a comparison image, for the benefit of all non-scientists?

[PortyJambo]

Hairy Black Holes - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60708711

[Unknown user]

31 minutes ago, PortyJambo said:

Hairy Black Holes - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60708711

Lithgae's a wild place

[JFK-1]

On 17/03/2022 at 05:29, superjack said:

I wonder what a photo of the same star from hubble would be like as a comparison. 

 

Betelgeuse, imaged by Hubble, around 600 light years away so closer than the Webb test star and I suspect considerably bigger.

Betelgeuse is so large if it were to replace the sun at the centre of our solar system it would engulf Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars in fact everything all the way out to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

The image was taken in ultraviolet light with the Faint Object Camera on March 3, 1995.

[Jambo_jim2001]

 

Amazing footage from Mars,hope I live long enough to witness manned landings 😎😎

[JFK-1]

Maybe you guys could pick apart my idea of the universe. Well not exactly my idea but inspired information from physicists. I posted this on another forum on the same topic, the universe, some months ago when Webb telescope was launched.

Somebody had said that it was somewhat depressing that the universe may just fizzle out and disappear around 100 trillion years from now. Which is an actual prediction of one theory.

I replied with this.

The physics would appear to hint that this isn't the only universe. They're stuck at a point where the math appears perfect but math alone wont do it in physics. And no one can think of a way to test/demonstrate anything about it.

There's a theoretical physicist called Lawrence Krauss who inserted an idea into my head. He wrote a book called 'a universe from nothing'.

Just in passing one of his intentions with the book was to negate religious rambling about how do you get something from nothing? Has to be a creator. Regarding which of course they then quickly negate their own argument by providing no explanation of where the creator came from.

Why he just always existed. But the universe apparently can't just always exist despite the fact it's far less complex than an omnipotent eternal creator.

But anyway, I always had problems trying to get my head around the concept of absolutely nothing. Though managed to form a degree of understanding regarding dimensions outside our 3D reality.

I feel that's probably real. We are surrounded by dimensions we cannot see and if there were life in those dimensions they would not see us. And, expanding the idea Krauss put into my head further.

Krauss says that if you could somehow cut out a cubic metre of space someplace. And that space would be completely empty, not as much as a quark in there. But if you could weigh this imaginary square metre of space it would weigh something. How can that be?

Krauss says he thinks energy may be an eternal natural phenomena which spontaneously occurs. If we were to accept a concept of absolutely nothing, not even any space, then space is something inserted into this nothing. It's a something and has to have some sort of substance, on some level.

They don't know the shape of the universe, but one speculation is a sphere, like a balloon. And I like that one because I can get my head around it better than others. What we see does match with that speculation at least in some ways.

Imagine a balloon you haven't inflated yet, you can lie it flat on a table and cover it all over with dots using a felt pen. Then when you inflate it all those dots are going to move apart as the balloon stretches.

The more it inflates the further away from each other they get. Exactly what the universe looks like with all the galaxies flying apart.

Space is like a fabric resulting from a point of energy, energy which just naturally occurred in a specific point over who knows how long ,then hit a stage where it perhaps couldn't be contained in this point any longer and began this continuing inflation we see.

Everything else like the galaxies is embedded in this fabric and you might consider the inside of the balloon some sort of hyperspace. And why would this balloon be unique? Nothing else we ever found has been when it comes to the universe.

It's speculated that the universe may be like a little bubble in an infinite foam of bubbles. And there is math to support such hypothesising. But, who knows, we're guessing.

My greatest hope for this telescope is that it can help answer some of the questions I'm raising above. It might open up a new branch of physics. I would also speculate ultimate answers may have to come from larger particle accelerators.

An upgrade for CERN that would be like comparing Hubble to Webb. But I expect China not CERN to do that first. 

[Jambo_jim2001]

Your away in the realms of quantum mechanics,string theory,dark energy and what lurks in the spaces of nothingness. Totally mind boggling concepts and theories abound, everything has a beginning and an end,from death there is always a new beginning,the one thing that the universe is constant in is that it never seems to destroy energy,just moves it from one form to the other. As for our human consciousness, are we the universe trying to discover itself? We are not even on the foreshore of a great ocean of discovery ©

[JFK-1]

On 10/04/2022 at 05:36, Jambo_jim2001 said:

Your away in the realms of quantum mechanics,string theory,dark energy and what lurks in the spaces of nothingness. Totally mind boggling concepts and theories abound, everything has a beginning and an end,from death there is always a new beginning,the one thing that the universe is constant in is that it never seems to destroy energy,just moves it from one form to the other. As for our human consciousness, are we the universe trying to discover itself? We are not even on the foreshore of a great ocean of discovery ©

 

Believe me i'm no mathematician, and I have seen many a physicist say if anyone claims they understand quantum theory they don't understand quantum theory. Actually that might have been string theory, one or the other.

But I think there are some concepts a layman can grasp such as the balloon covered in dots analogy I used to illustrate the spherical expanding universe concept. Everybody can grasp and envisage that which may lead to further thoughts.
 

Here we and everything else are on the surface of the balloon so to speak, what's inside the balloon? Anything? And that ends up taking you further down the rabbit hole. 😉

[Maple Leaf]

On 10/04/2022 at 04:09, JFK-1 said:

Maybe you guys could pick apart my idea of the universe. Well not exactly my idea but inspired information from physicists. I posted this on another forum on the same topic, the universe, some months ago when Webb telescope was launched.

Somebody had said that it was somewhat depressing that the universe may just fizzle out and disappear around 100 trillion years from now. Which is an actual prediction of one theory.

I replied with this.

The physics would appear to hint that this isn't the only universe. They're stuck at a point where the math appears perfect but math alone wont do it in physics. And no one can think of a way to test/demonstrate anything about it.

There's a theoretical physicist called Lawrence Krauss who inserted an idea into my head. He wrote a book called 'a universe from nothing'.

Just in passing one of his intentions with the book was to negate religious rambling about how do you get something from nothing? Has to be a creator. Regarding which of course they then quickly negate their own argument by providing no explanation of where the creator came from.

Why he just always existed. But the universe apparently can't just always exist despite the fact it's far less complex than an omnipotent eternal creator.

But anyway, I always had problems trying to get my head around the concept of absolutely nothing. Though managed to form a degree of understanding regarding dimensions outside our 3D reality.

I feel that's probably real. We are surrounded by dimensions we cannot see and if there were life in those dimensions they would not see us. And, expanding the idea Krauss put into my head further.

Krauss says that if you could somehow cut out a cubic metre of space someplace. And that space would be completely empty, not as much as a quark in there. But if you could weigh this imaginary square metre of space it would weigh something. How can that be?

Krauss says he thinks energy may be an eternal natural phenomena which spontaneously occurs. If we were to accept a concept of absolutely nothing, not even any space, then space is something inserted into this nothing. It's a something and has to have some sort of substance, on some level.

They don't know the shape of the universe, but one speculation is a sphere, like a balloon. And I like that one because I can get my head around it better than others. What we see does match with that speculation at least in some ways.

Imagine a balloon you haven't inflated yet, you can lie it flat on a table and cover it all over with dots using a felt pen. Then when you inflate it all those dots are going to move apart as the balloon stretches.

The more it inflates the further away from each other they get. Exactly what the universe looks like with all the galaxies flying apart.

Space is like a fabric resulting from a point of energy, energy which just naturally occurred in a specific point over who knows how long ,then hit a stage where it perhaps couldn't be contained in this point any longer and began this continuing inflation we see.

Everything else like the galaxies is embedded in this fabric and you might consider the inside of the balloon some sort of hyperspace. And why would this balloon be unique? Nothing else we ever found has been when it comes to the universe.

It's speculated that the universe may be like a little bubble in an infinite foam of bubbles. And there is math to support such hypothesising. But, who knows, we're guessing.

My greatest hope for this telescope is that it can help answer some of the questions I'm raising above. It might open up a new branch of physics. I would also speculate ultimate answers may have to come from larger particle accelerators.

An upgrade for CERN that would be like comparing Hubble to Webb. But I expect China not CERN to do that first. 

 

It seems that the universe is infinitely large, which is a concept that human brains cannot grasp.  Well, at least, my human brain can't. 

I can't even grasp the size of the solar system. About 20 years ago I was astonished when I  realised that it's impossible to build a visible scale model of the solar system. And we all know how tiny and irrelevant the solar system is.

 

Before he wrote "A Universe from Nothing", Lawrence Krauss wrote a book called "The Greatest Story Ever Told ... So Far."  I'd read good things about Krauss, so I bought the book and tried to read it.  It was a humbling experience, a real "whoooosh" moment for me intellectually.

I'm sticking with Sagan!!

 

[Cade]

Well, the universe isn't infinite......but it is still expanding from the point of the Big Bang.

 

Not only are galaxies and other structures travelling away from each other through space, but space itself is expanding.

 

And from what we can tell, rather than slowing down, the rate of expansion seems to be speeding up.

[Pap]

When will get the first snaps from the JWT?

[Cade]

JWST still has many weeks of configuring the other 3 main instruments before any real science can be done on it.

They're taking applications from scientists for targets and project time, so it's coming.

[JFK-1]

2 hours ago, Cade said:

JWST still has many weeks of configuring the other 3 main instruments before any real science can be done on it.

They're taking applications from scientists for targets and project time, so it's coming.

 

All the time on the telescope has already been allotted for the first year. A whole 40% of the first year has been given to researchers who worked on planning and building the telescope. I think a deep field is going to be the first task.

 

They probably want to blow our minds with the first image after everything is fully operational.

 

[Pap]

I cant even imagine what the photos will be like. Cant wait.

[Ulysses]

Does the writer of Monday's update on the Curiosity mission have some connection with Scotland?

 

https://mars.nasa.gov/MSL/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/index.cfm?mu=sols-3442-3443-deoch-an-doris

[Unknown user]

8 minutes ago, Ulysses said:

Does the writer of Monday's update on the Curiosity mission have some connection with Scotland?

 

https://mars.nasa.gov/MSL/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/index.cfm?mu=sols-3442-3443-deoch-an-doris

 

The landscape certainly seems to, Feorachas is Gaelic for curiosity, Up Helley would refer to up helly aa.

[JFK-1]

14 hours ago, Maple Leaf said:

 

It seems that the universe is infinitely large, which is a concept that human brains cannot grasp.  Well, at least, my human brain can't. 

I can't even grasp the size of the solar system. About 20 years ago I was astonished when I  realised that it's impossible to build a visible scale model of the solar system. And we all know how tiny and irrelevant the solar system is.

 

Before he wrote "A Universe from Nothing", Lawrence Krauss wrote a book called "The Greatest Story Ever Told ... So Far."  I'd read good things about Krauss, so I bought the book and tried to read it.  It was a humbling experience, a real "whoooosh" moment for me intellectually.

I'm sticking with Sagan!!

 

 

With Sagan it wasn't just the fact he was smart, he was a brilliant communicator. He had a way of describing to us grunts difficult concepts in a manner we can get some sort of a handle on it.

But in my view anyway it was also the fact that he had this remarkable composed and dignified manner in his delivery. He's still the benchmark for that kind of thing. For me.

Carl Sagan attempts to give us grunts some modicum of understanding regarding dimensions outside our 3D world which we cannot see.

 

 

[Jambo_jim2001]

On 12/04/2022 at 08:12, JFK-1 said:

 

Believe me i'm no mathematician, and I have seen many a physicist say if anyone claims they understand quantum theory they don't understand quantum theory. Actually that might have been string theory, one or the other.

But I think there are some concepts a layman can grasp such as the balloon covered in dots analogy I used to illustrate the spherical expanding universe concept. Everybody can grasp and envisage that which may lead to further thoughts.
 

Here we and everything else are on the surface of the balloon so to speak, what's inside the balloon? Anything? And that ends up taking you further down the rabbit hole. 😉

Just shows how little mankind knows as of yet,,this guy showing the expanding earth theory interesting stuff.

 

 

 

[John Gentleman]

10 hours ago, Jambo_jim2001 said:

Just shows how little mankind knows as of yet,,this guy showing the expanding earth theory interesting stuff.

 

 

 

 

[JFK-1]

1 hour ago, John Gentleman said:

 

 

I have been subscribed to that guy for years. Good presentations.

[Cade]

 

[Jambo_jim2001]

Russia announced new moon program,country bankrupt and this😳

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/04/12/russia-will-restart-moon-landings-says-putin-a77323

[Mister T]

12 hours ago, Jambo_jim2001 said:

Russia announced new moon program,country bankrupt and this😳

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/04/12/russia-will-restart-moon-landings-says-putin-a77323

I think the lad in the middle is equally sceptical 😂

[Cade]

How is he going to do that?

Roscosmos just tore up every contract it has for launches.

They have no money coming in.

 

With SpaceX and others stepping up, Russia is no longer the only way to get humans into orbit.

Once SLS and Starship go online, they'll be light years ahead of the Russians, who are still replying on 1960s technology.

[Ulysses]

On 13/04/2022 at 01:59, Smithee said:

 

The landscape certainly seems to, Feorachas is Gaelic for curiosity, Up Helley would refer to up helly aa.

 

I was wondering who came up with the names.

[JFK-1]

Russia is done as a major space power. Basket case of an economy that's only going to get worse not better once we stop buying their oil/gas. And they can't even produce essential computer components themselves.

The US is still the major space power, China will get in on the act too plus possibly the EU. As I said, Russia is done. 

[Bigsmak]

13 hours ago, Mister T said:

I think the lad in the middle is equally sceptical 😂

 

The Lad on the right is the Russian Bill Murray

[Bigsmak]

4th Dimension stuff is so hard to get your head around, or inside - or... like side by side.  I don't know, I don't really understand it - but this video helped! 

 

 

[Jambo_jim2001]

16 hours ago, Mister T said:

I think the lad in the middle is equally sceptical 😂

Probably an AK-47 pointed in his direction😳

[Cade]

Putin: "we're going to do manned moon landings within 5 years"

Guy in middle "I'll never see my wife and kids again"

Guy on right "I'll launch you ya rocket"

[Unknown user]

3 hours ago, Bigsmak said:

4th Dimension stuff is so hard to get your head around, or inside - or... like side by side.  I don't know, I don't really understand it - but this video helped! 

 

 

 

I do get the principle, but to me it's just a radge theoretical concept

[Bigsmak]

15 minutes ago, Smithee said:

 

I do get the principle, but to me it's just a radge theoretical concept

 

I agree - Good thought experiments though. 

[maroonlegions]

TODAY AT 18:41

TESS Telescope Found New Planets Better Than Earth

Tune in to watch live

 

 

7m  · 

TESS Telescope Discovered New Planets Better Than Earth

 

 

 

[Jambo_jim2001]

Found this easy to understand  accelerating universe theory talk👍

 

 

 

[Cade]

Ingenuity drone did a fly-by of the landing site of the top half of the sky crane.

 

 

 

For reference, here's the same thing in the factory on Earth

Edited April 27, 2022 by Cade

[JFK-1]

Interesting concept I had never heard discussed before in this video. There's a theory that the Sun wasn't always the solo act it is now. But rather was born in a massive dust/gas cloud and was initially in relatively close proximity to up to a thousand other 'sibling' solar systems.

 

A star cluster all formed from the same cloud so will have the same elemental properties. Over time the cluster dispersed and presumably the sibling systems went their own way too.

 

An exploration of the sun's birth cluster and the cousin stars to the sun and whether they may have an elevated chance for spawning life.

 

 

[maroonlegions]

 

 

 

Quantum computers could make it possible to build huge telescopes the size of a planet. The approach would allow astronomers to reduce the blur on images of distant objects

 

NEWSCIENTIST.COM

Planet-sized telescopes could be possible using quantum technique

 

 

 

 

[maroonlegions]

3 Exciting  new deep space telescopes  coming in the future; Launched by 2034. 

 

 

 

ESA/ATG medialab

 

PLANETARY TRANSITS AND OSCILLATIONS OF STARS (PLATO)

Expected launch date: 2026

 

This European Space Agency project will scour a million stars looking for blips in their light that betray the presence of an orbiting planet. Similar kinds of previous telescopes have only been able to see planets that are close to their stars and so pass in front of them frequently. Plato will linger on each star for longer and so has the chance to detect planets that are more distant from their star, with a longer orbital period. In particular, the mission is focused on trying to spot signs of rocky exoplanets in the habitable zone, the narrow region of a star system in which temperatures are right for liquid water. It also has the tools to characterise such worlds, providing clues as to how Earth-like they may be.

 

NASA

NANCY GRACE ROMAN SPACE TELESCOPE

Expected launch date: 2025

Like the James Webb Space Telescope (see main story), the Roman Space Telescope, named after the first female executive at NASA, will observe mainly infrared radiation. But while the JWST focuses on detail, Roman is going for the big picture. The telescope has a panoramic field of view more than 100 times greater than the JWST’s. During its first five years, Roman will image more than 50 times as much sky as the Hubble Space Telescope covered in its first 30 years. That will allow it to make the first wide-field infrared maps of the sky. It is hoped this will help solve mysteries like the true identity of dark matter and dark energy. Astronomers can see the influence of these substances on the universe but have not been able to explain what they are.

 

ADVERTISING

 

ESA

LASER INTERFEROMETER SPACE ANTENNA (LISA)

Expected launch date: 2034

We first detected gravitational waves, ripples in the fabric of space, in 2015. So far, we have seen waves from black hole and neutron star collisions. LISA, a mission led by the European Space Agency, will be a much larger gravitational wave detector than existing ground-based ones. It will consist of three spacecraft positioned 2.5 million kilometres apart in a triangular formation. This space detector will be sensitive to gravitational waves with extremely low frequencies. Among other things, it could allow us to spot planets in other galaxies just from the subtle way in which they influence the gravitational waves produced by their parent stars. Until now, all confirmed discoveries of exoplanets have been in our own Milky Way galaxy.

 

Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25233640-700-3-of-the-most-exciting-space-telescopes-planned-for-launch-by-2034/#ixzz7SE128iSy

[JFK-1]

On 03/05/2022 at 06:57, maroonlegions said:

3 Exciting  new deep space telescopes  coming in the future; Launched by 2034. 

 

 

 

ESA/ATG medialab

 

PLANETARY TRANSITS AND OSCILLATIONS OF STARS (PLATO)

Expected launch date: 2026

 

This European Space Agency project will scour a million stars looking for blips in their light that betray the presence of an orbiting planet. Similar kinds of previous telescopes have only been able to see planets that are close to their stars and so pass in front of them frequently. Plato will linger on each star for longer and so has the chance to detect planets that are more distant from their star, with a longer orbital period. In particular, the mission is focused on trying to spot signs of rocky exoplanets in the habitable zone, the narrow region of a star system in which temperatures are right for liquid water. It also has the tools to characterise such worlds, providing clues as to how Earth-like they may be.

 

NASA

NANCY GRACE ROMAN SPACE TELESCOPE

Expected launch date: 2025

Like the James Webb Space Telescope (see main story), the Roman Space Telescope, named after the first female executive at NASA, will observe mainly infrared radiation. But while the JWST focuses on detail, Roman is going for the big picture. The telescope has a panoramic field of view more than 100 times greater than the JWST’s. During its first five years, Roman will image more than 50 times as much sky as the Hubble Space Telescope covered in its first 30 years. That will allow it to make the first wide-field infrared maps of the sky. It is hoped this will help solve mysteries like the true identity of dark matter and dark energy. Astronomers can see the influence of these substances on the universe but have not been able to explain what they are.

 

ADVERTISING

 

ESA

LASER INTERFEROMETER SPACE ANTENNA (LISA)

Expected launch date: 2034

We first detected gravitational waves, ripples in the fabric of space, in 2015. So far, we have seen waves from black hole and neutron star collisions. LISA, a mission led by the European Space Agency, will be a much larger gravitational wave detector than existing ground-based ones. It will consist of three spacecraft positioned 2.5 million kilometres apart in a triangular formation. This space detector will be sensitive to gravitational waves with extremely low frequencies. Among other things, it could allow us to spot planets in other galaxies just from the subtle way in which they influence the gravitational waves produced by their parent stars. Until now, all confirmed discoveries of exoplanets have been in our own Milky Way galaxy.

 

Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25233640-700-3-of-the-most-exciting-space-telescopes-planned-for-launch-by-2034/#ixzz7SE128iSy

 

It's always interesting and perhaps encouraging when a feature of a theory is proven around a hundred years later. Gravitational waves were predicted by Einstein in general relativity.

I think Einstein published in 1915 and gravitational waves were first detected in 2015. Apparently the source was two black holes merging 1.3 billion light years away.

[Unknown user]

15 minutes ago, JFK-1 said:

 

It's always interesting and perhaps encouraging when a feature of a theory is proven around a hundred years later. Gravitational waves were predicted by Einstein in general relativity.

I think Einstein published in 1915 and gravitational waves were first detected in 2015. Apparently the source was two black holes merging 1.3 billion light years away.

I recommend Steve Mould's YouTube video on gravitational waves, he has such a good way of making complex things intuitive.

[JFK-1]

What If the Galactic Habitable Zone LIMITS Intelligent Life?

 

 

[Cade]

Boeing's starliner crew vehicle has started an unmanned test flight up to the ISS.

 

It's years behind schedule, billions over budget and even if it works properly it'll be far more expensive per flight than SpaceX's Crew Dragon, but they're determined to keep moving on with the project, seeing as they've spent so much on it.

Sunk cost fallacy in action, ladies&gents.

 

[Cade]

Live footage of Starliner docking with ISS

 

 

 

I still reckon Starliner is a dead end and they're only proceeding with it because they've spunked so much money on it already.