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Astronomical sightings thread

Kragar

By Kragar
in Off-Topic General

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RUPERTKBD Canucks Hall-of-Famer

RUPERTKBD

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6 hours ago, Ilunga said:

 

Oh yeah.

 

What a few of us have been waiting for has happened.

 

" The James Webb is fully focused and it beats expectations" 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60771210#amp_tf=From %1%24s&aoh=16476739978146&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fscience-environment-60771210

I was watching a show the other day on BBC Earth about the search for Exoplanets. They mentioned the James Webb Telescope, but at the time the episode was made, it hadn't been launched yet....however, they went into a fair amount of depth about what it would be able to do, once it was operational....

 

Aside from amazing photos, the JWT is going to help them identify the various gases present in the atmospheres of exoplanets. (It blows me away that they can do that at all) The presence of certain gases in the atmosphere are strong indicators that the planet might harbor life forms....(Interesting factoid: Oxygen isn't one of them)

 

Exciting stuff....

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Gurn Canucks Hall-of-Famer

Gurn

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Plants grown in soil from the moon:

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/technology/researchers-found-a-new-roadblock-in-the-quest-to-inhabit-the-moon/ar-AAXinNS?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=6e584e6e74c142df8b79a26620fcc1ef

Anew study says that growing plants on the Moon is possible. But it causes a massive amount of stress on the plants. The researchers published their findings in Communications Biology. It’s the first study to show success at growing plants in lunar soil returned from the Apollo missions all those years ago.

One of NASA’s biggest pushes right now is to put humans back on the Moon. The space agency is already working with some companies to create new lunar rovers, and it is already sending a spacecraft around the Moon later this year.

But, if we ever want to progress to the point of living on the Moon, we have to be able to provide for the people who live there.

This is why scientists have spent countless hours, days, and even years trying to grow plants in lunar soil. But now that we’ve proven that plants can grow on the Moon, we have to tackle another difficult issue. Making that growth easier on the plants.

It might sound silly to worry about how much stress a plant is taking on. But, it’s actually a very serious issue. Even when talking about potted plants in your home, there are ways you can stress them out. This stress can then lead to weaker growth and other issues with the plant. If we’re going to use terrestrial life to help generate life support and food on the Moon, we need to get those stress levels down.

Still, even taking this first step is absolutely astounding. The soil on the Moon is nothing like the soil that you can find on Earth. It’s sharper, more abrasive, and doesn’t contain any organic elements.

Further, there are certain chemical states in lunar soil that you just won’t find in our own planet’s soils. And that doesn’t even cover the weak atmosphere and radiation that constantly bombards our Moon.

Turning yellow from stress

So yes, while it does seem possible to grow plants on the Moon, there’s still a lot of legwork to do before we send our favorite plants to occupy the lunar surface. The researchers say that the plants grew, but they didn’t do fantastically well. There were signs of low volume, slow growth, and even some discoloration. All of which are signs that the plant is extremely stressed.

So, before we go planting things on the Moon, we’re going to need to do more research. Especially if we want to be able to grow plants in locally sourced soils. Otherwise, we’ll need to find ways to move thousands and thousands of pounds of Earth’s soil to the lunar surface. Which would be costly and time-consuming.

But growing plants on the Moon is a noble idea and one that just makes sense in the grand scheme. Plants provide oxygen, which could be used to help create atmospheres that are breathable within lunar colonies. Further, plants can provide food for astronauts and colonists living on the Moon.

This would help cut down on expenditures of bringing food and oxygen from Earth to those lunar colonies.

Still, we’re a long way off. This new research is a huge step in the right direction, no doubt. And it will be intriguing to see where scientists take these attempts next. Perhaps, if we’re lucky enough, they’ll find a way to reliably grow plants on the Moon without overstressing the plants sometime in the future. If not, space colonization is going to be a terribly expensive endeavor.

 

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UnkNuk Canucks Third-Line

UnkNuk

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And in JWST news:

 

https://www.cnet.com/science/space/nasa-james-webb-target-acquired-a-super-earth-covered-in-lava-oceans/?ftag=CAD-03-10abj4f

 

It's getting closer to showtime for NASA's cutting-edge mission to unveil an unfiltered universe and redefine the whimsy of "looking up at the stars." After a successful journey thus far -- having breezed through steps like traveling a million miles from Earth and aligning its 18 hexagonal, gold-plated mirrors -- the James Webb Space Telescope is just "weeks away" from full operation, the agency says. 

 

In preparation for Webb's very first cosmic discoveries, NASA is racking up a list of exciting interstellar targets. On Thursday, it announced two that definitely do not disappoint: a pair of scorching super-Earths that pretty much sound like Star Trek worlds. 

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UnkNuk Canucks Third-Line

UnkNuk

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Mark your calendars:

 

https://www.cnet.com/science/space/nasa-announces-arrival-date-of-first-james-webb-space-telescope-images/?ftag=CAD-03-10abj4f

 

A new era in astronomy starts in July.

 

NASA says the first full-color images from its next-generation James Webb Space Telescope will be released on July 12, a moment that has been decades in the making. 

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Ilunga Canucks First-Line

Ilunga

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On 6/11/2022 at 2:22 PM, UnkNuk said:

Mark your calendars:

 

https://www.cnet.com/science/space/nasa-announces-arrival-date-of-first-james-webb-space-telescope-images/?ftag=CAD-03-10abj4f

 

A new era in astronomy starts in July.

 

NASA says the first full-color images from its next-generation James Webb Space Telescope will be released on July 12, a moment that has been decades in the making. 

As a few of us are I am pretty excited about this.

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Ilunga Canucks First-Line

Ilunga

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Another update on the James Webb telescope.

 

https://theconversation.com/the-james-webb-space-telescope-is-finally-ready-to-do-science-and-its-seeing-the-universe-more-clearly-than-even-its-own-engineers-hoped-for-184989#amp_tf=From %1%24s&aoh=16553363295430&csi=1&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Ftheconversation.com%2Fthe-james-webb-space-telescope-is-finally-ready-to-do-science-and-its-seeing-the-universe-more-clearly-than-even-its-own-engineers-hoped-for-184989

 

 

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UnkNuk Canucks Third-Line

UnkNuk

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I'll probably just catch up on them a bit later but for the real keeners out there:

 

NASA to Unveil First James Webb Space Telescope Images Next Week: How to Watch

 

How to catch the first JWST images


The JWST team will host a main event to unveil the telescope's images in real time on Tuesday, July 12, at 7:30 a.m. PT. You can watch it on NASA TV, seen below. 

Here's that time around the world.

 

US: 7:30 a.m. PT / 10:30 a.m. ET
Brazil: 11:30 a.m. (Federal District)
UK: 3:30 p.m.
South Africa: 4:30 p.m.
Russia: 5:30 p.m. (Moscow)
UAE: 6:30 p.m. 
India: 8:00 p.m.
China: 10:30 p.m.
Japan: 11:30 p.m.
Australia: July 13, 1:30 a.m. AEDT

 

More info at:

 

https://www.cnet.com/science/space/how-to-watch-nasa-release-the-first-james-webb-space-telescope-images/?ftag=CAD-03-10abj4f

 

The link for NASA tv is:

 

https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive

 

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Ilunga Canucks First-Line

Ilunga

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List of " targets" for the Webb. 

 

https://scitechdaily.com/nasa-releases-list-of-stunning-cosmic-targets-for-webb-telescopes-first-images/#amp_tf=From %1%24s&aoh=16575374197560&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fscitechdaily.com%2Fnasa-releases-list-of-stunning-cosmic-targets-for-webb-telescopes-first-images%2F

 

 

 

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RUPERTKBD Canucks Hall-of-Famer

RUPERTKBD

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Speaking of images, I may have posted this before, but in case I haven't, this website is a repository of some very cool astronomy images. If you click on "archive" at the bottom of the page, it shows a list of previous APODs.....

 

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

 

Today's is a shot of the Andromeda Galaxy taken from the Sahara Desert:

The featured image shows a zoom into the Andromeda Galaxy over dunes in the Sahara Desert. Two people are barely visible at the top of one of the dunes. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

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Ilunga Canucks First-Line

Ilunga

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4 hours ago, nuckin_futz said:

The first image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows thousands of galaxies, the deepest and sharpest image of the early universe ever taken.

 

The first image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows thousands of galaxies, the deepest and sharpest image of the early universe ever taken.

To think that this is as close as we can get ATM to a time machine. 

 

Blows my mind that we are actually looking backwards through time.

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