Look Out Of Your Window Now! Astronomical events.

[The Hawk]

I was glued to last nights press conference, which contained a succession of 'WOW' moments.

It was a fascinating broadcast and far better than watching Boris who I believe was on TV at the same time.

 

[Withnail]

My favourite bit was that kid who entered stage right with 'greetings fellow space nerds'.

In the spirit of 'that kid' - long read but worth it: Mars or bust (an Imgur guide to the human exploration of Mars in 2021)

But keep that timeframe in mind.

We are doing stuff now as we are finally getting the technology TO do it. But there is also stuff we want to do which we can’t do yet. Because we need to work out how. Which means?

See human exploration onto other planets in a 100 year window - 1969-2069.

By 2069 we will be doing the stuff we dreamed about doing in 1969

 

[BobClay]

High resolution images from Mars via previous rovers including the Curiosity Rover (sky-craned onto Mars 10 years ago.) Sorry about the embedded advertising.

Many years ago I heard a Russian scientist answering a question as to why so much money and effort was being spent on exploring Mars. I thought his answer was perfect (if not a little sinister. )

"Because there's a whole world up for grabs out there."

Mars is surely the first extra-terrestrial planet we will visit. Venus gets closer to Earth, but as a world up for grabs ? ... it's seriously hostile. (It could be Venus is an example of what the Earth will be like at sometime in the future.)

 

[BobClay]

I'm told tonight's full Moon is a 'Snow Moon.' Apparently named by Native Americans.
I've fiddled with the camera on this new phone and tried for a pix in 'Night Mode' and got this looking east across my garden. I'm still figuring this phone out.

 

[BobClay]

I need to mount the phone on a tripod as the 'Night Mode' opens out the exposure time. Amazon do an adaptor with a remote shutter release thrown in for under a tenner. I might give it a try. Standing outside in the dark I heard some strange howlings in the distance. I put it down to a full moon over Cornwall and its populace.

 

[staffordjas]

I was intrigued why a young lad was filming something up the road on his phone this afternoon . Must have been the full moon visible at 3.30pm that I could see.

 

[BobClay]

A colossal thermo-nuclear explosion was observed across the waters of Cape Hatteras recently.

No, I am not shitting you !! It was of course a setting Sun. Apparently the water was warmer than the air temperature which gives this strange effect due to refraction. More info here:

 

[BobClay]

Regarding the post above about the tripod adaptor for a mobile phone. I ordered one after I posted and it arrived today.
Simple but handy bit of kit with a remote blue-tooth shutter release thrown in for £8.99. All tested and working well.

Can't grumble at that price ....

 

[The Hawk]

Fireball across the sky just before 10pm last night. If you've got any cameras might be worth checking for footage.

It is believed that this one may have reached the ground, with a predicted fall area in an area near Cheltenham.

 

[BobClay]

Someone in our village reported it, said it was an amazing display.

 

[The Hawk]

My friend Ogilvy, the one who reported the strange bursts of light from Mars a while back, is on the scene, on a common near Cheltenham, and has just sent me the first picture.

 

[Gramaisc]

If you've got any cameras might be worth checking for footage.

Some is appearing - https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/mar/01/uk-meteor-huge-flash-as-fireball-lights-up-skies

 

[Trumpet]

Some is appearing - https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/mar/01/uk-meteor-huge-flash-as-fireball-lights-up-skies

Impressive.

 

[BobClay]

Before you know it we'll be up to our arses in tripod machines, red weed and aliens completely lacking in a sense of humour.

Mind you, in Cheltenham that's pretty normal.

 

[Noah]

Cheltenham? Don't suppose it could have been targeting a certain building there?

 

[BobClay]

Big ugly nasty orrible dribbly toothy acid for blood types are nothing those lads and ladies can't handle.

 

[Gramaisc]

Big ugly nasty orrible dribbly toothy acid for blood types are nothing those lads and ladies can't handle.

I wonder if making their location actually look like a target is a double-bluff?

 

[BobClay]

If you go out tonight at about 8pm (2000 hours) and look roughly southwest, you'll see Mars very close to the Pleiades Cluster (you might know it as the Seven Sisters. Always a good test for eyesight, it appears as a blur, or individual stars depending on how much you've had to drink.)

But, if you look to the left of Mars, a little bit further away, you'll see Mars has a doppelgänger !! Same brightness, and similar reddish colour. That's where the similarity ends though. That's the star Aldebaran, brightest star in the constellation Taurus. It is much further away than Mars, some 65 light years. But it is as bright because it's a red giant star .... seriously BIG.

To appreciate just how big the distance separation is: you're seeing Mars as it was about 12 minutes ago. But you're seeing Aldebaran as it was in 1956 .. pre-space age.

 

[The Hawk]

I wonder if making their location actually look like a target is a double-bluff?

 

[Gramaisc]

Fireball across the sky just before 10pm last night. If you've got any cameras might be worth checking for footage.

It is believed that this one may have reached the ground, with a predicted fall area in an area near Cheltenham.

Mmm, tonight's episode of Gerry Anderson's excellent UFO series concerns the aliens using the arrival of an innocent-looking meteorite to cover the delivery of a covert jamming device, intended to disrupt the Earth's communications systems.

It was first broadcast in 1970, so everybody within 50 light years of here could have been tipped off about the possibilities of using this scheme.