The Space thread

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GeddyWrox
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Re: The Space thread

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mikechamp
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Re: The Space thread

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So that's how Han Solo made that (whatever) run in under (however many) parsecs:
Solar System 'superhighway' could speed up space travel

Future deep space missions might not take as long as you’d think. Researchers have discovered a Solar System “superhighway” network of routes that would let probes and other spacecraft travel outward at quicker pace. Asteroids near Jupiter, for example, could reach Neptune’s distance in less than 10 years and 100AU (about three times Neptune’s distance from the Sun) in 100 years. Spacecraft would theoretically be faster.

Scientists found the routes by computing how “millions” of Solar System orbits fit inside known space manifolds, or arch structures that extend from the asteroid belt.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/solar-sy ... 16795.html

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mikechamp
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Re: The Space thread

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Do we have next-door neighbors? Probably not, but something odd did occur recently:
Scientists find a strange signal coming from our closest neighboring star

Astronomers have encountered a mystery surprisingly close to Earth. The Guardian and Scientific American have learned that Breakthrough Listen astronomers using the Parkes telescope in Australia discovered a strange radio signal coming from Proxima Centauri, the star system closest to the Sun. The signal occupies an oddly narrow 982MHz band that’s unused by human-made spacecraft, yet not possible through known natural processes. The frequency shifts up, too, rather than down like you’d expect for a planet.

Don’t count on this as a sign of aliens. Although Proxima Centauri does host a potentially habitable planet, the signal hasn’t been detected since its initial observation between April and May 2019. Breakthrough Listen said it was still “carefully investigating” and that unusual signals are typically interference researchers couldn’t “fully explain.” As it is, it’s highly unlikely that a radio-capable civilization could live virtually next door without detection — Earth would have been bathed in radio signals from a planet ‘just’ 4.2 light-years away.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/proxima- ... 10331.html

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Re: The Space thread

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Re: The Space thread

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What an awesome picture.

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GeddyWrox
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Re: The Space thread

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I have a Celestron reflector (130 mm) and my view was almost that good. I can't quite make out the stripes on Jupiter but I can see the separation between Saturn's body and the rings, and I had 4 moons of Jupiter and 1 moon of Saturn all in the same view. I don't have a camera setup though so getting pics with it is next to impossible.

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Re: The Space thread

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Earth is located in space, so this counts:
The Earth is spinning faster now than at any time in the past half century

If 2020 felt like a drag, you may be surprised to discover it actually went faster than you thought ... and this year is set to be even speedier.

The Earth has been spinning unusually quickly lately, and July 19 saw the shortest day since records began, with the planet completing its rotation in 1.4602 milliseconds less than the usual 86,400 seconds. The previous shortest day in 2005 was beaten 28 times last year, and 2021 is on track to be the most nippy year ever, with the average day passing 0.5 milliseconds faster than usual.

The changes to the length of a standard day were only discovered after highly accurate atomic clocks were developed in the 1960s and compared to fixed stars in the sky.

In recent decades, Earth's average rotational speed has consistently decreased and timekeepers have been forced to add 27 leap seconds to atomic time since the 1970s to keep clocks in sync with the slowing planet.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/earth-spinni ... 17858.html

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Jocephus
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Re: The Space thread

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apologies if not best spot, wasn't sure where to put
Elon Musk says Raptor engine production is a ‘disaster’ that puts SpaceX at risk of bankruptcy
https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/30/228 ... y-starship

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Re: The Space thread

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As we head into a weekend, if you're thinking: "What could I read while doing mind-altering drugs?", this might be a good choice:
What existed before the Big Bang?

How our Universe was born from nothing or if there was something that existed before it remains a mystery, but that is not stopping some physicists from trying to figure it out.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2022 ... e-big-bang
P.S. One of the lines that stuck with me after reading this article: "At the limits of our knowledge, physics and philosophy become hard to disentangle."

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Re: The Space thread

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This could also belong in the humans as aliens thread:
Life could exist on planet orbiting 'white dwarf' star

Researchers believe there may be a planet that could sustain life, in the vicinity of a dying sun. If confirmed, this would be the first time that a potentially life-supporting planet has been found orbiting such a star, called a "white dwarf". The planet was detected in the star's "habitable zone", where it's neither too cold nor too hot to sustain life.

The study is published in the monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Prof Jay Farihi of University College London, who led the study, said the observation was completely new to astronomers. "This is the first time that anything has been seen in the habitable zone of a white dwarf. And thus there is a possibility of life on another world orbiting it," he told BBC News.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60325010

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