the-way-to-the-centre » Astronomy http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog a Lazlo Woodbine thriller Sun, 12 Feb 2012 03:06:16 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 17/P Holmes http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2007/11/13/17p-holmes/ http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2007/11/13/17p-holmes/#comments Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:58:49 +0000 Ian http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/archives/2007/11/13/17p-holmes/ Comet Holmes in Perseus

Posting something after a bit of a lull is always tricky, so I took a picture instead (actually three images which were combined).

Comet Holmes pretty much appeared from nowhere a couple of weeks ago, when it brightened by a factor of roughly 400,000 times to something that you can see from suburban skies.

Shooting with my little IXUS500 I was pretty impressed with how it turned out.

[Finder chart from Sky & Telescope].

]]> http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2007/11/13/17p-holmes/feed/ 0 relative thinking http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2006/11/10/relative-thinking/ http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2006/11/10/relative-thinking/#comments Fri, 10 Nov 2006 12:06:01 +0000 Ian http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/archives/2006/11/10/relative-thinking/ Some nice thought experiments to get an understanding of special relativity. ‘Time as space contract to keep light travelling at the same speed’- now that is something to think about on a Friday afternoon!

]]> http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2006/11/10/relative-thinking/feed/ 0 mercury rising http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2006/11/07/mercury-rising/ http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2006/11/07/mercury-rising/#comments Tue, 07 Nov 2006 22:38:06 +0000 Ian http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/archives/2006/11/07/mercury-rising/ People from Asia to America will get to enjoy a transit of Mercury on November the 8th. Check if you can see it here. [Stating the obvious, but take appropriate precautions and don't come suing me if you end up with solar retinopathy].

]]> http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2006/11/07/mercury-rising/feed/ 0 asteroids http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2005/11/04/asteroids/ http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2005/11/04/asteroids/#comments Fri, 04 Nov 2005 20:49:30 +0000 Ian http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/archives/2005/11/04/asteroids/ Radio 4′s weekly show In Our Time is an 45 interesting minutes on the elevation of asteroids from ‘vermin of the solar system’ to objects of useful scientific study.

]]> http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2005/11/04/asteroids/feed/ 2 titan and the NRO http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2005/05/11/titan-and-the-nro/ http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2005/05/11/titan-and-the-nro/#comments Wed, 11 May 2005 08:34:14 +0000 Ian http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/archives/2005/05/09/titan-and-the-nro/ Slacker Astronomy’s current ‘extra’ podcast with Jonathan McDowell of Harvard University has lots of interesting information on basic orbital mechanics, spy satellites, the truth about the film ‘Ice Station Zebra’ and shady government organisations that don’t exist.

It’s a hefty download at 26Mb, but if you have even a passing interest in any of the above, I would recommend it.

The mentioned amateur CCD images of the Lacrosse satellites are here.

Heavens Above is predicting an Iridium flare tonight (for my house) at 21:36:33 tonight. Skies permitting I’ll have a look as I haven’t managed to catch one yet.

]]> http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2005/05/11/titan-and-the-nro/feed/ 0 bad science http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2005/04/25/bad-science/ http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2005/04/25/bad-science/#comments Mon, 25 Apr 2005 18:13:41 +0000 Ian http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/archives/2005/04/25/bad-science/ Faked moon landings? UFOs? that all seems sane compared to the geocentrists who claim that the (non-earth) planets rotate and orbit the sun, which in turn orbits an immovable and non-rotating earth (Occam’s Razor anyone?).

Many of the defenders of geocentricity hide behind terrible logic and the ever-useful ‘mysterious force’ to prop up their statements. My personal favorites being that (in certain situations) a heavy body can orbit a lighter body1, or that (in certain situations) gravity is a repellent force (possibly a pattern there).

As far as I know there is no directly observable way to conclusively prove or disprove the theory, however, I would conjecture that stellar parallax pretty much kicks geocentricism into the proverbial cocked hat.

I think a suitable statement is: “From a wrong premise, anything can be inferred”. By discounting Einstein, Newtons’ laws and common sense, you can make up whatever you like. The fact that it won’t stand up to logical analysis doesn’t matter as you can invent something else to make it OK (and you can prove you are the pope too, if you want2).

1 Two bodies will orbit their common centre of mass.
2 2+2 = 5. Subtracting 3 from each side gives 2 = 1. Now, the pope and I are two people, but as shown 2 = 1, therefore I am the pope. QED.
]]> http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2005/04/25/bad-science/feed/ 0 afraid of the dark http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2005/03/14/afraid-of-the-dark/ http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2005/03/14/afraid-of-the-dark/#comments Mon, 14 Mar 2005 19:53:56 +0000 Ian http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/archives/2005/03/14/take-back-the-night/ Walking down the main road from a friends house late Saturday night I got to appreciate the traffic calming that has been installed, which consists of woefully designed traffic calming and high pressure sodium street lights at 15m intervals. Away from the brighter lights, the paths between roads have taken on a more foreboding air, taking them requires stepping out of the security of the light-pool. It was also impossible to look without at least one of the lighting units being in my field of view, burning away night vision, and leaving only the brightest stars (Arcturus, Capella et al) visible. Nearing home I turned down one of the dark paths, conifers blocked the street lighting and the soft orange glow of low pressure sodium was visible in the distance. The stars reappeared, Draco wove his way between Ursa Minor and Ursa Major, Leo dominated the south and Corona Borealis rose in the east. I took one last look, adjusted my hat, and stepped back into the light.

Trying to scare away the darkness, we have succeed in making that which remains even deeper and have forgotten that we don’t need everything lit by 500w floodlighting. 10 minutes in darkness and the eye becomes remarkably sensitive, and after roughly 30 minutes, is able to detect a candle flame from 14 miles. Turn off the lights, let the night back and get a chance to appreciate what floats over our heads every night.

]]> http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2005/03/14/afraid-of-the-dark/feed/ 0 cassini-huygens http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2005/01/14/cassini-huygens/ http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2005/01/14/cassini-huygens/#comments Fri, 14 Jan 2005 23:49:28 +0000 Ian http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/archives/2005/01/14/cassini-huygens/ It looks like the Huygens lander part of the mission has been a success. The first few photos show the lander on ground not dissimilar to that encountered by the Mars Spirit probe, not in a lake, which I would have liked to have seen.

I am always amazed at space projects, with the Huygens probe traveling for seven years, to a destination one billion miles away (far enough for transmissions to take 1 hour to travel). Saturn is currently quite close to the constellation of Gemini, so if it is clear you can look toward a small gadget sitting on a moon a very long way away.

]]> http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2005/01/14/cassini-huygens/feed/ 0 genesis fails http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2004/09/08/genesis-fails/ http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2004/09/08/genesis-fails/#comments Wed, 08 Sep 2004 10:21:43 +0000 Ian http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/archives/2004/09/08/genesis-fails/ Nasa’s Genesis stardust probe failed to deply parachutes and has buried itself in the Utah desert.

]]> http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2004/09/08/genesis-fails/feed/ 0 making an impact http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2004/08/21/making-an-impact/ http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/2004/08/21/making-an-impact/#comments Sat, 21 Aug 2004 16:47:50 +0000 Ian http://the-way-to-the-centre.org.uk/blog/archives/2004/08/21/making-an-impact/ Ever wondered how big a meteorite you would need to take out Milton Keynes? Now you can find out here.

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