Astronomy and Planetary Science Thread

I completely missed that ! Cool, some new "nearby" destinations. How far are they ? Sun-Earth libration points ?
 
Last year in August, a surprise tsunami in the South Atlantic Ocean mushroomed to distances over 10,000 kilometers (more than 6,000 miles) away, rippling through the North Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian Oceans.

As it turns out, however, this tsunami wasn't just the product of a single 7.5-magnitude earthquake. A fresh look at the seismological data suggests it was actually a series of five sub-quakes, and in their midst, was hiding a much larger and shallower rumble that was probably what set loose the global tsunami.
This 'invisible' third quake struck just 15 kilometers below the Earth's surface at a magnitude of 8.2. Yet in the crowd of quakes, our monitoring systems completely missed it.

 
Scientists unveil 'most accurate' virtual representation of universe, backing Cold Dark Matter model

The simulations, which were unveiled at Durham university, show how our part of the universe evolved from the Big Bang to the present and provide proof that the current theories to explain the forces that shape the cosmos are on the right lines.

 
Ultralight Planet Found Next Door (ESOcast 250 Light)

This is Proxima d.

Pretty substantial even if it is one the lightest found so far - a quarter the mass of Earth is two and a half times the mass of Mars. It's a fascinating system with two other confirmed planets, one about Earth mass in the habitable zone, a super-earth or gas dwarf with what looks like a big ring system farther out, and at least one dust/asteroid belt. Obviously a target for exploration!
 
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Last year in August, a surprise tsunami in the South Atlantic Ocean mushroomed to distances over 10,000 kilometers (more than 6,000 miles) away, rippling through the North Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian Oceans.

As it turns out, however, this tsunami wasn't just the product of a single 7.5-magnitude earthquake. A fresh look at the seismological data suggests it was actually a series of five sub-quakes, and in their midst, was hiding a much larger and shallower rumble that was probably what set loose the global tsunami.
This 'invisible' third quake struck just 15 kilometers below the Earth's surface at a magnitude of 8.2. Yet in the crowd of quakes, our monitoring systems completely missed it.


"Those aren't mountains... those are waves..." :eek:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hf_XkgE1d0

:eek:
:eek::eek:
 
Life could exist on planet orbiting 'white dwarf' star

The planet was detected in the star's "habitable zone", where it's neither too cold nor too hot to sustain life.

Fun fact: You can add 'Harry Potter and the' to any scientific paper. For instance, the one this links to is 'Harry Potter and the Relentless and complex transits from a planetesimal debris disc.'

IMG_9409.jpg
 
A trans-neptunian object has been discovered using the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope!

The object was discovered on Dec. 3, 2021 – Jesuit Richard Boyle made the first observations, and analysis was done by Lithuanian astronomer and astrophysicist Kazimieras Černis.

Peter Veres of the IAU’s Minor Planet Center calculated the object’s orbit using these and subsequent observations by Boyle; Peter also happens to be an alumnus of the 2007 Vatican Observatory Summer School!

The object has an orbital period of 286.98 years, with a perihelion of 35.26 AU, and an aphelion of 51.76 AU; as of this writing, it is 35.27 AU from the Sun – very close to perihelion.

 
Jesuits and astronomy have some interesting links.
 
IIRC, tis reckoned that if Galileo had been just a bit more civil, the Church would have embraced his findings, which solved a lot of stuff...

As it was, his snarky, 'Too Clever By Half' writings, much worse than Sherlock 'Holmesplaining' to Watson, totally pi$$ed off the Pope.

And, as they say, the rest was history...

But, if he'd not been put under house-arrest for '5-to-Life', would he have got around to codifying theory of mechanics ??
 
the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope

The whaaaaaaaat ?

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_Observatory

'The Church has had a long-standing interest in astronomy, due to the astronomical basis of the calendar by which holy days and Easter are determined. For instance, the Gregorian Calendar, promulgated in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, was developed by Aloysius Lilius and later modified by Christoph Clavius at the Collegio Romano from astronomical data.'

I've also seen it written that 'The Vatican Observatory was founded, in part, " to search for evidence of God in the heavens" '

The current Director of the Observatory, Brother Guy Consolmagno, is also a co-author of the classic beginner's astronomy book, 'Turn Left at Orion' . . .

cheers,
Robin.
 
Didn't they secretly call it lucifer something as an in-joke before transfering it?
 
Interesting. Note iron but water has been suggested for the Uranus and Neptune.
 
the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope

The whaaaaaaaat ?
There’s a Sky at Night episode about their observatory, it was on a number of years ago now.

So much for burning Giordano Bruno and trialling Galileo. "The times they are changin' " as would say Dylan.
They no longer use black slaves or burn scientists alive to slow the advance of science, but they still have enough power to provoke a second American civil war again. You have to be careful with those guys, they are a Gestalt organism that never dies.
:mad:
 
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This month Ciel&Espace has a whole series of writings about all those lost, errant bodies in our solar system and galaxy. And there are an astonishing number
- errant comets and asteroids (Oumuamua & Borisov style)
- errant planets
- errant black holes (!)

- Errant comets and asteroids: In a parsec cube (3.24 light year in all three dimensions) there might be 100 billion of them.

- Errant planets: there are 200+/- billion stars in the Milky way, at least 25% of them have a planetary system - and for every single system, when created it ejected a handful of planets which then erre into the galaxy. There might be 100 billion of them, and quite inevitably, some may lurk close from our solar system - closer from the Centauri system.

Our galaxy seems to be a planet-fabricating machine akin to a sausage plant. I mean, really.

-There are also errant stars ejected from galaxies, yet nothing prevent an earth like planet around them since the star provides the heating.
Errant planets of course are not so lucky.

And finally - errant, small black holes. Such things exist, too.
 

 
 
 

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