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Cassini Probe Dazzles

<reDerail>
What Randi and I were discussing was the Questar MakCas. I had seen one at a star party and he had owned one. They're the epitome of consumer Mak/Cass scopes. Unbelievably well crafted. Yeah... nice chat. Very cool :)
 
Damien Evans said:
Not that amazing. Even my little 6 inch scope can do that in good conditions. Of course, I may struggle to get that particular picture...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I wasn't aware that it is actually differentiable with a small scope. Us North Hemphisphere folks are probably just unfortunate in that.

But as you said, that particular composition... Just cool!
 
Cuddles said:
To be fair, it's far from certain that Proxima is actually part of the Alpha Centauri system. It may just happen to be nearby at this particular time.
Click to expand...
But why is it always the little guy that gets left out?

*snif*

*snif*

No ... I'm okay ... just allergies ... something in my eye ...

:cry1
 
Omega Centaurus comes just over the horizon due south of here at the end of May.
Show of hands.
How many deep space observers here have seen a UFO?
Will it be zero, or none?
 
Reminds me of the first Dob I got.

This is embarrassing... got it home, fresh from shipping. Set it up without eyepiece... don't know what I was thinking. In my back yard, during the day, and the scope was aimed too close to the sun. I had my back turned, and started to smell something.

Turned around, and saw smoke pouring out of the tube. The sun had melted the coating on the primary, and the mirror was off-center of the barrel... it started burning the inside of the cardboard tube. I flipped out.
 
I Ratant said:
Omega Centaurus comes just over the horizon due south of here at the end of May.
Show of hands.
How many deep space observers here have seen a UFO?
Will it be zero, or none?
Click to expand...

*puts hand up*

Been observing since I was ten. Now I'm forty. Seen exactly none.

Only been south enough to catch O Centauri a couple of times: wonderful glorious magnificent breathtaking.

*maintains M13 is best 'cause it's accessible* :)


sorry for derailishness.
 
Monkey Ghost said:
Reminds me of the first Dob I got.

This is embarrassing... got it home, fresh from shipping. Set it up without eyepiece... don't know what I was thinking. In my back yard, during the day, and the scope was aimed too close to the sun. I had my back turned, and started to smell something.

Turned around, and saw smoke pouring out of the tube. The sun had melted the coating on the primary, and the mirror was off-center of the barrel... it started burning the inside of the cardboard tube. I flipped out.
Click to expand...

Noooooo!!!

Never thought of that. Dusted?
 
No need to apologize for derailment. :) I actually find that sort of free flow discussion energizing and quite often entertaining.
 
Monkey Ghost said:
Reminds me of the first Dob I got.

This is embarrassing... got it home, fresh from shipping. Set it up without eyepiece... don't know what I was thinking. In my back yard, during the day, and the scope was aimed too close to the sun. I had my back turned, and started to smell something.

Turned around, and saw smoke pouring out of the tube. The sun had melted the coating on the primary, and the mirror was off-center of the barrel... it started burning the inside of the cardboard tube. I flipped out.
Click to expand...
.
There's an inner shade tube in my C-90 that was fried looking at the sun with it.
 
Let me put in a shameless* plug for the RTGs that made all this possible.

*Because I work in the field. (Though Cassini was before I started.)
 
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To me, what is most amazing about Cassini is that most of its journey in the system is done using a force we can't see!
And yet understand enough to use it to alter the position of the spacecraft, moving it from one location to another.
And those motions were predicted and scheduled before the thing was launched.
 
I think the probe was calculated to do some 45 grav manuvers, most keeping it "close" to Saturn. I mean, HELL... all you planetary scientists of all stripes, stand up and tell us that isn't stunning.

Now... how do we (you) tell the other 5.99 Bn people?
 
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I Ratant said:
Omega Centaurus comes just over the horizon due south of here at the end of May.
Show of hands.
How many deep space observers here have seen a UFO?
Will it be zero, or none?
Click to expand...

If you mean space truck'en aliens then yeah the number will be zero. If you mean odd stuff in the sky - virtually every regular observer has seen something interesting
 
I Ratant said:
Omega Centaurus comes just over the horizon due south of here at the end of May.
Show of hands.
How many deep space observers here have seen a UFO?
Will it be zero, or none?
Click to expand...

I've seen heaps. Of course, it turned out most were planes (we live under one of the flight paths into Melbourne Airport) and the rest were satellites or fireworks. But they were UFOs at the time.:D
 
The only one I couldn't identify for a while was an An-2, which Northrop had leased to do stealth work work, as it was mostly wood, with little metal.
I'd seen it flitting around Plant 42 one day, but couldn't put a label on it, until my boss asked me which biplane had flaps on both wings.
Saw one at Fox Field just last week, getting something replaced on an upper wing.
 

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