...Are a million to one, it seems.
OK, that may be a bit harsh. But Schiaparelli is still not responding and may have gone Beagle on us.
*Update*
Worse than Beagle, it cratered. Looks like some sensors went out of alignment and it thought it was already at zero altitude when it still had hundreds of meters to go - so it jettisoned the parachute, fired the retros only briefly and then hit Mars at about 300 kph. Still with a lot of retro fuel on board.
Big-badda-boom.
MRO found it a couple of days later and got some photos...link
Still, looks like the orbiter is going to be a success, and Schiaparelli was a proof-of-concept mission for the landing process, so all data is good data in this case. Just have to hope ESA get everything right for the big landing in 2020.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Saturday, October 8, 2016
International Observe the Moon Night
October 8th is International Observe the Moon Night, so although unable to make it international - I did observe the Moon from near the front gate this evening.
Despite days of cloud cover, we actually had a fine day today and I was able to see a lovely quarter moon this evening once it got dark, with clear skys directly above. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the telescope outside until later in the evening, by which time another cloud bank was starting to drift over the horizon, and the whispy leading edge of it was already starting to obscure the Moon.
Undaunted, I still spent some time observing using my 30mm, 17mm, 8mm and 6mm eyepieces and the Lunar filter. Once the cloud started thickening up, I no longer required the filter.
I also snapped a few pictures with the phone held to the EP, which are displayed here...
This is my first official observation of the Moon where I've started crossing off items from the Lunar 100. This evening accounted for :
Map #34 - Lacus Mortis - A strange crater with rille and ridge
Map #72 - Atlas dark-halo craters - Explosive volcanic pits on the floor of Atlas
Map #20 - Posidonius - Floor-fractured crater
Map #10 - Mare Crisium - Mare contained in large circular basin
Map #28 -Hipparchus - First drawing of a single crater
Details taken through the 6mm eyepiece. Looked great, but was loosing detail due to the thin cloud drifting in. These craters don't feature on the L100 list.
Then the cloud really rolled in and that was it for IOtMN.
Despite days of cloud cover, we actually had a fine day today and I was able to see a lovely quarter moon this evening once it got dark, with clear skys directly above. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the telescope outside until later in the evening, by which time another cloud bank was starting to drift over the horizon, and the whispy leading edge of it was already starting to obscure the Moon.
Undaunted, I still spent some time observing using my 30mm, 17mm, 8mm and 6mm eyepieces and the Lunar filter. Once the cloud started thickening up, I no longer required the filter.
I also snapped a few pictures with the phone held to the EP, which are displayed here...
This is my first official observation of the Moon where I've started crossing off items from the Lunar 100. This evening accounted for :
Map #34 - Lacus Mortis - A strange crater with rille and ridge
Map #72 - Atlas dark-halo craters - Explosive volcanic pits on the floor of Atlas
Map #20 - Posidonius - Floor-fractured crater
Map #10 - Mare Crisium - Mare contained in large circular basin
Map #28 -Hipparchus - First drawing of a single crater
Then the cloud really rolled in and that was it for IOtMN.
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Philae! There you are!
Hey there, little guy - so that's where you got to!
Rosetta, with only a few weeks until it will be 'landed' on the comet itself, has successfully photographed the Philae lander. Philae was identified in the photos three days ago, here is the official ESA report:
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/Philae_found
This is way cool. I hope ESA releases another cartoon video about this phase of the Rosetta/Philae adventure.
Here's some links to the other videos:
Once Upon A Time...
#WakeUpRosetta
Preparing for #CometLanding
#CometLanding
Living with a comet
Great examples of science communication :)
Goobye Philae!
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/Philae_found
This is way cool. I hope ESA releases another cartoon video about this phase of the Rosetta/Philae adventure.
Here's some links to the other videos:
Once Upon A Time...
#WakeUpRosetta
Preparing for #CometLanding
#CometLanding
Living with a comet
Great examples of science communication :)
Goobye Philae!
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Science Showcase Evening at the school
This was great fun - I love showing people stuff through the telescope.
Tonight the primary school had their Science Showcase Evening, where they had set up a heap of great science activities and displays in the classrooms and invited the kids and families back after school. I offered to bring Dobby along in the hope that the evening would be clear enough to see something (at least the moon).
As it turned out, the morning's cloud and rain cleared by the afternoon and got better and better over the evening - lucky that.
I set up Dobby on the four-square courts out the front and started by setting up my sun box to check out any sun spots. There were clouds on the Western horizon that limited the time available to demonstrate to a few passing people the smallish sunspots that were visible. It was possible to make out just two small spots at the bottom of the image and another about a third of the way up from the bottom. It definately is a quiet patch for sunspots right now.
Fortunately, the full Moon was rising just as we lost the sun behind cloud, so I swung Dobby around and started showing kids and parents the Moon as it rose.
It just occurred to me that I totally missed the opportunity to point out to people the optical illusion that makes the Moon look bigger when it is on the horizon - I could have demonstrated how it is the same size through the telescope when looked at later.
The Moon started faint against the sky, but quickly brightened as dusk set in. With a decent target I started getting a lot more people coming to visit, and had quite a crowd for a while. A couple of the kids showed some real interest, and one was full of great questions clarifying his understanding about the spin of the moon, where was the Sea of Tranquility, why did the telescope make the image upside down, and we had a short chat about his telescope at home (it seems it has dodgy lenses making some chromatic aberations) (fuzzy colours around the edges)
There was also a small stampede of teachers who escaped their rooms to have a look through the telescope when word got back that there were some interesting views of the Moon to be had. This was great fun as there was a lot of excitement and some laughs as mobiles were held against the eyepiece to get photos (with some success!)
The evening finished at 6pm, before it got dark enough to see the planets - which was a shame because the sky had cleared beautifully and the sky was loaded with targets. From the Western horizon there was Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, then right above us was Mars and Saturn, and then the very bright full Moon to the East.
So it was just a final few of the teachers who were able to stay back and check out Jupiter and Saturn before we all had to leave and lockup the school. Jupiter was pretty good, although a bit blurry through the thicker air near the horizon. All four Galilaen moons were visible in a neat row, but Saturn was gorgeous as always and blew a few minds.
Last shot of the evening - just after looking at Saturn. In the background Venus, Mercury and Jupiter are visible. Unfortunately a blurry shot as I only had time to point n shoot the camera.
Tonight the primary school had their Science Showcase Evening, where they had set up a heap of great science activities and displays in the classrooms and invited the kids and families back after school. I offered to bring Dobby along in the hope that the evening would be clear enough to see something (at least the moon).
As it turned out, the morning's cloud and rain cleared by the afternoon and got better and better over the evening - lucky that.
I set up Dobby on the four-square courts out the front and started by setting up my sun box to check out any sun spots. There were clouds on the Western horizon that limited the time available to demonstrate to a few passing people the smallish sunspots that were visible. It was possible to make out just two small spots at the bottom of the image and another about a third of the way up from the bottom. It definately is a quiet patch for sunspots right now.
Fortunately, the full Moon was rising just as we lost the sun behind cloud, so I swung Dobby around and started showing kids and parents the Moon as it rose.
It just occurred to me that I totally missed the opportunity to point out to people the optical illusion that makes the Moon look bigger when it is on the horizon - I could have demonstrated how it is the same size through the telescope when looked at later.
The Moon started faint against the sky, but quickly brightened as dusk set in. With a decent target I started getting a lot more people coming to visit, and had quite a crowd for a while. A couple of the kids showed some real interest, and one was full of great questions clarifying his understanding about the spin of the moon, where was the Sea of Tranquility, why did the telescope make the image upside down, and we had a short chat about his telescope at home (it seems it has dodgy lenses making some chromatic aberations) (fuzzy colours around the edges)
There was also a small stampede of teachers who escaped their rooms to have a look through the telescope when word got back that there were some interesting views of the Moon to be had. This was great fun as there was a lot of excitement and some laughs as mobiles were held against the eyepiece to get photos (with some success!)
The evening finished at 6pm, before it got dark enough to see the planets - which was a shame because the sky had cleared beautifully and the sky was loaded with targets. From the Western horizon there was Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, then right above us was Mars and Saturn, and then the very bright full Moon to the East.
So it was just a final few of the teachers who were able to stay back and check out Jupiter and Saturn before we all had to leave and lockup the school. Jupiter was pretty good, although a bit blurry through the thicker air near the horizon. All four Galilaen moons were visible in a neat row, but Saturn was gorgeous as always and blew a few minds.
Last shot of the evening - just after looking at Saturn. In the background Venus, Mercury and Jupiter are visible. Unfortunately a blurry shot as I only had time to point n shoot the camera.
Monday, July 4, 2016
Juno is go for orbital insert
Tues July 5th 1130
Exciting! Juno has started rotating getting ready to fire engines to begin orbital insert.
I've got my twitter feed pinging me messages every minute or so now, it's great being right in the loop on these great achievements these days!
Woo! Go Juno!
Exciting! Juno has started rotating getting ready to fire engines to begin orbital insert.
I've got my twitter feed pinging me messages every minute or so now, it's great being right in the loop on these great achievements these days!
Woo! Go Juno!
Monday, June 27, 2016
Nearly the end of June
Well, it's nearly the end of June and the few clear skies we've had have been when I've been busy that evening.
Winter is here. It's bloody freezing out there.
Managed to look up one clear evening and Mars is still looking great, I must get Dobby on to it again soon before it drifts further away.
Getting excited about 4th of July when Juno enters orbit around Jupiter. Heard recently on a podcast that we can not expect to see pictures from it soon, though.
Winter is here. It's bloody freezing out there.
Managed to look up one clear evening and Mars is still looking great, I must get Dobby on to it again soon before it drifts further away.
Getting excited about 4th of July when Juno enters orbit around Jupiter. Heard recently on a podcast that we can not expect to see pictures from it soon, though.
Monday, May 30, 2016
Quick look with the kids
Friday, 27 May.
Taking the opportunity of a break in the near-Winter weather that left the sky surprisingly clear, I dragged Dobby and the kids out onto the front step.
First I showed them Mars, which bus looking amazing. I still can't see pale poles, but definitely can make out the dark patches of the plains. The kids seemed impressed.
Then we moved on to Saturn, which got a couple of "wows".
The a small relocation to the other side of the pine tree to view Jupiter.
After that, the kids interest and cold tolerance had worn thin, so we all came back inside.
Only a short session, but worth it to share with the kids.
Taking the opportunity of a break in the near-Winter weather that left the sky surprisingly clear, I dragged Dobby and the kids out onto the front step.
First I showed them Mars, which bus looking amazing. I still can't see pale poles, but definitely can make out the dark patches of the plains. The kids seemed impressed.
Then we moved on to Saturn, which got a couple of "wows".
The a small relocation to the other side of the pine tree to view Jupiter.
After that, the kids interest and cold tolerance had worn thin, so we all came back inside.
Only a short session, but worth it to share with the kids.
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