The Night Sky

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.yahoo.com/news/saturns-rings-disappear-less-2-194810232.html[/URL]

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.yahoo.com/news/coronal-mass-ejection-colossal-years-170958985.html[/URL]

:alien:

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/missing-asteroid-could-hit-earth-200113436.html[/URL]

:oops:

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/missing-asteroid-could-hit-earth-200113436.html[/URL]

:oops:

”nothing to worry about” LMFAO
🫣

”nothing to worry about” LMFAO
🫣

[MEDIA=youtube]QGgJPmOUmDU[/MEDIA]

Houston we have a problem!!

[HEADING=2][SIZE=7]American Company’s Spacecraft Malfunctions on Its Way to the Moon[/SIZE][/HEADING]
After a flawless launch to orbit, the privately built robotic Peregrine lander is unlikely to reach the lunar surface because of a failure in its propulsion system.

[IMG alt="A view of a lunar lander as it is encapsulated in the nose cone of a rocket in a white clean room of a rocket facility."]
The Astrobotic Peregrine lunar lander during preparations for launch in Florida in November.Credit...NASA, via Agence France-Press — Getty Images

The first NASA-financed commercial mission to send a robotic spacecraft to the surface of the moon will most likely not be able to make it there.

The lunar lander, named Peregrine and built by Astrobotic Technology of Pittsburgh, encountered problems shortly after it lifted off early Monday morning from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The launch of the rocket, a brand-new design named [Vulcan, was flawless]('https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/08/science/vulcan-rocket-launch-moon.html'), successfully sending Peregrine on its journey.

But a failure in the lander’s propulsion system depleted its propellant and most likely ended the mission’s original lunar ambitions.

“The team is working to try and stabilize the loss, but given the situation, we have prioritized maximizing the science and data we can capture,” [Astrobotic said]('https://twitter.com/astrobotic/status/1744419692813443333') in a statement. “We are currently assessing what alternative mission profiles may be feasible at this time.”

The failure raises questions about NASA’s strategy of relying on private companies, mostly small startups, for getting science experiments to the lunar surface. Those scientific studies are part of the space agency’s preparations ahead of sending astronauts back to the moon under its Artemis program.

Peregrine was the first of the missions under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, or CLPS, to get off the ground. Ever since CLPS was announced in 2018, NASA officials have said that they are willing to take greater risks in exchange for lower costs and that they expect some of the missions to fail.

That is in contrast to the Apollo program of the 1960s, in which NASA built a series of its own robotic lunar landers. But that approach is expensive, and this time NASA wanted to encourage private industry to come up with its own solutions that would be cheaper and might create a new market for universities, businesses and the space agencies of other nations that want to send payloads to the moon.

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.yahoo.com/news/nasa-announces-end-history-making-201722115.html[/URL]

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.yahoo.com/news/nasa-announces-end-history-making-201722115.html[/URL]

Most of their equipment up there has issues eventually with Martian dust covering the solar panels - I'm surprised that a the helicopter kicking up dust lasted as long as it did.

The "Night Sky" during the day...

2024 will see 2 High Priority Bucket List Items ticked off, and only one of them involves a few hours of travel. Fortunately we'll be going "upta Camp" with friends who's house is in the "Totality" bullseye for the eclipse.

Even if we get rained/clouded out, normal April Maine Weather, it will definitely be cool to watch it become night at 15:30 EDT. You folks can "shuffle off to Buffalo" for a peek!!

The other Bucket List item is 5400 miles from here and current international conditions may force us to cancel... :(

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-warns-asteroid-skyscraper-football-stadium-size-pass-earth-watch-2024-2[/URL]

[[IMG alt="Reuters"]https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/CJAQCGEdcCd8w_Kv4UGfXA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTI1NjtoPTYwO2NmPXdlYnA-/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2020-11/62e21440-2fbd-11eb-95ff-5673fa3d2f9f[/IMG]]('https://www.reuters.com/')
[HEADING=2]Saturn's 'Death Star' moon has a hidden secret - a subsurface ocean[/HEADING]
*
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saturn's moon Mimas is known for its uncanny resemblance to the dreaded Death Star in the original "Star Wars" movie. But it has another intriguing distinction as well, according to researchers - a subsurface ocean hidden under its icy and crater-scarred outer shell.

Astronomers said on Wednesday that data obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on the rotational motion and orbit of Mimas confirm the presence of an ocean of liquid water beneath an ice layer 12-19 miles (20-30 km) thick. This ocean, they said, appears to have formed recently, in cosmic terms - less than 25 million years ago and likely between 5 and 15 million years ago.

The findings make Mimas a compelling site for exploration into the conditions that could lead to the formation of life, considering Earth's first living organisms arose in our planet's primordial seas billions of years ago.

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.yahoo.com/news/saturns-death-star-moon-hidden-160406782.html[/URL]*

Even if we get rained/clouded out, normal April Maine Weather, it will definitely be cool to watch it become night at 15:30 EDT.

As I posted above, I have very little expectation of clear skies for the eclipse. Anyone who knows Maine April weather should expect clouds that day. Now, multiple media outlets are showing historical data for cloud cover. Maybe I'll try to find a Sacrificial Virgin to offer up to Zeus for clear skies, but the sourcing and/or the offering will probably be met by deaf ears...

Marker on map below is where we will be on April 8th...

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.yahoo.com/news/cosmic-explosion-visible-naked-eye-111125546.html[/URL]

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.yahoo.com/news/cosmic-explosion-visible-naked-eye-111125546.html[/URL]

so the excrement will be that a speck of light as bright as the north star will be visible where usually, no star is visible?

so the excrement will be that a speck of light as bright as the north star will be visible where usually, no star isS visible?

We have many folks around here who like to channel Shakespeare, Much ado about nothing. I bet few, if anyone, will be looking to see this supernova. I will, just for giggles so I can knock "Supernova sighting" off the astronomy bucket list...

Now if this supernova was in our galaxy, it would definitely be an event. The Crab Nebula, M1, is the remanent of a supernova. The star that created the Crab Nebula exploded in 1054 when it was recorded as a "guest star" in the sky by Chinese astronomers. Even non-astronomers probably noticed its appearance, since the supernova explosion was so bright it was comparable to the full moon, six times brighter than Venus. That was probably something people could see during the day. I've seen Venus during the day when she's at her brightest, just have to know where to look.

But that's nothing, SN 1006 was a supernova that is likely the brightest observed stellar event in recorded history, reaching an estimated −7.5 visual magnitude, and exceeding roughly sixteen times the brightness of Venus. That's something ANYONE could see during the day.

FYI, in star magnitude talk, MINUS numbers are brighter than positive ones. Polaris, the North Star, has a magnitude of 1.98...

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/explosive-green-mother-dragons-comet-160338466.html[/URL]

A rare, formerly-horned comet that astronomers have dubbed the "Mother of Dragons" is now visible after dusk in the Northern Hemisphere.

This "Halley-type" [[U]comet[/U]]('https://www.livescience.com/difference-between-asteroids-comets-and-meteors.html'), officially known as Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, completes a single orbit around the sun once every 71 years. The last time it passed by Earth was in 1954, according to a statement from the [[U]European Space Agency[/U]]('https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Planetary_Defence/Mother_of_Dragons_comet_visible_in_the_night_sky') (ESA).

The city-size comet has a nucleus measuring 10.5 miles (17 kilometers) wide and orbits the sun in an elliptical shape. Recent observations of the comet have revealed a [[U]hidden spiral of light surrounding its frigid heart[/U]]('https://www.livescience.com/space/comets/explosive-green-devil-comet-has-hidden-spiral-swirling-around-its-icy-heart-photo-trickery-reveals').

on TV : now 8:00 NOVA, The Great American Eclipse… 🌓

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.yahoo.com/news/lyrids-see-meteor-shower-peak-040117744.html[/URL]

this just seems like it is something we SHOULD be funding.......................

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.yahoo.com/news/happens-nasa-loses-eyes-earth-122602124.html[/URL]