Recent comments in /f/space

sqoopstoo t1_jdsbs8s wrote

Reply to comment by tribblydribbly in Wondering if anybody knows what I saw in roughly the fall of 2005. by tribblydribbly

Iridium satellites were so reflective and predictable that later in their lifespans certain websites and apps could notify you precisely when and where their "sunbeams" would pass near your specific lat/lons, especially during peak visible conditions. Sometimes we could catch multiple Iridiums chasing each other, even as brief as they are, simultaneously or near so. That's also when we could catch both the ISS and even Shuttles, on rare occasions, in the same pre-morning or early night skies, one chasing the other on a couple of occasions. My kids were the perfect young ages to wonder why dad was so enthusiastic about "sky things". They're 20-somethings now, and they still make a habit of pausing now and then, under the "dark limbs" of twilight, watching for wtvr might gleam down. Good times 💫

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lampiaio OP t1_jdsb51r wrote

Reply to comment by samajhdar-bano2 in Everyone talks about how huge Andromeda will look in the sky billions of years from now. I present you what the Milky Way *currently* looks like in the skies of our neighbor, the Large Magellanic Cloud. We appear absolutely huge in their skies! [Simulated view] by lampiaio

Correct. The Large Magellanic Cloud is too far away from us for our telescopes to resolve any potential planets that may exist there. Still, it's a galaxy (albeit a small one), so it most likely contains countless planets orbiting its stars. What the screenshots show is a procedurally-generated asteroid, which I considered useful to include in the shot (so as to give some sense of scale).

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lampiaio OP t1_jds9irl wrote

Reply to Everyone talks about how huge Andromeda will look in the sky billions of years from now. I present you what the Milky Way *currently* looks like in the skies of our neighbor, the Large Magellanic Cloud. We appear absolutely huge in their skies! [Simulated view] by lampiaio

This was done using Space Engine.

Looking at this, I can't help but wonder what influence the presence of such a big celestial body would have on any civilizations that may exist over there. Either way, it's so cool that they don't have to wait until Andromeda arrives to have such a breathtaking view.

For comparison, the Andromeda galaxy is about 2.5 million light years away from the Milky Way, while the Large Magellanic Cloud is only 161 thousand light years away from us.

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Triple516 t1_jds6yq2 wrote

Reply to Latest video of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter kicking up dust and taking off for Flight #47. Ingenuity is well beyond its warranty at this point. The video was captured by the Mastcam-Z imager aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover on March 9, 2023. by ICumCoffee

We all just need to take a second and really let it sink in that we built a rocket that sent a robot to mars, that robot then dropped another little robot, that can FLY around. Sounds like science fiction.

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StrangeTangerine1525 t1_jds5v9p wrote

Reply to comment by MattC1977 in Latest video of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter kicking up dust and taking off for Flight #47. Ingenuity is well beyond its warranty at this point. The video was captured by the Mastcam-Z imager aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover on March 9, 2023. by ICumCoffee

A: The blades have to spin around 2500 rpm in order for it lift off. B: the blades are very wide for a 1.8 kg drone, in order to increase lift. Bonus fact: In 2027 NASA is sending a 400 kg quadcopter to Saturn's Moon Titan, in order to study prebiotic chemistry and the worlds potential habitability. Titan is perhaps the best world for powered flight, with its comparatively low gravity (1/7th of Earth) and dense atmosphere (4x denser than Earth's).

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StrangeTangerine1525 t1_jds57sz wrote

Reply to comment by bookers555 in Latest video of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter kicking up dust and taking off for Flight #47. Ingenuity is well beyond its warranty at this point. The video was captured by the Mastcam-Z imager aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover on March 9, 2023. by ICumCoffee

The only time Mars has a blue sky is when the image is in false color in order for scientists to see how rocks would look like in Earthlike lighting. Mars atmosphere always has at least some high altitude dust in it that makes the atmosphere at the very least a kind of light tan. On average the atmosphere is very dusty though so it tends to look almost the color of rust.

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