Monday 16 January 2012

Star Gazing with Prof Brian Cox :))


Hey you Guys, 
so, i've just watched 
Stargazing LIVE with Professor Brian Cox
& it was amazing :))))



It was on last year too, but due to it being quite cloudy we didn't really get to see a great deal :((

Tonight they spoke to Captain Eugene Cernan
who was the Commander of Apollo 17
& was the last man to walk on the moon over 40 years ago.
This man has seen and done things I can only imagine
in my wildest dreams, If I could go to space, I do it tomorrow.

Eugene Andrew Cernan (born March 14, 1934)
is a retired United States Navy officer 
and a former NASA astronaut and engineer
He has been into space three times: 
as pilot of Gemini 9A in June 1966; 
as lunar module pilot of Apollo 10 in May 1969; 
and as commander of Apollo 17 in December 1972, 
the final Apollo lunar landing. On Apollo 17, Cernan
since he was the last to re-enter the 
lunar module Challenger during the 
mission's third and final extra-vehicular activity (EVA). 
(Crewmate Harrison Schmitt was 
"the last man to arrive on the Moon", 
as Cernan left the module first.) 
Cernan was also a backup crew member 
for the Gemini 12Apollo 7 and Apollo 14
 space missions


Liz Bonnin was in South Africa exploring the differences between the constellations visible in the Northern and Southern hemisphere,
with the help of S.A.L.T.
The Southern African Large Telescope, which is the largest single optical telescope in the southern hemisphere and among the largest 5 or so in the world, (That's another thing i wanna do before I die, have a look through that)


They also covered a few of our galaxies and planets visible
 to the naked eye & through telescopes.
You'd be amazed how good the photos were that were taken
 by amateurs with telescopes that don't cost and arm and a leg. 
Contrary to popular belief, getting into astronomy doesn't 
have to be expensive.
(Although the telescope I now have my eye on, could be a bit more pricey as you can programme what you want & the remote will automatically find planets and more)


The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula situated south of Orion's Belt. It is one of the brightest nebulae, and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky. M42 is located at a distance of 1,344 ± 20 light years and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light years across. It has a mass of about 2000 times the mass of the Sun. Older texts frequently referred to the Orion Nebula as the Great Nebula in Orion or the Great Orion Nebula.






The Lagoon Nebula (catalogued as Messier 8 or M8, and as NGC 6523) is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius. It is classified as an emission nebula and as an H II regionThe Lagoon Nebula was discovered by Guillaume Le Gentil in 1747 and is one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the naked eye from mid-northern latitudes. Seen with binoculars, it appears as a distinct oval cloud like patch with a definite core. A fragile star cluster appears superimposed on it.




Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It's gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with SaturnUranus and Neptune. Together, these four planets are sometimes referred to as the Jovian or outer planets.




Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Named after the Roman god Saturn, its astronomical symbol () represents the god's sickle. Saturn is a gas giant with an average radius about nine times that of Earth. While only 1/8 the average density of Earth, with its larger volume Saturn is just over 95 times more massive than Earth.




A spiral galaxy is a certain kind of galaxy originally described by Edwin Hubble in his 1936 work The Realm of the Nebulae and, as such, forms part of the Hubble sequence. Spiral galaxies consist of a flat, rotating disk containing stars, gas and dust, and a central concentration of stars known as the bulge. These are surrounded by a much fainter halo of stars, many of which reside in globular clusters.
Spiral galaxies are named for the spiral structures that extend from the centre into the disk. The spiral arms are sites of ongoing star formation and are brighter than the surrounding disk because of the young, hot OB stars that inhabit them.


He also covered the Moon's gravitational pull on the ocean, making it appear to us, if we're on the beach, like the tide is going up & down, or coming in & out,
It causes two bulges of water on the ocean . . . one where ocean waters face the moon and the pull is strongest . . . and one where ocean waters face away from the moon and the pull is weakest. As the Earth rotates, the bulges move around it, one always facing the moon, the other directly opposite. The combined forces of gravity, the Earth's rotation, and other factors usually cause two high tides and two low tides each day.


They also mentioned planet hunting, with exoplanet Keplar, if you go to the link below you can go hunt some planets yourself :) . . . Get clicking now guys



Can't wait for tomorrow night, they're gonna be taking a look
 at The Milky Way, amongst other things.

So tell me . . . Is there Life out there????
I strongly think so, or should I say
I Hope so :)))




34 comments:

  1. This was really interesting. Great stuff, keep it up!

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    1. Thanks, & I will hopefully, this stuff fascinates me, big time :)))

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  2. I love anything related to the space program. If I was a media billionare I would do what Richard Branson has done and finance my own rocket ship. Fuck it.

    Of course there is life out there. Hopefully they are smart enough to stear clear of us. For their sake.

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    1. I'm totally with you on that one, when I win the lottery that's what my money's going on :)) I would absolutely love to go to space, I mean can you imagine :)

      & I know we're not the only ones out there, can people honestly be so narrow minded as to think that we are the only in the universe, I mean, come on hey . . . It's astounding just how BIG the universe is, I can't comprehend it . . . Totally blows my mind :)))

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  3. omg i love astronomy and things about planets and stars, i always watch documenaaris on tv.
    love this post, i've read it all, and there were so many things i didn't know and i have now learnt due to you and your post.
    Thank you!
    check out my all too summery posts and get in touch with a bit of summer and sunlight:
    http://lureofthedarkside.blogspot.com/2012/01/johanssen-for-marie-claire-czech.html
    http://lureofthedarkside.blogspot.com/2012/01/playing-with-boys-and-girls.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awww thanks :)) glad i've taught you something new, i've probably learnt a few things too thanks to Prof Cox hehe
      & your blog is great, i'll be sure to pop over when i've finished here :)))

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  4. This was an mazing read!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, thank you, thank you hehe :))

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  5. Astronomy is really interesting, but kind of hard here in the PNW. It's less bright than most of the east coast, but we are one of the brightest areas in the region. Couple that with the perpetual overcast it makes it pretty hard to star gaze. Anyhow, following ;)

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    1. Oh no really, gutted, all the places i've lived over before have been built up with loads of light around, but where I am now is perfect, gets real dark at night, so star gazing is amazing :)

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  6. Brilliant post, Dani! We're very fortunate here, the strong south-easter means minimal air pollution, so the star gazing in South Africa is choice! I love looking at the stars! The Southern Cross (Crux) is very beautiful, as is Peiades (7 sister). I often watch Orion as he travels across the night sky with Sirius and Mirzam! The Milky Way from the south is amazing! You can definitely see how it got its name! Happy gazing! :)

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    1. Do you know, I did think of you when I watched it cause of the S.A.L.T. hehe & I love orion but my fav at the is Jupiter, it's so bright and dazzling at night I can't take my eyes off it :) The programme is about the milky way tonight & other stuff, so no doubt i'll blog about some more when it's finished lol

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  7. Dani, if you read back a few posts I posted a simple simple recipie for making cider or apfelwein. You don't need too much equipment as long as you are careful with your process. If you have a homebrew store around you (google is your friend here) they can always get you started and generally are super helpful.

    also, come on with the word verification, just turn comments to moderated after 2 weeks. It keeps the spammers at bay and doesn't annoy the regulars. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sound, I'll go check when i'm finished up here, cheers, don't think we have homebrew stores over here though :((((

      & On the word verification thing, i think i've done it

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  8. Lucky you, I can't say I've taken the time to do these sorts of things. :(

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    1. Awww what a shame, you really should try and make the time, it's amazing when you look up there, another world, beautiful, once you get hooked there's no going back :)

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  9. I wanted to become an astronomer when I was younger. I guess I should start getting into my interests again. followed!

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    1. Yeah you should for sure, defo, soon as i've go some spare cash, i'm all over that motorised telescope, can't fricking wait :))) Cheers for the follow, i'll return it soon as :)

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  10. Astronomy really fascinates me, but as I can't afford telescope I've only knew it through the web :/

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    1. Well that's ok until you can afford it & you can always go outside for a little look see :)))

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  11. Really interesting, love this stuff!

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  12. Wow, nice post, very through

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  13. Replies
    1. Great programme hey, shame it's only a 3 parter :(

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  14. Really like the blog. Following.

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    1. Thanks, glad you do, cheers for the follow, returned it :))

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