T
TorontoReign
Guest
Space thread. No Aliens Allowed.
I've always been interested in space. Ever since my granny bought me this book as a child...
I learned everything I could from it, but sadly my first telescope dampened my experience instead of enriching it. I think it was due to the telescope being too weak to capture Saturn's rings. Stupid young Toront. I would kill for a three hundred dollar telescope right now instead of my shitty binoculars. I think part of my excitement was fueled by Hale Bop.
You know how a lot of pictures are taken in just the right part of the world along with a fancy camera that can capture it where the naked eye cannot see? Hale Bop was not like that. That is how it looked when I went outside and looked up in the sky. No binos. No telescope. Just a fucking awesome comet that a bunch of people thought Jesus was riding on.
Over the years I have managed to see a few fireballs too.
Essentially they are a meteor that is much lower than the normal "shooting stars" you see high in the sky. I saw one go right overhead back in the late 90's. It was loud as hell, crackling and sizzling as it flew off into the distance. I didn't hear it hit the ground, so I assume it disintegrated, and was much higher than it appeared. I simply did not expect something so large to ever fly overhead.
But imagine that flying over your head. I did do some research. I remembered what me and my friend were talking about that night while watching the meteor shower. Final Fantasy 7. So that put it in that timeframe. Guess what else was around that time? Hale Bop!
The meteor shower was at it's peak that night, so I always told the stupid half of myself that it wasn't a fucking alien, the thing looked like it was on fire with lines running through it. Part of me always went back to alien because I could not imagine it breaking up that quickly, but the quick view I got kinda reaffirms it was breaking considering the white hot lines running through it like spider webs. I think it might have skated above our atmosphere in such a way to where it did not explode, instead it fell apart.
The great thing about Astronomy (and it's bastard father Astrology, which btw never had anything to do with predicting your future or none of that quack shit) is there are tons of other events that can happen when you aren't catching a once in a lifetime bolide or comet. Take for instance the various configurations the planets go through in the night sky.
These conjunctions are often quite pretty to look at assuming you don't live in the hustle and bustle of the big city. Even then they are usually the brightest objects in the sky so they can be viewed anyway.
This thread is for talking about things you have seen in the sky. It will also be a place for me to post things that might be visible for you to look at in the future. For instance the various meteor showers, some of which are happening this month. It's really exciting to see some of these things. I am convinced more people don't because they don't look at the stars anymore, or they live in the city where all you see is black sky.
I bet part of it is nobody wanting to get up at 4 or 5 in the morning. They can still be viewed at midnight just a lower amount. Out of all the meteor showers I have viewed I have only seen two actual fireball type meteors. Actually three I forgot the one I just saw the other night that inspired this thread. I saw it in the same direction as the last one.
If anything is discovered in space it goes here. They discover the Moon is actually made of cheese? Post it here so I can check it off my list.
Stuff like this.
I've always been interested in space. Ever since my granny bought me this book as a child...
I learned everything I could from it, but sadly my first telescope dampened my experience instead of enriching it. I think it was due to the telescope being too weak to capture Saturn's rings. Stupid young Toront. I would kill for a three hundred dollar telescope right now instead of my shitty binoculars. I think part of my excitement was fueled by Hale Bop.
You know how a lot of pictures are taken in just the right part of the world along with a fancy camera that can capture it where the naked eye cannot see? Hale Bop was not like that. That is how it looked when I went outside and looked up in the sky. No binos. No telescope. Just a fucking awesome comet that a bunch of people thought Jesus was riding on.
Over the years I have managed to see a few fireballs too.
Essentially they are a meteor that is much lower than the normal "shooting stars" you see high in the sky. I saw one go right overhead back in the late 90's. It was loud as hell, crackling and sizzling as it flew off into the distance. I didn't hear it hit the ground, so I assume it disintegrated, and was much higher than it appeared. I simply did not expect something so large to ever fly overhead.
But imagine that flying over your head. I did do some research. I remembered what me and my friend were talking about that night while watching the meteor shower. Final Fantasy 7. So that put it in that timeframe. Guess what else was around that time? Hale Bop!
The meteor shower was at it's peak that night, so I always told the stupid half of myself that it wasn't a fucking alien, the thing looked like it was on fire with lines running through it. Part of me always went back to alien because I could not imagine it breaking up that quickly, but the quick view I got kinda reaffirms it was breaking considering the white hot lines running through it like spider webs. I think it might have skated above our atmosphere in such a way to where it did not explode, instead it fell apart.
The great thing about Astronomy (and it's bastard father Astrology, which btw never had anything to do with predicting your future or none of that quack shit) is there are tons of other events that can happen when you aren't catching a once in a lifetime bolide or comet. Take for instance the various configurations the planets go through in the night sky.
These conjunctions are often quite pretty to look at assuming you don't live in the hustle and bustle of the big city. Even then they are usually the brightest objects in the sky so they can be viewed anyway.
This thread is for talking about things you have seen in the sky. It will also be a place for me to post things that might be visible for you to look at in the future. For instance the various meteor showers, some of which are happening this month. It's really exciting to see some of these things. I am convinced more people don't because they don't look at the stars anymore, or they live in the city where all you see is black sky.
I bet part of it is nobody wanting to get up at 4 or 5 in the morning. They can still be viewed at midnight just a lower amount. Out of all the meteor showers I have viewed I have only seen two actual fireball type meteors. Actually three I forgot the one I just saw the other night that inspired this thread. I saw it in the same direction as the last one.
If anything is discovered in space it goes here. They discover the Moon is actually made of cheese? Post it here so I can check it off my list.
Stuff like this.
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