Thursday, July 10, 2008

Saturn, Mars, Regulus, Lunar Gathering and Moondust Telescopes

Saturn, Mars, Regulus and Moon Saturday July 5, 2008


Saturday July 5 just after Sunset there was a real pretty celestial gathering of Saturn, Mars, Regulus and the Moon and almost all in a straight line, very nice.



6% of Full Moon Friday July 4, 2008


Getting a little antsy here, running out of major conjunctions to watch for, the next one isn't till August 2, 30 minutes after Sunset if you look low in the west you will see Saturn, Venus, Regulus and the crescent Moon all gathering, further off to the right you will also see Mars, technically not in conjunction with, poor little Mars, kinda in a wannabe conjunction, I'll make sure to get Mars in the image with the rest of them.



Recipe for one Hubble size telescope mirror, 130 pounds of epoxy, 3 pounds of carbon nanotubes, one gram of aluminum, oh yea, and 1300 pounds of lunar dust. NASA Astrophysicist Peter C. Chen has a dream to build a big telescope on the Moon with the main ingredient being Moondust. They have already successfully constructed a 12 inch mirror by using Moondust simulant, epoxy, aluminum and carbon nanotubes.

With the Moon's weak gravity they are saying it might be possible to build telescopes with mirrors as large as 50 meters across, or 20 times the diameter of Hubble, that is one big scope, but that's not all folks, no, not only do you have a big scope, but on the Moon there is no atmosphere, nothing to distort the light path from far away stars and planets, because of these two facts they figure, they being people other then me, they could actually analyze the chemistry on planets around other stars for signs of life. In my dreams, to be an Astronaut, on the Moon, riding on that cool Moon buggy, to look through a fifty meter telescope, to see little green aliens on a distant planet, sigh, here I am stuck on Earth, well at least I have my cat........ and a blog.

I'll leave you now with a gif of the 13% of Full Moon, taken July 5, 2008

27 comments:

MYM said...

Your cat & your blog? I think you forgot someone on that list ... she also lives with you, LOL

Excellent photos, I love the last one, wow.

That's interesting about a telescope on the moon with no atmosphere. I bet the images would be phenomenal.

Marvin said...

How cool, Saturn, Mars and Regulus, all lined up so prettily! What a wonderful picture.

That's a neat idea about the telescope on the moon. I'm looking forward to humans inventing hyperdrive. Instead of gazing across the stellar depths, peering through clouds of gas and dust, we can just flip over there and take a look, up close. Of course, we'll probably stumble into someone's backyard and start a war by accident. ;-)

Bob Johnson said...

Lol, drowsey, yes I have my family too, actually as I was writting my last line the cat jumped on my lap covering my keyboard keys and staring at me, gave me the idea, and yes I can hardly wait to see the images that telescope will produce, will be like nothing on Earth.\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Lol, thanks marvin, we as you know are working on hyperdrive, in the meantime the telescope should give us some up close and personal pics. of you guys on Mars, can hardly wait,lol.\m/

Swubird said...

Bob:

Wow! A 50-meter telescope on the Moon. That's 163.5 feet! It's super huge when you consider that the Hubble is only 2.61 feet, and Palomar is only 17 feet. I wonder what they could see if they aimed the thing towards earth? Yikes! Better keep your drapes pulled.

Happy stargazing.

Anonymous said...

I loved the pictures, as usual, just take my breath away.

About the cat, don't forget the family here, OK? :-)

There is an ugly rummer that something is broken on the rover, is that true?

I have something for you at my site, my dear friend. :-)

Love and Blessings,
AngelBaby

Bob Johnson said...

Lol, swubird, who says they don't?, I'm sure they use it for stuff they don't tell us about.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Hey ,thanks angelbaby, yeah, they got a short in one of the ovens, they are trying to work around it, they use the ovens to analyze the chemical make up of the martian soil.\m/\m/

kml said...

Love that last pic, Bob! That 13% moon is gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

beautiful scenes which bring back memories of my life on the road..it was things like this that made the lifestyle worth while..

Bob Johnson said...

Hey thanks Kathy I thought you would like it.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Robert, great name, I bet you had lots of dark skies in your travels, thanks for dropping by.\m/\m/

Texas Travelers said...

Enjoyed this post a lot.
Great photos...

Thanks for the visit,
Troy

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Troy, glad you liked the post and images.\m/\m/

Unknown said...

Great pictures, and thanks for the comment, I added you to my blog role, if you mind, just let me know.

Anonymous said...

Great pictures, and thanks for the comment, I added you to my blog role, if you mind, just let me know.

Bob Johnson said...

No problem Jared and Jzholloway, added you as well, love your constellations, and I love constellations.\m/\m/

Anonymous said...

As always Bob, your shots are great. That gif is outstanding. As for your statement In my dreams, to be an Astronaut, on the Moon, riding on that cool Moon buggy, to look through a fifty meter telescope, to see little green aliens on a distant planet, sigh, here I am stuck on Earth, well at least I have my cat........ and a blog. well, you never know my friend. (music)If you wish upon a star....
Keep dreaming my friend.
~JD

Nature Nut /JJ Loch said...

Moon mirrors!!! I loooove this. I can hear song lyrics now. Bob, thanks for this information. How exciting to think of seeing more of space in the future.

Super conjunction pics and an intriguing post. We're lucky to have you to keep us up to date with the sky happenings. :D

Had my photo professionally taken last week. That was hard to sit through. LOL Can't wait to see what I look like after all those years when my high school photo was professionally taken. Yes, I have one of them left...or should I say 50...to compare it to.

Hugs, JJ

Bob Johnson said...

Lol, thanks JD, Hey I see enough stars to maybe pick one that does the job, thanks again JD.\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks JJ, lol, I hear ya, I don't think I would care to compare my photos from younger days to now, even though it was professionally taken,lol, congrats on everything, must be so exciting.\m/\m/

Sherer said...

Wow beaufitul picture of the moon - i need to catch up i have been gone!

Peter said...

Hi! I can just see you up there driving that humungous telescope. Now, if we pass the hat around and get enough funds to get you up there, who would look after the cat? or would you like to take the cat with you!

Take Care,
Peter

Bob Johnson said...

Lol, Peter, cat comes with,lol.\m/

myonlyphoto said...

Hey Bob there is still time to be Cosmonout, lol. Thanks for letting us know about Moon, may be I consider with my tiny lens compare to huge scopes, and fly to the moon to shoot some photos, lol. Anna :)

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Anna, and lol with the tiny lens.\m/

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