| My Celestial Gallery / Astronomy Page: Thoughts and Events |
| CELESTIAL EVENTS / THOUGHTS... 01/18/2025 - The Year Of The Planets, Day 2. I spotted Mars last evening, across from us rising upwards. The unmistakeable reddish tint can usually give it away. Unfortunately, it comes out just as a tiny pinpoint of light or smudge on a phone camera. I still have yet to find the Saturn / Venus. 01/12/2025 - The Year Of The Planets, Day 1. I took these last night / evening. The fist picture is of Venus I think, located near the side of the house. The second picture I think is Jupiter near the moon. The third is the moon at an interesting angle, or facing not the usual way (taken over the summer). I'll probably check out the sky to find these planets at different positions, or if possible more planets elsewhere (Mars is going to glimmer a bit red so hopefully there'll be a sighting):
01/11/2025 - The Year Of Planetary Alignments / Planets I'm most looking forward to finding the next two brightest objects in the night sky, which'll be close to each other - Jupiter and Venus. I heard about a close conjunction between these two planets later in the year. In the meantime, they could be visible throughout this month, and the foreseeable future. Other planets - Mars, Mercury, Saturn (you can't be in an area with lots of evergreens, tall trees or light pollution). So finding these planets is really out of the question. Uranus and Neptune - same as above, and in addition to - a telescope is required (is not visible to the eye). Otherwise - 2025 is shaping up as a spectacular year for planetary viewing. Weather permitting of course. 01/07/2025 - Are the Voyager satellites really in interstellar space Some say yes - beyond the heliosphere. Some say no - they haven't cleared the Oort cloud (which is technically part of the star system - the final frontier of the sun's gravitational influence). Whatever. One thing is for sure though. Voyager 1 hasn't gone more than a few light hours yet in terms of cosmic distances. Imagine a house on the west coast is the solar system, and the backyard is the heliosphere. The nearest star would be somewhere on the east coast. Voyager 1 would probably be just exiting the backyard. It just feels like a lifetime ago since Voyager was relevant, since that was ancient history. This is in terms of human time. Of course - cosmic distances and time are just too mind-boggling and vast to even think about. So we don't. But it is fun to think about. I just think the entire universe is just the solar system, and stars / galaxies plastered all over are just "heavenly decor". Who knows. Perhaps one day, in the 23rd century, Voyager 1 is going to fall into a black hole and find a machine planet where it'll give it artifical intelligence called, "V'Ger" and then pose a threat to Earth. Thanks, Star Trek: The Motion Picture! hahaha. 12/23/2024 - Planetary Grand Alignment This event is certainly "grand" in the 'grand' scheme of things haha. It's when all the planets are on the same side and visible to Earth. So I hear this'll be sometime before 2040, so don't die until then (if you are an Astronomy enthusiast. Otherwise, please feel free to do so). It just occurs to me that with Astronomy or Cosmology being re-written or theories being dis-proven, what the hell is the point of the damn Science. There is none, other than Observing, Collecting, and Exploring. Stop with the "Explaining" now. Just enjoy the wonderment of creation and the universe as it is. However it is. It's becoming apparent that Scientist are just Pseudo-scientists, and you have no clue on what you are talking about. Hahaha. Another instance of looking like an ass, instead of backing it up. 09/14/2024 - The age, old question - why is it much more difficult and take much longer to send a satellite to the inner Solar System as opposed to the outer? Essentially: a. fuel costs - multiple flybys necessary b. Sun's gravity - multiple flybys necessary c. inner planets are small relative to the Sun -mulitple flybys necessary (as opposed to the Gas Giants with greater gravity, that can pull you in. The satellite is moving away from the Sun otherwise). If they can fake the moon landing, I'm sure they can fake a Mercury flyby haha. 05/28/2024 - Planetary alignments, or the planets lining up in the sky, is always an event to look forward to. Unfortunately, it is not as simple as just getting out of the house at night and looking up. Several criteria has to be met: a. You have to know when and where - alignments are usually best visible or occurs pre-dawn or well after midnight. That means getting up damn early. b. If it's on the horizon, you have to make sure there are no damn evergreens or trees obstructing or blocking the view. c. Optimal viewing is away from city or town lights. Unfortunately, that would mean traveling miles away from any civilization. There is just too much light pollution everywhere d. there is no guarantee that'll it be a clear day. Usually, during drought season of any region, there won't be any or a lot of clouds to begin with. I think Pluto should be re-classified as a planet. It has moons, features that resemble a planet, and is round. The extreme eccentricity of its orbit is more similar to a regular Kuiper Belt object however. I suppose this sealed its fate. It's still called a Dwarf Planet - Bobby Lee would've been proud of his home planet however hahaha. 04/29/2024 - Extremely Curious About "Insane Curiosity" Except the doomsday videos. Who else is curious about one's longevity on Venus. Imagine 100 Earth atmospheres coming down all around you with 900 degree temperatures scorching at the same time. Much hotter than a baker's oven. There is an opportunity for OceanGate to send another "not a problem" tin can down there haha. A human mission to Mars is not possible. Not in this lifetime, or ever (perhaps in a hundred or thousand years, if we still exist). If humanity is more preoccupied or concerned about killing each other or waging wars, it'll never be possible. There are a lot of variables in preparing for a 7 or 8 month long trip. The toll zero gravity can take on a human body, psychological effects, enormous amount of fuel required, preparing when things might go wrong during the trip, etc. 04/05/2024 - Total Eclipse Of The - Nothing Apparently, most of us would be cloud-covered or cloudy. The Total Solar Eclipse is happening on Monday. The path of totality is more to the SE this time. It'll be another 50+ years for the next one (or whatever the amount of years). It's as rare as a comet visiting. Hopefully, some images forthcoming. On the lookout for other events. 03/24/2024 - Apophis is coming Well, not until 2029 on a Friday The 13th. And only approaching very close to Earth. All science outlets say there is a zero chance of impact or a hit so no need to worry or panic. But is this just a cover up. Also - science can be fallible and make errors. There have been articles of unexplainable events out in deep space that are baffling or defying science or the laws of physics. Perhaps in this day and age, religion or a life of faith is necessary. I think this whole situation might be in God's hands now. If God decided to end the world or have something cataclysmic happen, it would have happened already. The lifespan of the Earth is still about a half-billion years, so plenty of time for humankind or humanity to correct itself. Unless with a flick of God's pinkie, the orbit of Apophis might be headed directly to Earth in the distant future. 05/02/2022 - Solar Eclipse or 'Transit of Phobos From Mars I thought this was cool. One of Mars' satellites Phobos eclipsing the sun, taken from Perserverance on Mars. Since Phobos does not cover the entire disc, does it constitute an eclipse? From a certain perspective, it can be both. But I always though 'transits' as planetary and eclipses from a planet's satellite or moon: It's been awhile. The defective telescope has been discarded - astronomy binoculars work a bit better. I think you'd have to invest in a high-quality scope, which can cost a lot. With the new Curiosity and Perserverance Mars mission, here are some image:  
07/09/2019 - It's Saturn's turn tonight, where it'll be in direct opposition to Earth and at its brightest. Unfortunately, tonight is cloudy / rainy but there should be another day. Planetary alignments happen only so often, but with a new telescope - I better put it to some use when conditions are favorable and when they occur. Saturn is a sight to behold because of its rings, especially with a telescope and perhaps with binoculars. I might not be in the most favorable area to stargaze (because of all the evergreens), but it's somewhat in a remote area. Still, there are lights around. My first attempt with the telescope was aimed at Jupiter last month, but with too much fiddling and re-positioning, it was not really an enjoyable experience. But I think I did see something. 04/11/2019 - So now we know what a black hole looks like? heheh  An interview below with Dr. Michio Kaku about the black hole ("Everything checks in, and nothing checks out"): |
