Anyone here big on Astronomy?

Post Reply New Topic

Astronomy has always been one of my favorite (and most researched) topics. I was wondering if anyone else here enjoys it as much as I do?

The Bookkeeper

I used to, until I discovered that
1) it's 90% math
2) most of the 'best times to watch' are in the coldest part of the morning...

aside from that, there's several people here who are quite good at it. Me, I'd rather visit the stars than just look.

You and me both! To wander amongst the stars... ah, the majesty of it all.

As far as watching in the coldest parts of the morning, I'm up for that. I'm usually nocturnal anyway.

-The Bookkeeper

Yes; special interest. Do you have a telescope?

Three telescopes (one broken), two sets of binoculars (one broken) and a radio receiver (awaiting repairs). It's more fun than anything to go out there and take measurements. Of course, people tend to give me the 'who cares' look when I tell them that 47 Ursa Majoris' axial wobble has increased by .002% over the past ten months

-The Bookkeeper

I have a great interest in Astronomy, too! At a nearby college close to my home, there is an observatory and I was able to view
Saturn...it was awesome! There is also, an established social group for people who are interested in Astronomy and we get
together to watch the night sky, especially for special events when a comet, eclipse or whatever is subject to occur.

What did you do to them?
Sounds interesting about the measurements; feel free to go into detail here to your heart's content.

Do you ever invite people to observe through the telescopes and they can't figure out how? I've directed a couple of people (e.g., my mother) to the eyepiece and they still couldn't see anything through it.

Hey love astronomy! but no scope and too much light pollution anyway, How far away is 47 ursa majoris? Have you taken any measurements of the closest stars to earth? If so Any changes in those readings over time?

Oh yes, I've loved astronomy and astrophysics for quite some time (I would have majored in it if not for the ridiculously low pay). I was fortunate enough to work in a planetarium for 3 years when I lived in Wyoming.

I had major light pollution problems. However, it's surprising how much can be observed under these conditions. Several globular clusters could be observed with 12x50 binoculars.

I came across this photo today that my father took many years ago while observing a partial solar eclipse. I don't think I was home that day.

47 Ursa is, oddly enough, 46 light years from earth. It is a binary star system, although its companion is usually too dim to see from earth. NASA has figured out that it does, indeed, have planets orbiting it.
I was watching it for several days when I noticed it looked 'off' through my telescope. I'm actually not quite sure how to describe 'off' when it comes to astronomy. Something just didn't feel right. Sure enough, it's axial wobble had, like I said earlier, increased by 0.002% over the past ten months.
Where I am, light pollution is horrible. However, there is a large hill that has a memorial on it. Part of the memorial was that the area would never be built upon, so there's no light pollution up there.
As for the question of what I did to my telescope, we had an earthquake a few years ago and they fell over and into each other, off shelves, etc. I'm saving up money to repair the other two, but I was able to get my most powerful one fixed first.

-The Bookkeeper

What is an axial wobble? And what does increase mean in this context?

I'm finding dark sites increasingly difficult to locate. There's usually some nearby (e.g., about 5 miles distant) village lighting up the horizon.

An axial wobble is a shift in the spinning of a star or planet. In this case, A mass is exerting influence enough to change the rotation of 47 ursa major. This could be a planet or the companion star or something else!

Astronomy is the Oldest Science.

ruveyn

My own theories on the Axial wobble are rather mundane, actually. I believe that a new planet may have formed; one with enough mass to alter the wobble. Even small planetoid bodies (i.e. Pluto) can still affect a star's wobble (but not by much). If I remember my astronomy class correctly, Jupiter causes a .021 degree wobble in our own star, whereas the Earth only pulls .0003 and Pluto .00000000089; so not by much at all. However, something tugging .002 degrees on 47 Ursa would have to be a planet between the size of Jupiter and Earth. Based upon variations in the wobble, it's likely a fresh, not-completely-spherical planet; and only rocky worlds form like that. I think that sometime in the past 46 years, a new terrestrial world has formed around 47 Ursa, and the wobble-light is just reaching us this year/last year. I find it incredibly exciting, but most people think I'm out of my mind.

I just love it when someone says "You're off your medication, aren't you?"

-TheBookkeeper

That's how they discovered the first extra-solar planets. Many are likely brown dwarves, or Jupiter-like megaplanets. Over 150 discovered to date.

They say the mark of good vision in Indian tribes (American Aborigines, for y'all overseas... was to be able to see the double star in the Big (I think) dipper.

Also, I didn't know until a month ago that Mercury's orbit increases and decreases in 3 million-year intervals.