Rare picture of space shuttle docked to ISS

[YosemiteSam]

Very cool.

=========================================

Explanation:

How was this picture taken? Usually, pictures of the shuttle, taken from space, are snapped from the space station. Commonly, pictures of the space station are snapped from the shuttle. How, then, can there be a picture of both the shuttle and the station together, taken from space? The answer is that during the Space Shuttle Endeavour's last trip to the International Space Station two weeks ago, a supply ship departed the station with astronauts that captured a series of rare views. The supply ship was the Russian Soyuz TMA-20 which landed in Kazakhstan later that day. The above spectacular image well captures the relative sizes of the station and docked shuttle. Far below, clouds of Earth are seen above a blue sea.​

 

[Cajuncowboy]

Man, I love stuff like this.

Thanks for sharing that.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Man, I love stuff like this.

Thanks for sharing that.

Yes that is pretty cool. Looks like some crazy model or something.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Have you ever seen ISS fly overhead? It looks like an airplane or something and it flies fast. It takes about a minute or two to cross the sky. On a clear night, you can see it plain as day.

Go here and select your country on the left side where it says "Sighting Opportunities" then your state and then the closest city. It will give you times that you can see it. On a clear night, check out that link. ISS circles the earth in about 90 minutes, so if it's current orbit brings close to your area, you can see it. (it's orbit doesn't follow the equator so sometimes it won't be visible straight overhead at your location)

It is very cool when you see it.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Neat Picture.

 

[joseephuss]

Don't fall for the lies. This was a picture taken by aliens who then posted it to their Facebook page.

 

[cowboyeric8]

Soon it will be the Enterprise at Deep Space Nine

 

[YosemiteSam]

On the subject of space and pictures. My favorite binary star: Albireo

For those that it isn't clear what exactly a binary star is:

A binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common center of mass. The brighter star is called the primary and the other is its companion star, or secondary.​

Basically, it's two stars orbiting around each other usually in a death spiral. (at some point they will collide)

Albireo A (the brighter red and primary star) and Albireo B (the less intense blue and secondary star)

This is literally what it looks like through a telescope. (binoculars work too for looking at Albireo) The color contrast between them is obviously what makes them my favorite. They are absolutely gorgeous and give you a wow moment the first time you actually lay your eyes on them.

If you want to locate them for your self. You just need to find Lyra. Lyra's primary star is Vega which is very bright. I find Lyra looking south at about 50 degrees (up) from the horizon. (Google Sky will make this very easy if you install it on your smartphone) Since most of you are in Texas and lower down than I, you will have to look higher up than 50 degrees. This is what Lyra looks like, though when I see Lyra, she is flipped about 45-50 degrees to the left.

On the lower portion of the box, (if looking at it as noted turned 45-50 degrees to the left) follow the stars path down about 25 degrees towards the horizon and Albireo is there. (edit, I'm talking about the line created between the two stars furthest from Vega. Follow that line down toward the horizon)

While looking at Lyra in the same lower stars I mentioned to follow down, if you look right in between them (with a good telescope and good night sky) you will find M57. (the Ring Nebula) When looking at it through a telescope, it basically looks like a smoke ring.

There are other bigger full "color" pictures of it on the net that show far more definition. I recommend a Google Image search for The Ring Nebula.

Sorry for babbling, I've got a thing for Astronomy!

 

[CowboyWay]

Have you ever seen ISS fly overhead? It looks like an airplane or something and it flies fast. It takes about a minute or two to cross the sky. On a clear night, you can see it plain as day.

Go here and select your country on the left side where it says "Sighting Opportunities" then your state and then the closest city. It will give you times that you can see it. On a clear night, check out that link. ISS circles the earth in about 90 minutes, so if it's current orbit brings close to your area, you can see it. (it's orbit doesn't follow the equator so sometimes it won't be visible straight overhead at your location)

It is very cool when you see it.

Sweet post. thanks.'

 

[YosemiteSam]

Above I said looking south to find Lyra. I meant east.

 

[67CowboysFan]

Sorry for babbling, I've got a thing for Astronomy!

Geek!

Just messing with ya. I can see why you have an interest in it. I remember the first time I bought a halfway decent telescope for the kids. At the time I think Saturn was really close to us. It was totally awesome to actually see the rings with your own eyes. It is a hobby I could really get into if I lived in an area that was dark enough for good viewing.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

On the subject of space and pictures. My favorite binary star: Albireo

For those that it isn't clear what exactly a binary star is:

A binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common center of mass. The brighter star is called the primary and the other is its companion star, or secondary.​

Basically, it's two stars orbiting around each other usually in a death spiral. (at some point they will collide)

Albireo A (the brighter red and primary star) and Albireo B (the less intense blue and secondary star)

This is literally what it looks like through a telescope. (binoculars work too for looking at Albireo) The color contrast between them is obviously what makes them my favorite. They are absolutely gorgeous and give you a wow moment the first time you actually lay your eyes on them.

If you want to locate them for your self. You just need to find Lyra. Lyra's primary star is Vega which is very bright. I find Lyra looking south at about 50 degrees (up) from the horizon. (Google Sky will make this very easy if you install it on your smartphone) Since most of you are in Texas and lower down than I, you will have to look higher up than 50 degrees. This is what Lyra looks like, though when I see Lyra, she is flipped about 45-50 degrees to the left.

On the lower portion of the box, (if looking at it as noted turned 45-50 degrees to the left) follow the stars path down about 25 degrees towards the horizon and Albireo is there. (edit, I'm talking about the line created between the two stars furthest from Vega. Follow that line down toward the horizon)

While looking at Lyra in the same lower stars I mentioned to follow down, if you look right in between them (with a good telescope and good night sky) you will find M57. (the Ring Nebula) When looking at it through a telescope, it basically looks like a smoke ring.

There are other bigger full "color" pictures of it on the net that show far more definition. I recommend a Google Image search for The Ring Nebula.

Sorry for babbling, I've got a thing for Astronomy!

You catch the CME yesterday? They had the video up at Space.com. Amazing to see the size of it as the material splashed back down on the surface.

In related news, no one at ***ushima was injured by the blast. :

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Have you ever seen ISS fly overhead? It looks like an airplane or something and it flies fast. It takes about a minute or two to cross the sky. On a clear night, you can see it plain as day.

Yeah, our national weather service site posts alerts on days it's going to fly over at night, and sometime around last fall (IIRC) it came over about half an hour after dark. It's easy to spot because the light is bigger than that of a plane, and it goes so fast! Amazingly fast. Cool stuff.

 

[YosemiteSam]

You catch the CME yesterday? They had the video up at Space.com. Amazing to see the size of it as the material splashed back down on the surface.

In related news, no one at ***ushima was injured by the blast. :

Yes I did see it. (Coronal Mass Ejection, for those that don't know the acronym) When you have an explosion that last three hours, you know it's enormous! Last night was a clear sky too, but I was out and didn't get to look for the auroras. I think there could be some tonight too.

Here is the link for others that want to see it.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Did anyone check out the first pictures of the new VLT Survey Telescope in Chile with it's 268 megapixal camera? Very impressive!

 

[big dog cowboy]

Here is the link for others that want to see it.

Man that just looks cool.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Why living in a big city sucks.

You never see the sky (Milky Way) like this...

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Did anyone check out the first pictures of the new VLT Survey Telescope in Chile with it's 268 megapixal camera? Very impressive!

268 megapixels? Meh, I can get 200 megapixels here on Terra Firma.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20066021-264.html

 

[YosemiteSam]

268 megapixels? Meh, I can get 200 megapixels here on Terra Firma.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20066021-264.html

Don't forget to attach it to a several million dollar telescope!

 

[notherbob]

Why living in a big city sucks.

You never see the sky (Milky Way) like this...

That's one of the things I love about living out in the middle of nowhere - the stars. My 8" Celestron Dobsonian isn't any good for photography but it's a lot of fun at our occasional backyard star parties.

Not being able to see or hear our neighbors is wonderful.

I am an amateur archeoastronomer and have made several discoveries among the pictographs of Paint Rock, Texas, a hotbed of ancient astronomy. Google Paint Rock, TX pictographs