- Welcome to Orpington Astronomical Society.
Recent posts
#1
Updates and Upsets / Re: Monthly updates 2024...
Last post by Rick - Jul 25, 2024, 10:48:53July's updates are up. Thanks Carole and Raf.
#2
Updates and Upsets / Re: New WordPress version
Last post by Rick - Jul 21, 2024, 19:50:56I left a slightly snarky remark on that plugin's comments page because the problem was caused by an addition that was clearly driven by the marketing department, and they have to have pushed the update without testing because even a simple test would have shown the problem.
#3
Updates and Upsets / Re: New WordPress version
Last post by Carole - Jul 21, 2024, 14:58:43QuoteI had to hack a fix into on the fly to keep the site alive)
#4
Updates and Upsets / Re: New WordPress version
Last post by AndrewRamsay - Jul 21, 2024, 12:15:27Rick -
All looks OK to me. Thanks for keeping us up to date.
- Andrew
All looks OK to me. Thanks for keeping us up to date.
- Andrew
#5
In the Media... / May solar superstorm caused la...
Last post by Rick - Jul 20, 2024, 17:35:55May solar superstorm caused largest 'mass migration' of satellites in history
The May solar superstorm that set the night sky around the world ablaze with colorful aurora displays also triggered chaos in orbit as thousands of satellites had to maneuver at the same time to maintain their altitude amid the sudden thickening of the upper atmosphere.
According to a pre-print paper published on the online repository arXiv on June 12, satellites and space debris objects in low Earth orbit — the region of space up to an altitude of 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) — were sinking toward the planet at the speed of 590 feet (180 meters) per day during the four-day storm.
To make up for the loss of altitude, thousands of spacecraft began firing their thrusters at the same time to climb back up. That mass movement, the authors of the paper point out, could have led to dangerous situations because collision avoidance systems didn't have time to calculate the satellites' changing paths.
More: https://www.space.com/may-solar-storm-largest-mass-migration-satellites
The May solar superstorm that set the night sky around the world ablaze with colorful aurora displays also triggered chaos in orbit as thousands of satellites had to maneuver at the same time to maintain their altitude amid the sudden thickening of the upper atmosphere.
According to a pre-print paper published on the online repository arXiv on June 12, satellites and space debris objects in low Earth orbit — the region of space up to an altitude of 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) — were sinking toward the planet at the speed of 590 feet (180 meters) per day during the four-day storm.
To make up for the loss of altitude, thousands of spacecraft began firing their thrusters at the same time to climb back up. That mass movement, the authors of the paper point out, could have led to dangerous situations because collision avoidance systems didn't have time to calculate the satellites' changing paths.
More: https://www.space.com/may-solar-storm-largest-mass-migration-satellites
#6
Alerts! Questions? Discussions... / 2024 Perseids starting to appe...
Last post by Rick - Jul 20, 2024, 13:36:08My meteor cameras have seen their first Perseids of this year. Here's the orbital analysis of one of them:
https://archive.ukmeteors.co.uk/reports/2024/orbits/202407/20240719/20240719_234547.552_UK/index.html
https://archive.ukmeteors.co.uk/reports/2024/orbits/202407/20240719/20240719_234547.552_UK/index.html
#7
Updates and Upsets / Re: New WordPress version
Last post by Rick - Jul 20, 2024, 13:30:39...and again today. Quite a lot of changes (and one plugin I had to hack a fix into on the fly to keep the site alive) so please let me know pronto if you spot something amiss...
#8
In the Media... / Armada to Apophis—scientists r...
Last post by Rick - Jul 20, 2024, 11:44:35Armada to Apophis—scientists recycle old ideas for rare asteroid encounter
For nearly 20 years, scientists have known an asteroid named Apophis will pass unusually close to Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029. But most officials at the world's space agencies stopped paying much attention when updated measurements ruled out the chance Apophis will impact Earth anytime soon.
Now, Apophis is again on the agenda, but this time as a science opportunity, not as a threat. The problem is there's not much time to design, build and launch a spacecraft to get into position near Apophis in less than five years. The good news is there are designs, and in some cases, existing spacecraft, that governments can repurpose for missions to Apophis, a rocky asteroid about the size of three football fields.
More: https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/07/armada-to-apophis-scientists-recycle-old-ideas-for-rare-asteroid-encounter/
For nearly 20 years, scientists have known an asteroid named Apophis will pass unusually close to Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029. But most officials at the world's space agencies stopped paying much attention when updated measurements ruled out the chance Apophis will impact Earth anytime soon.
Now, Apophis is again on the agenda, but this time as a science opportunity, not as a threat. The problem is there's not much time to design, build and launch a spacecraft to get into position near Apophis in less than five years. The good news is there are designs, and in some cases, existing spacecraft, that governments can repurpose for missions to Apophis, a rocky asteroid about the size of three football fields.
More: https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/07/armada-to-apophis-scientists-recycle-old-ideas-for-rare-asteroid-encounter/
#9
Astrophotography / Re: vdB 133, LBN218 and 42 Cyg...
Last post by Fay - Jul 17, 2024, 17:27:41Very nice Roberto, nice to see something more unusual
#10
Astrophotography / Re: vdB 133, LBN218 and 42 Cyg...
Last post by Carole - Jul 16, 2024, 23:09:20Very interesting image, especially Sh2-106
Nicely done.
Nicely done.