Ongoing important Science news thread

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Sluggo

According to a Scott Manley video the green flames at the end was from oxygen gas burning the copper inside the engine due to a lack of methane -the intended fuel-

Was cool to see them almost sticking the whole thing all things considered.

Link to video

An “Engine rich burn” Was not a description I was ever expecting to hear! Makes sense though, yesterday a buddy and I were discussing that the green could be copper, but didn’t really understand how. Yikes!

[Sluggo]

I thought it was the igniters they used on the Falcon 9 trying to start up the engine however the exhaust was still shooting out so I thought it was working, but not properly. It still is a excellent real-life example of the intro to chemistry experiment where different metals produce different colored flames.

[Bigtime]

Pretty huge news this morning:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1339228735724269569

[#-3]

My nationalism got pretty excited by the announcement.

But for Sciences sake I kinda hope China decides to show up this announcement by orbiting the moon in July 2023, just for political posture. If that happens Humans will be walking on Mars by the end of the decade.

[Snuffleupagus]

To be honest, after 6 landed missions and 12 men walked on the moon starting 50+ years ago this feels like a total letdown to do just an orbit, now if they went back to the original "sea of tranquility" and took selfie's next to the flag and the famous plaque from the first lunar module we might have something to get excited about.

[CaptainCrunch]

Yeah, I was kind of saying the same thing in a way, that orbit, meh, we need to start expanding the Terran Empire, We should be landing a garrison of troops on the moon and start building our Earth defense grid.

[Ozy_Flame]

I am actually curious to see if they do some high-res video capture of the far side of the moon and release it to the public. I am curious to see what it's like as a full expanse.

[troutman]

Best photo of the Far Side as of 2011:


https://www.space.com/11186-photo-si...r-orbiter.html





https://qz.com/1590847/far-side-of-the-moon-pictures/

[Ozy_Flame]

I want close-ups

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

I want close-ups

China releases huge batch of amazing Chang'e-4 images from moon's far side

https://qz.com/1590847/far-side-of-the-moon-pictures/

[Canada 02]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Pretty huge news this morning:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1339228735724269569

I'm surprised China and Russia haven't sent people to the moon.

China had a moon landing just 2 weeks ago, and returned yesterday with moon rocks (3rd country to do so), completely unheralded, at least in the west

[CaptainCrunch]

The Christmas star is appearing in time as Jupiter and Saturn are not been this close to each other in the last 800 years. It will be on the SW horizon, and you should be able to see two bright lights close to each other, and with binoculars you should be able to pick out the moons.



Well you would if it wasn't so freaking cloudy and snowy tonight but you should be able to find a telescope view on line.

[csnarpy]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

The Christmas star is appearing in time as Jupiter and Saturn are not been this close to each other in the last 800 years. It will be on the SW horizon, and you should be able to see two bright lights close to each other, and with binoculars you should be able to pick out the moons.



Well you would if it wasn't so freaking cloudy and snowy tonight but you should be able to find a telescope view on line.

I know, seriously, something that happens only 800 years and we were going to miss it. So pissed.

I have my friends in Colorado filming it for me but I really wish I could see it live.

[CaptainCrunch]

there should be some live streams out there, its not the same sadly. The next time they will get this close is 80 years from now, so the weird thing that you could do is tell you're kids and they can tell your grandkids if you have them, and they can gather and watch it and remember that Grandpa told them it was happening.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by csnarpy

I know, seriously, something that happens only 800 years and we were going to miss it. So pissed.

I have my friends in Colorado filming it for me but I really wish I could see it live.

I wouldn’t be too worried about missing it if I were you.
It’s not like this is some momentary event that you need to film. They’ve been very visible and getting closer to each other for months.
Tonight is just when they will be the closest, and there will be a noticeable separation between them.
Still really cool, but if you look at them at any time in the next few days you won’t rally notice a difference.

[CaptainCrunch]

buzz kill.

[troutman]

Today is my sister's birthday, so I got her framed photos of Jupiter and Saturn. She is excited this is happening on her birthday, and on the Solstice.

[troutman]

Aliens at Proxima Centauri? A New Radio Signal Raises the Question

https://www.planetary.org/articles/a...SRZrtIDl9cVXsE

Scientists studying archival data collected by the Parkes radio telescope in Australia say they have found a radio signal that came from the direction of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to Earth. Proxima Centauri has at least one planet that may be habitable to life as we know it. There is a slim chance that the signal came from extraterrestrial beings, though other explanations are far more likely.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and no one—including the astronomers analyzing the data—are claiming they’ve found aliens. A paper analyzing the findings is not expected to be published until early 2021, so there’s a lot we don’t know.

The signal

The signal was found by Breakthrough Listen, a privately funded effort to search for signals from intelligent beings.

• Breakthrough Listen scientists recorded the signal while monitoring Proxima Centauri for flares to understand how they might affect conditions on the star’s planets.
• The radio signal appeared in multiple observations of Proxima Centauri taken by Parkes in April and May 2020. The signal wasn’t noticed until later.
• 
  Why the signal could be aliens
• The signal frequency, 982 megahertz, is not typically used by spacecraft.
• The signal reappeared after the telescope looked at another part of the sky and then turned back to Proxima Centauri as part of a calibration procedure to check for interference from local sources, such as microwave ovens.
• There is no known natural astronomical phenomenon that would generate such a tight-band radio signal at 982 megahertz.

[Knut]

Originally Posted by troutman

Aliens at Proxima Centauri? A New Radio Signal Raises the Question

https://www.planetary.org/articles/a...SRZrtIDl9cVXsE

My go to on things like this is Phil Plait. Good articled here.

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/a-sign...ly-from-aliens

[troutman]

It would surely defy the odds if aliens existed at the closet star to Sol.