You are not logged in. [Login] Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar

Observing >> Planetary and Solar System Observing Previous   Index   Next   Threaded

Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | (show all) Darren Drake Carpal Tunnel Reged: 10/09/02 Loc: Chicagoland Mars could get hit by giant comet next year!       #5701232 - 02/26/13 09:22 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   This would be an increadible event but the odds are pretty small at this point for an actual collision on Oct 19, 2014. Mars will be about 5.7 arcseconds and set around 9 pm local time on that day. Here is the info... http://spaceobs.org/en/news/ Post Extras:       dyslexic nam Pooh-Bah Reged: 01/28/08 Loc: PEI, Canada Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Darren Drake]       #5701274 - 02/26/13 09:47 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Pardon the astrological pun, but it would be amazing if the stars could align to make this happen. Probably wouldn't be great for any ground-based technology on Mars, but it sure would be neat from an observational perspective. Post Extras:       BrooksObs super member Reged: 12/08/12 Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: dyslexic nam]       #5701397 - 02/26/13 10:53 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I would hasten to question where the assumption that the comet's nucleus is some 50km in diameter originates. Currently the IAU Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams' ephemeris for the comet is listing an absolute magnitude of +6.0, indicating it to be a very average object. If one takes the nuclear magnitude to be +10.3, it would imply a probable size for the nucleus of more like say 5km, only a tenth of of the size indicated in the article. In contrast, a 50km cometary nucleus is an exceeding rare bird and is what one expects for brilliant comets like Hale-Bopp. As things stand now, C/2013 A1 is certainly no Hale-Bopp! BrooksObs Edited by BrooksObs (02/26/13 10:55 AM) Post Extras:       leviathan super member Reged: 11/29/11 Loc: Azerbaijan Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: BrooksObs]       #5701526 - 02/26/13 12:07 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Poor Curiosity. Post Extras:       Astrojensen Post Laureate Reged: 10/05/08 Loc: Bornholm, Denmark Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: leviathan]       #5701575 - 02/26/13 12:27 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Now THAT would be a cool event to see - from Earth! Clear skies! Thomas, Denmark Post Extras:       Mike7Mak Pooh-Bah Reged: 12/07/11 Loc: New York Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Astrojensen]       #5701866 - 02/26/13 03:22 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Careful what you wish for. Post Extras:       Astrojensen Post Laureate Reged: 10/05/08 Loc: Bornholm, Denmark Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Mike7Mak]       #5701884 - 02/26/13 03:34 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: Careful what you wish for. I think you misunderstood me. What I meant was that a comet impact on Mars was a cool event to watch from (the safe and distant) Earth! Clear skies! Thomas, Denmark Post Extras:       Mike7Mak Pooh-Bah Reged: 12/07/11 Loc: New York Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Astrojensen]       #5701915 - 02/26/13 03:50 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: Quote: Careful what you wish for. I think you misunderstood me. What I meant was that a comet impact on Mars was a cool event to watch from (the safe and distant) Earth! Clear skies! Thomas, Denmark Lol, no I got you. 'Careful what you wish for' is just a superstitious saying that warns against potential unintended consequences of wishes granted. I agree it would be cool to witness an impact on a rocky planet. Oops. Post Extras:       Dave Mitsky Postmaster Reged: 04/08/02 Loc: PA, USA, Planet Earth Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Astrojensen]       #5701916 - 02/26/13 03:50 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   There's more on C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) at http://www.universetoday.com/100298/is-a-comet-on-a-collision-course-with-mars/ Dave Mitsky Post Extras:       Astrojensen Post Laureate Reged: 10/05/08 Loc: Bornholm, Denmark Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Mike7Mak]       #5702017 - 02/26/13 04:33 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: Lol, no I got you. 'Careful what you wish for' is just a superstitious saying that warns against potential unintended consequences of wishes granted. And I got that as well. We have the same saying in Danish, or almost. Quote: I agree it would be cool to witness an impact on a rocky planet. Oops. Careful, now! It was pretty dang close to a big one just last week. Russian handymen had a field day, though. Clear skies! Thomas, Denmark Post Extras:       krp super member Reged: 11/10/10 Loc: Central Illinois Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Astrojensen]       #5702200 - 02/26/13 06:15 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Wow, this would be exciting to see from earth. The two website above are saying magnitude -4 or -8 as seen from the surface of Mars. Are there an estimates for the apparent magnitude as seen from earth? I know it's probably too early to tell. Post Extras:       Centaur Vendor Reged: 07/12/04 Loc: Chicago Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Darren Drake]       #5702390 - 02/26/13 08:16 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Thanks for the heads-up, Darren! I’ve created a diagram with an “overhead” view of C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring), Mars, Earth and Sun. It’s for the months surrounding the comet’s encounter with Mars. It can be seen from the bottom of my comets webpage: www.CurtRenz.com/comets Post Extras:       Centaur Vendor Reged: 07/12/04 Loc: Chicago Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: krp]       #5702454 - 02/26/13 08:52 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: Are there an estimates for the apparent magnitude as seen from earth? I know it's probably too early to tell. By utilizing the current JPL orbital elements, I estimate it will reach a peak magnitude of +7.7 for earthbound observers on 2014 SEP 10. It should be closest to Earth at 0.89 AU on 2014 SEP 05. Post Extras:       azure1961p Postmaster Reged: 01/17/09 Loc: USA Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Centaur]       #5702495 - 02/26/13 09:15 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   The only chilling thing to me about this is that it brings *home* the reality these things are still perilous if even remotely. I would have to believe though if this thing hit - Curiosity wouldn't be the close of the current Mars effort and possibly CURIOSITY II would be made and sent to investigate the freshly excavated (if fused and burnt) material from the hit. It would be tremendous Ill say that. I'd have to believe its extend our Mars program. Pete Post Extras:       RLTYS Post Laureate Reged: 12/18/04 Loc: New York (Long Island) Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Darren Drake]       #5702974 - 02/27/13 07:29 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Just read the article. It would certinly be cool to watch but how would it affect our Mars landers? Rich (RLTYS) Post Extras:       Tonk Postmaster Reged: 08/19/04 Loc: Leeds, UK, 54N Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: RLTYS]       #5703011 - 02/27/13 07:55 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   An object with a current orbit uncertainty spread of > 600,000 km aiming at a planet 6,800 km wide - humm Which part of the uncertainly spread is Mars currently in? Elenin doesn't say but my bet its in the tail out at the << 0.001% mark :cynic: :moi: Post Extras:       BSJ scholastic sledgehammer Reged: 12/22/08 Loc: Grand Isle, VT Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Tonk]       #5703193 - 02/27/13 10:22 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I loaded the comet data into Stellarium and "went" to the comet (CTRL-G), for a ride along, and then cetered on Mars. Kinda neat to see how close Mars will be to the comet, and how quickly it's moving. Even at normal speed... Post Extras:       Special Ed Postmaster Reged: 05/18/03 Loc: Greenbrier Co., WV 38N, 80W Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Tonk]       #5703999 - 02/27/13 06:30 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: An object with a current orbit uncertainty spread of > 600,000 km aiming at a planet 6,800 km wide - humm Which part of the uncertainly spread is Mars currently in? Elenin doesn't say but my bet its in the tail out at the << 0.001% mark :cynic: :moi: Are cooler, i.e. skeptical, heads prevailing here? Maybe that's why it's called "space" ? Post Extras:       Tonk Postmaster Reged: 08/19/04 Loc: Leeds, UK, 54N Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Special Ed]       #5704073 - 02/27/13 07:17 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I forgot to point out that even though Elenin estimates the comet diameter as 50 km, others (Bortle) recon that absolute brighness equates to a 5 km object. This is fair as a 50 km object is represented by Hale-Bop. Siding Springs doesn't look like its a Hale-Bop class comet. So thats a 5 km object with a > 600,000 km uncertainty aiming at a 6,800 km cross section .... Post Extras:       azure1961p Postmaster Reged: 01/17/09 Loc: USA Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Tonk]       #5704293 - 02/27/13 09:17 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Even at 5k that's still huge . The dust kicked up would be off the scale. I'd bet it'd be visible even in an 80mm. What it'd look like though I have no idea. Between the heat from the explosive impact to the sheer force sending dust up into the atmosphere - . My hunch is its gonna fly right by - but the speculation is entertaining anyway. Pete Post Extras:       zeldaboy101 Carpal Tunnel Reged: 03/13/04 Loc: Maryland Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: azure1961p]       #5705438 - 02/28/13 02:25 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Phil Plait has a great writeup on this. http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/02/28/mars_impact_the_red_plane... If it actually hits the planet, the rovers could likely be toast, and even the orbiters could be destroyed by massive amounts of ejecta. I bet the ensuing dust cloud would be visible in telescopes. The side of Mars that could be hit is going to face us, correct? I wonder what the time of impact would be and if the we'd be facing Mars at the time to try and watch it live? That'd be an event to drive a couple hundred miles to get to clear skies for if you can see any kind of flash!! Post Extras:       Astrojensen Post Laureate Reged: 10/05/08 Loc: Bornholm, Denmark Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: zeldaboy101]       #5705446 - 02/28/13 02:31 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   It will - as usual - be a southern hemisphere event... Mars is in Scorpius at the time and not very far from the Sun. Clear skies! Thomas, Denmark Post Extras:       Tonk Postmaster Reged: 08/19/04 Loc: Leeds, UK, 54N Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Astrojensen]       #5705572 - 02/28/13 03:30 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: The side of Mars that could be hit is going to face us, correct? Not necessarity the comet is moving from below Mars to above - so IF it hits then it could equally arrive on the hidden side or the visible side. Post Extras:       Tonk Postmaster Reged: 08/19/04 Loc: Leeds, UK, 54N Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Tonk]       #5705594 - 02/28/13 03:40 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: Mars is in Scorpius at the time and not very far from the Sun. Mars should be far enough from the sun in October 2014 to be in a dark sky for somebody on this planet to make observations. See Curt's charts further back in this thread. The solar elongation is above 60 degrees I think - could be higher Post Extras:       aa6ww sage Reged: 10/23/11 Loc: Sacramento, Calif. Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Darren Drake]       #5705636 - 02/28/13 04:03 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: This would be an increadible event but the odds are pretty small at this point for an actual collision on Oct 19, 2014. Mars will be about 5.7 arcseconds and set around 9 pm local time on that day. Here is the info... http://spaceobs.org/en/news/ I hate to see space media turn into a bunch of divas predicting stuff like this. It degrades them to the level of most television entertainment desperate journalists staving to grab any attention to justify their jobs instead of researching real information, data and facts. Still. I'm ready for the collision!!! ...Ralph Post Extras:       Centaur Vendor Reged: 07/12/04 Loc: Chicago Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Tonk]       #5705639 - 02/28/13 04:05 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: Mars should be far enough from the sun in October 2014 to be in a dark sky for somebody on the this planet to make observations. See Curt's charts further back in this thread. The solar elongation is above 60 degrees I think - could be higher Sixty is very close, Tonk; actually about 58.8°. So you are quite right that it will be in the nighttime sky for some observers. And indeed as you implied earlier the error range would make any hits on the near or far sides equally likely. I’ve been in contact with Aldo Vitagliano, the creator of the Solex astronomical numerical integration program. He developed 50,000 clones of the comet that fit within the possible error range of the still quite preliminary data. After running them through Solex he got 6 hits or 0.0012%. So a collision appears extremely unlikely, though still possible. Aldo hopes to know more tomorrow. If so, he’ll send me a file with a thousand clones including a few impactors to input into my copy of Solex. That may cause me to fine tune my chart: www.CurtRenz.com/comets Post Extras:       RedLionNJ professor emeritus Reged: 12/29/09 Loc: Red Lion, NJ, USA Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Tonk]       #5705711 - 02/28/13 04:44 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: I forgot to point out that even though Elenin estimates the comet diameter as 50 km, others (Bortle) recon that absolute brighness equates to a 5 km object. This is fair as a 50 km object is represented by Hale-Bop. Siding Springs doesn't look like its a Hale-Bop class comet. So thats a 5 km object with a > 600,000 km uncertainty aiming at a 6,800 km cross section .... Thank you for somebody else speaking out with rationale and sensibility. When I first heard of this close pass to Mars, I immediately downloaded all the observations from the MPC and stuffed them into Bill Grey's find_orb (spectacularly powerful piece of software that's often overlooked) - estimated closest proximity to Mars was in the order of half a million kilometers with the uncertainty being about 350,000km. To me, that strongly implies "no collision possible". If this was Earth instead of Mars, it would be a zero on the Torino Scale... Grant Post Extras:       AlaskaIsCold member Reged: 11/16/11 Loc: Anchorage, AK Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: RedLionNJ]       #5705748 - 02/28/13 04:58 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   So just a question. With the comet most likely just doing a very VERY close flyby of mars. Have they calculated what the flyby would do to its orbit? Post Extras:       Centaur Vendor Reged: 07/12/04 Loc: Chicago Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: AlaskaIsCold]       #5705758 - 02/28/13 05:08 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: With the comet most likely just doing a very VERY close flyby of mars. Have they calculated what the flyby would do to its orbit? Well each of Aldo's 50,000 clones would be affected in a manner that causes it's orbit too to be altered differently from all of the others (not counting the six that hit, of course). Post Extras:       AlaskaIsCold member Reged: 11/16/11 Loc: Anchorage, AK Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Centaur]       #5706390 - 02/28/13 11:18 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Huh... How did he run the simulation ? Post Extras:       Centaur Vendor Reged: 07/12/04 Loc: Chicago Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: AlaskaIsCold]       #5706508 - 03/01/13 01:18 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: How did he run the simulation ? Aldo ran it on the Solex astronomical numerical integration program that he created. Numerical integration avoids Kepler's difficulties with multi-body scenarios. It repeatedly utilizes Newton's two more basic force formulae for motion and gravitation. You can download a free copy of Solex at: http://main.chemistry.unina.it/~alvitagl/solex/ However, your copy will not have data for recently discovered comet C/2013 A1. Aldo once told me that he obtains initial positions and velocities for minor bodies from NEODyS. I expect him to soon e-mail me some preliminary data for C/2013 A1. When data are still uncertain, Aldo generates many clones with initial conditions slightly different than the nominal solution, but within the range of possible error. For the recent flyby of asteroid 2012 DA14 he generated only 50 clones, but for this comet that is still 20 months away he generated 50,000. If you read any of Jean Meeus' books, especially in his "Mathematical Astronomy Morsels" series, you will find Jean describing some of Aldo's simulations involving many clones. BTW, Aldo Vitagliano is an Italian chemistry professor who happens to be extremely expert in celestial mechanics. He is a member of this message board who posts under his real name, but participates infrequently. Post Extras:       AlaskaIsCold member Reged: 11/16/11 Loc: Anchorage, AK Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Centaur]       #5706533 - 03/01/13 02:05 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Wow... That is so much more complicated than I can understand. haha. It will take me a few days to try and wrap my head around Solex. PS: Your maps are awesome. Post Extras:       Centaur Vendor Reged: 07/12/04 Loc: Chicago Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: AlaskaIsCold]       #5706544 - 03/01/13 02:29 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: Wow... That is so much more complicated than I can understand. haha. It will take me a few days to try and wrap my head around Solex. PS: Your maps are awesome. Thanks for your kind words, Christopher. Be sure to read the Solex user manual. It can be found in the DOCS folder within the Solex110 folder as Word file SOLEX110. If that doesn't help, Aldo's e-mail address is near the top of the manual, and at the Solex website where he says inquiries are appreciated. Numerical integration is far more accurate than any other method for predicting the positions of solar system bodies. Sorry, Kepler. For bodies with accurately known starting conditions, their past and future positions can be confidently calculated for hundreds of thousands of years, unless they pass too closely to each other. This could not be done until high-speed computers were invented to perform the chore of repeatedly calculating new positions across short time intervals. Post Extras:       Ron359 member Reged: 04/21/08 Loc: Evergreen, CO. USA Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: RedLionNJ]       #5707104 - 03/01/13 12:42 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: Quote: I forgot to point out that even though Elenin estimates the comet diameter as 50 km, others (Bortle) recon that absolute brighness equates to a 5 km object. This is fair as a 50 km object is represented by Hale-Bop. Siding Springs doesn't look like its a Hale-Bop class comet. So thats a 5 km object with a > 600,000 km uncertainty aiming at a 6,800 km cross section .... Thank you for somebody else speaking out with rationale and sensibility. When I first heard of this close pass to Mars, I immediately downloaded all the observations from the MPC and stuffed them into Bill Grey's find_orb (spectacularly powerful piece of software that's often overlooked) - estimated closest proximity to Mars was in the order of half a million kilometers with the uncertainty being about 350,000km. To me, that strongly implies "no collision possible". If this was Earth instead of Mars, it would be a zero on the Torino Scale... Grant I agree, it appears Phil Plait is promoting "Bad Astronomy" now?! I'm disappointed in his falling into hyping this stuff. IF its as close as 23,000 miles to Mars, as his speculated distance is, after better orbital data, of a 4,200 mile di. planet thats over 5.5 Mars diameters away, like missing Earth at 125,000 miles or half the distance to our Moon. We'd love to see a comet in our sky that close. But, "Close but no cigar" is what I'd say. This impact possibility was started by a guy who doesn't know how JPL ephemeris generator works, and was debunked a month ago. Better orbital data since then hasn't raised the probability much. http://astroblogger.blogspot.com/2013/02/will-comet-c2013-a1-siding-spring-hi... Ron Post Extras:       Centaur Vendor Reged: 07/12/04 Loc: Chicago Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Darren Drake]       #5709089 - 03/02/13 04:22 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Due to the latest (March 1) observational data for comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring), today Aldo Vitagliano provided me with initial conditions for 2000 clones to be entered into his Solex numerical integrator. The clones represent deviations from the nominal solution within the range of reasonable error. He has upgraded the probability of collision with Mars to 1 / 333 from his previous figure of 1 / 8333. In response, I have updated my diagram illustrating an “overhead” (north of ecliptic) view of the encounter with output from what Aldo considers to be the nominal solution. Under the nominal solution during closest approach to Mars the comet’s heliocentric eccentricity switches from hyperbolic to elliptical. The closest approach between the centers of Mars and the comet utilizing the nominal solution is 50,586 km (81,410 mi) on 2014 OCT 19 at 19:21:24 UT. My diagram can be found at: www.CurtRenz.com/comets Post Extras:       Centaur Vendor Reged: 07/12/04 Loc: Chicago Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Centaur]       #5713186 - 03/04/13 07:32 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I’ve added an equatorial finder chart. It may give you a better idea regarding the relative movements of Mars and the comet: www.CurtRenz.com/comets Post Extras:       Tonk Postmaster Reged: 08/19/04 Loc: Leeds, UK, 54N Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Centaur]       #5713334 - 03/04/13 08:42 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Thats very useful Curt. It also shows me this event is going to be very low and close to the horizon in the worse part of my nearest city LP dome - oh well! Post Extras:       Centaur Vendor Reged: 07/12/04 Loc: Chicago Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Tonk]       #5713403 - 03/04/13 09:28 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: Thats very useful Curt. It also shows me this event is going to be very low and close to the horizon in the worse part of my nearest city LP dome - oh well! Tonk, I'll see what I can do about that. Post Extras:       Darren Drake Carpal Tunnel Reged: 10/09/02 Loc: Chicagoland Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Centaur]       #5716707 - 03/06/13 03:54 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Latest update: The NEO Program Office has estimated the approach could be as close as 31,000 miles. Todays Spaceweather has a link also. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/asteroids/news/comet20130305.html Post Extras:       Centaur Vendor Reged: 07/12/04 Loc: Chicago Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Centaur]       #5716823 - 03/06/13 04:47 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: The closest approach between the centers of Mars and the comet utilizing the nominal solution is 50,586 km (81,410 mi) on 2014 OCT 19 at 19:21:24 UT. It's too late to edit my March 2nd post. I incorrectly multiplied instead of divided when converting kilometers to miles. It should have read 31,433 mi. Sorry. When are we ever going to stop using those cumbersome English measurement units? Post Extras:       GlennLeDrew Postmaster Reged: 06/18/08 Loc: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: Centaur]       #5717560 - 03/07/13 12:08 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   The process of running a series of predictions covering the range of known errors is called a Monte Carlo simulation. If nothing else, this event will provide a unique opportunity for the direct comparison of the size of a planet and a comet coma/tail. Post Extras:       azure1961p Postmaster Reged: 01/17/09 Loc: USA Re: Mars could get hit by giant comet next year! [Re: GlennLeDrew]       #5717868 - 03/07/13 08:03 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   It would be interesting if this pass by broke up the comet like Jupiter did to Shoemaker-Levy9 and some impacted on the surface. I know it hasn't hit the gravitational muscle of Jove but if the thing gets close enough might it not get unstable? Just a guess here. Pete Post Extras:       Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | (show all)

Previous   Index   Next   Threaded

Extra information 2 registered and 5 anonymous users are browsing this forum. Moderator:  RLTYS  Print Thread Forum Permissions       You cannot start new topics       You cannot reply to topics       HTML is disabled       UBBCode is enabled Thread views: 2295 Jump to *Announcements and News* -----   Cloudy Nights Announcements   Discussion of CN Articles, Reviews, and Reports   Celestial Events*General Astronomy* -----   Beginners Forum   General Observing and Astronomy   Outreach   Light Pollution*Equipment Discussions* -----   ATM, Optics and DIY Forum   Binoculars   Binoviewers   Cats & Casses   Classic Telescopes   Equipment   Eyepieces   Mounts   Observatories   Reflectors   Refractors    Video and Electronically Assisted Astronomy*Astrophotography and Sketching* -----   Beginning and Intermediate Imaging   Film Astrophotography   DSLR & Digital Camera Astro Imaging & Processing   CCD Imaging & Processing   Solar System Imaging & Processing   Sketching   Astro Imaging/Sketching Contest *Observing* -----   NEO   Planetary and Solar System Observing   Lunar Observing   Deep Sky Observing   Double Star Observing   Solar   Variable Star Observing and Radio Astronomy*Telescope Specific Forums* -----   Celestron NexStar    NexStar GPS / CPC Telescopes   Questar Forum   Meade ACF/RCX / LX / GPS    Meade ETX*Speciality Forums* -----   Arizona Science and Astronomy Expo   NEAF (Northeast Astronomy Forum) and NEAIC (Northeast Astro Imaging Conference)   AstroArt   Astronomy Clubs and Star Parties   Astronomy Software & Computers   AstroWebsites   Science! Astronomy & Space Exploration, and Others   Space Rocks   Stellar Media*Swap and Shop* -----   Shop and Swap Audio Components*CN Feedback and Vendor Announcements* -----   Vendor and Group Announcements*International Year of Astronomy 2009 - Forums are now closed.* -----   IYA Archive Info

CN Forums Home