I'll add the science fact that Venera 11 and 12 were successful USSR Venus orbiters and landers, landing on the surface of the planet on 25/12/78 and 21/12/78 respectively. Yes, Venera 12, although launched 3 days later than Venera 11, actually arrived there first!If I was a Science Fiction writer...a gripping plot with Russian probes Venera 11 and 12 overloading and crashing with Gamma Ray overload. It took down another 9 or so probes, by all accounts.
All because some Neutron Star exploded in the distant Megallanic Cloud. 😀
P.S. I'm also not sure what happened on 'March 5th. 1979', but I know Skylab crashed to Earth on July 11th. 1979, if that's any help! 🙂
Yes they are distinct fields, but both will be churning the surrounding space with incredible differences in field strength across short distances near the magnetar hence the ‘frothy’ term.
Stephen Hawking described a similar situation near a black hole - the force involved there of course being gravity.
Stephen Hawking described a similar situation near a black hole - the force involved there of course being gravity.
It's been a while since I read this novel - it's the year 2020 when they discover a neutron star that's headed toward the Solar System, so of course a manned mission is planned to study it up close. "Dragon's Egg" and its sequel "Starquake" have been some of my most enjoyable reads.
Dragon's Egg - Wikipedia
Dragon's Egg - Wikipedia
That reminds me of the old Cresta soft drinks advert - "It's Frothy Man". 🙂...hence the ‘frothy’ term.
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That's a weird scenario, even by sci-fi standards, but full of engaging astroscience. Must get a hold of a copy!"Dragon's Egg"
Found it! £5.99 for the Kindle edition. Preview available here:
Dragon's Egg: A Novel (Del Rey Impact) eBook: Forward, Robert L.: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
Dragon's Egg: A Novel (Del Rey Impact) eBook: Forward, Robert L.: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
Now you are talkin' !I'll add the science fact that Venera 11 and 12 were successful USSR Venus orbiters and landers, landing on the surface of the planet on 25/12/78 and 21/12/78 respectively. Yes, Venera 12, although launched 3 days later than Venera 11, actually arrived there first!
P.S. I'm also not sure what happened on 'March 5th. 1979', but I know Skylab crashed to Earth on July 11th. 1979, if that's any help! 🙂
I rocked up in Nice, South of France, in July 1979 by Plane. For some reason the Cops let us sleep on the Beach. We slept for a few days, expectin' some piece of Cosmic Junk to land on our heads at any moment.
It wasn't going to happen, was it? I know statistics. 😀
Monty Python explain the Universe here: YouTube
Humour, but scientifically sound. 😎
Look out for the supermoon tonight when the moon is near perigee and appears roughly 8% larger than normal. This year there will be four supermoons in total, the next one will occur on May 7th.
April's supermoon will be the closest of the year. It's also called a pink moon, not because it will appear pink, but because it is named after the North American wildflowers that bloom in early springtime, known as 'moss pink'.
However, if you'd really like your supermoon to be pink you could try consuming a surfeit of red wine before gazing skyward through bloodshot eyes!
April's supermoon will be the closest of the year. It's also called a pink moon, not because it will appear pink, but because it is named after the North American wildflowers that bloom in early springtime, known as 'moss pink'.
However, if you'd really like your supermoon to be pink you could try consuming a surfeit of red wine before gazing skyward through bloodshot eyes!

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Check this out
Scientists capture image of black hole emitting high-energy jets | Science | The Guardian
I was very surprised to read a few years ago that on some of these super massive black holes, the jets can be hundreds of light years or more long.
Scientists capture image of black hole emitting high-energy jets | Science | The Guardian
I was very surprised to read a few years ago that on some of these super massive black holes, the jets can be hundreds of light years or more long.
It would appear that we are now getting really close up and personal with black holes!“It is the first time we really start to see the connection of the jet with the black hole and the accretion disc.”

As you say, Bonsai, such jets stretch vast distances; like the one in the attached image, which emanates from the black hole at the centre of galaxy M87.
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Nice image, TNT. Hope you will be getting your camera out again tonight. 😎Yesterday.
It would appear that we are now getting really close up and personal with black holes!
As you say, Bonsai, such jets stretch vast distances; like the one in the attached image, which emanates from the black hole at the centre of galaxy M87.
Correction to my earlier post in this. The stream can be as long as 4000 light years in the case of a black hole at the centre of a galaxy.
For scale, the MW is about 2000 LY thick in the centre and about 1 half that out in the arms.
We had a very nice supermoon here yesterday, unable to take good pictures of it because there was some humidity in the air. So even if it was a clear night the moon was very "blurry".
It was impressively bright though! Never seen the moon make such visible and high-contrast shadows.
It was impressively bright though! Never seen the moon make such visible and high-contrast shadows.
Had a look at your youtube videos, KaffiMann - very cosmic and ethereal!
Go on, insert a link into this thread. We can't be spaced out enough!
Go on, insert a link into this thread. We can't be spaced out enough!
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For those interested, there’s a very nice new app called ‘Our Galaxy’ in the App Store
£2.99/$3
3D map of the MW with searchable data base and fly through.
£2.99/$3
3D map of the MW with searchable data base and fly through.
Had a look at your youtube videos, KaffiMann - very cosmic and ethereal!
Go on, insert a link into this thread. We can't be spaced out enough!
😀
Thanks, trying to find some more pictures and snippets than can work with a couple more videos.
Are these the ones you where thinking about?
YouTube
I like the kinda slow and quiet walk in the forest as well, we went for another walk yesterday, but the snow is so rotten so it was mostly getting wet and tripping over ourselves in up to 80cm deep heavy snow. Still managed to go about 4km.
YouTube
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