MetaFilter posts tagged with sun and astronomy

More beholden to magnetism than gravity

IvoShandor — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 10:48:02 -0800

Fiery Looping Rain on the Sun (via badastronomy and NASA's SDO)

Last chance this century!

Quietgal — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 08:45:10 -0800

Missed the transit of Venus in 2004? Want to know if you'll be able to see the transit on June 5/6 from your location? Want a free badge-of-geekhood app for your iPhone? It's all right here! The last transit of Venus in this century will be visible, at least in part, from much of the world. Find out what you'll be able to see from your location using this calculator. If social networking is your cup of tea, get the free iPhone app for submitting your observations of time of contact. Photography buffs might enjoy this guide to solar imaging with a digital camera. Even if you miss the transit, you can catch some sunspots. If you want to check out the transit with your own personal eyeballs, you can buy these stylin' solar viewing glasses from partner organization Astronomers Without Borders. Only $3 for the nerdiest shades you'll ever rock! Note: don't try to walk down the street wearing these babies - they're all but opaque. Bumping into stuff isn't good for your image. (Previously, but that's history now and the rest of the transit site, which was not explored in that thread, is of current interest.)

Comet falls into sun

hot_monster — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:47:53 -0800

Today, a comet falls into the sun. Via

"The first image I made was purely for beauty..." photographing the analemma

jessamyn — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 20:15:06 -0800

"As noted elsewhere, more men have walked on the moon than have successfully photographed the analemma." (details) - More astrophotography by Anthony Ayiomamitis - A Historical Explanation of the Analemma - The first successful photograph of the analemma - An explanation about why our analemma looks like a figure 8 - An indoor analemma by a co-founder of The North American Sundial Society - Obligatory APOD & bonus APOD - previously note: number of analemma photographs has approximately doubled since 2003 but is still quite small

It's SOHOt

troll — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 22:42:59 -0800

On July 5th the SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) captured video of a comet, known as a sungrazer, in route to collide with our star. SOHO is equipped with an occluding coronograph that blocks direct sunlight and reveals the corona, but also prevents direct study of the terminal impact of sungrazers. But on July 6th, with the help of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), astronomers were able to observe the comet (slyt) streaking in front of the surface of the sun for the first time in history. It likely disintegrated before impact due to extreme heat and radiation.

This Is What a Sunspot Looks Like

fantodstic — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 17:02:03 -0800

The most detailed photo of the surface of the sun looks like this. It was taken by the team at CA's Big Bear Solar Observatory. They have some other neat images of our nearest star at their website. **This post is very slightly NSFW if you scroll down to the imaginative photo comments. You'll see what I mean haha :P

The sun is a mass of incandescent (Blue) gas...

Taft — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:30:38 -0800

Astronomy Picture of the Day presents a truly magnificent sight: the blue sun.

The Sun Is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma

Upton O'Good — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:49:59 -0800

...the lyrics to that last song were basically taken from an encyclopedia written in the 50s, and since the 50s, some remarkable things have happened...

In 1959, a number of songs about science were released on an album called Space Songs. One of these was later covered by the band They Might Be Giants: Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun Is A Mass of Incandescent Gas). Only one problem: it isn't--the song was based on an incorrect text from 1951. So they wrote an answer song to themselves: Why Does The Sun Really Shine? (The Sun Is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma). Bonus link: see for yourself! (previously)

The Curious Case of the Missing Sunspots

Electric Dragon — Wed, 20 May 2009 04:48:24 -0800

Solar activity normally follows an 11-year cycle. The new cycle was originally predicted to start in early 2008, but despite a few sunspots appearing last year, the Sun still features a remarkable lack of activity - the deepest minimum since 1913. However, NASA's STEREO mission has seen indications that activity is increasing again, in the form of a coronal mass ejection (video [.mov, 3.3 Mb]), with an accompanying radio burst.

[Previously]

But that's where the fun is

dhartung — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:01:12 -0800

Atlantis. Hubble. And a big, yellow friend. Astrophotographer Thierry Legault managed to get amazing shots of Space Shuttle Atlantis approaching the Hubble Space Telescope during a transit of the sun. Don't do this at home, kids. (His site is down, so the link is through Coral.)

The sun and mars

vronsky — Sat, 19 May 2007 15:28:54 -0800

Mars as art and the sun as art.

Archaeoastronomy in Peru

homunculus — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 22:38:46 -0800

The Thirteen Towers of Chankillo in Peru may be the Western Hemisphere's oldest known full-service solar observatory, showing evidence of early, sophisticated Sun cults, according to archaeoastronomy professor Clive Ruggles. The 2,300-year-old complex featured 13 towers running north to south along a ridge and spread across 980 feet to form a toothed horizon that spans the solar arc. Last year, another ancient observatory was discovered in Peru by Robert Benfer. The Temple of the Fox is 4,200 years old, making it 1,900 years older than the Chankillo site, but wasn't a complete calendar.

A reason to call in sick tomorrow.

absalom — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:37:52 -0800

Last night there was a pretty cool coronal ejection that ought to be arriving shortly. When it does, expect Auroral activity as far south as Tennessee. (Or Northern Italy. Or New Zealand.) [Via MonkeyFilter]

DON'T LOOK

rotoman — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 06:17:25 -0800

Transit of Mercury again. here Transit of Mercury again. Today -- and not for another seven years or so -- Mercury passes between the Earth and the Sun, shwoing up a speck-like black circle. But don't look. Starting times, real-time visual, ways to see it and another caution are here. rotoman

everyone's a scientist

mdn — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 10:00:32 -0800

The sun is solid (this has beautiful images, btw). The earth is fixed, or maybe growing; relativi ty is wrong, and so is most of current thinking... For the intriguing as well as the insane, visit the fringes of science.

Intense Solar Flare

yupislyr — Tue, 28 Oct 2003 10:34:19 -0800

The largest solar flare of the current solar cycle shot off the sun earlier today. After the media latched on to what was predicted to be mostly a non-event last week (probably due to a NASA article released around the same time about a super spacestorm) , it's not making as much news this time. But you should pay attention this time. This could be the best and last chance for a lot of us farther south to see some auroras before the sun dives into solar minimum, assuming all the variables line up correctly this time. I recommend watching the Solar Terrestrial Dispatch, as it is a great all around resource for solar activity and auroras that includes live data and sightings reports by the general public. Unfortunately though, no doubt as word IS spreading, that site is being hammered again and may be quite slow.

Doomed planet found

kaemaril — Tue, 28 Jan 2003 10:28:15 -0800

A Doomed planet orbiting a distant star has been located. No, not Krypton. The planet is going to be consumed by the star soon, but astronomers are not going to wait up for it.

quercus — Tue, 06 Aug 2002 14:01:33 -0800

A very well designed site on the Analemma. Don't be scared off by the math, as there are excellent diagrams and quicktime movies on this difficult to visualize phenomena. Difficult, but not impossible, to photograph (probably less than 10 photos are in existence) Ulrich Bienert came close, and has a gallery and some tips if you're so inclined.

Sol: A Great Big Ball of Burning....Iron?

LuxFX — Wed, 24 Jul 2002 06:47:17 -0800

Sol: A Great Big Ball of Burning....Iron? Well that's what a UMRolla professor thinks anyway -- instead of being mostly hydrogen, that the sun is actually mostly iron. He's going against all popular belief, and indeed lots of evidence, but his theory states that our sun formed around the iron core of an old supernova.

Barbecue Wings

zeoslap — Wed, 07 Mar 2001 10:57:04 -0800

Barbecue Wings A £900,000 mirror sculpture destined for a square in Nottingham, UK, will have to be shielded to prevent it focusing the Sun's rays and barbecuing passing birds. Anish Kapoor's highly polished concave steel mirror is six metres in diameter. Direct sunlight hitting the mirror would be focused into a narrow beam of light as hot as the surface of the Sun, says astronomer Michael Merrifield of Nottingham University.