What to watch next

woodchip · Post by **woodchip** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 7:20 pm

Saturn and it's moon Titan:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm

roid · Post by **roid** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:16 pm

i get a page about clumps in Saturn's rings. no mention of Titan.

are you sure you pasted the right url?

(ps: i spent a few minutes looking at Venus with binoculars a few days ago looking for it's moon/s. then went to Celestia and discovered Venus doens't HAVE moons, haha oops)

(pps: look at Jupiter with simple binoculars (and something sturdy to steady them with) and you can see it's inner moons, i only discovered this a few weeks ago during the last full moon)

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:24 pm

Probably because your binoculars are as powerful as Galileo's first telescope.

roid · Post by **roid** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 9:08 pm

wut?

they are only 10X-magnification 25mm-lense binoculars. what are you saying "dee see"?

(edit: Galileo's first telescope seemed to have a magnification of only 4X, thx google)

Admiral LSD · Post by **Admiral LSD** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 9:32 pm

He's basically saying you can see the inner moons of Jupiter with almost anything that has a lens as that's how Galileo stumbled across them

Jon the Great · Post by **Jon the Great** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 10:50 pm

I used to have a Cassini shirt from about 9 or 10 years ago (or at least a year or more before they put this probe into space, whenever that was).

I was just a kid when I got the shirt and I remember being told that by the time this thing reached Saturn I'd be almost done with High School. At that point I must've been in about 1st or 2nd grande so High School seemed an impossible distance away.

Oh well not anymore.

Thx, for bringing this up, I'd almost forgotten about it.

Nitrofox125 · Post by **Nitrofox125** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 11:47 pm

WOW! I'd forgotten completely about Cassini.

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 12:11 am

Yes, Casini is 10 months out - and notably, has noted that the notable "spokes" that the Voyager probe showed in the 80's are - SHOCK HORROR - gone!

We gonna learn some cool stuff about Saturn now! Woot.

woodchip · Post by **woodchip** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 7:07 am

Roidy, just click on the different items on the left bar for more info.

Mobi, what "spokes"?

Nitrofox125 · Post by **Nitrofox125** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 7:13 am

And don't you mean 10 years?

woodchip · Post by **woodchip** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 8:10 am

10 years? Nope. Mobi's right...to an extent. Orbital insertion will happen along about june/july:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operations/s ... rrival.cfm

The probe will be dropped around Jan 2005.

roid · Post by **roid** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 9:11 am

hmm i can't find the cassini probe in celestia. i can't even find an addon for it (so far).

Warlock · Post by **Warlock** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 9:44 am

it takes about 7-8 years to get to Saturn

Mobius wrote:Yes, Casini is 10 months out - and notably, has noted that the notable "spokes" that the Voyager probe showed in the 80's are - SHOCK HORROR - gone!

well its prity amazing that Voyager 1 and 2 is still talking to us and V1 is just now in Terminal Shock http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/

Dedman · Post by **Dedman** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 11:07 am

Three cheers for Sedna our 10th planet.

Top Gun · Post by **Top Gun** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 3:17 pm

[NuB] Dedman wrote:Three cheers for Sedna our 10th planet.

Dedman, if you read further, Sedna's not classified as an official planet; it's a planetoid, which is another thing entirely. According to what I read, astronomers have no set definition of what a planet is, so there is some debate. Many agree, however, that Pluto really shouldn't have been declared a planet, because there are several objects (including Sedna) in the Kuiper belt that are of a similar size. However, due to simple precedent and widespread acceptance, Pluto won't get the boot.

Plus, Pluto is cool.

P.S. Speaking of Voyager, I always liked the idea of putting Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" on the golden phonograph record. That way, whatever aliens play the thing can get a good taste of the pinnacle of human music.

Topher · Post by **Topher** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 7:48 pm

Warlock wrote:it takes about 7-8 years to get to Saturn

Mobius wrote:well its prity amazing that Voyager 1 and 2 is still talking to us and V1 is just now in Terminal Shock http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/

....wow! That is awesome! The fact that the Voyager crafts have gone so far, is still be "talked" to, will still be good 30 years down the road, and will pass by those two starts in how many thousands of years.

I really think it's amazing how they can extend the life of equipment and the mission to the point where they can declare a new mission entirely after it's first one is complete.