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questar.bsky.social
Questar Telescopes
@questar.bsky.social
17 followers 14 following 3 posts
Lover of fine optics from telescopes for amateur astronomy & birding to microscopes & binoculars
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questar.bsky.social
Would someone pretty please tell me how to block everything related to football, the superbowl, & professional sports? I swear, if I have to deal with a feed specifically tailored to science filled up with BS football, I will give up on Bsky.
February 12, 2024 at 2:33 AM
questar.bsky.social
The elusive Questar 5 telescope at NEAF
February 12, 2024 at 2:25 AM
Reposted by Questar Telescopes
apod.shinyakato.dev
Rocket Plume Shadow Points to the Moon

- Photo
- HD Photo
- About Astronomy Picture Of the Day

#astrophotos

Maintained by @shinyakato.dev

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Why would the shadow of a rocket's launch plume point toward the Moon? In early 2001 during a launch of the space shuttle Atlantis, the Sun, Earth, Moon, and rocket were all properly aligned for this photogenic coincidence. First, for the space shuttle's plume to cast a long shadow, the time of day must be either near sunrise or sunset. Only then will the shadow be its longest and extend all the way to the horizon. Finally, during a Full Moon, the Sun and Moon are on opposite sides of the sky. Just after sunset, for example, the Sun is slightly below the horizon, and, in the other direction, the Moon is slightly above the horizon. Therefore, as Atlantis blasted off, just after sunset, its shadow projected away from the Sun toward the opposite horizon, where the Full Moon happened to be. Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
February 11, 2024 at 8:05 AM
Reposted by Questar Telescopes
nathanmurphy.bsky.social
this is what i feel like doing amateur astronomy outreach. "you see, this featureless dot at the edge of visual detection is a fascinating thermodynamic phenomenon sending radiation exceeding that of a large galaxy to us from the birth of the universe..."
real sir-this-is-a-wendys vibe.
catbus.phd Catbus @catbus.phd · Dec 4
explaining some online beef to a normal person
Uncle, how to get to the beautiful country? by Xiaoyu Wang a green alien in a space suit showing a map to a seated man smoking a cigarette playing a board game
December 4, 2023 at 4:44 PM
Reposted by Questar Telescopes
apod.shinyakato.dev
The Phases of Venus

📷 Photo: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap24010...
📸 HD Photo: apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2...

#astronomy #astrophotos #🔭

- Automated by @shinyakato.dev
- About NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

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Venus goes through phases. Just like our Moon, Venus can appear as a full circular disk, a thin crescent, or anything in between. Venus, frequently the brightest object in the post-sunset or pre-sunrise sky, appears so small, however, that it usually requires binoculars or a small telescope to clearly see its current phase. The featured time-lapse sequence was taken over the course of six months in 2015 from Surgères, Charente-Maritime, France, and shows not only how Venus changes phase, but changes angular size as well. When Venus is on the far side of the Sun from the Earth, it appears angularly smallest and nearest to full phase, while when Venus and Earth are on the same side of the Sun, Venus appears larger, but as a crescent. This month Venus rises before dawn in waxing gibbous phases. Free APOD Lecture: January 9, 2024 to the Amateur Astronomers of Association of New York
January 8, 2024 at 8:06 AM