h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Wey-hey... Thanks for that.

You're welcome Deke

Have you seen/read about http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8077302.stm
in your constellation Aquila?

Yes, I did see that thanks. Very interesting, it being a first in that method of detection.

Also that seven out of ten stars are this sort of size, considerably smaller than our one. I hadn't realised that.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00lfdbv/James_May_on_the_Moon/

Please tell me you saw that last night? If you missed it, iPlayer now!

...and oooh: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090620.html

Yes I saw it. It was brilliant. How do you get a job like that?

There was another program about the Moon that followed it, which I’ve recorded and might get to tonight. But I also stayed up for an hour or so to watch the extended ‘Sky at Night’ on Apollo. I didn’t get to see all of it but I’ll catch up with it later this week.

Just a thought re your entry on 55 Cancri . I think you may need to clarify a point in the following paragraph:

>>On planet Ae there is no respite from the excessive heat and constant solar radiation would make conditions unbearable. These types of hot gas giants have the fastest atmospheric winds known to science. Because their orbit is so tight, they are tidally locked, which means they always show the same face to the star. The atmosphere is superheated to such an extent that it is energised and the excited wind rushes around the planet at supersonic speed,<<

Surely a gas giant cannot be tidally locked to its parent star. If the surface is gaseous and in motion around the planet, by definition it isn’t tidally locked. It could only be locked into synchronous rotation if it is a solid rocky body. From what little I’ve read that is another possibility as apparently it hasn’t been fully determined whether it is gaseous or rocky.

I'll rewrite that

I made it to the Syon Park do on Sunday. It was quite interesting and later I'll do you a small write up as you mentioned.

I also picked up a small booklet for you, on Harriott's life by a member of one of the participating societies. I've also got another for Gnomon if he'de like one. I just need an addy to send them to.

Email me at galaxybabeATgmailDOTcom (replacing the caps with your best guess) and I'll give you my home address. You can send both to me and I will mail Gnomon's to him, if that's OK.

Thank you so much.

There's no rush for your write-up, as The Post is on a break now, can't remember the date offhand but it'll be on The Post's front page

Hi Deke, we have a reviewer for the constellation series

F9151117?thread=6794327

I'd be grateful if you'd attend Julzes' comments on your own articles, and if anything needs to be altered/changed, I can do that

Feel free to join the conversation

Thank you very much for the booklets which arrived today

Gnomon is on holiday for a fortnight so I will wait until his return before posting his off

Great!

I'll get back to Julzes' comment later.

I don't know if you already have it, but there's an astronomy magazine called the 'Sky at Night'. In this months (Aug) there is a freebee program in the accompanying CD called 'Stellarium'. It's a night-sky, real-time star map with star and planet database.

I've been using something similar, 'Starry Night' and so far this looks pretty good. If you don't already have some such programme I can recommend it. It's really useful to get a fix on anything you might want to look up. For the price of the mag it's a bargain.

Or you might even download it from here http://www.stellarium.org/

A57117639

Here's the bit on the Harriot exhibition.

Feel free to amend or discard as required

That's fantastic Deke. Do you mind if I submit it for the October BATS? I already submitted Thursday's first-Post-after-summer-break entry on Saturday, as the deadline was Sunday

My next BATS will be the October sky diary.

Regarding the Stellarium, I already have it on my PC, I would not be without it, what a tool I would probably given my right arm for 40 years ago

No problem.

Deke

Hi Deke

I sent it in to The Post to see if they needed another entry, as it stood alone IMHO. The response was it's always good to have a back-up, so it may appear soon after all

OK, that's fine either way.
I've never done anything for the post before