If you're up and about tomorrow (Wed 19 Jan) before dawn, catch a look at the 5 bright planets in our solar system (Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn) as all will all be visible at once, and aligned very nicely.

If as ever the sky is cloudy, you'll still be able to see these planets, if not in such a nice alignment, until Feb 20th. There must be one clear morning between now and then, surely?

There will be a similar alignment again in in the evening sky between Aug 13-19

Quote Ferocious Aardvark="Ferocious Aardvark"If you're up and about tomorrow (Wed 19 Jan) before dawn, catch a look at the 5 bright planets in our solar system (Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn) as all will all be visible at once, and aligned very nicely. If as ever the sky is cloudy, you'll still be able to see these planets, if not in such a nice alignment, until Feb 20th. There must be one clear morning between now and then, surely? There will be a similar alignment again in in the evening sky between Aug 13-19'" Oh the weather problem, one of the banes of my life, that & the rare early start. Part of me is hoping for the usual cloud cover so I don't have to drag my sorry carcass out of bed. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science ... -show.html

Quote Ferocious Aardvark="Ferocious Aardvark"If you're up and about tomorrow (Wed 19 Jan) before dawn, catch a look at the 5 bright planets in our solar system (Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn) as all will all be visible at once, and aligned very nicely. If as ever the sky is cloudy, you'll still be able to see these planets, if not in such a nice alignment, until Feb 20th. There must be one clear morning between now and then, surely? There will be a similar alignment again in in the evening sky between Aug 13-19'" Oh the weather problem, one of the banes of my life, that & the rare early start. Part of me is hoping for the usual cloud cover so I don't have to drag my sorry carcass out of bed. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science ... -show.html

Fingers crossed the 'My way or no way' brigade will leave this thread alone now they've hijacked a couple of decent threads to call home.

Gobsmacking latest released Mars images

Just looked at the original image. Incredible detail.

Here's a locus map of the Martian surface for context




[url=http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Missions/Mars_Express/(class)/image?mission=Mars+Express&keyword=+--%253E+Keyword&idf=+--%253E+ID&Ic=on&subm3=GOMars Express images[/url

[url=http://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Missions/Mars_Express?mission=Mars+Express&type=VMars Express videos and animations[/url

Here is a fine example of animations created from thousands of individual Mars Express images, and put together into a flyover of a wide expanse of the martian surface.
[urlhttp://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/content/view/embedjw/456743[/url

Astonishingly, ancient Babylonian tablets reveal that Babylonian astronomers discovered how to calculate Jupiter’s position using a geometrical technique, between 350 and 50 BC - 1,400 years earlier than it was thought such tracking methods had been "invented" by European scholars. It is well-known that the Babylonians were keen astronomers, but before this discovery it seemed they likely just used arithmetic. But this shows that they worked out how to calculate the distance Jupiter travels in the sky over time by calculating the area of a trapezoid, which proves that they understood a concept essential to modern calculus. https://www.theguardian.com/science/201 ... -europeans www.space.com/31765-ancient-baby ... -math.html

Astonishingly, ancient Babylonian tablets reveal that Babylonian astronomers discovered how to calculate Jupiter’s position using a geometrical technique, between 350 and 50 BC - 1,400 years earlier than it was thought such tracking methods had been "invented" by European scholars. It is well-known that the Babylonians were keen astronomers, but before this discovery it seemed they likely just used arithmetic. But this shows that they worked out how to calculate the distance Jupiter travels in the sky over time by calculating the area of a trapezoid, which proves that they understood a concept essential to modern calculus. https://www.theguardian.com/science/201 ... -europeans www.space.com/31765-ancient-baby ... -math.html

Quote Ferocious Aardvark="Ferocious Aardvark" Astonishingly, ancient Babylonian tablets reveal that Babylonian astronomers discovered how to calculate Jupiter’s position using a geometrical technique, between 350 and 50 BC - 1,400 years earlier than it was thought such tracking methods had been "invented" by European scholars. It is well-known that the Babylonians were keen astronomers, but before this discovery it seemed they likely just used arithmetic. But this shows that they worked out how to calculate the distance Jupiter travels in the sky over time by calculating the area of a trapezoid, which proves that they understood a concept essential to modern calculus. https://www.theguardian.com/science/201 ... -europeans www.space.com/31765-ancient-baby ... -math.html'" They believed in a Geocentric Universe too. Nice find. They were no nuggets.

Quote Ferocious Aardvark="Ferocious Aardvark" Astonishingly, ancient Babylonian tablets reveal that Babylonian astronomers discovered how to calculate Jupiter’s position using a geometrical technique, between 350 and 50 BC - 1,400 years earlier than it was thought such tracking methods had been "invented" by European scholars. It is well-known that the Babylonians were keen astronomers, but before this discovery it seemed they likely just used arithmetic. But this shows that they worked out how to calculate the distance Jupiter travels in the sky over time by calculating the area of a trapezoid, which proves that they understood a concept essential to modern calculus. https://www.theguardian.com/science/201 ... -europeans www.space.com/31765-ancient-baby ... -math.html'" They believed in a Geocentric Universe too. Nice find. They were no nuggets.

oddly enough as a young lad I studied the ancient Babylonian, Sumerian and Mesopotamian civilizations. You could learn much from them. You would agree, perhaps, that their Enuma Elish is patent myth and nonsense, but you haven't worked out that your own later versions are myth and nonsense too. However, I don't think this is the place to digress into religion, because here I am dealing with astronomy and documeted astronomical discovery.

In the case of astronomy, and the Jupiter discovery, the fundamental point is that they had people clearly of a scientific mind, who were doing their best - and very well - to answer the huge questions that the seemingly inexplicable heavens posed, by application of scientific and mathematical principles. In this respect, they were on the right track, and with our benefit of hindsight, did amazingly well.

Please elaborate. You shouldn't have mentioned it if you cannot handle a debate on the matter. I await in suspense.

FFS, here's another thread that is going to go down the pan!
FA, please don't rise to the bait!