Stunning new time lapse video shows 12 years of exoplanets orbiting their star:
In 2008, HR8799 was the first extrasolar planetary system ever directly imaged. Now, the famed system stars in its very own video.
Using observations collected over the past 12 years, Northwestern University astrophysicist Jason Wang [northwestern.edu] has assembled a stunning time lapse video of the family of four planets — each more massive than Jupiter — orbiting their star. The video gives viewers an unprecedented glimpse into planetary motion.
"It's usually difficult to see planets in orbit," Wang said. "For example, it isn't apparent that Jupiter or Mars orbit our sun because we live in the same system and don't have a top-down view. Astronomical events either happen too quickly or too slowly to capture in a movie. But this video shows planets moving on a human time scale. I hope it enables people to enjoy something wondrous."
[...] In November 2008, HR8799 made history as the first system to have its planets directly imaged. Wang, who was instantly fascinated by the system, has been watching it ever since. He and his colleagues applied for time on the W. M. Keck Observatory, located on the top of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, to observe the system each year.
After seven years of observations, Wang put together imaging data to create his first time lapse video of the system. Now, armed with 12 years of imaging data, Wang released the updated video, which shows the entire time period in a condensed 4.5-second time lapse.
[...] "In astrophysics, most of the time we are doing data analysis or testing hypotheses," he said. "But this is the fun part of science. It inspires awe."
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Thursday February 16 2023, @08:22AM (6 children)
Oh, how short your memory is!
The actions of a small number of ACs meant that they all had to be denied access to the front page. We were aware of all of the implications of this and had solutions to the problems that ACs would be facing as a result of the ban.
If you recall, I created another account especially to publish stories in journals that you could comment in however you saw fit. I marked them specifically so that you would have somewhere to discuss things. I wrote the software for several stories a day to be copied into the journals automatically. Your ability to express yourself would be maintained. And how did you respond?
You ridiculed and scoffed at the idea. You told me that you did not want it. You told me to stop. And now, 6 months or more later, you are suddenly realising that your actions were counter to your own interests. Had you been intelligent enough you would have thought of these things a long time ago rather than just discarding any ideas that are made by people you do not like.
I then offered a solution to enable you to comment on the front page stories again. I got the same response. No! Take it away! We would rather stay here than have the Administration solve any problems that we might be experiencing. Once again your unthinking knee-jerk reaction would result in you remaining limited in your participation of our site.
It seems that in addition to being your own worst enemy you are also becoming very forgetful. The position in which you now find yourself is entirely of your own making.
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 16 2023, @10:52PM (5 children)
Again, janrinok, to whom are you speaking? I am becoming rather worried about your mental state. vg
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Friday February 17 2023, @06:36AM (4 children)
I am talking to AC. There is only one AC account and you only have one voice.
It was the action of AC that necessitated the ban on commenting on the front page.
It was AC who rejected the idea of stories being posted in a journal so that they could have a place to discuss anything they wished.
It was AC who rejected a suggestion that resolved the problem of access to the front page stories.
You are AC. I know who I am speaking to. I am the only person with whom you now hold a discussion.
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 18 2023, @07:31PM (3 children)
I enjoy our little talks, janrinok! But, despite your not remembering, they are becoming redundant. We have been over this all before. I am not the same AC as the AC you were talking to before, even though the resemblance is uncanny. At this point, I keep conversing with you out of a sense of sympathy. I can tell you are lacking stimulating social interaction, and really need some human contact. As Vice President Dan Quayle said, "A mind is a terrible thing to loose."
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Saturday February 18 2023, @08:09PM (2 children)
You keep saying that we cannot tell one AC from another. In which case, there is only one AC. Nobody is losing their mind. You are just AC.
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 19 2023, @08:43AM
Why do you keep deleting the truth about you? Are you scared?