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Post by number13 on Oct 15, 2024 14:51:40 GMT
I'm not moaning at the BBC for the sake of moaning, but 'bad science' stories get my proverbial goat.
'This week marks the last opportunity to see the "comet of the century", before it disappears for another 80,000 years.'
No, it doesn't, no, it isn't and no, it won't, and no, it probably won't!  
1. The comet will be visible after this week, you might need binoculars but the comet is getting higher each evening and after Thursday the moon will be shrinking in phase and soon won't be up during the peak early evening comet-viewing time. Much darker skies will help compensate for the comet starting to fade.
2. It's not 'the comet of the century' as discussed upthread! 3. It won't 'disappear', it will still be visible next week to the unaided eye away from streetlights, and easy with binoculars and to image even from lighter locations. And with a small telescope, easy to follow for weeks yet. 4. 80,000 years is one possible orbital period. There's a fair chance this comet won't ever be back.
Oh, and the number is 2023 A3, not just A3! (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is named for 'Purple Mountain' observatory in China, apparently and a lovely name too, while ATLAS is a South African comet searching system.)
Other than that, great story and (seriously) is worth reading for some beautiful images from UK observers! (Which are all I've seen of it since Saturday. And yes, today we've cloud so thick you could bang your head on it, again.  Good job the comet will be around for a while yet...  )
Sadly my presence in a city probably means I’m out of luck but I’ll give a try. I did once spot an ISS pass, so it’s not impossible. The ISS is amazing to see go over, good spot!
Even from London the comet shouldn't be impossible now it's getting higher each night, but binoculars will be needed for the best views. Also, your phone camera on 'night mode' will see far more than we can. All the lovely images online - of course they are images and not unaided-eye views. I've only ever seen one comet which looked really obvious from a town and that was Hale-Bopp back in the 1990s. It looked as if someone had cut out the shape of a comet+tail and stuck it on the sky! And it was there for several weeks near its brightest, only moving very slowly from night to night.
Good luck with this one! (With this weather we all need some luck... ) |
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Post by aemiliapaula on Oct 15, 2024 22:41:15 GMT
Just got home from seeing They Might Be Giants at a local venue. Such a lot of fun! cool1 I saw them back in the 90s |
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Oct 16, 2024 8:16:59 GMT
So.. we have another planned outage tonight.. It's 6:45pm now.. 9PM till 5am.. and it's hot and humid today with a big ol' storm hitting us around 1am.. So I will get about 4 hours sleep as I have to get up at 5am.. So in the next hour'ish I will have to prepare by turning off the PC and making sure all our roller shutter blinds are down.
PLUS- we are off tonight for another metal show :
I will ketchup on sleep later this week. |
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Post by tuigirl on Oct 16, 2024 8:17:45 GMT
All that stress in the past weeks is taking it's toll.
Yesterday, after all the adrenaline and cortisol had worn off after buying a new car (I can pick it up next week), my immune system crashed and I am at home with a bad cold.
Sadly, we are understaffed at work at the moment, so me being sick is not the best outcome of the situation.
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Post by Whovitt on Oct 16, 2024 8:55:54 GMT
Just back from my second "shift" at work. It's all still very much a process of being shown the ropes, but there was also a team meeting at the end where I got to meet pretty much everyone who works there. I've only had one other workplace experience before this, and although it wasn't bad it was nowhere near as welcoming and fun as this place. Everyone's so relaxed and gets on extremely well, and they're very approachable whenever us newbies have questions or anything like that. I think I've gotten really lucky here (Which is not something that usually happens. If you could see my dice rolls in D&D... oh boy!) |
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,945 
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Post by shutupbanks on Oct 16, 2024 10:25:07 GMT
Just got home from seeing They Might Be Giants at a local venue. Such a lot of fun! cool1 I saw them back in the 90s Nice - but if we’re talking a long time between drinks, my wife and I are off to see a band in December that I last saw live in 1987 😂😂 |
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Post by number13 on Oct 16, 2024 10:40:52 GMT
All that stress in the past weeks is taking it's toll. Yesterday, after all the adrenaline and cortisol had worn off after buying a new car (I can pick it up next week), my immune system crashed and I am at home with a bad cold. Sadly, we are understaffed at work at the moment, so me being sick is not the best outcome of the situation. Get well soon, it's so easy to catch something when you're a bit run down. After my recent covid I was feeling OK, got back to doing things and then promptly got a 'normal' cold for a week. Which I might not have done but the cunning little virus saw its chance and leaped at me while I wasn't ready for it! |
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Post by number13 on Oct 16, 2024 10:49:55 GMT
Update from the bird feeders. (Which I know you've all been waiting for. )
Those new squirrel-proof feeders are working as advertised. The birds took a day or two to get used to them but now we have Blue Tits, Great Tits and a charm* of Goldfinches enjoying themselves no end. And they are careless enough feeders to drop sufficient seeds to keep the ground feeding birds like the Robin and Hedge Sparrow happy.
And the grey squirrel? Turned up once at the new feeders, probably said something very rude (which fortunately I didn't understand, it being in squirrelese) and hasn't been seen in the garden since. Result!
(*The collective noun for Goldfinches is a 'charm'. Which is very apt, because they are.)
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Post by sherlock on Oct 16, 2024 10:54:16 GMT
Update from the bird feeders. (Which I know you've all been waiting for. )
Those new squirrel-proof feeders are working as advertised. The birds took a day or two to get used to them but now we have Blue Tits, Great Tits and a charm* of Goldfinches enjoying themselves no end. And they are careless enough feeders to drop sufficient seeds to keep the ground feeding birds like the Robin and Hedge Sparrow happy.
And the grey squirrel? Turned up once at the new feeders, probably said something very rude (which fortunately I didn't understand, it being in squirrelese) and hasn't been seen in the garden since. Result!
(*The collective noun for Goldfinches is a 'charm'. Which is very apt, because they are.)
Squirrel proof feeders actually working is a novelty. Usually they’re crafty enough to bypass. My parents used to feed their birds quite well. This might have been a factor in a pair of swallows deciding the attic above my bed was perfect place for a nest. Some very early mornings courtesy of them… |
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Post by number13 on Oct 16, 2024 11:01:57 GMT
Update from the bird feeders. (Which I know you've all been waiting for. )
Those new squirrel-proof feeders are working as advertised. The birds took a day or two to get used to them but now we have Blue Tits, Great Tits and a charm* of Goldfinches enjoying themselves no end. And they are careless enough feeders to drop sufficient seeds to keep the ground feeding birds like the Robin and Hedge Sparrow happy.
And the grey squirrel? Turned up once at the new feeders, probably said something very rude (which fortunately I didn't understand, it being in squirrelese) and hasn't been seen in the garden since. Result!
(*The collective noun for Goldfinches is a 'charm'. Which is very apt, because they are.)
Squirrel proof feeders actually working is a novelty. Usually they’re crafty enough to bypass. My parents used to feed their birds quite well. This might have been a factor in a pair of swallows deciding the attic above my bed was perfect place for a nest. Some very early mornings courtesy of them… I know the feeders you mean, very sophisticated with baffles and weight-operated mechanisms and yes, squirrels are super-crafty and usually find a way round. So I bought the cheap-and-cheerful traditional option and unless our visitor comes back with wire-cutters or a blowtorch or shrinks itself to a mini-size squirrel, it isn't getting through the bars!
We have House Sparrows nesting in the roof every year which is great, it's in their job description after all. But they don't half 'cheep' loudly and persistently as soon as it gets light... |
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Oct 17, 2024 19:21:24 GMT
After 4 nights of interrupted and horrible sleep. finally caught up.. I got over 7 hours which is Huge for me..
yay.
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Kestrel
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 2,786
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Post by Kestrel on Oct 18, 2024 1:50:57 GMT
I don't have words. Or, I have many words, but it's all the same word, and it'll be caught by the local word filter here.
For the most part, my disengagement with social media this past year has led me to avoid almost all of the election BS. I've largely been spared the worst of it. It's hard not to think about just how much uglier the world seemed at this time of year back in 2016, despite the currently election arguably being far more perilous.
Well, that lucky break ended today when I made the mistake of turning on the television to a cable network. ABC, of all things -- if broadcast television were still a thing (and I don't think it is?) it would've been a broadcast network. ABC is one of the oldest TV networks in the country -- and, thus, the world.
Within 10 minutes I was exposed to one of the most vile, disturbing and reprehensible attack ads I've ever seen in my life. It was an attack ad for Kamala Harris, accusing her of working with the Ku Klux Klan to mass murder black babies. If you've not seen the ad, my simple description has probably caused you to imagine all sorts of imagery. If you have seen it, you don't need to imagine anything, because the ad in question provided a great many different images of broken and decaying corpses -- presumably of infants and fetuses. Nothing but a grotesquerie.
I am incensed.
It's already bad enough that the news media has -- at best -- been complicit in the rise of authoritarianism, bigotry and violence in the past decade, but providing a platform for ads like this is lower than I ever thought they'd sink -- media outlets that I already had very little respect for, due to my (admittedly limited) background in journalism (I went to J-school in uni, but switched to a different major after becoming disillusioned with it). This kind of incendiary, malicious propaganda has no place being platformed anywhere. Utterly vile.
EDIT: To clarify, this was no random timeslot, but an ad playing during primetime, during the 9:00 national news program.
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Post by relativetime on Oct 18, 2024 5:05:13 GMT
I don't have words. Or, I have many words, but it's all the same word, and it'll be caught by the local word filter here. For the most part, my disengagement with social media this past year has led me to avoid almost all of the election BS. I've largely been spared the worst of it. It's hard not to think about just how much uglier the world seemed at this time of year back in 2016, despite the currently election arguably being far more perilous. Well, that lucky break ended today when I made the mistake of turning on the television to a cable network. ABC, of all things -- if broadcast television were still a thing (and I don't think it is?) it would've been a broadcast network. ABC is one of the oldest TV networks in the country -- and, thus, the world. Within 10 minutes I was exposed to one of the most vile, disturbing and reprehensible attack ads I've ever seen in my life. It was an attack ad for Kamala Harris, accusing her of working with the Ku Klux Klan to mass murder black babies. If you've not seen the ad, my simple description has probably caused you to imagine all sorts of imagery. If you have seen it, you don't need to imagine anything, because the ad in question provided a great many different images of broken and decaying corpses -- presumably of infants and fetuses. Nothing but a grotesquerie. I am incensed.It's already bad enough that the news media has -- at best -- been complicit in the rise of authoritarianism, bigotry and violence in the past decade, but providing a platform for ads like this is lower than I ever thought they'd sink -- media outlets that I already had very little respect for, due to my (admittedly limited) background in journalism (I went to J-school in uni, but switched to a different major after becoming disillusioned with it). This kind of incendiary, malicious propaganda has no place being platformed anywhere. Utterly vile. EDIT: To clarify, this was no random timeslot, but an ad playing during primetime, during the 9:00 national news program. Yeah, I share all of your criticisms of the news media (also went to college for journalism and worked in broadcast news for a couple years too). Even so, airing something like that is a new low and especially for ABC. I'd expect this behavior from Fox, but I though ABC had a little more integrity. Apparently not. Legacy media is truly dead. |
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Post by tuigirl on Oct 18, 2024 7:09:13 GMT
I don't have words. Or, I have many words, but it's all the same word, and it'll be caught by the local word filter here. For the most part, my disengagement with social media this past year has led me to avoid almost all of the election BS. I've largely been spared the worst of it. It's hard not to think about just how much uglier the world seemed at this time of year back in 2016, despite the currently election arguably being far more perilous. Well, that lucky break ended today when I made the mistake of turning on the television to a cable network. ABC, of all things -- if broadcast television were still a thing (and I don't think it is?) it would've been a broadcast network. ABC is one of the oldest TV networks in the country -- and, thus, the world. Within 10 minutes I was exposed to one of the most vile, disturbing and reprehensible attack ads I've ever seen in my life. It was an attack ad for Kamala Harris, accusing her of working with the Ku Klux Klan to mass murder black babies. If you've not seen the ad, my simple description has probably caused you to imagine all sorts of imagery. If you have seen it, you don't need to imagine anything, because the ad in question provided a great many different images of broken and decaying corpses -- presumably of infants and fetuses. Nothing but a grotesquerie. I am incensed.It's already bad enough that the news media has -- at best -- been complicit in the rise of authoritarianism, bigotry and violence in the past decade, but providing a platform for ads like this is lower than I ever thought they'd sink -- media outlets that I already had very little respect for, due to my (admittedly limited) background in journalism (I went to J-school in uni, but switched to a different major after becoming disillusioned with it). This kind of incendiary, malicious propaganda has no place being platformed anywhere. Utterly vile. EDIT: To clarify, this was no random timeslot, but an ad playing during primetime, during the 9:00 national news program. OMG. I am shocked about this. The ads here are already pretty on your nose, but since they are publically founded with tax-payer money and go through a review process, we are spared any real vile content. I am sorry, but this reminds me of Nazi propaganda movies like the one where Jews were shown as rats.
I had no idea things were that bad over there, and I even see all the posts from my US friends.
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Post by bethhigdon on Oct 18, 2024 19:11:17 GMT
I don't have words. Or, I have many words, but it's all the same word, and it'll be caught by the local word filter here. For the most part, my disengagement with social media this past year has led me to avoid almost all of the election BS. I've largely been spared the worst of it. It's hard not to think about just how much uglier the world seemed at this time of year back in 2016, despite the currently election arguably being far more perilous. Well, that lucky break ended today when I made the mistake of turning on the television to a cable network. ABC, of all things -- if broadcast television were still a thing (and I don't think it is?) it would've been a broadcast network. ABC is one of the oldest TV networks in the country -- and, thus, the world. Within 10 minutes I was exposed to one of the most vile, disturbing and reprehensible attack ads I've ever seen in my life. It was an attack ad for Kamala Harris, accusing her of working with the Ku Klux Klan to mass murder black babies. If you've not seen the ad, my simple description has probably caused you to imagine all sorts of imagery. If you have seen it, you don't need to imagine anything, because the ad in question provided a great many different images of broken and decaying corpses -- presumably of infants and fetuses. Nothing but a grotesquerie. I am incensed.It's already bad enough that the news media has -- at best -- been complicit in the rise of authoritarianism, bigotry and violence in the past decade, but providing a platform for ads like this is lower than I ever thought they'd sink -- media outlets that I already had very little respect for, due to my (admittedly limited) background in journalism (I went to J-school in uni, but switched to a different major after becoming disillusioned with it). This kind of incendiary, malicious propaganda has no place being platformed anywhere. Utterly vile. EDIT: To clarify, this was no random timeslot, but an ad playing during primetime, during the 9:00 national news program. It's insulting, yes, but I've no idea who its supposed to target. The vast majority of POC are pro-abortion and don't fall for the usual 'they eat babies' bullcrap, and anyone remotely paying attention knows that Harris is black herself and the GOP has had ties to the KKK since the 60s. This would only engage the dumbest of the dumb and they're already voting Trump. In fact shit like this might encourage more people to vote Harris just out of pure anger at the blatant racism. |
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Kestrel
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 2,786
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Post by Kestrel on Oct 19, 2024 5:20:17 GMT
We can but hope. OMG. I am shocked about this. The ads here are already pretty on your nose, but since they are publically founded with tax-payer money and go through a review process, we are spared any real vile content. I am sorry, but this reminds me of Nazi propaganda movies like the one where Jews were shown as rats. I had no idea things were that bad over there, and I even see all the posts from my US friends. Honestly, that's where my mind went first, too -- the thought that it was far more vile than most of the Nazi propaganda I've seen. At the risk of evoking even more abhorrent imagery, what it reminded me of most were the photos taken after the camps were liberated -- the piles of emaciated corpses, piled carelessly in great heaps and pits, in staggering quantity. US election law requires television networks grant "equal time" to each candidate, but it's not like they're required to sell ad-slots to anyone who asks, or even at all. As disgusting as despicable was the people who made that ad are, I find ABC's decision to platform it to be equally reprehensible. |
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Oct 19, 2024 9:25:51 GMT
Family games night tonight was : "Qwirkle" and "Cards Against Humanity- Family Edition" |
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lidar2
Castellan
You know, now that you mention it, I actually do rather like Attack of the Cybermen ...
Likes: 6,034
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Post by lidar2 on Oct 19, 2024 13:23:47 GMT
Just sat down in the theatre, opened the programme and realised the star of the show is none other than Tim Treloar
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Post by tuigirl on Oct 19, 2024 14:43:04 GMT
Just sat down in the theatre, opened the programme and realised the star of the show is none other than Tim Treloar How nice! Hope it was a great performance.
Met him last year, he seems to be a great guy.
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Post by bethhigdon on Oct 19, 2024 16:10:49 GMT
Took my mama out to go vote this morning and we met my brother and his family there.
So that's at least five people voting Dem in deep red GA.
I'll be voting in at TN next weekend.
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Good job the comet will be around for a while yet... 
)
