Picture of the ISS Options

[Simon Kirby]

NWN has a great picture of the International Space Station taken by a local photographer Tim Burgess.


I went out to watch the Perseids last week, and it was an amazingly clear night, and because the moon set early it gave a great view of the night sky. Aside from the Persieids (which were cool) there's quite a bit of other stuff moving about up there, some I guessed were aircraft, but I did wonder if I'd seen the ISS.

Curious to think about the stone-age people who built Stone Henge looking up at a night sky much the same as ours. Curious too that they built such a monument which, as far as I can tell, served no practical purpose and occupied so much of their time and effort - time and effort which I'd assumed would have been entirely occupied with the day-to-day tasks of staying alive.

Also curious to wonder which is the greater achievement: Stone Henge, or the ISS.

[DJE]

A superb picture, juxtaposing one of man's oldest astronomical tools with one of his latest.

However, the photographer needs to swot up on Stonehenge, judging by the quote in the NWN article:

Of his image, he said: “It was difficult to know how it would take; I knew it would be quite a strong image. It is one of the oldest natural objects against one of the newest man made."

[motormad]

Also curious to wonder which is the greater achievement: Stone Henge, or the ISS.

A few bits of rock piled up on top of each other, or a fully fledged ecosystem orbiting the earth..

I think it's neither - Milky Bars are clearly more impressive.

[JeffG]

Can anyone explain the sudden interest in the ISS? Hasn't it been up there for years?

[Simon Kirby]

Can anyone explain the sudden interest in the ISS? Hasn't it been up there for years?

There's this.

[JeffG]

There's this.

Yes, I remember that, but it was a while ago now. I was wondering why Twitter is suddenly awash with people saying they've seen it/photographed it. It could be that I have recently started following @VirtualAstronomer, though. Although, with the nova in Delphinus, they have something else to talk about now!

[Nothing Much]

Also curious to wonder which is the greater achievement: Stone Henge, or the ISS

Quite amazing Simon that these objects are still fascinating earthlings millenia apart.
Both are extreme examples of human endeavour. I don't know if there was any battling or planning enforcement
over the Henge. But seeing how Russia and US built and created the station is a marvel, when one considers how close
they have come to battle down here.

There is a new snap of a C-54 on the other site, which set me off on a bit of a personal ramble on the history of the Berlin Airlift.
Just a short time before my arrival in the oilfields of Persia in 1950.
There were 2 options. Blast the blockading Soviets out out the way or fly in Vittles. The plane won the battle of ideologies then.

So the ISS is perhaps a tiny hint that humanity is not as bad as we think and a bit of competition for domination of the moon will not always lead to a blasted earth sci-fi scenario.
ce

[Simon Kirby]

Also curious to wonder which is the greater achievement: Stone Henge, or the ISS

Quite amazing Simon that these objects are still fascinating earthlings millenia apart.
Both are extreme examples of human endeavour. I don't know if there was any battling or planning enforcement
over the Henge. But seeing how Russia and US built and created the station is a marvel, when one considers how close
they have come to battle down here.

There is a new snap of a C-54 on the other site, which set me off on a bit of a personal ramble on the history of the Berlin Airlift.
Just a short time before my arrival in the oilfields of Persia in 1950.
There were 2 options. Blast the blockading Soviets out out the way or fly in Vittles. The plane won the battle of ideologies then.

So the ISS is perhaps a tiny hint that humanity is not as bad as we think and a bit of competition for domination of the moon will not always lead to a blasted earth sci-fi scenario.
ce

Yes, very much so, I'm impressed by the technology of course, but like you say it's the human aspect of both achievements that impresses.

[DJE]

Can anyone explain the sudden interest in the ISS? Hasn't it been up there for years?

I think Stonehenge has been kicking around for a while too.

[Simon Kirby]

I think Stonehenge has been kicking around for a while too.

Stone Henge is rightly famous, but my favourite site is Avebury. I love the architecture of the village houses which is a great mix of the rural vernacular which obviously saw some prosperity. The stones have a really good vibe too - and there's a beech tree whose roots have crawled over the chalk ring on the far side from the visitor centre and that's pretty cool too. Walk from the Silbury Hill on the A4 and you don't need to pay the outrageous NT car park fees.

But I have Bronze Age barrows in the park outside my house in Wash Common, and while they're nothing like as significant as Avebury or Stone Henge they are nonetheless a significant piece of local ancient history that is all too easily overlooked. There's an information panel which is rather good, but I wish more would be made of them and their significance explained.

[JeffG]

But I have Bronze Age barrows in the park outside my house in Wash Common,

I actually thought they were burial mounds from the Civil War.

[Simon Kirby]

I actually thought they were burial mounds from the Civil War.

Yes, people generally appear to think that, though I don't believe it to be correct. I just think with a monument as ancient as that in our midst it would be good if we understood more about who built it and why, and what that might mean to us now.

[x2lls]

Check out time team

[JeffG]

Yes, people generally appear to think that, though I don't believe it to be correct.

Aren't there stone plaques on top, though? Haven't had cause to go up there since my dog went, so I can't remember precisely what they said.

[Simon Kirby]

Aren't there stone plaques on top, though? Haven't had cause to go up there since my dog went, so I can't remember precisely what they said.

Indeed, there are stones commemorating the civil war battle on the two mounds in the park, and I understand that civil war artefacts were found in the third mound which the Victorians razed and on which now sits the kiddie playground.