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Sky Watch
Feb 3, 2023 22:01:02 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Feb 3, 2023 22:01:02 GMT
On Wednesday people in southern Montana reported seeing a strange object hovering high above Billings Montana. Meanwhile all air traffic, civil and commercial, was called to a complete halt for several hours for an area with a 50-mile radius. The US Government identified the mysterious floating object as a Chinese spy balloon. (A weather balloon was ruled out, as it was the size of three buses.) Shooting it down was considered but rejected as that would likely result in on-the-ground civilian casualties, so they just kept an eye on it. It seems there may be a second mysterious object now. Why Montana? Our barren eastern plains are home to several clusters of missile silos, equipped with nuclear warhead armed Minuteman missiles. www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/02/03/chinese-spy-balloon/
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Post by casimira on Feb 4, 2023 14:31:33 GMT
The media is having a field day with this news. All the focus leaves one with so many questions as more and more details emerge leaving one highly suspect of just what is really going on and what are "they" not reporting. (I live with a conspiracy "buff" so naturally I hear all manner of "theories").
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 4, 2023 16:57:52 GMT
"Spy balloon" makes me laugh. Spies are supposed to be discreet. Therefore, I would tend to believe the Chinese explanation.
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Sky Watch
Feb 4, 2023 19:56:31 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Feb 4, 2023 19:56:31 GMT
I expect it will be taken down once it floats over the Atlantic Ocean. The Chinese aren’t getting this one back.
(But maybe they have a plan to detonate it themselves after it’s done transmitting its surveillance info home to “Red China”.)
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Post by htmb on Feb 4, 2023 21:37:44 GMT
It was recently taken down just off the coast of South Carolina.
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 4, 2023 22:35:31 GMT
And every single media is calling it a "spy balloon." How could they possibly know before it has been examined?
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Sky Watch
Feb 4, 2023 23:49:07 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Feb 4, 2023 23:49:07 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 5, 2023 7:52:26 GMT
I'm still wondering what country could be so stupid as to use a balloon as big as three buses as a spy device -- visible to everybody, impossible to navigate, impossible to recover (although of course it can transmit data). You can't even be sure that it will fly over "sensitive" sites, although of course it is bound to sooner or later since it has no control over its trajectory.
I don't think China is that stupid. Naive to think it wouldn't be shot down perhaps. Or maybe this was just a test to see how the military would react.
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Post by bjd on Feb 5, 2023 9:04:05 GMT
Actually, after the first reports about that balloon, several news items on France24 covered the story. Apparently balloons are commonly used for surveillance and the Pentagon invests millions in balloons every year and has been doing so for decades. This first balloon in question could in fact be controlled, hence the US disbelief about it being a weather balloon that had been blown off course.
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Sky Watch
Feb 5, 2023 11:13:24 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 5, 2023 11:13:24 GMT
That would make it a dirigeable, not the same thing as a balloon.
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Sky Watch
Feb 5, 2023 14:19:29 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Feb 5, 2023 14:19:29 GMT
Semantics K2. Every news report I’ve heard - including an interview with Admiral McMullan just now - calls it a balloon. Perhaps “blimp” is a more accurate term, as there is no rigid framing.
But it was observed to have propellers, which means its movements could be controlled. It is felt that its track directly over the ICBM missile silos in MT was not coincidental.
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Post by casimira on Feb 5, 2023 21:57:05 GMT
I'm still wondering what country could be so stupid as to use a balloon as big as three buses as a spy device -- visible to everybody, impossible to navigate, impossible to recover (although of course it can transmit data). You can't even be sure that it will fly over "sensitive" sites, although of course it is bound to sooner or later since it has no control over its trajectory. I don't think China is that stupid. Naive to think it wouldn't be shot down perhaps. Or maybe this was just a test to see how the military would react.This was one of the many explanations that was being suggested in the news coverage of the event. Who knows? Nobody knows for certain and likely never will and or aren't saying. Tonight, is the FULL MOON, the "SNOW MOON". I hope no idiot tries to shoot at it mistaking for a "spy balloon".
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Post by lugg on Feb 16, 2023 19:24:55 GMT
Last night there was an amazing show of aurora in some parts of the world. I follow the Glendale app which is based in Skye but could also see in the comments that New Zealand had a spectacular show too. I guess that many other places in the world saw it too. Link to some of the Skye photos for those that have FB www.facebook.com/GlendaleSkyeAuroras/
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Sky Watch
Feb 18, 2023 4:30:06 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Feb 18, 2023 4:30:06 GMT
Aurora alert tonite for the northern tier states of the US, as well as other northern latitude countries.
Cloudy in Montana. Again.
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Sky Watch
Feb 23, 2023 16:58:00 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Feb 23, 2023 16:58:00 GMT
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Feb 23, 2023 21:38:56 GMT
We've had some beautiful views of Venus and Jupiter with the crescent moon over the last few nights....in a dark indigo sky. Absolutely stunning.
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Post by lugg on Feb 25, 2023 19:43:42 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 25, 2023 20:04:37 GMT
That's a Chinese balloon!
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Post by Kimby on Mar 8, 2023 4:12:42 GMT
Full moon tonight, or was it last night? Worm Moon. No idea why. You’d have to dig through 3 feet of snow to find the ground, and I’m pretty sure it’s frozen solid. No worms here.
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Sky Watch
Mar 12, 2023 23:46:47 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Mar 12, 2023 23:46:47 GMT
For USAnians, a map showing the next TWO solar eclipses’ paths across the US. October 2023 and April 2024. svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5073
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Sky Watch
May 7, 2023 15:25:36 GMT
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Post by mickthecactus on May 7, 2023 15:25:36 GMT
Did we hear any more about the spy balloon after they recovered all the bits?
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Post by cheerypeabrain on May 7, 2023 17:05:28 GMT
Very lax of me lugg..I failed toncomment on your lovely picture of the crescent moon and planets. It is excellent
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Post by lugg on May 7, 2023 19:34:02 GMT
Very lax of me lugg..I failed toncomment on your lovely picture of the crescent moon and planets. It is excellent Thanks Cheery On another note the Northern lights have been quite spectacular over the last weeks in the Uk ...seeing them way down in the south is so unusual . Anyway ... tonight there is another Aurora alert for the UK ..I guess for US and others too.
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Sky Watch
Jul 14, 2023 5:20:55 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Jul 14, 2023 5:20:55 GMT
I’ve been watching the International Space Station flyovers this week. It’s the 3rd brightest object in the night sky. There are 3 tonite. I caught the 10:54pm. Find out when it flies over you. spotthestation.nasa.gov/
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Sky Watch
Jul 14, 2023 13:21:46 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Jul 14, 2023 13:21:46 GMT
Woke just ahead of the 3:45 am flyover. It was a different trajectory than the first. Being so bright, though small, it’s very easy to spot if you aren’t hemmed in with trees or tall buildings.
The link above lets you enter your city and sends you daily emails of that night’s flyover times, compass points of origin and retreat, height and duration. Since it only lasts 5-7 minutes, knowing the time is the key to being an ISS watcher.
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Sky Watch
Jul 20, 2023 15:23:04 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Jul 20, 2023 15:23:04 GMT
This year’s PERSEIDS METEOR SHOWER, which lasts a week or more but peaks on August 12, will be aided by a waning moon. Last quarter Aug 8, new moon Aug 16.
This means we will have very dark skies for watching the estimated 50-100 meters per hour the PERSEIDS often bring. The moon rises an hour later each night, so there will be many hours of darkness for this years show, unlike last year when the moon rose before the sky was even fully dark after sunset.
No excuses! Get out there in August and see yourself some shooting stars. I plan to set up a reclining lawn chair in the driveway and watch till I’ve seen enough to get me through another year.
When I was a kid, my family would sleep out on the deck to watch the Perseids, fond memory.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 22, 2023 2:35:47 GMT
Hmmm. Even though some of my neighbors have yard lights appropriate for signaling to distant planets, it might be dark enough in the walled back yard. Hope so.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 2, 2023 0:26:04 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 2, 2023 15:14:40 GMT
They mentioned this week's super moon on the news and then they made it less special by pointing out that there are 4 super moons every year.
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Sky Watch
Aug 11, 2023 20:34:04 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Aug 11, 2023 20:34:04 GMT
PERSEIDS will begin peaking the next few nights. The moon phase is very favorable this year compared to last year.
I woke around 1 am last night and made myself drag a lawn chair onto the driveway to try to see shooting stars. If we were at the lake, (big sky country) I’d have no problems, but here at home we are tucked into a forest of 60-foot tall ponderosa pine trees, so only a small fraction of the sky was visible.
But I know roughly where to look (near Cassiopeia, the big W in the sky) so positioned my chair as best I could and was rewarded with three meteors, 2 very bright, but passing behind trees and a third less bright one crossing open sky.
If only the biggest brightest one had crossed the part of the sky not blocked by trees. It was very bright, visible through the branches.
I plan to keep watching through the next few nights. May even take a sleeping bag onto the roof, since the footprint of the house creates the biggest piece of open sky. (And I don’t have to be alert for wandering bears on the roof!)
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