johnsmachines

machines which I have made, am making, or intend to make, and some other stuff. If you find this site interesting, please leave a comment. I read every comment and respond to most. n.b. There is a list of my first 800 posts in my post of 17 June 2021, titled "800 Posts"

Tag: moon

November 24, 2019

Tycho

Crater that is, on the moon.   One of the few areas shown by Google Earth Pro in high definition.  But I wonder if those nice sharp views will continue when these pictures become better known.

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This is the northern half of Tycho crater.  Tycho is approximately 80km diameter, over 3000m deep, with a prominent central mountain peak.   This picture is taken from 80km above the surface of the moon.

As we zoom into the northern rim of the crater…..

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Hmm.  Those rocks look interesting…. some right angle shapes….

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You would swear that those are buildings…    And look at the shadows that the biggest white shapes are casting.   Hang on, shadows.   Those big white shapes are not only rectilinear and big, they are up above the ground surface.  The yellow line is 1000m long, for comparison.

At this magnification some pixellation is appearing, so there is no point going closer.

Take another look at the biggest white shape.  Does it remind you of anything?  V?  Antarctica?  The following picture is from my post in December 2018.

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The Moon co-ordinates are there.  Take a look for yourself, using Google Earth- Moon.  While it is still available.

Surveyor 7 landed 40km from here, in 1967, ostensibly to check potential landing sites for later manned moon missions.  I bet that NASA has some nice clear pictures of the area.  I do hope that I am still around when the truth finally comes out.

 

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July 8, 2019

Not Antarctica Again! Groan…

For those readers who have not automatically skipped this post after reading the title, I had some time to spend on Google Earth Pro recently, and back to my area of interest, at the big black reflective rectangle 22 x 7km, photographed in 1999.  And the strange 300 x 150mm objects seen 2006 – 2007.

This time I went back a few years to 2002, and this line of objects caught my eye.

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This is Antarctica, Dec 31 2002.  The red, yellow and blue pins are 300 x 150m objects, seen 2002-7.  The big black rectangle is in the middle of the left hand cluster.   The area of today’s interest is the small red line to the left of the long red line.  The small red line, placed by me on the photo, is 20km long.   The next photo is zoomed in to the small red line…

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Still 2002, small red line. Those 21 black dots are 1km apart.  And there is another, to the right near the top of my red line.   Now to zoom in some more…

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Look at those shapes.  They are 300 x 300m each.  Similar but not identical to each other.  Exactly 1 km apart.

The black rectangle does not appear in these 2002 photos.

The co-ordinates are bottom right, so you can check this out for yourself.  What do those black shapes look like to you?   Unfortunately zooming in closer does not increase the clarity.

Now, do you want to know how I found this second row of objects?  This is where it gets even more interesting.

There appears to be a track or mark in the snow leading away from the big black rectangle, leading to the south east at heading 112º.  The track is 7km wide, the same as the black object.   I followed it on Google Earth, until it disappeared after 132km.  At that point on Google Earth I scanned the years 1984-2016.   And zoomed in and out.

And guess what!  That point is exactly where the row of 21 objects which are 1km apart, starts (or ends).   WTF?!

And just to complete this post, there is a site on YouTube which I have been watching with interest, called “Bruce Sees All”.  “Bruce” is an amateur astronomer with a decent telescope which he has been pointing at the moon, and making videos.  I have taken some screen shots, which I post here.  Hopefully this will stimulate some of you to go to the YT site and check it out for yourself.

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No scale unfortunately, but that white donut shape must be many kilometers wide.  And by the shadow which it is casting, it is way above the surface.  Similar shapes nearby.

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And look closely at all of the rectilinear shapes in this screenshot.  Square meteorites perhaps?

 

I will get back to gear making tomorrow, hopefully.

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February 20, 2019

Moon

I know that this blog is titled “johnsmachines”, but I do get interested in “other stuff” too.

I came across this video on YouTube yesterday.  It runs for 4 hours.

The footage was shot by an amateur astronomer, through telescopes which anyone can buy.  A 9.5″ Celestron  reflector (Schmitt Cassegrain I think),  and an 80mm Orion refractor.

I used to be an amateur astronomer, and still retain an interest.  One of my worst decisions ever was to give away an Orion 10″ reflector about 10 years ago.

Anyway, back to the video.  It shows the surface of the moon, concentrating on some interesting areas.  Following are some screen shots.  It is titled “Live Moon Surface Observation”.  Worth a look.  Suggest jumping to 28minutes and watch maybe 5 minutes, zooming in and out.

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80mm refractor.  Look at the protruberance in the top left crater.  Looks like a clenched fist.  That is really unusual.  Impact craters often have a central spike, and it is thought that the moon has had volcanic activity in previous aeons.  But there is no atmosphere to cause wind erosion, and no surface water.  Just traces of ice in the depths of craters at the poles.  So how could that shape have arisen?   And look at the bottom right crater…. that rectilinear shape.   Circular shapes are meteor impacts, in many case impacts upon impacts.  So how do you explain straight lines like these?

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The same craters through the reflector scope.  Image reversed.   Look closely at the areas surrounding the craters.  Do you see the other rectangular and square shapes?

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Close up of the fist.  Pixellation appearing.

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Earth’s moon is strange.

It is the largest moon in the solar system relative to the parent planet.

It is much less dense than earth. (why? if it is made of the same rock).  (5.51g/cm vs 3.34g/cm.  Thought to be due to Earth’s metal core.)

It almost exactly blocks the disk of the sun during a lunar eclipse.  Coincidence?

The other side of the moon always faces away from earth.  Until the space program, no human had ever seen the other side of the moon.  The other side, incidentally, is quite different from the side which we see.  Much more cratered, no large flat areas.  Presumably most meteors come from the direction away from the sun (because they are scooped up by the gravitational field of the sun).

One moon day is exactly the same length as a lunar month.  It is the only moon in the solar system where this applies.  That is why the other side of the moon always faces away from earth.  Another coincidence?  (correction.  Pluto – Charon also exhibit this behaviour, so it is not unique, just unusual.  Thought to be due to “tidal locking”- thanks Gene).

OK.  I know.  You came to this site to look at my machines, particularly the Trevithick dredger engine.   I am still fiddling with small details which are not very photogenic, but necessary before I run it on steam.  Currently hooking up the boiler feed pump.

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I was intending to pull apart the pump to show you the components.  It is more complicated than the exterior shows.  Piston, O ring, 2 stainless steel balls, one spring.  I machined that 3 way junction box from a gas fitting, adding the delivery union to the top.   Nothing tested yet.  I hope that it works!

 

 

 

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