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We use survey telescopes to look for asteroids. Typically they have been much smaller than the research telescopes. This is about to change with the Rubin Observatory which has an 8 meter mirror, putting into the research size range.

This telescope has a 3200 megapixel camera, and a wide field of view. It will survey the sky frequently, looking for anything that changes (moving asteroids and comets, variable stars, planetary transits, etc.)

To be fair, they can't actually resolve it at this distance - it's just a dot.

More than the half billion dollar Rubin Observatory with its 3200 megapixel camera that will up the discovery of asteroids by a factor of ten?

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Wow, I never heard of this film and I'm a big fan of horrible and cheesy scifi.

I must now see this movie.

I think you're confusing Mars with the love interest of that song by The Plimsouls.

So is it "Washington Monument" sized or "Colosseum in Rome" sized because those are two very different things?

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Then we’ll start cataloging the compositions of each, and soon we’ll have a whole database full asteroids just ready for the mining!

That soccer pitch with slight lighter red grass than the rest of the surface even!

And, like, maybe we *could* see a soccer pitch next to mars if it was glowing incandescently. But this is just a rocky asteroid, not particularly warm, caught on the near-vis IR camera. That's pretty dang cool

Thank you for a pretty cool explanation!

Well done. My 50 yo memories aren't perfect but wasn't that far off

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I believe the issue is “Which is better: 1. A water deluge system which pours a huge amount of water between the rocket exhaust and the concrete pad. 2. A pool of water underneath the rocket exhaust.” I’m guessing a pool of water wouldn’t be as good because the rocket exhaust would blow hot water and steam everywhere in an uncontrolled manner.

Telescope time is Uber precious, and I'm guessing it's easier for you proposal to get approved if you're not essentially shooting in the dark with your time.

I think it’s a huge asteroid :,)

That's a fantastic comparison to make one realize how insane the distances and sensitivities are!

Thank you!!

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Doppelganger

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppelg%C3%A4nger_(1969_film)

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Definitely not that. I remember the film we're talking about. Little things like the light switch being on the opposite side of the door as silly stuff like that. Can't remember much else about it

Edit:found it

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppelg%C3%A4nger_(1969_film)

Between 34.8 million and 250 million