Best Of
Re: Kuhnhenn Winter Solstice Release 2017
Would love to, that's the day I'll be hitting the opposite side of the metro area for another family thing.
@Gargoyle said:
I keep checking their site, and they're always sold out of stouts and barleywines.Icrontic sez: "hey they've got more stuff"
Gargoyle checks
All gone.I'm considering getting an Eisbock, though.
The raspberry was very good this year. I would suggest trying the others on tap before committing to any bottles - all were good but they are pricey. At this point, I suspect the Eisbocks (except maybe the blackberry, which was the lowest number produced) will last for weeks.
RyanMM
What's your internet speed?
I'd like everyone to run the Speakeasy Speed Test. Please post your results, ISP, connection type, and price per month you pay. Thanks guys!
Here's mine:

I have SBC Yahoo! DSL and pay $14.95/month.
Re: Merry Christmas from Icrontic
Happy holidays, all.
Bummed I don't have holiday versions for the new logo, yet. Might have to reinstall Photoshop soon.
Linc
Re: SpaceX - Falcon 9 Rocket Launch
@aspieRommel said:
How was the rocket able to “glowworm” like that? What conditions were just right for it to happen?
TL;DR, the rocket condensation trail is illuminated by the sun which had already set at ground level but had not yet set at the altitude that the rocket flew through. The Fox newscaster in the original post discusses this briefly.
Axioms
1. The Earth is round.
2. The Earth rotates about its north-south axis once per day.
3. Other laws of physics (particularly relating to chemistry) are valid.
At local sunset, the light from the sun seems to be traveling exactly parallel to local observers on the ground. However, in actuality it is traveling tangent to the round surface of the Earth as shown in the figure below (Wikipedia).
![]()
The time of sunset as a function of altitude can be determined trigonometrically knowing the radius of Earth (R ≈ 6370 km) and its rotation rate (15°/hr). The conditions of sunset suitably match the small angle approximation for sine though such that sunset is 1 minute later for each 1.5 km of altitude gained for relatively small altitudes (h ≪ R).
Local sunset at Lompoc, CA near the launch site was 4:56 PM on the day of the launch and liftoff occurred at 5:27:34 PM or roughly 30 minutes after sunset. As such, Falcon would fly out of twilight and into direct sunlight at an altitude of roughly 45 km. Lets take a look at the webcast:
It takes a couple more minutes for the rocket to reach 45 km altitude so by then the rocket must reach an altitude of ~50 km before hitting daylight. It's pretty evident in the webcast when this happens at ~00:02:15 into flight. When we tune into Stage 2 following stage separation we can see it's in daylight. It's still dark on the ground though so anything in the sky lit by daylight is going to appear brilliant (i.e. like the moon).
Now that we've established the lighting conditions, let's turn our attention to the thing being lit. According to publicly-available information, Falcon 9 Stage 1 converts 2.5 metric tons of liquid kerosene and liquid oxygen per second into mostly steam and some carbon dioxide, soot, and other random organic molecules. Stage 2 does the same thing at roughly an order of magnitude lower rate (9 engines vs 1 engine with all else being equal). Steam is nothing more than hot water vapor and is being exhausted from Merlin at a fairly high temperature and pressure into a fairly cold vacuum. Chemistry tells us that these sorts of conditions cause the expelled vapor to condense and form clouds. I'll leave the exercise of working through steam phase transitions as an exercise for the reader. The generic name for clouds formed this way is "condensation trails" or "contrails".
So, now we have high altitude clouds lit up by daylight seen by observers in the Earth's shadow.
Awesome!
drasnor
Esti and Jackie yell about Star Wars
In the tradition of the Toast...
Warning: will contain spoilers for all Star Wars.
Jackie: Should I go to the store or go see The Last Jedi again?
Esti: That's a tough one. I really want to see it again but I want to finish rewatching the other ones first.
Jackie: Hmm, I rewatched them all before I saw The Force Awakens, but maybe I should do it again. I'm clearly forgetting a lot of things.
An hour later:
Jackie: OH god why am I rewatching the Phantom Menace
Re: I decided to do a thing ....and perhaps more.
Just heard from the shop as they will be closed for the holidays. And they informed me that the full frame is complete as is the new front suspension. The new front inner fenders and rear tubs still need to be done along with the body work of making a recess for the installation of a Cobra (LeMans) style gas filler. Then it can be painted as the underside, engine compartment and interior will all be painted.
Mt_Goat
Re: SPOILERS HERE - StarWars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi Post Viewing Extravaganza - SPOILERS HERE
Warning: I didn't read through this thread. Sorry if this got mentioned already.
Noticed something during the second viewing. During the final battle of Luke and Kylo. Along with Luke being cleaned up, Luke's feet were giving tells that he wasn't actually there. They focus on Kylo's feet. He shifts. White salt gives way to bright red. They focus on Luke's movement, nothing. So good.

Re: ICNY 2017
Oh hey can I join?
Landing Friday the 29th at 10:35 AM on AA 4548
Departing Wednesday the 3rd at 6:35 PM on AA 3443
Attic space please.






