science The Space Thread

[City Bread 44]

I'm surprised people haven't discussed about the recent detection of gravitational waves by LIGO. This is really changing how we look at the universe (and Einstein was right!)

I was just about to say.

 

To put it into perspective, the discovery of gravitational waves was as big as when we discovered radio waves. 

Even the sound picked up by it alone was awesome, though I'm curious to know how strong the force was from a few miles from the black holes as they merged. 

 

What confuses me is how the lasers that picked up this gravitational wave compensated for the slight vibrations/minuscule earthquakes that constantly bombard the earth. 

[ChB 18,557]

Who is your favorite astronomer?

 

I admire Copernicus, Aristarchus, who whoever was the first to discover that a heliocentric model best explains the apparent "back-and-forth" movement of planets in the night sky. Without advanced telescopes like we have today, observing parallaxes like that must have taken a lot of time and patience. And observing that a "fixed" Sun would solve the problem must have taken a lot of patience and critical thinking in geometry, trigonometry, and all that, as there were no calculators back then. Always great that humanity has at least one person every century who really can think outside of box.      

[Throwaway19573639385 764]

Here's a fun fact about space. Did you know that stars can have "earth"quakes as well? The strongest quake recorded was a neutron star that had a quake of 22 on the Richter Scale, which is about 3.2 trillion times stronger than the strongest recorded earthquake on earth! If this neutron star was within 10 light years of Earth, it would've killed almost all life on Earth.

Edited March 28, 2016 by Winterbass

[ChB 18,557]

@Celli

I'm so looking forward to NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which is scheduled to launch in Spring 2019. I know that's a long time from now, but I'm excited for the endless potential discoveries we may make about the first few million years of our universe.

[Celli 4,338]

Just now, ChB said:

@Celli

I'm so looking forward to NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which is scheduled to launch in Spring 2019. I know that's a long time from now, but I'm excited for the endless potential discoveries we may make about the first few million years of our universe.

Oh, I think I heard about that, is it supposed to replace hubble?

[ChB 18,557]

Just now, Celli said:

Oh, I think I heard about that, is it supposed to replace hubble?

Well, it's built for a different wavelength detection range than that of Hubble, so although Webb may be more useful for studying the more distant, red-shifted galaxies, I think Hubble may still have its place.

[DubWolf 17,265]

I used to want to be an astronomer, though my interest in the extraterrestrial has mostly moved inside the atmosphere (I'm very interested in aviation now). I'm about as interested in it as most people are, though I probably know more since I always bought books about them.

Twice in the past month I got to witness some cool meteors shine  . The first one I thought was an airplane diving towards the airport (wondering crap, I hope he's planning on pulling up or he must be doing acrobatic flight), then it quickly faded and burnt out  . I forgot what the other one looked like but I've seen some cool displays  

 

 

I haven't really followed a lot of astronomy lately. Mostly just stuff that's big on the news like the eclipse this year, or when the New Horizon's probe passed by Pluto. I didn't even know we had discovered so many of Pluto's moons already  , or that it even had so many for a (dwarf) planet its size  .

 

Edited December 12, 2017 by WWolf

[Feather Spiral 1,892]

I'm sure most, if not all, of us have looked up at the sky and dreamed of roaming the stars at some point, at least once in our lives.

My mom was a fan of the original Star Trek (I'd also watch an episode with her once in a while), and I've rediscovered the fandom many years later. Now I'm pretty much obsessed with the idea of traveling interstellar space, exploring other star systems and sometimes getting in trouble.

And it's not limited to that - when you know Earth's place in the Solar system and how its orbital characteristics affect climate on the surface, your whole view of the world changes. Or when you think about how celestial bodies can influence each other without any contact (one of the ways astronomers can find new planets, by watching their star move around).

Even though I couldn't take physics as my major (too many numbers and equations to remember), all of that stuff always fascinates me.

Edited December 14, 2017 by Feather Spiral

[Olly 1,011]

I love learning about space 

Also, R.I.P. Cassini 1997-2017

[Raritas 6,820]

I'm a novice astronomer and wanna-be astrophotographer, literally anything to do with the cosmos fascinates me. Like for example the foreign object they recently found in our solar system that they believe came from another star system. Where did it come from? Does it contain any alien materials? It's scary to think just how small we are, surely we can't be alone 

[Here No Longer 5,276]

The obligatory meme. /20chars

 

But seriously, I've found space a very interesting subject with my interest in futurology. I hope that mankind one day may travel to other solar systems, and find suitable planets to colonize or maybe even other intelligent life out there in the cosmos. All of the possibilities for advancements in technology...  All of the possibilities for mankind to build itself as a respectable civilization.

If Star Trek is anything to go by, it will be quite astounding what man will accomplish. I'd go as far to say that space would be our future, and a pretty preferable one at that.

Edited December 20, 2017 by Duzzki

[Stone Cold Steve Jobs 22,441]

I used to consider myself well versed in astronomy right up until i played Kerbal Space Program for the first time. Though to be fair, I have seen an astronaut play that game and fail spectacularly.

[Celli 4,338]

This thread needs more attention.

NASA is sending a special probe to the sun this year.

http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu

It will come within 4 million miles of the sun, on a special mission. 

Edited March 22, 2018 by Celli

[Phosphor 11,529]

I'm glad I found this thread!  

I'm simply impressed with how much camera technology has improved. From film, webcams, and now specialized high speed planetary cameras, not to mention the quality optics that are now available. Also, the atmospheric dispersion corrector became a big game changer for imaging fine details on planets. 

The next bit of technology for amateur astronomers is adaptive optics to counter the turbulence in the atmosphere. The price is beyond reach right now, but should come down as more are made. What a time to be an amateur astronomer!  

 

[Dreambiscuit 9,901]

I can't wait for private companies to send someone to Mars, my favorite planet. We really need to establish a human presence on these foreign worlds.

[Fluttershutter 2,496]

It's really time we get started colonizing and terraforming mars and mining the asteroids. NASA is too damn slow and cautious.

 

[Celli 4,338]

1 hour ago, Fluttershutter said:

It's really time we get started colonizing and terraforming mars and mining the asteroids. NASA is too damn slow and cautious.

 

NASA isn't slow, It's just expensive and time-consuming to attempt to colonize and especially terraform Mars. Mining Asteroids, I'm not so sure.

[CypherHoof 26,483]

 

1 hour ago, Celli said:

3 hours ago, Fluttershutter said:

It's really time we get started colonizing and terraforming mars and mining the asteroids. NASA is too damn slow and cautious.

NASA isn't slow, It's just expensive and time-consuming to attempt to colonize and especially terraform Mars. Mining Asteroids, I'm not so sure.

Lots of things to worry about there, but Musk seems determined to reach it, eventually

[Fluttershutter 2,496]

10 hours ago, Celli said:

NASA isn't slow, It's just expensive and time-consuming to attempt to colonize and especially terraform Mars. Mining Asteroids, I'm not so sure.

NASA is glacial. The cost of moving things into orbit has grown exponentially since they started and they're terrified to have anybody die on a mission and have their (admittedly already small) funding cut. Obviously we don't want anybody to die but look at how many people die in car accidents every year. It's unavoidable and plenty of people are willing to take the risk.

Yes colonizing will be expensive but the amount of resources to exploit on Mars and the asteroids  is astronomical.

Terraforming is largely theoretical but we won't know much about the possibilities until we get started.

[Celli 4,338]

3 minutes ago, Fluttershutter said:

NASA is glacial. The cost of moving things into orbit has grown exponentially since they started and they're terrified to have anybody die on a mission and have their (admittedly already small) funding cut. Obviously we don't want anybody to die but look at how many people die in car accidents every year. It's unavoidable and plenty of people are willing to take the risk.

Yes colonizing will be expensive but the amount of resources to exploit on Mars and the asteroids  is astronomical.

Terraforming is largely theoretical but we won't know much about the possibilities until we get started.

True. The thing is, I think they need to work on making a sufficient and good enough way to get humans to Mars, since we haven't even sent anyone there yet. Terraforming if it ever becomes a reality, is still far off.

[Olly 1,011]

 

On 11/15/2018 at 10:29 PM, Dreambiscuit said:

I can't wait for private companies to send someone to Mars, my favorite planet. We really need to establish a human presence on these foreign worlds.

I think we should focus on fixing our problems on this world before we think about living on others 

[Dreambiscuit 9,901]

12 hours ago, Olly said:

I think we should focus on fixing our problems on this world before we think about living on others 

Venturing into space might help us find some answers to the problems on this world. There are no guarantees, but it's worth a shot.

Edited November 18, 2018 by Dreambiscuit

[Celli 4,338]

On 11/16/2018 at 1:29 AM, Dreambiscuit said:

I can't wait for private companies to send someone to Mars, my favorite planet. We really need to establish a human presence on these foreign worlds.

There is Mars one which is a thing.

https://www.mars-one.com

[Fluttershutter 2,496]

On 11/17/2018 at 11:33 AM, Olly said:

I think we should focus on fixing our problems on this world before we think about living on others 

Nah, going to mars is cooler! 

[Olly 1,011]

3 hours ago, Fluttershutter said:

Nah, going to mars is cooler! 

Not really a mars fan to be honest. Team earth all the way.

We've found planets similar to earth in size and distance from their stars... but not another planet just like it, it's perfect for supporting life and the only one we know of with so much intelligent life, forests, fields, mountains, oceans, snow and more. It's a very special place and people take it for granted wishing they could go to much less impressive ones. 

Edited November 25, 2018 by Olly