The Astronomy Thread
- Thread starter Araxen
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Guest, it's time once again for the massively important and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!
Go here and give us your nominations!Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Give us your worst ones!
Big Phoenix
Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
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Lenas
Trump's Staff
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TrollfaceDeux
Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
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this should give you an idea of the scale we are talking about
http://scaleofuniverse.com/
so far the trend has always been "more energy = discovery of even more foundamental stuff". We have many theories that tells us there is much more beyond the Standard Model, including a theory that tells us there is a whole new, higher layer of particles. New dimentions beyond our 4 are predicted in some theories. The current estimate is that we barely understand 4% of the stuff and phenomenon we can see and understand. There could be much more stuff we can't even see/theorize/understand with our current understanding
It would be arrogant to claim we have already discovered everything in every field. That include claiming we discovered the most foundamental particles already
Abefroman
Naxxramas 1.0 Raider
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http://www.whitehouse.gov/webform/le...bout-asteroids
The White House Google Plus series "We The Geeks" will host a talk about asteroids with scientists including NASA's deputy administrator and BILL NYE! The talk will cover asteroid identification, characterization, resource utilization and hazard mitigation. The talk can be seen on Friday at 2pm on the White House's Google Plus page. The White House talk about asteroids should mainly be informative, though who knows if they want to inform us of any rogue space rocks.
The White House Google Plus series "We The Geeks" will host a talk about asteroids with scientists including NASA's deputy administrator and BILL NYE! The talk will cover asteroid identification, characterization, resource utilization and hazard mitigation. The talk can be seen on Friday at 2pm on the White House's Google Plus page. The White House talk about asteroids should mainly be informative, though who knows if they want to inform us of any rogue space rocks.
Radiation measurements for a trip to Mars has spurred scientists to find a way to lower exposure for those hoping to travel to the red planet one day. This is a link from the NYT and not Reuters so that it doesn't upset the powers that be.https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/31/s...ts.html?ref=us
fanaskin
Well known agitator
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Maybe it's infinite smaller particles, using the Fibonacci sequence one could have infinite divisions in a finite space.
Entire universe? Maybe you forgot this small thing about dark energy and the expansion of the universe at an accelerating speed?
At some point in the distant future there will be no other galaxies seen from our own (if we assume that Earth isn't eaten by the Sun in it's supersayan state).
Itlan
Blackwing Lair Raider
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Julian The Apostate
Vyemm Raider
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Three Planets in Habitable Zone of Nearby Star: Gliese 667c Reexamined
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0625073544.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0625073544.htm
Pharazon
Silver Knight of the Realm
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Interesting article on Voyager 1 running into unexpected phenomena. Who knows what it means, but it's a good reminder that there are just things we can't observe (and thus things we can't learn, insufficient data to formulate proper theories) while being stuck here.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/20...pected-region/
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/20...pected-region/
Big Phoenix
Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
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Makes you wonder how smart and great the engineers who built those two things are. Traveled almost 120+ au and still functioning just fine.
Back in 2011 it was a 32 hours + communication delay. Couldn't find an updated number quickly. Amazing its still working given the conditions its been in over the decades.
so....was i the only who got goose bumps readying that article ? shit is fucking exciting
We are entering a completely unexplored land. No human venture can say the same since 18th century. Even the moon land can't be compared. We pretty much knew what was there. It was only a matter of reaching it. This? we could find a "Here be dragons" sign for all we know
We are entering a completely unexplored land. No human venture can say the same since 18th century. Even the moon land can't be compared. We pretty much knew what was there. It was only a matter of reaching it. This? we could find a "Here be dragons" sign for all we know
Pancreas
Vyemm Raider
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The fact that cosmic rays are coming mainly from one direction makes sense. The sun's solar wind is creating a large area of interference directly behind the voyager craft, and could be blocking rays from reaching it.
As for the magnetic field not changing? Maybe the sun's magnetic field extends out further than the influence of the solar wind? I know the earth's magnetic field gets distorted quite a bit in relation to the sun. Maybe the sun's field is doing the same in relation to the galactic core?
Definitely cool that we are still in contact with something so far away, that's just amazing.
As for the magnetic field not changing? Maybe the sun's magnetic field extends out further than the influence of the solar wind? I know the earth's magnetic field gets distorted quite a bit in relation to the sun. Maybe the sun's field is doing the same in relation to the galactic core?
Definitely cool that we are still in contact with something so far away, that's just amazing.
Void
BAU BAU
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If I dwell on it too much, it slightly depresses me that the thing I have been interested in the most, and most consistently, during my lifetime (space) will still be so far from being understood, much less explored or even conquered, by the time I die. I was born 3 months before the moon landing, and while obviously I don't remember it, it was a big deal as I was growing up. I could not have imagined that we'd still be this far from space travel. Hell, I just watched Blade Runner again the other day, and the date that things are taking place in that movie are 2019. Obviously it is sci-fi, but still, the hopes for the future of space travel and exploration were so huge a few decades ago. Forty years ago it was all but a given that we'd have flying cars by now. While that was obviously a bit optimistic, we aren't even close to having the power plants/engines necessary for such things, and it is unlikely we'll even have them in another forty years unless public and political opinion swings drastically back towards the research side of things.
Sometimes I almost wish we did get attacked by (a very small contingent of) aliens so we'd be forced to shit or get off the pot. You know that if we were forced to invent actual spacecraft propulsion systems like we've seen in so many sci-fi shows (Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, whatever), we'd probably solve the world's energy crisis (and likely climate change as well) along with it. But no, we can't have that because all the politicians care about is being re-elected, not actually furthering science and/or society in any way.
Yeah, I'm rustled, because it bums me out, that's all.
Sometimes I almost wish we did get attacked by (a very small contingent of) aliens so we'd be forced to shit or get off the pot. You know that if we were forced to invent actual spacecraft propulsion systems like we've seen in so many sci-fi shows (Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, whatever), we'd probably solve the world's energy crisis (and likely climate change as well) along with it. But no, we can't have that because all the politicians care about is being re-elected, not actually furthering science and/or society in any way.
Yeah, I'm rustled, because it bums me out, that's all.