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Pulaski Feb 9th 2016 5:59 pm

Re: Spaceships and astronomy
 
So has anyone succeeded in seeing the planet cluster, including Mercury? It has been too cloudy near me most days recently, and in any case there are too many trees in the immediate vicinity of Pulaski manor to get a good view of the horizon. :(

SultanOfSwing Feb 9th 2016 6:01 pm

Re: Spaceships and astronomy
 

Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 11862503)
So has anyone succeeded in seeing the planet cluster, including Mercury? It has been too cloudy near me most days recently, and in any case there are too many trees in the immediate vicinity of Pulaski manor to get a good view of the horizon.

Not me. It's been clear but I haven't been out much at night, except yesterday when I was shoveling the drive at 10-ish. Wasn't paying much attention to the sky at that point, though.

MsElui Feb 9th 2016 9:26 pm

Re: Spaceships and astronomy
 
I stayed on the US Lexington with the Boy Scouts recently and as part of the trip they showed us an IMAX movie about the space station and future exploration/travel to Mars. The next generation of interplanetary vehicles look awesome and it was super interesting.

Pulaski Feb 11th 2016 3:21 pm

Re: Spaceships and astronomy
 
An exciting development in the area of applied astro-physics.

Shard Feb 13th 2016 10:15 am

Re: Spaceships and astronomy
 

Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 11864657)
An exciting development in the area of applied astro-physics.

Good BBC videos. It seems to be a massive breakthrough in science. I also find it amazing that Einstein, living almost a century ago in relative technological pre-history, was able to accurately theorise so much of this stuff.

SultanOfSwing Feb 14th 2016 3:37 am

Re: Spaceships and astronomy
 

Originally Posted by Shard (Post 11866242)
Good BBC videos. It seems to be a massive breakthrough in science. I also find it amazing that Einstein, living almost a century ago in relative technological pre-history, was able to accurately theorise so much of this stuff.

It's a remarkable discovery. The vindication of Einsteins work is fantastic.

Pulaski Feb 14th 2016 3:40 am

Re: Spaceships and astronomy
 

Originally Posted by SultanOfSwing (Post 11866975)
It's a remarkable discovery. The vindication of Einsteins work is fantastic.

Now that they've found these gravity waves, I wonder what they can do with them. I don't see any obvious way to focus them to make any sort of image. :unsure:

SultanOfSwing Feb 14th 2016 3:48 am

Re: Spaceships and astronomy
 

Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 11866979)
Now that they've found these gravity waves, I wonder what they can do with them. I don't see any obvious way to focus them to make any sort of image. :unsure:

The potential applications aren't immediately clear, as it is such a new discovery, but apparently they can be used to measure the rate of expansion of the universe, and to measure how much dark matter there is with quite a degree of accuracy. The farther reaching applications will likely become apparent as more binary black hole systems are discovered.

Pulaski Mar 30th 2016 9:31 pm

Re: Spaceships and astronomy
 
Here's and odd story, apparently "something" hit Jupiter. :unsure:

SultanOfSwing Mar 31st 2016 2:37 pm

Re: Spaceships and astronomy
 

Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 11909581)
Here's and odd story, apparently "something" hit Jupiter. :unsure:

That was a hell of a catch getting that on film though.

Not quite Schumaker-Levy 9, but yeah Jupiter most likely gets hit with debris and asteroids quite often due to its enormous gravitational field. Really, the fact that we aren't getting hit by large objects more often is most likely because Jupiter deals with them before they reach the inner solar system.

We're very lucky Jupiter is there in the first place :D

Pulaski Mar 31st 2016 3:24 pm

Re: Spaceships and astronomy
 

Originally Posted by SultanOfSwing (Post 11910139)
.... We're very lucky Jupiter is there in the first place. ....

And Saturn and Neptune, they're all doing the same job to protect us. :nod:

SultanOfSwing Mar 31st 2016 3:42 pm

Re: Spaceships and astronomy
 

Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 11910165)
And Saturn and Neptune, they're all doing the same job to protect us. :nod:

Yes. And apparently Uranus takes quite a pounding, too ...

But yeah, the gas giants are the silent protectors of the inner solar system.

Pulaski Mar 31st 2016 3:52 pm

Re: Spaceships and astronomy
 

Originally Posted by SultanOfSwing (Post 11910180)
Yes. And apparently Uranus takes quite a pounding, too ...

But yeah, the gas giants are the silent protectors of the inner solar system.

Why did I forget about Uranus? :o

There was also likely a fifth gas giant. I first heard about it a couple of years ago, but it is an interesting theory, that some where "out there", there is a fifth gas giant planet that was flung out of the solar system. I seem to recall seeing an estimate of how far it could have reached after four billion years at a speed markedly slower than the speed of light.

SultanOfSwing Mar 31st 2016 3:59 pm

Re: Spaceships and astronomy
 

Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 11910186)
Why did I forget about Uranus? :o

It's the smallest of the giant planets, also it's a bit weird because it's tilted 90 degrees on its axis as well. Plus it has a dirty name. Tends to get swept under the carpet, does Uranus.


Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 11910186)
There was also likely a fifth gas giant. I first heard about it a couple of years ago, but it is an interesting theory, that some where "out there", there is a fifth gas giant planet that was flung out of the solar system. I seem to recall seeing an estimate of how far it could have reached after four billion years at a speed markedly slower than the speed of light.

That's probably very likely. Rogue planets are already known about, there's no reason why one couldn't have originated in our solar system. With two planets the size of Jupiter and Saturn already, squeezing in a 5th one with Neptune and Uranus in the vicinity would have produced more than a little bit of gravitational instability.

steveq Apr 1st 2016 12:44 am

Re: Spaceships and astronomy
 
Maybe we/intelligent life, can't evolve without a big-ass junk collecting planet in the system, which makes the discovery of super-Jupiters in other star systems very encouraging.

Also, continuing my M42 fixation
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/imag/1603/...jedor_2263.jpg
OK, its a stackup of many frames, but its gorgeous.


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