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Space: The Final Frontier
- Thread starter Windu
- Start date
Botolf said:
Oooooh..
Boom:
It's called the "aglow", it circles the very very centre of the galaxy, which is ofc, a super massive...
(not a pic ofc
)blackhole, around which the entire galaxy rotates.
Incidentally, the sound a supermassive blackhole produces is B-flat, and not only that, but the single lowest pitched sound in the universe.
DEAD RABBIT
Member
Dash said:
There was a question on the talk page about this. The answer (ref. 1, ref. 2) is simply said, that space itself expands as a function of time. Hence, the distance between two non-moving points in space increases or decreases, because the density of the space between them increases or deceases. That's why there is no faster-than-light travel violation. Hubble's constant gives the 'acceleration' factor. I believe Einstein's General Relativity equations basically lay out a theory for the relation between the entropy (of the energy) of the universe and the density of spacetime on galactic scale. The meaning of 'density' of space has to do with what the time dilation difference is between two points in space. Because space itself is expanding, two points in spacetime are time dilated. What I am saying is that since the speed of light is the maximum speed, even two points in space can't move faster away from each other than the speed of light.
AndersTheSwede
Member
Anihawk said:
Pure awesomeness.
We really need to boost NASA's budget. I mean seriously, they only get like one half of one percent of the GDP, and look at all the awesome stuff they do.
1% I say!
Whoah. Any recordings? Or is that not even hear-able by humans?
Glad to see this thread running strong again. It felt my me and Windu were doing CPR for awhile.
If you're into space and astronomy, you have to check out Celestia:
http://www.shatters.net/celestia/
It's a free open-source universe explorer that allows you to fly around the solar system in 3D and out to all known stars in our galaxy. Absolutely awesome stuff.
And it works on PC, Mac and Linux.
http://www.shatters.net/celestia/
It's a free open-source universe explorer that allows you to fly around the solar system in 3D and out to all known stars in our galaxy. Absolutely awesome stuff.
And it works on PC, Mac and Linux.
I imagine free-floating into the event horizon of a black hole would be an awesome way to die, just you and the dark void, then you're silently pulled in, and effectively become a part of itYixian said:Oooooh..
Boom:
It's called the "aglow", it circles the very very centre of the galaxy, which is ofc, a super massive...
NASA Baffled by Unexplained Force Acting on Space Probes
"Mysteriously, five spacecraft that flew past the Earth have each displayed unexpected anomalies in their motions.
These newfound enigmas join the so-called "Pioneer anomaly" as hints that unexplained forces may appear to act on spacecraft.
A decade ago, after rigorous analyses, anomalies were seen with the identical Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft as they hurtled out of the solar system. Both seemed to experience a tiny but unexplained constant acceleration toward the sun.
A host of explanations have been bandied about for the Pioneer anomaly. At times these are rooted in conventional science perhaps leaks from the spacecraft have affected their trajectories. At times these are rooted in more speculative physics maybe the law of gravity itself needs to be modified.
Now Jet Propulsion Laboratory astronomer John Anderson and his colleagues who originally helped uncover the Pioneer anomaly have discovered that five spacecraft each raced either a tiny bit faster or slower than expected when they flew past the Earth en route to other parts of the solar system.
'Humble and perplexed'
The researchers looked at six deep-space probes Galileo I and II to Jupiter, the NEAR mission to the asteroid Eros, the Rosetta probe to a comet, Cassini to Saturn, and the MESSENGER craft to Mercury. Each spacecraft flew past the our planet to either gain or lose orbital energy in their quests to reach their eventual targets.
In five of the six flybys, the scientists have confirmed anomalies.
"I am feeling both humble and perplexed by this," said Anderson, who is now working as a retiree. "There is something very strange going on with spacecraft motions. We have no convincing explanation for either the Pioneer anomaly or the flyby anomaly."
In the one probe the researchers did not confirm a noticeable anomaly with, MESSENGER, the spacecraft approached the Earth at about latitude 31 degrees north and receded from the Earth at about latitude 32 degrees south. "This near-perfect symmetry about the equator seemed to result in a very small velocity change, in contrast to the five other flybys," Anderson explained so small no anomaly could be confirmed.
The five other flybys involved flights whose incoming and outgoing trajectories were asymmetrical with each other in terms of their orientation with Earth's equator.
For instance, the NEAR mission approached Earth at about latitude 20 south and receded from the planet at about latitude 72 south. The spacecraft then seemed to fly 13 millimeters per second faster than expected. While this is just one-millionth of that probe's total velocity, the precision of the velocity measurements was 0.1 millimeters per second, carried out as they were using radio waves bounced off the craft. This suggests the anomaly seen is real and one needing an explanation.
The fact this effect seems most evident with flybys most asymmetrical with respect to Earth's equator "suggests that the anomaly is related to Earth's rotation," Anderson said.
As to whether these new anomalies are linked with the Pioneer anomaly, "I would be very surprised if we have discovered two independent spacecraft anomalies," Anderson told SPACE.com. "I suspect they are connected, but I really do not know."
Unbound idea
These anomalies might be effects we see with an object possessing a spacecraft's mass, between 660 and 2,200 lbs. (300 and 1,000 kg), Anderson speculated.
"Another thing in common between the Pioneer and these flybys is what you would call an unbound orbit around a central body," Anderson said. "For instance, the Pioneers are flying out of the solar system they're not bound to their central body, the sun. For the other flybys, the Earth is the central body. These kinds of orbits just don't occur very often in nature it could be when you get into an unbound orbit around a central body, something goes on that's not in our standard models."
The researchers are now collaborating with German colleagues to search for possible anomalies in the Rosetta probe's second flyby of the Earth on November 13.
"We should continue to monitor spacecraft during Earth flybys. We should look carefully at newly recovered Pioneer data for more evidence of the Pioneer anomaly," Anderson added. "We should think about launching a dedicated mission on an escape trajectory from the solar system, just to look for anomalies in its motion."
Montana State University physicist Ronald Hellings, who did not participate in this study, said, "There's definitely something going on. Whether that's because of new physics or some problem with the model we have is yet to be worked out, as far as I know. A lot of people are trying to look into this."
Anderson and his colleagues will detail their latest findings in an upcoming issue of the journal Physical Review Letters."
"Mysteriously, five spacecraft that flew past the Earth have each displayed unexpected anomalies in their motions.
These newfound enigmas join the so-called "Pioneer anomaly" as hints that unexplained forces may appear to act on spacecraft.
A decade ago, after rigorous analyses, anomalies were seen with the identical Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft as they hurtled out of the solar system. Both seemed to experience a tiny but unexplained constant acceleration toward the sun.
A host of explanations have been bandied about for the Pioneer anomaly. At times these are rooted in conventional science perhaps leaks from the spacecraft have affected their trajectories. At times these are rooted in more speculative physics maybe the law of gravity itself needs to be modified.
Now Jet Propulsion Laboratory astronomer John Anderson and his colleagues who originally helped uncover the Pioneer anomaly have discovered that five spacecraft each raced either a tiny bit faster or slower than expected when they flew past the Earth en route to other parts of the solar system.
'Humble and perplexed'
The researchers looked at six deep-space probes Galileo I and II to Jupiter, the NEAR mission to the asteroid Eros, the Rosetta probe to a comet, Cassini to Saturn, and the MESSENGER craft to Mercury. Each spacecraft flew past the our planet to either gain or lose orbital energy in their quests to reach their eventual targets.
In five of the six flybys, the scientists have confirmed anomalies.
"I am feeling both humble and perplexed by this," said Anderson, who is now working as a retiree. "There is something very strange going on with spacecraft motions. We have no convincing explanation for either the Pioneer anomaly or the flyby anomaly."
In the one probe the researchers did not confirm a noticeable anomaly with, MESSENGER, the spacecraft approached the Earth at about latitude 31 degrees north and receded from the Earth at about latitude 32 degrees south. "This near-perfect symmetry about the equator seemed to result in a very small velocity change, in contrast to the five other flybys," Anderson explained so small no anomaly could be confirmed.
The five other flybys involved flights whose incoming and outgoing trajectories were asymmetrical with each other in terms of their orientation with Earth's equator.
For instance, the NEAR mission approached Earth at about latitude 20 south and receded from the planet at about latitude 72 south. The spacecraft then seemed to fly 13 millimeters per second faster than expected. While this is just one-millionth of that probe's total velocity, the precision of the velocity measurements was 0.1 millimeters per second, carried out as they were using radio waves bounced off the craft. This suggests the anomaly seen is real and one needing an explanation.
The fact this effect seems most evident with flybys most asymmetrical with respect to Earth's equator "suggests that the anomaly is related to Earth's rotation," Anderson said.
As to whether these new anomalies are linked with the Pioneer anomaly, "I would be very surprised if we have discovered two independent spacecraft anomalies," Anderson told SPACE.com. "I suspect they are connected, but I really do not know."
Unbound idea
These anomalies might be effects we see with an object possessing a spacecraft's mass, between 660 and 2,200 lbs. (300 and 1,000 kg), Anderson speculated.
"Another thing in common between the Pioneer and these flybys is what you would call an unbound orbit around a central body," Anderson said. "For instance, the Pioneers are flying out of the solar system they're not bound to their central body, the sun. For the other flybys, the Earth is the central body. These kinds of orbits just don't occur very often in nature it could be when you get into an unbound orbit around a central body, something goes on that's not in our standard models."
The researchers are now collaborating with German colleagues to search for possible anomalies in the Rosetta probe's second flyby of the Earth on November 13.
"We should continue to monitor spacecraft during Earth flybys. We should look carefully at newly recovered Pioneer data for more evidence of the Pioneer anomaly," Anderson added. "We should think about launching a dedicated mission on an escape trajectory from the solar system, just to look for anomalies in its motion."
Montana State University physicist Ronald Hellings, who did not participate in this study, said, "There's definitely something going on. Whether that's because of new physics or some problem with the model we have is yet to be worked out, as far as I know. A lot of people are trying to look into this."
Anderson and his colleagues will detail their latest findings in an upcoming issue of the journal Physical Review Letters."
Battersea Power Station
Member
Why do you say that? Because of all the awesome imagery space provides or because we are alive?Agent Ironside said:
TAJ
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Subarushian said:Many of you have probably seen pictures of Columbia's crew in uniform and what-not, but those shots tend to give you an idea of the badge, not of the personalities involved behind the names. So here's a photo I recently found of the Columbia crew during their wilderness training, to give you more of an idea of what they where like as persons.
Bless those willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to advance the boundaries of the human race.
I thought I remembered hearing about something hitting the shuttle during the launch and NASA knowing about it long before the reentry. I looked at a timeline of the mission just now, and my suspicion that no one at NASA has an ounce of common sense was seemingly confirmed.
They knew about the impact fifteen fucking days before the disaster. In that fifteen days, no one thought to... I don't know... actually look at the fucking outside of the shuttle. Maybe they could have had one of the astronauts take a break from studying the effect of zero-g on bees to check on that minor detail.
Instead, some engineers on the ground had a few circle jerks where they decided that nothing could possibly have gone wrong.
Couldn't they have used one of the space stations as a life raft until a rescue operation could be mounted? Oh, well. They probably didn't give a fuck anyway.
TAJ
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Windu said:
You're probably thinking of the ground crew looking at video tape.
I don't see any mention of the crew getting involved on this timeline.
http://www.io.com/~o_m/clfaq/clfaq.htm
disappeared
Banned
God I want to go into space. So badly. Sometimes I wonder if I'd been born 100 or 150 years from now.
EDIT: Didn't realize he was talking about this image:
http://i27.tinypic.com/2csdo2x.jpg
Or were you looking for a more specific answer?
http://i27.tinypic.com/2csdo2x.jpg
This glorious (well, after they fixed the mirror) piece of human engineering ... the Hubble Space Telescope:Koshiro said:
Or were you looking for a more specific answer?
I still maintain that we'd find it all rather mundane. I think it's awesome to be living in an age of development and discovery.disappeared said:
AndersTheSwede
Member
TAJ said:
There was definitely major incompetence shown. But these strikes had happened before, and the engineers simply punched the numbers and thought it couldn't damage it enough for a full failure.
But a couple of things where outside of their control. First there was no way to check the underside of the Shuttle. To do that you would need to either A: Do a very dangerous space walk which they likely weren't equiped for, or B: have some sort of camera on a long boom to swing underneath and take photos, which they also didn't have (But now its carried on all missions).
The mission that they where on was not an ISS mission. They where simply going into orbit and doing some experiments in the shuttle itself. Because of that they where on the wrong orbit to go to the ISS so they couldn't use it as a safe harbor, or have people in the ISS look at the underside as they approached.
Even if they had realized the danger, and somehow located it. There is no way they could have fixed it in-orbit. They where doomed the moment that foam struck the wing. The only option would have been the launch of a rescue Shuttle.
Nowadays every shuttle carries a underside inspection camera mounted on a robotic arm, and they are testing a in-orbit heat-shield fix. And a rescue shuttle is always on the alternate launch pad ready to launch a rescue mission.
Insane Metal
Member
fallout said:This glorious (well, after they fixed the mirror) piece of human engineering ... the Hubble Space Telescope:
Or were you looking for a more specific answer?
I still maintain that we'd find it all rather mundane. I think it's awesome to be living in an age of development and discovery.
HUBBLE FUCKING RULES.
It will take a long time to any other telescope takes the crown from it.
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
trilobyte said:
Wouldn't taking a photo of the moon when driving be blurred though?
Blurring comes from the fact that your traveling past the object of focus. It's same effect if you were standing still and taking a picture of a fast moving car. A camera picture isn't instant, there's time. Blurring comes from the amount of movement of the object in focus in that amount of time.Mama Smurf said:
In the case of something as large and distant as the moon, you never move far enough in relation to the moon in the time it takes to snap a photo. Ever notice when you drive in a car and look at the moon, its as if the moon is following you? It's because the moon is so big and high that the change of your point of reference is almost inconsequential
Closer objects will be blurred however.
The Chosen One
Member
Sorry if this question has already been asked.
This thread is full of BEAUTIFUL pictures of distant faraway galaxies, but how heavily are they digitally enhanced? Some of them literally look like paintings.
This thread is full of BEAUTIFUL pictures of distant faraway galaxies, but how heavily are they digitally enhanced? Some of them literally look like paintings.
Well, ground-based telescopes are moving too, remember. I think it's something like 1000 mph at the equator. They use motors to move the telescope along and track with the object. Hubble, on the other hand, uses 6 gyroscopes and 3 guidance sensors to keep it pointed at an object. So, you actually get better stability on Hubble than with ground based telescopes.Hootie said:
AndersTheSwede
Member
The Chosen One said:
Many of the shots are taken at a light spectrum's that humans can't see (like infrared). They do this to get detail that would otherwise be hidden.
But a lot of the time for public photos they try to approximate the "true" color.
MiamiWesker
Member
Wow just found this thread, I love this stuff. Space is incredible, wow at some of the images here.
Still everytime I see Earth in a group photo with other planets I feel wowed at how different our planet is from all the others. I am sure somewhere out there there is a planet like ours but from what we have seen its so unique, so incredible.
Still everytime I see Earth in a group photo with other planets I feel wowed at how different our planet is from all the others. I am sure somewhere out there there is a planet like ours but from what we have seen its so unique, so incredible.
Very high resolution images incoming.
Galaxies
Centaurus A
Click for 2133x1707
M64
Click for 897x1065
NGC 1232
Click for 2030x2046
Nebulae
Star Cluster (don't know specific name)
Click for 2500x2780
Infant Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
Click for 2500x2668
Combined X-Ray and Optical Images of the Crab Nebula
Click for 2400x2400
Omega/Swan Nebula (M17)
Click for 2163x1756
The Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635)
Click for 1520x1496
Nebula NGC 3603
Click for 1483x1504
Lagoon Nebula
Click for 1486x1510
Mosaic of Carina Nebula Region
Click for 1500x1479
Pismis 24 and NGC 6357
Click for 2100x3382
Galaxies
Centaurus A
Click for 2133x1707
M64
Click for 897x1065
NGC 1232
Click for 2030x2046
Nebulae
Star Cluster (don't know specific name)
Click for 2500x2780
Infant Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
Click for 2500x2668
Combined X-Ray and Optical Images of the Crab Nebula
Click for 2400x2400
Omega/Swan Nebula (M17)
Click for 2163x1756
The Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635)
Click for 1520x1496
Nebula NGC 3603
Click for 1483x1504
Lagoon Nebula
Click for 1486x1510
Mosaic of Carina Nebula Region
Click for 1500x1479
Pismis 24 and NGC 6357
Click for 2100x3382
Ooooh. Shit. Somehow, I messed up there and associating your post with the wrong image (I blame the sheer volume of awesome in this thread). :lolKoshiro said:
That was most likely not Hubble (could be, but I don't think they would need to use it, and I'm not even sure that it could focus on something so close). To be perfectly honest, I'd have to do some digging to find out how they did that. I'm pretty sure that the ISS has a trailing garbage pod, so maybe they used that? I'll see if I can find out.
Apologies for the mistake, heh.
hmm after looking it up again from where I got the original image....it might be a fakefallout said:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1444758183074525751ZBaJnc
Some more high resolution images of galaxy clusters, galaxies, and nebulae. A few have been posted already, don't think they were at these resolutions though.
Hubble Finds Dark Matter Ring in Galaxy Cluster
Click for 2600x2600
Barred Spiral Galaxy (NGC 1300)
Click for 3600x2054
Distant Spiral Galaxy NGC 4603
Click for 1368x760
M100
1495x1483
Hubbles View of Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1672
Click for 3200x2296
Hubble/GALEX/Spitzer Composite Image of M81
Click for 2456x3180
M74
Click for 2700x2540
M74
Click for 2600x2503
Section of M51 with Progenitor Star
Click for 1800x1800
Spiral Galaxy NGC 3370
Click for 3300x2438
Interacting Spiral Galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163
Click for 2907x1486
NGC 6164
Click for 2386x2252
NGC 2467
Click for 4033x2173
Small Magellanic Cloud
Click for 2500x2919
The Heart of the Trifid Nebula (Messier 20-NGC 6514)
Click for 2311x1461
The Trifid Nebula-Stellar Nursery Torn Apart By Radiation From Nearby Star
Click for 1516x1494
Trifid Nebula (M20)
Click for 2133x2133
The Eagle Has Risen-Stellar Spire in the Eagle Nebula
Click for 2000x4047
Hubble Finds Dark Matter Ring in Galaxy Cluster
Click for 2600x2600
Barred Spiral Galaxy (NGC 1300)
Click for 3600x2054
Distant Spiral Galaxy NGC 4603
Click for 1368x760
M100
1495x1483
Hubbles View of Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1672
Click for 3200x2296
Hubble/GALEX/Spitzer Composite Image of M81
Click for 2456x3180
M74
Click for 2700x2540
M74
Click for 2600x2503
Section of M51 with Progenitor Star
Click for 1800x1800
Spiral Galaxy NGC 3370
Click for 3300x2438
Interacting Spiral Galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163
Click for 2907x1486
NGC 6164
Click for 2386x2252
NGC 2467
Click for 4033x2173
Small Magellanic Cloud
Click for 2500x2919
The Heart of the Trifid Nebula (Messier 20-NGC 6514)
Click for 2311x1461
The Trifid Nebula-Stellar Nursery Torn Apart By Radiation From Nearby Star
Click for 1516x1494
Trifid Nebula (M20)
Click for 2133x2133
The Eagle Has Risen-Stellar Spire in the Eagle Nebula
Click for 2000x4047
Yixian said:Wait, do you mean solar system or Milky Way? Sol is our solar system, the Milky Way is our Galaxy.
The former'd just be a bunch of tiny dots and the sun. The latter we can only see from inside because it would take a few hundred thousand million years to get out of.
Here's the Milky Way from the inside looking out.
There's no fucking way we are the only life out there.
NO WAY
pfft thats nothing, take a look at this picture that was posted on Page 1:Smokey Bones said:
Here is a video explaining it
and yes I agree we are not alone, if we are then that is a big waste of space.
now time for a very sad video
AndersTheSwede
Member
Antimatter said:Pismis 24 and NGC 6357
Click for 2100x3382
...
:0
Shadowmancer
Member
Every time. Every f*ing time I enter this thread, my mind gets blown, and I become both amazingly saddened and heartened that we may never get a chance to explore even a small fraction of this, and that someone out there (there has to be) may be getting it right.
Besides the well known Challenger desaster, there were other tragedies in space exploration....
in 1967, Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov died when the parachute of Soyuz 1 failed. There are rumors he cursed the spacecraft designers in the last moments of his life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Mikhaylovich_Komarov
The crew of Soyuz 11 died after a valve opened far too early at 168km. The capsule lost all its oxygen and pressure, and the crew died 100 seconds after that. They did not wear space suits, because the constructor of Soyuz 11, Wassili Mischin, "didn't want to send cowards into space". Later crews had space suits. US astronaut Tom Stafford was one of the pallbearers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_11
in 1967, Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov died when the parachute of Soyuz 1 failed. There are rumors he cursed the spacecraft designers in the last moments of his life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Mikhaylovich_Komarov
The crew of Soyuz 11 died after a valve opened far too early at 168km. The capsule lost all its oxygen and pressure, and the crew died 100 seconds after that. They did not wear space suits, because the constructor of Soyuz 11, Wassili Mischin, "didn't want to send cowards into space". Later crews had space suits. US astronaut Tom Stafford was one of the pallbearers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_11
The Hubble Deep Field never ceases to impress me.Windu said:pfft thats nothing, take a look at this picture that was posted on Page 1:
Here is a video explaining it
and yes I agree we are not alone, if we are then that is a big waste of space.
now time for a very sad video
Possibly the greatest picture of space taken so far.
Windu said:pfft thats nothing, take a look at this picture that was posted on Page 1:
Here is a video explaining it
and yes I agree we are not alone, if we are then that is a big waste of space.
now time for a very sad video
Yeah I saw that. I've gone through the whole thread, but the pic I quoted is in out OWN galaxy that's what's fucking mindblowing to me.
Awesome thread, i cannot believe i missed this.
In July, i am doing a short residential course with the Open University called "Observing the Universe", i will be going to the Observatori Astronòmic de Mallorca in Mallorca for a week as part of the course. This is something ive wanted to do my whole life and i cannot freakin wait. Even if i only see some close ups on the moon it will be worth it.
In July, i am doing a short residential course with the Open University called "Observing the Universe", i will be going to the Observatori Astronòmic de Mallorca in Mallorca for a week as part of the course. This is something ive wanted to do my whole life and i cannot freakin wait. Even if i only see some close ups on the moon it will be worth it.
