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Space: The Final Frontier

I

iidesuyo

Member
LeoStenbuck said:
Spare a thought for Sedna, which has the longest orbital period of any known large object in the Solar System.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/90377_Sedna
Web_print-1-.jpg
Click to expand...


11.400 years for one orbit? WHAT? My mind is blown, again...
 
Mengy

Mengy

wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
eravulgaris said:
Distant 'waterworld' is confirmed

This is cool.

"Observations using the Hubble telescope now seem to confirm that a large fraction of its mass is water."
Click to expand...

Interesting to think how a common thing like water here on Earth might behave like an entirely different substance on another planet, simply because of the extra gravity and higher temperatures. Hot ice, superfluid water. If only the majority of the human race got excited about discovering such things...
 
F

fierrotlepou

Member
Mengy said:
Interesting to think how a common thing like water here on Earth might behave like an entirely different substance on another planet, simply because of the extra gravity and higher temperatures. Hot ice, superfluid water. If only the majority of the human race got excited about discovering such things...
Click to expand...

This makes me sad as well, articles about these kinds of discoveries rarely get any attention by the the majority. But when a celebrity so much as scratches his back, all hell breaks loose.
 
K

krameriffic

Member
Mengy said:
Interesting to think how a common thing like water here on Earth might behave like an entirely different substance on another planet, simply because of the extra gravity and higher temperatures. Hot ice, superfluid water. If only the majority of the human race got excited about discovering such things...
Click to expand...

Fuck that, I'm going to the mall to buy some new jeans at Hollister.
 
Mengy

Mengy

wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Maklershed said:
This is amazing and kind of depressing. It makes me think that maybe SETI isn't as useful as I thought it was ...

(click for large version)


Click to expand...

That is a little bit mind blowing. The scale of just our one galaxy can be intimidating. However, now think of an alien race that lived tens of thousands of years ago and broadcasted radio waves. Just as the universe is huge in physical scale, it is also huge in time scales as well.
 
G

Gaborn

Member
buckyballs_in_space.jpg


(Obviously an illustration, though a cool one. Image credit to NASA/JPL Caltech)

NASA has announced that astronomers using the Spitzer Space Telescope have found solid materials made out of Buckyballs in the star system XX Ophiuchi, which is 6,500 light years from Earth. This builds on some earlier findings, which detected Buckyballs in gaseous form in outer space.

“These buckyballs are stacked together to form a solid, like oranges in a crate,” said Nye Evans, lead author of the paper summarizing the results in the NASA press release. “The particles we detected are minuscule, far smaller than the width of a hair, but each one would contain stacks of millions of buckyballs.”

Buckyballs are probably one of the funnest molecules in nature. They’re comprised of 60 carbons in the shape of a geodesic dome. The name ‘Buckyball’ is derived from their official name, buckminsterfullerene, which is an homage to architect Buckminster Fuller, who used geodesic domes in his building designs. Buckyballs themselves have some interesting chemical and electrical properties that are being explored for a multitude of different applications.

“This exciting result suggests that buckyballs are even more widespread in space than the earlier Spitzer results showed,” said Mike Werner, one of Spitzer’s project scientists, in the press release. “They may be an important form of carbon, an essential building block for life, throughout the cosmos.”

It’s fascinating the buckyballs have turned out to be such an abundant carbon compound out in space. I’m curious as to the actual process through which the buckyballs are created in such vastly different stellar environments, and how they impact those environments. I’ve no doubt that a lot of the physics and chemistry we learn from buckyballs in space could pave the way for new technologies here on Earth.
Click to expand...

Story Here
 
D

Dragoon En Regalia

Member
Ow! Not my Buckyballs™!

Very interesting news, Gaborn. These molecules might have been present on Earth a long time ago too—would explain the preeminence of carbon-based life and molecular proliferation here.
 
F

fierrotlepou

Member
19 & 21 said:
Radio waves aren't really ideal for this kind of thing. Not that it matters, the futility of the current SETI apparatus has blinded any and all investors from caring about other means of searching/broadcasting it seems.




But some say I'm a pessimist.
Click to expand...

In this case you are definitely a realist my friend.
 
Chittagong

Chittagong

Gold Member
Maklershed said:
This is amazing and kind of depressing. It makes me think that maybe SETI isn't as useful as I thought it was ...

(click for large version)


Click to expand...

Ok this question will be dumb as fuck, but how do pictures like these exactly get taken / illustrated? We couldn't picture our position in our galaxy from our vantage point, or from the vantage point of anything we have ever sent out.
 
N

Neverender

Member
Chittagong said:
Ok this question will be dumb as fuck, but how do pictures like these exactly get taken / illustrated? We couldn't picture our position in our galaxy from our vantage point, or from the vantage point of anything we have ever sent out.
Click to expand...

This one is an artist's conception, but as far as I know we're just making educated guesses about how the Milky Way looks. I could be wrong but I think I remember reading we're not even sure how many spiral arms it has.
 
A

Avocado

Member
Chittagong said:
Ok this question will be dumb as fuck, but how do pictures like these exactly get taken / illustrated? We couldn't picture our position in our galaxy from our vantage point, or from the vantage point of anything we have ever sent out.
Click to expand...

As it says at the bottom of the picture its an artist conception of the Milky Way :)

Edit: Beaten
 
A

Alrix

Member
This stuff is completely mindblowing. As others have said, it's too bad we don't put more effort into this stuff collectively. We spend too much time arguing and fighting over money, politics and religion. It's fascinating to think of the things we could discover if we'd put our minds to it.
 
T

Tawpgun

Member
We should still keep listening. SETI isn't meant for us to communicate with anyone, its for listening. A civilization alive millions of years ago might have tried sending out communications. If we hear something that's clearly not natural its going to have amazing implications for us.
 
N

noah111

Still Alive
gofreak said:
At first I thought it was the black square. 'That's not so bad!'

Then I clicked it... D:
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's amazing. Though excuse my ignorance, but what they are referring to by 'radio signals' is the furthest we can send any type of signal, or are they talking about standard radio signals?

As in, what is the extent/distance of detection/communication with something like Seti's tech, or whatever?
 
O

owlbeak

Member
Sentry said:
Yeah, it's amazing. Though excuse my ignorance, but what they are referring to by 'radio signals' is the furthest we can send any type of signal, or are they talking about standard radio signals?

As in, what is the extent/distance of detection/communication with something like Seti's tech, or whatever?
Click to expand...
SETI uses regular radio signals, like the ones that broadcast to your standard AM/FM radio, and radio waves travel at the speed of light, so we'll just have to wait and see. However, SETI mostly just listens for radio signals that are distinguishable from background noise. This graphic is just showing how far out radio waves (from radio broadcasts, direct messages sent to outer space, etc) from Earth have actually made it into the galaxy.
 
N

noah111

Still Alive
birdcity said:
SETI uses regular radio signals, like the ones that broadcast to your standard AM/FM radio, and radio waves travel at the speed of light, so we'll just have to wait and see. However, SETI mostly just listens for radio signals that are distinguishable from background noise. This graphic is just showing how far out radio waves (from radio broadcasts, direct messages sent to outer space, etc) from Earth have actually made it into the galaxy.
Click to expand...
Ah, ok, that makes sense. For some reason I was thinking about capable reaching area rather than distance traveled already. That's amazing, and depressing. We'll already be dead before anyone hears us.
 
O

owlbeak

Member
Sentry said:
Ah, ok, that makes sense. For some reason I was thinking about capable reaching area rather than distance traveled already. That's amazing, and depressing. We'll already be dead before anyone hears us.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it definitely puts things into perspective. We are truly insignificant. But someone has to start the expedition. We're just the forefathers of what will come. It's a shame we probably won't be around when they make contact, but it's nice to know you're still a part of it.

Stephen Hawking has an interesting opinion on the subject of sending direct messages into space with the intent of contacting extraterrestrial life. He believes we should "lay low" given our species' track record of coming into contact with other groups with less technology/sophistication. He believes it's a very foolish move to directly attempt to make contact with any ET.

Personally, I'm torn on the subject. He makes a very valid point, given history. However, I'd like to think that if there are other civilizations out there and have the technology to travel faster than light/wormholes/etc, then they are MUCH MUCH older than our species, and to survive that long I would like to think they have evolved past petty wars and aggression.

It's an interesting philosophical debate for sure!
 
N

noah111

Still Alive
birdcity said:
Yeah, it definitely puts things into perspective. We are truly insignificant. But someone has to start the expedition. We're just the forefathers of what will come. It's a shame we probably won't be around when they make contact, but it's nice to know you're still a part of it.

Stephen Hawking has an interesting opinion on the subject of sending direct messages into space with the intent of contacting extraterrestrial life. He believes we should "lay low" given our species' track record of coming into contact with other groups with less technology/sophistication. He believes it's a very foolish move to directly attempt to make contact with any ET.

Personally, I'm torn on the subject. He makes a very valid point, given history. However, I'd like to think that if there are other civilizations out there and have the technology to travel faster than light/wormholes/etc, then they are MUCH MUCH older than our species, and to survive that long I would like to think they have evolved past petty wars and aggression.

It's an interesting philosophical debate for sure!
Click to expand...
That's the crucial part, I think, assuming that a civilization as capable as that would be equally violent or hostile, is almost like projecting our humanity and brutality onto other races.

I think the likeliness of coming into contact with LESS advanced civilizations or races, technologically, is far less likely than running into ancient races..

Though to be honest, being destroyed at the hand of an extra terrestrial race would be a much better end to humanity than us destroying ourselves. :p
 
M

Majine

Banned
I kinda dream to see Saturn one day with a telescope. Does anyone have an idea of a pricerange for such a thing to see it pretty clearly?
 
W

WeAreStarStuff

Member
19 & 21 said:
Radio waves aren't really ideal for this kind of thing. Not that it matters, the futility of the current SETI apparatus has blinded any and all investors from caring about other means of searching/broadcasting it seems.




But some say I'm a pessimist.
Click to expand...

I agree with you completely. I was commenting more on the size perspective.
 
T

Tawpgun

Member
Not with that kind of attitude.

I believe it should be a long term goal for humanity. To find life on another planet. To keep searching for intelligent life.
 
D

Dragoon En Regalia

Member
I'd buy it, but there's plenty of other reference material and a whole host of talks featuring Neil that I couldn't be bothered for just one more. He's a very charasmatic speaker, more interesting than any of the electoral candidates in the running—Jon was spot-on with that Neil 2012 joke.

Shame that none of the candidates running are crazy enough for
the moon
.
 
W

WeAreStarStuff

Member
Majine said:
I kinda dream to see Saturn one day with a telescope. Does anyone have an idea of a pricerange for such a thing to see it pretty clearly?
Click to expand...

You can see the rings of Saturn for less than $300 with a 5" primary. I remember the first time I pointed my telescope at what I thought was a bright star. It was Saturn and I was in awe.

It doesn't require that much magnification to see the rings. The lowest eyepiece I have is 36x and even then I can see them. I rec. viewing it at around 180x or so, circumstances depending.

If you want to see the planet very clearly I would rec. an 8" primary mirror such as:
http://www.telescope.com/Telescopes.../c/1/sc/22/p/9738.uts?refinementValueIds=4529
 
D

dragonelite

Member
Maklershed said:
Anyone buy or planning on buying Space Chronicles by Neil deGrasse Tyson?
Click to expand...

Just saw his braindrops from amazing meeting 6 on youtube.
For people interested it is his point of view on some subjects here is a link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vfOpZD4Sm8

He could be a comedian he is really entertaining and i think science should bring forth more people like him to increase interest in science instead of jersey shore which is also funny.
 
T

The Big Rig

Member
dragonelite said:
Just saw his braindrops from amazing meeting 6 on youtube.
For people interested it is his point of view on some subjects here is a link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vfOpZD4Sm8

He could be a comedian he is really entertaining and i think science should bring forth more people like him to increase interest in science instead of jersey shore which is also funny.
Click to expand...

He'd be a decent comedian, he has the perception. But he really is not a great interviewer. I listened to him speaking with
Morgan Freeman on Startalk, and he couldn't stay on a topic.
 
wolfmat

wolfmat

Confirmed Asshole
Dax01 said:
Derp.

Anyway, I have a question. Does Earth exert as much gravitational force on the sun as the sun does Earth?
Click to expand...

No. Gravitational force is tied to weight (it is proportional to the body mass). The sun thus exerts a lot more gravitational force. What keeps Earth from immediately falling into the sun is the vast distance, and the circular path it has stabilized on. It's circling the drain though, so to say.

Edit: Moreover, the gravitational effect is reduced with the square of the distance with respect to mass. So since the sun is as far from Earth as Earth is from the sun, and the sun is much more weighty, it wins.
 
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