The Space/Cosmos Thread

The Friendly Stranger · Thu Mar 29, 2012 11:34 pm

fujee wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17539315

Speechless.

mechanismj · Post by **mechanismj** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 1:21 am

The Friendly Stranger wrote:
fujee wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17539315

Speechless.

Bitchin'!

mechanismj · Post by **mechanismj** » Thu May 17, 2012 5:04 am

Annular solar eclipse hitting pretty close to home!

http://space.brevardtimes.com/2012/05/a ... -will.html

zeitgeist · Post by **zeitgeist** » Thu May 17, 2012 2:59 pm

driving about 2 hours south on sunday for the ring of fire. freakin' excited!

Zero · Post by **Zero** » Fri May 18, 2012 7:26 pm

Earth from space:

Techboy · Post by **Techboy** » Wed May 23, 2012 3:17 am

so i am studying for a masters in physics
tomorrow i have an exam. in the mock, question 6: "what is the second law of thermodynamics? from your understanding of entropy briefly explain how this result affects the ultimate fate of the universe."
all i can say is, you haven't lived until you have debated this question with a bunch of completely stoned physics undergrads.

Techboy · Post by **Techboy** » Wed May 23, 2012 3:19 am

i think that when you see the milky way in real life it is like seeing your own parents for the first time and you want to go back and stare at it every night until you work up the courage to say hello

polar sky · Post by **polar sky** » Wed May 23, 2012 1:32 pm

Every time there is a clear sky, I always look at Orion's belt first. I always think about The Orion Correlation Theory.

hexagon son · Post by **hexagon son** » Wed May 23, 2012 1:34 pm

polar sky wrote:Every time there is a clear sky, I always look at Orion's belt first. I always think about The Orion Correlation Theory.

---runs off and Google's "The Orion Correlation Theory"---

Ahh yes I know about this, I just didn't realized it had a title!

fujee · Post by **fujee** » Wed May 23, 2012 2:11 pm

Yes Techboy!

zeitgeist · Post by **zeitgeist** » Wed May 23, 2012 3:37 pm

Techboy wrote:i think that when you see the milky way in real life it is like seeing your own parents for the first time and you want to go back and stare at it every night until you work up the courage to say hello

completely agreed. one of the most vivid and enjoyable experience in my life was on a backpacking trip in canyonlands, about 40 miles from the nearest lights. lying on my back that cloudless night, the milky way was horizontal to my perspective, and i swear to god i could see and feel the impossible 3D-ness of space. it was like I was very vividly sitting on the edge of an insanely large dinner plate of light, and all the varying magnitudes of all the stars allowed me to truly grasp the immense space in front of me. i honestly don't think i've ever experienced anything quite so grand.

fujee · Post by **fujee** » Wed May 23, 2012 3:53 pm

Man, thats so awesome.

Techboy · Post by **Techboy** » Wed May 30, 2012 5:08 pm

A guy I work with who used to live on the Isle of Skye way in the north of Scotland said that one night when he was about 15 (6? years ago) there was this amazing light show, he described it by saying "there was a wee circle in the sky and it was raining colours. Not just the green that you used to see all the time, but every colour imaginable and more". Mind blowing, and I hope I get to experience something like that.

Also, I worked this out just for shits:
Taking a hollow sphere of surface thickness 7193m (about the distance between a high aeroplane and the deepest part of the ocean) to be the *accessible* volume of the earth, humans have been "allocated" a very low percentage of the universe... this result means we have been allocated 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000004% of the universe space-wise.

In terms of time, if we take 100 years to be the average human lifespan (generous), then this result shows 0.0000004% of all the time in the universe.

Bearing in mind that the universe is getting bigger at an accelerating rate and that time is obviously travelling forward only, at least in our reference frame if you want to be a pedant.

Of course, there are philosophical arguments to be had over my use of the word allocated...

polar sky · Post by **polar sky** » Wed May 30, 2012 5:43 pm

hexagon son wrote:
polar sky wrote:Every time there is a clear sky, I always look at Orion's belt first. I always think about The Orion Correlation Theory.
---runs off and Google's "The Orion Correlation Theory"---

Ahh yes I know about this, I just didn't realized it had a title!

Yeah it's very very interesting.

The Friendly Stranger · Sat Jun 02, 2012 9:24 pm

5th-6th June depending on where you are in the world. This won't happen again in our lifetime...

http://www.transitofvenus.org/

fujee · Post by **fujee** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 2:23 pm

Insane!

http://www.forteantimes.com/features/ar ... space.html

fujee · Post by **fujee** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:44 pm

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... -blob.html

200 million light years wide

fujee · Post by **fujee** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 11:13 am

To think twenty years ago, many top astronomers considered exo planets the stuff of science fiction.

So many earth like planets being found!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19008908

Lens Larque · Post by **Lens Larque** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 5:35 pm

Mars landing Aug 5/6 put on your space helmets

Magrathea · Post by **Magrathea** » Sun Jul 29, 2012 2:37 am

Lens Larque wrote:Mars landing Aug 5/6 put on your space helmets

Have you watched the amazing video 7 minutes of terror?

if not I suggest you do, very well done, if a bit heavy on drama