Ten thousand light years from earth in a constellation far, far away, there is massive cloud of alcohol. It’s space booze.
Discovered in 1995 near the constellation Aquila, the cloud is 1000 times larger than the diameter of our solar system. It contains enough ethyl alcohol to fill 400 trillion trillion pints of beer. To down that much alcohol, every person on earth would have to drink 300,000 pints each day—for one billion years.
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Tossrocktoo weird to livetoo rare to dieRegistered Userregular
We can currently make telescopes that come very close to giving us the highest resolution possible for their size. We are actually running up against the physical constraints of what light can tell us before things go all quantum and fuzzy. The only way we currently know of to get better telescopes is to build bigger mirrors. According to this article, spotting something the size of a blue whale on the surface of the nearest known exoplanet would require a telescope the diameter of the sun. And as a time machine, this would only buy you about four years of history. Even assuming an FTL drive, using a telescope to try and study the Civil War is pretty impractical based on what we currently know about light and optics, and there's not much on the horizon that seems likely to remedy that.
Arthur C. Clarke came up with an idea that might help: if you could create and maintain a wormhole large enough to act as a lens, you could use it to instantaneously observe faraway objects. In your case, if you could instantly travel 50 light years away and generate a wormhole 50 light years long, you could use it to observe the Earth as it was in 1966.
Of course, in certain mathematical models of wormholes, you wouldn't even have to travel 50 light years away. A wormhole that sees the present 50 light years away and one that sees the room you're in 50 years ago are pretty much indistinguishable mathematically. Stephen Baxter took this idea and created a really neat story in The Light of Other Days.
Holy crap, someone else who read The Light of Other Days? I thought I was the only one!
Ten thousand light years from earth in a constellation far, far away, there is massive cloud of alcohol. It’s space booze.
Discovered in 1995 near the constellation Aquila, the cloud is 1000 times larger than the diameter of our solar system. It contains enough ethyl alcohol to fill 400 trillion trillion pints of beer. To down that much alcohol, every person on earth would have to drink 300,000 pints each day—for one billion years.
We can currently make telescopes that come very close to giving us the highest resolution possible for their size. We are actually running up against the physical constraints of what light can tell us before things go all quantum and fuzzy. The only way we currently know of to get better telescopes is to build bigger mirrors. According to this article, spotting something the size of a blue whale on the surface of the nearest known exoplanet would require a telescope the diameter of the sun. And as a time machine, this would only buy you about four years of history. Even assuming an FTL drive, using a telescope to try and study the Civil War is pretty impractical based on what we currently know about light and optics, and there's not much on the horizon that seems likely to remedy that.
Arthur C. Clarke came up with an idea that might help: if you could create and maintain a wormhole large enough to act as a lens, you could use it to instantaneously observe faraway objects. In your case, if you could instantly travel 50 light years away and generate a wormhole 50 light years long, you could use it to observe the Earth as it was in 1966.
Of course, in certain mathematical models of wormholes, you wouldn't even have to travel 50 light years away. A wormhole that sees the present 50 light years away and one that sees the room you're in 50 years ago are pretty much indistinguishable mathematically. Stephen Baxter took this idea and created a really neat story in The Light of Other Days.
Holy crap, someone else who read The Light of Other Days? I thought I was the only one!
Hah! The fact that you, of all forumers, are the first other person I've heard of who read that book is somehow not surprising. It was a weird one, but the ideas certainly stick with you.
Ten thousand light years from earth in a constellation far, far away, there is massive cloud of alcohol. It’s space booze.
Discovered in 1995 near the constellation Tequila, the cloud is 1000 times larger than the diameter of our solar system. It contains enough ethyl alcohol to fill 400 trillion trillion pints of beer. To down that much alcohol, every person on earth would have to drink 300,000 pints each day—for one billion years.
Speaking of planetary naming conventions, currently an area on Pluto is named the Cthulhu Regio, apparently coming from an online poll conducted for creatures related to underworld mythologies." It could become the official name in the future.
Speaking of planetary naming conventions, currently an area on Pluto is named the Cthulhu Regio, apparently coming from an online poll conducted for creatures related to underworld mythologies." It could become the official name in the future.
I particularly like the "Mordor Macula".
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Der Waffle MousBlame this on the misfortune of your birth.New Yark, New Yark.Registered Userregular
edited September 2016
Charon has a bunch of what I'm assuming are temporary sci fi names.
So you've got Spock crater, Macross chasma, and Gallifrey Macula.
Ten thousand light years from earth in a constellation far, far away, there is massive cloud of alcohol. It’s space booze.
Discovered in 1995 near the constellation Aquila, the cloud is 1000 times larger than the diameter of our solar system. It contains enough ethyl alcohol to fill 400 trillion trillion pints of beer. To down that much alcohol, every person on earth would have to drink 300,000 pints each day—for one billion years.
nice
More like the constellation Tequila, am I right?
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Tossrocktoo weird to livetoo rare to dieRegistered Userregular
We can currently make telescopes that come very close to giving us the highest resolution possible for their size. We are actually running up against the physical constraints of what light can tell us before things go all quantum and fuzzy. The only way we currently know of to get better telescopes is to build bigger mirrors. According to this article, spotting something the size of a blue whale on the surface of the nearest known exoplanet would require a telescope the diameter of the sun. And as a time machine, this would only buy you about four years of history. Even assuming an FTL drive, using a telescope to try and study the Civil War is pretty impractical based on what we currently know about light and optics, and there's not much on the horizon that seems likely to remedy that.
Arthur C. Clarke came up with an idea that might help: if you could create and maintain a wormhole large enough to act as a lens, you could use it to instantaneously observe faraway objects. In your case, if you could instantly travel 50 light years away and generate a wormhole 50 light years long, you could use it to observe the Earth as it was in 1966.
Of course, in certain mathematical models of wormholes, you wouldn't even have to travel 50 light years away. A wormhole that sees the present 50 light years away and one that sees the room you're in 50 years ago are pretty much indistinguishable mathematically. Stephen Baxter took this idea and created a really neat story in The Light of Other Days.
Holy crap, someone else who read The Light of Other Days? I thought I was the only one!
Hah! The fact that you, of all forumers, are the first other person I've heard of who read that book is somehow not surprising. It was a weird one, but the ideas certainly stick with you.
I was moderately concerned about the possibility of people in the future being able to see my actions for a while
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JedocIn the scupperswith the staggers and jagsRegistered Userregular
Yeah, me too. But then I realized the odds of me doing anything interesting or embarrassing enough to end up on WormTube were arbitrarily small, given that they have all of humanity and history to spy on. This made me feel better, and then made me feel sad.
Yeah, me too. But then I realized the odds of me doing anything interesting or embarrassing enough to end up on WormTube were arbitrarily small, given that they have all of humanity and history to spy on. This made me feel better, and then made me feel sad.
SpaceX is doing a livestream on their Mars plans in about six minutes here.
Also continuing with the whole "anyone doing neat space stuff needs trailer videos" theme from the last several years, they're showing off the basic mission profile for a Mars shot:
SpaceX is doing a livestream on their Mars plans in about six minutes here.
Also continuing with the whole "anyone doing neat space stuff needs trailer videos" theme from the last several years, they're showing off the basic mission profile for a Mars shot:
Blake TDo you have enemies then?Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.Registered Userregular
Science thread I am doing my science assignment about a vacuum cannon (as it is my science dream) however I need to list the materials and I don't know the name of the board you stick behind things to measure speed. Seen at 16 seconds here.
Science thread I am doing my science assignment about a vacuum cannon (as it is my science dream) however I need to list the materials and I don't know the name of the board you stick behind things to measure speed. Seen at 16 seconds here.
If a decaying orbit is a decrease in the distance between two orbiting objects, what is the term for an orbit where the objects are getting further apart, like how the moon is with the earth?
There must be some kind of term but for the life of me I just can't find it.
Science thread I am doing my science assignment about a vacuum cannon (as it is my science dream) however I need to list the materials and I don't know the name of the board you stick behind things to measure speed. Seen at 16 seconds here.
In photography those are called photo documentation rulers, photo rulers, or photo scales. I can't speak to video but maybe that'll point you in the right direction.
If a decaying orbit is a decrease in the distance between two orbiting objects, what is the term for an orbit where the objects are getting further apart, like how the moon is with the earth?
There must be some kind of term but for the life of me I just can't find it.
I don't really know of one either, other than to say there are different kind of "positive" distortions of orbits. Burning along the prograde vector will push your orbit out (changing eccentricity and period). Burning along a radial vector will change the shape of the orbit but leave the period the same. Burning along a transverse vector will change the plane of the orbit.
I think it's because all of those things can't really happen naturally very often? Orbital decay is a common thing due to atmosphere, and less commonly tidal forces or gravitational waves. On the other hand, pushing objects further apart requires adding kinetic energy to a system, which isn't very common unless something done blown up.
If a decaying orbit is a decrease in the distance between two orbiting objects, what is the term for an orbit where the objects are getting further apart, like how the moon is with the earth?
There must be some kind of term but for the life of me I just can't find it.
I don't really know of one either, other than to say there are different kind of "positive" distortions of orbits. Burning along the prograde vector will push your orbit out (changing eccentricity and period). Burning along a radial vector will change the shape of the orbit but leave the period the same. Burning along a transverse vector will change the plane of the orbit.
I think it's because all of those things can't really happen naturally very often? Orbital decay is a common thing due to atmosphere, and less commonly tidal forces or gravitational waves. On the other hand, pushing objects further apart requires adding kinetic energy to a system, which isn't very common unless something done blown up.
Wouldn't it be happening to most moons that have an orbital period longer than the rotational period of the planet they are orbiting? Or is the Earth/Moon relationship a relatively rare thing due to relative masses or proximity or some such?
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Blake TDo you have enemies then?Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.Registered Userregular
If a decaying orbit is a decrease in the distance between two orbiting objects, what is the term for an orbit where the objects are getting further apart, like how the moon is with the earth?
There must be some kind of term but for the life of me I just can't find it.
If a decaying orbit is a decrease in the distance between two orbiting objects, what is the term for an orbit where the objects are getting further apart, like how the moon is with the earth?
There must be some kind of term but for the life of me I just can't find it.
It is just a very slow escape orbit.
Well in this case the moon will never escape its orbit of the earth. On a long enough timeline eventually the rotational period of the earth would match the orbital period of the moon and the moon's orbit would be locked into place there.
In theory at least, because all estimates puts the Sun engulfing both the Earth and the Moon long before that happens.
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LuvTheMonkeyHigh Sierra SerenadeRegistered Userregular
If a decaying orbit is a decrease in the distance between two orbiting objects, what is the term for an orbit where the objects are getting further apart, like how the moon is with the earth?
There must be some kind of term but for the life of me I just can't find it.
I don't really know of one either, other than to say there are different kind of "positive" distortions of orbits. Burning along the prograde vector will push your orbit out (changing eccentricity and period). Burning along a radial vector will change the shape of the orbit but leave the period the same. Burning along a transverse vector will change the plane of the orbit.
I think it's because all of those things can't really happen naturally very often? Orbital decay is a common thing due to atmosphere, and less commonly tidal forces or gravitational waves. On the other hand, pushing objects further apart requires adding kinetic energy to a system, which isn't very common unless something done blown up.
Wouldn't it be happening to most moons that have an orbital period longer than the rotational period of the planet they are orbiting? Or is the Earth/Moon relationship a relatively rare thing due to relative masses or proximity or some such?
I did forget about the moon moving away from us, yeah. Technically that's truly the opposite of decay - stabilizing, as that is slated to stop happening in 50 billion years and the Earth-Moon system becomes fully tidally locked. Mind you, this is 45 billion years after the Sun goes red giant and gobbles both up anyways.
All this moon stuff is the result of the science class I am taking. We have to do observations of the moon. With the goal being, you know, figuring why what the moon goes through its phases. A large portion of the class doesn't know! And this is a science class to prep teachers to teach elementary students. This is of course, quite distressing to me.
But like, I already know why that happens so I've just been using my journal to explore why tidally locking happens and how lagrangian points work.
I bet there are other fun moon related topics to dig into!
Inquisitor on
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Tossrocktoo weird to livetoo rare to dieRegistered Userregular
Posts
nice
Holy crap, someone else who read The Light of Other Days? I thought I was the only one!
Hah! The fact that you, of all forumers, are the first other person I've heard of who read that book is somehow not surprising. It was a weird one, but the ideas certainly stick with you.
fixed for accuracy
I particularly like the "Mordor Macula".
So you've got Spock crater, Macross chasma, and Gallifrey Macula.
edit: oh duh mordor macula is charon.
More like the constellation Tequila, am I right?
I was moderately concerned about the possibility of people in the future being able to see my actions for a while
Almost seems like a challenge.
PSN:Furlion
RIP
In grungy Weyland Yutani type sci fi letting her RIP will be acceptable
"Oh, crap, it's from the IRS. We're getting raptor interplanetary audited."
If space dinosaurs want to come give my taxes the once over, I'm all for it.
Also continuing with the whole "anyone doing neat space stuff needs trailer videos" theme from the last several years, they're showing off the basic mission profile for a Mars shot:
The stream of the presentation:
Can anyone help me out?
Satans..... hints.....
I don't know if it has a name, it's almost always just referred to by the principle behind it.
"Speed Calibration Marker"?
STEAM
FUCK all math requiring guessing, testing, and adjusting your test
burn that out of all possible educational material below college and keep the methods we do know that don't require that time-consuming boring shit
There must be some kind of term but for the life of me I just can't find it.
Thanks so much!
Satans..... hints.....
I don't really know of one either, other than to say there are different kind of "positive" distortions of orbits. Burning along the prograde vector will push your orbit out (changing eccentricity and period). Burning along a radial vector will change the shape of the orbit but leave the period the same. Burning along a transverse vector will change the plane of the orbit.
I think it's because all of those things can't really happen naturally very often? Orbital decay is a common thing due to atmosphere, and less commonly tidal forces or gravitational waves. On the other hand, pushing objects further apart requires adding kinetic energy to a system, which isn't very common unless something done blown up.
Wouldn't it be happening to most moons that have an orbital period longer than the rotational period of the planet they are orbiting? Or is the Earth/Moon relationship a relatively rare thing due to relative masses or proximity or some such?
It is just a very slow escape orbit.
Satans..... hints.....
Well in this case the moon will never escape its orbit of the earth. On a long enough timeline eventually the rotational period of the earth would match the orbital period of the moon and the moon's orbit would be locked into place there.
In theory at least, because all estimates puts the Sun engulfing both the Earth and the Moon long before that happens.
I did forget about the moon moving away from us, yeah. Technically that's truly the opposite of decay - stabilizing, as that is slated to stop happening in 50 billion years and the Earth-Moon system becomes fully tidally locked. Mind you, this is 45 billion years after the Sun goes red giant and gobbles both up anyways.
But like, I already know why that happens so I've just been using my journal to explore why tidally locking happens and how lagrangian points work.
I bet there are other fun moon related topics to dig into!
Technically it'd be space birds, the SpaceX engine names are centered around birds of prey (Kestrel, Merlin, Raptor)
...wait, is that the reasoning behind the names?
"Should we name our rockets after the only animals on earth known for plummeting out of the sky at a tremendous rate of speed and killing something?"
"Why, I don't see why not!"
Mars, yo
Doolittle Rocket sounds pretty good. I'd suggest Yeager Rockets, but I don't remember off the top of my head if he actually had any kills.