If Moses had existed (and that's a MIGHTY BIG 'IF') Just about every star he saw, would have been older than our Moon (Jul 20, 2008 | post #82)
You're talking about 'Cuithne' It's not really a moon of Earth, just an asteroid with an unusual orbit that resonates with Earth (Jul 20, 2008 | post #81)
I'm afraid it is correct. Pluto, Eris, Sedna, Quaore etc... are all objects beyond Neptune, withpretty much the same makeup/origins etc and fall into the catregory 'KBO' Yes, Pluto's orbit brings it closer to the Sun than Neptune sometimes - but there are many objects which do this - they are classified as 'Trans-Neptunian KBO' It was a mistake to pronounce Pluto a 'planet' in the first place, and only happened because we didn't yet know about the Kuiper beltTriton is a Moon of Neptune - NOT a KBO (Jul 20, 2008 | post #80)
Pluto isn't a planet - it never was. It was only mistakenly given planetary status because at the time, we didn't know about the Kuiper belt. Pluto is merely the first Kuiper Belt object to be discovered. (Jul 20, 2008 | post #73)
It isn't The Moon is a little over 4 billion years old. There have been stars in existence for about 3 times that long. The Bible is little more than a moralising Fairy-Tale. (Jul 20, 2008 | post #72)
Sarah Bolger - Irish Actress Longs to See Stars in Los Angeles
[quote]"Cassi opeia is my favourite star" [/quote] Haha Cassiopeia - a star?? Either they misquoted her, or she's just making up her interest in astronomy. (May 31, 2008 | post #3)
Scientists witness start of star's explosive death
A supernova's designation always gives the year in which the explosion occurred. If they were watching the tail end of one explosion, then that must have been SN2007uy Letters 'u' and 'y' are late in the alphabet - so that suggests that SN2007uy erupted in late 2007 Going by designation, SN2008D will be the one that erupted earlier this year. So, logically, they must have been watching SN2007uy, when SN2008D flared up. (May 23, 2008 | post #4)
Best time to watch is around the times of known meteor activity. If the Earth is passing through a field of cometary debris, then so is the Moon usually. In recent years I've seen a few flashes around the times of the Perseids and Orionids. (May 23, 2008 | post #2)
Microsoft unveils its telescope application
To add to the above..... Beware though, it does require a fairly modern, powerful PC, with .Net framework 2 installed. Nicrosoft claim requirements of minimum 1GB ram (2GB recommended), 2Ghz processor, 10Gb HD space (for cacheing of 'tours') It will run though with a bit less ram (I've run it successfully on 3/4 GB ram) as long as the processor is up to the task. (May 17, 2008 | post #3)
Microsoft unveils its telescope application
Microsoft's new 'World Wide Telescope' application is actually pretty good. Similar idea to the feature in Google Earth where you can turn round and look at the sky, except with added extras.... Images from different space telescopes, in different wavelengths, educational 'tours' etc.... As a keen amateur astronomer, I regularly use sky charting (planetarium) software. To an experienced astronmer, WWT isn't as useful as, say, 'StarryNight', 'Stellarium', 'Cartes du Ciel', etc... but is a fantastic introduction to the night sky for a beginner, or someone with a casual interest. (May 17, 2008 | post #2)
Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens
Astronomers are finding more and more planets orbiting other stars, new ones turning up all the time. The evidence is getting more and more compelling that there MUST be other life out there. Maybe they finally realised that taking a stance against such overwhelming odds would very soon make them look rather silly. The Vatican has quite a history of changing it's mind when overwhelming evidence goes against their claims. (May 16, 2008 | post #603)
Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens
Probably ALH 84001 A Martian meteorite (a piece of Mars that was blasted off by a large comet/meteor strike, and ended up eventually landing on Earth) Structures were found on it that resemble fossilised nano-bacteria. Th Jury is still out as to whether they are ancient life-forms, or not. There is however a theory called 'Panspermia' Which goes along the lines that micro-organisms may have been passed between the inner planets, when the solar system was young - hurled into space by large impacts, and re-settling on other planets. It is known for sure that material was passed between Earth, Mars and Venus (the planets either side of us), and the Panspermia theory says that the most basic early life on Earth - no more than self-replicationg DNA molecules - could have originated on any one of those 3 planets. Actually 'panspermia' goes even further, by postulating that life-carrying rocks could have originally entered our system, from elsewhere in the galaxy. (May 16, 2008 | post #545)
Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens
According to Einstein's relativity... (which is still the definitive word on the matter - 90 years after it was written) ...nothing with mass can travel faster than light. Because of the timescales involved, the likelyhood that there's a civilisation capable of space travel, within a reasonable distance (say a few hundred light years distance) RIGHT NOW, is very low. This means that any spacefaring race that are around right now, would almost certainly be at least several hundred light years away. Even IF they knew we were here - that would mean a travel time of several hundred years - and even the most basic conversation by radio (which travels AT the speed of light) - even if we could understand each other - would take centuries (May 16, 2008 | post #541)
Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens
LOL Yeah, they knew it as from when astronomers had discovered that life elsewhere is amost a certaintyYes - I gree with that too. Definitely life elsewhere - but have they been visiting us? Due to the immense distances and timescales involved.....HIGHL Y unlikely (May 16, 2008 | post #529)
Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens
Fully agree... But according to the latest figures, numbers are probably a lot higher. Estimated 100 billion (100,000,000,000) stars in our galaxy alone (an average one) Minimum of 240 billion galaxies, in the Universe = minimum of 2,400,000,000,000, 000,000,000 stars. Most stars have the potential to have a system of SEVERAL planets. Current research suggests planetary systems are the 'norm' rather than a rarity. In our own Solar system, Earth is literally teeming with life We still haven't completely ruled out that there may have been life on Mars at some point Jupiter's moon Europa has oceans of liquid water beneath the icy surface Saturn's moon Titan has the potential for life, if it was warmer (like maybe in the far future when the Sun swells and scorches the inner solar system) That's one definite, and 3 possibles, in our system alone. The idea that this is the ONLY place in the entire Universe where life either has, does, or will, exist is arrogant and preposterous in the extreme. (May 16, 2008 | post #527)
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