Astronomy

[leicsmac]

The zoo hypothesis and the Fermi paradox are really both an interesting read but unless I missed something, it's all well and good saying extraterrestrial life will be unimaginably and extremely more advanced than us, therefore they control us and watch us evolve to see whether we fit some criteria suitable to join their intergalactic government, or whether to wipe us out completely. What I still don't understand is, why? Why would they have such interests? It's been proven on our planet, when a more advanced civilisation encounters another less so advanced civilisation they use it for their own advantages. Not just simply to observe them, maybe initially, but surely any aliens advanced enough to quarantine and observe us must have a more sinister (for us, yet beneficial to them) motive at heart, like the use of our resources, or to live here. Why not just use one of the many vacant super-earths?

 

You're assuming that we could understand those interests and that they would be comprehensible to a human mind - given how advanced those civilisations would be that may well not be true. Their intent may well be totally incomprehensible to us.

[Carl the Llama]

You're assuming that we could understand those interests and that they would be comprehensible to a human mind - given how advanced those civilisations would be that may well not be true. Their intent may well be totally incomprehensible to us.

This.  The reason they don't automatically colonise us and exploit us is because their goal is a peaceful universe, not a conquered one.  As it stands my money's on humans being eradicated the day we develop interstellar ships with heavy weaponry - hopefully I'm wrong and we'll have sorted out our conflict-driven nature by then.  Not that I'll be around to see it happen.

[lcfc1994]

Some interesting points there. Makes it hard to deny as a possibility because you have no ground to disagree with it. My personal opinion is that we haven't been found yet but it's only a matter of time.

[ithuriel]

Used to have a cheap telescope in my younger days, viewing the moon and stars was great fun.

Have a large telescope like the one pictured but currently have no room to set it up or time to use it working late shifts but will try to find time later this year.

[leicsmac]

This.  The reason they don't automatically colonise us and exploit us is because their goal is a peaceful universe, not a conquered one.  As it stands my money's on humans being eradicated the day we develop interstellar ships with heavy weaponry - hopefully I'm wrong and we'll have sorted out our conflict-driven nature by then.  Not that I'll be around to see it happen.

 

Possible, but nor can we stay here either - sooner or later there is going to be a cataclysm on Earth that will either wipe out humanity or set it back thousands of years, and we need to be prepared to deal with the consequences of that. 

 

I actually think our best bet is that the Zoo Hypothesis is actually true - at least that way when our tech advances significantly enough for first contact and exploration we'll know there will be a benevolent entity/entities out there to roll out the welcome wagon.

[Raj]

Heavens above is a good website.

Check it out

[BoneDog]

There's been a great view of the Moon, Jupiter, Venus and Regulus in the past few weeks around 10pm. I've been walking the dog just as it gets dark and most nights I could see the first three at the start of the walk and by the time I came home Regulus had appeared as it got darker. Incredible thoughts to be had looking at that lot.

 

Space depresses me because it reminds me how small and insignificant our lives really are

 

It's the opposite I think. It shows us how special our planet and inhabitants are. We could well be the least insignificant thing in the universe.

[leicsmac]

There's been a great view of the Moon, Jupiter, Venus and Regulus in the past few weeks around 10pm. I've been walking the dog just as it gets dark and most nights I could see the first three at the start of the walk and by the time I came home Regulus had appeared as it got darker. Incredible thoughts to be had looking at that lot.

 

 

It's the opposite I think. It shows us how special our planet and inhabitants are. We could well be the least insignificant thing in the universe.

 

Sorry Empty, but as I've said above I'm inclined to disagree on this one. By the standards of the Universe (visible and not), we are just another species that hasn't been around for very long at all, astronomically speaking. Terrestrial perspective is pretty important.

 

That said, it doesn't mean we can't do things that will shape the future though and get out there. 

[BoneDog]

I can never get my head around why so many people seem to think of the earth and everything on it as being insignificant. There is no evidence of any other life in the universe whatsoever, and there could well be none at all!

 

Until we've got proof that our planet means nothing in the grand scheme of things then I'll have to believe the opposite, because from what we do know we are unique. If there does happen to be other species somewhere out there then I would still say that all parts of the universe with life in them are the significant parts.

[leicsmac]

I can never get my head around why so many people seem to think of the earth and everything on it as being insignificant. There is no evidence of any other life in the universe whatsoever, and there could well be none at all!

 

Until we've got proof that our planet means nothing in the grand scheme of things then I'll have to believe the opposite, because from what we do know we are unique. If there does happen to be other species somewhere out there then I would still say that all parts of the universe with life in them are the significant parts.

 

By the standards of the numbers of planets and stars there are in the visible Universe, we are insignificant. From the perspective of sentient life, we are very important indeed, because we are unique, as you say.

 

I'm looking at it however from the point of view of humans as a species, not life in general. From a universal point of view, life is important, but human life by itself probably isn't. I do agree with the bolded part, though.

[foxoffderby]

I'm looking to buy a telescope for my son and myself, has anyone got any ideas ? Don't really know what I should be looking for or avoiding. 

[ADK]

I find the concept of the universe quite interesting. You wonder how much of what we think we know is actually rubbish, a bit like people assuming the world was flat.

[Wymsey]

What fascinates me is how close (as if it's going to 'clash' soon) the moon can seem to be, at night, but is actually not.

Edited 3 June 2015 by Wymeswold fox

[Carl the Llama]

Oh man I thought my drugs were good, but thinking the moon might crash into us?  You gotta hook me up.

[Raj]

I'm looking to buy a telescope for my son and myself, has anyone got any ideas ? Don't really know what I should be looking for or avoiding.

Check out the sky at night magazine forum pages.

[foxoffderby]

Check out the sky at night magazine forum pages.

thanks will do

[Vacamion]

I was marvelling at the pictures from the Pluto flyby.

Like many, I also noticed that a geological feature on Pluto's surface looked a bit like a heart.

Then my missus said the feature looks like an arse.

Says a lot about our outlooks, really.

[Vacamion]

Check out the DISCOVR satellite.

http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/DSCOVR/

Looks like we are now going to get regular "blue marble" shots of the whole earth taken from 1m miles away (most of the shots of the whole earth you see online are composites or from the Apollo missions).

The image posted earlier today is awesome .

[foxinexile]

Check out the DISCOVR satellite.

http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/DSCOVR/

Looks like we are now going to get regular "blue marble" shots of the whole earth taken from 1m miles away (most of the shots of the whole earth you see online are composites or from the Apollo missions).

The image posted earlier today is awesome .

 

That's an incredible image. I still get awe-struck by the Pale Blue Dot image of Earth, taken from about 4 billion miles away by Voyager 1. Even though Earth is "only" a pixel, when put into context it really is quite humbling. And the quote that Carl Sagan gave for it ("Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was ... every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam) still sends shivers down my spine!

[samlcfc]

Didn't see this anywhere and thought it might be of interest. Another press release by NASA in regards to an Earth like planet discovery. Only a little bigger astronomically than the planet we call home and located 1,400 light years away.

 

http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-kepler-mission-discovers-bigger-older-cousin-to-earth

 

At that sort of distance I'd imagine with my little knowledge that it's pretty hard to confirm specifics in respect of how Earth like it actually is, but I guess it does leave it unveiled for us to study through any further instruments available at present or in the future.

The rate at which they are discovering these places is amazing and they appear to be getting closer to finding something alike to the Earth pretty often. In astronomical terms it'd appear we've been doing this for a short amount of time, however are humbling ourselves with our findings.

 

Be interesting to see how the scope of such research increases over the next few decades and how it will affect our perception as a species to our position in the universe. If the findings continue to snowball and a lot of these planets appear to be ones which could potentially support life, it could potentially raise the question "where is everybody?".

 

Unless we do find one with something on of course!

 

Edited 24 July 2015 by samlcfc

[leicsmac]

Kepler has been one of the most important space missions of the last few decades, if not ever. It's given us so much key information on both the number and makeup of extrasolar planets.

 

The odds would certainly be in favour of simple microbial life existing on other planets (it's even possible that such life exists in our own Solar System and we haven't found it yet). Advanced intelligent life with the ability to communicate, however, is a different matter entirely. It's not just about the odds of such a alien civilisation coming into being in the first place...it's also about them being around for long enough to communicate a message that can be responded to and them still being there. Humans as a whole have had the ability to send messages into space for around 80 years, which is a blink of an eye both in cosmic spatial and temporal terms. The sheer size of our own galaxy, let alone the Universe, makes communication (and thus contact) prohibitively difficult. That is, unless Einstein was wrong and we do find a way to circumvent the speed of light.

The Fermi Paradox is a good read on answering the question about whether or not we are alone in the Universe and why.

[Collymore]

Jupiter is out towards the south and I've been treated to two amazing clear nights up here in the Northeast. I can see some of its moons, they line up so straight. I think Saturn might be rising just to the east of where Jupiter is later too... 

 

I'll try and take a photo and upload if I can get a good shot.....