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Diploid
Cuban
Registered: 01/09/03
Posts: 19,274
Loc: Rabbit Hole
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Beautiful And Humbling
#4262525 - 06/06/05 01:30 AM (18 years, 10 months ago) |
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This is a pic of Jupiter's famous Giant Red Spot made by the Voyager 1 space craft:
Click to enlarge.
Here is an amazing close-up also made by Voyager 1.
Click to enlarge.
The lighter colored spot below the big one is about the size of the Earth. Now picture the state you live in superimposed on that spot, then your city, then yourself.
Next consider that our sun and solar system are one among ~400 thousand million other stars in our Milky Way galaxy. Here's a pic of the Andromeda Galaxy (M-31) I made a few years ago from a favorite spot just west of the 7-Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys. It is a twin to our own Milky Way and also consists of ~400 thousand million stars. The light we see arriving from M-31 has been traveling through space for 3 million years to arrive at the Earth:
Click to enlarge.
Finally consider that there are ~125 billion other galaxies!
This next image was made by HST. From side to side the image subtends 0.0057 degrees; this is a tiny speck of sky. It is the width of a human hair held at arm's length! Each of the spirals is a complete galaxy.
Click to enlarge.
By the way, not to scare you or anything, but the Andromeda Galaxy is on a collision course with us. We are converging at a speed of 150 kilometers per second (100 miles per second). At that rate, we will collide in 3 billion years, give or take a day.
Edited by Diploid (06/06/05 06:26 AM)
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero
Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
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Re: Beautiful And Humbling [Re: Diploid]
#4262671 - 06/06/05 05:35 AM (18 years, 10 months ago) |
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> Milky Way and also consists of ~400 thousand million stars > Finally consider that there are ~125 billion other galaxies!
So... 400,000,000,000 times 125,000,000,000 stars results in ~50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in the universe. If each of these stars has on average, say nine planets... that is ~450,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 planets in the universe. Now, if just 1 in 1 billion planets have life there would be ~450,000,000,000,000 planets with life besides earth (assuming I did my math correctly).
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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OldWoodSpecter
waiting
Registered: 02/01/05
Posts: 4,033
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Re: Beautiful And Humbling [Re: Diploid]
#4262673 - 06/06/05 05:40 AM (18 years, 10 months ago) |
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just be carefull where you are going with this, if you mention possibility of alien life, Swami will not let you on his throne
-------------------- I descend upon your earth from the skies I command your very souls you unbelievers Bring before me what is mine
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trendal
J♠
Registered: 04/17/01
Posts: 20,815
Loc: Ontario, Canada
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I don't think Swami has ever denied the existence of life elsewhere in the universe
other life in the universe != other life visiting Earth
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Once, men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero
Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
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> I don't think Swami has ever denied the existence of life elsewhere in the universe
There is a big difference bewteen life elsewhere in the universe and alien space ships visiting earth and making trade pacts with the military. One is a statistical certainty while the other is highly unlikely... oddly enough, for the same reason.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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duster
psychadelicgardener
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Re: Beautiful And Humbling [Re: trendal]
#4262721 - 06/06/05 06:55 AM (18 years, 10 months ago) |
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I think it's completely retarded to not believe that life doesn't exsist somewhere else. anyone who can disagree with me I'd like to see the reasons asto why
-------------------- "Life is created out of the seeking of knowledge."
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Swami
Eggshell Walker
Registered: 01/18/00
Posts: 15,413
Loc: In the hen house
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Re: Beautiful And Humbling [Re: Diploid]
#4262724 - 06/06/05 06:57 AM (18 years, 10 months ago) |
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This is a pic of Jupiter's famous Giant Red Spot made by the Voyager 1 space craft
I hear that NASA, under pressure from the Bush Administration, might be sending an enormous tampon to Jupiter as the spot is offensive to certain moralist astronomers.
-------------------- The proof is in the pudding.
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Icelander
The Minstrel in the Gallery
Registered: 03/15/05
Posts: 95,368
Loc: underbelly
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Re: Beautiful And Humbling [Re: Diploid]
#4262731 - 06/06/05 07:04 AM (18 years, 10 months ago) |
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Diploid, thanks for posting these beatiful photos. My town has dark skys and I have two telescopes. I love looking into space. That red spot on Jupiter is a storm that has been raging for many years without any signs of letting up.
Even though we will collide with Andromeda it will not destroy much. Too much distance between stars for many head on collisions.
I like to think of the human brain being vast like all of this. Almost without end. Very beatiful and inspiring. Thanks for sharing.
-------------------- "Don't believe everything you think". -Anom. " All that lives was born to die"-Anom. With much wisdom comes much sorrow, The more knowledge, the more grief. Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC
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Swami
Eggshell Walker
Registered: 01/18/00
Posts: 15,413
Loc: In the hen house
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Re: Beautiful And Humbling [Re: Diploid]
#4262742 - 06/06/05 07:14 AM (18 years, 10 months ago) |
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Now picture the state you live in superimposed on that spot, then your city, then yourself.
Would US laws still apply? *Swami contemplates giant grow-op*
Wouldn't we be crushed by the gravity and fried alive and thus unable to remain humble for more than a few microseconds?
-------------------- The proof is in the pudding.
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Swami
Eggshell Walker
Registered: 01/18/00
Posts: 15,413
Loc: In the hen house
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Re: Beautiful And Humbling [Re: Icelander]
#4262744 - 06/06/05 07:16 AM (18 years, 10 months ago) |
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I like to think of the human brain being vast like all of this. Almost without end.
So when someone calls me a "space cadet", they are actually paying me a compliment?
-------------------- The proof is in the pudding.
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Icelander
The Minstrel in the Gallery
Registered: 03/15/05
Posts: 95,368
Loc: underbelly
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Re: Beautiful And Humbling [Re: Swami]
#4262749 - 06/06/05 07:19 AM (18 years, 10 months ago) |
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Who da man? You da man.
-------------------- "Don't believe everything you think". -Anom. " All that lives was born to die"-Anom. With much wisdom comes much sorrow, The more knowledge, the more grief. Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC
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OldWoodSpecter
waiting
Registered: 02/01/05
Posts: 4,033
Loc: mountains and lakes
Last seen: 17 years, 6 months
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Re: Beautiful And Humbling [Re: Seuss]
#4262754 - 06/06/05 07:29 AM (18 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
Seuss said: > I don't think Swami has ever denied the existence of life elsewhere in the universe
There is a big difference bewteen life elsewhere in the universe and alien space ships visiting earth and making trade pacts with the military. One is a statistical certainty while the other is highly unlikely... oddly enough, for the same reason.
I don't see how it is either likely or unlikely. It is just one of those maybe yes, maybe no things, like guessing what number from 1 to 4 your friend is going to imagine.
What makes it unlikely to many is the fact that it sounds strange and unusual, and everyone keeps making funny faces about it, so we all copy reactions of our peers more or less.
Lack of evidence is one thing, and it is valid not to believe in it (at least not at this point) but there is no reason to think it is unlikely
-------------------- I descend upon your earth from the skies I command your very souls you unbelievers Bring before me what is mine
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Icelander
The Minstrel in the Gallery
Registered: 03/15/05
Posts: 95,368
Loc: underbelly
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Re: Beautiful And Humbling [Re: Diploid]
#4262832 - 06/06/05 08:30 AM (18 years, 10 months ago) |
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Thinking more about Andromeda. Many people don't know the galatic center can be seen with the naked eye under good seeing conditions. It's best viewed with wide angle binoculars. In the sky it is about 6 of our moons across, so it takes up a big chunk of night sky. That's because it's so very close to us. That is if you call 3 million light years close.
-------------------- "Don't believe everything you think". -Anom. " All that lives was born to die"-Anom. With much wisdom comes much sorrow, The more knowledge, the more grief. Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC
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LunarEclipse
Enlil's Official Story
Registered: 10/31/04
Posts: 21,407
Loc: Building 7
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Re: Beautiful And Humbling [Re: Diploid]
#4262921 - 06/06/05 09:09 AM (18 years, 10 months ago) |
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Kinda makes you feel small, eh? No wonder Viagra sales are surging!
I like the thin slice with the multiple galaxies shot the best for showing the vastness of space.
The Jupiter shots are suitable for framing. The colors in the close up in particular are stunning.
Thanks Dip for posting these.
-------------------- Anxiety is what you make it.
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Huehuecoyotl
Fading Slowly
Registered: 06/13/04
Posts: 10,689
Loc: On the Border
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Re: Beautiful And Humbling [Re: Diploid]
#4262969 - 06/06/05 09:36 AM (18 years, 10 months ago) |
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Two galaxies can collide without the stars all colliding or being destroyed. There are now examples of galaxies passing through each other....just do a google search.
-------------------- "A warrior is a hunter. He calculates everything. That's control. Once his calculations are over, he acts. He lets go. That's abandon. A warrior is not a leaf at the mercy of the wind. No one can push him; no one can make him do things against himself or against his better judgment. A warrior is tuned to survive, and he survives in the best of all possible fashions." ― Carlos Castaneda
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Diploid
Cuban
Registered: 01/09/03
Posts: 19,274
Loc: Rabbit Hole
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Re: Beautiful And Humbling [Re: Icelander]
#4263100 - 06/06/05 10:28 AM (18 years, 10 months ago) |
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the galatic center can be seen with the naked eye
Yep, under dark skies, Andromeda looks almost like a small cloud, a faint elongated foggy area with a brightish core. I have to drive 100 miles into the Florida Everglades to have any hope of seeing it naked eye.
And as you say, with binoculars Andromeda is clearly evident as are the four Galilean moons around Jupiter.
Check out this transit of Io and its eclipse on the surface of the planet:
Click to enlarge.
-------------------- Republican Values: 1) You can't get married to your spouse who is the same sex as you. 2) You can't have an abortion no matter how much you don't want a child. 3) You can't have a certain plant in your possession or you'll get locked up with a rapist and a murderer. 4) We need a smaller, less-intrusive government.
Edited by Diploid (06/06/05 10:40 AM)
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Diploid
Cuban
Registered: 01/09/03
Posts: 19,274
Loc: Rabbit Hole
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Re: Beautiful And Humbling [Re: Huehuecoyotl]
#4263128 - 06/06/05 10:38 AM (18 years, 10 months ago) |
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Two galaxies can collide without the stars all colliding or being destroyed. There are now examples of galaxies passing through each other....just do a google search.
I know. Like a block of steel is almost entirely empty space, so is a galaxy. Simulations of galaxy collisions show massive disturbances to the spiral structure due to gravitational interaction, but very, very few actual collisions.
Still, I wouldn't want to tangle with the black hole likely at the center of M31!
-------------------- Republican Values: 1) You can't get married to your spouse who is the same sex as you. 2) You can't have an abortion no matter how much you don't want a child. 3) You can't have a certain plant in your possession or you'll get locked up with a rapist and a murderer. 4) We need a smaller, less-intrusive government.
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eMotionALLmotion
DivineeMotive....
Registered: 02/28/05
Posts: 759
Loc: The Symphony of Lights......
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Re: Beautiful And Humbling [Re: Diploid]
#4263252 - 06/06/05 11:27 AM (18 years, 10 months ago) |
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Sweeeeet thread.....!
The 2nd picture in the first post has "exaggerated" colors, but it sure is pretty....
-------------------- Uni-VersALL MasterPeace eMotive Divinity NowThere Infinity eMelody
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guitarmon
musician
Registered: 11/05/03
Posts: 62
Last seen: 17 years, 10 months
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I bookmarked this 'powers of ten' link which I first saw here on the shroomery some time ago. Kinda related to this thread ... a journey from the macro to micro ...
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/
There is a 'start' and 'end' to this slideshow, but in 'reality' (whatever that is) I tend to believe that this slideshow would extend into infinity in both directions.
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SkorpivoMusterion
Livin in theTwilight Zone...
Registered: 01/30/03
Posts: 9,954
Loc: You can't spell fungus wi...
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Re: Beautiful And Humbling [Re: Diploid]
#4263379 - 06/06/05 12:09 PM (18 years, 10 months ago) |
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It's sad thing indeed, to not be able to see the endangered, majestic starry-night sky, which has been a source of awe, inspiration and wonder for centuries upon centuries. Nowadays, one must visit Greenland or Africa just to see the Milky Way Galaxy that we live in.
-------------------- Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love.
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