Astronomy

[Bee964]

I don't know if anybody will be interested in this but I thought I would start an astronomy thread. I have been interested in it since I was 12 years old. I went to the University of Michigan observatory with my parents and some friends. There wasa lot of cloud cover that night but we had some breaaks to allow us to have some observing.

Anyways, here is a link to some pictures to get it started.

http://sync.sympatico.ca/News/Articles/NASAs-WISE-Mission-Releases-Medley-of-First-Images.htm?feedname=TECH-WISE-FIRST-IMAGES&pos=1&nolookup=true

Dave C

[Vince G]

Funny I was just thinking about getting a telescope just a minute ago. I was wondering where to find one around here and not the toy you find in Walmart and other stores.

[Arnold]

I also received my first Telescope in New York back in "70 . Was very much interested in it . I must have known about 200 Stars by Name and all the constellations of course . I still teach Qing , whenever we sit in our Spa and look up at the Sky . It does make us look pretty small , looking way out there . I had a four inch Refractor Telescope and even took many Photo's of the Sky with it . For years , I kept track of all the Sunspots and recorded them in my Book . But since I got married the first time ... there it went bye bye .

[Bee964]

Vince,

Check out the astronomy magazines. There are lots of ads for telescopes in them. Lots of shops in NY and Florida.

Arnold,

About 10 years ago I built a barn door tracker. I have taken a lot of astro photos with it and had a great time doing so. I will scan some and put them up here.

Dave C

[Vince G]

This side of Florida is a crazy place. Anything I want to buy they don't have it. Plenty of stores full of nothing. Start with a bow (as in bow and arrow). Only one place has any (I think haven't been there yet) and I'm hoping they have telescopes too? It's a half hr ride from here. You can go to a pawn shop and buy a gun but I know of no gun shops around here. I went to one on the west coast (of Florida) but not here? Yesterday I bought a new GPS Navigator. Guess what no one had it anywhere even thou Walmart and Sears are suppose to have it. I buy just about everything online now.

So I've checked them out online (telescopes). I don't want to get crazy ($) with it just something good I can use once in a while.

Maybe I'll wait till I go up north in a few weeks? Speaking of up north (Arnold you might relate to this), I was up in Lake Placid around the 1980 games there and on the way back I had to make a pit stop. I got out of the car and while standing there I looked up and my jaw dropped from being up in the mountains in darkness all around I never saw so many stars ever. Down here we have the meteor shower every year but it past already this year. Well d'ah it's the end of the year...

[Arnold]

I use to drive to Albuquerque none-stop many time from LA and always through night time . So in the Desert at night ... man I tell you , I've never again seen the Milkyway so clear . One could almost touch it  . I have Visited every Observatory here in Calif . to see them big Scopes . Like I said , I was really in to it then .

[Chong]

I believe that there are other life forms out there in outer space. Will they ever visit us ... or ... have they visited already ?

[Arnold]

I believe that there are other life forms out there in outer space. Will they ever visit us ... or ... have they visited already ?

When I look into the Mirror , I think their here already !

I also believe in this huge Universe there must be something out there , what ? I don't think we'll ever know .. unless they come to us . If they do , we really must look pretty dumb to them .. can't even get out of our own Solar System .

[Vince G]

There are two TV shows about them coming. One is they have been amongst us for 60 years, the other they just showed up.

The possibility of other life forms being out there is real high. Just a wonder what they are like? Somewhere way way back in time the form of having two eyes one nose, etc on this planet happened but this doesn't mean it happened in any other life form out there? 

[kenny]

You guys should watch "Men In Black"

I love those shows.

[David E]

I think its a safe bet that life exists throughout the Universe, the numbers of stars are so huge, therefore the number of Planetary systems must also be very large.
Statistically, it is virtually certain that life has evolved freely within the Universe.

What is less certain is whether we will ever meet or communicate with any other "intelligent" life forms. The distances and therefore times are vast...the nearest star is over 2 light years away, a distance that is mind blowing...a round trip at the speed of light will take about 5 years...and how it is possible to travel that fast is beyond our current understanding. And so many stars are in the hundreds, thousands and millions of light-years away.....communication over these distances is incomprehensible....unless we can travel much faster then light, or can work out how to travel through time !!

In any event, we dont know whether life is a fleeting occurrence within a brief moment of astronomical time, or is it a robust, long term state. Considering the age of the Universe at about 9 Billion Years and the age of intelligent humanity at about 1000 years...we aint been around long, and we may not last !!!

Much theoretical work has been done by Hawkins, Bodanis and Graham Greene to prove mathematically that time travel is possible...and who knows if they are right, their Science is way beyond my comprehension.

But here's a thought that will cause some head-scratching...........(when I read about it, I was very convinced)...it refers to ghosts and stuff like that.

Suppose, some time in the waaaaay distant future, somebody perfected the science of time travel......and it became possible and easy. Maybe with the exponential advances we see in science, this theory is reasonably valid...imagine where the human race will be in 1 million years time...(assuming we dont blow ourselves up, or pollute the Planet into non-existence).

If then, we can have time travel in the future, we might decide to go for a holiday in the past, to have a look at what life was like then ?? BUT, when we go on this holiday we MUST NOT touch any thing or interfere physically with the past because of "Chronoclasms"....if someone from the future came here and killed their father, they would not exist in the future (get the drift ??)
Even to the point that if you came from the future and killed a single bacteria, the consequences may well be the utter change to your world in the future...thus chronoclasms cannot happen...because you came from the future anyway...have you got a headache yet, just thinking about this !!!
So....assuming that time travel is possible, and assuming people do it, and assuming that they can NEVER actually touch or interact with the past...the theory says that ghosts are the vague signs that time travellers are passing through our world..........without harming the future with a physical presence......

Spooky 

[Arnold]

David , I've spend Hours many times just thinking about what you have just said . But it comes always back to .. what am I going to get out of this anyway ? Let other's break their Head over it and why look at something that will never be in our Lifetime . I tell you what though , if I could Travel as a Ghost some day .. I'd love to check out OUR Future of Mankind for sure .. a few thousand years from now . It is after all very exciding/interesting what happens after we're gone .

[David E]

Aaaaah Vince !!!, now you've got me going !!!!

What would other "intelligent beings look like.......wherever they may be in this vast Universe

If you go down the Creationist track....they MUST all look like us !!!

Because...there is only ONE God, and he made mankind (wherever "mankind" exists)...in his own image. There is only One God, we look like him, thus all intelligent life must look like this. A bit boring, but thats the rules.

If, on the other hand, you go down the Darwinism track, then any life must evolve over time to produce the best model for the environment they evolve in......

Who knows what subtle and different evolutionary pressures there are on life forms in other solar systems. Thus they may well have evolved entirely different forms that us.
Having said that, there is a good case to be made out that we would all share SOME similarities......

ie, 2 eyes is good...stereoscopic vision, judgement of distance etc. Where these eyes must be on the body is less certain, but high up would be good, so you can better see who is coming to eat you !!! Maybe the optimum would be eyes on stalks ?? who knows.

Bipedal stance would be good too. Higher brain function lead to tool making and thus hands are needed, also legs are useful with which to get about !

Two legs, three legs or what ?? The theory of evolutionary redundancy suggets that 2 legs are best...too much useful brain power is wasted trying to control say 4 legs, 4 hands and 6 eyes !!!

Higher brain function, hands, etc lead to faster evolution because we can do stuff...ever tried to get a horse to fix your carburettor

Arnold...I fully agree with you, this theorising serves very little useful purpose...except that it excercises the brain and is interesting to try to understand...thats what makes us unique...we need to learn.

After we have gone ...no such animal !! We never go. Again, the theory of conservation of Matter (Newton Physics) suggests that the matter of which we are made can never be destroyed, we simply go back into the Universe. The theory of conservation of energy says the same, so our energy (spirit ??) is free to roam the Universe forever

The theory is known as "Caesars last breath".....Caesars last breath contained roughly the same number of molecules as there are people on the Planet. So these molecules did not disappear, they just went back into circulation...it is a good statistical bet that your (and mine) body can contain one molecule from Caesars last breath !!

[Chong]

Here's another thought, what does infinity  / "end of space" look like ?

and

If the universe is constantly expanding, what does it see AHEAD of itself ? ... and does "AHEAD OF ITSELF" have an end ?

[Chong]

The theory is known as "Caesars last breath".....Caesars last breath contained roughly the same number of molecules as there are people on the Planet. So these molecules did not disappear, they just went back into circulation...it is a good statistical bet that your (and mine) body can contain one molecule from Caesars last breath !!

What about reincarnation ?

Family genes are passed through generations. Is it possible that your great grandfather's biological genes & spirit is reincarnated in your body [ assuming his genes are the dominant sub-gene of your total genes ] ??