Astronomy (actual thoughts only!)

[HitRed]

Please share your thoughts only. Nothing commercial or from other sites.

[jimboston]

These near-Earth Asteroids are fascinating.

NASA System Predicts Small Asteroid to Pass Close by Earth This Week
Jan. 25, 2023

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-system-predicts-small-asteroid-to-pass-close-by-earth-this-week

[jusplay4fun]

jimb already broke the first and only rule. SHOCKING.

[jimboston]

My actual thought here is that act first glance it looks like two people dancing.

… but upon further inspection you see the kink in the right person’s “leg”.
I think that guy broke his leg and the other guy is helping him off the field.

God obviously loves American Football.

Proof positive in both the existence of God and the undeniable fact that American Football (The REAL Football) rocks.

[HitRed]

I think 2Dimes is making a reasonable request for the thread he created.

[jusplay4fun]

And I posed questions there that 2dimes did not answer. He posted elsewhere (since I posted those matters), but he did not answer my concerns or questions. IN fact, he rarely posts there now.

I did see this, in THE other Astronomy thread, a YouTube video that 2dimes posted:

Re: Worlds fastest shopping cart.
Postby 2dimes on Wed Nov 10, 2021 8:26 am

I see NO point in having this new thread. Again, I ask: Where is the controversy?

[2dimes]

I think 2Dimes is making a reasonable request for the thread he created.

Thanks Red but... Even though I implied people could respond to Confederates comet questions, it's not really a request.

It is true, I miss Williams and his excellent posts and conversations but he got frustrated and probably busy in life, then left.

The appearance of Butters1919 was intriguing, one pretty good post then he left. Never even told us about his telescope.

If I actually want to read and post about astronomy, I would probably go find an astronomy forum.

[jimboston]

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cosmology/

[2dimes]

Hey Jones, did those pub nights start up again?

[jonesthecurl]

They did, after several months delay due to Uni strike and venue being refurbished. Unfortunately they are now on a Wednesday which is the only day I am always busy.

[2dimes]

Bummer, life's weird like that.

[jusplay4fun]

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cosmology/

I am waiting jimb's actual thoughts on the info in the link that he shared, and, again, broke the rule for this thread.

wtg, jimb.

[jusplay4fun]

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cosmology/

I am waiting jimb's actual thoughts on the info in the link that he shared, and, again, broke the rule for this thread.

wtg, jimb.

I guess I better stop holding my breath..!

Apparently jimb has NO thoughts, at least NOT on this topic. A great show of intellect by jimbo.

[jusplay4fun]

Please share your thoughts only. Nothing commercial or from other sites.

And what is wrong with sharing from other sites? I admit I do not know ALL about any subject, so going to "commercial" sites help me learn. I assume no one here can claim that he knows it ALL.

If the topic is Astronomy, what is wrong with sharing information from a website that encourages people to LOOK at the Night Sky? What is wrong with showing others what they see in the sky? Does everyone simply use an APP? with almost NO thought and no effort to identify the star or planet? Part of the allure of looking at the night sky was to figure out, with the clues visible, what is where.

Why do we need another thread on the same subject?

[DirtyDishSoap]

Oh come on, don't necrobump.

[2dimes]

Why not?

[Dukasaur]

Please share your thoughts only. Nothing commercial or from other sites.

And what is wrong with sharing from other sites? I admit I do not know ALL about any subject, so going to "commercial" sites help me learn. I assume no one here can claim that he knows it ALL.

I don't think anyone claims to know it all. We all google things or otherwise look them up.

The important thing, though, is to cycle the things you learn from other sites through your own mind, and only post the central part or the part that you found most thought-provoking.

Nobody is asking you to come up with thoughts that are uniquely your own, but to take what you've learned and post only the thought that stuck with you.

I can see value in such a thread. When quoting commercial sources, it's too easy to quote huge blocks of text, much of which may be irrelevant. Requiring you to write your own thoughts pares it down to only the thought that stuck with you.

[Dukasaur]

Okay, here's my thought.

I believe in photon fatigue. I don't think I've ever seen anyone else write about it, so this is uniquely mine.

I think it's possible that the energy of a photon is slowly dissipated over time.

In that case, it's possible that the extreme red shift of distant galaxies is not entirely due to their movement away from us, which may be slower than commonly believed. It could be that the photons from very distant galaxies are simply tired. They lose energy over time and get redder.

This does not mean that those galaxies are NOT moving away, only that it might be slower than otherwise thought. If so, the expansion of the universe might be constant, or it might even be slowing. There might be no "dark energy".

[jonesthecurl]

Time does not pass for photons, because they are moving at the speed of light, indeed they are light itself.

[Dukasaur]

Time does not pass for photons, because they are moving at the speed of light, indeed they are light itself.

Fine, dissipated over distance.

[2dimes]

I woke up for a wee*, looked out the window and saw a planet. I thought it looked kind of red, then checked an online star chart, turned out to be Venus.

I can still see it but the sun is coming up so it’s getting rather light out. 04:42 local time. It’s only a few days before solstice and the shortest nights of the year.

* Hey Jones, do you use that word? My wife’s friends husband is a kidney doctor up around Sherwood and that’s his word.

[jusplay4fun]

When I see the night sky, I wonder at and about the Marvels of Creation. Those are my actual thoughts as I gaze at the night sky. I am in awe of the planets, stars, and the majesty of Creation. Those are my actual thoughts!

The Heavens are telling the Glory of God.

[WILLIAMS5232]

I bought a 5" celestron telescope in 2009, I sat on the patio of my apartment complex for about 8 beers before finally spotting the ring nebula. It was a watershed moment, I stared at that section of sky (Lyra constellation) (Vega star) with houston tx level light pollution for what seemed like forever. Now I can spot it in 5 seconds, it's hard to know what you're looking for before you know what it looks like, once i finally realized i saw it, it hit me like a hammer. it was just a little fuzzy cheerio, I was expecting hubble quality images. But it still got me hooked. I always thought stars and planets were all we could see. I later bought a 10 inch, and to be honest, the jump wasn't as impressive as I expected, it was still pretty neat. I think I will buy a 16" in the future that seems like the last entry level price before you need the real big bucks. If I remember correctly, a 20" gets up to the $20k US price range.

[jusplay4fun]

Please share your thoughts only. Nothing commercial or from other sites.

And what is wrong with sharing from other sites? I admit I do not know ALL about any subject, so going to "commercial" sites help me learn. I assume no one here can claim that he knows it ALL.

I don't think anyone claims to know it all. We all google things or otherwise look them up.

The important thing, though, is to cycle the things you learn from other sites through your own mind, and only post the central part or the part that you found most thought-provoking.

Nobody is asking you to come up with thoughts that are uniquely your own, but to take what you've learned and post only the thought that stuck with you.

I think many who post here in this particular Forum, if not in many others, do not think much beyond their initial reaction and rarely THINK, at least not much more than 5-10 seconds. And then you have a few that read, react, and spend some 15-45 seconds finding and then posting a video.

How long does it take to post: 3 words? Or a video? or ONE Sentence ONLY?

I can see value in such a thread. When quoting commercial sources, it's too easy to quote huge blocks of text, much of which may be irrelevant. Requiring you to write your own thoughts pares it down to only the thought that stuck with you.

If I see something that is of interest to me and I share it, I must also give you my thoughts, TOO? As IN:

"I think I will go out later tonight to see this amazing phenomenon and then POST ..." my initial reactions, emotions, and feelings to viewing such a wonder?

Some of what I post is to alert others who are at least mildly interested in observing such things to PERHAPS go out and look that night or in a fews days. And a commercial website, because it is trying to sell a MAGAZINE subscription, is worthless as a resource and thus I SHOULD NOT POST from it? Really?

So, based on what I read here, IF I DO NOT add my OWN thoughts, some folks perceive that that "alert" and that FYI awareness post (from a commerical site**) as USELESS? REALLY? I suppose they get alerts on their phones nearly everyday on what is worth viewing in the night sky? REALLY? What is that APP that I may use it, please?

**Nothing commercial or from other sites.

Thoughts and ideas are good; that is what I try to exchange here. BUT I must post ONLY my thoughts on a matter, even if someone else WHO is more knowledgeable and qualified compared to me is better able to add an expert or learned viewpoint on the matter? I am not allowed to post that from a commercial site? And the Washington Post, or CNN, or The Atlantic periodical, are commercial sites that I cannot and should not post from? THAT is what you are saying?

IS THAT what some of you are saying? OR DID I completely misunderstand here. Please clarify this for me.

[Dukasaur]

All things in moderation, as Plato is often misquoted saying.

There are some things which are always good, and there are some things which are always bad, but there is a large class of things that are good when used sparingly but become bad when used to excess. Cilantro, for instance.

It's good to support one's opinions with references, but when there's so much reference that people wonder "what was the point?" then one has gone overboard.

Of course, like all rules-of-thumb, there are exceptions. And then there are exceptions to the exceptions.