Starship Asterisk*

[quote=geckzilla post_id=294093 time=1564456633 user_id=124138]
[quote=Scabulus post_id=294077 time=1564402658 user_id=135278]

What does any of this have to do with space? Is there a connection to the science of lightening that relates to planetary exploration? If so, then say so. If not, then post on Instagram or flickr.[/quote]
The reason these get posted is because they attract more people from different backgrounds to APOD, who will then hopefully become subsequently attracted to astronomy, which is the purpose of APOD. So to you, this has no purpose, but to the APOD editor who put it up, that was the purpose. Maybe understanding it better will change your mind.[/quote][quote="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway_drug_theory"]

<<Gateway drug theory (alternatively, stepping-stone theory, escalation hypothesis, or progression hypothesis) is a comprehensive catchphrase for the theory that the use of a psychoactive drug can be coupled to an increased probability of the use of further drugs. Possible causes are biological alterations in the brain due to the earlier drug and similar attitudes of users across different drugs.>>[/quote]

[quote=Scabulus post_id=294077 time=1564402658 user_id=135278]
What does any of this have to do with space? Is there a connection to the science of lightening that relates to planetary exploration? If so, then say so. If not, then post on Instagram or flickr.
[/quote]
The reason these get posted is because they attract more people from different backgrounds to APOD, who will then hopefully become subsequently attracted to astronomy, which is the purpose of APOD. So to you, this has no purpose, but to the APOD editor who put it up, that was the purpose. Maybe understanding it better will change your mind.

What a fantastic image! That is an incredible, arborescent bolt. Also, there is a filament to the left of the main branches that does not visibly connect to the rest, and a visibly separate, but probably connected beautiful, long extension to the right. Zeus could not have done this without a few helpers! Who was it, I wonder, that managed to draw the wrath of several deities at once? I'm really glad I was not at the top of that volcano just then. But I'm glad that Sergio Montufar was able to capture this, and that the APOD editors brought it to us for our viewing pleasure.

I see a predictable "Not astronomical" complaint, so here's an astronomy question for those. What (and where and when) was the strongest electrostatic discharge event ever registered in our observations of the universe to date?

[quote="Chris Peterson" post_id=294078 time=1564407354 user_id=117706]
[quote=Scabulus post_id=294077 time=1564402658 user_id=135278]
What does any of this have to do with space? Is there a connection to the science of lightening that relates to planetary exploration? If so, then say so. If not, then post on Instagram or flickr.
[/quote]

Lightning is an atmospheric phenomenon, which has been observed to occur not just on Earth, but on other planets as well. We are fortunate to be able to observe it here, much more conveniently than on those other planets.
[/quote]
++ :yes: :thumb_up:

[quote=hypatia post_id=294086 time=1564431357 user_id=144793]
Can anybody tell me what the turquoise cylindrical object to the right of the volcano is (peeking out of the cloud)? Could it be a UFO?

🛸
[/quote]

It is a gap underneath the cloud deck showing a small area of dusk or dawn sky. No need to suspect aliens. :wink:

Can anybody tell me what the turquoise cylindrical object to the right of the volcano is (peeking out of the cloud)? Could it be a UFO?

🛸

[quote="orin stepanek" post_id=294076 time=1564399164 user_id=100812]
[quote=De58te post_id=294072 time=1564383978 user_id=141631]
Maybe I'm wrong, but wouldn't a volcano of water be called a geyser?
[/quote]


I believe it is the name of the Mountain!
[/quote]

Yes. The link to its name tells that is came to be called that after a lahar (volcanic mudslide) flooded a nearby city.

[quote=Scabulus post_id=294077 time=1564402658 user_id=135278]
What does any of this have to do with space? Is there a connection to the science of lightening that relates to planetary exploration? If so, then say so. If not, then post on Instagram or flickr.
[/quote]

Lightning is an atmospheric phenomenon, which has been observed to occur not just on Earth, but on other planets as well. We are fortunate to be able to observe it here, much more conveniently than on those other planets.

What does any of this have to do with space? Is there a connection to the science of lightening that relates to planetary exploration? If so, then say so. If not, then post on Instagram or flickr.

[quote=De58te post_id=294072 time=1564383978 user_id=141631]
Maybe I'm wrong, but wouldn't a volcano of water be called a geyser?
[/quote]


I believe it is the name of the Mountain!

Maybe I'm wrong, but wouldn't a volcano of water be called a geyser?

[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190729.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_190729.jpg[/img] [size=150]Lightning over the Volcano of Water[/size][/url]

[b] Explanation: [/b] Have you ever watched a lightning storm in awe? Join the crowd. Details of what causes [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning]lightning[/url] are still [url=https://preview.redd.it/j2upahwnd5bz.jpg?width=960&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=d8516b8ee21b210700f8b955c5ec8d6be782a95e]being researched[/url], but it is known that inside some clouds, internal updrafts cause collisions between ice and [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180121.html]snow[/url] that slowly [url=https://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/home/sites/default/files/thundercloud.gif]separate charges[/url] between cloud tops and bottoms The [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120723.html]rapid[/url] electrical discharges that are [url=https://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/lightning/]lightning[/url] soon result. [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn65RFvJKnk]Lightning[/url] usually takes a jagged course, [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgurite]rapidly heating[/url] a thin column of air to about three times the surface temperature of the [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090405.html]Sun[/url]. The resulting [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap031115.html]shock[/url] wave starts [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070819.html]supersonically[/url] and decays into the [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100427.html]loud sound[/url] known as [url=http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_info/thunder2.html]thunder[/url]. On average, around the world, about [url=https://www.lightningmaps.org/?lang=en#m=oss;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=;ts=0;]6,000 lightning bolts[/url] occur between clouds and the [url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/earth/in-depth/]Earth[/url] every minute. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2zjDdS3NzQ]Pictured earlier this month[/url] in a two-image composite, lightning stems from communication antennas near the top of [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volc%C3%A1n_de_Agua]Volcán de Agua[/url] (Volcano of Water) in [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemala]Guatemala[/url].


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