Starship Asterisk*

I wonder about that too. A spacecraft could sail downwind but could it ever return? Are there be other forces out there to triangulate with? There would need to be 4 sources of wind--a tetrahedral grid--to navigate freely in space.

I see a large rugged land mass with many coastal islands. It could be Vancouver to Alaska, or Maine to Nova Scotia. But then, I still see canals on Mars. Hey wait, I think I see Grandma’s house.

Earth in Cancer. I think the bright star to the right is Aldebaran.

Just one nit-picking detail since APOD is pretty fastidious about defining things correctly: The UK consists of 4 countries--England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and which include a lot of smaller islands--like the Orkneys, Hebrides and Shetlands. Plus a lot of great whiskey. “Southern coa...

In the image, there are some dark areas above and below Dione. Not visible on my higher contrast monitor, but distractingly obvious at a broader range of values. It looks like the dark area was retouched manually.

If you flip the image 180 degrees it is easier to grasp. The streams then appear to be flowing down instead of up.

The radio-wavelength arms appear to be in a different plane than the visible arms--not just a different alignment in the disc. Almost as if there are 2 discs that intersect at the center. Anybody know?

First, thanks to the artist who created the image and to APOD for posting it. I hope to see photos of an earth eclipse in my lifetime. This relates to a subject that intrigues me--how the earth-moon cycles have stimulated human thought. Some subtopics: The 28-day lunar cycle allowed people sufficien...

The IAU definition says a planet must be, “nearly round.” Don’t they mean spherical? Frisbees and lampshades are round. I see that the IAU “official domicile” is Paris, France. And that its statutes “... are published in French and English versions. In case of doubt, the French version is the only a...

The VIP who took this stereo picture must have been reclining in his skybox barcalounger. The red-green offset is vertical instead of the usual. Maybe it was a moon guy with eyes one above the other.

I’ve wondered about the colors too. Our color sensors (cones) shut down at low light levels and we go grayscale. Does anyone know if large aperature lenses can let us see color at night? About “true’ or “false” color: I think “color” is entirely a sensory rendering. You could say that everything is,...

Is it art? If you think Quantum physics is hard to understand, just try reading art critics on the question, “is it art.” Black and white looks good on the photo, and imbues it with artistic credibility--or is it affectation? Stop me, please. I spent a year in art school and I’ve never been the same...

I messed up and posted this as a new topic. It’s intended as a reply to Quantum Theory posted by Em.

I hit the wrong button and posted my answer as a new topic--“understanding” quantum theory. where’s the undo button in life?
Pardon my ineptitude.

Nice job, Empeda 2. I’m glad your answer appears first instead of one that begins, “It’s simple, really...” I’ve seen too many “explanations” that only serve to show what a tenuous grasp the writer has on the subject. There was recently a silly movie with a silly title that I forget, which purported...

I was thinking about observations from the back side of the moon that might lead to a theory of A Big Invisible Neighbor. I’m just quick-guessing here, but I imagine that planets would show a secondary retrograde cycle, and that there would be gravitational anomalies. Incidently, I don’t think there...

I don’t have much to say to them because I’m pretty sure that my say-so won’t change their thinking. But your question raises another: what information do we accept as reliable? For me, an important factor is evidence of a pattern. So, I might start by asking, “do you think the entire space program ...

I’ve enjoyed following the discussion about the view of Earth from the Moon, and this occurred to me: If you lived on the side of the Moon that never faced the Earth, how would you infer the existence of the Earth? It would take some sophisticated observation, I ’spect. One of the most wonderful art...

Anybody notice that commentor “Bill” seems to know a lot of details about Apollo 8 and the earthrise photo? Solve that one, Einsteins

Hey William, Come on, it’s Christmas. Don’t spoil it for me. Seriously though, I had been thinking about how much of scientific knowledge and technical accomplishment has been the result of war and competitions for dominance. I was almost happy there for a minute thinking that at least some of the g...

As powerful and alluring as the moon has been to life on earth, imagine having a celestial companion as beautiful as Earth. The attraction would be irresistable--far greater than the attraction that took us to the moon.