Starship Asterisk*

There is a pinkish happy face in the bottom left hand corner. Kind of looks like the Cheshire Cat. I am just tryin to get 100 posts.

Now this is news that I am excited to hear! Think how many times this star system is mentioned because it is the nearest to Earth. Now at least 1 planet can be mentioned with it, and one that is near the Earth in mass at that! What other "famous stars" have known planets?

It is amazing that Opportunity is still alive and making new discoveries after 8 + years. Is this our first view of evidence of life on Mars? Besides the bacteria in the meteorites, but I do not believe there agreement there one way or the other.

Sofia wrote:It was hard to tell from the picture. What was the sizes of the pieces of meteorite?

A simple dime or penny in the photo for scaling perspective would have answered this. Oh, well.

Hath not a photon eyes? hath not a photon hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as an electron is? If you prick them, do th...

Don't mean to be nitpicky, but shouldn't it read "discarded the previous year during descent"? Last year would be 2010.

What would be the best way to view this to get perspective on our location within the milky way galaxy? It seems like we are looking in at the whole Galaxy from the outside where part should be looking out from the inside. I was thinking that projecting it on the inner surface of a sphere, or more p...

I admit defeat, but you gotta admit the name being close to Asterisk was cool. Oh well, I tried.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_110516.jpg Time Lapse Clouds and Sky Over the Canary Islands .....The video also features an unusual type of plant in several scenes -- can you identify it? Must be a relative of the endemic Haleakala Silversword, only found on Maui. http://upload.wikimedia.org/...

Nice space shot of a cumulonimbus anvil. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumulonimbus_cloud The weather was nicer in space that day

Unparticularly meaningful comment just to show I check old threads I have participated in occasionally. edit: Also to get my post count up to 100.

Very cool that we live vicariously through our unmanned spacecraft--Mars, Titan, much more. I guess there's a spacecraft going to the Sun.

Some other folks are detecting neutrinos (Cherenkov radiation from interaction with the ice) in the sky above the Antarctic shelf using balloons. http://www.phys.hawaii.edu/~anita/web/index.htm

>Picture said balsa (or paper etc) airplane having only the mass of one atom instead of one ounce. ...Best regards to all, Chuck Roundy If it had the mass of one atom wouldn't it be an atom? Or at least a nucleus. And what element would we choose, there are over a hundred. Lets choose lead. Maybe w...

Could one extrapolate temperature from these colors and the densities? The colors used in this image represent specific wavelengths of infrared light. Blue and cyan (blue-green) represent light emitted at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns, which is predominantly from stars. Green and red represent ...

I love this film...and I own it on DVD. Wouldn't it be great if my science class students could see it during our lessons on SI units, powers of 10, conversions, etc...Yes it would. Timeless?? I think so. I used to play the Simpson's version but have since given it up.

Any geology(Marsology) links to the crater in this photo? It looks like there are solid rocks that are above a layer of sand. Is this an illusion? The rocks look to possibly have been formed by spheroidal chemical weathering. And where does the sand come from in the first place? Is there agreement t...

10 square meter or 10 meter square? If the former then the main package with its solar panels is only about 0.5 m in diameter and the apparent rib structure for the sail an overkill. 0.5 m x 0.5 m = 0.25 m 2 (10 2 m 2 ) 0.5 = 3.162 m 3.162 m x 3.281 ft/m = 10.375 ft 10.375 ft x 10.375 ft. = 108 squ...

Maybe there is a Polynesian petroglyph or chant that tells of this light 400 years ago. They did, after all, navigate vast distances using the stars.

That's cool, even though it's hot, really hot. Aside: Even though the corona is over a million degrees, because of the lower density compared to chromosphere and photosphere i would think that there is significantly less energy (per unit volume) than these. Kind of like how the thermosphere on Earth...

Assertions likely repeated earlier due to forgetting what was posted as I return to topic. Question as to why anyone render this topic serious or provocative in the first place since [insert theory here] is considered common knowledge at this point OR gratitude to starter for initiating such a thoug...

Hastily posted statement to interject into exciting discussion to give impression that I am semi-educated or at least give a hoot. Picture to show I can use tools (with or without sources and /or a link). Another question to those who are more educated and could actually solve differential equations...

I thought I was looking at the "Pillars of Creation" on the side. I guess not and it does not make it any less amazing.

Thanks Art. What I have heard before is that we know it is possible because we see stars (and are here to see them too!).Thank goodness that even though the models don't fit perfectly, this does not stop stars from being formed.

If one side always faces the star (proposed), then would sleep develop in the (possible) animals/creatures?