APOD: The Mileage of Light (2011 May 28)

[APOD Robot]

The Mileage of Light

Explanation: If you're driving down a dark road on a starry night, you might want to check the odometer. Earlier this month, when traveling astronomer Dennis Mammana did he was greeted with the significant mileage reading of 186,282 miles. That's the number of miles light travels in one second. Or, if you prefer kilometers, the number you are looking for is 299,792. Mammana muses that in driving to countless observatories, star parties, and night sky photo shoots it has taken his 1998 vintage sport utility vehicle over 13 years to cover that distance. Of course, he considers his next important mileage milestone to be the distance to the Moon.

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[Beyond]

That was a nice change of pace. I wonder though, driving at the speed of light - do the bugs shatter the windshield, or just pass on through

[Boomer12k]

In my 1972, Datsun 240Z, I have driven to the Moon even at Apogee (252,088 miles). I have 267,000 miles on my car. And it is STILL AWESOME!
Now, I just have to drive back!!!

[djak.]

How far to the anthropocene extinction?

[bystander]

How far to the anthropocene extinction?

That's a time, not a distance.

[pomodist]

Wht the hell is that got to do with astronomy, the universe! I want the pics of galaxies, etc. me

[biddie67]

A fun, whimsical picture - it's fascinating how the human mind takes note of where certain numbers, significant to them and their interests, do pop up ...

[Case]

How far to the anthropocene extinction?

Maybe I'm missing the joke, but AFAIK, 'anthropocene' marks the cause of an extinction, but doesn't specify what gets extinct.
Referring to light extinction in the astronomical sense, I would say the human caused effects are limited to Earth's atmosphere, although most of these atmospheric effects would occur largely the same without any humans involved, when choosing rural clear skies for observing.
Depending on your chosen threshold, consider the ISS in low earth orbit as just about 'above the atmosphere', at about 330 km (205 mi) distance in zenith, and about 2077 km (1291 mi) at the horizon (Pythagoras).

[Boris825]

Been there, done that, Dennis. I've been logging over 30,000 miles per year for the past 22 years. I'll call you from L2.

[billinger]

Hmmm... What is before car...? Is it a part of Sagittarius constellation?

[Star*Hopper]

Hmmm... What is before car...? Is it a part of Sagittarius constellation?

Before car was horse, Kemo Sabe. Look small, ergo, must be Equuleus.

(Sorry, couldn't resist.....and I am truly appalled & ashamed of myself.)

[Craine]

The milage may be right, but I think the speedometer is a bit off.
My father in law has an Astro van with almost 500,000 miles on it. To the moon and back.

[stardog]

My business is StarDogs Astronomy and I take an inflatable planetarium & telescope to schools, libraries, & camps in the midwest. This is our 16th year of sharing the universe with students, teachers, campers, and families.I started out with a Ford Ranger pickup and put 20,000 miles on it for the business in three years. Then, in 1998, I acquired a used 1995 Ford Windstar van with 14,000 miles on the odometer at time of purchase. Three-and-a-half years later, it was struck by a deer, and totaled. The odometer read 230,000+ miles, most all of them were driven for presenting the universe. I had to immediately purchase another van to make sure I had transportation to keep our schedule of programs. That was the summer of 2001, and I purchased a 1997 Mercury villager. At time of purchase, it had 64,132 miles on the odometer. I've enclosed a picture of the current odometer reading on the Mercury, and again, most all of this mileage is for business.

Traveling the Universe.

So in total for our business, between the pickup, and the two vans, that's 532,470 miles of sharing the night sky so far. It's been a lot of fun fetching the stars as the StarDog!

[geckzilla]

. . . Three-and-a-half years later, it was struck by a deer, and totaled. . . .

You now have me imagining deer flying around like little missiles just looking for cars to strike.

[Chris Peterson]

Three-and-a-half years later, it was struck by a deer, and totaled.

I expect the deer's opinion about the nature of this encounter was somewhat different...

[orin stepanek]

Earlier this month, when traveling astronomer Dennis Mammana did he was greeted with the significant mileage reading of 186,282 miles. it has taken his 1998 vintage sport utility vehicle over 13 years to cover that distance.

Wow! !3 years to do what light does in 1 second. Just think what we could do if we could move at the speed on light.

[geckzilla]

Yeah, if we could move that fast, just think of how many people would actually get punched in the face "through" the internet. You've always wanted to do it...

[bystander]

Nah, just have to get better fire-walls.

[Star*Hopper]

. . . Three-and-a-half years later, it was struck by a deer, and totaled. . . .

You now have me imagining deer flying around like little missiles just looking for cars to strike.

I expect the deer's opinion about the nature of this encounter was somewhat different...

Being a Southern country boy all of, and 'nite-owl' most of, my life, I have literally several dozens of experiences I have witnessed first-hand of the irrational, insanely stupid things deer can, and do, do in the face of an onrushing vehicle. Some of them, quite expensive. And yes, that includes flying thru the air and colliding with vehicles!

[billinger]

Chinamen would to say: may it`s Emptiness?

[Lionfish]

Sorry to mention it, but 300,000km in an SUV (usually above 200g/km) is 60+ tonnes of CO2 emitted... around 5 tonnes per year. Maybe avoiding getting to the moon in this vehicle might be a good target!

[whoopdedo]

That was a nice change of pace. I wonder though, driving at the speed of light - do the bugs shatter the windshield, or just pass on through

I wrote a program for my class showing how the constellations would change if the Earth moved faster ... and faster ... up to the speed of light ... and faster still if that were possible. It was fascinating: once you were past the speed of light, the whole sky was a ball in front of you: the constellations behind you were seen in front of you. I realized why - say you were driving down a road faster than the gnats were flying - those that would have hit your rear window instead hit your front window...

[whoopdedo]

A fun, whimsical picture - it's fascinating how the human mind takes note of where certain numbers, significant to them and their interests, do pop up ...

Perhaps we'll get pi in the sky? How many constellations have a star pi Constellation?

[Beyond]

That was a nice change of pace. I wonder though, driving at the speed of light - do the bugs shatter the windshield, or just pass on through

I wrote a program for my class showing how the constellations would change if the Earth moved faster ... and faster ... up to the speed of light ... and faster still if that were possible. It was fascinating: once you were past the speed of light, the whole sky was a ball in front of you: the constellations behind you were seen in front of you. I realized why - say you were driving down a road faster than the gnats were flying - those that would have hit your rear window instead hit your front window...

yas uoy taht s'tahw

[Chris Peterson]

Perhaps we'll get pi in the sky? How many constellations have a star pi Constellation?

Most, if not all. When Bayer invented the nomenclature system, there were only 60 official constellations (as opposed to the current 88), but the system has been extended, and it seems likely that all the modern constellations have Bayer designations to at least pi (16). And some constellations have more than one pi. Orion has six!