25 Sep 10
1 edit
Originally posted by mikelomDon't know if it's just me but when the pics are presented you have to scroll down to see the whole thing, only half the image comes up visible till scroll. Do you look at APOD? Astronomy Picture of the Day? If you don't you should. They are a thousand times more interesting and they have a very long archive you would take days just going through. All of those Hubble images and a lot more.
http://news.uk.msn.com/in-depth/space/special-photo-galleries.aspx?cp-documentid=154300290&page=1
Some more amazing and latest pics from NASA, beauty in its own right.
When you look at Apod, the image fills the whole screen, I have made dozens of them my background image, change over every few days when something spectacular comes up like those incredible pictures of Mars that have come through lately, makes Mars look all the more alien.
Then there are the Saturn shots, the Jupiter shots, mind boggling images from the probes that are there snapping away, a thousand times better resolution than any Hubble or it's grandkids simply because they are on the target a few thousand miles away not millions or billions of miles away.
Don't get me wrong, Hubble is a grand instrument, the Pillars of Creation was worth the price by itself! But there are many instruments flying around the solar system now and APOD has a lot of those images as well.
25 Sep 10
Originally posted by sonhouseI have used APOD. I have a pic of earth through the rings of Saturn, almost like a microdot. It makes all of our problems seem the more smaller, in significance to the majesty of what we really do not understand! 😉
Don't know if it's just me but when the pics are presented you have to scroll down to see the whole thing, only half the image comes up visible till scroll. Do you look at APOD? Astronomy Picture of the Day? If you don't you should. They are a thousand times more interesting and they have a very long archive you would take days just going through. All of th ...[text shortened]... instruments flying around the solar system now and APOD has a lot of those images as well.
25 Sep 10
1 edit
Originally posted by mikelomThat of course goes for everyone on and off the planet...
I have used APOD. I have a pic of earth through the rings of Saturn, almost like a microdot. It makes all of our problems seem the more smaller, in significance to the majesty of what we really do not understand! 😉
I still would like to know how many advanced civilizations are in our galaxy or Andromeda. Just think about that, some of those stars out there may have life on them a LOT more advanced than humans. Suppose we have some hyper telescope effectively the size of the whole solar system (a fleet of telescopes all around the orbit of Pluto for instance, the resolution now being the same as a single telescope of that size since we can now simulate larger telescopes by mixing the images of widely spaced ones, so it's at least theoretically possible).
So we see a planet at just the right distance on a star in Andromeda and zero in on it and find a civilization in all its way advanced glory.
We would also have to hope we live for the several million years it takes for such images to get here and would have to wonder what they are doing now, since the image would be from a couple of million years in our past.
That is mind boggling to me! Chips passing in the night, so to speak. If we see them, they could not see us since we are 2 million years in their future so we both better have a civilization that lasts 5 or 6 million years so we can finally meet face to whatever it is they have for a face there!
25 Sep 10
Originally posted by sonhouseDoesn't that beckon the thought of us lasting 5 or 6 million years as a functional planet of complete humanity?
That of course goes for everyone on and off the planet...
I still would like to know how many advanced civilizations are in our galaxy or Andromeda. Just think about that, some of those stars out there may have life on them a LOT more advanced than humans. Suppose we have some hyper telescope effectively the size of the whole solar system (a fleet of tel ...[text shortened]... 5 or 6 million years so we can finally meet face to whatever it is they have for a face there!
It was Einstein who said, " If I had known that the Germans were no where near to even achieving in making an atomic bomb, I wouldn't have wasted my time. However, what we did is done. I don't know what the third world war will be fought with, but I do know what the fourth will be fought with. Rocks!" 😀
25 Sep 10
Originally posted by mikelomThat is my main point, we would never last long enough to interact with such a civilization. If we invented or copied a space drive capable of going a few billion times the speed of light, that would be a game changer but till then we are pretty much on our own, no aliens in site, much as the UFO wannabies would like to believe otherwise.
Doesn't that beckon the thought of us lasting 5 or 6 million years as a functional planet of complete humanity?
It was Einstein who said, " If I had known that the Germans were no where near to even achieving in making an atomic bomb, I wouldn't have wasted my time. However, what we did is done. I don't know what the third world war will be fought with, but I do know what the fourth will be fought with. Rocks!" 😀
27 Sep 10
Originally posted by mikelomWasn't that image an inspiration for Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot"?
I have used APOD. I have a pic of earth through the rings of Saturn, almost like a microdot. It makes all of our problems seem the more smaller, in significance to the majesty of what we really do not understand! 😉