"I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row
This discussion probably will go on for a good time. I think the reason for it is that they have much more refined ways to observe the planets. The clutter in the neighborhood wasnīt taken into account before, because it hadnīt be observed.
But one mustnīt worry. If they decide sometime in the future that the earth isnīt a planet, they will find another definition for it, I think. Even basic concepts change. See the discoveries of Galileo.
"I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row
Good point, Danik.
This is a quite different post, abut using nanosatellites to investigate the many smaller object (asteroids) in the asteroid belt.
See this link:https://www.universetoday.com/137253...anosatellites/
Last edited by Dreamwoven; 09-22-2017 at 11:37 AM. Reason: more information
This website post looks at how it is planned to avoid collision with an asteroid, that is inevitable sooner or later:
https://www.universetoday.com/137266...eroid-mission/
Oh, and regarding Earth having "cleared its neighbourhood" (se the previous posts on this), NASA doesn't agree.
Just read this post. Absolutely amazing. I think one can sum up several of all these discoveries in two or three important ones:
1- The space between planets and stars is filled with smaller celestial objects or fragments, some of which might be put to scientific use.
2-Celestial bodies present very different compositions and atmospheres.
"I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row
I hope they succeed and Didi doesnīt fall on our heads. I donīt know if this huma messing around with the universe, which still is somewhat timid if you take into account its dimension, might start to influence the movement of the celestial bodies.
"I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row
I doubt that, but you never know.
I thought it was remarkable that some asteroids have their own moon and their own rings! And that some are made of sold nickel and solid iron:
"The more that planetary astronomers study asteroids, they more they’re realizing just how varied and different they can be. Some, like 16 Psyche are made of solid nickel and iron, while others are made of rock. Some asteroids have been found with moons, rings, and some icy objects really blur the line between comet and asteroid. In order to truly understand their nature, it would take dozens or maybe hundreds of individual missions on the scale of Rosetta or New Horizons."
About the constitution of our own planet:
https://www.space.com/38235-earth-el...et-formed.html
"I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row
The most interesting facts from this piece has to be the next exploration of Mars in 2018, to probe the planet's deep interior.
I subscribed to Popular Astronomy] for a year and am re-reading it again. I am impressed by the large amount of material in it. I will select particularly interesting articles from the occasional more in-depth articles. The first will be about the moons of Mars.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moons_of_Mars
I don't buy the suggestion that Earth has one moon, so Mars must have two! Nor that the Gulliver's Travels just guessed the detailed information he provides about these two moons. More likely that the ancient astronomers knew from their own observations.
Phobos, Mars' larger moon, is slowly spiralling inwards towards the planet, estimated to disintegrate within the next 30-50 million years. Phobos has the inner orbit, Deimos is further out. There is a tremendous strain on Phobos. We know that our own Moon affects tides and Phobos is covered in fractures and has a large crater (Stickney Crater).
I agree with you. As it isnīt known that writers Like Swift and Voltaire conducted any astronomical research of their own, they must needs have been influenced by the information of th period and a bit by their own imagination.
Now we know that the universe is cluttered with bigger and smaller objects, they probably are going to find a lot of asteroids between Mars and its moons.
"I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row
In March-April 2016 Popular Astronomy(p.18) published an article on the search for extraterrestrial life. Quoting Sir Arthur C Clarke (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke): "Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying".
Links to further reading:
The best link is, I think, the first one, as it poses some interesting dilemmas:
https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html
The other two I include here pose the usual dilemmas:
https://www.space.com/25325-fermi-paradox.html
https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermis_paradox
This website looks at the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence (SETI): https://seti.org
There are some peculiar phenomena on our doorstep, one of which was identified by the Hubble Space Telescope:
https://www.universetoday.com/137278...asteroid-belt/.
This is a binary asteroid in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.