The Bigger Picture

It pains me to think I will most likely not live in a time where we can uncover all the secrets of...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 22:47:16 +0100

It pains me to think I will most likely not live in a time where we can uncover all the secrets of the Universe. I want to know it all and I want to know it now, yet I do not have the mental capacity/ability to find it out for myself. I do not like this about me.

propagandery: How To Wash Your Hands In Space Imagine if you...

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 12:53:14 +0000

propagandery:

How To Wash Your Hands In Space

Imagine if you had to go into space with a space-slob. All his clothes floating around the capsule, empty space-pizza boxes floating everywhere, and he’d probably use your space-towel to clean his hands after an EVA. I hate space-slobs! (Note: I am not calling this guy a slob, just speculating about his fellow astronauts.)

[io9]

Jealous.

So true…

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 21:43:31 +0000

So true…

Kudos IFLS, kudos.

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 21:25:10 +0000

Kudos IFLS, kudos.

Northern hemisphere; do not miss!

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 23:44:32 +0000

Northern hemisphere; do not miss!

Go home Pluto… You’re drunk!

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 16:45:00 +0000

Go home Pluto… You’re drunk!

So this is the solar system to scale, right?Wrong.This image...

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 15:05:00 +0000

So this is the solar system to scale, right?
Wrong.

This image (that you would see in most text books) is entirely inaccurate. The distance between Jupiter and Neptune is about 5 times the distance from the Earth to Jupiter for starters.

If you were to draw this to scale, you’d have to have some seriously large piece of paper. If the Earth was reduced to the diameter of a pea, Jupiter would be over 300 meters away and Pluto (if we’re still including poor ice lump that is Pluto) would be 2.5 kilometers distant.

Even if you shrank everything down so that Jupiter was the size of a full stop on this screen right now, Pluto would still be over 10 meters away.

Good luck drawing that accurately kids!

Astronomy Club

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 02:54:16 +0000

applepiesfromscratch:

The first rule of astronomy is you do not talk about astrology

No, no you do not.

The top photo is an image showing the size comparison of...

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 00:55:00 +0000

The top photo is an image showing the size comparison of Betelgeuse to our sun… Bare this in mind.
The photo bellow is an artist’s impression of what it may look like when it comes to its eventual end.

For a star to supernova it has to have at least 8 times the mass of our sun (that’s vast) and Betelgeuse happens to be some 20 times heftier.

Betelgeuse is situated 640 light years away and scientists have been observing “sputtering” from this star for a while now suggesting it is unstable. However due to the distance, when we observe Betelgeuse, we are seeing it as it were in 1373AD, therefore can only really know what state it was in then.

It seems logical to think if it was to supernova now we would have 640 years to think about our fate. But to quote John Thorstensen “The news of such an event travels at the speed of light, so does the destructiveness; so you’d learn about it and die in the same instant.” It’s a strange concept to get your head around.

Luckily for you and me for a supernova to have devastating effects on our planet, it would have to be about 100 light years away but within that distance there are no known candidates. HOWEVER, don’t sleep easy just yet as IK Pegasi is the closest with the potential to supernova. It lies around 150 light years away and scientists think it still poses a threat…

Fluid Dynamics

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 23:39:00 +0000

Fluid Dynamics:

Click ^

So my mother does photography and she came home with this selection of photos showing the awesome nature of water. Seeing as water is one of the essential fluids to life, I’m going to claim it’s relevant to this blog.

Or you could just see it as some amazing images of paint being dropped in water.

SPACE RADIATION SHIELDKinda…So when you think about how...

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:42:00 +0000

SPACE RADIATION SHIELD
Kinda…

So when you think about how much rubbish we create on Earth, it’s enough to make you want to sit in a corner and cry, right? Now think about the rubbish astronauts produce and pollute the universe with… Anymore of that and I would quite happily do a Felix Baumgartner without the suit on.

Anyway, it looks like the engineers at NASA want to stop me attempting such an insane feat. They are producing a trash compactor which will create 8-inch discs that can be stowed away or even used for radiation shielding. Now THAT is what I call recycling.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill BrysonUnder strong...

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 17:42:00 +0000

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

Under strong recommendation from a friend, I’m reading this at the moment (bought for a penny off Amazon - I know, awesome.)

I can honestly say, the introduction changed how I view life a little. What more could you want from a book?

If you have read this already, you will know the little story about Newton was in it and I can’t promise you that I will not be creating more posts based on things I read in this book.

One life affirming thing for me so far is the part where Bryson writes a paragraph on a certain Sir Fred Hoyle in the chapter Lost In The Cosmos (I know - again - awesome in its own right) and the way it’s worded is practically a post I’ve already made about the way the term “The Big Bang” was coined.

I love the way Bryson writes but maybe that’s just because I think I have a similar style. This would lead to a terrible job interview; I think that’s called the “just like me” effect.

Newton was f-ing crazy right?Agreed?Agreed.I can safely say he...

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 13:46:00 +0000

Newton was f-ing crazy right?
Agreed?
Agreed.

I can safely say he was pretty damn devoted to science and new discoveries. So much so that he once put a bodkin (a blunt thick needle) into his eye just to see what it would do.

Alas, it did nothing but back up my theory he is an absolutely awesome mental genius.

Lynx Apollo

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 13:41:52 +0000

My dream of going into space has been shattered…

https://www.lynxapollo.com/ doesn’t have “Northamptonshire” under City in the sign up options.

Looks like it’s all over folks :’(

I got this mug for Christmas. When you pour hot water in it, the...

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 03:39:59 +0000

I got this mug for Christmas. When you pour hot water in it, the constellations show up! Heat change mugs FTW!

So… Bit awkward that we’re all still alive isn’t it?

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 09:11:58 +0000

So… Bit awkward that we’re all still alive isn’t it?

theillestcat: Very lucky photo! Aeroplane crossing the Sun...

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 01:23:18 +0000

theillestcat:

Very lucky photo! Aeroplane crossing the Sun during the Transit of Venus

itsfullofstars: Golden Spike Company Unveils Plans to Fly...

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 00:26:26 +0000

itsfullofstars:

Golden Spike Company Unveils Plans to Fly Commercial Crews to the Moon

A private enterprise named the Golden Spike Company announced today that they have plans to fly manned crews to the moon and back for a price of $1.5 billion per flight by 2020.

Remember a few days ago I posted a link...

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 03:01:52 +0000

Remember a few days ago I posted a link to http://workshop.chromeexperiments.com/stars/ where you can explore around 100,000 stars in the Milky Way? Well my mate set this up on his computer…

How awesome is that?!

nightsinneon: Seen above is the Fallen Astronaut, a tiny...

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 22:14:26 +0000

nightsinneon:

Seen above is the Fallen Astronaut, a tiny aluminum figurine that on August 1, 1971 the Apollo 15 crew placed on the Moon’s surface with a plaque listing the names of 14 astronauts and cosmonauts who had died. Belgian artist Paul Van Hoeydonck created the figure and later took a ton of shit from NASA for making replicas that he intended to sell. The space agency felt the commercialization went against their original understanding with Van Hoeydonck. “Fallen Astronaut”