Cue Up the Twilight Zone Theme. Baker spots UFO

[calfoxwc]

2 minutes ago, Orion said:

...towards True north.  Or Celestial north.  (the two stars farthest from the 'handle', follow the arc to Polaris)

A compass points to magnetic north which is to the left, or west, of true north.  Magnetic north is a bit of a moving target due to molten material movement down inside the earth.

close enough to perfect for me! Thanks

[Orion]

1 minute ago, calfoxwc said:

close enough to perfect for me! Thanks

Yup.  If you're reading a map you're using true north.  The stars are better than the compass.  If you know how to use them.  I'd wind up at the north pole going in circles. 

 

[gumby73]

4 hours ago, Orion said:

 The stars are better than the compass.  If you know how to use them.  I'd wind up at the north pole going in circles. 

 

 

[TexasAg1969]

17 hours ago, calfoxwc said:

well, I've always be an outdoorsman/kid. Back in the sixties, on the farm, I'd go out and watch the stars at night sometimes, waiting for shooting stars.

As far as constellations... all I need to know is that the front lip of the big dipper, bottom to top, points toward North.

In "point" of fact they aim directly at Polaris, the North Star. Of course if it's cloudy I take out my trusty multi-decade old turn of the 19th century brass cased compass.😂

https://earthsky.org/tonight/use-the-pointers-to-find-polaris#:~:text=Big Dipper stars point to North Star. A,well known among amateur astronomers as The Pointers.

[hoorta]

On 3/7/2021 at 7:35 AM, TexasAg1969 said:

In "point" of fact they aim directly at Polaris, the North Star. Of course if it's cloudy I take out my trusty multi-decade old turn of the 19th century brass cased compass.😂

https://earthsky.org/tonight/use-the-pointers-to-find-polaris#:~:text=Big Dipper stars point to North Star. A,well known among amateur astronomers as The Pointers.

More trivia.   Well if it's a clear night- at least in Ohio, I can always orient myself.  OTOH, we're living in a time where Polaris is (pretty close, not exactly) our "North Star". Wasn't always- or will be the case.  The Earth, because of the gravitational drag on the us from the Moon wobbles like a top that's slowing down. It takes 24,000 years to complete one wobble.  (Um, more accurately- the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn should now be renamed the Tropic of Gemini and Tropic of Sagittarius. )  Stars like Thuban in the constellation Draco, or Vega in Lyra will be "North Stars"- eventually.  FWIW, currently there's no "South Star".  The very dim 5th magnitude star Sigma Octans is as close as you get.  

Now if you go way north- or way south, your perspective changes dramatically. The one time I was in Alaska when it was dark enough to see stars- really disorienting.  Those stars should be way up there- but they weren't. My bucket list thing is to get south of the equator to see the sky (and Orion) flipped upside down. Tahiti at 17 degrees south works.   

PS- as a kid - I thought I wanted to be a professional Astronomer. Several problems. First, you have to be a crack mathematician. Second, you need at least a Doctorate, and job opportunities are extremely limited. Third,  guys were researching stuff at the time like Chandrasekhar's Limit, orbital mechanics (Grandpa gave me a magazine that had the equations on how we got the Mariner probe to Venus in 1962) , and theoretical astrophysics have zero interest to me.  

[TexasAg1969]

5 hours ago, hoorta said:

More trivia.   Well if it's a clear night- at least in Ohio, I can always orient myself.  OTOH, we're living in a time where Polaris is (pretty close, not exactly) our "North Star". Wasn't always- or will be the case.  The Earth, because of the gravitational drag on the us from the Moon wobbles like a top that's slowing down. It takes 24,000 years to complete one wobble.  (Um, more accurately- the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn should now be renamed the Tropic of Gemini and Tropic of Sagittarius. )  Stars like Thuban in the constellation Draco, or Vega in Lyra will be "North Stars"- eventually.  FWIW, currently there's no "South Star".  The very dim 5th magnitude star Sigma Octans is as close as you get.  

Now if you go way north- or way south, your perspective changes dramatically. The one time I was in Alaska when it was dark enough to see stars- really disorienting.  Those stars should be way up there- but they weren't. My bucket list thing is to get south of the equator to see the sky (and Orion) flipped upside down. Tahiti at 17 degrees south works.   

PS- as a kid - I thought I wanted to be a professional Astronomer. Several problems. First, you have to be a crack mathematician. Second, you need at least a Doctorate, and job opportunities are extremely limited. Third,  guys were researching stuff at the time like Chandrasekhar's Limit, orbital mechanics (Grandpa gave me a magazine that had the equations on how we got the Mariner probe to Venus in 1962) , and theoretical astrophysics have zero interest to me.  

And on my bucket list is to see the Southern Cross. Got my "pioneering" compass all set to go. Damn this COVID crap.😷

 

[Orion]

6 hours ago, hoorta said:

First, you have to be a crack mathematician

Yeah.  That's where they lost me.  I'm only good at the guzintas.  One guzinta two.  Two guzinta four,  etc.

[hoorta]

7 hours ago, TexasAg1969 said:

And on my bucket list is to see the Southern Cross. Got my "pioneering" compass all set to go. Damn this COVID crap.😷

 

Well I can say I've seen it. I'd almost say prepare to be disappointed. Theoretically- it clears the southern horizon in Key West, but you need to go far farther south for a better look. Like I did for a total solar eclipse in Curacao back in 1998. It's bright, but it's tiny. Use the two pointer stars in the Big Dipper for scale. Surprisingly, west of it there's an asterism called the False Cross that's bigger, and almost as bright.    

[Nero]

I can't read it all, but I'm just gonna say one theory that I have. With the number of UFOs that are sighted in the US, I wouldn't be surprised if they were related to some aircraft by the Air Force or NASA or something like that. 

The US has the best aviation on Earth because it guarantees a supremacy in many conflicts, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were secret aircrafts or spacecrafts (talking about drones, special satellites or stuff like that) that are sighted by people on the ground. 

Plus it was in Texas, right? Aren't there Houston and other NASA related bases? 

Btw, I took my usual break from the NFL so that's why I only commented on this topic. I usually read topic titles lately. 

[jrb12711]

Look, the military literally came out and said we need help cause we have a confirmed case of a UFO. It's not crazy to think other people are seeing them.

Also, that Cowherd clip might literally be the dumbest thing that man has ever said. 

[Dutch Oven]

Baker used to get hummers from skanks in the parking lot of Cheesecake Factories, now he's seeing UFOs.

Safe to say he never will have a boring offseason. Can't wait to see what happens next offseason. 

[The Gipper]

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/warp-drive-faster-light-space-travel-b1813958.html

[hoorta]

1 hour ago, The Gipper said:

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/warp-drive-faster-light-space-travel-b1813958.html

 

Nice try...  From the comments...  

"Aside from the fact that there are no known ways to either contract existing spacetime or create new spacetime on demand, so the propulsion technique is entirely imaginary, hey, why not? I can imagine a sparkly yellow unicorn dancing in orbit around Mars, too - which is just as probable as this propulsive system."

Just a modified wormhole theory Gipper...  Other than far beyond anything we can currently produce- it takes an unbelievable amount of energy to accelerate an object to quantum speeds. FWIW, the best we can currently do- 150,000 mph- we're well short of the roughly 3,600X faster we'd need to go- just to get to the speed of light.  The other obvious thing- assuming Einstein is right- when you accelerate an object to above light speed- time moves backwards.  For a kicks and giggles thought. Let's assume a spacecraft moving at double the speed of light. We get to Alpha Centauri in two years- that's 1\2 the time it took light to get to Earth. We're now living (relative to Earth)- two years in the past.    

So is the speed of light the speed limit of our Universe?  That will be a question for generations in our far distant future to answer.  

[TexasAg1969]

11 hours ago, Dutch Oven said:

Baker used to get hummers from skanks in the parking lot of Cheesecake Factories, now he's seeing UFOs.

Safe to say he never will have a boring offseason. Can't wait to see what happens next offseason. 

Until I see him rolling up $20s on a rubber swan in a Vegas pool with a half-filled bottle of Jack floating nearby, he ain't got off-season game.🤣

[The Gipper]

10 hours ago, hoorta said:

Nice try...  From the comments...  

"Aside from the fact that there are no known ways to either contract existing spacetime or create new spacetime on demand, so the propulsion technique is entirely imaginary, hey, why not? I can imagine a sparkly yellow unicorn dancing in orbit around Mars, too - which is just as probable as this propulsive system."

Just a modified wormhole theory Gipper...  Other than far beyond anything we can currently produce- it takes an unbelievable amount of energy to accelerate an object to quantum speeds. FWIW, the best we can currently do- 150,000 mph- we're well short of the roughly 3,600X faster we'd need to go- just to get to the speed of light.  The other obvious thing- assuming Einstein is right- when you accelerate an object to above light speed- time moves backwards.  For a kicks and giggles thought. Let's assume a spacecraft moving at double the speed of light. We get to Alpha Centauri in two years- that's 1\2 the time it took light to get to Earth. We're now living (relative to Earth)- two years in the past.    

So is the speed of light the speed limit of our Universe?  That will be a question for generations in our far distant future to answer.  

What about the "wormhole" theory?   I see it in science fiction all the time....but what is the supposed theory behind it.  Stargate?

As, as a Dune fan,  there is the concept of "Folding Space".   Is that too just a modified wormhole theory?  Whatever that is

[hoorta]

2 hours ago, The Gipper said:

What about the "wormhole" theory?   I see it in science fiction all the time....but what is the supposed theory behind it.  Stargate?

As, as a Dune fan,  there is the concept of "Folding Space".   Is that too just a modified wormhole theory?  Whatever that is

It "wormholes" is just a "theory" Gipper. There's no proof they actually exist. Wishful thinking?

That one comment from my previous post mentioned "space-time". Relativity says they're not two separate entities, they're linked. Think of it as an X-Y graph with space and time on different axis. The faster you move through space, the slower time goes, until at the speed of light- time = 0.

Everything we've seen to date essentially supports it.  Maybe there are objects flying around faster than light in an alternate universe that we can't detect, who knows? Getting there isn't in our current ability. 

[Orion]

According to Bob Lazar, the Roswell space ship (that he worked with) somehow contracts space ahead of you and expands it behind you.  Almost like sucking you forward.  Of course, that's if you believe any of that Roswell stuff.

Wormholes, man, that would take Soooo much energy to create.  And then you have to keep it open.  And you have to somehow fly through it.  And how would you know where the hell you'd end up?  And how would you get back?  Theoretical stuff.....and we just don't see any of it anywhere.

So far, the speed of light is the limit.  And that speed is incredibly slow...when thinking about the vast distances to actually get anywhere.  And you have to be a mass-less particle (oxymoronic) to attain such a speed.

The nearest star is way waaaay too far away for us to ever dream of reaching......at this point in time.

 

[Orion]

On 3/6/2021 at 4:04 PM, hoorta said:

Here's an image of the largest star we know about. In the dim constellation Scutum, 20 degrees north of Sagittarius.  

 

Actually, due to a distance measuring error, it's not even in the top 10 anymore.  It's much closer to us than they thought.  The new (and temporary) largest star is one of the Stephenson Group.

 

 

I really like these Kurzgesagt guys videos too...

 

[DieHardBrownsFan]

God is great.

[hoorta]

4 hours ago, Orion said:

 

Actually, due to a distance measuring error, it's not even in the top 10 anymore.  It's much closer to us than they thought. 

The new (and temporary) largest star is one of the Stephenson Group.

I really like these Kurzgesagt guys videos too...

 

But does it really matter?  All the contenders in the supergiant category are of the red persuasion. We're never going to personally visit any of them in our lifetimes anyway.    

[calfoxwc]

https://www.mufon.com/ufo-news

Delta-shaped Object Silhouetted by Moon

Case 113663: Susanne, Mark and Tyler [last name withheld] were on a family vacation in Divide, Colorado.  Suzanne claims to have seen a “dark object reflecting off the Moon.”  Divide is in the vicinity of Colorado Springs, approximately 60 miles south of Denver.  Colorado Springs is the location of the US Air Force and US Space Force Academy.  Petersen Air Force Base is also located nearby and adjacent to the Colorado Springs Municipal Airport. Colorado Springs is home to the North American Aerospace Command (NORAD) and the Space Force’s 21st Space Wing. 
 
While taking pictures, Suzanne zoomed in on the dark object which appeared to be a small triangle-shaped object silhouetted by the Moon.  She indicated in the CMS report that the Moon was at 90° above the horizon, that it glowed and left a trail or cloud.  Her initial photo is shown below.  The duration of the observation was one hour.  The object has a definite triangle or arrowhead shape.

[TexasAg1969]

Y'all hear about the Aggie Astronaut who wanted to be the first man to land on the sun? Now don't laugh. He won't just burn up. He's going at night.🤗👨‍🚀🌑

[Orion]

17 hours ago, hoorta said:

But does it really matter?  All the contenders in the supergiant category are of the red persuasion. We're never going to personally visit any of them in our lifetimes anyway.    

Honestly, I don't think that dying stars should count in the size competition.  They're losing their ability to hang on to their mass.  Outer layers are just kinda' poofing off.  Like when our sun dies, it's outer layers are gonna swell out to earth's orbit (or there abouts).  But that's not really a true measure of what the star really was.  It's just a big fucking hot cloud that will engulf the earth (if it reaches and/or push earth farther out).

[The Gipper]

57 minutes ago, Orion said:

Honestly, I don't think that dying stars should count in the size competition.  They're losing their ability to hang on to their mass.  Outer layers are just kinda' poofing off.  Like when our sun dies, it's outer layers are gonna swell out to earth's orbit (or there abouts).  But that's not really a true measure of what the star really was.  It's just a big fucking hot cloud that will engulf the earth (if it reaches and/or push earth farther out).

That is when we call for this to be instituted:   The Galactica Convoy:

 

[jbluhm86]

I'm a firm believer in UFOs and aliens. I see them all the time when I eat mushrooms.

[Orion]

I believe that abiogenesis is rare.  Life from non life.  I think it's just really hard to get the ball kicked off.  And probably equally as hard to go from an ameba to something that can do physics.  But putting the first part, abiogenesis, to bed is something that is just about within our reach.  If we could get equipment out to select moons of Saturn & Jupiter, and drill down far enough to get to the liquid oceans, there might be proof that it happened there too.  But there might not.  With our lights and cameras, we may see nothing swimming or bobbing about.  It would be very cool to know.  I'm not sure if my two grandboys will get to know....but it shouldn't be too many generations out.

[Nero]

I believe in other life forms in the Universe, but just as Orion said, even the speed of light is slow compared to the seize of the Universe. The closest galaxy is Andromeda at 4 light years if I recall correctly... So it would we weird for us to contact with other life forms, and if we would, I'd beet it would be through some signal in the space, not suddenly via a spacecraft. Hence my theory that some UFOs most likely are related with Air Force or something like that. 

[Dutch Oven]

 

[gumby73]

Choo-Choo ca chew at the Long John Silvers 🤣 🤣 I just past the coffee caffeine phase.... carry on ya ol'mighty aliens 👽... on mushrooms is perfectly excused 

[The Gipper]

9 hours ago, Orion said:

I believe that abiogenesis is rare.  Life from non life.  I think it's just really hard to get the ball kicked off.  And probably equally as hard to go from an ameba to something that can do physics.  But putting the first part, abiogenesis, to bed is something that is just about within our reach.  If we could get equipment out to select moons of Saturn & Jupiter, and drill down far enough to get to the liquid oceans, there might be proof that it happened there too.  But there might not.  With our lights and cameras, we may see nothing swimming or bobbing about.  It would be very cool to know.  I'm not sure if my two grandboys will get to know....but it shouldn't be too many generations out.

I don't know if it would be rare.....given the right conditions.   LIquid water,  a source of thermal heat, the right mix of chemicals.   As you say, there could be elemental life forms swimming about on  Io or Europa or the like. And I know that they have identified a few what they call "Goldilocks planets" in other systems.