The Space Megathread - theories and discussion

[Khaz]

The universe is doing a good job of pulling apart. The reason why there's a "Known universe" is because everything outside of the observable edge is moving so fast away from us, the light hasn't reached us yet and probably never will in time.

i never even thought about that like that but it makes alot of loving sense

[Ad Bot]

[IkeTheGeneric]

Think about it like this, all that we observe from outside of our little blue dot is light coming from whatever's out there. That's why long exposure shots of the night sky seem so vivid and full, because the more time you have a camera fixed towards space, the more light is able to reach the lens and be recorded.

What we're observing isn't where it was when we see it, and objects really far from us that we observed have moved way, way farther from their original position than objects we observed closer to us.

[Becquerel]

Think about it like this, all that we observe from outside of our little blue dot is light coming from whatever's out there. That's why long exposure shots of the night sky seem so vivid and full, because the more time you have a camera fixed towards space, the more light is able to reach the lens and be recorded.

What we're observing isn't where it was when we see it, and objects really far from us that we observed have moved way, way farther from their original position than objects we observed closer to us.

I gotta call God and tell him that our connection to the universe is pretty god damn ridden with lag

OT Do Kerr black holes even exist?

[Khaz]

snip

yeah i kinda touched up on that with this post:

we can only see history through capturing light. if we look up to the sky through a telescope and see something that's 1000 light-years away, we are seeing it as it was 1000 years ago because it takes 1000 years for it's light to reach us.

it's kinda crazy. everything we know that exists is because of light and we only know that it exists because of light. and then to take in the factor that those objects aren't even there anymore at the time we finally see them. it's cool but also in a way frustrating/perplexing because like where are those objects now!?!?!?

[Verification]

            Betelgeuse might have exploded by now and we wouldnt be able to tell

[Khaz]

           Betelgeuse might have exploded by now and we wouldnt be able to tell

i hear the estimate for betelgeuse's death is to be 100,000 years from now but it's only 642 lightyears away so unlikely but who knows

its not like you or i or anyone today will see it anyway :(

[Verification]

i hear the estimate for betelgeuse's death is to be 100,000 years from now but it's only 642 lightyears away so unlikely but who knows

its not like you or i or anyone today will see it anyway :(

Saw that ninja

... But what if there were some kind of tf2 style radiactive superfuel that could be used to extend human life in distant galaxies? We probably have only scratched the surface of elements in the earth, other planets and the rest of our universe.

[Khaz]

Saw that ninja

... But what if there were some kind of tf2 style radiactive superfuel that could be used to extend human life in distant galaxies? We probably have only scratched the surface of elements in the earth, other planets and the rest of our universe.

well i mean we have man-made elements at this point which are chemically different than other elements but dont occur in nature so i doubt other elements even exist

i could be wrong though im not too knowledgeable about chemistry i mean i passed the class but the tests were easy asf to study for

[Steve5451²]

Saw that ninja

... But what if there were some kind of tf2 style radiactive superfuel that could be used to extend human life in distant galaxies? We probably have only scratched the surface of elements in the earth, other planets and the rest of our universe.

as awesome as it would be, atoms can only have a certain amount of protons before they become unstable and decay

[TristanLuigi]

as awesome as it would be, atoms can only have a certain amount of protons before they become unstable and decay

Yeah, I really hate the sci-fi trope of "weird new alien elements!" The entire universe is made of the same elements we have (and know about) on Earth, and any new ones we create will decay in a tiny fraction of a second and are therefore of no use. We've got around ~90 elements to work with, and we always will. The only progress I can see in this endeavor is if we were somehow able to suppress the weak force, which is responsible for nuclear decay. But there's no theoretical, let alone practical, way of doing that, any more than there is a way to suppress gravity.

[Verification]

im about to open up a can of whoop ass for stuffting on my idea

maybe there could be a strange alloy or something?

[TristanLuigi]

im about to open up a can of whoop ass for stuffting on my idea

maybe there could be a strange alloy or something?

short answer: nope

long answer: Alloys are just combinations of existing elements, at least one of which must be a metal. The idea that there could be an alloy with magical properties is sort of like the idea that you could mix flour and water to create gold. Most alloys simply combine the properties of the elements they're made of, and while sometimes there can be interesting consequences (for example, an alloy of sodium and potassium - both solids at room temperature - can be a liquid), in general you won't get anything "sci-fi."

[Khaz]

man binge watching neil degrasse tyson will leave you woke af as forget

[Kobewarrior]

crazy how nature do that

[HellHound]

earth might not be flat, but the universe is. space-time's curvature is very, very low, so it's safe to assume it's flat.