DailyDirt: Distant Discoveries
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Astronomers are constantly discovering new phenomena (or really, really old stuff, depending on how you look at it) all the time. There is simply a lot of stuff in the universe and we’re not going to ever finish looking at all of it. A sizable chunk of the cosmos isn’t even observable to us. But it’s still fascinating to try to catalog everything out there. Here are just a few discoveries keeping astronomers busy these days.
- A tiny blob of light named UDFj-39546284 is tentatively dubbed the most distant galaxy seen so far. The James Webb Telescope will confirm the classification, and until then there’s a 20%(!) chance that this thing isn’t a galaxy at all. [url]
- The Kepler telescope has found 54 planets in a “habitable zone” around their respective stars — and 5 of those are approximately Earth-sized. There are plenty more to find still, too. [url]
- According to statistical analysis, the cosmos is at least 250 times bigger than what we can see. So you can’t believe everything you see.. and there’s lies, damn lies and statistics to back that up. [url]
- In a not-so-distant court, astrology has been re-affirmed as a “trusted science” in India. Apparently, India’s Supreme Court had already ruled astrology as a science in 2004. [url]
- To discover more astronomy-related links, check out what’s floating around in StumbleUpon universe. [url]
By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.
Filed Under: astrology, astronomy, cosmos, galaxy, kepler, planet
Comments on “DailyDirt: Distant Discoveries”
Yeah, here’s something from StumbleUpon about TechDirt’s partner Federated Media:
http://jessicagottlieb.com/2010/05/federated-media-business-practices/
Dat Indian Supreme Court Ruling!
That’s basically taking a shitty stick and rubbing it all over legitimate Indian scientists – the ones that haven’t emigrated anyway.
“The court had in 2004 also directed the universities to consider if astrology science can be added to the syllabus.”
(from the link)
So where do I get my astrology degree. I want to get at least a masters. Then I can put it on my job application.
Re: Re:
“I spent five years of my life on made-up bullshit. Imagine how much time I’ll spend on things that are real! That could be your real stuff I’m spending time on!”
http://www.reasons.org
Full of interesting facts and information pertaining to astronomy, astrophysics, geophysics, molecular biology, and more.
Re: Re:
That site has already confused Evolution with Abiogenesis on the home page. Tab closed.
I definitely enjoyed participating with Galaxy Zoo when it started. What a cool idea that is!
Now if only we could get more accurate measurements of distance when it comes to this stuff.
Re: Re:
Yup… Looking forward to the James Webb Telescope going up in a few years.
But maybe microsatellites will be cheap and plentiful enough to create a huge network of mini-hubbles in LEO by then…?
Re: Re: Re:
I’m looking forward to that too.
The mini-hubbles idea is an interesting one, it would be a very large array…
Re: Re: Re: Re:
I’d like to see two radio telescopes at Earth’s leading and trailing Lagrange points. Imagine a baseline 1.73AU long. *drool*
All nice, but how do these news affect me if I am a Capricorn? /sarcasm