Is anyone into Astronomy? I know I am. There are alot of things that we do that are based on astronomy. We just don't know it. Here is a real and true example-
The anciet people always studied the sky. They knew the sky and the patterns of the stars like the back of their hand. Every star moves along the sky in the same pattern every year, and the ancient people knew that. But every once and a while there would be 5 stars that didn't move across the sky like the other stars. Those 5 stars were also alot brighter then the other stars. The ancient people didn't know how to explain these 5 bright stars that didn't follow the same pattern as the other stars. So the said that the 5 stars were gods. They also gave those 5 stars a name. They called those 5 stars 'wandering stars' or as we call them today, 'lanets' 5 of the planets in our solar system are visable in the night sky from earth, (mercury, veanus, mars, jupiter, and saturn). The ancient people knew nothing about planets, so they decided the 5 planets were Gods, because the planets are not only bright, but they don't follow the pattern that all of the stars do.
It might be hard to belive, but it is true. The fact that we can see planets at night is also true. Go outside any day that it isn't overcast between now and mid-march. There will be a super bright star. It will be over 3 times brighter then any other star in the sky. That super bright star is actually a planet, Veanus. It is so bright not only because it is so close to us, but also because of its color. Grab a decent pair of binoculars, and you will be able to see a yellow-orange color. That is The color of the immense clouds that are on Veanus.
Here is a good example on how things that we don't even think about are based on astronomy-
Have you ever wondered why we have 7 days? It the 7 days are for the 5 planets the ancient people could see, the sun, and the moon. Monday is lunes in spanish. (pronounced lunase) Lunes is the day for the moon. Tuesday is martes in spanish. Martes is the day for Mars. Wednesday is miercoles in spanish. (pronounced mear-e-coles) Miercoles Is the day for Mercury. Thursday is jueves in spanish. Jueves Is the day for Jupiter. Friday is viernes in spanish. Viernes is the day for Veanus. Saturday is sabado in spanish. Sabado is the day for Saturn. Sunday is domingo in spanish. Domingo is the day for the sun.
So there you have it- 2 great examples on how Astronomy has shaped our lives in ways that we don't even think about. If we could see 6 planets in the sky, then we would have an 8 day week!
Actually, The planet uranus is wrongly pronounced every often like your-anus. uranus is suppossed to be pronounced ur-a-nus. The a in uranus is prounced like it would be in the sentence 'I want a dog.
It is hard to prounounce it that way though especially after years of doing it "wrong". Plus it sounds weird.
Mount everest should be pronounced Mount eve-rest but I can't do it with out thinking hard 'cos I'm so used to the normal way.
How good are modern telesopes, how far can they see. I've seen all the pictures of far off galaxy's yet Opik-Oort Cloud is still hypothetical. I don't get it.
IT depends on what you buy. Mine came with a 48x lens, and I can see the rings of saturn with it. They are faint, but visible. I got a 195x recently, and I can see Jupiter's great red spot. Saturn's rings are visible, and I can see some odf its moons too. IN case you are wondering, Saturn is right below procyon in the constillation Leo the Lion. Jupiter comes up around $am, and Saturn come up around 7:30 pm. Thats from where I live, at least.
I love space too, but we never learn about it in school or such. I live in a small town though, and about half an hour away is a place where you can see a phenomenal amount of stars, so I guess I'm lucky. Maybe. I saw comet Lulin when it was out. Anyone else see it?
ITs not hard to see glaxys becuase they give off so much light. You can see the andromeda glaxcy with binoculars. But The milkey way is so massive, we van barely see the core, let alone the very edge.
I saw comet Lulin when it was out. Anyone else see it?
I saw it about 3 weeks ago when it was passing near Leo the Lion. It was alt dimmer then through. It is still up in the sky, but I don't think it's visible without a telescope. I think it was at it's brightest about a month sgo when it was in Libra. But you would have to get up a 3am to see it then. I love astronomy, but not enough to get out of bed at 3am on a weekend. I should be more commited.
I love astronomy!! I've always been very interested in deep space, especially
I heard that there is going to be a replacement for the hubble going up soon. It's suppossed to be able to see alot more stuff, and it can see in thermal image. Hubble can't. So you'll be hearing alot more about deep space stuf if it ever goes up.
I'll try to dig up some info on it and post it here...
