Astronomy & Astrophysics Message Board

The photo at the top of this group is the Eskimo Nebulea taken by the HST.

If I were stuck on a desert island, I would want to take along Fundamental Astronomy, Astrophysical Concepts and Stellar Structure and Evolution.

Of course I would need to take Calculus, A Handbook of Differential Equations and Integral Equations and Applications to decipher the math.

I'd better take some aspirin along for the head aches I'll get, a super computer for crunching the numbers and a satellite internet connection so I can keep up with the latest papers. By now I think I've started a research think-tank on the desert Island.

On second thought, maybe I'll just bring the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, hang out in a hammock and fish.

I am neither a scientist nor a real hobbyist, since I do not use a telescope. But I love reading about deep space, if that counts for anything. My favorite book (so far) is Other Worlds by James Trefil. The photography is mind-boggling. I also love to visit space.com, the Chandra site, and the Hubble site and I get the NASA newsletter. And I love to read other's theories and make up a few of my own along the way. I was just reading this weekend about Voyager being in the heliosphere (is that right?) and would be travelling through it for the next 10 years. I hadn't realized we were inside a gas bubble! (It's been 3 days, so bear with me if I forget the names of things.) There is some sort of light that they assumed was produced by the heliosphere, but have now learned it isn't. Does anyone know anything about it?

Correction: I think it was the heliosheath, rather than the heliosphere, after thinking about it today. But I could still be wrong. :)

Looks like this one is dead in the water. How about gamma ray bursts? Someone somewhere determined they are caused by colliding neutron stars. Any of you have an opinion?

Well I think there was a nasa podcast on it a week or so ago - the edge of it is the heliosheath I think - it is the area of space under the influence of the magnetic affects of the solar wind.

Apparently the measurements are way out when compared to the predictions,

Always makes life interesting.

Life certainly is interesting. Thank you, psiloiordinary.

It wasn't light, as I had remembered incorrectly, but anomalous cosmic rays that were the surprise. (I tend to generalize and reduce things to their lowest common denominator, which can be a bad habit.) I found this at www.physorg.com:

Anomalous Cosmic Rays: "This one takes a little explaining," he says. "While the heliosheath protects us from deep-space cosmic rays, at the same time it is busy producing some cosmic rays of its own. A shock wave at the inner boundary of the heliosheath imparts energy to subatomic particles which zip, cosmic-ray-like, into the inner solar system. "We call them 'anomalous cosmic rays.' They're not as dangerous as galactic cosmic rays because they are not so energetic."
Researchers expected Voyager 1 to encounter the greatest number of anomalous cosmic rays at the inner boundary of the heliosheath "because that's where we thought anomalous cosmic rays were produced." Surprise: Voyager crossed the boundary in August 2005 and there was no spike in cosmic rays. Only now, 300 million miles later, is the intensity beginning to grow.

"This is really puzzling," says Stone. "Where are these anomalous cosmic rays coming from?"

Voyager 1 may find the source--and who knows what else?--as it continues its journey. The heliosheath is 3 to 4 billion miles in thickness, and Voyager 1 will be inside it for another 10 years or so. That's a lot of new territory to explore and plenty of time for more surprises.

Does anyone here like to theorize? I'm always curious when something unexpected is encountered.

Since this board is virtually inactive, I decided to use it for testing ground. I'm no longer a member, but wondered if I could post anyway. We'll see if it flies!

And, yes, it did! Interesting.

Have you noticed that most groups are open and anyone can post? I often post in groups tht I am 'merely' watching. Maybe I should join them?

Hey Lorsomething, you still out there? I subscribed to the weekly journal NATURE two years ago, after I retired, and I'm catching up with all the scientific stuff I missed while I was out there in the crummy "real world" earning a living. The heliosheath sounds vaguely familiar. I think I came across it while reading about sunspots. If I recall correctly, the sunspots fling harmful cosmic rays in our direction, but earth is partially protected by the heliosheath, which absorbs much of the energy.
I only joined LT ten days ago, so don't blame me for not posting for the past 3 years. Take care.
p.s. I used to be some kind of super-whiz at math a century or so ago, and I'm trying to get back into it, but it has all changed since Batman (that's what we called the head of my college math dept., because he wore a cape,) used to follow me around trying to make me a math major. From the math books I've read so far, I think math has changed for the better. Science too.