Astronomy, The Sky and Outer Space

Do you believe in coincidences? The year was 1947. Some of you will recall that on July 8, 1947, 70 + years ago, numerous witnesses claim that an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) with five aliens aboard, crashed onto a sheep and mule ranch just outside of Roswell, New Mexico. This is a well known incident that many say has long been covered up by the US Airforce, as well as other Federal Agencies and organisations. However, what you may NOT know is that during the month of April, year 1948, nine months after the historic day, the following people were born: Mike Pence, Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell. This is the obvious consequence of aliens breeding with sheep and jackasses. I truly hope this bit of information clears up a lot of things for you.

Evening all. With all the gloom & doom around, providing we don't catch pneumonia from getting too cold outside, at least looking at the sky is free of legislation.. Having mentioned the constellation Orion, now becoming visible before sunrise (weather permitting), for anyone unfamiliar, picture four bright stars making a big oblong, then in the middle are three stars in a row, then just below them is a fuzzy star cluster, which includes a huge nebula. I've found an enhanced image of the constellation. A glorious photo of the nebula recorded on a 200 inch telescope. I will share some mind blowing facts about the stars making up this constellation in the days to come. I do miss Sir Patrick Moore for bringing this science to my level.

Just yatter, Please don't be bullied about the subject. Most of us know that our earth globe is divided into segments for map references. Latitude & longitude. Astronomers divided the sky in the same way. It's called Right Ascension & Declination. I will explain right ascension another day as it's a measurement involving time, but declination is easier as it is like earth latitude. Those familiar with geometry might be able to work out why we viewing from Coventry can never see the Southern Cross, that our friends down under can see. Just as they cannot see the Plough, Ursa Major. It all depends on the declination.

Ah, Orion. I confess to having a soft spot for Betelgeuse. The home of Ford Prefect and Zaphod Beeblebrox

Hi Helen, Betelgeuse, the orange blob in the picture, is so huge, that if it was at the centre of our solar system, ie where our sun is, its mass would envelope our planet earth.

I was reading in Forbes that scientists are thinking about what may have caused the Big Bang. Any thoughts?

Scientists who promote that theory have limited knowledge. In my understanding one has to understand or consider the Nature of Reality. Namely, it is causeless, self-effulgent, changeless and eternal. It is outside of time, or 'time exists within it'. The world, which is a phenomena projected on the 'screen of Reality' is not real using the above criteria. The witness of the world is real, and that is where attention ought to be directed to discover real answers. In short "The world has no subjective reality".

Jupiter taken from the Hubble telescope.

Hi all, In trying to understand the nature of matter, with all the whys & wherefores, I can't. I can only draw on my experience over seventy years of pondering. When I started my career in accounting, a senior auditor who I was training under, told me amongst other things, to look at the structure of the accounting system, to see if it is based on accurate records, or a target. A target is where a model is created, then supports are either drawn or stitched to hold it up or together. More than ever in my lifetime, the last two decades I have seen the most calamitous corporate scandals, the one thing in common are the stitched up accounts. So many of the unknown sciences, start from theorems, then supported by evidence or further theorems as technology permits. Without me trying to understand the start of the universe, which I can't, I can look at some of the evidence. If it was all crystal clear, all educated scientists would agree with whatever, but the fact is that they dont. Some cannot even agree on the basic measurement tool of carbon 14 dating. For example, the oldest tree ring dating, which is universally agreed upon, varies so widely from the carbon 14 dating of the same sample. Yet it is just brushed over & ignored. If modern science is so accurate, how come the pandemic has us caught us with our pants down! So, I remain as sceptical as ever. One of the prime tasks of a financial audit, is to separate fact from fiction, then see how it stacks up. If only I was clever.

In the past year or so, scientists have recorded what they say is the "sound" of the Big Bang.... In the Beginning....... We humans' thirst for knowledge - well, some of us, at least! From white-coat men of science to the mystics of the East. We observe what is around us, make some sense of what we see. A prime example being Einstein's Relativity. Albert Einstein was a genius, and his theories shed new light On how the universe was formed " the Big Bang in the night! Who would have thought, for instance, that a moving clock ticks slow, And gravity can change the way we see a light beams' glow. But subsequently each and every one of these ideas Has been proven to be fact " the world is not as it appears! Creationists, it must be said, still won't admit he's right, And quote from ancient documents to prove that God is Light. But scientific method is remorseless in its quest, And labs all round the world compete to find out who's the best. Just picture those great scientists, how excited would they be To find themselves observing waves of Big Bang gravity! A fraction of a second after that Big Bang took place, The universe inflated at a meteoric pace. Gravitation was created that has rippled through to us. The evidence has now become quite unambiguous. But what, enquiring minds will ask, preceded these events? Debate about this question is exceedingly intense. A Nobel Prize awaits the one that solves the mystery Of what provoked that key event in cosmic history. Now confident that they'd find out what really had occurred, With bated breath, they played the tape, and this is what they heard......... A still small voice says, through the phones, not loud, but very clear, "I wonder what will happen if I press this button here................." BANG!!!!!!!!!!

Brilliant, you could be right!! When my wife and I walked out of the cinema after watching The Matrix over 20 years ago, what you said above pretty much explains the exact feeling we both had!

Galaxies like the one that we live in all vary in shape, but if we were to be a planet in the Andromeda galaxy, looking at where we live in, using a powerful telescope, we might see something similar, to the Andromeda galaxy that we can see. Such a sight does make me feel so small. All of the stars that we see in our sky at night, are all part of our own galaxy. Millions of them, separated by distances that can only really be understood by mathematicians. I can't! Yet, seeing Andromeda, which is another complete star system, further away & there are millions of them, my mind simply runs dry.

I fell asleep on the couch after watching a lecture, then a documentary on the subject of dark matter & dark energy. I'm just waiting for the white van to arrive! Whilst my mathematics stops at practical levels, no way can I comprehend theoretical formulas, like the general theory of relativity, or the special theory of Einstein. I can though picture the term relativity. I can see the relevance of what we see, that is relative to where we are & what we are doing. That it might not be the same as what you or anyone else can see. That's as far as my mind will go.

What I am aware of is that Gravity is a huge force that affects everything that we can see, touch, or feel. It can bend light, along with everything in the Electromagnetic spectrum. So, depending on where you & I are, or doing we can see it at different speeds & so on. Time itself doesn't change, accept that our perception of it does. I hope I have that correct.