Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

WHAT MYSTERIES LURK AT PROXIMA CENTAURI?
SYFYWire ^ | 22 Feb, 2017 | Phil Plait

Posted on 02/23/2018 9:21:36 PM PST by MtnClimber

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-42 next last
To: C210N

This is not correct.


21 posted on 02/24/2018 12:34:36 AM PST by NativeSon ( Grease the floor with Crisco when I dance the Disco)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Redcitizen; C210N
Instead of starting the engine to slow down at the edge of the galaxy and then build speed back up, why not do a loop around a star system to maintain your current velocity so as to be more fuel efficient not to mention saving time on the return trip.

Because that star system would have to consist of a massive Black Hole, and to "loop around," as you say, you would have to practically "skim" the Black Hole's Event Horizon.

By the time you reached max. velocity, at the Galaxy's edge, and wanted to reverse your direction and go home, you would have a velocity of, say, 0.99997 c ("c" = velocity of light). Doing a "flyby" (as is routinely done by Nasa's space probes, when they swing by Jupiter or Saturn or such to get an extra little "push" and speed them on their way to, say, Neptune) can never increase / decrease your velocity by more than the escape velocity of the celestial body you are swinging by.

Thus, only Black Holes would be suitable for your purpose.

Since you would be in free fall, you would not feel the sudden deceleration and acceleration as you rounded the Black Hole - but the tidal forces (see Larry Niven's "Neutron Star") would make spaghetti of you.

Regards,

22 posted on 02/24/2018 12:44:04 AM PST by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: C210N

1g is no small acceleration by today’s standards. And maintaining it for more than a few minutes would require something like nuclear power. Maintaining it for 4 years would require something far beyond that. And another problem arises: when you get close enough to the speed of light, ordinary atoms in space become deadly cosmic rays. A couple years acceleration at 1g will fry the astronauts unless they have tons of lead shielding for every square foot.


23 posted on 02/24/2018 1:08:13 AM PST by Telepathic Intruder
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber; Pelham; Mr. Mojo; Bodleian_Girl; WKB

That planets distance from its red dwarf sun/star is only 19 times the distance our moon is from earth yet temps would be life sustaining for little green men

Our own Mercury is nearly 9 times as far away from our Fat Old Sun as proxima b is from its sun Proxima Centauri the red dwarf

Amazing stuff

I think our very own Oort Cloud which is the outer limits of our solar system..Hill Sphere sorta the limit of our sun gravity pretty much is also only 3 or less light years in some outer points from the Alpha Centauri system and is affected to some degree by that gravitational pull as well

the beginning of interstellar space for us

I love this stuff

Thanks for posting

I read astronomy for leisure.....I have pondered the vastness since I was a kid when camping out in rural areas with good visible night sky panorama

The two times I’ve been near death in my life I’ve had an impulse to be outside to see the sky as a conduit of comfort considering I was in serious mortality trouble

I wonder if that’s normal

Sometimes I feel I can sense Gods portal through it all....it’s just nothing to our creator....like opening a box to us...at most

It’s like watching a birth or watching folks face certain death doing the right thing ....watching the vastness of space inspires confidence in our Lord or a creator

Wonder how many astronomers and astrophysicist are non believers

Not many obstetricians or oncologists are atheists

The Centauri group is really close relatively speaking in our galaxy


24 posted on 02/24/2018 1:23:40 AM PST by wardaddy (As a southerner I've never trusted the Grand Old Party.....any questions?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

Cixin Liu’s “Three Body Problem” details how it might be to live in that system, the follow on sequels further delineate how Earth might interact and why we hear no other radio sources from other civilizations.


25 posted on 02/24/2018 1:37:16 AM PST by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: alexander_busek

Skimming the gravitational pull outer limits (is that same as the Hill Sphere of a star?) black holes sounds like a risky endeavor akin to snake charming or placing head in lions mouth at the circus

And the mass density issues I assume start there no?

One analogous description of black hole density always stuck with me....a thimble of Black Hole matter in a black hole would have the weight of a full supertanker

That’s exponentially more than pressures at our deepest ocean depths

14.5 more pounds pressure every 33 feet of depth

I guess challenger deep pressure is 15,000 psi

But in reality I’m wrong I think because isn’t the point of massive density in a black hole the absolute center?

Some scientists say an all consuming black hole can be less dense than water except that precise center of the hole

It’s over my head


26 posted on 02/24/2018 1:39:41 AM PST by wardaddy (As a southerner I've never trusted the Grand Old Party.....any questions?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Redcitizen

The turning radius of a Tesla Roadster at lightspeed isn’t all that great.


27 posted on 02/24/2018 1:44:14 AM PST by thoughtomator (Number of arrested coup conspirators to date: 0)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

WHAT MYSTERIES LURK AT PROXIMA CENTAURI?

A Klingon penal colony.


28 posted on 02/24/2018 2:30:21 AM PST by Hugin (Conservatism without Nationalism is a fraud..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: C210N

I checked the thread where those numbers came from, and it had a link to another thread where there were equations to calculate relativistic effects. Unfortunately, the link was dead.


29 posted on 02/24/2018 4:05:09 AM PST by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: exDemMom

If interested to “drill” further, there must be many alternatives to search for. Online plug-in calculators and the like. The sites themselves may come and go, depending on the funding behind it.

It makes sense to me - time dilation is a proven real thing. Fascinating to the imagination, obviously this ‘aint happening anytime soon. You can travel at .95c, but getting there will be a hurdle!


30 posted on 02/24/2018 4:39:06 AM PST by C210N (Republicans sign check fronts; 'Rats sign check backs.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

31 posted on 02/24/2018 4:49:44 AM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: C210N

I’m interested in the exact relationship between relativistic speeds and time dilation. I’ve had a story in my head for years in which that relation is a major plot element, but I’ll never write it unless I can quantitate that relationship. And I’m a biochemist, so I learned to quantitate, never quantify...


32 posted on 02/24/2018 5:11:51 AM PST by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber
"that by happenstance is somewhat closer to us, on the near side of the system"

For now.

33 posted on 02/24/2018 5:15:00 AM PST by P.O.E. (Pray for America)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

I had that book!


34 posted on 02/24/2018 5:28:09 AM PST by IronJack (A)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: exDemMom

Not a physicist either, but the “fudge factor” for mass is given by 1/sqrt(c^2 - v^2). As you can see, as v approaches c, that number goes toward infinity. I’d suppose the factor for time dilation is the same.


35 posted on 02/24/2018 5:39:46 AM PST by Campion (Halten Sie sich unbedingt an die Lehre!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: RightGeek

Before long we’ll be dashing up to Proxy-C for a weekend getaway!


36 posted on 02/24/2018 6:16:00 AM PST by Savage Beast (President Trump LEADS the resistance! Vive la resistance! Pray for the victory of truth!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: fieldmarshaldj; KevinDavis; annie laurie; Knitting A Conundrum; Viking2002; Ernest_at_the_Beach; ...
Thanks fieldmarshaldj.
 
X-Planets
· join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · subscribe ·
Google news searches: exoplanet · exosolar · extrasolar ·
"The Nearest Star song" - Sheldon Cooper, The Big Bang Theory S04E05 (The Desperation Emanation)

The Nearest Star song

37 posted on 02/24/2018 7:19:19 AM PST by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: RightGeek

With enough fried chicken they can go anywhere!!


38 posted on 02/24/2018 9:57:21 AM PST by Enchante (FusionGPS "dirty dossier" scandal links Hillary, FBI, CIA, Dept of Justice... "Deep State" is real)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: wardaddy
The Privileged Planet
39 posted on 02/24/2018 10:58:24 AM PST by Pelham (California, a subsidiary of Mexico, Inc.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Pelham

Fascinating

Tks for the link

No question earth is pretty unique from what we can now see and we can see a whole lot

What i find also telling is how much of the universe in it’s perpetual movement tends towards most being on similar axis patterns

Like a giant clock

Yes there are anomalies


40 posted on 02/24/2018 1:00:59 PM PST by wardaddy (As a southerner I've never trusted the Grand Old Party.....any questions?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-42 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson