Did you know? (Random things in life)

[dbostedo]

The ratio between a mile and a light year is within 0.2% of the ratio between an inch and an "astronomical unit", or the average distance between the earth and the sun. Big deal, huh? Buuuut ... if you want an easy way to visualize how empty space is in terms of distances we call understand, it means that if we imagine the solar system to be shrunk so that the earth is an inch from the sun, each light year is a mile. That means that the closest star system (Proxima Centauri) is 4.2 miles away, and the brightest star, Sirius (off Orion's right foot) is 8.7 miles away.

I think there were a bunch of astronomical ones earlier in this thread... but I like this one... Which of these moons is the correct distance from the earth (properly to scale)?

Spoiler: Answer

C is correct

 

[James]

I think there were a bunch of astronomical ones earlier in this thread... but I like this one... Which of these moons is the correct distance from the earth (properly to scale)?

View attachment 108302

Spoiler: Answer

C is correct

Well it’s roughly 20x the earth’s diameter. Is that b or c?

 

[dbostedo]

Well it’s roughly 20x the earth’s diameter. Is that b or c?

It's actually almost 30 times the earth's diameter on average (~236,000 miles, compared to the earth's diameter of ~8000 miles)... which is C (as given in the spoiler under the picture). FWIW, the correct moon and earth are from an actual photo from a space probe (on its way to Mars)... I added the other two moons.

Another one I really like... did you know, this is an actual picture of the "dark side" of the moon and the earth?

 

[James]

did you know, this is an actual picture of the "dark side" of the moon and the earth?

Ah I flailed using 12,000 miles for diam when it’s kilometers
Photo is enhanced/altered. It wouldn’t look like that I don’t think. Earth is too far away.
I suppose with a mega telephoto lens, and far from the moon, it could be.

GOES-16 Weather satellite, 2017.

Apollo 8 photo, 1968.

28 iconic photos of the Earth from space that will make you feel puny and insignificant

Carl Sagan, whose birthday is November 9, famously juxtaposed human history as a struggle upon a mote of cosmic dust in his book "Pale Blue Dot."

www.businessinsider.com

 

[dbostedo]

Photo is enhanced/altered.

If you're talking about the photo I posted, no, it's not. It's taken from a million miles away.... here's more info, and a GIF of the transit:

From a Million Miles Away, NASA Camera Shows Moon Crossing Face of Earth - NASA

A NASA camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite captured a unique view of the moon as it moved in front of the sunlit side of Earth

www.nasa.gov

 

[T-Square]

Impressive. Thanks

If you're talking about the photo I posted, no, it's not. It's taken from a million miles away.... here's more info, and a GIF of the transit:

From a Million Miles Away, NASA Camera Shows Moon Crossing Face of Earth - NASA

A NASA camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite captured a unique view of the moon as it moved in front of the sunlit side of Earth

www.nasa.gov

 

[Claymore76]

Did you know that you can keep most people sitting in a chair with just your thumb? Try it sometime- have a friend sit down on chair or couch, back straight. Put your thumb against their forehead. As long as they can't move their head forward and shift their center of mass, most people won't be able to get out of the chair.

 

[James]

If you're talking about the photo I posted, no, it's not. It's taken from a million miles away.... here's more info, and a GIF of the transit:

From a Million Miles Away, NASA Camera Shows Moon Crossing Face of Earth - NASA

A NASA camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite captured a unique view of the moon as it moved in front of the sunlit side of Earth

www.nasa.gov

Pretty cool.
This one was from 31 million miles.

NASA - NASA's Deep Impact Films Earth as an Alien World

 

[dbostedo]

Pretty cool.
This one was from 31 million miles.

NASA - NASA's Deep Impact Films Earth as an Alien World

Awesome... Side note: Deep Impact included the first piece of hardware that I helped design that was in Space. It featured two of the processors that I worked on in the early 2000's. And one of which NASA destroyed (intentionally) when it rammed the "impactor" from Deep Impact into a comet at over 22,000 miles per hour.

 

[Joby Graham]

It's actually almost 30 times the earth's diameter on average (~236,000 miles, compared to the earth's diameter of ~8000 miles)... which is C (as given in the spoiler under the picture). FWIW, the correct moon and earth are from an actual photo from a space probe (on its way to Mars)... I added the other two moons.

Another one I really like... did you know, this is an actual picture of the "dark side" of the moon and the earth?

View attachment 108303

"There is no dark side of the moon, really. Matter of fact, it's all dark." - Roger Waters

 

[Tricia]

Here's somehting I did not know until today.
It's definitely one of those things that make you go....hmmmmmm
Male giraffes will headbutt females in the bladder until they pee.
They then drink the urine, tasting it to determine whether the female is ovulating.

 

[dbostedo]

one of those things that make you go....hmmmmmm

and ewwww

 

[Uncle-A]

Here's somehting I did not know until today.
It's definitely one of those things that make you go....hmmmmmm
Male giraffes will headbutt females in the bladder until they pee.
They then drink the urine, tasting it to determine whether the female is ovulating.

View attachment 141815

TMI is all I have to say about that.

 

[Jim McDonald]

Couldn't they just ask....

 

[pete]

Here's somehting I did not know until today.
It's definitely one of those things that make you go....hmmmmmm
Male giraffes will headbutt females in the bladder until they pee.
They then drink the urine, tasting it to determine whether the female is ovulating.

Back in college I've seen weird pick up rituals and heard odd pick up lines, typically tossed out by bouncers but a few times lead out by police.

Most fun when the female would back hand the male

 

[Tricia]

I did not know that Julia Child was involved with the CIA and one of the early recipes she cooked up was shark repellent

Julia Child’s Spy Days Included Work on a Shark Repellent | HISTORY

She started as a clerk-typist, but when she got to the OSS Emergency Sea Rescue Equipment Section, she began to do more significant work.

www.history.com

 

[Jim McDonald]