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http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/i … 556]Storms on Saturn
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/i … ID=31621]I think I saw this planet on Space 1999
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/i … =31629]And this picture is just too cool!
Cindy, Let me answer one question, and then we'll get back to Saturn. (Actually) there are some similarities between Titan and Venus.
LtlPhysics, above Venus' clouds, its sky is blue during the day. Below the clouds it is yellow. A balloon probe, floating above the clouds would send back some wonderful picture. I would like to see such a probe sent to all the gas giants, and Titan.
I was hoping Huygens would have snapped a couple of pictures above Titan's haze, and maybe even get Saturn in the frame.
Like Venus, Titan's atmosphere is clear and blue above the clouds/haze. What a wonderful picture would be to have Saturn floating in Titan's blue sky above the orange haze/clouds below.
As for the scattering of blue light by an atmosphere, if the atmosphere is clear and composed of small molecule gasses(I don’t know the exact size, but around 1 to 4 atoms).
The atmosphere thickness also plays. The thicker the atmosphere is, the more light it adsorbs, so it starts looking whiter(White light reflects all wavelength of light. Black adsorbs all wavelengths of light).
I guess it comes down to have much matter you have making up the atmosphere, be it gas or dust. The more matter, the more light rays are adsorbed.
Looking at Saturn, its atmosphere is mostly hydrogen and helium’s, with traces of other gasses (Its clouds are made of stuff like water and ammonia). This type of atmosphere will scatter blue light, above the clouds.
http://njminerals.org/tremolite.html]Here is the tremolite link
Shawn, my first impression of the first picture is that it is a crystal, which is actually a rather exciting find, if true. To my knowledge, we have not seen any crystals on Mars, certainly none this large. It looks sort of like a cluster of corundum crystals.
Examples
http://www.crystalsandjewelry.com/carvi … .html]here, http://www.gggems.com/Madagascan_corundum.htm]here and http://csmres.jmu.edu/geollab/Fichter/M … .html]here.
Ruby and sapphires from Mars? Those would be some valuable gemstones.
Or possibly a cluster of http://njminerals.org/tremolite.html]tremolite crystals?
A little off-topic.
http://www.iris.edu/seismon/]Quake in Arkansas
I don't recall ever seeing one in Arkansas in recent times.
Enceladus is very round for a world only 310 miles across. It must have a high water content that has been heated to be so spherical.
Is Mimas about the same size as the fictional Death Star was supposed to be?
I don't think it is the rings. Nasa says this for that first picture.
"Saturn's northern hemisphere is presently relatively cloud-free, and rays of sunlight take a long path through the atmosphere. This results in sunlight being scattered at shorter (bluer) wavelengths, thus giving the northernmost latitudes their bluish appearance at visible wavelengths. "
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If you were in Saturns upper atmosphere, you would see a blue sky. Of course, the same is true of Jupiter and it is not blue...hmmmmmmm :hm:
Maybe it is the angle at which those pictures were taken? Or maybe it is the fact that the "Saturn's northern hemisphere is presently relatively cloud-free"
The Earth looks blue from space because of the oceans. And the oceans are blue because they reflect the blue rays from the atmosphere. Even though the sky as viewed from land, from space, the land does not appear blue. This is because the land does not reflect the blue light rays the way water does.
So back to the Saturn mystery. Saturn’s atmosphere (Upper side anyway) is always scattering blue light. For us to see it from space, it would have to be reflecting off something down below. Maybe Saturn really is blue in the places where the atmosphere is clear deep down?
Neptune and Uranus’ atmospheres also scatter blue light, and if you were floating in them, above the clouds, the sky would be blue. However, I think they look blue from space because some element making up the clouds is reflecting blue light.
Thanks, Cobra.
The clash between military and non-military views helps keep the show interesting.
The Cylon ship, being a cyborg type fusion of organic and machine surprised me. I get the feeling the Cylons are going to come in all kinds of forms.
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/i … 349]Saturn a blue planet?
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/i … D=1350]and here.
If you were in Saturns upper atmosphere, say in a balloon or aircraft/space craft, you would see a blue sky during the day and red or orange sunset and sunrises.
Titan's atmosphere is also blue, above the orange clouds.
You did have me a little confused, Cindy. Peck(Face Man) could act a little crazy when he was in a bind or Mr. T was about to slug him, so I wasn't sure if you were talking about him.
Hope you feel better.
Back to Battlestar Galactica
Maybe someone can fill me on on the first half of the first episode.
The Cylons
From the bits and pieces that I have gathered, Humans created the Cylons. I am unclear as to what happened to the Cylons, but the last time humans saw them, they were intelligent machines with shiny metal skins..
Was their a prior war with the metallic Cylons? Did the humans outcast them? Or did they just up and leave one day?
Dr. Baltar and Number 6
Our good Dr. Baltar has been having a relationship with a Cylon, Number 6, for several years, but he was unaware she was a Cylon. Apparently Cylons have evolved into human and other biological forms. Some of the ‘human’ Cylons are unaware they are Cylons and think they are human. Back to Dr. Baltar- his Cylon lover is somehow encoded into his brain so that he is the onlyone who sees her. She is very real to all his sceanse, but she exist only in his brain.
I am not sure how this happened, and was she ever a real physical form in his life, or has she always been an illusion?
The Battlestar Galatica
The Battlestar was original called something else(HMS?) and was being decommissioned. They were turning it into a museum.
Was the military being disbanded?
Anyway, when the Cylons returned and attacked, they had to bring the old ship out of mothballs. The ship is not up to date, technology wise. Even the Vipers are old. Correct?
BTW, I love how the Vipers have lateral and horizontal control thrusters much like the Space Shuttle does. I remember watching the Original show with my Uncle, who had been in the Air Force. He would complain that the Vipers could not fly like a jet airplane in space, as there is no air. Hollywood is bad about having spaceships just fly around like an airplane.
The new show correctly shows that when a spaceship needs to go up, it fires control thruster down.
I also like how they Vipers have more conventional weapons instead of lasers.
The President
The President was original the Secretary of Education when the Cylons attacked, correct?
Don’t forget Captain H.M. "Howlin' Mad" Murdock. Dwight Schultz also played Lieutenant Reginald Barclay on Star Trek, TNG. I liked him on that show as well.
What I really liked about the A-Team is the way all the characters worked together so well.
Good points, RobertDyck. Time Travel and different timelines has been a good way for Star Trek to ignore its own history. I actually find those time travel stories kind of interesting. I am not sure if time travel is even possible, thou- but that is another topic.
A lot of the events in the Star Trek universe were set up in the 1960’s. Since much of their predictions about our present time didn’t come true, they have to change something, so I don’t have a problem with them rewriting their history and saying it is a different timeline.
And Frack! I missed the first half of the first episode of the new Battlestar Galactica again. I came into it about 30 minutes into it. At 6:30 I went to set up the VCR to record it, and it had already started. I didn’t know it was going to start at 6.
Cindy, on the A-Team intro, when they are introducing Lieutenant Templeton Peck, I am sure you caught the Cylon walking past him. I always got a kick out of that.
Speaking of Dirk, whether he was playing Starbuck or Templeton Peck, whenever he was in a sticky situation, his expressions were priceless. I think Dirk could have been a big movie-star had he gone the movie route verse the TV route.
Cindy, I get tired of hearing racism screamed in American. In the past, I do believe minorities had an unfair disadvantage because of racism. Today, all races in America have equal chances, and all have their own equal share of racism against others.
I would be happy to see every drop the hyphens and call themselves Americans.
I am a manly German and Italian mixture (About 50/30 percent), with some Scottish and Native American thrown in (about 10/10) percent. Probably some other blood in there as well. I have a Hispanic Sister-in-Law and a half Hispanic Niece and Nephew. I have a cousin that is half Black. One of my closest and dearest friends is Black.
We are all humans, and we are more alike than we are different. I wonder if it will take meeting a totally alien race that looks nothing like us to make us aware of this. Will it take that for us to finally come together as one race? Will we turn our prejudice against the aliens? Perhaps if aliens do know about us, that is why they have chosen not to contact us. If we can’t get rid of our prejudice against our own race for such minor difference as skin tone and facial features , how could they expect us to accept them?
I'll get off my soapbox
The Original Star Trek was great at dealing with racism. In Enterprise, I get a kick out of Archer being called Pink Skin. You would think the Andorians would notice some of the Pink Skins were not that pink, and realize humans , at least in the Star Trek universe, do not have a problem with skin color.
Baltar, in the original series, seemed more goofy than evil. He was a pudgy, slimy little guy with a bad haircut and an evil chuckle. Still, I remember loathing him. Wasn’t he killed in the original movie- or was that the comic book? Stabbed in the back if I remember correctly.
I used to have the comic book for the BG movie that started the show. I wish I still had it, along with my original Star Wars, Space 1999 and Planet of the Apes comics *Big Sigh*
I like how they have done this new Baltar.
The human element of the new series seems to go a little deeper than the original. The original was more lighthearted and not as serious as the new one. I still love the original, and I think one can like both. I think they will stand apart from each other.
I wonder if they will have them show up to present day Earth, like they did in the original.
The new Series reminds me of the new Planet of the Apes movie. They both are different from the original and can stand on their own.
As for Enterprise, I am saddened to see it go off the air. I like the show. Scott is a tough Captain for tough times. It must be a hard show to write for, thou. There is this whole Star Trek future you have to carefully stay in line with (The Trekkies will slaughter the writers if they do something wrong).
I want to see a Star Trek movie that has Q in it. He is my favorite Star Trek Character.
The Next Generation did go off away from the original Show. Every now in then, they would encounter something from TOS, and that is okay. It kind of ties it all together.
The very last episode, “All Good Things” was great and could have been a movie on its own.
I also liked Voyager. I think the Holographic Doctor is my favorite Character (Yes, 7 of 9 was nice to look at, and she her acting was good IMO).
I never got into Deep Space 9.
As for Star Wars, I have to say, I like the remake ending of Return of the Jedi. I like how they showed planets from all over the Galaxy celebrating the fall of the Empire. And they got rid of that silly Ewok song.
But Star Wars, the first one, will always have an impression on me. I still remember seeing it in 1977 as a wide eyed 10 year old.
I never watched the A-Team when it first came out, but I started watching the re-runs during my college years. I ended up liking the show. 'Face-man' was great.
I liked Dirk’s attitude and mannerisms in both characters. I hear rumors that they are trying to get him to do a guest appearance for the new Battlestar Galactica.
I read that on the new show, they are talking about getting Starbuck and Apollo together. I don’t know about that. My mind keeps flashing to the original show- and that is too creepy. Maybe after I get used to the new show and the new way the characters are presented.
I was just entering my teenage years when the original Battlestar Galactica. Being a space geek, I loved the show. Starbuck was my favorite character. When I heard about the new Battlestar Galactica coming out this year, I was excited about it until I heard Starbuck was a woman.
I thought, “Starbuck is a cigar smoken, card playing guy. He is a ladies man. How can a women play such a masculine character.”
I didn’t think Katee Sackhoff could pull it off, but after watching her as Starbuck, I am really impressed. I think she has the character down. My apologies to here for being so chauvinistic about her taking on a ‘man’s’ character.
I am also impressed with the whole show. I think it is very good. It has a totally different feel from the original series. I could do without the jerky shots zooming in and out.. I know they are trying to give it a more realistic look, but it gets distracting at time. A little is okay and it works when done for the right scenes. It is a new show, so they need time to work out the kinks.
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ … nteresting Pictures From Spirit
It looks like Spirit may be near 'Larry's Lookout'.
Check out these two pictures;
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ … PG]Picture 1
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ … PG]Picture 2
If you look at the sky in picture 1, you'll see what looks like a star. If you look at picture two, you can see a fainter star.
Line the pictures up so that the landscape matches, then flip between the two pictures and see what happens. To me, it look like the object moved, telling me it could be one of Mars' moons. Cool!
Cindy, I love the bagpipes, especially played with violins and other instruments.
Does anyone have the Braveheart CD? I have considered buying it.
ERRORIST, I like Michael W Smith. I have most of his CD’s. I love ‘Freedom’ and recommend it to everyone. It is Orchestrated and instrumental. Some songs are Celtic, while others could be movie soundtracks.
I mentioned album art above. I was thinking last night that the album art from the 70’s and early 80’s was really art. I don’t see much of that now. Did the CD’s kill great album art. The 12 inch LP covers gave a lot of room for an artist to work with verse the CD case. And will MP3 and other ‘file’ music be the end of music cover art, (Once CD’s become obsolete) or will they just add it as a jpg file?
Great Album art made before the age of CD's;
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images … 74]Journey Infinity
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images … 174]Jouney Evolution
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images … 74]Journey Escape
I like just about any kind of music, except for Rap.
Jazz is my Favorite. Classic rock next, followed by Country, Orchestrated, 70’s/80’s Disco, Celtic, Classics and Others.
Lately I have been listening Bostons]http://www.boston.org/ts.html]Boston's Third Stage. I love Boston’s 1st 2 albums. I had their Vinyl Records in High School. Then, in 1986 during my first year in college, this CD came out. It was one of the first CD’s I ever bought. I liked it, but not as much as the first ones.
Know that I am older, I understand what Tom Scholz was writing about, after all, the album is about life’s third stage.
BTW- Being a Space Geek and music lover, I love Boston’s Album art, which combines both
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images … 5174]Third Stage Cover
Dont]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B0000025C0/ref=dp_product-image-only_0/104-0844482-6547163?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=5174]Don't Look Back Cover
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images … 174]Boston Cover
Hollyann
In my mind
I can see reminders of a past decay
So far behind
Like the shadows linger at the close of day.
And we could see
We were timeless dreamers of another day.
And we were free
In a dawning age we had so much to say.
Oooh, the nights you came to me
A bluejean lady so eager to be free.
And the wind in your long hair blowin' as we stood for the band.
Oh, hollyann.
Hollyann
We made the dark into light.
We saw the wrong and the right.
We were for life
And we would never concede it.
Hollyann
We left the world behind
A million hands gave the sign.
We held the line light
Can you believe it?
Hollyann
Hollyann
We could live
Just to turn the world into our fantasy.
And we could give
Aquarius was really meant to be.
You and i we were there to see the dawn.
Side by side we had love to carry on.
And i still hear guitars in the air as we sat in the sand.
Oh, hollyann
Hollyann
We made the dark into light.
We saw the wrong and the right.
We were for life
And we would never concede it.
Hollyann
We left the world behind
A million hands gave the sign.
We held the line `/light
Can you believe it?
Hollyann
I wonder if there are localized lake effect rains in the area?
http://www.planetary.org/saturn/moons.html]Another page on that site.
This one shows Saturn’s moons to scale. What I find interesting it the co-orbital moons like Epimetheus and Janus, and moons like Tethys, Telesto, Calypso, Dione and Helene that share the same orbits. Tethys has Telesto and Calypso at its L-points and Dione has Helene at one of its L-points.
I find Lagrange point interesting. I wonder planets could be built or moved to the Earth’s Lagrange points and remain in stable orbits around the Sun. That is a topic for another thread.
http://www.planetary.org/saturn/atmos_compare.html]This page compares Titan with Venus Earth and Mars. Very interesting.
It has recent data. Enjoy!
Yep, looks like river channels. I could barley make out channels in those flyby pictures and I thought I was seeing shorelines. With these higher resolution pictures, it certainly looks like river channels and shorelines.
I think I mentioned it before, early in his thread, that the head waters (Source of the liquid methane, might be the polar thunderstorms.
Anyway, it appears that there is a liquid cycle going on on Titan, and that makes it a very interesting place.
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ … L]Possible Meteorite?
Meridiani will be a good place to spot meteorites and rocks not native to the region (Thrown there by impactors from other areas of Mars). The rocks native to the region seem to weather down to the ‘blueberries’ in a short periods of time. I would suspect any rock sitting out in the open like this one will be a meteorite or a rock not native to the area.
I find it interesting that from above, the view is similar to the cratered surface on the moon. But at the MER’s level, I don’t see moonlike craters, just hollows. The view from MER looks very Earthlike.
![http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ … PG]Picture](http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/2/n/390/2N160995231EFFA300P1821L0M1.JPG]Picture){kind=link}
![http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ … PG]Picture](http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/2/n/390/2N160995231EFFA300P1821R0M1.JPG]Picture){kind=link}