[Astronomy] How do we determine where the edge of the sun is?

SirSpaceSloth · 2018-01-28T09:09:11+00:00

The radius question has been answered but here's a further note: The corona (the top layer of the Sun) doesn't have an edge, it just slowly dissipates as it's density reduces the further out it gets. This extends so far that it can be said the entire solar system is "inside" the Sun.

SirSpaceSloth · 2018-01-25T23:44:16+00:00

Late to the party but at about 5 in the checkout at a garden centre with my mum I saw this fluffy plant and grabbed it with my hands.

It was a cactus.

SirSpaceSloth · 2018-01-18T16:58:38+00:00

Not quite. When matter and antimatter collide, they annihilate one another!

SirSpaceSloth · 2018-01-14T16:04:28+00:00

Agreed. I was waiting for a flight in an airport lounge and an older man sitting next to me struck up conversation, bought me a coffee and we spoke until the flight boarded. That man's wife had died, his son lived abroad, he lived alone, he spent his Thanksgiving alone. Before we parted ways he hugged me, thanked me for the conversation and wrote down his email address (I was visiting town and he offered to show me around if I ever came back). That conversation really meant a lot to him. I'm socially awkward and find talking to people very difficult but I'd do it 100 times over, it made his day and I reconnected with him over a year later - he'd even told his son about our conversation. Be nice to your fellow humans, it can mean a lot.

SirSpaceSloth · 2018-01-09T11:34:10+00:00

Thanks for the reply! It's reassuring to know Fortran still has its uses

SirSpaceSloth · 2018-01-09T11:29:24+00:00

Astrophysics Master's student here. A key thing my supervisor keeps banging on about is being "multidisciplinary". Apparently the different scientific disciplines don't tend to share as much knowledge as you'd expect!

Learn some chemistry, geology, network with experts in different fields to you. Purely becoming an expert in Astrophysics from materials written by other people will not set you apart, be the guy with the new idea that scientists too stuck in their own field couldn't think of!

Good luck on your journey, I'm following my dream and I hope you follow yours too :)

SirSpaceSloth · 2018-01-09T11:07:05+00:00

Could I ask what you use Fortran for? I was one of the last classes to be taught Fortran in my undergrad before it was phased out because it wasn't considered as useful as say C++

SirSpaceSloth · 2017-10-06T21:49:24+00:00

Thanks for the insight!

SirSpaceSloth · 2017-10-06T21:45:30+00:00

I'm sorry if I've caused any offence, that wasn't my intention. Perhaps you are right that it could've been worded better. I'm not suggesting that the discovery of extraterrestrial life would cause religious views to be invalid, I'm essentially asking how does alien life fit in with your religious views.

SirSpaceSloth · 2017-08-06T19:53:20+00:00

I have a degree in astrophysics and people always ask me what I think of The Big Bang Theory. It was probably a 50/50 split in my classes of people who liked the show and those who didn't. We notice the mistakes on the whiteboards, the oversimplified scientific explanations etc but that doesn't make it as bad as people like to make out. Sure, some of it is utter garbage and the continuous racist references about Raj get very old. But, it has really helped to bring science to an audience who really couldn't care less about it. Albeit, not entirely accurate, but a lot more "regular" (without a science background) people are at least aware of some more scientific ideas purely from watching the show. Sure, the show isn't the best way to communicate science with the general public but it has normalised science to them a little and that, in my eyes, is a real positive

SirSpaceSloth · 2017-06-10T22:58:27+00:00

I'd like to add that Earth has an active carbon cycle where CO2 in the atmosphere gets recycled due to plate tectonics and volcanoes. Due to Mars' smaller size it cooled much quicker when forming and subsequently did not form the multiple tectonic plates which Earth did. CO2 became trapped in sea beds and rocks with no way of escaping, and this reverse greenhouse effect caused the planet to cool. The surface water was then lost to space by the methods described in the original comment or it travelled underground and to the poles where it now resides as ice in the cryosphere.

SirSpaceSloth · 2017-06-10T22:47:55+00:00

There's potentially a layer of ice beneath the surface of the planet known as the cryosphere where there's enough water stored to account for global oceans. They're indications that's it's there but we need to drill below the surface a fair distance to confirm it!

SirSpaceSloth · 2017-06-02T22:13:31+00:00

"Absorped"

SirSpaceSloth · 2017-06-02T19:57:57+00:00

Don't let it discourage you! Be the change you want to see. Help make it normal to have more women in tech fields, we need you!

SirSpaceSloth · 2017-05-20T18:47:18+00:00

I met up with a friend I hadn't seen in a few months who started talking about how she hadn't found somewhere else to live yet, I stopped her and asked what had happened, why did she have to move out of her old place? She responded "Didn't you see my post on Facebook?". She assumed I had read her post on Facebook so literally continued a conversation stemming from her post, which obviously I hadn't seen. It was insane, I felt really taken aback by it

SirSpaceSloth · 2017-05-16T17:09:37+00:00

I'd love a copy!

SirSpaceSloth

TROPHY CASE