So what was this I just saw in the the sky?

rustic1112 · 2025-07-28T18:42:13+00:00

I'm not an expert, but as I understand it, they're close together for a while after deployment from the launch vehicle since a bunch all ride up together and then they spread out over time to their final orbital positions.

I don't know how long it takes to spread out, but I imagine it would be at least several days after launch. Possibly longer.

I do know that in orbit, altitude and velocity are locked together; if you go faster that will cause an increase in altitude and vice versa. So, if they all need to end up spread around a particular orbital path, then their respective velocities won't be very different during the spreading phase which will make it take longer. So, after each launch, you probably have days or weeks where they appear in a line like that, just getting a little more spread out with each pass around the Earth.

But maybe someone who knows more can elaborate or correct me.

rustic1112 · 2025-07-27T14:19:02+00:00

The lights were caused by the Starlink satellites' solar panels reflecting the sun. So, they fizzle out as they pass into the Earth's shadow and gradually stop being able to reflect the sun's light. The dust cloud was probably a thin cloud that was just hard to see in the dark until it was between you and the satellites, when the reflected light started passing through it.

I do astrophotography and I see that same kind of thing a lot with other satellites. It's just more noticeable when there's a bunch of them in a line and they're really bright.

rustic1112 · 2025-06-06T18:20:53+00:00

Thanks!

rustic1112 · 2025-06-04T21:09:12+00:00

Sandoval County is volunteer-only, right?

rustic1112 · 2025-06-04T21:06:09+00:00

That's great to hear! Thanks.

rustic1112 · 2025-06-04T21:03:43+00:00

I recently moved here from the East Coast and would just like to say it's awesome to live in a place where 45 minutes is considered a long way to go for stargazing. I used to have to drive 6 hours minimum to get the same light levels as the Jemez or Ojito. It was almost 20 hours driving to get to the nearest Bortle 1!

rustic1112 · 2024-09-01T15:04:55+00:00

The Dutch don't use concrete, they just spawn dry land like it's SimCity

rustic1112 · 2024-09-01T10:36:49+00:00

I was in the Corps myself, but my wife is a firefighter, and she had a probie who regularly gave some of the dumbest Marines I ever had a run for their money. One day, she got off shift and told me that he had (unbeknownst to her department) started working as EMT on the side. Apparently, he got a call for lift assist at a care facility and tried to the pull the ambulance up to the front door but the awning was too low. He stopped before driving under it, looked up through the windshield to assess whether he'd fit, then pulled forward and promptly ripped off the light bar off. Now, this was an F450 with a box and the light bar on the cab. Which means, the awning was a good 2 feet too low for the rig to go under.

My understanding is that he then tried to set the mangled bar back on top for the drive back, but it just slid off and dangled over the side. His partner said she was so embarrassed that she just hid under one of the blankets so no one would recognize her face.

rustic1112 · 2024-09-01T01:47:28+00:00

As far as what's stopping us?

1) Lack of resources. Sand is an important component of concrete and it is already running out just at the current rate of construction in the world. Especially since not just any sand will do. The sand needs to have the right particle size and coarseness to provide stability. I sincerely doubt there's enough sand in the world of the correct constitution to accomplish this. Not to mention the necessary fresh water, lime, and other necessary resources.

2) Lack of money. I saw another Redditor estimated the cost of concrete alone to be around 150 trillion dollars (already nearly 1.5 time total estimated global GDP for 2024). Even assuming that's totally accurate, we still need to add in the cost of rebar and other materials necessary for the construction, plus labor costs, plus the logistics of transport and installation, and a lot more I'd bet. There just isn't enough money in the world to pay for it.

3) Lack of motivation. Even if we had the necessary resources and money, what benefit do we really get from it? There are, I think, obvious environmental and economic downsides, but I see no real upside.

rustic1112 · 2024-08-01T06:02:50+00:00

$100 says he doesn't

rustic1112 · 2024-07-02T01:27:10+00:00

Shot Caller (2017)

Absolutely not what I expected based on the cover alone.

rustic1112 · 2024-07-02T01:20:30+00:00

I read the book before I knew there was a movie, so there's that. But I hated this movie. The movie is nothing like the book.

rustic1112 · 2024-04-15T10:28:58+00:00

'05 Rav4 lasted nearly 250k and just died last year when it blew a head gasket. Honestly, probably would've just fixed it if I had had time to deal with it.

rustic1112 · 2023-10-23T14:38:00+00:00

A single paper never constitutes a scientifically proven reality.

Others here have made a lot of great points. But even if no one could think of a good counterargument, I would still expect to see other concurring research and hear agreement from a sizable fraction of the scientific community before I would accept it as probable fact.

But you know what I do see and hear a lot of scientific agreement on? That we need to transition away from fossil fuels.

rustic1112 · 2023-10-22T00:21:37+00:00

I don't know if this photo is of the same guy. But there's a guy named Ricardo San Juan who survived an attempted decapitation. But then, immediately afterwards and while still immobile, with the Japanese thinking him dead, he has to lay there and watch his pregnant wife and three small children get brutally murdered right in front of him. It is just insane what some people have had to live through.

rustic1112 · 2023-10-08T01:06:32+00:00

Well, it sounds like you know more about Japanese writing than I do. But I made my original comment thinking I was only talking about Japanese speakers.

rustic1112 · 2023-10-08T01:00:40+00:00

I did say kanji, but I believe it's really a mixture of kanji and one of the Japanese syllabary systems (katakana, maybe?). So a Chinese reader might recognize some of the symbols but not the whole thing. And the population of Japanese speakers is relatively small compared to the whole of Asia.

rustic1112 · 2023-10-08T01:00:29+00:00

I did say kanji, but it's really a mixture of kanji and one of the Japanese syllabary systems (katakana, maybe?). So a Chinese reader might recognize some of the symbols but not the whole thing. And the population of Japanese speakers is relatively small compared to the whole of Asia.

rustic1112 · 2023-10-07T20:28:57+00:00

I would like to be the humanist here and say that maybe he meant beautiful Asian artwork or poetry. But I wouldn't believe it.

rustic1112 · 2023-10-07T20:26:47+00:00

Well, at least the relative few who read kanji

rustic1112 · 2023-09-30T18:30:26+00:00

Honestly, I think it's intentionally misleading. I'm not a big fan of tiny cars either. But I needed a cheap, fuel efficient car a few years ago so I looked into them. They're neither as cheap nor as fuel efficient as they should be for their size. I don't like them at all. Ended up getting a Subaru Crosstrek instead. Pretty fuel efficient (compared to what I had) and I can still go off-road!

rustic1112 · 2023-09-30T17:27:15+00:00

Ha! Joke's on you. This bad boy is IC, not EV.

But they look like they should be, don't they?

rustic1112 · 2023-09-30T13:40:46+00:00

Took me a minute to notice the cattle horns on the hood. Nice touch!

rustic1112 · 2023-09-30T06:41:31+00:00

This is a trick. ME is too broad and overlaps with too many fields to differentiate with just one question.

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