Science Friction

How far would you travel to view a rare astronomical phenomenon? Many of us drove a few hours to see the Great American Eclipse in August. I can't wait to see another one. I am considering going to Chile in 2019 to check a couple of items off my bucket wish list- I want to view the next total eclipse and I want to see the Southern Cross for the first time(apologies to Stephen Stills). I got to thinking about how far I would travel to see something like a total eclipse of the sun, the Northern Lights, or the Southern Cross. Would you go out of your way to see one of these or some other astronomical spectacle?

I was reading about this peculiar object the other day but hadn't discussed it in the thead yet. Thanks for posting.

That's insane!!! I had a car once that went 0 to 60 in 1.9 minutes. It couldn't maintain 60 for long , though.

I can imagine being on the deck of the Starship Enterprise with captain James T. Kirk and looking out at the image below as it approached the starship. A multi-wavelength composite image from several orbiting and ground-based telescopes captures an ongoing cosmic collision between at least four galaxy clusters, each containing hundreds of galaxies. The region is collectively known as Abell 2744, approximately 4 billion light-years from Earth. Yes, I said 4 BILLION LY !!!

Great question and thanks for reading the thread. I hope to start posting more soon as school winds down for the semester. Let me know if there are particular topics you want me to write about in future posts. As for your little guy, I think that's wonderful that he's showing an interest as a youngster. I did the same. From the time I was five or six, I was fascinated by the stars and had a passion for learning about the solar system and beyond. I would say, find him some books with lots of pictures of the planets, moons, comets, and deep-space objects like galaxies and nebulae. National Geographic has a special edition on the newsstands right now with anything and everything on astronomy. It has maps of the night sky for each season. So, books are great resources. Also, take him to a planetarium. He will LOVE it !!! And you will too. It's like going to movie theater and watching the night sky come alive above you. Maybe find a nice pair of astronomy binoculars or a telescope(although I don't recommend a cheap one). Once he gets to where he wants to see some planets or deep sky objects invest in a good telescope. At first, just a good pair of binoculars should allow you to see some more detail. When I was young, I loved just going out at night , laying down a blanket and looking up at the night sky. If you get a sky map, you will be able to learn the night sky and identify the various constellations. He will enjoy being able to look up and spot the Big Dipper, the Seven Sisters, Orion, or some of the other constellations. It's also fun to be able to look up and identify the planets. It's amazing that we can look up with the naked eye and see objects that are so very far away!!!! Those are some things that should get him even more excited about astronomy. I'll post more ideas as they come to mind.

Will never ever happen and he knows it.

Boyle vs Central. Boyle wins the state title...

The Leonid Meteor Shows PEAKS in the pre-dawn hours this Saturday. Expect to see as many as 15 meteors per hour, some with persistent trains. A new moon will provide star-gazers like you and I with a dark sky. Don't miss the show!!! Hopefully, we will have clear skies.

Yes, in fact, I read an article the other day about one such star that was cannibalizing another. I think the star I was reading about was a binary about 730 LY away. The small star, a white dwarf about the size of Earth, is cannibalizing its much larger companion, a star about 125 times more voluminous than our sun. Interestingly, it's the only known case of a binary system in which the larger star completely eclipses its companion. In fact, because of the extremely tight orbit, it does so every 50 minutes!!!

50 shades of grey.... Well, not this time. Wanna take a guess at what you're looking at below ?

If Belfry wins, I know they will host Corbin(assuming the Hounds win, of course). If Central wins, will they host Corbin or will they have to travel to Corbin? I was thinking that Central would host but I heard the opposite, that it would be Central @ Corbin.

I LOVE teaching calculus but every now and then a student will leave me feeling like there's not much else I can do to help her.

Ever heard of "perfect" numbers? A perfect number is a number that is equal to the sum of its proper divisors. For example, 6 is perfect since 6 = 1+ 2+ 3 . Also, 28 is perfect. 28 = 1+ 2+ 4+ 7 + 14 Can you come up with the next perfect number? Hint: It's a three digit number. The fourth one is a four digit number. After that, they get really big, really fast. The first four perfect numbers date back to the time of Euclid. It is not known if there are any odd perfect numbers, although it seems highly unlikely. The odd perfect number conjecture(find one or prove that one doesn't exist) remains one of the great unsolved math problems.

Love it!!! :lol2:

I was never one who was in the "Y" is a vowel camp. Cyprus is the only country with 5 consonants and one vowel. 5x1 =5 Multiply the number of vowels by the number of consonants. For example, Portugal would be 15 (5x3) and Afghanistan would be... a quagmire ( sorry ) ... I mean , 28 (7x4) .

It's a toughie. Just Jim nailed it. I think what makes it challenging is that most folks go in the geography direction, which is certainly a logical starting point. I really appreciate you pondering the teaser, though. Also, thanks for adding to the thread. Keep 'em coming. I love working them as well.

WOW! Daggone impressive, my friend. I have had relatively few get that one over the years. Multiply number of consonants by numbers of vowels. CHAD => 3x1= 3 EGYPT => 4x1=4 SPAIN => 3x2=6 FRANCE => 4x2= 8 KYRGYZSTAN = 9x1 = 9 CYPRUS = 5x1 = 5

Anyone ???

I knew I liked you for some reason!!! Now I know why; you're awesome with probability teasers !!!

Tabby's star(pic below), seen in the infrared on the left and ultraviolet on the right, has scientists puzzled. Astronomers are mystified as to why the star is dimming by as much as 20%. Are ET's trying to harness the star's energy??? Probably not, but what's going out there around Tabby's world?

What in the heck is going on with a star named Tabby's Star? Kepler caught the star dimming by as much as 20%, a number way too high for the dimming to be due to a planet. Could it be a swarm of comets, a giant ring of dust, or .... an alien megastructure attempting to harness the star's power??? Stay tuned...

You may think I'm kidding but I promise you, I'm not. The ten question math quiz first came to my attention a few months ago. It was given to a class of eighth-graders at Burns Middle School in Mobile , Alabama just a few days before the end of the school year last year. Seriously, who wrote these problems , Rick James? Snoop Dogg? The lady teacher who gave the quiz looks to be a middle-aged white woman. It never ceases to amaze me what crazy things people do? What was she thinking?!?!

Who in the name of all that's holy wrote these math problems, Joshua John Ward ? Strom Thurmond ? And what kind of teacher assigned them? Some of these were given to second-graders and some to elementary school students in GA , and I'm talking about fairly recently ! What are people thinking?

One of my oldies but goodies. Eccentric old Professor Friction is running late for school. After hurriedly combing his seven hairs and brushing his tooth, he opens his dresser and reaches in to get a sock. After getting one, he pulls out a second sock. The room is pitch dark so he can't tell what color the socks are. Also, all the socks are made identically, so he can't tell which is which just by feel. And of course, Prof. SF is very unorganized so the socks are just randomly scattered about in the drawer. Suppose the socks are one of two colors, red or green. Also, there are 6 total socks in the drawer. If there is a 2/3 probability of his choosing two red socks, what is the probability that he goes to school wearing two GREEN socks?

I don't know whether to laugh or cry about Peter. I could see Conan O'Brien doing this when he was in school.