The Cygnus Bubble

[Aum]

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/20 ... 0Beyond%29

I thought this was pretty nifty.

Evidence of what could be a Dyson Sphere of a type II civilization.

[Sonic#]

Awesome! I want to go.

I had no clue that they had found so many potential sources. Potential may not be much, but it feeds the dork in me.

[Mordak]

Instead of radio signals we should look for spheres, which are artificial mega structures that enclose the orbit of a star

Interesting theory. How many light years are we away from this bubble? Are they reeeaally sure it's not just dust on the mirror of the telescope?

[lizpoona]

Personally, I think it's some kind of natural space thing, like so many other weird natural things, and that the entire article is wishful thinking.


Wishful thinking is always fun, though.

[Mordak]

Unless Steven King was right and the Dome is real

[Aum]

One of the comments on that page raises a good point. if it was a dyson sphere according to the concept that we know, we shouldn't be able to see through it to the stars in the background. That would mean it's not very energy efficient... but maybe it's the beginning of one, or they are using a material that is 100% effective yet transparent, something that wouldn't make sense to us.

Anyway, if they are advanced enough to build a sphere around their star they are probably doing it in a way that's beyond our comprehension.

Yeah it's wishful thinking but I love this kind of talk

[katrinioso]

Wait, so... aliens?!?!?!??!?!?!?

[rowan]

Feel free to wishfully think about it, but it's not a dyson sphere. *bursts the bubble*

[Mordak]

Feel free to wishfully think about it, but it's not a dyson sphere. *bursts the bubble*

What is it then?

And speaking of astronomy, I'm really getting into backyard planet gazing at the moment. I can see Saturn really clearly on a clear night Do you still do stuff like that Rowan?

[Enigma]

Am I only one who's first thought when they saw this was tiny drop of water on the telescope lens?

[rowan]

Feel free to wishfully think about it, but it's not a dyson sphere. *bursts the bubble*

What is it then?

Well I didn't want to get into it much, since this is Mixed Media instead of Sci Tech. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap081113.html has a quick explanation though; it's really not that large (as astronomical stuff goes), only the size of a planetary nebula. Given the filters they've observed it in (the excitation lines of the gas) it is unlikely to be anything "civilized" as it would be unlikely for civilization to produce copious amounts of photons of the kinds of energy needed to cause the nebula to shine like that.

And speaking of astronomy, I'm really getting into backyard planet gazing at the moment. I can see Saturn really clearly on a clear night Do you still do stuff like that Rowan?

You bet. Mars is really quite bright right now, actually (brighter than Saturn), as it was just at opposition recently. Jupiter's also pretty bright, you should see it in the west around sunset & a little later.

[Mordak]

You bet. Mars is really quite bright right now, actually (brighter than Saturn), as it was just at opposition recently. Jupiter's also pretty bright, you should see it in the west around sunset & a little later.

I've been watching mars most nights for the past few weeks. It's amazing- I can even make out the polar caps Also the moon. It's really cool just to see what craters will be showing on the edge of it as it waxes and wanes.

[Aum]

What does it mean when a planet is in opposition? I've only heard that be used as an astrological term. What does it mean, physically?

[lizpoona]

Here's a quick little visualization from Cornell: http://www.astro.cornell.edu/academics/ ... t_view.htm


I wish I could see the stars easier where I live... there's only maybe a handful that can be seen clearly. The easiest constellation for me to spot is Orion, and it's pretty easy to spot planets if you know where they are. I had a lot of fun pointing out where Jupiter was when I was keeping track of it. Stopped paying attention and I have no idea what in the sky at the moment, though... bleh.


I always wonder exactly how a Dyson sphere would work. I've read up on it casually but never really figured out exactly how it could possibly be sustained.

[Mordak]

I got a pc disc that came with my last telescope which has the most awesome sky maps. It's great for when you're learning constellations and rise/set times of planets. Plus I searched past Dec 21 2012 in the maps and there aren't any comets about to hit us any time soon, so we can all stop panicking now

[rowan]

Oh, that's a nice little diagram, lil. I'll use that for my night sky class, I think.

In words, opposition is when the planet is directly opposite the sun in the sky, which is when it will appear "full". It also is when we are closest to said planet, so not only is it brighter because it's full, it's brighter because it's closer. This has to be a planet which has an orbit outside our own, obviously.

For sky maps, I use http://www.skymaps.com which has a nice printable version of the month you're in (and both N and S hemispheres!) along with transient objects.

For a planetarium-type program, I use http://www.stellarium.org which is free.

I always wonder exactly how a Dyson sphere would work. I've read up on it casually but never really figured out exactly how it could possibly be sustained.

That is definitely a big issue. A better thought is to think about radio emissions - generally a byproduct of technology - and how far those can travel since a civilization becomes "technologically advanced". Radio emissions are useful in that they can generally travel long distances in interstellar space without being absorbed (except for a few molecular lines). You can figure out, for example, how far our "information sphere" has traveled by figuring out when we started producing copious radio emissions and then ... knowing that the speed of light is 1 light year per year. (Oh, make me dig out that lab why don't you...*dig dig*)

Oh, I do like this lab a lot. Hehe. First radio broadcast was in 1920. I think it's safe to say anything earlier than that (invention etc) wasn't strong enough to really count. Actually that probably isn't even strong enough but let's pretend it is.

Also, satellite signals come from low earth orbit, at a distance of about 35,786 km, or 3.78 x 10^-9 light years. The strength of a broadcast light signal decreases as 1/r^2. So the signal is pretty faint by the time it reaches Alpha Centauri, our closest star at 4 ly.

Tiem to go, baby wakes. Have fun with numbers.

[Aum]

Thanks for all that info, but I have one more question!

So when a planet is in opposition, it means Earth is between said planet and the sun?

[rowan]

Yes, more or less. The planets don't all lie *exactly* in the same plane, so generally not quite. I suppose every now and then it must happen that opposition will occur at a position where the two orbits are exactly in the same line as the sun, but for the most part that's going to be pretty infrequent. But the differences in inclination are small, astronomically speaking, so in the broad sense, yes the Earth is between the planet and the sun.