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Comet Hunting For The Masses
khendron writes "In this article in Wired the most awesome past time is described. Comet Hunting. On you computer. No more cold nights outside with the telescope. Sit back with a cola, fire up the broadband, and start looking." From the article: "Amateurs looking at the SOHO images on the Web have found 76 percent of the 428 new comets that have turned up in SOHO images. Of the 31 people who have discovered comets, 21 of them are amateurs. They come from 10 different countries, including Australia, Great Britain, Germany and China. "
I wonder how long it'll be before we see distributed "Search For Comets" apps start popping up...
mailto:<?=implode("@", array("chris", implode(".", array("php", "net"))))?>
Cool. We can get recognition for looking at computer screens, at last!
Could NASA use similar approach to identify objects on collision course with Earth...
;-)
Sort of like: "Neighbourgh's watch for our own beloved planet"...
Don't take this seriously - or do...
If there was a geek olympics would this be a medal sport?
Sure, you discover comets. But these are tiny, and, as the article says, will evaporate as they get close to the sun. There's no new science. There's no great contribution to the knowledge of mankind.
They're just clogging up the internet and stopping you from downloading ISO images of your favourite distrobution.
To that father of 3 kids in the UK: What a waste of energy. Go and spend some more time with your kids!
To the rest of you: Leave the bandwidth for others!
Money implies poverty (Ian M. Banks)
>"Sit back with a cola, fire up the broadband, and start looking." many people across the world already enjoy this pasttime. Except they dont call it "comet hunting" they call it "porn"
--Kevin
Now, I have things to do Tuesday.
1. Hunt comets
2. Flee nerd-hunters
"past time" --> passtime
The original Doctor Dark.
What happens if you are the one to find ELE (Extinction Level Event)? Are you a hero? For how long? And the Most Important Question: Do you tell anyone else?
No, the article isn't down. I just figure that in the next few hours we'll have found more comets than the ort cloud could ever hope to serve.
Who moderates the meta-moderators?
You don't know the right girls... ;-)
Sure, you get your fifteen minutes of fame, but it's only 15 minutes. All these comets are either sungrazers or sundivers.
"Nearly all the comets they find are tiny shards of rock and ice, doomed to evaporate in the sun's atmosphere days after they are spotted. "
It's not like any of these people can point up in the sky in fifty years time and say "Look Jimmy, you see that fuzzy patch of light in the sky that is about to destroy civilisation? Well I discovered it! That's Anarchofascist-Limo-Taco-9...
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more, Or close the wall up with our American dead!
Do you really want to risk having your name on the comet that wipes out New York state? It's enough to give the paranoid pause for thought...
Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
Since our friendly neighborhood Heaven's Gate folk obviously got the wrong comet, it comes as a comfort the masses will have an easier time detecting these marvellous rocks.
Call me troll, but...
People, part of the fun of "looking for comets, etc." is actually getting off your butt, going outside with your SO, friend, family, what-have-you, and doing it together. Now this is cool, if you would rather spend *EVEN MORE* time sitting on your ass behind your computer. No thanks, I'll grab my telescope and head outside to do this, like I have in the past.
Summary:
crank up your machine, get it running, and then go look outside for yourself.
*Disclaimer: I am at work, it's 4:45am, I'm cranky and there is no reason for me to be here, but I have to be.
-1 troll
Sent from your iPad.
Iv Got Karma to waste.
___
If its possible to name a comet after someone else rather than yourself, I see great pickup methods coming from this. I think a girl would be rather impressed if a guy names a comet after her.. awww haha ;)
With image recognition, spectrum detection in an embedded system, which can tell that there is possible comet
What you said I think doesn't just apply to that of looking for coments.
I think a lot of geeks (like myself) tend to talk the antisocial route (or any excuse to waste mroe fkn time on the computer) than going outside, getting p00n or making friends etc.
That'd be cool having your name on a comet that destroys NYC.
;)
Talk about insult to injury. That'd go down in the book of records
Good to see the terrorists left a couple of buildings around to make the above a possibility.
That's "awesome pastime".
The Renaissance was an "awesome past time".
You, like many of the other slashdotters who browse this site may be interested in Astronomy. But alas, Astronomy is one of those "evil" practices where often one must go outside, or even to a planetarium to witness the night sky.
No such need anymore! New and Improved SOHO gives you all the luxury of another nerdy hobby without ever having to leave the house! Just browse the pages, and you too can feel that you're at one with the night sky! Without even having to take your eyes off the computer screen!
Ever worry that you'll lose your lovely monitor tan if you go outside and do anything! Not to worry! SOHO's experience fits in a browser window, along with your threads of GIMPS, SETI@Home, and ProgressQuest to boot! Contribute to 3 1/4 worthy causes at the same time!
But wait, there's more! If you visit our Site, we will give you a nifty "I find comets while surfing slashdot" T-Shirt! This does well with the ladies when talking to them over the webcam.
Act now! Web site is limited as this site is bound to be slashdotted soon.
Visit today! Before that comet with your name on it becomes "Comet AnonCoward-23832"
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
Just one more comet ... need ... to ... find ... just one more comet ....
...do you name it after yourself?
Opinions stated are mine and do not reflect those of the Illuminati
"passtime" --> "pastime"
You people just don't have a clue, do you?
Dude, eveyone has a 'past time'. As for hobbies, I think you'll find it's pastime...
Oh. You meant pastime! Now all is clear.
"Information wants to be paid"
There's a comet hunting for the masses? Run! Hide!
Software Wars
Last night I saw a movie when a comet shower was the most important thing in a family life. The simple fact that you are with your love ones or friends on the outside looking to the stars and seeing that great show is great.
The feling that you are a tiny point in the universe is most significantly achieved if you are at night looking to the sky.
------I can please only one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either.------
Remember Day of the Triffids.
"Under the iron bridge, we fist" - The Smiths, Still Ill
I think a girl would be rather impressed if a guy names a comet after her.
I'd be impressed, too, since the discoverer does not get to name astronomical bodies.
I guess if you're living in "past times" the rules might have been different then. But those engaging in current "pastimes" take the name given by the International Astronomical Union, which usually names comets by a number and then by the discoverer(s).
I do amateur astronomy, but this doesn't interest me in the least. For many people, amateur astronomy is a nature activity much like birdwatching. You could see all the birds in the world by looking at a book, and you can see way more astronomical objects on the web. I do astronomy to go outside in the night air and listen to the frogs and the quiet, where nobody is bugging me (except the mosquitoes).
At least my initial thought when I read the headline "Comet Hunting For The Masses" was that some kind of
comet is out there searching for masses of people to kill. Gives a whole new meaning to "Armageddon", I guess I understand all the drama in that movie now.
From snpp.com:
Skinner: Now, this morning we're going to be mapping a small square of sky that's thought to be empty. It's my hope that it's not.
Bart: So what am I supposed to do exactly?
Skinner: Just write down my findings as I give them to you. Six hours nineteen minutes right ascension, fourteen degrees twenty-two minutes declination: no sighting.
Bart: [bored] Mm hmm.
Skinner: Six hours nineteen minutes right ascension, fourteen degrees twenty-three minutes declination: no sighting.
Bart: Mm hmm.
[later]
Skinner: Six hours nineteen minutes right ascension, fourteen degrees fifty-eight minutes declination: no sighting. Did you get that one Bart?
Bart: Hell no.
Skinner: Good.
-- Is "Sig" copyrighted by www.sig.com?
4 entries found for pastime.
pastime Pronunciation Key (pstm)
n.
An activity that occupies one's spare time pleasantly: Sailing is her favorite pastime.
No entry found for passtime.
1 suggestion found:
pastime
This is hardly unusual. When it comes down to it, amateurs do more than 76 percent of virtually everything practical in astronomy already. Professionals frequently work with amateurs to get and confirm results, and a lot of professional astronomers also do things as amateurs (for fun) when they're not working. Then amateurs keep up with the professional findings, and everyone gets something out of it.
Astronomy is probably one of the only sciences left where amateur hobbyists can and do still contribute so much useful effort towards it.
There's just not enough funding for astronomy and space science to do anywhere near everything that can be done. For example, to get time on any big telescope, a professional has to write up a massive report and convince a board that it's worth researching what they want to do. They often have to book it many months or years in advance for possibly one or two nights of viewing. If there are circumstances like bad weather, it's often just treated as bad luck.
That's about the state of professional astronomy. The resources are so limited that there's a massive reliance on data submitted by and work done by amateurs. Professionals can't watch all the sky all the time. Lots of supernovae, comets and asteroids in the past have been discovered by amateurs from their back yard, reported, and confirmed by professionals before (sometimes) being studied further.
I don't know why you'd want to sit in front of a computer studying photographs all the time when you can go out with a telescope. It's so much more fun and rewarding to be actually doing something, and you actually meet people when you get involved, which is more than most people get from sitting in front of a computer. But I probably feel that way because I'm an amateur astronomer.
Looking at Soho images can damage your eyes, particularly thru a telescope...but it's no worse than p0rn from anywhere else other than London....
There's another interesting NASA project where you can mark craters of Mars and other interesting stuff. Clickworkers. You only need a decent browser for that.
It's "pastime", not "past time". Jesus.
The funnest part of astronomy is spending a cold night outside with the telescope. Sure, playing with computers is fun, but not nearly as fun as playing outdoors. I may spend 50 hours a week coding, but I spend as much of the other 118 hours as possible outside - hiking, canoeing, stargazing, etc. Try it, you might like it.
Ok, Apparently few of you actually tried to find a real comet at a real telescope freezing your but outside. Real hunting has the following problems: - Poor weather (especially in the North East) means that you can't observer frequently enough to have good odds of being the first one to see something because you will be clouded out far too often. Truly serious comet hunters move to Arizona to have enought clear skys to have good odds. - Today most comets are found by professional searches http://www.ll.mit.edu/LINEAR/ with bigger scopes. That doesn't leave much left for amateurs -Min. req. these days for comet hunting is about a 20" or 22" obsession scope. Affordable for SillyValley stock holders but not for the masses out there http://www.globaldialog.com/~obsessiontscp/OBHP.ht ml
Pastime.
So SOHO is actually a playing field leveler in that sense and makes comet discovery more accessible than before. Sure the is less glory that doing it the old fashion way. It's free, always good weather, timely data. It's also the only legitimate way to get your name in the heavens instead of buying stars which is nothing more than a scam IMHO. So, sure, it's sure a much bigger kick to find one at the eyepiece but a SOHO one still counts in my book.
That's no comet....
Is it just me or is this one of those famously misleading headlines (like you commonly find in newspapers)
When I first read this i read it as Comet hunting for the masses--as in Comet is actively seeking out and attempting to run over (in a cosmic sort of way) 'the masses' whoever they might be.
I got a good chuckle out of it for about 10seconds.
Again this is pre-coffee, so that might explain it.
mov ax, 13h
int 10h
Aww...but I like bangin alien chix...
If you discover something, you can name it, right?
What about comet Slashdot?
or Microsoftsux
or....
or...
Game: Player 'Donald J Trump' now has AI skill level 'experimental'.
You mean I can use this connection to search for other things besides nude photos of britney spears?
======
Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish. - Euripides
This Frank fellow saw these black dots on UV weather satellite images and though they were clumps of water delivered by mini comets hitting the earth. This mini comets are supposed to be house-sized fluffy snowballs, and there are a lot of problems with this theory -- why is the Moon not getting hit with these things, producing a thin water vapor atmosphere?
As pointed out, the SOHO comets are not the big honker Hale-Bopp style comets. If the Sun is bombarded with SOHO comets, maybe the Earth is being hit with Louis Frank comets after all.
SOHO, launched over six years ago as a project of international cooperation between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, has discovered more than 420 comets in just under six years. This makes the spacecraft the most prolific comet finder in the history of astronomy. Most of the comets were first spotted by amateurs around the world who downloaded SOHO's real-time images to their home computers. Anyone with Internet access can take part in the hunt for new comets and be a comet discoverer.
A new comet was discovered over the Internet by a Chinese amateur astronomer visiting the website for the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft. The comet "C/2002 G3 (SOHO)" was first reported on Friday, April 12, by XingMing Zhou of BoLe city, in the XinJiang province of China, who discovered the comet while watching SOHO real-time images of the Sun on the Internet. The comet is a new comet, not belonging to any known group.
"From September 2000 to now I have been trying to find SOHO comets, and I've discovered 13 comets, one of which, designated '2001U9' and initially cataloged by the SOHO project as 'SOHO-367,' was the brightest one in the last two years," said Zhou, who previously spent more than 1,600 hours since his 1985 graduation scanning the heavens with his 15cm F/5.3 reflector telescope to discover a single comet.
"What's exciting about these near-sun comets is that we are exploring a population of comets that has never been seen before because they are very small and faint," said Douglas Biesecker, a solar physicist with L3 Com Analytics Corporation, Vienna, Va. "By the time their orbits take them close to the Sun so they become bright, they are lost in the Sun's glare and require a space-based coronagraph like that on SOHO to be seen." Biesecker, who is affiliated with the SOHO program at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., confirms potential comet discoveries as they are posted to the SOHO website.
C/2002 G3 (SOHO) will be visible in SOHO's Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) C3 images until Saturday, April 20. The comet was first visible late in the day on Thursday, April 11. It entered the field of view at the bottom edge, almost directly under the Sun. It is moving upward to the left, and will eventually move back toward the right, exiting from the LASCO C3 field of view at the top edge, to the right of the Sun. First cataloged by the SOHO project as "SOHO-422," it has been officially designated C/2002 G3 (SOHO) by the International Astronomical Union.
The comet reached the point closest to the Sun in its orbit on April 17 at about 1:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, at a distance of about 7.6 million miles (12.3 million kilometers). As the week goes on, the comet will move through the field of view more quickly.
In all these images, the shaded disk is a mask in the instrument that blots out direct sunlight, making faint comets and the dim outer atmosphere of the Sun, or the corona, visible. The white circle added within the disk shows the size and position of the visible Sun.
Solar radiation heats the comet, which in turn causes the outgassing of its water molecules and dust. The dust scatters sunlight at visible wavelengths, making the comet bright in LASCO images. The water molecules break down into oxygen and hydrogen atoms, and the hydrogen atoms interact with the coronal plasma (electrified gas that comprises the extended atmosphere of the Sun).
Story from NASA website. Modifications made.
With all the work being done in image recognition, nobody has come up with anything that does this for astronomy -- with the sheer volume of digital data currently available?
Amateurs for amateurs ... hunt comets. And this is our professional defense against the Doomsday?!
- Thomas
Until he died earlier this year, Yuji Hyakutake found comets with his 25x150 binoculars. Even then though, usually it's rewarding just tracking down and finding these things that the professionals find. Having a big telescope doesn't hurt, but it's not absolutely necessary. What really helps is keen eyesight, a certain amount of patience and experience, and an extremely good knowledge of what the sky and background stars should look like in whatever region you're looking.
Big telescopes aren't that much of a big thing, either. I know several people with 20"+ telescopes on homebuilt dobsonian mounts... and they are monster amateur telescopes, with the main significant expenses being the mirror and the time to build it. Apart from that it's just having somewhere to put it. I'm not suggesting that it's something for everyone, but it's hardly out of reach, either.
It's unlikely that general comet hunting will be available to the masses, for a couple of reasons. 1) there's not much demand, without demand no-one is going to make it available. 2) While you can look at a video of the whole night sky, the only way you can really get to have a close look at something is with your own telescope, or to book some time on a remote telescope somewhere. - The former is very expensive, the latter is very difficult, you can't just ask, it takes a lot of time and effort to find a telescope willing to give you some time (Trust me, I've tried.) If you were to discover something, the best thing to do is to register it as quickly as possible, if you don't someone else is going to find it anyway, and then they'll get to name it.