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Stellar Water Fountain

Posted by michael on from the drink-up dept.

ktulu1115 writes "Space.com writes: An aging star that spits water into space could provide astronomers the clues they need to explain the formation of planetary nebulae, the cloudy remnants of a star's death."

3 of 25 comments (clear)

  1. Re:more taxpayer money down the toilet by ip_vjl · · Score: 3, Insightful

    But aren't there more pressing issues that we should be devoting our resources to?

    [snip]

    I like science as much as the next guy, provided that it is science that benefits humanity. This masturbatory gee-whiz hobbyist garbage is a shameful waste of precious resources.


    Waste of resources? Exactly how much of the public money (of yours) has gone into this project? Seeing as it comes from a research team in Japan, you'd seem to only have a right to complain if you actually pay taxes in Japan.

    Isn't the whole point of research - to find knowledge whether or not you have an immediate practical need? Granted, this probably won't directly lead to a cancer cure, but learning about stellar development and lifecycle seems to be relevant since all life on earth depends on our own neighboring star. (not that we'd be able to do anything about it, if we found something wrong, anyway) :)

  2. Super Soaker 10000 by TwP · · Score: 4, Funny

    Using patented "fusion" technology, the new Super Soaker 10000 will never leave you without ammo on those hot summer days.

  3. Re:Great Journalism by CanSpice · · Score: 3, Informative

    I hope you're trying to be funny.*

    Any H2O molecule is a water molecule, regardless of its state. When I was doing analysis of data looking at a young stellar object, there were definite water absorbtion bands in the spectrum. The temperature of this object was something like 80K, which is well below the freezing point of water, and yet, when it came time to write up the paper, I referred to it as water.

    Everybody in the astronomical world does the same. They might call it "water ice"**, but it's always water.

    * If you're not, then I weep for the educational system. If you are, then I weep for whoever modded your comment up as "insightful".

    ** And "ice" doesn't necessarily refer to water ice either. Another example of ice found out there would be methane ice.