It just occurred to me that the astronomer being quoted might not have been referring to an occultation at all. That's a pretty rare event for any given asteroid. It's possible that the astronomer was referring to needing to wait for the bright moon to get out of the sky at the same time the asteroid is up, which can take a week or more, depending on its current phase. The extra extinction caused by a bright moon might be enough to prevent the detailed observations needed to get a good orbital fix on the asteroid. This still doesn't excuse the lousy science reporting, which flat-out declared the asteroid was behind the moon, and implied it would remain there for two weeks.
If it's gonna take two weeks to get enough observations in to pin down its orbit, fine. Throwing in the fact there happens to be an occultation somewhere in there, which will last, what, an hour at most? That confuses the issue to the lay public. It's irrelevant for refining the asteroid's orbit. The article makes it sound like the asteroid will be hiding behind the moon for the entire period, when that can't possibly be the case.
The asteroid is now behind the moon, he said, so it will be almost two weeks before observers can plot its course more accurately."
Nothing in solar orbit can stay occluded by our moon for that long. That's for about half of the moon's orbit! If I'm wrong about that, someone please draw me a diagram. *mutters something about lousy science reporting*
The $250/pound "rule" refers to where the bottom of the price/memory curve is at any given time, so current products that are out at the ends of the curve won't comply. Moore's Law also refers to the bottom of the price curve. I'm sure the actual progress is not continuous, given the quantum jumps that happen in form factors (5.25", 3.5", 2.5", flash memory, etc.)
The complete complete database dump of all prior versions in all languages is over 26 GB. But if you just want the current english version, it will fit nicely on a single CD-ROM, 358 MB. The current version of all languages is 842 MB, a bit too big to fit on a single CD-ROM but of course no problem for a DVD.
It was closed on Tuesdays during late beta. We referred to them as "Black Tuesdays", but we remembered it being closed a lot more than that during the early beta. As There Inc. prepared for the general launch, the downtime shrank, and when it fully launched it was open seven days, with the downtime reduced to 1.5 hours per day, 5AM to 6:30AM Pacific (GMT-7). That particular time of day probably turned off some potential customers from the other side of the world.
Can anyone tell me what's so special about the Sun-Earth L2 point that made it attractive to put the probe there? I couldn't find any reference on that site about why that spot was chosen.
At first I thought that it might need permanent shade from the sun, but I checked and found that the Earth's umbra doesn't extend that far out.
Unlike L4 or L5, the L2 position is a meta-stable point, requiring frequent correction to remain in place. There had to be a very good reason to choose it. The site has quite a bit of info about what exactly that spot is (nothing I didn't know already) and how the probe got there, but not a word why.
When I first saw that movie, I laughed so hard when I recognized the dish playing the part of the Goldeneye control station. The Arecibo telescope is theoretically capable of communicating across our entire galaxy. Why did it take a dish that size to talk with a satellite just 100 miles up in LEO?
The Hugo awards are voted on by the people who attend or support the World Science Fiction Convention. It's a popularity contest voted on by the fans. Any work that the fans think qualify as SF or fantasy is eligible to be nominated and voted on.
It doesn't cost very much to buy an advance supporting membership.
I wish this page for the current Worldcon still had the prices for advance membership posted, but that info was probably removed when the deadlines passed. The prices were probably not too much different than next year's Worldcon. Act now; for just $35 USD, you too will be able to nominate and vote the Hugo for works first published in 2001.
Slashdot Mirror
*** Ponder
It just occurred to me that the astronomer being quoted might not have been referring to an occultation at all. That's a pretty rare event for any given asteroid. It's possible that the astronomer was referring to needing to wait for the bright moon to get out of the sky at the same time the asteroid is up, which can take a week or more, depending on its current phase. The extra extinction caused by a bright moon might be enough to prevent the detailed observations needed to get a good orbital fix on the asteroid. This still doesn't excuse the lousy science reporting, which flat-out declared the asteroid was behind the moon, and implied it would remain there for two weeks.
*** PonderI automatically inferred that the grandparent post was calling for a new rover mission, not for the current rovers to be sent there.
*** Ponder
If it's gonna take two weeks to get enough observations in to pin down its orbit, fine. Throwing in the fact there happens to be an occultation somewhere in there, which will last, what, an hour at most? That confuses the issue to the lay public. It's irrelevant for refining the asteroid's orbit. The article makes it sound like the asteroid will be hiding behind the moon for the entire period, when that can't possibly be the case.
*** Ponder
Nothing in solar orbit can stay occluded by our moon for that long. That's for about half of the moon's orbit! If I'm wrong about that, someone please draw me a diagram. *mutters something about lousy science reporting*
*** Ponder
The $250/pound "rule" refers to where the bottom of the price/memory curve is at any given time, so current products that are out at the ends of the curve won't comply. Moore's Law also refers to the bottom of the price curve. I'm sure the actual progress is not continuous, given the quantum jumps that happen in form factors (5.25", 3.5", 2.5", flash memory, etc.)
*** Ponder
Can't Stand Idiots.
The complete complete database dump of all prior versions in all languages is over 26 GB. But if you just want the current english version, it will fit nicely on a single CD-ROM, 358 MB. The current version of all languages is 842 MB, a bit too big to fit on a single CD-ROM but of course no problem for a DVD.
*** Ponder
Actually, the "mostly harmless" bit was already in the article, scroll to the bottom. Your change was quickly reverted.
*** Ponder
It was closed on Tuesdays during late beta. We referred to them as "Black Tuesdays", but we remembered it being closed a lot more than that during the early beta. As There Inc. prepared for the general launch, the downtime shrank, and when it fully launched it was open seven days, with the downtime reduced to 1.5 hours per day, 5AM to 6:30AM Pacific (GMT-7). That particular time of day probably turned off some potential customers from the other side of the world.
There addicts have known about this for months.
I'd like to know what media they used that could write that much information in 1 minute.
Can anyone tell me what's so special about the Sun-Earth L2 point that made it attractive to put the probe there? I couldn't find any reference on that site about why that spot was chosen.
At first I thought that it might need permanent shade from the sun, but I checked and found that the Earth's umbra doesn't extend that far out.
Unlike L4 or L5, the L2 position is a meta-stable point, requiring frequent correction to remain in place. There had to be a very good reason to choose it. The site has quite a bit of info about what exactly that spot is (nothing I didn't know already) and how the probe got there, but not a word why.
When I first saw that movie, I laughed so hard when I recognized the dish playing the part of the Goldeneye control station. The Arecibo telescope is theoretically capable of communicating across our entire galaxy. Why did it take a dish that size to talk with a satellite just 100 miles up in LEO?
They're crop circles!
It doesn't cost very much to buy an advance supporting membership. I wish this page for the current Worldcon still had the prices for advance membership posted, but that info was probably removed when the deadlines passed. The prices were probably not too much different than next year's Worldcon. Act now; for just $35 USD, you too will be able to nominate and vote the Hugo for works first published in 2001.
*** Ponderoid