Count Infinity

The origin of man is perhaps the most hotly debated topic in history. Over the years religionists, scientists, philosophers, kings, and fools have all participated in the fight, each drawing different conclusions. I believe the answer is reasonably simple, and with only a little effort we can riddle out the source. (more…)

The Orion Nebula

We have a beautiful sky. There are sunrises, and sunsets. Some love the tropical rays of noon in the bahamas, others savor the brutal cold of a winter afternoon. And yet, for all the beauty of the daytime sky, nothing has so completely captured humanity as the night sky.

NASA photographed it, Vincent van Gogh painted it, and the Mesopotamians worshiped it. The Greeks used to draw pictures with the stars, and their fantasies immortalized Orion, the mighty hunter. Christopher Columbus would have certainly been well acquainted with his sky, and used it to navigate to America, as did Vespucci and Erickson before him.

More than one couple has been comforted at night by the thought that, although separated by distance, they are united by the stars. Perhaps you wished on a star as a child. What did you wish for? Did you ever tell? Maybe you once sat with someone you loved, and whispered to each other which stars were your favorites.
(more…)

Alpha Centauri

In the time it took this page to load, a photon could have circled the entire earth 15 times. Light is the fastest thing in the universe; and, it so happens that (at least in empty space) the speed never varies. Because the speed of light is constant, it can be used to measure distances. One light-year is the (incredibly huge) distance that takes light one year to travel.

At these distances really funky things start to happen. It is just like in a thunderstorm when you see lightening and only later actually hear the thunder; because, it takes time for the sound to reach you. Similarly, if a star 500 light-years away goes supernova today our great great great grand children will still see the star burning bright in the sky, even though it died hundreds of years ago. We can see stars today that burned out before the dinosaurs went extinct because they are millions of light-years away. If aliens millions of light-years away have awesome telescope technology, they might be looking at our planet right now and freaking out about T-Rex’s impressive grill.
(more…)