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#1
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When you turn off the stars . . .
The other night, I fired up an old copy of Distant Suns 5.1.
I was playing around with the settings, when I started noticing a few interesting phenomena, when I turned off most of the stars, and looked at the whole hemisphere at a time. 1. Most of the comets (of the six or eight default loaded) seem to orbit within 10-20 degrees of the Milky Way. 2. The galaxies of Virgo, Coma B. and Canes V. seemed to form a separate disc, similar to our Milky Way. 3. And there were vast streches of sky in which there were relatively few cataloged galaxies. This echoes the findings of a cosmological "foam" structure to the distribution of matter on a very large scale. cheers, Larry G. -- Your mind is a terrible thing to waste - TURN OFF YOUR TV! ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
#2
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When you turn off the stars . . .
Larry G. wrote:
The other night, I fired up an old copy of Distant Suns 5.1. I was playing around with the settings, when I started noticing a few interesting phenomena, when I turned off most of the stars, and looked at the whole hemisphere at a time. 1. Most of the comets (of the six or eight default loaded) seem to orbit within 10-20 degrees of the Milky Way. 2. The galaxies of Virgo, Coma B. and Canes V. seemed to form a separate disc, similar to our Milky Way. Interesting. How many galaxies are in the data base for each cluster? 3. And there were vast streches of sky in which there were relatively few cataloged galaxies. This echoes the findings of a cosmological "foam" structure to the distribution of matter on a very large scale. Could this be due to areas where dust in the Milky Way blocks our view? Shawn |
#3
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When you turn off the stars . . .
"Larry G." wrote: The other night, I fired up an old copy of Distant Suns 5.1. I was playing around with the settings, when I started noticing a few interesting phenomena, when I turned off most of the stars, and looked at the whole hemisphere at a time. 1. Most of the comets (of the six or eight default loaded) seem to orbit within 10-20 degrees of the Milky Way. 2. The galaxies of Virgo, Coma B. and Canes V. seemed to form a separate disc, similar to our Milky Way. 3. And there were vast streches of sky in which there were relatively few cataloged galaxies. This echoes the findings of a cosmological "foam" structure to the distribution of matter on a very large scale. cheers, Larry G. -- Your mind is a terrible thing to waste - TURN OFF YOUR TV! ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- I wouldnt jump to conlcusions based on one glimpse of the whisker on the beast. |
#4
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When you turn off the stars . . .
On Thu, 01 Feb 2007 00:11:39 -0600, Shawn
wrote: Larry G. wrote: The other night, I fired up an old copy of Distant Suns 5.1. I was playing around with the settings, when I started noticing a few interesting phenomena, when I turned off most of the stars, and looked at the whole hemisphere at a time. 1. Most of the comets (of the six or eight default loaded) seem to orbit within 10-20 degrees of the Milky Way. 2. The galaxies of Virgo, Coma B. and Canes V. seemed to form a separate disc, similar to our Milky Way. Interesting. How many galaxies are in the data base for each cluster? I'm not sure. I believe I was only looking at those with NGC numbers. So, the answer would be in the thousands. 3. And there were vast streches of sky in which there were relatively few cataloged galaxies. This echoes the findings of a cosmological "foam" structure to the distribution of matter on a very large scale. Could this be due to areas where dust in the Milky Way blocks our view? I suspect the obscuring dust lies mainly within the general band of the Milky Way, and is not much present outside the galactic disc. Cheers, Larry G. Shawn -- Your mind is a terrible thing to waste - TURN OFF YOUR TV! ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
#5
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When you turn off the stars . . .
On Feb 1, 6:29 pm, "Larry G." wrote:
The other night, I fired up an old copy of Distant Suns 5.1. I was playing around with the settings, when I started noticing a few interesting phenomena, when I turned off most of the stars, and looked at the whole hemisphere at a time. 1. Most of the comets (of the six or eight default loaded) seem to orbit within 10-20 degrees of the Milky Way. That seems odd. I would suspect that the periodic ones would be orbiting near the ecliptic. The C/ ones I would expect to be randomly distributed. Certainly the notable C/2006 P1 doesn't appear to be aligned to either ecliptic or Milky Way. 2. The galaxies of Virgo, Coma B. and Canes V. seemed to form a separate disc, similar to our Milky Way. Well they are collectively the Virgo cluster. The specific shape might be an artifact of the projection method the software is using. 3. And there were vast streches of sky in which there were relatively few cataloged galaxies. This echoes the findings of a cosmological "foam" structure to the distribution of matter on a very large scale. Do you know what database the software is using? NGC + IC Bill cheers, Larry G. -- Your mind is a terrible thing to waste - TURN OFF YOUR TV! ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----http://www.newsfeeds.comThe #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
#6
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When you turn off the stars . . .
On Thu, 01 Feb 2007 05:59:27 -0600, wrote:
On Feb 1, 6:29 pm, "Larry G." wrote: The other night, I fired up an old copy of Distant Suns 5.1. I was playing around with the settings, when I started noticing a few interesting phenomena, when I turned off most of the stars, and looked at the whole hemisphere at a time. 1. Most of the comets (of the six or eight default loaded) seem to orbit within 10-20 degrees of the Milky Way. That seems odd. I would suspect that the periodic ones would be orbiting near the ecliptic. The C/ ones I would expect to be randomly distributed. Certainly the notable C/2006 P1 doesn't appear to be aligned to either ecliptic or Milky Way. Yes, there was one or two that weren't obviously aligned. If I had been thinking, I would have turned on the orbit path visibility to see what sort of alignment was actually there. 2. The galaxies of Virgo, Coma B. and Canes V. seemed to form a separate disc, similar to our Milky Way. Well they are collectively the Virgo cluster. The specific shape might be an artifact of the projection method the software is using. I had the FOV zoomed out to see an entire hemisphere at a time. I could rotate the FOV and the clumpy/disc-band pattern remained consistent. Perhaps the Virgo cluster is aligned along a more-or-less linear boundary between two or three different void-bubbles in the cosmic foam. 3. And there were vast streches of sky in which there were relatively few cataloged galaxies. This echoes the findings of a cosmological "foam" structure to the distribution of matter on a very large scale. Do you know what database the software is using? NGC + IC Yes, I believe these are part of Distant Suns 5.1. Cheers, Larry G. Bill cheers, Larry G. -- Your mind is a terrible thing to waste - TURN OFF YOUR TV! ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----http://www.newsfeeds.comThe #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- -- Your mind is a terrible thing to waste - TURN OFF YOUR TV! ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
#7
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When you turn off the stars . . .
Larry G. wrote:
I had the FOV zoomed out to see an entire hemisphere at a time. I could rotate the FOV and the clumpy/disc-band pattern remained consistent. Perhaps the Virgo cluster is aligned along a more-or-less linear boundary between two or three different void-bubbles in the cosmic foam. Sorry Larry, but you can't see the "cosmic foam" in looking at only the brighter galaxies. The bright galaxies are the ones nearby, and it just isn't a sufficient sample. Even with my SkyTools, which can plot over a million galaxies on a single chart, such structure is only at best hinted at. The other problem is that once you have enough galaxies in your sample the close ones overlap the far ones, and unless you have a means of separating them by distance you aren't really going to see the structure. That is why this structure was only first revealed by deep redshift surveys. Also, any orientation with respect you the Milky way for your small sample of comets is just coincidence. The orbits of comets have been studied statistically and except for the periodic comets (which have had their orbits perturbed by planets) their orientations are random. Clear skies, Greg -- Greg Crinklaw Astronomical Software Developer Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m) SkyTools: http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html Observing: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html Comets: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html To reply take out your eye |
#8
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When you turn off the stars . . .
Greg Crinklaw wrote:
Larry G. wrote: I had the FOV zoomed out to see an entire hemisphere at a time. I could rotate the FOV and the clumpy/disc-band pattern remained consistent. Perhaps the Virgo cluster is aligned along a more-or-less linear boundary between two or three different void-bubbles in the cosmic foam. Sorry Larry, but you can't see the "cosmic foam" in looking at only the brighter galaxies. The bright galaxies are the ones nearby, and it just isn't a sufficient sample. Even with my SkyTools, which can plot over a million galaxies on a single chart, such structure is only at best hinted at. The other problem is that once you have enough galaxies in your sample the close ones overlap the far ones, and unless you have a means of separating them by distance you aren't really going to see the structure. That is why this structure was only first revealed by deep redshift surveys. Among NGC galaxies, you may well be seeing the elongation/flattening of the Local Supercluster, roughly centered on the Virgo cluster. Gerard de Vaucouleurs was almost alone for years in claiming this as evidence for structure on a scale larger than obvious clusters. He even defined a coordinate system aligned with this "supergalactic plane" (which runs almost perpendicular to the Milky Way plane), in which you can find positions transformed at, for instance, ned.icpa.caltech.edu. The visibility of this clump in galaxy catalogs owes a lot to the relatively lwoer-density areas around it in most directions, which reduces the foreground-background clutter than Greg mentioned. Bill Keel Bill Keel |
#9
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When you turn off the stars . . .
On Feb 1, 11:19 am, "William C. Keel" wrote:
Among NGC galaxies, you may well be seeing the elongation/flattening of the Local Supercluster, roughly centered on the Virgo cluster. Gerard de Vaucouleurs was almost alone for years in claiming this as evidence for structure on a scale larger than obvious clusters. He even defined a coordinate system aligned with this "supergalactic plane" (which runs almost perpendicular to the Milky Way plane)... Larry, I think Bill's answer is correct that you are seeing the nearby galaxies along the Supergalactic Plane. If you can, change the magnitude limits until you find the optimal setting, and the string of galaxies from Ursa Major down though southern Virgo show up nicely. I have shown this effect to others using desktop planetarium software. The relative dearth of nearby galaxies in the Autumn sky compared to the Spring sky is a result of our position in the Local Supercluster. As for the comet orientations, I'm sure that if you used a large enough sample of orbits, you'd find that their inclinations do not have a preferred orientation. Tom |
#10
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When you turn off the stars . . .
On Thu, 01 Feb 2007 12:50:24 -0600, Tom Polakis
wrote: On Feb 1, 11:19 am, "William C. Keel" wrote: Among NGC galaxies, you may well be seeing the elongation/flattening of the Local Supercluster, roughly centered on the Virgo cluster. Gerard de Vaucouleurs was almost alone for years in claiming this as evidence for structure on a scale larger than obvious clusters. He even defined a coordinate system aligned with this "supergalactic plane" (which runs almost perpendicular to the Milky Way plane)... Larry, I think Bill's answer is correct that you are seeing the nearby galaxies along the Supergalactic Plane. If you can, change the magnitude limits until you find the optimal setting, and the string of galaxies from Ursa Major down though southern Virgo show up nicely. I have shown this effect to others using desktop planetarium software. The relative dearth of nearby galaxies in the Autumn sky compared to the Spring sky is a result of our position in the Local Supercluster. As for the comet orientations, I'm sure that if you used a large enough sample of orbits, you'd find that their inclinations do not have a preferred orientation. Tom Thanks Tom, Bill, and Greg. I did realize that the Virgo Supercluster was probably involved, and thought its roughly linear distribution to be curious. As for whether the voids around the cluster were cosmic or just local variations is something I'd be willing to debate, mostly for the sake of better understanding. I've recently read an introductory book on Fractal Geometry. A fractal is any pattern in which a magnified view of a smaller portion strongly resembles the larger set. Having voids appear among local / bright galaxies triggered this association, and I still wonder if the cosmic foam isn't a true fractal phenomenon much like so many other phenomena - lightening flashes, river tributaries, star patterns, etc. Thanks again, all. Cheers, Larry G. -- Your mind is a terrible thing to waste - TURN OFF YOUR TV! ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
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