DailyDirt: Astronomy Makes Astrology Kinda Complicated

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Wed, Jan 19th 2011 5:00pm — Michael Ho

The universe is filled with some weird stuff, and astronomers are always looking out to find new, unexplained phenomena. If our lives were really governed by the motions of distant stars, there'd be a looot of movements to take into account.... Still, there are plenty of folks who are wondering what their new astrology sign might mean. But however the stars move, astrologers probably enjoy all these new astronomical discoveries, if only because it makes their jobs more interesting. So, here are a few cool observations.

The Hubble is looking at a green gas cloud called Hanny�s Voorwerp. The object was discovered in 2007 by Dutch schoolteacher, Hanny van Arkel. [url]
The Kepler telescope found a solid planet about 40% bigger than Earth. That planet is more than a bit too hot for our biology, but there are at least a few hundred more planets in Kepler's sights. [url]
Mars might have giant caves! Or at least, it has big dark craters of some kind. [url]
Here's a "mysteries of space" timeline. Seriously not drawn to scale... especially a googol years in the future. [url]

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Filed Under: astrology, astronomy, hanny's voorwerp, hubble, kepler, mars, planet

9 Comments

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vivaelamor (profile), 19 Jan 2011 @ 5:06pm

Bloody MSM
I cringe every time I see a report about this 'news'. I mean, if it's old news even for the astrologers then you'd hope that the journalists could be suitably informed.
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DCL, 19 Jan 2011 @ 5:23pm

Best map of the universe...
...ever*!

http://xkcd.com/482/

*Except for the one that is better
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Michael Ho (profile), 19 Jan 2011 @ 6:08pm

Re: Best map of the universe...
DCL,
One of my favorite xkcd posters!
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Jan 2011 @ 8:07pm

You know what else Mars has. Bigfoot!!
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JB, 20 Jan 2011 @ 7:28am

Mystery of Space Timeline
Seriously, we are now predicting the end of the universe at 10^100 years from now? Also, I find the notation about the Big Bang being 'confirmed' in 1990 to be quite interesting. How exactly can one 'confirm' a theoretical possibility that supposedly happened over 5 billion years ago? I can understand perhaps rationalizing the theory by extrapolating the expansion discovered; but, that does not confirm nor deny the existence of an explosive point of matter that later congealed into the universe as we know it.

Then, there's the claim that basic elements did not exist prior to 3 seconds following the 'big bang.' That would imply the evolution of elements, thereby leading to a slow, but constant, flux in the properties of current elements.

Even though I don't think it should play into such a discussion; I will note that while I am a scientist and have studied evolution and other theories, my faith still sits squarely with creation. I am more than willing to listen to any criticisms and opposing ideas, but do not be surprised when I do not agree; I love debates.
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PandaMarketer (profile), 20 Jan 2011 @ 9:43am

Meh
I thought the timeline would be bigger.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2011 @ 3:57pm

Re: Mystery of Space Timeline
What does any of this have to do with the OP?
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biju, 30 Dec 2013 @ 4:19am

astrology becomes more difficult nowadys with the advancement in technology
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Margus Hoim, 18 Apr 2014 @ 12:13pm

New planet found in the habitable zone!
Breaking news, Kepler just discovered a planet with a similar radius of out earth and it orbits around the habitable zone!
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