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What does "seen from space" mean? I think to have any useful meaning it should mean "Can be seen with the naked eye, from an altitude X which we can consider sp

What does "seen from space" mean? I think to have any useful meaning it should mean "Can be seen with the naked eye, from an altitude X which we can consider space such as The Kármán line". Just that something can be resolved on a satellite image using an arbitrarily large telescope doesn't say much about what size it is.

version_five 5y ago
If the headline writer wanted to precisely convey the size, they would just provide the length in km or whatever. "You can see it from space" is pretty clearly a poetic way to imply something is of the same scale as big geographic features. It's not meant as a way of concisely conveying something's size. To be fair, your comment was basically the first thing that went through my mind too, but I tried to check my natural urge to correct such things... and now find myself giving a pedantic answer to your comment instead :)
- alkonaut 5y ago
  Now that I think about it, it might actually be possible to see from space, indirectly. If it casts a shadow that is really big (e.g. 100m wide) when the sun is low then you could potentially see that, even though you don't see the object directly. The problem I suppose is that just as that happens, you also lose a lot of light. I guess my second question would then be: to properly see something from space in the not-just-poetic-way-of-describing-something-as-very-big, how large does it need to be?
  - danbruc 5y ago
    My interpretation is that can-be-seen-from-space means can be seen with the naked eye from the ISS or something else in low Earth orbit. In this case you will probably not see the actual conveyor belt but different surface colors on both sides of the conveyor belt caused by dust being blown mostly in the predominant wind direction. Looking at it in Google Maps [1] shows that there is a noticeable color change extending between about 100 m and 2000 m to the south west. [1] https://goo.gl/maps/R97QZpBabs9mLh3d6 https://goo.gl/maps/R97QZpBabs9mLh3d6
- DiggyJohnson 5y ago
  Rarely do I come across a comment that seems impossible to distinguish from not only my thoughts, but style and pattern as well. That second paragraph is one of the most relatable things I’ve read on HN in a bit. Cheers :)
chriswarbo 5y ago
> According to the US agency[NASA], this belt has «often attracted astronaut attention in this otherwise almost featureless landscape».
themaninthedark 5y ago
It's a pre-internet meme used to convey size. I for one, can't wait until they report that "It's huge, like the xbox."
outsidetheparty 5y ago
It's an idiom that's maybe past its expiration date in the era of "I can see my mailbox from space, if I zoom in on google maps enough"

version_five 5y ago

If the headline writer wanted to precisely convey the size, they would just provide the length in km or whatever. "You can see it from space" is pretty clearly a poetic way to imply something is of the same scale as big geographic features. It's not meant as a way of concisely conveying something's size. To be fair, your comment was basically the first thing that went through my mind too, but I tried to check my natural urge to correct such things... and now find myself giving a pedantic answer to your comment instead :)

alkonaut 5y ago
Now that I think about it, it might actually be possible to see from space, indirectly. If it casts a shadow that is really big (e.g. 100m wide) when the sun is low then you could potentially see that, even though you don't see the object directly. The problem I suppose is that just as that happens, you also lose a lot of light. I guess my second question would then be: to properly see something from space in the not-just-poetic-way-of-describing-something-as-very-big, how large does it need to be?
- danbruc 5y ago
  My interpretation is that can-be-seen-from-space means can be seen with the naked eye from the ISS or something else in low Earth orbit. In this case you will probably not see the actual conveyor belt but different surface colors on both sides of the conveyor belt caused by dust being blown mostly in the predominant wind direction. Looking at it in Google Maps [1] shows that there is a noticeable color change extending between about 100 m and 2000 m to the south west. [1] https://goo.gl/maps/R97QZpBabs9mLh3d6 https://goo.gl/maps/R97QZpBabs9mLh3d6
DiggyJohnson 5y ago
Rarely do I come across a comment that seems impossible to distinguish from not only my thoughts, but style and pattern as well. That second paragraph is one of the most relatable things I’ve read on HN in a bit. Cheers :)

chriswarbo 5y ago

> According to the US agency[NASA], this belt has «often attracted astronaut attention in this otherwise almost featureless landscape».

themaninthedark 5y ago

It's a pre-internet meme used to convey size. I for one, can't wait until they report that "It's huge, like the xbox."

outsidetheparty 5y ago

It's an idiom that's maybe past its expiration date in the era of "I can see my mailbox from space, if I zoom in on google maps enough"