5 ms·

The Hubble Blew My Mind

180 points by friism 15y ago

hospadam 15y ago
"Secondly - and most importantly - my daughter told me the answer. This might sound weird if you don't have kids - but for your kid to know the answer to something you genuinely don't know - that's really special for them." You know, I'm not a parent yet - but I'm excited about this feeling. I can still remember the few times it happened when I was a child - and that blew my mind back then.
- cjfont 15y ago
  To me it seems the article should be better titled "My daughter blew my mind", since his reaction seems to be more centered around his daughter getting the answer before he did.
tptacek 15y ago
You really don't get how cool Star Walk is until you actually use it, preferably with kids.
theoj 15y ago
I guess it really depends on your experience... if it's something you had no idea could be done before then it's a huge leap and you are bound to be impressed. If it's something for which you've seen earlier iterations, then the leap is much smaller and much less impressive. I'm in the smaller leap -- not so impressed category. I used to do a fair bit of satellite watching about 10-14 years ago. Back then it was old skool -- download satellite orbit data from the web, feed it to a computer program, get the viewing opportunities (aka predictions), print the predictions on paper and then go outside with the paper to enjoy the show. At that time there were also programs that simulated orbit passes -- you could see whether a satellite was above the horizon day or night realtime -- but only at your desk on the computer. The thing that was missing was the portability factor that now makes the experience real-time.
steve8918 15y ago
Great story, and great advertisement for that app! I just went out and paid $2.99 for the app, and I'll use it the next time I'm far enough from the city to actually see stars :)
drivebyacct2 15y ago
Google Sky Map is cool too for Android. :)
- kefs 15y ago
  It surprises me how many Android users don't know about this great free Google app... https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.stardroid https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.sta...
  - drivebyacct2 15y ago
    It was an "original" per say too. It's quite impressive. It sold at least one phone, my mom made the smartphone leap because of it and free texting with Gvoice. I can remember my Dad showing me how we could pull up the hubble tracker via dialup. Now, it's anywhere.
ilamont 15y ago
What a great story. I am going to get this app as well to enjoy with my kids. But I am also thinking about how serendipitous and articulate recommendations like this point to the inadequacies of the app store discovery process. It really takes more than categories, top 25 lists, search, and star ratings to find some niche gems.
- robconery 15y ago
  I think Star Walk is up there in terms of top apps - most people I know have it installed on their phones and iPads. It's a sensational application.
  - WA 15y ago
    Do you know how it works? I mean, how can the camera even see the stars? Usually, the lense must be open for quite a while to take a picture of the night sky, no?
    - Robin_Message 15y ago
      I can guess GPS plus compass plus accelerometer is enough to know where it is and which way it is pointing. You're right it would be hard for the camera to see the stars.
    - robconery 15y ago
      It's not a camera - well not entirely :). It's a rendered star field that moves with your orientation in 3D space.
    - palish 15y ago
      It doesn't need a camera... iPhone knows your latitude and longitude --- your position on the surface of the Earth. It also knows the location of each star. Lastly, it knows which way your screen is pointing. That's all the knowledge that's needed in order to display a starfield on the screen.
      - 15y ago
mershad 15y ago
Every time I see an image Hubble captures, it blows my mind.
mturmon 15y ago
It's fun to see ISS (space station) as it flies over. You can go to lots of places, like http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/index.html http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/index.html to find good nights to watch. Usually right around sunset local time. Look for the longer durations and higher elevations.
soitgoes 15y ago
Stellarium (http://www.stellarium.org/ http://www.stellarium.org/) is pretty good too. I've only used it on Windows and Linux, but there is Stellarium XL for the iPad.
- DanBC 15y ago
  Stellarium is very good. The difference is that StarWalk uses accelerometers and GPS to provide augmented reality - you hold the iPhone / iPad up and point it at a constellation and the display shows what you're looking at. Stellarium (at least, when I was using it) does not do this.
icebraining 15y ago
we're connected to WiFi so why shouldn't the app know this? Actually, it doesn't need Internet connection. Hubble, like any other satellite, has a well known orbit, so you can calculate its position.
hackDaily 15y ago
Just bought this app about a week ago and have been amazed ever since. It's surreal how you can travel back and forth through time and see the cosmos unfold.
ctdonath 15y ago
My grandfather on his great-grandchildren: "poor kids will grow up thinking computers are normal." Indeed. One of my daughter's first words was "iPad".
hugh3 15y ago
I was thinking just the other day that something like this should exist. I'm happy to know that it does.
StavrosK 15y ago
I'm amazed at people who are stupefied by software's ability to know where the stars are today, without any external sensors. They have known trajectories, it's trivial to calculate the position.
- Nick_C 15y ago
  Well, I don't know if I would say it's trivial. Geocentric is fairly easy, topocentric (which is what we want), not so much. Especially when you have to start factoring in local time. And then people start wanting to change the time to a few thousand years in the past and now you have to factor in nutation and drift and ....
borism 15y ago
People have mentioned a lot of great apps here for both Android and iOS. What they forget is that all those apps get their information from somewhere and a lot of it is coming from hobbyists and amateur astronomers putting it up on http://www.heavens-above.com http://www.heavens-above.com and SeeSat mailing list for free (yes, a lot of space-celebs like Hubble and ISS have a known orbit, but those guys have catalogued virtually every object launched by humans, including many top-secret satellites). Just thought it is appropriate to give respect where respect is due.

180 points by friism 15y ago

"Secondly - and most importantly - my daughter told me the answer. This might sound weird if you don't have kids - but for your kid to know the answer to something you genuinely don't know - that's really special for them." You know, I'm not a parent yet - but I'm excited about this feeling. I can still remember the few times it happened when I was a child - and that blew my mind back then.

cjfont 15y ago
To me it seems the article should be better titled "My daughter blew my mind", since his reaction seems to be more centered around his daughter getting the answer before he did.

tptacek 15y ago

You really don't get how cool Star Walk is until you actually use it, preferably with kids.

theoj 15y ago

I guess it really depends on your experience... if it's something you had no idea could be done before then it's a huge leap and you are bound to be impressed. If it's something for which you've seen earlier iterations, then the leap is much smaller and much less impressive. I'm in the smaller leap -- not so impressed category. I used to do a fair bit of satellite watching about 10-14 years ago. Back then it was old skool -- download satellite orbit data from the web, feed it to a computer program, get the viewing opportunities (aka predictions), print the predictions on paper and then go outside with the paper to enjoy the show. At that time there were also programs that simulated orbit passes -- you could see whether a satellite was above the horizon day or night realtime -- but only at your desk on the computer. The thing that was missing was the portability factor that now makes the experience real-time.

steve8918 15y ago

Great story, and great advertisement for that app! I just went out and paid $2.99 for the app, and I'll use it the next time I'm far enough from the city to actually see stars :)

drivebyacct2 15y ago

Google Sky Map is cool too for Android. :)

kefs 15y ago
It surprises me how many Android users don't know about this great free Google app... https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.stardroid https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.sta...
- drivebyacct2 15y ago
  It was an "original" per say too. It's quite impressive. It sold at least one phone, my mom made the smartphone leap because of it and free texting with Gvoice. I can remember my Dad showing me how we could pull up the hubble tracker via dialup. Now, it's anywhere.

ilamont 15y ago

What a great story. I am going to get this app as well to enjoy with my kids. But I am also thinking about how serendipitous and articulate recommendations like this point to the inadequacies of the app store discovery process. It really takes more than categories, top 25 lists, search, and star ratings to find some niche gems.

robconery 15y ago
I think Star Walk is up there in terms of top apps - most people I know have it installed on their phones and iPads. It's a sensational application.
- WA 15y ago
  Do you know how it works? I mean, how can the camera even see the stars? Usually, the lense must be open for quite a while to take a picture of the night sky, no?
  - Robin_Message 15y ago
    I can guess GPS plus compass plus accelerometer is enough to know where it is and which way it is pointing. You're right it would be hard for the camera to see the stars.
  - robconery 15y ago
    It's not a camera - well not entirely :). It's a rendered star field that moves with your orientation in 3D space.
  - palish 15y ago
    It doesn't need a camera... iPhone knows your latitude and longitude --- your position on the surface of the Earth. It also knows the location of each star. Lastly, it knows which way your screen is pointing. That's all the knowledge that's needed in order to display a starfield on the screen.
    - 15y ago

mershad 15y ago

Every time I see an image Hubble captures, it blows my mind.

mturmon 15y ago

It's fun to see ISS (space station) as it flies over. You can go to lots of places, like http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/index.html http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/index.html to find good nights to watch. Usually right around sunset local time. Look for the longer durations and higher elevations.

soitgoes 15y ago

Stellarium (http://www.stellarium.org/ http://www.stellarium.org/) is pretty good too. I've only used it on Windows and Linux, but there is Stellarium XL for the iPad.

DanBC 15y ago
Stellarium is very good. The difference is that StarWalk uses accelerometers and GPS to provide augmented reality - you hold the iPhone / iPad up and point it at a constellation and the display shows what you're looking at. Stellarium (at least, when I was using it) does not do this.

icebraining 15y ago

we're connected to WiFi so why shouldn't the app know this? Actually, it doesn't need Internet connection. Hubble, like any other satellite, has a well known orbit, so you can calculate its position.

hackDaily 15y ago

Just bought this app about a week ago and have been amazed ever since. It's surreal how you can travel back and forth through time and see the cosmos unfold.

ctdonath 15y ago

My grandfather on his great-grandchildren: "poor kids will grow up thinking computers are normal." Indeed. One of my daughter's first words was "iPad".

hugh3 15y ago

I was thinking just the other day that something like this should exist. I'm happy to know that it does.

StavrosK 15y ago

I'm amazed at people who are stupefied by software's ability to know where the stars are today, without any external sensors. They have known trajectories, it's trivial to calculate the position.

Nick_C 15y ago
Well, I don't know if I would say it's trivial. Geocentric is fairly easy, topocentric (which is what we want), not so much. Especially when you have to start factoring in local time. And then people start wanting to change the time to a few thousand years in the past and now you have to factor in nutation and drift and ....

borism 15y ago

People have mentioned a lot of great apps here for both Android and iOS. What they forget is that all those apps get their information from somewhere and a lot of it is coming from hobbyists and amateur astronomers putting it up on http://www.heavens-above.com http://www.heavens-above.com and SeeSat mailing list for free (yes, a lot of space-celebs like Hubble and ISS have a known orbit, but those guys have catalogued virtually every object launched by humans, including many top-secret satellites). Just thought it is appropriate to give respect where respect is due.