7 ms·
Detected by the radial velocity method, measuring the parent star being pulled toward and away from us by a variation of at little as 2-3 meters per second! It
by nick889996544 4y ago
Detected by the radial velocity method, measuring the parent star being pulled toward and away from us by a variation of at little as 2-3 meters per second! It always blows my mind that we can measure that.
- rqtwteye 4y agoRead up about the precision LIGO needs. Pretty mind boggling.
- vba616 4y agoI don't understand anything about it, but I think I read that LIGO has been enhanced with a technique involving "squeezed light" which allows some bypassing of heretofore assumed fundamental physical limits through quantum wizardry. Something else I read about, that doesn't sound like it involves far out voodoo tech to me, that I wish I'd live long enough to see, is putting a probe out far enough and in the right position, to use the Sun's gravity as a telescope lens. ...and (maybe) actually get pictures of extrasolar planets. I don't know if those pictures would be like Hubble's view of Pluto, or in principle could be much better. If I could have one wish for something extraterrestrial, that is more achievable, it would be close up pictures of Haumea. Eris and others too, but Haumea most of all. I care nothing at all for Mars colonies, but the most exciting thing about Starship for me is the hope that maybe combining it with in-orbit refueling could enable quicker travel to the outer solar system and loitering/orbiting instead of flying by at top speed.
- nkrisc 4y agoPretty good explanation of the technique and challenges involved: https://youtu.be/4d0EGIt1SPc https://youtu.be/4d0EGIt1SPc One figure that stands out, the probe would need to be about 550 AU from the sun. Voyager 1 is about 150 AU away from the sun right now, for comparison.
- HyperSane 4y agoThe Solar Gravitational Lens is very neat but with current propulsion technology it would take a very long time to get the satellites into position. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQFqDKRAROI&t=411s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQFqDKRAROI&t=411s
- skykooler 4y agoThen we'd better start as early as possible.
- govg 4y agoThere's a funny paradox-like situation that arises in space flight where because of the distances involved/ time taken, it might be better to wait some time for a faster method of flight to develop. Of course, it is up for debate whether there are many more ways of propulsion that are yet to be invented.
- loxias 4y agoI know, right? It's mindblowing that we can pass that light through a spectrograph and get the radial velocity just by the infinitesimal doppler shifts. Read about HARPS and the followup projects for more.