MetaFilter posts tagged with sun

The sun is a mass of incandescent (Blue) gas...

Taft — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:30:38 -0800

Astronomy Picture of the Day presents a truly magnificent sight: the blue sun.

The Sun Is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma

Upton O'Good — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:49:59 -0800

...the lyrics to that last song were basically taken from an encyclopedia written in the 50s, and since the 50s, some remarkable things have happened...

In 1959, a number of songs about science were released on an album called Space Songs. One of these was later covered by the band They Might Be Giants: Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun Is A Mass of Incandescent Gas). Only one problem: it isn't--the song was based on an incorrect text from 1951. So they wrote an answer song to themselves: Why Does The Sun Really Shine? (The Sun Is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma). Bonus link: see for yourself! (previously)

Discovering the Sun

netbros — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:17:50 -0800

Sungazer — discover the awesome beauty of the Sun. See images of Earth sized sunspots, towering prominences, and rivers of hot gas. Then, explore the cameras, telescopes, and accessories used in solar astro photography. (previously)

The Curious Case of the Missing Sunspots

Electric Dragon — Wed, 20 May 2009 04:48:24 -0800

Solar activity normally follows an 11-year cycle. The new cycle was originally predicted to start in early 2008, but despite a few sunspots appearing last year, the Sun still features a remarkable lack of activity - the deepest minimum since 1913. However, NASA's STEREO mission has seen indications that activity is increasing again, in the form of a coronal mass ejection (video [.mov, 3.3 Mb]), with an accompanying radio burst.

[Previously]

But that's where the fun is

dhartung — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:01:12 -0800

Atlantis. Hubble. And a big, yellow friend. Astrophotographer Thierry Legault managed to get amazing shots of Space Shuttle Atlantis approaching the Hubble Space Telescope during a transit of the sun. Don't do this at home, kids. (His site is down, so the link is through Coral.)

[something Delphic here]

ardgedee — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:17:21 -0800

Oracle to acquire Sun for $7.4 billion. This gives Oracle, among other things, Solaris, MySQL, Java and OpenOffice, and means that Oracle is now a hardware manufacturer rather than a reseller. This may have little to do with your day-to-day desktop or laptop computer use, but Oracle now controls the licenses for the software, programming language, or both running on very nearly every website you use. Sun's homepage announces it in large letters, while Oracle is slightly more restrained.

Solar Prayers

ericbop — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:41:09 -0800

Once every month, Jews bless the moon. Once every 28 years, they bless the sun! This custom dates back to the Talmud, but is also found in other sacred Jewish texts, such as The New York Times. Sometimes, there are misunderstandings. [pdf] Previously reserved to a pious handful of observant Jews, it's on the mainstream media radar this time around, possibly because of its environmental implications. Here's an interesting depiction of the ritual in modern American history, which explicitly deals with its connection to solar power.

Internet Archive's new data center in a box

stbalbach — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:52:42 -0800

Internet Archive - probably the single largest depository of Open Source content (and the Wayback Machine) - has transitioned its data center from racks of Linux machines to a Sun MD, basically a 3 petabyte data center housed in a liquid cooled shipping container, currently sitting in Sun's Santa Clara campus court yard. Sun and IA have put together an interesting interactive tour of how it works and what it looks like. The new design uses 50% the power of a comparable traditional system.. which is a good thing for the Internet in general because “If we do not start looking closely at our data centers now, 70% of the world’s data centers will have tangible disruptions by 2011 and the systems will experience world-wide brownouts over the course of the next five years.”¹

A perfect space storm

stbalbach — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:31:13 -0800

A perfect space storm, which happens about every century, like the one that occurred in 1859, could cause "catastrophic social and economic disruptions", according to a new study by the National Academy of Sciences on behalf of NASA. "Potable water distribution affected within several hours; perishable foods and medications lost in 12-24 hours; immediate or eventual loss of heating/air conditioning, sewage disposal, phone service, transportation, fuel resupply and so on," the report states. Outages could take months to fix, the researchers say. Banks might close, and trade with other countries might halt. The next peak in solar activity is expected around 2012.

The Solar Connection

digaman — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 09:01:23 -0800

Rethinking Earthrise. On the 40th anniversary of the NASA's Apollo 8 mission [caution: weird JFK animation], which answered Stewart Brand's epochal, LSD-inspired question "Why haven't we seen a photograph of the whole Earth yet?" with an unforgettable image of a seemingly fragile and isolated blue planet, Nature editor Oliver Morton -- author of a new book on photosynthesis called Eating the Sun -- disputes the notion that the Earth is fragile and isolated. "The fragility is an illusion," he writes. "The planet Earth is a remarkably robust thing, and this strength flows from its ancient and intimate connection to the cosmos beyond. To see the photo this way does not undermine its environmental relevance -- but it does recast it."

Hides in winter's skirts

klangklangston — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:30:17 -0800

I Know Where Summer Goes Photos by Ryan McGinley. Some nudity; fireworks; fun, longing.

Portals Between Earth and Sun Open Every Eight Minutes

homunculus — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:55:11 -0800

Magnetic Portals Connect Sun and Earth. "Like giant, cosmic chutes between the Earth and sun, magnetic portals open up every eight minutes or so to connect our planet with its host star. Once the portals open, loads of high-energy particles can travel the 93 million miles (150 million km) through the conduit during its brief opening, space scientists say." [Via]

The Sun

grouse — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:33:37 -0800

The Sun (via chrismear's Twitter feed)

Manhattanhenge

445supermag — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:24:42 -0800

Manhattan henge

We travel the spaceways

sleepy pete — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:23:56 -0800

Brother from Another Planet (Pts. 2, 3, and 4) is a documentary about Sun Ra and his Arkestra(s) on YT. It features interviews with Archie Shepp, Amiri Baraka, John Sinclair, and several members of the Arkestra as well as several live clips and scenes from the 1974 movie Space is the Place. (previously) It seems to be incomplete by a bit, but well worth the watch whether this is an introduction or you're an aficionado. Or, you could just read the book by John F. Szwed. The YT user also has several other interesting videos up including Black President on Fela Kuti, Wim Wenders entry into The Blues series called "Soul of a Man", and several fine clips of Parliament-Funkadelic/Bootsy's Rubber Band.

Amateur pictures of the sun

daveyt — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 09:43:59 -0800

Here. This guy takes pictures of the sun. The actual big shiny one in the sky. Well not my sky right now but you probably know the one I'm talking about. They are stunning. And he did it with some simple gear. You could try it yourself. (How-to's temporarily off line).

Wot's...Uh The Deal?

punkfloyd — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 10:34:25 -0800

Pink Floyd fans may not need no education but Gilmourish, an exhaustive review of the guitars and audio effects of Pink Floyd's David Gilmour (with help from an insider), will leave most comfortably numb.

The sun and mars

vronsky — Sat, 19 May 2007 15:28:54 -0800

Mars as art and the sun as art.

Out, damned spots!

unSane — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 07:38:48 -0800

Sunspot activity is closely linked to climate. Although it observes an 11 and 22 year cycle, the overall trend of activity shows much longer term variations. The so-called Maunder Minimum (1645-1715) coincided with the Little Ice Age, while the Medieval Maximum coincided with the Medieval Warm Period. Analysis of beryllium isotopes from ice cores in Greenland shows that sunspot activity is currently at a 1000 year high. Could this account, at least in part, for global warming? Recent data from Mars suggests this may be so, while others remain sceptical. Bonus pix, more here.

The Traveling Rings of Santa Monica Beach

jason's_planet — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 08:15:51 -0800

The Tra vel ing Rings At San ta Mon ica Beach

"The sun descending in the west, The evening star does shine;"

wander — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:12:27 -0800

Have you ever wondered what a solar eclipse would look like from space? The STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) has just sent back its view (awe-inspiring video included). It has also sent back some gorgeous pictures of our sun (and the McNaught Comet). For more media, check out the other galleries (including some 3D images). For more about the project, see NASA's STEREO homepage. Be sure to also stop by the Johns Hopkins University STEREO Page, where you can download a mission guide (pdf), view animations, watch a video of the launch, or even make your own papercraft STEREO model (pdf). You can also learn more in six minute segments with their series of short educational videos.

Archaeoastronomy in Peru

homunculus — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 22:38:46 -0800

The Thirteen Towers of Chankillo in Peru may be the Western Hemisphere's oldest known full-service solar observatory, showing evidence of early, sophisticated Sun cults, according to archaeoastronomy professor Clive Ruggles. The 2,300-year-old complex featured 13 towers running north to south along a ridge and spread across 980 feet to form a toothed horizon that spans the solar arc. Last year, another ancient observatory was discovered in Peru by Robert Benfer. The Temple of the Fox is 4,200 years old, making it 1,900 years older than the Chankillo site, but wasn't a complete calendar.

Blowing up the universe.

blahblahblah — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 22:41:18 -0800

How to blow up the Earth (with a coffee can), and why we should, along with some discussion of how it is done in fiction. Blowing up the moon (and how the US nearly did in 1958, with the help of Carl Sagan), and lots of reasons why, including one in song [YouTube]. How to blow up a star. How we might accidentally blow up the universe in November. [prev. discussion of Earth destruction]

How to reduce global warming? Block out the sun.

jayder — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 17:36:24 -0800

Instead of reducing emissions, maybe we can block out the sun. This is a proposal offered by the United States in response to a draft of a UN report on climate change, prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. According to the linked article, the U.S. has resisted a treaty that would involve binding targets for emissions reductions, and is instead pushing for the exploration of techniques for blocking out the sun, including (according to the Sydney Morning Herald article) "putting a giant screen into orbit, thousands of tiny, shiny balloons, or microscopic sulfate droplets pumped into the high atmosphere to mimic the cooling effects of a volcanic eruption." This is via Yale Law professor Jack Balkin, who speculates that there is Biblical precedent for this proposal.

A reason to call in sick tomorrow.

absalom — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:37:52 -0800

Last night there was a pretty cool coronal ejection that ought to be arriving shortly. When it does, expect Auroral activity as far south as Tennessee. (Or Northern Italy. Or New Zealand.) [Via MonkeyFilter]