robin_astro

This is an example, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023AAS...24146307B/abstract Though technology is being developed which might one day make it possible or perhaps achieve the even higher precision needed for space based gravitational wave measurements https://lisa.nasa.gov/ a mission scheduled for launch mid 30's

It is more a precision issue. The feeds from the multiple telescopes have to be kept in phase to a fraction of a wavelength (of light in the case proposed). Though there have been various proposals, I understand this is beyond our current technological capability Robin

The information in this link might form the basis for an alternative calculation of when the first annular eclipse occurred https://www.quora.com/How-long-was-a-day-during-the-dinosaurs Robin

Hi Paul, Do you have a reference for that? According to the reference I posted above, annular eclipses first started happening about 1.6 billion years ago, well before the dinosaurs. There are a lot of uncertainties in the calculation though Cheers Robin

So according to this link this first occurred about 1.6 billion years ago, the first time the sun did not completely cover the sun during (an otherwise) total solar eclipse https://public.nrao.edu/ask/when-did-the-first-annular-eclipse-occur/ Robin

What caused inflation is an open subject but why specifically is "faster than light inflation" during the inflationary period seen as a problem any more than it is now with the current rate of expansion which, depending on the coordinate system used, also implies "faster than light velocities". According to the description in the link posted by Andrew, inflation took place under conditions where "normal", (though extreme) physics holds. Isn't the question of "faster than light velocities" at both early and late times therefore resolved within the framework of general relativity as Zermelo points out without the need of new physics? Robin

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/370302-“we-don’t-really-know-the-speed-of-light”/

The Wikipedia entry for Dark Matter pretty much covers what you are talking about. The current thinking on what it might be and alternative theories https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter

https://home.cern/science/physics/standard-model There are four fundamental forces at work in the universe: the strong force, the weak force, the electromagnetic force, and the gravitational force. They work over different ranges and have different strengths

To a cosmologist, Baryonic matter is all normal matter (assembled or unassembled into larger structures like atoms) https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/b/Baryonic+Matter We know how much of that stuff was created at the big bang and it agrees with the latest measurements of all that stuff now. Dark matter if it exists was proposed to solve a different problem. It may be some exotic particle but it has to have different properties from the stuff we already know about and does not interact with it except through gravity

Note that even finding more Baryonic (ordinary) matter would not solve the problem that the postulated (non baryonic) dark matter solves as dark matter would need different properties to normal (Baryonic) matter to explain the various observations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter

As you say most of the Baryonic matter in the universe is not in stars but as dust and gas in interstellar space (Not as planets though as they make up a very small fraction of the mass in a typical system). Various techniques can be used to calculate or measure the total amount of Baryonic matter in the universe and these appear to be converging on a consensus figure. See "the missing baryon problem" in Wikipedia for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_baryon_problem This is well short of what is required to give the universe its critical density or explain the motion of galaxies though hence leading to the conclusion that there is a much larger fraction of as yet undefined non baryonic (dark) matter

It had been around a long time now but like you, I am still waiting to see any serious results from one. An all reflective design has significant advantages. The things that put me off is the obvious astigmatism inherent in this type of design which broadens the spectrum which is not good for SNR with faint objects and for looking for structure in extended objects eg comets and galaxies. This is also present to a lesser extent in the Shelyak (Christian Buil's) UVEX reflective grating design where it is tamed by using a cylindrical prism. I also much prefer the WYSIWYG mirror slit (which both Baader and Shelyak and the old SBig SGS use) over the beam splitter which is highly dependent on precise alignment and focus between guide camera and slit without being able to see directly what is actually happening at the slit. If that is out even by a pixel you can lose a lot of light without even being aware of it. The built in guide camera design could also make the instrument become obsolete, rather like the SGS that used SBig's two chip guider/imager cameras. Cheers Robin

I suggest as a starting point something like your 90/f5.6 APO with the 120MM and ~40mm spacing which will give good resolution, plenty of room to fit the spectrum and zero order and plenty of light on bright stars.

With a cooled mono 8300 you will be able to go much deeper. (No need to guide, just stack many shorter exposures) eg these on my BAA page https://britastro.org/observations/observation.php?id=20230523_183229_5116a1a27f78a1ea https://britastro.org/observations/observation.php?id=20210406_144443_9e1c6a4cf219d14d https://britastro.org/observations/observation.php?id=20201216_234948_8cabda965bfe692f Robin