Ags

So many options.... gotta think.

Not sure, but imaginary physicists have their feelings hurt by a negative amount.

Ok, so if I held a bowling ball made of imaginary mass, what would it feel like? Would a few imaginary kilos feel the same as a few real kilos?

While we are talking about different kinds of numbers to put before the kg symbol, are other number lines possible, like imaginary mass? Which way would imaginary gravity pull you?

Ah... so it cannot be used as a space telescope either 🙃

In a parallel universe... ISS tracking apps are fake, they are programmed to explain all UFO sightings as "ISS flyovers", like an appified, high-tech, self-service "weather balloon" default explanation. Stellarium is written by the NSA! 🤣

Everything is packed away, and every spare space in the garden is taken up by builders' things, so no astronomy for the coming weeks... but tonight I did notice the half Moon and Jupiter rising together, with less than five degrees separation. A pretty sight!

Glad to hear you got a good session!

Not flying pigs - dark pigs that don't interact with light or even truffles.

Aaaaah, but maybe the negative mass matter only started popping into existence a billion years after the big bang? The galaxies would have already clumped together, and my fuzzy negative cloud would increasingly provide the negative gravity to explain dark energy. All we have to do is get out into intergalactic space and harvest the exotic matter, and then we can build the hyperdrive to get to intergalactic space. It's a bit chicken and egg, it sounds like the first requirement for achieving interstellar travel is a time machine 😀

I might have to rethink my Christmas holiday to Antares...

If you can't get it on Amazon, it almost certainly doesn't exist! I'll have a look on the 'bay though, you never know!

Apparently I can build a faster than light starship powered by the Alcubierre Drive, all I will need to make it work is a lump of negative mass matter. This exotic substance is apparently not forbidden by our current physical theories, but I am wondering if there is any observational evidence of this stuff. For example, as negative mass matter (NMM) would produce negative gravity, is dark energy potentially produced by a hazy intergalactic cloud of NMM.

The way I do it, it's "Measure twice, cut thrice!

That's a relief. I have still got to pick up a 2.5 and 12 for my power-of-two set: 2.5, 6, 12, 25. The eyepiece I waited for since 2008 is the Svbony 3-8 zoom, I have one and I love it so I am not hoping for anything new at the moment.

SLVs discontinued??????

What I want to know is: what came before the OP's post?

That is brilliant!

I dunno, the question people ask is "how did all this start?" but the answer given only covers what happens afterwards. The total quantity of time expained is not relevant. I know there are plenty of nonscientific explanations, but I want the sciency one.

Yes but that 0.0001 s is the bit that counts.

Following up with PM.

Oh dear sounds like a printing error! I will investigate asap. Best send it back for a refund.

Thinking about it, maybe I can get more backfocus by getting a TS or Baader T2 prism...

Had my first visual session in a long while. The main motivator was to try out my Askar FMA135 as a finder scope. The main scope was my Zenithstar 66. Started off with Achird in Cassiopeia, and the FMA135 was duly of assistance, but I would say the FOV is only 60% of what I want. To achieve focus with an SLV25 eyepiece the little scope is barlowed out to a focal length of about 350mm. Changing from a mirror to a prism diagonal would reduce the barlowing, and of course switching to a 30mm plossl would also help. I'm doubtful I have enough path for an amici prism however. I hopped over to the Double Cluster, and it was a pretty sight and easy to make out in the finder. It was gorgeous as ever in the Zenithstar. The eyepiece in the Zenithstar was a Svbony 3-8 zoom and I'm finding it does great work as a DSO eyepiece , giving over a degree FOV at the 8mm setting with the option of zooming in on any doubles that come along. I took a first look this season at M31, and there it was - a grey thumbprint with faint "wings". Then down to Almach. No color at all in this double tonight. How peculiar!

Can we have a competition for those of us with no talent?