Posted on 09/13/2010 6:15:09 PM PDT by KevinDavis
A U.S. space telescope set for launch in 2014 could reveal the presence of oceans on planets outside the solar system, scientists say.
Detecting water on Earth-like planets would offer the tantalizing prospect they could sustain life, and scientists hope the reflection of light, or "glint", from mirror-like ocean surfaces could be picked up by the upcoming generation of space telescopes, the BBC reported Thursday.
(Excerpt) Read more at spacedaily.com ...
awesome
Any chance tidal forces could be observed as a means of detection? I suppose having a moon like ours is unlikely though.
Outside the solar system? Might take a little too long to 'get there' if you know what I mean...
Indeed. The formation of our moon seems to be a very unique occurrence. Can you imagine how complicated tidal forces would be on a world with 2 or 3 moons?
And the name of the program and the space telescope?
Unless someone can explain how this project is compatible with the president’s directive that NASA support the muslim nations, funding needs to be canceled. </sarc>
Indeed. The formation of our moon seems to be a very unique occurrence. Can you imagine how complicated tidal forces would be on a world with 2 or 3 moons?
The formation of the Earth-moon binary planet system is indeed an amazing event.
If things were just a little bit off in the impact speed or angle, we wouldn't have this amazing stabilizing effect of the moon's gravity on us. Without that stability, life and/or civilization as we know it wouldn't have developed.
I actually attribute this to a loving God. Learning how the moon was formed and its importance to life on Earth was one of the things that brought me back to belief in an active, loving God.
A winner of a lottery would have to thank every minuscule event that presented to the winner (and his ancestors) a choice that determined through a chain of linked events, whether the right purchase would have been made or not, for the winning, to the beginning of time.
Your comparison is similar to that.
Are lottery winnings “miraculous”?
When you consider that this whole ball of wax got kicked off by the "Big Bang" (the faster-than-light expansion of the sole and uniform mass of matter and energy)...
...and this creates intelligent beings who can look up at the sky and say "I came from a 'Big Bang'"...
...then I unequivocally say, YES, this "lottery winning" was MIRACULOUS!
Are you a Deist?
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is slated for a 2014 launch.
Deism (pronounced /ˈdiːɪzəm/, us dict: dē′·ĭzm)[1][2] is a religious and philosophical belief that a supreme being created the universe, and that this (and religious truth in general) can be determined using reason and observation of the natural world alone, without the need for either faith or organized religion. Many Deists reject the notion that God intervenes in human affairs, for example through miracles and revelations.
So going by this definition, count me as:
- "Yes" on the first sentence. I believe that the mere existence of the universe is indeed "proof" of a Creator; and
- "No" on the second sentence (and this should be obvious by my post). I believe that God can intervene in human affairs, or any affair taking place in this universe that He created.
This I view as being completely in sync with my membership in the Catholic Church.
Thanks for the reply!
Look at the southern border of the USA. There is an alien sea flowing over the border 24 hours a day! Don’t need a fancy telescope to detect that!
Tidal forces are computed. It's a basic consequence of gravity in a multibody system and has nothing to do with oceans.
Ditto! Not only the formation, but the fact that the core of the moon is heavier on one side so it always present the same face to earth. Highly 'irregular'.
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