Posted on 12/11/2020 9:23:03 PM PST by BenLurkin
Invisible structures generated by gravitational interactions in the Solar System have created a "space superhighway" network, astronomers have discovered.
These channels enable the fast travel of objects through space, and could be harnessed for our own space exploration purposes, as well as the study of comets and asteroids.
By applying analyses to both observational and simulation data, a team of researchers led by Nataša Todorović of Belgrade Astronomical Observatory in Serbia observed that these superhighways consist of a series of connected arches inside these invisible structures, called space manifolds - and each planet generates its own manifolds, together creating what the researchers have called "a true celestial autobahn".
This network can transport objects from Jupiter to Neptune in a matter of decades, rather than the much longer timescales, on the order of hundreds of thousands to millions of years, normally found in the Solar System.
Finding hidden structures in space isn't always easy, but looking at the way things move around can provide helpful clues. In particular, comets and asteroids.
There are several groups of rocky bodies at different distances from the Sun. There's the Jupiter-family comets (JFCs), those with orbits of less than 20 years, that don't go farther than Jupiter's orbital paths.
Centaurs are icy chunks of rocks that hang out between Jupiter and Neptune. And the trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) are those in the far reaches of the Solar System, with orbits larger than that of Neptune.
To model the pathways connecting these zones, as TNOs transition through the Centaur category and end up as JFCs, timescales can range from 10,000 to a billion years. But a recent paper identified an orbital gateway connected to Jupiter that seems much quicker, governing the paths of JFCs and Centaurs.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencealert.com ...
That ship can then be sent as far as Europa or Titan with people in it who won't get fried along the way. Also, it could rotate and generate some pseudo-gravity so their bones don't wither along the way.
It might even be helpful for a shorter, yet still dangerous, trek to Mars.
Wormholes are theoretically possible, but I believe they also require negative energy and they are so sensitive that actually putting something through it could cause it to collapse killing anyone who tried to use it.
Generation ships are a possibility, but either the ship is relatively small and you have to worry about the psychological issues of housing a band of people in tiny quarters for centuries, or else you have a ship that is so big that there's really no reason to send it anywhere. Just have it float in space and have the people stay and reproduce for eternity.
There's a guy named Isaac Arthur who has a YouTube channel where he discusses a myriad of futuristic issues with a healthy amount of scientific rigor. He is quite hopeful, but not mystical in his thoughts regarding space travel.
We can’t even handle a general election at a higher standard than Haiti, much less contemplate moving crap through superhighways in space.
Thanks. Going to check out that guy’s channel.
#20. Finally someone remembered the movie “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”.
One hell of a cast; Sam Rockwell, Freeman?, Zoey Deschanel, etc.
Info obtained from space aliens?
” oh no, not again “
We called them “worm holes.”
LOL !!! Especially from Georgetown to William Cannon, possibly even to Loop 410 Southside...
Please get your facts straight before posting! The closest star to Earth (besides our own Sun) is Proxima Centauri, at a distance of 4.244 light-years.
But in any event, this article is bunkum and/or terribly misleading. It suggests that these "superhighways" could be of use in human space exploration - but most of the statements indicate that they refer instead to natural celestial bodies.
A jumble of confusing half-truths, if not out-right falsehoods!
Regards,
I wonder how that compares to Amazon Prime.....
The author seems utterly aware of scientific jargon vs. English. Calling something a “manifold” is no explanation. I believe what he’s talking about is simply the presence of pathways which exploit gravity in places you might not expect to find them.
We’re all aware of the notion of using the gravity of a planet to speed up, right? Picture a “highway” using planetary gravity for speed. You probably imagine it careening from one planet to another, using ever more impossibly perfect timing. This is, I believe, merely an explanation of the surprising shapes of such a pathway.
You don’t even need to travel faster than light if your purpose for leaving Earth is to be gone for good.
When people say that it takes 1 year to travel one light-year at the speed of light, they mean from the reference point of Earth. If you’re doing the traveling, however, you’d experience it instantaneously. If you say, “screw this, I’m going to colonize a world a billion light years away,” you could get there in a reasonable amount of time. But people who travel faster than light.
You didn’t cover folding space.
Get me some spice and I will show you how.
Cue the song Life in the Fast Lane.
Please enlighten. Take the time in a few succinct but persuasive sentences just how a rational person can believe travel between the stars is possible.
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