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Alien Astronomers Could Discern Earth's Features
New Scientist ^
| 12-21-2007
| Stephen Battersby
Posted on 12/22/2007 3:13:38 PM PST by blam
Alien astronomers could discern Earth's features
14:58 21 December 2007
NewScientist.com news service
Stephen Battersby
Aliens spying on us from another star system might be able to discern continents and oceans on our planet, using technology barely more advanced than our own.
In imaginary form, these inquisitive extraterrestrials have been helping astronomers work out how much detail the next generation of space telescopes could reveal on Earth-like planets orbiting other stars.
Seeing any detail at all is a tough task. Even at the distance of the nearest stars, only a few light years away, terrestrial planets would appear so small that no planned telescope could see any detail directly. Even NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder, a flotilla of large space telescopes that could be launched within a decade, would see Earth as a featureless point.
"In fact, Earth and the Moon would be in the same pixel," says team member Eric Ford of the University of Florida in Gainesville, US.
There is one trick, however, that astronomers might employ. As an alien Earth rotates, sunlight falls on different surface features such as forests, deserts and seas, and the total brightness of the planet should vary. By plotting that fluctuation in brightness over many days, a careful observer could sketch out those surface features.
That is, unless clouds spoil the view. Because clouds reflect so much light, chaotic weather patterns could make the brightness of a planet fluctuate unpredictably, perhaps enough to obscure those more subtle, regular variations due to continents and seas.
To find out, Ford and his colleagues calculated what a distant observer would see of the Earth, using satellite observations of weather around the globe. They discovered that in the long run, cloud cover mimics the pattern of surface features quite closely. Deserts have clear skies,
(Excerpt) Read more at space.newscientist.com ...
TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: alien; astronomers; callingartbell; discern; earth
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To: woofer
Tinkle tinkle little star..
21
posted on
12/22/2007 4:53:41 PM PST
by
Sunny Poipu
(Somebody else in Sunny Poipu for a while.)
To: dayglored
22
posted on
12/22/2007 4:58:30 PM PST
by
Doc Savage
(The tree of liberty needs to be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants)
To: blam
That's it boys...no more peeing outside.Mrs. always sez 'way to go charm boy'...
23
posted on
12/22/2007 5:00:47 PM PST
by
steveo
(Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.)
To: blam
Aliens spying on us from another star system might be able to discern continents and oceans on our planet, using technology barely more advanced than our own.I wonder what they think of all the tasering? Zapppa!!!!
To: Doc Savage
>
DefEcating! Yep... hey, it' not my sign... ;-)
25
posted on
12/22/2007 5:23:28 PM PST
by
dayglored
(Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!)
To: BipolarBob
Are they kidding? The people from K-PAX come here regular. They say the taste of the produce alone is worth the trip.True, some people are just so behind times!
26
posted on
12/22/2007 5:25:40 PM PST
by
org.whodat
(What's the difference between a Democrat and a republican????)
To: blam
I wonder if the glare from their telescopes could be contributing to global warming?
To: Mad_Tom_Rackham
If I moon them tonight, might this cause an interstellar incident? No problem. Mooning will just make the planetary brightness vary a little more than usual.
28
posted on
12/22/2007 7:03:10 PM PST
by
seowulf
To: blam
"That is, unless clouds spoil the view. Because clouds reflect so much light, chaotic weather patterns could make the brightness of a planet fluctuate unpredictably, perhaps enough to obscure those more subtle, regular variations due to continents and seas."
I know it's a little off topic, but was it only after we put satellites into orbit that we realized that the earth has visible clouds? Whenever I see a movie from the 50's or 60's set in space, they show earth bald like a globe.
29
posted on
12/22/2007 7:16:08 PM PST
by
boop
(Who doesn't love poison pot pies?)
To: blam
To: BipolarBob
They come here for the "produce"?
Not just that...
To: blam
So surely they can see the Constellation Urion!
32
posted on
12/22/2007 7:51:16 PM PST
by
HeartlandOfAmerica
(The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.)
To: BenLurkin
Wow! That’s gotta be real!
33
posted on
12/22/2007 8:03:21 PM PST
by
reagan_fanatic
(Ron Paul put the cuckoo in my Cocoa Puffs)
To: blam
Alien Astronomers Could Discern Earth's Features
Dennis Kucinich sure can, otherwise he wouldn't be here.
34
posted on
12/22/2007 8:44:32 PM PST
by
G8 Diplomat
(Creatures are divided into 6 kingdoms: Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Monera, Protista, & Saudi Arabia)
To: blam
The thread title got me to thinkin' Has anyone asked the "experts" (algore and co.) if it's possible that the UFO aliens (as opposed to the illegal aliens) could be the cause of the hole in the ozone. Is that hole letting something out that is interferring with their environment? Or in, that is making a "very rich
genius" blubberman of algore.
What a bunch of phony baloney.
35
posted on
12/22/2007 8:54:10 PM PST
by
Picklezz
( (HUNTER: SOLID! Tops on: Illegals, Trade, DPRK, Iran/Iraq, Economy, WOT, PRC, Budget, PROLife))
To: reagan_fanatic
To: BenLurkin
I love a good prank, and that’s got to be one of the funniest I’ve seen! LOL!!
37
posted on
12/23/2007 8:53:00 AM PST
by
reagan_fanatic
(Ron Paul put the cuckoo in my Cocoa Puffs)
To: Zuben Elgenubi
If you are curious about what aliens could actually learn about Earth via their version of SETI, read “SETI in Reverse”, available from Amazon.com
Admission: I am the author.
38
posted on
02/27/2008 2:53:58 PM PST
by
tbw2
(Science fiction with real science - "Humanity's Edge" - on amazon.com)
To: tbw2
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