Stargazing LIVE BBC2 8pm

beachBOYken · 5 Jan 2011 at 11:57

so the andromada galaxy is heading towards us and will hit us in about 20 billion years?

dave1983 · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:02

beachBOYken said:
so the andromada galaxy is heading towards us and will hit us in about 20 billion years?

2 billion years, it's approximately 2million light years away. also Cox was mentioning that Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion is very unstable and could possibly go supernova anytime now.

ic1male · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:03

dave1983 said:
betelglease in the constellation Iron is very unstable and could possibly go supernova anytime now.

I suppose you'd be able to see that with the naked eye if it did happen?

dave1983 · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:08

ic1male said:
I suppose you'd be able to see that with the naked eye if it did happen?

yes it would be a giant explosion in the sky which could be 4 times the size of our moon.

ic1male · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:12

Shame we'll be dead by then.

dave1983 · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:15

ic1male said:
Shame we'll be dead by then.

no as it 600 light years away it will not effect us in anyway, it will be a scary sight none the less but amazing to see.

ic1male · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:16

dave1983 said:
no as it 600 light years away it will not effect us in anyway, it will be a scary sight none the less but amazing to see.

No, I meant if it goes supernova now, won't it take 600 years for that light to reach us? I won't be alive 600 years from now.

dave1983 · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:22

ic1male said:
No, I meant if it goes supernova now, won't it take 600 years for that light to reach us? I won't be alive 600 years from now.

could do, however what we could be seeing is past event's, which means that the supernova could have already happened and when we look up to the sky see a beautiful sight.

NeilF · 5 Jan 2011 at 14:20

I'm fairly impressed so far with this program. I'd like to see this repeated once a year for example...

TheOtherOption · 5 Jan 2011 at 15:06

Very interesting programming; shame they don't so things like this more often!

It is an odd thing to get your head around that given the distances involved it's effectively like watching something which was recorded last decade and is only now being aired (bad analogy I know) - basically the fact it all happened a long time ago!

NeilF · 5 Jan 2011 at 15:12

iamtheoneneo said:
what an awful show, dont most people know everything their talking about? it seems its pitched at teenagers or those that have never picked up a science book in their lives.
im all for science programmes on tv, especially prime time - but filling it with trash is not the way forward.

I quite enjoy it

ps: Maybe you should have picked up some of those spelling type books instead of the science ones

dave1983 · 5 Jan 2011 at 15:36

It would quite good if they done this each month on a monday, of what celestrial objects are in the sky. they have missed out quite a lot of things like the planetary nebula, whirpool galaxy and spiral galaxy, owl nebula, crab nebula, cigar galaxy (would recommend seeing), sombero galaxy, gobular cluster, veil nebula, the list goes on......

i think if they show more celestrial objects or as they call it (Messier) it will attract more people to astronomy, it's been pretty vague on what kind of objects you can see, apart from orion's belt and amdromeda, but i think the other problem was weather conditions in yesterday's episode.

twist3d0n3 · 5 Jan 2011 at 15:41

it was enjoyable apart from dara and brian talking over each other all the time, and the fact woss is on it... odious ****

ic1male · 5 Jan 2011 at 17:11

dave1983 said:
It would quite good if they done this each month on a monday, of what celestrial objects are in the sky.

Isn't that what one of Patrick Moore's colleagues does on The Sky at Night?

Phatjayunoi · 5 Jan 2011 at 17:45

If they are talking about Betelgeuse, they may as well talk about VY Canis Majoris. Teach people who don't know about these stars the ridiculous and scary sizes they are in comparison to our Solar System via CGI models.

So far I am enjoying parts of this programme. Sure Dara may be a third whell, but at least I give him credit for some knowledge, unlike Jonathan Woss who apart from the learning segments is a waste of screentime.

StoutMeister · 5 Jan 2011 at 18:10

ic1male said:
because that Irish goon interrupted him.

Thank you, it's great being Irish in your company.

ic1male · 5 Jan 2011 at 18:19

StoutMeister said:
Thank you, it's great being Irish in your company.

Irish is an adjective. It describes Dara O'Briain. If I'd said 'goon' alone you might have thought I meant Jonathan Ross.

StoutMeister · 5 Jan 2011 at 18:25

ic1male said:
Irish is an adjective. It describes Dara O'Briain. If I'd said 'goon' alone you might have thought I meant Jonathan Ross.

Indeed, keep digging.

ic1male · 5 Jan 2011 at 18:28

StoutMeister said:
Indeed, keep digging.

Nope, I'm not biting further. You can think what you want. I know who I am, thanks so you don't need to try and tell me.

SexyGreyFox · 5 Jan 2011 at 18:31

ic1male said:
Coxy never did properly explain why the planets all orbit in the same direction because that Irish goon interrupted him. Why do they? And what determined the distances of those orbits?

Just ask iamtheoneo because he seems to know all about it.