The_Major Posted January 19, 2005 Posted January 19, 2005 The story.. here Seems the Earth in last decade or so has started to enter the fringes of a vast interstellar dust cloud.. Just in time for the sun to go through it's 22 year cycle of reduced magnetic activity which normally forms a magnetic 'bubble' around the solar system and deflects the vast majority of the normal levels of interstellar dust much like our own Magnetosphere.. The discovery was made using data from ESA's Ulysses spacecraft, which orbits the Sun on a noncircular path between Earth and Jupiter and his been monitoring the situation since 1992. Granted it will take about 10,000 years for us to fully enter the cloud but particle densities have already taken a dramatic increase due to the suns declining magnetic aura and are expected to increase three fold by the year 2013 from drifting deeper into the dust.. Some of the near term effects being postulated are near constant displays of shooting stars and an almost permanent Zodiacal Light when dust densities reach high enough levels in the next several years.. Spacecraft will be especially vulnurable as even the smallest dust sized micro-meteorite impact will do damage with things like sand grains and bb sized impacts causing catastrophic damage if it hits in the wrong place.. All the forcasting of probable consequenses ends with the 2013 timeframe so what do you forumites think the consequenses will be for our children.. grandchildren and beyond as we drift farther and farther into the cloud? Quote
Montarvillois Posted January 19, 2005 Posted January 19, 2005 Cool stuff, Thanks for posting. So far the consequences for our sibblings seem very bening. Zodiacal light looks cool. Quote
GRAND CANNON Posted January 19, 2005 Posted January 19, 2005 You lost me at "The story.." J/K That is some neat stuff and I hope my kids will see some decent light shows. Quote
Zentrandude Posted January 19, 2005 Posted January 19, 2005 captain: shields up!! some anon redshirt helmsman: uhhhh shields aren't invented yet. captain: dammit jim my ship is not going to be pounded now by dust. Quote
mechaninac Posted January 19, 2005 Posted January 19, 2005 (edited) One possible consequence I can infer, according to some articles I've read, is that the increased particle density within the solar system itself, and, more significantly, between the Sun and the Earth, could have the effect of reducing the amount of solar radiation bathing our planet and causing global temperatures to drop a couple of degrees. It has been suggested that the last ice age (circa 10000 years ago) was partially caused by our crossing an interstellar cloud akin to what we're now, apparently, entering. However, since our sun has been going through a "hot spell" over the last decade and a half which increases the total solar radiation striking Earth, which is the main unmentioned reason for the slight global temperature elevation recorded over the last 7-10 years, the likely scenario is that the two effects will cancel each other out. So much for the "global warming" zealots out there. The most likely effects, therefore will be light shows at night, increase in satellite damage, and a lot of frustrated deep field astronomers who'll have their view of the cosmos slightly obscured. Edited January 19, 2005 by mechaninac Quote
phoenix01 Posted January 19, 2005 Posted January 19, 2005 OMIGOD WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whew. I feel better now. Quote
fernarias Posted January 19, 2005 Posted January 19, 2005 Ha, this is silly. I guess the scientists in this article forgot to take into account the effects that the solar wind would have on these particles. Yes, the outer planets will experience a slight increase in the density of interstellar matter but the innner planets will not experience anything at all. So unless the sun were to turn off, we have nothing to worry about. F. Quote
The_Major Posted January 19, 2005 Author Posted January 19, 2005 well this will barely effect the planets temp much, at least for a long long time as solar wind and the sun's gigantic magnetic field when the cycle picks back up will ward off alot of dust so im wagering everything will ballence back out. though it will be interesting to see how NASA and ESA come up with new shielding for spacecraft who knows we may be seing primitive magnetic field shieling in the near future neceity is the mother of invention after all. my conclusion, Humanity will live in slightly more of a fog than usual for a couple of thousand years.... Quote
bsu legato Posted January 19, 2005 Posted January 19, 2005 In other news, scientists are baffled by the 300% rise in alergies. Quote
Dangard Ace Posted January 19, 2005 Posted January 19, 2005 In other news, scientists are baffled by the 300% rise in alergies. Get a bigger vaccuum cleaner. But a good thread nonetheless. It's interesting. Quote
Opus Posted January 19, 2005 Posted January 19, 2005 In other news, scientists are baffled by the 300% rise in alergies. Get a bigger vaccuum cleaner. But a good thread nonetheless. It's interesting. Did someone call for MEGA-MAID??? Quote
Zentrandude Posted January 19, 2005 Posted January 19, 2005 (edited) whats wrong? don't know someone changed it from suck to blow. edit: you know this might hamper any future faster than light travel devolopement. Edited January 19, 2005 by Zentrandude Quote
Chronocidal Posted January 20, 2005 Posted January 20, 2005 Hehe.. actually, considering the current space travel situation, it'll probably have the opposite effect... see, knowing how people in general act, there'll be someone out there who refuses to give up on space travel due to a dust storm.. so, probably, I'm guessing somewhere in the next 20 years or so, deflector shields will probably be invented that'll at least protect ships/satellites from the dust, if not more powerful stuff like reentry.. reentry is probably one of the biggest problems of space travel.. ie, having to calcuate all the necessary angles, etc for a safe reentry has got to be a pain. It'd be much simpler if you could just fly a ship from orbit directly to the surface a-la Star Wars, without having to worry about burning up. With commercial space travel on the horizon, you can bet that there'll be people working non-stop to make it safer and affordable. Heck, face it, we NEED shields before we do much else in space. If the big corporations want any piece of the commercial space race, someone's gonna have to come up with something to make it safer, and more reliable. That'll probably result in LOTS of funding to companies and research labs to make new technology for space travel, and suddenly, we'll be up to our armpits in high tech gadgets, like deflector shields, more efficient rocket engines, maneuvering systems, computers, etc.. sheesh, the space shuttle uses a computer that runs at something like 25 mhz.. imagine what could be built now. Quote
Zentrandude Posted January 20, 2005 Posted January 20, 2005 links gone...odd... its a government cover up. The USA denies all existance of space outside earth's atmosphere. Quote
Renato Posted January 20, 2005 Posted January 20, 2005 In other news, scientists are baffled by the 300% rise in alergies. Get a bigger vaccuum cleaner. But a good thread nonetheless. It's interesting. Did someone call for MEGA-MAID??? "It's..... a TRANSFORMER!!" Quote
GRAND CANNON Posted January 20, 2005 Posted January 20, 2005 Did someone call for MEGA-MAID??? "SHE'S GONE FROM SUCK TO BLOW!!" Quote
CaptRico Posted January 21, 2005 Posted January 21, 2005 Did someone call for MEGA-MAID??? "SHE'S GONE FROM SUCK TO <span style='font-size:16pt;line-height:100%'>BLOW!!"</span> Where's Lonestar when you need him? Quote
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