Metropol

Interesting explanation, stu. But I imagine they'd have to correct out of a geocentric co-ordinate system to a heliocentric one in order to find the centre of rotation anyway?

Nini wrote:You did, good enough. Anyway, I know Mark is an armchair scientist so what's your excuse?

I'm nothing more than an enthusiast, but I rue the day I can't enjoy searching out knowledge.

Sput wrote:Interesting explanation, stu. But I imagine they'd have to correct out of a geocentric co-ordinate system to a heliocentric one in order to find the centre of rotation anyway?

Isn't that done as a matter of course when calculating anything beyond our Solar System?

Stuart* wrote:

Sput wrote:Interesting explanation, stu. But I imagine they'd have to correct out of a geocentric co-ordinate system to a heliocentric one in order to find the centre of rotation anyway?

Isn't that done as a matter of course when calculating anything beyond our Solar System?

Only within this galaxy. That's the problem I have here. How do you correct to something galacto-centric (to coin a phrase) if you don't know how the mass is distributed?

Having read again over it, I have a question for Enthusiast. You speak of fixed bodies, what are they and how does their deviation help you get an answer? Wouldn't uneven distribution of dark matter and/or dark energy in the galaxy create a wobble, how do you get around that?

If I'm highballing you here's something a tad easier, how do you know where the centre is?

Sput wrote:Only within this galaxy. That's the problem I have here. How do you correct to something galacto-centric (to coin a phrase) if you don't know how the mass is distributed?

I’m not sure why you think I am positioning myself on Earth for the ‘galactic equator’ viewpoint, Sput. I accept it’s theoretical, as is the Earth’s equator, but it doesn’t stop me standing on it at a ‘moment in time’.

Surely (if I can find the exact time) stand at some point on this planet, not necessarily the ’equator’ (of course) which is closer to our Sun at a given time in its orbit?

The same is true for the solar system’s galactic orbit; it is not regular and we’ve not been around long enough to know whether it can be changed by other gravitational influences.

Apparently we are now able to ‘see’ the centre of the galaxy and the movement of stars around a very large gravitational effect. This is believed to be the ‘Super-Massive Black Hole’. A theory with few challengers at present.

Sput wrote: Wouldn't uneven distribution of dark matter and/or dark energy in the galaxy create a wobble….

Of course. But if there hadn’t been a ‘wobble’ between matter/anti-matter, the universe would’ve been in perfect balance and none of us would exist to have this discussion.

Nini wrote:If I'm highballing you here's something a tad easier, how do you know where the centre is?

If I was attached to you, and I was spinning around you (due to gravity) then the ‘centre’ would be at a ratio between ourselves, relative to mass (ie gravity). I'm sure that's the right answer, although I thought this was a discussion.

Nini wrote:Having read again over it, I have a question for Enthusiast. You speak of fixed bodies, what are they and how does their deviation helps you get an answer?

I don't know!

Nini wrote:Having read again over it, I have a question for Enthusiast. You speak of fixed bodies, what are they and how does their deviation helps you get an answer?

Maths - init :)[/quote]

OK, of the questions I asked you I got one which you ignored, one you mangled (and attributed to Sput no less) and one you couldn't answer.

Basically, I posit that

Stuart* wrote:I don't know!

is pretty much the beginning and end of your knowledge and when I say "knowledge" I mean the working kind, not the sort which you use to look smart or for a pub quiz.

Nini wrote:is pretty much the beginning and end of your knowledge and when I say "knowledge" I mean the working kind, not the sort which you use to look smart or for a pub quiz.

*Chuckle*

I never actually claimed anything more than knowledge useful enough for a 'pub quiz' scenario on this subject. I was actually asking questions in this thread rather than dispensing wisdom.

Then don't throw claims around without the means to back them up when challenged or questioned, Pub Quiz.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/ ... 797028.ece

Some extracts:

We can only account for 4 per cent of the cosmos

Two spacecraft are flouting the laws of physics

A decade ago, we discovered that the fundamental constants of physics might not be so constant after all

Despite what you might have heard, “cold fusion” never really went away

Researchers have even given up trying to define what life is

NASA scientists found evidence for life on Mars. Then they changed their minds

It was an electromagnetic pulse that came from the direction of the Sagittarius constellation. It lasted 37 seconds and had exactly the characteristics predicted for an alien signal.

Mimivirus is sitting in a freezer in Marseille. Mimi has a genome that, in parts, looks like yours. Mimivirus seems to be part of the story of life on Earth. It may even make us rewrite it.

There does seem to be a death switch: researchers have managed to locate genetic switches that massively extend the lifespan of some nematode worms

There are better ways to reproduce

Your decisions are not your own

Some prescription drugs that were judged to perform “better than placebo” in clinical trials don’t work unless you know you’re taking them.

There remains some slim evidence that homeopathy works