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This spectacular image of Mother Nature and manmade technology facing off in the night sky was captured by Martin Kornmesser of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) during testing of their laser guide star, a very cool-sounding piece of kit that uses a powerful beam to create an artificial star 90 kilometers (just under 56 miles) up in the Earth's atmosphere. The ESO explains:
Measurements of this artificial star can be used to correct for the blurring effect of the atmosphere in astronomical observations — a technique known as adaptive optics.
The laser in this photograph is a powerful one, with a 20-watt beam, but the power in a bolt of lightning peaks at a trillion (one million million) watts, albeit for just a fraction of a second!
It may look like the stuff of science fiction fantasy, but the ESO stressed that the timing of the lightning strike was purely coincidental. Read more on their website.
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Why would you want to create an image of a star 56 miles up, when you already have the real think at night?
Because they control the artificial star and can use it as the reference to adjust the optics for the real stars.
Dear Black Knight 48,
Science is in part based on comparing known quantities with unknown quantities. Creating this 'star' serves as a baseline for other measurements. Having the 'star' inside the atmosphere allows scientists to correct for the effects of the atmosphere on the real stars they are observing. Make sense?
Well, "coincidental" as far as the laser was concerned---who knows what the lightning had in mind!
Science is your friend.
yes indeed...science is your friend...
but let's NOT confuse science with those "scientists" who will, at any cost, say and do anything, including the falsification of data, in order to get a juicy"government" grant at taxpayers' expense...
in short, science and "scientist" are NOT necessarily interchangeable terms.
Too much Faux Vilmos?
You have no proof vilmos, nor do any other of the anti-intellectual right wingnuts. You are a tool of rumor mongers and a child of the idiocracy.
Any falsifications made by scientists are found by other scientists as a consequence of doing science. A great way to make a name for yourself is to prove others wrong or to out frauds. There are more than enough police withing science to keep fraud to a minimum. However, if you work from a federal grant and are found to have falsified data, you will lose everything and the government will sell your assets to get the investment back. The taxpayers money is safe and sound.
Two guys, TWO!! Not a bunch of them, not even a few. Just two... a couple of British postgrad boneheads, fudged some climate data in order to make their conclusion look a little more convincing, and now it's all we're gonna hear about until fricken Antarctica melts away.
While the picture is nice and dramatic, the laser and the lightning never met. Based on the laser beam angle, the lightning is at least a half a mile behind the buildings. Perspective is everything in a photograph.
I have all ways loved science projects and we have invented some very impressive things like the laser and laser based weapons but I don't understand why we haven't used them in conflicts, so why have this type of weapon and never use it? They have a portable unit that runs on 18 "AA" batterie's and can cut up a tank two mile's away in under two minute's,it'll cut it in two foot blocks. We've had this item for years now and never see or hear about them being used any where. So it all seems like it's all about wasting money unless we start useing them..
the problem being collateral damage and warfare has mostly moved to the urban secotors. yeah its nice to be able to cut up a tank but while you are cutting up the tank every enemy around knows where you are at and gunning for you. dont forget that you might not be able to do much damage to the tank before it tracks the light back to you and takes you out.
Uh, Merlin, so if we're not killing someone or something with it, we're not 'using' it? Personally, I think we're doing just fine with all the weaponry we already have.
Enjoy the picture, it is all about timing.
So.... we possess a laser that runs on 18 AA-batteries?? ... I call BS. Prove it...
Video Available?
Pictures available?