European Space Agency launches coolest camera ever...

[Darth Biscuit]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57616086-1/billion-pixel-gaia-camera-to-map-galaxy-in-3d/?ttag=fbwp

 

 

 

 

The European Space Agency successfully put its Gaia satellite into orbit, with the hopes of unrolling a stunning map of the Milky Way in 3D.

With its sunshield of solar panels successfully deployed, the spacecraft is on its way to L2, a point in space some 932,000 miles from Earth where it will begin its five-year stellar census of stars in the galaxy and the Local Group of galaxies. During Gaia's mission, it will map each star over 70 times and accumulate 1 petabyte of data, or about 200,000 DVDs worth of information. The Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium, made up of more than 400 people at science centers in Europe, will analyze the observations. 

 

 

This thing has a billion-pixel resolution...  can't wait to start seeing some of the imagery it captures...

 

 

 

 

 

Side note:  wtf is wrong with the quote function?

[Guest]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57616086-1/billion-pixel-gaia-camera-to-map-galaxy-in-3d/?ttag=fbwp

 

 

 

 

This thing has a billion-pixel resolution...  can't wait to start seeing some of the imagery it captures...

 

 

 

 

 

Side note:  wtf is wrong with the quote function?

 

Nothing? :)

[Darth Biscuit]

Nothing? :)

 

The quote function up there ^ when you're typing... not the quote a post function...

[Guest]

The quote function up there ^ when you're typing... not the quote a post function...

 

 

ahh, this..?

LOL I get that weird highlight thing sometimes when I c&p text from an article.  I'm just fuging with you. I'm headed back to the Phil Robertson thread.  Highly entertaining over a cup of coffee.

 

[Darth Biscuit]

Yes, that...

 

When I use it, and hit <enter> it adds another quote box... 

[Guest]

Yes, that...

 

When I use it, and hit <enter> it adds another quote box... 

 

blahaahahsdlasdada

 

 

Hmm.  

I get that weird highlight thing sometimes (like this?!) when I c&p text from an article.  I'm just fuging with you. I'm headed back to the Phil Robertson thread.  Highly entertaining over a cup of coffee.

[Darth Biscuit]

Hmm.  

I get that weird highlight thing sometimes (like this?!) when I c&p text from an article.  I'm just fuging with you. I'm headed back to the Phil Robertson thread.  Highly entertaining over a cup of coffee.

 

 

Oh yes... I love watching people yell at each other...   :beerhat:

 

 

 

Space images!!!

 

 

[Guest]

Duuuude, that is soo fuging cool. 

 

Seriously, though, that camera is freaking cool.  My cousin's wife used to launch satellites from French Guyana.  I wonder if she's still doing that. 

[davos]

Space is f*cking insane and we've got a pretty cool rock moving, spinning, and wobbling around.

[Jangler]

Yes, that...

 

When I use it, and hit <enter> it adds another quote box... 

 

so don't hit enter.

[Darth Biscuit]

so don't hit enter.

 

 

That makes it aggravating when you want to quote different parts of an article... and it didn't used to work that way...

[frash.exe]

Cool maybe while it's doing that it can take a snapshot of Pluto that doesn't look like a closeup of Dr Robotnik's sprite

[Jangler]

This was the article I read

 

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/18/world/europe/gaia-space-telescope/

 

 

 

Designed and built by Astrium for the European Space Agency (ESA), the makers say the telescope is so sensitive that it could measure a person's thumbnail from the Moon, or to put it another way, detect the width of a human hair from 1,000km (620 miles) away.

Astrium says Gaia is also expected to log a million quasars beyond the Milky Way, and a quarter of a million objects in our own solar system, including comets and asteroids.

 

 

enter is funky...

[Cary Kollins]