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#21 Radspakr Wolfbane

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Posted 26 November 2009 - 09:17 AM

You can also factor in environmental factors like pollution,atmosphere properties and light pollution.

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#22 Bart

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Posted 26 November 2009 - 10:58 AM

why isn't the night sky just white with stars? i mean, there are suppose to be so many of them why do they not fill up the whole sky?

The light of a star (or a light bulb, for that matter) shines in all directions. There are not laser beams aimed directly at earth. The further you get away from the light source, the weaker the light becomes. The whole sky might indeed be filled with starlight, but the majority of it is so weak that our eyes and optical instruments don't see it / tone it down in order to not be overloaded from the nearer stars' much brighter light.

It takes years for a star far far off to transfer light from the sun to our planet - thus, ones that take quite a long time to reach Earth show up less often, or aren't very visible.

The time it takes the light to arrive does not affect it's brightness. It's the same as with internet. Even with an incredibly high ping, your bandwidth can still be high as well.
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#23 Spectre

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Posted 26 November 2009 - 03:42 PM

Aye, thanks for clearing that up, 2playgames.

#24 Grimson

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Posted 26 November 2009 - 04:21 PM

I thought I read a long time ago that the sky isn't filled with star light because of the age of the universe. If it were older, and wouldn't constantly expand like it's theorized (distance/space between stars grows larger), I'm sure the sky would be much brighter than it is now (more stars seem to form than collapse in a certain period of time).

Also, when the distance from the source of the light and the spectator gets bigger, the light doesn't get weaker. Instead, all the light waves emitted from the source scatter around, covering larger and larger area. Thus, the amount of light beams that hit a single spot decreases, and that spot gets less illuminated.

Edited by Grimson, 26 November 2009 - 04:31 PM.

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#25 Romanul

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Posted 26 November 2009 - 04:45 PM

Firstly, Romanul, I am 20 years old and in the middle of an English degree. This is simply curiosity, as could perhaps have been guessed by my opening statement: "I am no good at science." Secondly, your reply did not answer anything. You merely stated two facts without any kind of explanation. The explanation is what I'm really after here. Thank you Grimson for actually answering the question. And thank you Olli for continuing to be quite so misanthropic in such an entertaining fashion.

Next question, anyone?


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#26 some_weirdGuy

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Posted 27 November 2009 - 04:03 AM

For the answer to my question:

Scientists believe universal expansion is part to blame. As the universe expands further the light beams get stretched. As you may or may not know, the frequency of the light beam distinguishes what colour it shows as

(Heres a picture to help explain)
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Anyway, with the universe expanding the frequency of the light gets lower, till it travels below the visible colour spectrum into infrared and the like.


Another factor is the time it takes light to travel. When looking up at the stars you are looking back in time, as it has taken a while for the light from those stars to reach us. Looking backwards in time means that the sky isn't white with light because you are looking so far back that there are no stars there yet.

The light from the stars that are now there still hasn't reached us, so we are looking back to a point where there was no stars there. Perhaps the universe hadn't even expanded out that far and you are looking at the nothingness that predates the universe.

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I think that's all pretty cool :p

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#27 Pasidon

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Posted 27 November 2009 - 05:54 AM

Scientists always blame bad stuff on the universe.

SCIENCE!

Pasidon, I have found that you can get away with just about everything if you claim it is 'for science'. Shout it at the top of your lungs and nobody will stop you, as exemplified herein:
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#28 Bart

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Posted 27 November 2009 - 11:41 AM

Also, when the distance from the source of the light and the spectator gets bigger, the light doesn't get weaker. Instead, all the light waves emitted from the source scatter around, covering larger and larger area. Thus, the amount of light beams that hit a single spot decreases, and that spot gets less illuminated.

Yeah, I meant to say that the light is spread thinner, so less rays hit the same area. The rays themselves indeed don't get weaker (unless they pass through materials)
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#29 Puppeteer

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Posted 27 November 2009 - 04:45 PM

Pollution is a big factor - there is a huge difference when looking at the stars in rural areas, as opposed to urban areas.
Oh and all that science jazz, I suppose.

#30 some_weirdGuy

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Posted 28 November 2009 - 01:39 AM

Even in rural areas the sky isn't white with stars though

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#31 Ash

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Posted 29 November 2009 - 10:40 AM

No, because the light particles have dispersed and the starlight still has, like, the Earth's Atmosphere to contend with.

This is something like what the sky would look like on a cloudless night if there was no street lighting.

#32 Vortigern

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Posted 29 November 2009 - 12:15 PM

A sight like that makes me want to tear down all the streetlights in the world. Right now. When presented with images like that, how can anyone claim we're not making the world a worse place?
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#33 Ash

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Posted 29 November 2009 - 12:19 PM

Bear in mind that this is Death Valley, though - one of the driest places on Earth. Something close to 0% humidity means that the air's less dense there so light has an easier time penetrating. If you were to go to the Scottish Highlands on a clear night and look up, what you'd see wouldn't even begin to compare, because the air's a lot thicker and more moist - that moisture'd affect it.

Then again, you can see the northern lights in Scotland... :p

#34 Vortigern

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Posted 29 November 2009 - 12:20 PM

The point remains. Here in Sheffield you can barely see anything. Cities are ruining the wonders of nature. I blame humanity as a whole. Who's up for a pogrom?
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#35 Allathar

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Posted 29 November 2009 - 12:43 PM

Total genocide, anyone?
It has been reported that some victims of rape, during the act, would retreat into a fantasy world from which they could not WAKE UP. In this catatonic state, the victim lived in a world just like their normal one, except they weren't being raped. The only way that they realized they needed to WAKE UP was a note they found in their fantasy world. It would tell them about their condition, and tell them to WAKE UP. Even then, it would often take months until they were ready to discard their fantasy world and PLEASE WAKE UP

#36 Grimson

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Posted 29 November 2009 - 01:23 PM

Why not just contribute to the developement of energy-efficient lamps?
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Okay, okay! Pogrom it is...
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#37 Elvenlord

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Posted 29 November 2009 - 09:05 PM

Best part is Elven has seen the sky like that. Not quite as bright, but you get the idea. Too bad urban sprawl has been growing closer. I'll go for genocide. As long as we're not included :p

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#38 Pasidon

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Posted 29 November 2009 - 09:29 PM

Genocide only counts toward weak minded sissies who can't stop bickering about money and people not active on Revora. We're good.

#39 Vortigern

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Posted 29 November 2009 - 10:10 PM

Anybody who works in the insurance industry, all bankers, all those feel-good companies that 'sell peace of mind', any religious fundamentalists of any creed, obese people who refuse to take responsibility for their weight, Hugh Jackman, people who write for soap operas, people who 'act' in soap operas, any career politicians, anyone with a beard longer than 15cm and not of Scandinavian origin, hiphop artists, baseball players, Hugh Jackman again, the entire organisation of IKEA and whoever was responsible for Windows Vista.

Everyone else should be fine.
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#40 Bart

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Posted 29 November 2009 - 10:16 PM

This is something like what the sky would look like on a cloudless night if there was no street lighting.

Only if our eyes would be a load more sensitive though.
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