Mercury

[griff]

Aye, Chalky, then there’s you and me…..

[6EQUJ5]

The point about landing on Mercury is that it is almost tidally locked, that is it turns very slowly, only 3 times in its 88 day orbit of the Sun. So, landing on the then dark part of it the temperature would be -330 degrees fahrenheit.

Our issue is shown in these two posts :-

There is no life of even microbial status on the surface, beneath the surface or in the atmosphere of Mercury.

If even the most basic microbial life is found anywhere near Mercury I will let Jo Brand take my trousers down and have her way with me.

Whatever.

The Earth is near Mercury.

Therefore you have to attempt to sleep with Joe Brand as there definitely is microbial life on Earth.

We have wasted time in gainsaying each other about whether or not the term 'near' is appropriate to describe the Mercury and Earth positions. It is entirely a matter of perspective. Mercury is not near if you are on Earth, such as we are. It is a 5 month journey from Earth to Mercury by the fastest craft that has ever reached it. Earth is almost 3 times the distance from the Sun that Mercury is. Furthermore in terms of orbiting the Sun the two planets are rarely in the same relative orbital position as each other because the Mercury orbit is 88 of what we call days and the Earth orbit is 365 days. Also the orbit of Venus is between the orbits of Mercury and Earth.

For anyone on one of the planets of Proxima Centauri then from that perspective Mercury and the Earth are near to each other. Otherwise, seen from Earth they are most assuredly not near to each other. We are on Earth.

[Piglet_Phoenix]

We are also in the Milky Way.

So by your own logic, for distance to have any real meaning, we have to measure it (and think of it) on a galactic scale.

You are made up of atoms. What's the relative distance between electrons in those atoms? When you look at those atoms, do you see the massive amount of distance involved in their composition? Or would you describe them as tightly packed and "near" to each other?

When you look up into the night sky, on a clear night, and observe the Milky Way, what distances are you seeing? When you take a telescope and observe a distant galaxy, how far away do you see?

In real terms, in comparison to the rest of the galaxy and in comparison to the rest of the Universe, in terms of what's observable, human understanding and all of science - Mercury is near Earth. It's in irrefutable fact.

As is the throbbing boner you have for Joe Brand.

[6EQUJ5]

No, there is absolutely no need to think on a larger scale. We are on the Earth. It is that simple. From our perspective Mercury is not at all near. It is 5 months away by the fastest craft and Venus is in between the two. That is decidedly not near.

Well, you have paid for only the 5 minute argument. Just gainsaying does nothing for us.

Jo Brand is thus frustrated.

[griff]

Aye, and Joe.

[Piglet_Phoenix]

Of course Mercury is near.

If you got Joe Brand pregnant (not likely, but you'll obviously be trying), you could journey there and back before she dropped your sprog.

Besides, technological advancement has nothing to do with actual distance. It used to take five months (or more) to travel from the UK to Australia - on the same planet.

So taking a mere five months to travel to Mercury proves beyond all reasonable doubt it is extremely near.

[6EQUJ5]

When we can get from Earth to Mercury in 5 minutes I will then regard it as near.

Currently the journey time of 5 months by the fastest craft to do the journey clearly defines
it as not near.

If you now make a 5 hour road journey away from where you are, at the end of such journey
you will certainly not be near to your starting point.

Thus Mercury is without a doubt not near to Earth. It is that simple.

[Blackdogblue]

What's that big shiny star that I can see from my back garden then,is that a planet?
There's got to be life out there hasn't there,I mean we haven't even left the front door when it comes to space exploration

Probably the international Space Station

[cocopops61]

Probably the international Space Station

It's bigger and shinier than the others,the North Star maybe?

[yoonited]

The first anniversary of 6EQUJ5's last post on here is just four days away, his insightful debates on the cosmos are a big miss, I'd love to hear his take on this new discovery. A student called Alexia Lopez from Lancaster University has just identified a massive planetary ring with a diameter of 1.3bn light years. It's a discovery of such significance that it has forced astronomers to tear up all their thinking regarding the formation and scale of planetary structures that are out there. To put this discovery into perspective, the "Big Ring" (as it has been named) is over 9bn light years away from earth, so it is impossible to see light emitting from any of the planets within it. However, if it were possible to observe it, so colossal is the size of it that the width would span a row of 15 full moons in our sky. It's feasible that even this could be dwarfed by future discoveries.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/...f-the-universe