space is big

[coliver988]

cool to see this animation about speed of light & communicating with Mars.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/a-scientist-s-simple-animation-shows-why-there-won-t-be-a-way-to-communicate-with-astronauts-on-mars-in-real-time/ar-BB1aQ5WZ?ocid=msedgntp

 

[Timerover51]

And that is when it is at its closest. It gets a lot worse when Mars is on the other side of the Sun.

 

[Proneutron]

I once saw a scale model of the solar system done at 1 mile diameter. The planets were too small to see and the sun was a small ball. Space is big and very empty. Even in a solar system.

 

[BRover]

Another side of this fact (space is big--very, very big): have you gone out on the Traveller Map until you can see most of the Galaxy? There's a long way between seeing the galaxy--or even just the local arms--and charted space.

 

[Proneutron]

Another side of this fact (space is big--very, very big): have you gone out on the Traveller Map until you can see most of the Galaxy? There's a long way between seeing the galaxy--or even just the local arms--and charted space.

Yes I have. Both awe inspiring and horribly humbling.

 

[Straybow]

“Space,” it says, “is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly hugely mindbogglingly big it is. I mean you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist, but that’s just peanuts to space."

—The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
​

 

[coliver988]

View of 63 of Jupiter's moons in motion. Space is not only big but big even for moons around a gas giant. Anyway - looks cool to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l2tR2smeHY

 

[Spenser TR]

I always really enjoy these

 

[coliver988]

I always really enjoy these

I love those animations - helps to give a sense of scale sometimes. Plus they are often just pretty.

and there can be game-useful stuff: I mean, some of those further out moons probably have hydrogen and are way, way far from the gas giant (though with 6G not particular long in travel time). So a small refueling base could be hidden due to radiation and distance hopefully obscuring your traces. If you wanted pirates in your game.

 

[coliver988]

and not as crowded as we thought

https://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-spacecraft-discovers-the-universe-is-less-crowded-than-we-thought/

"In short, space is so dark there can't be as many galaxies out there, adding their faint glow to the backdrop, as astronomers have previously estimated."

 

[Timerover51]

I love those animations - helps to give a sense of scale sometimes. Plus they are often just pretty.

and there can be game-useful stuff: I mean, some of those further out moons probably have hydrogen and are way, way far from the gas giant (though with 6G not particular long in travel time). So a small refueling base could be hidden due to radiation and distance hopefully obscuring your traces. If you wanted pirates in your game.

Most of the Jupiter satellite that are further out are probably captured asteroids, which means that some of them might be just big balls of frozen ice. Great for refueling if you have fuel processing units, and also great for blocking any neutron radiation. Melting the ice and then recovering the hydrogen might take longer than fuel skimming from the gas giant, but it it likely to be a lot safer. I would guess that most gas giants will have a lot of small and distant satellites like Jupiter.

 

[coliver988]

Io in transit; from https://www.planetary.org/space-images/io-transit-of-jupiter?autologin=true&utm_campaign=downlink&utm_medium=email&utm_source=20210115&s_src=downlink&s_subsrc=20210115

and your spaceship is diving into those clouds for fuel....

 

[whartung]

"Why did it suddenly get dark?"

"That's Io crossing over us."

 

[jcrocker]

Astronomy Picture of the Day is a site that has a lot of great astronomy photos in general, but with Cassini and Juno, some good ones of gas giants, too.

Like this one of Jupiter, as taken by Juno. I've always wanted to put this one up on a big screen, and say "your character pauses for a moment and looks out the viewport as the ship prepares for the refueling pass."

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201123.html

 

[Timerover51]

Astronomy Picture of the Day is a site that has a lot of great astronomy photos in general, but with Cassini and Juno, some good ones of gas giants, too.

Like this one of Jupiter, as taken by Juno. I've always wanted to put this one up on a big screen, and say "your character pauses for a moment and looks out the viewport as the ship prepares for the refueling pass."

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201123.html

They may just decide upon another form of refueling.

 

[coliver988]

Astronomy Picture of the Day is a site that has a lot of great astronomy photos in general, but with Cassini and Juno, some good ones of gas giants, too.

Like this one of Jupiter, as taken by Juno. I've always wanted to put this one up on a big screen, and say "your character pauses for a moment and looks out the viewport as the ship prepares for the refueling pass."

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201123.html

I saw the one the other day, and it is really beautiful!

 

[Straybow]

Many of the old Voyager pics have a warm hue to them. This pic looks cold as... well, Jupiter.