Comments on: My Superpowers Revealed http://asymptotia.com/2007/08/09/my-superpowers-revealed/ Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:46:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: Donna http://asymptotia.com/2007/08/09/my-superpowers-revealed/comment-page-1/#comment-74259 Donna Mon, 27 Aug 2007 11:12:17 +0000 http://asymptotia.com/2007/08/09/my-superpowers-revealed/#comment-74259 Are the Russell Stannard books about Uncle Albert adventures available in the United States? I went to Barnes & Noble yesterday and only having the name of the character Uncle Albert, they were unable to find these books. Now I have an author's name maybe I'll have more luck. Are the Russell Stannard books about Uncle Albert adventures available in the United States? I went to Barnes & Noble yesterday and only having the name of the character Uncle Albert, they were unable to find these books. Now I have an author’s name maybe I’ll have more luck.

]]> By: The Scary Universe? - Asymptotia http://asymptotia.com/2007/08/09/my-superpowers-revealed/comment-page-1/#comment-72749 The Scary Universe? - Asymptotia Tue, 21 Aug 2007 21:12:51 +0000 http://asymptotia.com/2007/08/09/my-superpowers-revealed/#comment-72749 [...] Oh, and I can’t confirm this, but I may well be again be seen using my superpowers to crush/squash a star, but this time I won’t stop at making it into a neutron star… It’ll be a black hole or bust, baby! [...] [...] Oh, and I can’t confirm this, but I may well be again be seen using my superpowers to crush/squash a star, but this time I won’t stop at making it into a neutron star… It’ll be a black hole or bust, baby! [...]

]]> By: Clifford http://asymptotia.com/2007/08/09/my-superpowers-revealed/comment-page-1/#comment-70277 Clifford Fri, 10 Aug 2007 14:14:29 +0000 http://asymptotia.com/2007/08/09/my-superpowers-revealed/#comment-70277 Hi Pyracantha, That <em>is </em> my costume! (or one of them anyway...) It's very subtle. I think a perfect neutron star in an empty neighbourhood of space would not be emitting light like that. The programme-makers wanted something a bit more "sparkly-glowy" it seems, and you might excuse them a touch by saying that it was a newly formed neutron star, and so maybe at the surface there is non-neutron star material yet to leave, or that there is material at the surface present due to the neighbouring medium (gases from another source, for example). Either way, the material at the surface is excited and glowing. I'm making this up, but there could be a ton of secondary processes (it seems to me) that might work, given the high rotation, magnetic field, etc, typically associated with these objects (and the drama of the collapse that formed them). Others may be able to say more. Even if it were the case, you'd never see a neutron star from here with an optical telescope. They are far too small. The one I was talking about in the show was the size of Manhattan. On the other hand, as you know they are extraordinarily bright and readily detectable objects in other frequencies, such as the radio regime.... as pulsars - the objects that made Jocelyn Bell famous. And then there are the extraordinarily powerful cousins of pulsars called magnetars, that you might like to look up. Best, -cvj Hi Pyracantha,

That is my costume! (or one of them anyway…) It’s very subtle.

I think a perfect neutron star in an empty neighbourhood of space would not be emitting light like that. The programme-makers wanted something a bit more “sparkly-glowy” it seems, and you might excuse them a touch by saying that it was a newly formed neutron star, and so maybe at the surface there is non-neutron star material yet to leave, or that there is material at the surface present due to the neighbouring medium (gases from another source, for example). Either way, the material at the surface is excited and glowing. I’m making this up, but there could be a ton of secondary processes (it seems to me) that might work, given the high rotation, magnetic field, etc, typically associated with these objects (and the drama of the collapse that formed them). Others may be able to say more. Even if it were the case, you’d never see a neutron star from here with an optical telescope. They are far too small. The one I was talking about in the show was the size of Manhattan. On the other hand, as you know they are extraordinarily bright and readily detectable objects in other frequencies, such as the radio regime…. as pulsars - the objects that made Jocelyn Bell famous. And then there are the extraordinarily powerful cousins of pulsars called magnetars, that you might like to look up.

Best,

-cvj

]]> By: Jude http://asymptotia.com/2007/08/09/my-superpowers-revealed/comment-page-1/#comment-70091 Jude Fri, 10 Aug 2007 02:52:25 +0000 http://asymptotia.com/2007/08/09/my-superpowers-revealed/#comment-70091 Cool. Cool.

]]> By: Pyracantha http://asymptotia.com/2007/08/09/my-superpowers-revealed/comment-page-1/#comment-70089 Pyracantha Fri, 10 Aug 2007 02:46:20 +0000 http://asymptotia.com/2007/08/09/my-superpowers-revealed/#comment-70089 Science question not costuming: I have wondered for some time whether neutron stars emit light. Are they visible to telescopes? Or is the portrayal in this sequence symbolic and not descriptive? Science question not costuming: I have wondered for some time whether neutron stars emit light. Are they visible to telescopes? Or is the portrayal in this sequence symbolic and not descriptive?

]]> By: Pyracantha http://asymptotia.com/2007/08/09/my-superpowers-revealed/comment-page-1/#comment-70088 Pyracantha Fri, 10 Aug 2007 02:44:45 +0000 http://asymptotia.com/2007/08/09/my-superpowers-revealed/#comment-70088 Now you need a costume. It isn't super without a costume. (I'm a costume designer.) Thanks for writing this blog. "Asymptotia" is the only physics blog these days that does not make me depressed. Now you need a costume. It isn’t super without a costume. (I’m a costume designer.)

Thanks for writing this blog. “Asymptotia” is the only physics blog these days that does not make me depressed.

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