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StayYou61 t1_j7kfv5j wrote

Reply to comment by Bubbagumpredditor in The James Webb Space Telescope just found an asteroid by total accident, its smallest object yet by pecika

My understanding is that we are trying to, but with the vastness of space and inability to look around the sun, it is a very difficult process.

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VillhelmSupreme t1_j7l8qtu wrote

Why don’t we set up a relay system behind the sun then? /s

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Cesum-Pec t1_j7l9ztg wrote

It was all explained in a 70s documentary about the first time we sent astronauts to the far side of the sun. There resides an alt earth where our doppelgangers read English from right to left. Everything is backwards there. So I guess any rogue asteroids over there will be absorbed by alt earth and we'll be safe here. It's sciency stuff. Might be too sophisticated for you to understand.

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Novabella t1_j7lf4g9 wrote

I need context for this bit

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Cesum-Pec t1_j7lg2wq wrote

In the 70s, one of the more popular TV shows was the TV movie of the week. You never knew what you'd get and they weren't big budget special effects masterpieces. It was a pretty bad story in retrospect, but as a little kid, I was fascinated by the thought that there could be stuff on the other side of the sun that we've never seen.

On alt earth, there is someone who looks just like you, lives your identical life, but slightly backwards. When our hero astronaut got stranded on akt earth, his twin from alt-earth was stranded here. The drama was the astronaut coming to the realization that he was not home and that wasn't his wife

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Hairy_Al t1_j7lov2n wrote

Doppelganger

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppelg%C3%A4nger_(1969_film)

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Cesum-Pec t1_j7lv6eq wrote

Well done. My 50 yo memories aren't perfect but wasn't that far off

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roominating237 t1_j7mrxju wrote

Yup. I remember seeing this on TV when I was a youngin'. Astronaut thought his friend was driving on the wrong side of the road, for starters.

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EvilWayne t1_j7lkfcg wrote

I think this is The Stranger. I vaguely recall it, but the wikipedia entry doesn't exactly line up.

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Hairy_Al t1_j7lok7a wrote

Definitely not that. I remember the film we're talking about. Little things like the light switch being on the opposite side of the door as silly stuff like that. Can't remember much else about it

Edit:found it

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppelg%C3%A4nger_(1969_film)

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EvilWayne t1_j7m9m2j wrote

Wow, I never heard of this film and I'm a big fan of horrible and cheesy scifi.

I must now see this movie.

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bigpeechtea t1_j7mytb6 wrote

Lmao and here I am thinking they’re talking about that other movie Another Earth that came out in 2011 to… not much of a reaction lol

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ExplosiveMachine t1_j7mzkqj wrote

> The drama was the astronaut coming to the realization that he was not home and that wasn't his wife

later summarised in a song by Talking Heads.

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JohnDavidsBooty t1_j7o2wee wrote

I feel like this is basically a scifi version of The Irony of Fate

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nzed35 t1_j7le730 wrote

We just look at night when the sun is asleep

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Bubbagumpredditor t1_j7kgu48 wrote

Yeah, but we're doing a half assed job of it cause it costs money and there is no immediate bprofit

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Crontab t1_j7lt1pz wrote

Telescope time is Uber precious, and I'm guessing it's easier for you proposal to get approved if you're not essentially shooting in the dark with your time.

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danielravennest t1_j7mbh4v wrote

We use survey telescopes to look for asteroids. Typically they have been much smaller than the research telescopes. This is about to change with the Rubin Observatory which has an 8 meter mirror, putting into the research size range.

This telescope has a 3200 megapixel camera, and a wide field of view. It will survey the sky frequently, looking for anything that changes (moving asteroids and comets, variable stars, planetary transits, etc.)

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SheeEttin t1_j7mz9id wrote

Also, there's the problem of asteroids not emitting anything, making them very hard to see against empty space. They have to reflect something else to be visible to us.

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runnbl3 t1_j7mg66c wrote

Wouldn’t it be much easier to build a death laser?

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