kevin@voder.UUCP (The Last Bugfighter) (05/29/85)
Reguarding comments about why Kirk just didn't look out a port during
the Reliant/Enterprise battle in the Mutara nebula, I never said that
this would give you as good a view as the main viewscreen with all its
computer enhancements etc..., I simply said it would have been better than
what they had, which was nothing!
Besides, couldn't they have used a telescope? I assume such mundane
things still exist in the 23rd Century. It was also commented that the view
wouldn't be very good with out computer enhancement, so why not use some-
thing like a viewer that reads in the infra-red (or whatever wavelength
one uses in a nebula)? The information could still be computer-processed,
it just would becomming from an optical source as opposed to an electronic
one (like a CCD).
One question though, just how dense is a nebula? They may be dense
enough to totally block seeing through from earth, but how dense is one
when you're floating inside it?
---
Kevin Thompson {ucbvax,ihnp4!nsc}!voder!kevin
"It's sort of a threat, you see. I've never been very good at them
myself but I'm told they can be very effective."canopus@amdahl.UUCP (Frank Dibbell) (05/31/85)
> Reguarding comments about why Kirk just didn't look out a port during > the Reliant/Enterprise battle in the Mutara nebula, I never said that > this would give you as good a view as the main viewscreen with all its > computer enhancements etc..., I simply said it would have been better than > what they had, which was nothing! > [...] > One question though, just how dense is a nebula? They may be dense > enough to totally block seeing through from earth, but how dense is one > when you're floating inside it? > Kevin Thompson {ucbvax,ihnp4!nsc}!voder!kevin If you could transport a section of, say the Orion Nebula, to Earth, it would be a finer vacuum than any which could be produced. -- Frank Dibbell (408-746-6493) {whatever}!amdahl!canopus [R.A. 6h 22m 30s Dec. -52d 36m] [Generic disclaimer.....]
root@trwatf.UUCP (Lord Frith) (06/01/85)
In article <777@voder.UUCP> kevin@voder.UUCP (The Last Bugfighter) writes: > > One question though, just how dense is a nebula? They may be dense > enough to totally block seeing through from earth, but how dense is one > when you're floating inside it? Nowhere NEAR the density as portrayed in the movie. Large HI and HII regions are near vacum. They look thick and cloudy because they are so large and radiate in the visible spectrum. Lots of grains in those HII regions too, which means they can acreate all sorts of wonderful chemicals. Now, being Star Trek, I suppose there's lots of "cosmic dust" and thick gaseous muck in the Mutara Nebula. Lots of dead ships "lost in space" floating around out there too, I imagine. Like the Sargasso Sea. Gee this has the makings of a good plot... Kirk, Spock and 3 red shirts beam aboard a ship apparently abandoned for centuries in the thick gaseous wasteland of the Mutara Nebula. They find a REAL creepy interior with lots of organic-shaped control pods. Kirk orders the landing party to disperse and investigate. Spock find the main control system, manages to decipher the meaning of some of the hyroglyphics and announces that he can restore an oxygen atmosphere, and gravity... but not the lights. While Spock runs his hands over the bizarre and.... alien.... control panel, he remarks that he has never encountered caligraphy so stylized and advanced anywhere in the galaxy. The ship must have come from outside... from another galaxy. SUDDENLY! A horrific scream pierces the gloomy silence! It's one of their own security gaurds! Kirk and Spock rush to his aid, only to find ....... the grisly sight of a phaser pistol lying in a pool of blood. Spock examines the phaser and remarks... "human circulatory fluid, Captain." ANOTHER BLOOD CURDLING SCREAM! AIIIEIEEEEEEEEE! Kirk and Spock rush down the hallway to find.... a HIDEOUS ALIEN THING... it's quivering tenticles still gripping the dismembered body of a freshly killed security officer. A thick stream of foul-smelling drool dribbled from its mandibles, still glistening with blood as it dined on this latest human carnage. Heaving convulsivly, the grotesque hell-beast consumed its human prey with almost mechanical efficiency... flesh, teeth, hair, bone.... nothing was wasted. It's insectoid face showing no emotion as it finished off the last of Lt. Kowsnofski. "Fascinating Captain"... "He appears to be gorged." "GORGED!" entoned Kirk "ON MY MEN?!!"....... -- UUCP: ...{decvax,ihnp4,allegra}!seismo!trwatf!root - Lord Frith ARPA: trwatf!root@SEISMO "Money from da Buddah" -- UUCP: ...{decvax,ihnp4,allegra}!seismo!trwatf!root - Lord Frith ARPA: trwatf!root@SEISMO "Money from da Buddah"
herbie@watdcsu.UUCP (Herb Chong [DCS]) (06/02/85)
In article <777@voder.UUCP> kevin@voder.UUCP (The Last Bugfighter) writes: > One question though, just how dense is a nebula? They may be dense >enough to totally block seeing through from earth, but how dense is one >when you're floating inside it? a typical nebula is dense only compared to interstellar space. i think the numbers are a few hundred or thousand molecules per cm^3 as opposed to a few per cm^3 for interstellar space. a nebula would hinder optical (and for that matter, electronic vision) less than the earth's atmosphere on the clearest of days unless you had light months of the stuff in the way. most nebulas are a few light years across. the orbit of pluto is approximately 4 light hours in radius. any collection of matter dense enough to cause the visual and electronic effects at the speeds they were moving would also involve the danger of running into asteroids, planets and suns. so, don't try for a real explanation. it was a plot device that depended on the ignorance of astrophysics of the audience. Herb Chong... I'm user-friendly -- I don't byte, I nybble.... UUCP: {decvax|utzoo|ihnp4|allegra|clyde}!watmath!water!watdcsu!herbie CSNET: herbie%watdcsu@waterloo.csnet ARPA: herbie%watdcsu%waterloo.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa NETNORTH, BITNET, EARN: herbie@watdcs, herbie@watdcsu
herbie@watdcsu.UUCP (Herb Chong [DCS]) (06/03/85)
just to clarify my previous posting, i was describing typical gaseous
nebulae that are actually observable in the visible spectrum. a nebula
in the later processes of condensation into a sun and planetary system
have enough things floating around to cause lots of vision problems,
both electronic and (we assume) sensor based. there is reasonable
evidence that lightning could happen due to charge buildup on particles
as they collide. of course, with shields down, flying into the middle
of that would be more dangerous than shooting it out with another starship
unless you are very careful to move as the particles are.
then you have the problem of being somewhere close to the target. these
nebulae aren't small.
Herb Chong...
I'm user-friendly -- I don't byte, I nybble....
UUCP: {decvax|utzoo|ihnp4|allegra|clyde}!watmath!water!watdcsu!herbie
CSNET: herbie%watdcsu@waterloo.csnet
ARPA: herbie%watdcsu%waterloo.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa
NETNORTH, BITNET, EARN: herbie@watdcs, herbie@watdcsu