Re: Is this group really as clique as it appears?

Ian Robinson <junk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Rowland McDonnell wrote:

They
can't even measure astronomical distances terribly usefully once you get
beyond our immediate locality - and, well, so much is based on
assumption.

Debatable.

Of course - so what? Hardly anyone sane has any doubts that the longer
distance measurements are dodgy in astronomy.

Depending on what you mean by immediate locality

<sunny smile> Close enough that distance measurements are probably
quite accurate, actually.

then there
are various methods for measuring astronomical distances. Different
ones come up with consistent results.

Yes, but so what?

No-one's ever confirmed that the measurements are at all valid, and
no-one's ever checked the basic assumptions. Has anyone actually
confirmed, for example, that Cephid variable stars do in fact have the
relationship between period and intensity that is ascribed to them? If
not, how can you trust any of the measurements based on that assumption?

Also, no-one's ever checked the transmission properties of space over
distances greater than the furthest out man-made space probes have sent
data back from. I'm not that sure I much trust the angular measurements
of astronomical objects from Earth that much, let along the distance
measurement.

Any time folk have made big sweeping assumptions about what's out there
before they've checked, they've got it horribly wrong. But that's how
astronomy *works*.

I predict some shocking surprises as and when humanity gets reliable
data back from the far side of the galaxy.

I also predict that even if I do live to see the first interstellar
probe being sent off, I won't live to see it reach its destination. But
I'm hoping I might be wrong - I have a feeling someone's going to come
up with a real exotic space drive in a few decades.

Rowland.

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