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I’m back with the last episode of 2018! A conversation with a friend sparked this idea and I just ran with it while I had the inspiration, so please enjoy an episode on the strange and wonderful scales that astronomers have created to quantify data that is very unusual.
Below the cut are the glossary, transcript, sources, and music credits. Send me any topic suggestions via Tumblr message (you don’t need an account for it!). You can also tweet at me on Twitter at @HDandtheVoid, or you can ask me to my face if you know me. Subscribe on iTunes to get the new episodes of my ideally-monthly-updated podcast (I hope I have more inspiration/time in 2019), and please please please rate and review it. Go ahead and tell friends if you think they’d like to hear it, too!
(My thoughts on the next episode are the Coriolus Force, Stephen Hawking, or famous comets. The next episode will go up in 2019, hopefully in early January!)
Glossary
background risk - the average risk from random impacts of space objects with Earth.
Bortle Scale - an objective scale to measure the clarity and effect of light pollution on a night’s stargazing.
Drake Equation - a way to estimate the number of potential active, communicative civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy based on 1) the average rate of star formation in our galaxy 2) the fraction of those stars that have planets 3) the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star with its own orbiting planets 4) the fraction of planets that could support life which actually develop life at some point 5) the fraction of planets with life that actually go on to develop intelligent life and civilizations 6) the fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space 7) the length of time it would take those civilizations release detectable signals into space.
Hynek Scale - quantifies encounters with UFOs and aliens.
Kardashev Scale - measures how advanced a civilization’s technology is based on their mastery of resources and exploration into space.
METI - Messaging to ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence
Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale - categorizes and prioritizes the potential impact risks of objects in space, such as asteroids.
Rio Scale - quantifies the impact of any public announcement regarding evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence.
San Marino Scale - quantifies the impact of sending transmissions from Earth to extraterrestrial intelligence.
SETI - the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence.
Torino Scale - communicates the risk associated with a particular asteroid or comet’s potential to impact with Earth to the public.
Script/Transcript
Sources
10 Unusual Scientific Scales via Listverse (Sep 2010)
John Bortle’s article on his magnitude scale via Sky and Telescope, July 2006
“I have created a nine-level scale. It is based on nearly 50 years of observing experience. I hope it will prove both enlightening and useful to observers — though it may stun or even horrify some! Should it come into wide use, it would provide a consistent standard for comparing observations with light pollution.”
Bortle dark sky scale via Big Sky Astronomy Club
Bortle dark sky scale via LSU
Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale via NASA
The Palermo Scale is the base-10 logarithm of the relative risk.
PS = log10 R.
The relative risk R is given by R = PI / (fB × DT), where PI is the impact probability of the event in question and DT is the time until the potential event, measured in years.
The annual background impact frequency, fB = 0.03 × E-4/5, is the annual probability of an impact event with energy (E, in megatons of TNT) at least as large as the event in question.
Torino Impact Hazard Scale via NASA
Rio Scale via SETI League
San Marino Scale via SETI League
Rio and San Marino Scale history via Wikipedia
Drake Equation via Wikipedia
Nikolai Kardashev via Wikipedia
"energy consumption at ≈4×1019 erg/sec (4 × 1012 watts)."
New Variation of Kardashev Scale Developed via Edgy Labs (June 2018)
J. Allen Hynek's Scale Of UFO Classification via The Night Sky
Hynek's UFO Classification System via The Center for UFO Studies
Intro Music: ‘Better Times Will Come’ by No Luck Club off their album Prosperity
Outro Music: ‘Fields of Russia’ by Mutefish off their album On Draught
A piece commissioned by Raptoral on FA!
a commission I did for Drakoflame2 on FA,
A mermaid doodle!! I added to it a bit in the 1st photo :p
Sing to the moon She resonates your Love #singtothemoon #moonlightsonata #moonlight #moon #equinox #scales https://www.instagram.com/fthmsblw/p/BvQkho_FQtk/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=13gi9qyumuvab
