The Other Side of Midnight - Richard C. Hoagland - Live Chat Thread

[OstrichThief]

i have the video too

[Morgus]

More guests coming up now including Robin.

[SciFiAuthor]

The eclipse was truly spectacular. They're right, nothing looks like totality.

[K_Dubb]

I saw a cover band once.

Haha they really need to come up with a better name for those.  Hey Darren ask if the shadow bands are visible from space!  I wonder if it's the same thing in the atmosphere that makes stars twinkle.

[K_Dubb]

i have the video too

Post it somewhere we can see!

[Morgus]

What year was that Nova Scotia total eclipse Hoagie said he monitored?

[K_Dubb]

What year was that Nova Scotia total eclipse Hoagie said he monitored?

Two solar eclipses ("Then you flew your Learjet up to Nova Scotia to see the total eclipse of the sun") were visible from Nova Scotia in the early 1970s, on March 7, 1970, and July 10, 1972.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27re_So_Vain so the song was a reference.  His bumper guy is good.

[OstrichThief]

gone

[OstrichThief]

he didnt let me talk much   maybe i was boring   idk

[Morgus]

That was a really long break, I thought Hoagie had gotten lost.

[Étouffée]

I viewed the eclipse over my shoulder, through a tiny pinhole punched into a 3x5 card that I held in my right hand, projecting onto a second 3x5 card held in my left hand, while standing in the parking lot of an Indian casino, just outside of Middleton, California.

The high spark of low tech field observation.  It was great!

Braaps.

[Morgus]

he didnt let me talk much   maybe i was boring   idk

Sounds like only the first hour was about the Eclipse with a bunch of guests, so he had to move fast before his main guest tonight started for the second hour.

[Zenman]

Fight's over, braaps.

If Tabby is slowly fading then obviously the alien megastructure isn't eroding away. It's under construction as we speak.



ETA: Well, maybe not exactly as we speak.

[OstrichThief]

the shadow bands

[OstrichThief]

goodnight bellgabbers

[K_Dubb]

the shadow bands

Thanks Darren, spectacular!

[Zenman]

I viewed the eclipse over my shoulder, through a tiny pinhole punched into a 3x5 card that I held in my right hand, projecting onto a second 3x5 card held in my left hand, while standing in the parking lot of an Indian casino, just outside of Middleton, California.

The high spark of low tech field observation.  It was great!

Braaps.

Lol, more high tech than my 3 pairs of old truck driver style clip-on shades taped together with duct tape.

[SciFiAuthor]

Only problem being that two other studies not based on the Harvard data confirmed the long term trend.

[GravitySucks]

Only problem being that two other studies not based on the Harvard data confirmed the long term trend.

Guests like these need to have closed captioning.

[21st Century Man]

Hi all.  I enjoyed the total eclipse immensely here in GA.  Some people poo-poo'd it because they had seen partial eclipses before and they were not a big deal.  A partial eclipse is nothing like a total eclipse.  With a total eclipse, everything around you is almost completed shrouded in darkness.  It was like how the sky and surroundings get the first few minutes after total sunset.  Very eerie, breezes pick up and everything cools down.   I'm looking forward to the 2024 eclipse as unfortunately a large cloud blocked the sun in the last few minutes leading up the eclipse and the sun didn't come back out until it was almost over.

[Nobody]

Hello everyone.   Im online.   Post any good questions if you have any I will try to ask them if they are good!

1) When was the last time Hoagland had his Bulova Accutron watch serviced?

and

2) Who performed the servicing?

I ask because the Accutron watch is a mechanical device that requires regular servicing in order to stay functioning properly.  It's also important to note that the last Accutron rolled off Bulova's production line in 1977, making Hoagland's watch at least 40 years old.

Hoagland seems to set great store in the Accutron as a measuring device.  It's only fair that he tells his audience who is keeping his mechanical watch in tip-top shape and where they are obtaining spare parts for a watch that hasn't been made in 40 years.

(Try looking for Accutron index wheels on eBay sometime and you'll see what I mean...and that's just one part.)

In all the time Hoagland has talked about his Accutron, he has never, ever mentioned having it serviced.   If his maintenance programme consists solely of putting new batteries in it, the source of his anomalous "readings" might not be as mysterious as he seems to think. 

[Zenman]

Hi all.  I enjoyed the total eclipse immensely here in GA.  Some people poo-poo'd it because they had seen partial eclipses before and they were not a big deal.  A partial eclipse is nothing like a total eclipse.  With a total eclipse, everything around you is almost completed shrouded in darkness.  It was like how the sky and surroundings get the first few minutes after total sunset.  Very eerie, breezes pick up and everything cools down.   I'm looking forward to the 2024 eclipse as unfortunately a large cloud blocked the sun in the last few minutes leading up the eclipse and the sun didn't come back out until it was almost over.

We had a partial here but I watched some of the Eclipse continuous coverage which was pretty amazing. All the folks they showed viewing it were in complete awe. I think it was the one in Portland where there was complete silence at the first minute or so of totality till some lady whispered "The gods have taken our sun away" and everyone laughed. Pretty cool tho. I think it inspired me to try to get to the totality zone in 2024.

[Juan Cena]

Ask how hyperdimensional physics plays in to the fight!  Does the model predict a winner?

Hoagie would have predicted McGregor, because tats cover 19.5% of his body.

[Juan Cena]

Ah, there Hoagie asked about the sheet.

Hoagie had no white sheets because he horribly stained them all.

[Juan Cena]

If I beg you will you tell us?

Well it would have to involve Tabby's star having a gas torus creating an environment where life could evolve. So, basically the structures around Tabby's star would be free floating vegetation.

This was all Larry Niven's concept, btw.

[Juan Cena]

What year was that Nova Scotia total eclipse Hoagie said he monitored?

Would this be the one where Hoagie flew his Lear Jet to Nova Scotia to see?

[21st Century Man]

"All the gin joints in the world...."  lol. Got to love Richard and his movie quotes.

[21st Century Man]

We had a partial here but I watched some of the Eclipse continuous coverage which was pretty amazing. All the folks they showed viewing it were in complete awe. I think it was the one in Portland where there was complete silence at the first minute or so of totality till some lady whispered "The gods have taken our sun away" and everyone laughed. Pretty cool tho. I think it inspired me to try to get to the totality zone in 2024.

Do it, the next one will be the last total eclipse for 20 years or so in our part of the worldand who knows if we will be around then. You won't regret it.

[CronkitesGhost]

Hoagie's shows should have an expert analyst doing commentary the way football broadcasts do.  'Jim, that right there, what Hoagland just said about the star, complete nonsense.' 'Wow did he just actually say that?' 'This is a total disgrace, he's completely lost his mind.' 'I can't tell from up here in the booth if he's a total charlatan or just stupid.' 'Citizen scientist sounds to me like the guy with the painted face in the third row coming in to play quarterback.'

I listen to shows like tonight and being a very casual follower of things scientific I have no idea if what these people are talking about is complete silliness or something interesting.

[Étouffée]

Lol, more high tech than my 3 pairs of old truck driver style clip-on shades taped together with duct tape.

Whatever works!

The best part was that we were sharing an amazing experience, in real time, all across the country.  No time to worry about politics, during a total eclipse