Recent content by Molloy

This quote from Wikipedia says that temperatures in the Thermosphere can reach 2,500 C during the daytime but "despite the high temperature, an observer or object will experience cold temperatures". "The highly diluted gas in this layer can reach 2,500 °C (4,530 °F) during the day. Despite the...

I think I understand now about light only being visible if it is reflected off dust and gas. The same way I can see the rays of sunlight when they hit the smoke from my camp fire or the dust in my room. But, even if the light takes some time to reach me, as i sit side on in space, waiting for...

very interesting replies thank you, though to me (as a layman) some of them counter-intuitive. :-) It looks as if I am never going to see my light beam traveling through space, unless...some dust is scattered all the way along its path in space, and in that case, we will see it...I hope :cool...

When I point a small laser beam from a simple laser torch at night, I can see the beam clearly. I thought a light beam was a stream of photons. If there is no "dust" in space for that beam to reflect off, will that beam be invisible to me, if I am watching from side on, in space?

Thanks for all these great replies. :smile: The point about it being "dark night" and therefore "how could you fire it at the sun" made me laugh, and shows the kind of mistakes laypeople make when coming up with these questions. In fact, I didn't need to mention the sun at all. It seems that by...

Hi, I just like learning from people who know more than me and find myself drawn more and more by space, I think because it helps me get my self into context and this helps to see the things which happen here on Earth maybe from more of a distance. I'm an English teacher who lived 10 years in...

Thanks for being here, this is my first post. Imagine on a dark night a very powerful beam of light was aimed at the sun from earth and switched on, at 23:00. I am observing from side on, in space, at a distance far enough away to get a good view of the beam as it travels out into space on its...