Why do hurricanes and spiral galaxies look so similar?

[astroscout]

Nature,Astronomy and Physics have facinated me for years but I had no idea they were eerily similar in other ways.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/822/k7xi.jpg/

Nature produces hurricanes that in satellite photos look eerily similar to those of spiral galaxies photographed by the Hubble space telescope.


http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/10/4fh5.jpg/

Physics uses a model of our solar system to help explain the structure of an Atom but what is very interesting about this is that the oxygen Atom has 8 electrons and our solar system has 8 major planets. I know this is only a coincidence but isn't oxygen one of the main givers of life here on Earth?

 

[berkeman]

Are you planning on studying more physics? Your fascination is a good place to start. It's important for you to study a bit more soon, to get past the basic/old concepts, and learn more about reality.

We no longer think in terms of hard ball electrons orbiting the nucleus, and how much it looks like a planetary system. The reality is quite different:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom

Are you in high school, or maybe starting community college? There are many opportunities to learn about modern physics. And the more that you learn, the more you will find amazing (and more correct) things.

 

[astroscout]

Thanks for your input berkeman. I am 56 yrs old so my knowledge is "old school". Its good to know that we now have new ways of explaining the structure of an atom. I will do some more reading on this thanks for your info.

 

[Drakkith]

Thanks for your input berkeman. I am 56 yrs old so my knowledge is "old school". Its good to know that we now have new ways of explaining the structure of an atom. I will do some more reading on this thanks for your info.

The new way of understanding the atom is called Quantum Mechanics. It makes some shocking claims for those who have never heard of it before. It may seem crazy when you first read about it, but we've been using it for nearly 100 years now and the amount of evidence for it is simply staggering. Practically every piece of modern technology, from computers to plastics to lasers, owes its existence to Quantum Mechanics.

See here for more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_quantum_mechanics

 

[rustytxrx]

Thanks for your input berkeman. I am 56 yrs old so my knowledge is "old school". Its good to know that we now have new ways of explaining the structure of an atom. I will do some more reading on this thanks for your info.

A book for the layman that covers a great over view of current thought is _A Universe From Nothing_ by Lawrence M. Krauss.

 

[astroscout]

Thanks Rusty...

 

[Bobbywhy]

For artists and dreamers, see these images of Spiral galaxies, Hurricanes, Sunflowers and more:
https://www.google.com/search?q=fib...gHan4DwCw&sqi=2&ved=0CFsQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=660

For the mathematicians, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibonacci_number