[Jake]

Ok, what is the heaviest element created in a star?

Hint: It takes a huge star, and it's not Uranium. IIRC anything beyond this particular element is born from supernovas or something.
Hint2: I bet Rylkan gets this in 10 sec after I post.

[Rylkan]

Sorry, I didn't see you post it within 10 seconds.

The heaviest element that is created in a star is Nickel 62, which is a hair greater in binding energy than 56 Iron. Though it makes more Iron in the last minute of it's life (the final fusion stage) than it does Nickel, simply because it's hard to make Nickel, so you dont get much of it.

[Jake]

I thought it was Iron. Oh well.

I'll just trust that you got it

[Rylkan]

hehe, I thought so too until I took my high energy astrophysics class this last semester. If you're interested, the class notes are posted online, so here is a link to the lecture on core collapse supernova.

http://www.astro.umd...8/lecture20.pdf

All righty, my question. I'll keep it simple:

What is the drake equation?

[Zziggywolf5]

Do you want the actual formula or a definition?

[Rylkan]

Just a general description of what it is.

[Zziggywolf5]

Alright. The Drake Equation is a math formula meant to measure the possibility of the existence of alien life that we could find through the search of radio waves.

[Rylkan]

Pretty much, though it doesn't really limit it to radio waves.

Basically you throw in a bunch of possible numbers we don't know, and then figure out a probability of life existing out there, and relative density. Very adhoc, you can get numbers that vary enormously, but still fun to toy with.

Your turn.

[Zziggywolf5]

Since I unsurprisingly can't think of a question, I'm just going to build of your question:
What are the variables in the Drake Equation? (Don't give me a bunch of letters, either. )

[Rylkan]

Been so long. But I will try by logic.

One variable is having a star similar to ours.
Another is the chance of a terrestrial planet in a zone where water does not sublimate or freeze.
Length of time that the planet has had to form and have life come about
Percent of being intelligent
Percent of societies that can actually broadcast.

[Zziggywolf5]

That's not all of them, but I've negelected this poor topic. Thus, I'm going to go ahead and pass it on to you.
Your question, Rylkan.

[Rylkan]

What is chromatic abberation?

What is chromatic abberation?

[Zoo]

Not sure if there's any special significance to you repeating the question , but chromatic aberration is what happens in a lens (usually closer to the edge, if I recall) where colors in light passing through may be separated, as in a prism, giving perhaps a false color for an object viewed through it or (more extremely) multiple images of the same object in different colors, or just a colored fringe around the edge of the lens or image.

(Hmm... looked it up after I wrote that; would judge my own answer as not quite right but I'm gonna go with it anyway )

[Rylkan]

It repeated because my computer at work blew up as I posted it. I suspect it must have thought I posted twice, one right after the other.

And you're not really wrong, though those are the effects you can see from it. Still, I'll give it to you.

It is just that longer wavelengths of light (Things that are 'redder') are bent less going through a medium than 'blue' light, which bends alot. So they have different focal points. What you spoke of all falls out from how that works out, except maybe the being more prominent near the edge. I think you're thinking of spherical abberation and such forth. With a thin lens, the focal point is the same even if you are near the vertex or away from it, assuming parallel light rays, of course.

[Zoo]

I think you're thinking of spherical abberation and such forth.

That's a possibility, trying to recall this from the basic astronomy class I took 9 years ago (>_<!). We probably talked about it in physics too, but considering how sucky my professor for the first installment was it's a wonder I know anything at all that I didn't pick up somewhere else -.-

Hmm. . .

What are the correct terms (2) for cold-blooded?