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WASP-104b is Darker than Charcoal
By analysing the K2 short-cadence data from Campaign 14 we detect phase-curve modulation in the light curve of the hot-Jupiter host star WASP-104. The ellipsoidal modulation is detected with high significance and in agreement with theoretical expectations, while Doppler beaming and reflection modulations are detected tentatively. We show that the visual geometric albedo is lower than 0.03 at 95% confidence, making it one of the least-reflective planets found to date. The light curve also exhibits a rotational modulation, implying a stellar rotational period likely to be near 23 or 46 days. In addition, we refine the system parameters and place tight upper limits for transit timing and duration variations, starspot occultation events, and additional transiting planets.
WASP-104b's albedo was previously thought to be 0.4 (absorbing 60% of incoming light).
Also at ScienceAlert.
Related: NASA Finds a Pitch-Black Hot Jupiter Exoplanet (WASP-12b)
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday April 25 2018, @07:47PM (27 children)
See: The Adjustment Bureau for one version of that story.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by Freeman on Wednesday April 25 2018, @08:13PM (26 children)
See: The Bible
Old Testament: World Created, People Sin, God's plan to save us pointed to (Jewish practice of sacrificing a perfect lamb).
New Testament: God's plan to save us started, God successfully winning the battle with Satan (Jewish practice of sacrifice no longer needed. Curtain torn between most holy place and holy place in the Temple on Jesus' death. Then Jesus' Resurrection.), The End of the World pointed to with reward for the saved and final justice for those who chose not to be saved.
We're in the last stage of God's plan to save us. He has already saved us, we just have to choose that path.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Wednesday April 25 2018, @09:34PM (1 child)
> We're in the last stage of God's plan to save us.
You do realize that many people who believe that are happy with the chaos in the Middle-East, because all those deaths are essentially "helping us" get closer to that final phase of getting saved?
How very Christian...
I'll keep my "sin", thanks. Go save yourself.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday April 26 2018, @02:53PM
People who are happy for the sorrow of others aren't being Christian. The point is that I can't save myself. It's a gift of God that we have to accept.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday April 25 2018, @11:20PM (3 children)
You do realize the earliest followers of Jesus thought they were going to live to see his return, don't you?
If you're basing your apocalyptic beliefs on the Book of Revelations you should go and actually read it. It is the maddest thing ever, written by someone who either had mental health problems, or took hallucinogenics.
Anyway, basing your life on a religion that basically stole it's foundation myths from the Zoroastrians seems a bit sad to me.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday April 26 2018, @02:48PM (2 children)
I do know that Jesus's Disciples thought they were going to live to see his return.
I have read the Book of Revelation and in fact most of the Bible. Can't say for sure whether I've ever actually made it through the Begats, though. The book of Revelation is also full of imagery and includes a strong warning at the end of the book. Revelation 20:19 "And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."
Great speaker and evangelist goes over some of Revelation. https://www.amazingfacts.org/about-us/revelation [amazingfacts.org] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvASosgagBw [youtube.com]
There are a lot of similar stories in other religions. Lucifer was the best and brightest Angel in Heaven, only second to God. He is very capable and will stop at nothing to discredit God. The bible isn't based on Zoroastrian myths. The Bible is based on facts and numerous archaeological discoveries have supported the Bible. Not that you can prove to anyone via archaeology that there's a God, but you can prove that places described in the Bible were actual places.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday April 26 2018, @08:33PM
I wasn't really claiming that. I do claim however that the Jesus myth is stolen almost wholesale from the Zoroastrian stories about Ahura Mazda and in fact the whole thing is just a mashup of various middle-eastern religions from the classical period.
The only really remarkable thing about Christianity is the fact that it has lasted so long really. Most other religions (with a few obvious exceptions) rise and fall.
Is anyone still worshiping Ashur or Anu? They were pretty major gods 3 thousand years ago.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday April 27 2018, @08:15PM
An omniscient, omnipotent, etc etc etc God doesn't *have* enemies, you idiot. He also doesn't fight wars, in heaven or otherwise, and his plans don't ever go wrong. In fact, he doesn't have to "plan."
You don't really seem to understand the real meaning of words like omniscient or omnipotent or, most importantly, "absolutely-sovereign." You still talk about your God like he's a big human. A very bright, very powerful, very in-charge human, but not infinite on any of these axes. If you understood the implications of these omni* attributes you wouldn't be making arguments like this.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 5, Touché) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday April 26 2018, @03:25AM (19 children)
Question for you, smart guy: what does an omniscient, omnipotent, time-transcending, eternal, *absolutely-sovereign* God need with a "plan?" And why is he "saving" us from what amounts to his own temper tantrum he's throwing over his own freely-created creations doing what he knew without fail they would before he created them, and why does this "plan" involve making an exception to rules he himself created about what he himself arbitrarily defines as "sin" and who goes to the Hell he himself created but didn't have to and never told Adam, Cain, Moses, etc about, preferring instead to let the pagan Persians and Greeks do it?
Have you seriously never thought about any of this?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Funny) by Immerman on Thursday April 26 2018, @03:52AM (6 children)
I don't know why you're making such a big deal about all that - it's obvious if you just stop to give it a moment's consideration:
God moves in mysterious ways.
:-D
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday April 26 2018, @03:03PM (2 children)
There's banter back and forth between God and Job in the book of Job. In that dialogue God tells Job that He is smarter and knows more than Job. So, for us, God does move in mysterious ways at times.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday April 26 2018, @07:15PM (1 child)
Okay, but Donald Trump ALSO says he's smarter than us...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday April 26 2018, @07:50PM
Donald Trump isn't stupid. You may very well disagree with everything he has to say, but he isn't stupid. Personally, I don't like him and disagree with quite a number of things he says. The alternative was Clinton, though. Even then, I would have preferred Clinton over Obama. The one thing Obama and Trump have in common is Charisma. Hitler had plenty of that, too. Charisma just blinds people to the crazyness that comes out of their mouths.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday April 27 2018, @04:22AM (2 children)
They've literally had millennia to collect and refine the book of comebacks, what do you think they teach in Seminary school anyway?
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Friday April 27 2018, @04:27PM (1 child)
Buggery?
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday April 27 2018, @04:47PM
Or, the art of image/status preservation after the act.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday April 26 2018, @02:59PM (10 children)
God's plan was for us to live in a perfect world. There is no freedom, if there is no freedom of choice. God gave us the ability to choose for ourselves. Love forced isn't Love. God created Adam, Eve, and Lucifer. You have the ability to choose your own path and do what you will, because God believes in Free Will.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday April 26 2018, @04:16PM (2 children)
Once again calling for a new mod for "fairy-tale-based argument".
Since that's a bit long, how about the "-1 Trumping" ?
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday April 26 2018, @04:31PM (1 child)
I was originally conscientiously pointing out that your statement didn't apply to Christians. You don't want to talk about religion. That's just fine. Then stop deriding the people who believe in it. All manner of inappropriate tags can be placed on quite a few topics. In reality the entire string of comments along with half of your post was off-topic in relation to the original article.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday April 26 2018, @04:53PM
> pointing out that your statement didn't apply to Christians
Tell that to a lot of "Christians" who have a very different opinion than you.
I've talked to enough Evangelists to respectfully disagree.
But hey, the Universe IS full of wonderful things.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday April 26 2018, @07:17PM (6 children)
Do you even think about these things before you type them, or are you just running your finger down the Big Book of Apologetic Thought-Terminating Cliches and selecting one that looks vaguely like it fits the situation at hand, while completely ignoring what the other person is actually saying?
You mention Free Will (TM). And this has to be a very specific, unfettered, libertarian sort of Free Will (TM) for your theology not to immediately crumble. Prove to us that a) we have Free Will (TM) at all, b) it is this specific sort of Free Will (TM), and c) why it would not have been possible to make a perfectly free set of beings with only good choices to choose from?
Be very careful with c), as the standard apologetic response to this neatly explodes the concept of Heaven entirely and does significant damage to Yahweh himself :)
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by Freeman on Thursday April 26 2018, @07:41PM (5 children)
"4. But since He created Lucifer, isn’t God really responsible for his sin?
Answer: Not at all. God created Lucifer a perfect, sinless angel. Lucifer made a devil of himself. Freedom to choose is a cornerstone principle of God’s government. God knew Lucifer would sin when He created him. If at that point God had refused to create Lucifer, He would have been repudiating one of His own characteristics of love; that is, the freedom to choose."
https://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/study-guide/e/4979/t/did-god-create-the-devil- [amazingfacts.org]
Which is more or less what I already said. You can rage at the world all you want or me for the "evil God" that I believe and serve. The truth is that Satan has been spinning the "God is evil" lie for a long, long time. There are numerous occasions where God killed or asked His people to kill. The fact is that the wages of sin is death.
"Regarding the command to eradicate entire nations, I believe that God had to because the influence of these nations left unchecked would ultimately lead to the death of many more innocent people. It’s helpful to keep in mind that nations like the Canaanites engaged in human sacrifice, even offering their children to devil gods. (See Deuteronomy 12:31.) Additionally, not only did God use Israel’s might to punish evil nations like these, He used the Babylonian, Assyrian, and Egyptian kings to punish Israel. God will often use human forces to mete out His discipline."
https://www.amazingfacts.org/news-and-features/news/item/id/10883/t/why-did-god-order-genocide [amazingfacts.org]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday April 26 2018, @08:20PM (4 children)
I notice that at no time in that extended exercise in al-dente copypasta-boiling did you ever even attempt to engage with what was actually being said to you. Which, I find, is typical for apologists. You're wasting space and electrons.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday April 26 2018, @08:36PM (3 children)
Al-dente copy-pasta is good copy-pasta. Both were more or less direct replies to what you were asking about. You don't have to accept the argument I put forth. Do you not believe in Free Will?
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday April 26 2018, @09:38PM (2 children)
First of all, no, neither of those were even close to direct replies. They were of the following form:
(Freeman) I believe X Y and Z
(Hazuki) Look, X Y and Z don't work because X and Y are mutually contradictory and Z is disproven due to A and B
(Freeman) *states X Y and Z again with some links*
What I believe is irrelevant. You must believe in a very specific, libertarian type of free will for your theology even to have a single toehold (it self-destructs elsewhere, but let's not get into that). That idea is incompatible with not only your theology but, I suspect, with some of the more recent discoveries in QM, which may be one reason so many scientists are compatibilists.
Are you going to actually read what the fuck i said up there, or are you just going to sit here constantly asserting the same things and wondering why I'm not falling on my face in religious awe?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday April 26 2018, @10:14PM (1 child)
How many Angels can dance on the head of a pin? / Prove the existence of Free Will.
What you believe is relevant, if you're actually trying to have a conversation. Otherwise, you're just tossing wood on the fire.
Here's a definition, if you need to know what "Free Will" is referring to. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/free-will [dictionary.com]
Without it, there can be no meaning to your "choices", and you can't be held accountable for your actions. Since, you had no choice. The idea that we don't have Free Will is akin to the practice of indulgences. Except, you don't have to pay someone to feel better.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday April 27 2018, @03:09AM
Why does talking logic with you feel like trying to explain mountaineering to an oyster? You're so deep in Dunning-Krugerland you can't even see where my objections are coming from or why they're being made.
Go back up to that post where I was asking you why an omniscient etc etc etc God needs a plan, and read those words carefully. The supposed attributes of your God-figure make this plan a transparent sham. Make sure you understand the implications of omniscience (as opposed to just knowing a hell of a lot), omnipotence (as opposed to just being really strong) and especially absolute sovereignty (as opposed to just "being in charge") before you respond again.
Not for nothing is it said that unbelievers take Yahweh much more seriously than his partisans. That is why we tend to be unbelievers in the first place...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday April 26 2018, @05:46PM
If God exists then he's such a narcissistic asshole that he doesn't deserve our respect.