Astronomy/Cosmology Discussion Thread

Zimmerman

Zimmerman

Active member
Use this thread for any interesting (it all is) talk about the universe(s?). Stars, galaxies, nebulae, the Big Bang, quasars, or whatever else brings out your inner Neil deGrasse Tyson or Michio Kaku. What do you think is the coolest thing you've learned about the Universe? Post pictures, videos, discussion, questions, upcoming events, and recent news/discoveries here.

I'll kick it off with that capture we all know and love: The Hubble Extreme Deep Field (XDF)

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“After all, what nobler thought can one cherish than that the universe lives within us all?”



 
well it has been going on for almost a week now. it is supposed to peak tonight/ early tomorrow morning. but really as long as it is dark outside and you are patient you should see some. I have been going out around midnight, alaskan time, the last few night and have seen plenty.
 
Let's try not to ruin this thread, shall we?

Anyway,

Courtesy of Spinoza who just posted it in another thread, and I remember seeing this back in high school physics:

http://htwins.net/scale2/

It puts the entire universe to scale so you can zoom in to the smallest things known to the entire universe.

So. Damn. Cool.
 
I have a twisted view of this, let me know if any one has any contradictions or similarities with my theory. Granted I am only a 22 year old finance major who only has a bachelors. So theories about the universe are up in the air of what I deem to be possible/plausible.

To start off with the multiple universe theory, I do believe there are multiple universes but to how many to the nth degree? cant say, no one can. But I DO believe about the big bang with multiple universes.

I believe the big bang was created by a older universe than ours, that collapsed in on its self, thus condensing to a near infant amount, then re exploding creating the beautiful amazing universe we see today. I can also see this certain event collapsing on its self and creating two smaller universes out of one bigger universe.

 
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ma7zxohGe71rzeavuo1_500.jpg

read this. REALLY FUCKING COOL.

we talk a little bit about this in my modern cosmology class (yo cole take that shit astr 2010 fuckin sickest class).

tl;dr

question: the universe had a distinct beginning, therefore what existed before???

(possible) answer: black holes are the entrances to different universes. and the big bang occurred when a black hole in another universe was created.

interested? read that shit!

tumblr_ma7zxohGe71rzeavuo1_500.jpg


 
Black holes are fucking paradoxes. Do they make matter stop in time, or do they make matter dissapear into the event horizon? Does the quantum firewall destroy matter or does the information remain scattered on its event horizon? How can you possibly understand a 3 dimensional hole?
 
I explained black holes in the other thread. Sparknotes: they aren't holes, rather something like a star or planet super condensed with a shit ton of mass that is only black because gravity is too great to let light escape.

At the event horizon, time stops (for the matters perspective)

That being said, from our perspective the matter goes straight in and collides with the other matter in the centre. I think. I could be wrong on this one though...
 
The question of what happens to matter when it gets pulled into a black hole plagued even Stephen Hawking for some 30 years. For a long time he actually believed the matter was destroyed. The entire astrophysics community hated him for it. Then he decided to change his mind and now he believes that the matter is destroyed in our universe but still exists in another one. Feel free to correct what I may have had wrong there. I watched that documentary at least 2 years ago.

New question: How can distant galaxies be moving away from us at greater than the speed of light? This brings light to other light-speed/relativity related questions. Is the speed of light relative to the source of the light?
 
Right here brotha! Dat density.

Also, everyone always forgets about magnetars. Magnetic field so strong it would very easily pull the iron straight from your blood.
 
you can see the aurora in Michigan? Or how far north are you talking? This year has been really good for the northern lights. HAARP does a lot of interesting stuff with the aurora if you can get past all the conspiracy stuff that goes along with it. Here at UAF they shoot rockets into them that make them brighter and also have a lot of recording instruments and shit. Pretty amazing light shows that we know so little about.
 
No. The speed of light, when in the same medium, is always the same, represented by the constant "c", which the the speed of light in a vacuum (299,792,458 m/s). In other words, you can be running 5 m/s and shine a flashlight, but it would still be moving the same speed as if you weren't running.
 
Ah yes thank you! I forgot. You're basically saying that since space-time isn't matter, it can expand faster than light-speed, simply carrying the galaxies with it?

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I think one of the most interesting things right now is the results from fermi that suggest space-time is smooth like Einstein thought (no quantum foam).
 
I think perhaps the greatest thing to ever think about is time and space itself. Think of space time as a plane that can bend and fold, and it really fucks with things.

Also I have a theory. I have a theory that gravity is caused by particles that are only observable in a 4th spatial dimension and are only observed as gravity in our 3 spatial dimensions. Similar to how a 2 dimensional object will only see a cube as a diamond or square, only a cross-section of it. Well, the 3d cross section of these 4d particles is the force of gravity itself. Just pondering here.
 
Intredasting.

Just watched a video explaining "why the Universe is flat." I'm not sure what they mean by this. How can the universe be flat if there are objects scattered and expanding in all directions?
 
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