Astronomy and Cosmology

Hi again guys, I have a question that's been bothering me for a while. I can't seem to find a definitive answer - a lot of sites explain about the fact that we are aware light is being twisted and curved on its way through the universe and towards our eyes, but none really explains how we manage to - despite that fact - figure out WHERE exactly the original object really is. I know that the color spectrum of a star visible to us tells us the curvature of its lightwave -- so that we can "uncurve" it.. or, at least this is what I could understand. What happens, however, if something goes through a few curvings? Light curves when it approaches space objects (other st…

Hi: Yes, I realize this is probably just a "news advertisement blurb," but I heard briefly on the news yesterday that a 1/2 mile wide asteroid was coming towards the Earth ("Will it hit Earth? Stay tuned to channel 25 news..."). Anyone heard anything about this? What sort of path is projected? JM

http://hubblesite.org/discoveries/black_holes/home.html this has some similarity to a computer game it involves different kinds of black holes (from stellar mass to galaxy-mass size) you get to scan the sky and observe different stuff from earth with various instruments (see what they look like at radio wavelengths, at Xray, at optical) then you get to travel (at exagerated speeds that you choose) to various destinations that you select the visuals of what you see while traveling, and when you get there are animated. on the whole, from what I saw, they did a good job---fun to play around with and not just one possible experience if you find mistakes in …

I've been reading up on quasars lately. I remember learning, a long time ago, that quasars have been observed to exhibit anomolies or natural law violations. However, I can't find anything in the current literature that suggests this. Am I remembering correctly?

Would it be at all possible to create some sort of hole in the magnetic field around the planet? Maybe using a highly magnetic mesh at some distance, opposite to that at which the field is flowing? Could you create some sort of pocket where UV could get in? Just curious

Guys! One of my pals told me that when we go to space our height will be increased by about 2 inch! Is is so? Is true, plz tell me the reason! Thanks!

Figured I'd make some connections nobody else had. Black Hole Inflation Hypothesis

I don't know of any evidence of a singularity existing in nature. AFAIK singularities exist in physical MODELS and it has happened that by improving the model so it fits the data better, you get rid of the singularity. A singularity is a BROKEN PLACE in somebody's model of nature. Is everybody OK with this? Anybody want to object? Offer an example of a singularity that is known to really exist in nature? I'd be glad to hear of such a thing! OK, what this thread is about is the following: THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF A SINGULARITY at the beginning of the universe expansion. It would be very peculiar because in the real world we dont see infinities, so why should …

I am planning to make Computer Controlled telescope. Where can I get the step by step information about it? Please, give me the links and information

rather small meteor impact on moon caught in video http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/13jun_lunarsporadic.htm?list45222 4 tons of TNT brief picture of the fireball looks tiny on the face of the moon

Why don't the constellations change every six months? Surely at one part of the year the stars you would see overhead are in the exact opposite direction to the starts you would see 6 months difference, because those same stars would be in daytime and the night sky is facing the opposite way.

The ChristianAnswers web site attempts to explain how we can see light from stars that are millions of light-years away if the universe was only 10,000 years old. Visit http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aig/aig-c005.html to see their explanation. I don't want this thread to turn into any type of religious debate, so I just want everyone to look at this scientifically and tell me if it's possible. Can the speed of light or time change? It seems to me that this theory would cause some type of conflict between light and time. How can you change one and have the other one remain constant?

I've heard that they are entropic, but it doesn't seem that way, have scientists twisted the idea of entropy so it seems to apply here. Here's how I understand entropy: Light from the sun hits a surface on earth, gets reradiated at room temperature. Visable light is degraded into less useful, less powerful infrared. Now to our black hole: After a septillion years, background radition is radio waves, that get sucked into a black hole, which explodes into gamma rays. How is entropy preserved?

This may sound stupid but if a perpetual energy machine is imposable(due to the laws of thermodynamics) does that not mean that the universe will eventually run out of energy?

this survey covers what has been observed so far and what people think causes them http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0605208 Gamma-Ray Bursts P. Meszaros To appear in Rep. Prog. Phys., 74 pages, 11 figures "Gamma-ray bursts are the most luminous explosions in the Universe, and their origin and mechanism are the focus of intense research and debate. More than three decades after their discovery, and after pioneering breakthroughs from space and ground experiments, their study is entering a new phase with the recently launched Swift satellite. The interplay between these observations and theoretical models of the prompt gamma ray burst and its afterglow is reviewed." …

If anyone has a subscription they might want to check this and see what it says. i dont know if the article is any good. http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/mg19025541.800.html there is what looks like some new development here including a Moffat paper just this past week the impressive thing is the first paper here is NOT ABOUT PIONEER BUT ABOUT GALAXY ROTATION CURVES, Moffat started by inventing a modification of Gen Rel that would GET RID OF DARK MATTER as something needed to hold galaxys from flying apart from the observed spin. He made gravity a little stronger way out where it is usually very weak (like out at the edges) and then it fit the observed …

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060531.html GLAST means "gammaray large area space telescope" http://glast.gsfc.nasa.gov/public/ and it is scheduled to fly in 2007 this is a 55 frame animation of the whole sky at once you can see the Milkyway as a curve going across, roughly east-west. there are little flashes which I guess could be gammaray bursts, or solar flares if they make gamma. I don't know much about it but I am glad to see it. GLAST holds a lot of hope and also risk for Quantum Gravity researchers because it has the ability to put QG theories on trial and show that certain ones fail (because they predict wrong) and certain ones survive the t…

Probably the wrong section but i realy dont know where to put it.. so aynways, How did the universe come to be? Because the big bang isnt making much sense right now... Where did the dust come from where did the space come from.. where did gravity come from where did atoms come from and electrons protons neutrons and the thjings that make those.. i realy just dont get it.

How can you move in space when there's no matter to push on? Any ideas? And I was also wondering what kind of force or technique can escape a black hole? Thanks, FROGGIE

hi everyone, i would like to ask 1) what's the white spot at the south of the Mars? Is that icy area? 2) The sun is green in colour, is it caputred by infrared mode? thx:)

I think I'm becoming one of those people who read lots about quantum mechanics etc. and doesn't really understand the basics too well and goes around asking silly questions. Anyway, zero point energy (of vacuum). If you assume that when the universe expands more space is created and a certain volume of space or vacuum contains a certain amount of ground state energy, then doesn't this increase the overall energy of the universe, seemingly "out of nowhere"?

I read an interesting article that suggests the universe is actually 1 trillion years old... or older: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1768191,00.html There's a paragraph near the middle that says: "Today most cosmologists believe the universe will carry on expanding until all the stars burn out, leaving nothing but their cold dead remains. But there is an inherent problem with this picture. The Cosmological Constant - a mysterious force first postulated by Albert Einstein that appears to be driving the galaxies apart - is much too small to fit the theory. Einstein later renounced it as his 'biggest blunder'." I can't say that I know much about …

Hi, I am deeply interested in space and all the physical workings of it. I am 16 and so thinking to the future. I have had no career advice whatsoever. I am thinking about taking a degree in astrophysics or maybe aerospace. I am wondering which career paths would open up after taking such a degree. Would it be wide or narrow? I have already searched the forum and found another thread like this one but that was all based on information in America and I am over here in England. I was just pondering on some questions which I hope you may have the answer to: 1. What sort of things would you learn on the course? 2. What sort of things would you do on a daily basis as an …

a new preprint from Abhay Ashtekar http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0605078 The Issue of the Beginning in Quantum Gravity Abhay Ashtekar 15 pages, 2 figures. History and Philosophy of Physics. Based on an invited talk at the 7th International Conference on the History of General Relativity (HGR7), "Einstein and the Changing World View of Physics, 1905-2005", held at Tenerife, Canary Islands in 2005 "The goal of this report is to provide an up to date account of results on the quantum nature of the big bang, obtained in loop quantum cosmology. They suggest a radical modification of the paradigm provided by general relativity for the issue of the Beginning. The article …

Hi everyone! I have a question for you all, we know the universe is currently expanding at an accelreated rate, if this continues then eventually every particle will end up along on its own - with nothing else anywhere around it. My question is this, given enough time could the method that created virtual particles create something much bigger such as a planet, star or a galazy? I know if it were possible it would take a very long time as the probabilies are so low but my question is could it actually happen? Cheers, Ryan Jones