The Cellar Image of the Day

This was yesterday's APOD, and I was interested to know what it could be. Turns out it's a map of microwave energy... the microwave energy of the universe.

No... really!!!

Quote:

In the 1960's a startling discovery was made quite by accident. A pair of scientists at Bell Laboratories detected background noise using a special low noise antenna. The strange thing about the noise was that it was coming from every direction and did not seem to vary in intensity much at all. If this static were from something on our world, like radio transmissions from a nearby airport control tower, it would only come from one direction, not everywhere. The scientists soon realized they had discovered the cosmic microwave background radiation. This radiation, which fills the entire Universe, is believed to be a clue to it's beginning, something known as the Big Bang.

I think it just shows that creatures from outer space really enjoy tv dinners and popcorn.

Wonder why it isn't more evenly distributed? Does the distribution correspond to star densities or something like that?

That's a neat picture, but it doesn't convey much information to me. I' like to see it superimposed over a chart of the stars.

If the microwaves are uniformly distributed as a result of the big bang, then the dark areas would probably be areas where the microwaves are absorbed by something, so they don't reach us. It would be interesting to know where those areas are. I guess that must be the "dark matter" you hear about.

Who knows? It's been 18 years since I took astronomy in college.

I was cool with it until they had to start putting their idea about origins in there. Completely guesswork, presented as fact. Even if you believe in the Theory, which is fine, just pay attention and note how many people and articles, tv shows and videos present it like fact. Just pay attention. It's amazing, really.

Cool pic, UT.

Quote:

How old is the universe?

The best available information indicates that the age of the universe is about 13 to 14 billion years. Hubble has helped to measure the age of the universe using two different methods. The first method involves measuring the speeds and distances of galaxies. Because all of the galaxies in the universe are generally moving apart, we infer that they must all have been much closer together sometime in the past. Knowing the current speeds and distances to galaxies allows us to calculate how long it took for them to reach their current locations. The answer is about 14 billion years. The second method involves measuring the ages of the oldest star clusters. Globular star clusters orbiting our Milky Way are the oldest objects we have found and a detailed analysis of the stars they contain tells us that they formed about 13 billion years ago. The good agreement between these two very different methods is an encouraging sign that we are honing in on the universe’s true age.

I'm just glad they totalled 100%. What if all of humanity turns out to be a cosmic rounding error!

Quote:

Originally Posted by OnyxCougar

Onxy, it's presented as fact because it's the best science can muster and therefore is most likely to be true based on rational analysis of the evidence.