topic Re: Webb Telescope Images in Community Chat

Webb Telescope Images

On It — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 14:37:30 GMT

As many images are now being released from the Webb telescope, they are breathtakingly beautiful. I cannot grasp the enormity of the universe that we are being shown. Perhaps some of you are astronomers and can appreciate what we are seeing. Nevertheless, it is an awesome sight.

Re: Webb Telescope Images

rms1954 — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 15:01:13 GMT

Re: Webb Telescope Images

vsm — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 00:03:40 GMT

@On It wrote:
As many images are now being released from the Webb telescope, they are breathtakingly beautiful. I cannot grasp the enormity of the universe that we are being shown. Perhaps some of you are astronomers and can appreciate what we are seeing. Nevertheless, it is an awesome sight.

My reacion exactly, @On It . Mind-boggling!!!

Re: Webb Telescope Images

seaBreeze — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 12:12:50 GMT

Astronomers believe there are 2 trillion galaxies. Our Milky Way is considered small...and we are on the outer spiral of ours. Just look at that pix poster RMS1954 posted .... we are only a spec on a spec of dust.

Our nearest galaxy Andromeda is 2,538,000 light years away. Both galaxies are 'flying' toward ea. other so will eventually enterwine stars and planets in 4 billion years. We will all be gone by then! My mind cannot comprehend all of this.

Re: Webb Telescope Images

candys mine — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 12:52:21 GMT

Mind boggling and humbling.

Take a good long look at that deep range photo and understand that is is just a snapshot of one view. It's like that EVERYWHERE you look in the night sky. Above us, below us (or if you are in Antarctica above you ) That many stars and galaxies all around!

I'm so curious about the propulsion of that telescope. It's parked a MILLION MILES AWAY. and it got there in just a few months. How fast was it Going? How did they slow it down?

The age of space-travel is upon us. anyone for low orbit habitation?

It's an achievement.

Re: Webb Telescope Images

CatsyCline — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 13:50:26 GMT

No. Words.

Re: Webb Telescope Images

wagirl — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 14:02:50 GMT

Just amazing!! I can't wrap my brain around it all, it is so astounding that we can see these things.

Re: Webb Telescope Images

JamandBread — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 14:13:32 GMT

I read that the pics we have seen represent an area of space about the size of a grain of sand. It is amazing to see so many stars and galaxies in one tiny sliver of space. Imagine the infinite amount of planets, stars and galaxies when scaled up to represent the real vastness of space? And what that means for the possibilities of other life elsewhere? Mind boggling.

Re: Webb Telescope Images

Tinkrbl44 — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 07:48:14 GMT

Wow. Thanks for the photos.

Re: Webb Telescope Images

gidgetgh — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 18:29:10 GMT

New postage stamp being released Sept. 8th.

Re: Webb Telescope Images

PuppyLoverBob666 — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 02:53:51 GMT

@seaBreeze wrote:
Astronomers believe there are 2 trillion galaxies. Our Milky Way is considered small...and we are on the outer spiral of ours. Just look at that pix poster RMS1954 posted .... we are only a spec on a spec of dust.

Our nearest galaxy Andromeda is 2,538,000 light years away. Both galaxies are 'flying' toward ea. other so will eventually enterwine stars and planets in 4 billion years. We will all be gone by then! My mind cannot comprehend all of this.

Sounds like you comprehend it pretty well!

Re: Webb Telescope Images

gardenman — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 13:41:29 GMT

Some physicists believe our universe, as vast as it is, is part of a multiverse where there is an endless expanse of universes out there. They believe there are vast spaces between universes, much as there are often vast spaces between galaxies. The distance between universes is so large that they're largely invisible to one another but an endless series of universes are out there, each with an astounding number of galaxies, that each hold an astounding number of stars.

I have a sci-fi story that I've played with for a while where humans venture into that void space between multiverses and then watch as our universe fades out and is reborn, then resettle it. Then they reunite (kind of a cosmic family reunion) in that void space every few billion years as the old universe fades out and a new one is reborn. With each reunion, they see the results of evolution as some settled on planets with heavier gravity and others on planets with less gravity. Some had more UV exposure than others. Differences in humanity over that timescale could be vast despite starting from the same starting point.

Re: Webb Telescope Images

PuppyLoverBob666 — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 19:02:29 GMT

that sounds really intriguing. If you're writing a book based on this idea, I'd really like to read it and so would my DH who's really into science of all kinds.

Re: Webb Telescope Images

Desert Lily — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 19:35:20 GMT

One theory that was held by Einstein is the possibility of Parallel Universes. It's also been theorized that there are many more dimensions than the 3 spacial ones of depth, width, & length, and the 1 of time dimension, making us unable to see other universes. Ed Witten of Princeton Univ. developed the M Theory in which he theorized that there were multiple universes. The M Theory brought together individual string theories into one. Later, Quantum physics became more accepted. The Large Hadron Collider experiments at CERN exposed the Higgs Boson which is associated with the Higgs field that gives mass to other fundamental particles and could be related to the Big Bang.

CERN restarted a couple weeks ago, and work is beginning on an even larger collider.

I don't think that there's any such thing as nothing. If the Big Bang was the result of an explosion of high density mass to create our universe, then there must have been mass to start with to cause the explosion.

I think the Webb pictures are awesome views into our universe and hopefully we'll learn a great deal.

Re: Webb Telescope Images

gardenman — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 13:17:45 GMT

@Desert Lily wrote:
One theory that was held by Einstein is the possibility of Parallel Universes. It's also been theorized that there are many more dimensions than the 3 spacial ones of depth, width, & length, and the 1 of time dimension, making us unable to see other universes. Ed Witten of Princeton Univ. developed the M Theory in which he theorized that there were multiple universes. The M Theory brought together individual string theories into one. Later, Quantum physics became more accepted. The Large Hadron Collider experiments at CERN exposed the Higgs Boson which is associated with the Higgs field that gives mass to other fundamental particles and could be related to the Big Bang.
CERN restarted a couple weeks ago, and work is beginning on an even larger collider.

I don't think that there's any such thing as nothing. If the Big Bang was the result of an explosion of high density mass to create our universe, then there must have been mass to start with to cause the explosion.

I think the Webb pictures are awesome views into our universe and hopefully we'll learn a great deal.

In Carl Sagan's book "Cosmos" he talked of everything in the universe eventually undergoing atomic decay and the universe becoming nothing but iron as iron is the most stable element. We tend to think of "radioactive" elements being the things that decay quickly, but every element decays over time. For most things, it just takes so long that we tend to ignore their radioactive decay

We make nuclear bombs by putting a critical mass of matter (typically plutonium) together in a very short period of time in a very compressed space. I have a suspicion that the Big Bang is caused by iron reaching a critical mass in a super dense black hole.

The Earth's core is molten iron that behaves as a solid due to the gravity it's under. There's a lot of iron out there in the universe and if everything eventually becomes iron and black holes eat other black holes until there's only one super-massive black hole left, then all of that iron is squeezed into an impossibly small space and should reach a critical mass. When it reaches critical mass, you get the Big Bang. The uneven distribution of matter in the universe could imply that there's a surplus of iron/stuff and that some is still racing towards the super-massive blackhole when the critical mass is reached and the outflowing matter from the Big Bang interacts with that still incoming matter to alter the expected uniform distribution of matter in the universe, creating the galaxies and planets we know exist.

This birth and death cycling of the universe is the basis for that sci-fi story idea. (Which could end up being a Vella weekly story on Amazon with a new chapter released each week. The story is a huge undertaking.) Every element is "radioactive" to some extent and has a critical mass. It's just that for most materials the critical mass is so large as to be impossible to achieve. Unless you plop it into the center of a super-massive black hole. Would the iron be torn apart in a super-massive black hole? Or would it stay as iron? It's a fun concept to think about and play with. It could explain a lot about the creation of the universe and where its future lies.

Even if the expansion of the universe continues and there are multiverses out there, a new universe could arise as the material flowing out from other universes could eventually merge in a super-massive black hole and reach criticality. A reborn universe wouldn't have to happen in the same neighborhood as the old one. They could just pop up wherever the needed density of iron was achieved. It's interesting stuff to try and wrap your mind around.

Intelligent life capable of space travel could linger in the void waiting for the next universe to pop up and then head that way. By the time they arrived, planets would have formed, and things would be stabilizing. They settle there until that universe is nearing its end then off into the void once more to wait for a new universe to be born. (Or perhaps head to a nearby already formed one in the multiverse.)

An advanced race that had survived multiple rebirths of various universes could be vast in number and resettle multiple galaxies within each new universe. And then all of them head back out into the void and resettle still more new galaxies in the next rebirth. It's a story with no end which is part of the problem with writing it. The timeline and vastness is limitless. As are the story possibilities. Is a new species (humans for example) that enters the void welcomed by those already there? Are they segregated by how many cycles they've survived? Which species has witnessed the most cycles? It's a neat concept. It might be best for a younger writer though. I'm not sure I have the years left to tell the story as I envision it.

Re: Webb Telescope Images

Desert Lily — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 15:52:25 GMT

@gardenman I've read Brian Greene's books: The Elegant Universe, The Fabric of the Cosmos, The Hidden Reality, and Until the End of Time. I've also read books by Steven Hawking and others. I first noticed Witten on the news in 2000 winning an award, and Greene had PBS documentaries. Greene has also been a professor at Columbia University.

The books & PBS peaked an interest for me, but much more so for my child. My child has a doctorate in particle physics (and a Bachelor's in Math & Physics) and went to ivy league universities for those degrees. My child had internships at Fermilab, Stony Brook, Los Alamos, and more before finishing the doctorate and starting a career. My child is far, far more informed on these matters than I am.

My hobby is writing fiction, but not sci-fi. Novels I write are usually set in the 1920's - 1950's, and there's often some quirkiness to them. Are you a fan of Ray Bradbury?

Re: Webb Telescope Images

gardenman — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 16:58:04 GMT

@Desert Lily

I've read a little of Bradbury in the past, but I don't read a lot of sci-fi these days. I tend to write whatever story comes to me. Right now I'm writing a short story tentatively titled "The Programmer" about a young woman obsessed with computers who discovered a form of computer code hidden in the cosmic background radiation. It's more or less the operating system for the universe and gives her god-like powers. (Think 'The Matrix' but without the aliens.) By tweaking the code she can move things instantly, change their characteristics, and basically upend all of the laws of physics. She has fun with the folks at JPL by writing in the sand on Mars where the Perseverance rover can see it. The tabloids label her "The Sand Monster." Her older neighbor has a crush on an actor, so she brings him to meet her while he's taking a bathroom break from filming. Much to his confusion. She understands and fears the power she has and respects it, but the powers-that-be want it for themselves. It's a fun little story to write. I pretty much know where it's going and should finish it before too long.

It's funny that these days stories from the 1920's to 1950's qualify in some eyes as historical fiction. It's an interesting time period to write about.

Re: Webb Telescope Images

Desert Lily — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 17:13:08 GMT

@gardenman I don't think I could write sci-fi because I'd be looking for facts/info we don't have yet...I'm probably too logical Lol. I don't post my novel or story titles on the Q's website, and I write 325-500 pages each under a pen name that I don't share here either. My imagination takes me back almost a century in my novels. And I can't write a short story because that imagination also takes me to many expanded plots and characters...maybe not unlike an expanding universe LOL.