Astronomy

[David E]

Chong

Infinity is just that...infinite, never ending...period !!

We are finite beings who cannot possibly grasp the idea of infinite. But there cannot be an end to infinity.....

Same as Universe expansion......it expands infinitely...forever

Now I've got a headache thinking about it.

For me personally, I am quite prepared to believe that the molecular make up of ME contains both some of the molecules and energy of my forefathers and others
I believe that I am, in part a recycled model of all those who have gone before me.
I have no exact knowlege as to who they were, nor do I need to know.

I am a child of the Universe...complete unto myself (if you know your Desiderata !!)

For me personally this is a magic and beautiful concept and I guess I could call this my personal religion...but thats another story !!!

[Arnold]

Well , actually the Universe is slowing down in it's expansion .. therefore it will STOP at some point and Gravity from the Core itself will slowly reverse the Course and pull it all back again . This means after some more Billion years it will under this pressure .. explode all over again and expand ones more . Mankind would NOT live through such an Event for sure .
Around and around we go !

Ohhh my Head .

[David E]

Woooo Arnold...now we are stepping deep into Cosmology theory !!!!!!

2 schools of thought prevail........

1) The "big bang" theory, as you say, the Universe begins with a big bang, expands for billions of years, slows eventually, contracts and then does it all again !!!!

2) The Steady State theory, where the Universe begins with a big bang and continues to expand forever, not contracting and eventually all the fires go out, and that is the end of time !!!

Scientists cant agree exactly what is the real answer. The theories break down somewhat because of the calculated known matter in the Universe. There is a critical mass of matter that determins whether case 1) or 2) applies. And so far, they have not identified enough matter to conclusively postulate that 1 or 2 applies.

This now has become a search for the missing matter, the so-called "dark matter" which we cannot see. If it is there, case 1) will apply

If they cant find it, case 2 ) is more likely.

Some theories suggest that this matter may be inside Black Holes (dont go there yet...BIGGER headaches)...some suggest it is a type of matter we dont yet understand and cannot see !!

Either way, the Universe has about 18 billion years left to run...so it wont bother you or me !!!

For me, the biggest mental strain is to try to comprehend the "singularity" where it all began...before the big bang...all the matter in the known universe compressed into one point of infinite smallness and infinite density...................OMG...what was BEFORE the big bang ?...or did time itself start then....yipes !!!!

ps...actually, at this time, the expansion is speeding up !!!! Galaxies at the limit of our resolution seem to be speeding away at close to the speed of light...and what if there are Galaxies speeding away at GREATER than the speed of light...Einstein would have a fit !!!  to go this fast implies an infinite density and an infinite slowing of time...yipes again 

[Arnold]

Time ? Isn't this Man-made ? That there actually is NO time in Space , only Matter and Anti-Matter . I have read this somewhere , then .. why does it take sooo long to get anywhere in the Universe ? Also , they do are finding more and more of this not to be seen " Dark Matter " which is pulling some of those beautiful Spiral Galaxies out of shape . If it's sucked up by Black Holes ( which have Gravity beyond our imaginations ) never to be seen again .. they would not be able to do such pulling on outside Matter as they do . Right ?

[David E]

Yes Arnold, time does exist in space...but not as we are aware of it...minutes and seconds etc, this bit is Man-made.

Time is recently defined as the arrow of evolution, as such it is theorised that this arrow can be in 2 directions, whereas we only percieve time as a one-direction arrow as we live our finite lives...one way !!

Greene postulates that within the Universe, on a quantum scale there are places where time would seem to us to go backwards, where a broken egg would reconstitute itself perfectly...this is quite probable Mathematically (!!!!) At the micro level (quantum) the Universe is seriously chaotic, all things exist as probability waves.,......hence Heinsenberg's Uncertainty Principle..."the very act of observing something, by definition will change it !!!" To go further, there exists at any time an infinite variety of times and things, it is only our observing of them that jumps them into reality.

Look at the Moon, close your eyes...where did the Moon go to Intellectually, you know it is still there, but scientifically, you cannot prove it so. By looking at the Moon, you bring it into existence..............

For further headaches...read about the "Scroedingers Cat Parable "  ...dead, non-dead, alive, non-alive !!!!!!

I think you are probably right about black holes, dark matter and such stuff...but I dont claim to know much about it. Apparently, the Great Attractor which pulls Galaxies into the shapes we observe is all about the sheer amount of matter being held somewhere within the Black Holes that are present at the centre of ALL Galaxies...ours included. Mass/matter thus produces/influences/creates Gravity, which is a very weak force...but there is a lot of it !!

Time in the Universe can only be referenced to the speed of light...not a clock !!! Light being the only vehicle we have of measuring evolution on a Galactic scale. Therefore to say that a Galaxy is 20 light years away, this defines both a time and a distance....we observe this Galaxy as it was 20 years ago !!! What has happened in this 20 years, we cannot see and cannot know...yet !!!

Makes you wonder about the Galaxies that are 1 million light years away.........what happened since ?

[Arnold]

This Stuff really get you jazzed up .

They say , if one Travels faster than Light .. you'll be going actually back in time . Let's say , one Travels with 1 1/2 time the Speed of Light towards a certain Galaxy which has the incoming light towards you at only speed of light . One would now think , you actually fly into the Future again , because when you catch up to this Galaxy it might not exist anymore and not be there at all .. as it's light is from the past . You follow me ?
Now this , going back in time .. can it or will it only be achieved in our own Neighborhood then ?

[David E]

Absolutely right Arnold !!...travel at large percentages of the speed of light is actually travelling back in time !!!

It was measured that the Astronauts, who travelled only at a small fraction of the speed of light were actually a few microseconds younger when they got back to Earth !! (compared to us on the Planet)

What a bummer...to travel so far and so fast back in time, only to find that the destination was not there when you arrived

Only problem with light speed travel is the issue of density...as you get faster, you get heavier.....

New problem...when you arrive , your destination does not exist...but you have put on a few million tonnes of weight !!!!

Headache again !!!!!

[Arnold]

I guess only skinny Guy's/Women will be Traveling at those kind of Speeds ? haha
I know our Body would never take this kind of punishment . We don't even have Metal that would stay together at those Speeds . Oh well back to my Car .

[Rhonald]

Great discourse guys - I have a book with the answers in it, although I am going around updating it - The Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe It's the follow up from the famous first book The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

I should have it done around the same time as my wife's visa arrives.
By the way ..... you earthlings have the subject name incorrect. It's not Astronomy but AskronO my

AND YES..... THE ANSWERS STILL IS 43

[Rhonald]

On a more serious note: The problem of using light as a measuring stick for time is that light is affected by gravity. In particular black holes. Light bends as it passes near which skewers time. So any HEAVY MATTER like MATTERS of the Heart slows down time. So just like the subjective feel of times passing (ie: having a good time which passes quickly) time speeds up and slows down on a universal scale as well. A different twist on the relativity of time.

[Arnold]

And if one Universe wasn't enough .. now they talking about a Parallel Universe too . I think nobody knows what's going on out there .. really ?

Air also bends light ( as Sunset's proof , Sun can be seen below Horizon ) , if we could just bend it a little more Rhonald .. you could see what your Wife is doing .

[David E]

Greens Parallel Universe theory...called "Branes" suggests that there are an infinite number of parallel Universes sitting next to each other as "flat plates"...called Branes !!

Where these Branes sometimes touch...is a logical spot to do a bit of time travel into another Universe.

Hawkins suggests much the same thing with his "string" theory...the ultimate small particle is not a particle but a vibrating string...each string is diferent and vibrates at a different frequency.....hence different strings make up different particles. At the exact moment of the Big Bang, everything was a super hot , super dense mess of strings that eventually coalesced into the particles we know today, then on to hot gas clouds, then onto Galaxies and Planets.

"The Self-aware Universe by Amit Goswami" and "The Wrinkles in Time by George Smoot" explain it all...I can understand about 1 word in 20 !!!!

Also, air dont bend light...its gravity that bends light, that is why we can see the sun after sunset, the Earth's gravity bends the light. Thats why we can never see inside a black hole, the gravity is so strong that it pulls the light into it at more than the speed of light !!!...hence "Black Hole"...no light can get out...its Black, Black, Black.

As they say Rhonald..."How fast time passes when we are having fun" 

At least for you at this time, you wont be ageing...your time must be passing very slowly as you wait for your Wife's visa !!!....maybe you will be a baby again by the time it finally arrives ('scuse my humour, I dont want to have fun at your expense, but I couldnt resist it )

David

ps...I think the answer is not 43...its a Lemon 

[Willy The Londoner]

Question. If you come to the edge of space and you fall off the edge then where do you go to. 

Space frightens me. I need to know that there is a beginning and an end like life.  The galaxy that probaby nothing compared to the mind of a Chinese woman.

Mind you I do have a telescope which my new step son uses nearly every day to look at  the moon!  But why when, i check it out it is always facing the apartment of the pretty teacher on the opposite side of the road!

Willy

[Willy The Londoner]

Ha never thought of that Mike.

 Should have realised that a 21 year old would only be interested in the galaxy in the sky!

Willy

[Arnold]

Vince , if you still looking to buy a Telescope .. here is a address you might want to check out .
www.scientificsonline.com

I receive their Magazine by-monthly and they have all kinds of Scope's .

The Astroboy Computerized Telescope connect's to your CP/Laptop for Photo taking and saving . It's a 70mm Refractor Scope  # X31520-68 at $ 299.95 . It's on page 21 of NEW PRODUCTS

I scanned it , but it's too big for here .