New Advances in Seeing Deep Space May 1, 2009

According to Reuters, a new fiber-optic system will create a network linking seven astronomical observation locations in England, enabling astronomers to see deep into space.  The new system will allow us to see farther than we’ve ever seen before and will be much more efficient.  We’ll be able to look into deep space to see what happened billions of years ago.  One person familiar with the new network said that the system will enable astronomers to collect in one day the data that traditionally takes three years to collect.   You can watch a short video about this new network here.

 

 

Gamma Ray Explosion

In other deep space news, NASA’s Swift satellite recorded the oldest gamma ray explosion that we’ve ever seen.  The explosion occurred more than 13 billion years ago, when the universe was relatively quite young.  As Natalie Angier related in her wonderful book The Canon, it is from giant stars like the one that created this gamma ray burst that the universe gets much of its heavier elements.  It’s awe inspiring to think that the elements that we have on Earth today were made from these giant stars.  It’s also quite impressive to consider the immensity of the universe, as evidenced by this gamma ray burst:  the light from this gamma ray burst has been traveling at 186,000 miles per second for more than 13 billion years to reach us.

Earth Hour 2009 March 28, 2009

Don’t forget to turn out your lights tonight at 8:30 P.M. wherever you live to participate in Earth Hour 2009.  And while you’re making a statement about the importance of conserving energy and protecting against global warming, grab your telescope or binoculars and do a little sky gazing.

And if you want to contribute to the Earth Hour event, you can upload photos and videos to share with others.  Visit earthhour.org to find out how.

Experiencing the Night Sky March 11, 2009

 

The Milky Way as seen from Arizona

 

 

 

The New York Times recently ran an article about projects in New York City designed to heighten people’s awareness and appreciation of the night sky.  The night sky seems like something that we are all pretty familiar with.  But, unfortunately, as we become an increasingly urbanized society, we grow far too removed from the wonder of the sky after dark.  Just look at the religions of old—Mayan, Pagan, Egyptian, etc—and it is obvious that the night sky held a far more important position in life than in current times. 

Unfortunately, most urban skies are whitewashed by light pollution, leaving us able to see only a few very bright stars, an occasional planet, and of course the moon.  What we don’t see is arguably the most spectacular sight from Earth:  the Milky Way.  If you’ve ever been away from urban areas on a clear night, you will remember seeing the Milky Way.  Last year I traveled with my family to Lake Powell in the southwest United States.  At night, in the middle of the desert, the stars were breathtaking and the Milky Way dominated the sky. 

 

According to Carl Sagan, for most of humanity’s existence on this planet the Milky Way was a common sight.  Before urbanization, the earth was so dark at night that even in a moonless sky one could see one’s shadow cast by the light from the Milky Way.  As we grow more populous and use more and more exterior lighting, we are really depriving ourselves of a connection with the starry universe.  In a telling sign of just how far removed we have become from the night sky, in 1994, after the Northridge earthquake shut down the power to Los Angeles, the 911 centers received numerous calls from people concerned about a “giant silvery cloud” in the sky.  That “cloud” of course was the Milky Way.  

 

So, if you want to get back in touch with your universe, here are some things to consider:

Participate in Earth Hour on March 28, 2009 by turning out your lights for one hour and gazing at the stars; 

Support a dark sky organization, like the International Dark-Sky Association, the Dark Sky Society, or any number of local dark sky groups;

Choose exterior illumination options that reduce light pollution; 

Visit your local observatory (in the San Francisco Bay Area, visit the Chabot Space and Science Center). 

The Pale Blue Dot—Look Around, We Have This September 1, 2008

I recently read Contact by Carl Sagan, which was immensely better than the movie. The book explored the concept of faith and belief versus that of scientific inquiry, and the limitations of both. It also juxtaposed the oftentimes sterile scientific search for truth with the richness and deep complexity of the human species (and the planet Earth).

After reading Contact, I wanted to learn more about Sagan. I’m obviously late to this game, but I came across a portion of a commencement address given by Sagan in 1996, in which he described his thoughts after seeing the famous Voyager image of Earth (the “pale blue dot”) from approximately 4 billion miles away.

Here is what Sagan had to say: “Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every ‘superstar,’ every ‘supreme leader’, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”

It Came from Across the Universe March 28, 2008

On March 19, those lucky enough to have been awake and aware were treated to something not likely to occur again soon.  For about one hour, a gamma ray explosion could be seen with the naked eye.  What is incredibly impressive about this particular explosion was its distance from Earth.  The explosion occurred about 7 billion years ago, when the universe was only half as old as it is now.  From the time of the explosion, the light has been traveling at 186,000 miles per second to finally reach Earth 7 billion years later.  Quite impressive.