esiegel | August 27, 2010"The most incomprehensible thing about the Universe is that it is comprehensible." -Albert Einstein
The observable Universe is huge. Incredibly, mind-bogglingly huge. When we look out, in any direction, we see galaxies upon galaxies upon galaxies, stretching for billions and billion of light years.
This one picture, taken of a region of sky just one-tenth the size of the Moon, contains more than 10,000 unique galaxies. And there are maybe close to a hundred billion galaxies similar to ours in the Universe; each one contains billions and billions of stars and planets, along with huge molecular…
esiegel | August 26, 2010"You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is for people with jobs. You'll never remember class time, but you'll remember time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So, stay out late. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you have a paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don't have. Drink 'til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does..." -Tom Petty
With Labor Day just around the corner in the US and summer winding down, it's nearly time for the school year to start up again.
Only this time, I get to advise the incoming Freshmen. Of course, the most important part…
esiegel | August 25, 2010"The only problem with the speed of light, is it gets here too early in the morning." -Danny Nevrath
One of the most common questions I get asked is whether gravity is instantaneous, or whether there's a speed limit to how fast the force of gravity can travel.
It's a good question! After all, we know how fast light travels, and if the Sun were to suddenly wink out of existence, we'd still receive light from it for just over 8 minutes after it disappeared! But what about gravity, and the Earth's orbit? Would the Earth simply fly off in a straight line, like a twirled poi ball the instant a…
esiegel | August 21, 2010"There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen, and there are people who wonder what happened. To be successful, you need to be a person who makes things happen."
-James Lovell, Astronaut: Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8, and Apollo 13
A few weeks ago you had your chance to ask a commercial astronaut anything, and you gave some great responses! We selected the five best questions to ask the first group of commercial astronauts, including my favorite: the question of whether they'd be willing to go on a trip to Mars, even if it were doomed to be one-way.
Well…
esiegel | August 19, 2010"Either you repeat the same conventional doctrines everybody is saying, or else you say something true, and it will sound like it's from Neptune."
-Noam Chomsky
You might remember when the Solar System had nine planets, but as unbelievable as it sounds, for a very long time we only had six.
Why? Because only the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are visible from Earth with the naked eye. Even though the telescope was invented in the early 1600s,
it wasn't until 1781 that a planet out beyond Saturn was found! When William Herschel finally discovered Uranus, it was absolutely…
esiegel | August 17, 2010Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen. -Baz Luhrmann
Our Sun gives us practically all of the light and energy our planet receives, and it does it, at its core, by fusing light elements into heavier ones.
And even though this nuclear fushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_rayion releases a tremendous amount of very high energy photons (known as gamma…
esiegel | August 15, 2010"For human love--the beings that change or die;
Die--change--forget: to care so is a curse,
Yet cursed we'll be rather than not care thus." -Mathilde Blind
Every once in a while, a new artist comes along that surprises me in some fashion, and with Joe Firstman, it's his sincerity and earnestness. Have a listen to this one:
Saving All The LoveIt's the hottest year on record, so get out there with the people special to you and find a way to make this day awesome if you can! Where will I be?
It's often amazing what you can find just a few miles away, even if you live in a major city. Enjoy your…
esiegel | August 13, 2010"A house is never still in darkness to those who listen intently; there is a whispering in distant chambers, an unearthly hand presses the snib of the window, the latch rises. Ghosts were created when the first man awoke in the night." -J. M. Barrie
But off in space, a whopping 320 million light years away, lies the great Coma Cluster, the closest huge cluster of galaxies to us.
Whereas our local group just has two large galaxies in it (our Milky Way and Andromeda), the Coma Cluster has over 1,000. In fact, the two large galaxies at the center of the Coma Cluster are each over one hundred…
esiegel | August 11, 2010"Men of genius are often dull and inert in society; as the blazing meteor, when it descends to earth, is only a stone." -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Once a year, in mid-August, the Perseid Meteor Shower comes to town. If you're going to see just one meteor shower a year, make it this one.
Image credit: Tom King.
Some years, there's a bright Moon in the night sky to contend with, like there was last year. But this year, we're all in luck. The Moon is as close to new as we could hope for; just a tiny sliver of a crescent, which will set before the night sky even achieves total darkness.
Image…
esiegel | August 9, 2010"The most common of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind." -H. L. Mencken
If you went back 100 years in time, you could rightfully claim that, scientifically, we had no convincing evidence as to where our Universe came from. After all, when we looked up at the night sky and saw the Milky Way, we thought that was pretty much the full extent of the Universe.
Thankfully, times have changed, and the scientific discoveries coupled with the theoretical advances we've made have given us a consistent, accurate picture of a Universe…
esiegel | August 8, 2010"No matter how hard you work to bring yourself up, there's someone out there working just as hard, to put you down." -Dr. Dre
I always admire people who can both find success in life while staying true to who they are. And Dr. Dre is someone who, in my opinion, has managed to do just that. He's found success as a rapper, producer, and a philanthropist. I had figured I'd always know him best for his debut solo album, The Chronic. Have a listen to my favorite song off that album:
Nuthin' But A G ThangBut something new has happened this week, which sheds new light on Dre. (In a very awesome way…
esiegel | August 6, 2010"Anyone who sits on top of the largest hydrogen-oxygen fueled system in the world; knowing they're going to light the bottom--and doesn't get a little worried--does not fully understand the situation."
-John Young, after being asked if he was worried about making the first Space Shuttle flight (STS-1).
It may be hard to believe, but the United States has been flying Space Shuttles since 1981: for 29 years. But what does it take to get a shuttle ready for launch?
In real life, the Space Shuttles come down from a mission and get towed around the campus at Kennedy Space Center. Where do you…
esiegel | August 4, 2010Homer: Hello, is this NASA?
Scientist: Yes?
Homer: Good! Listen, I'm sick of your boring space launches. Now I'm just an ordinary, blue-collar slob, but I know what I likes on TV.
Scientist: How did you get this number?
Homer: Shut up! And another thing, how come I can't get no Tang 'round here?
-The Simpsons, Episode Deep Space Homer
Last week, I told you that Starts With A Bang has been put into the lucky position to ask the first group of private/commercial astronauts anything! And the response I got was absolutely wonderful!
I think this is a big deal, because NASA isn't going to be the…
esiegel | August 4, 2010Skinner: Well, that was wonderful. A good time was had by all. I'm pooped.
Chalmers: Yes, I should be goooo-(notices kitchen on fire)-od lord, what is happening in there?
Skinner: Aurora Borealis?
Chalmers: Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?
Skinner: Yes.
Chalmers: May I see it?
Skinner: No.
Agnes: Seymour, the house is on fire!
Skinner: No, Mother, it's just the Northern Lights.
-The Simpsons, episode 22 Short Films about Springfield
Something rare and exciting happened just three days ago in our…
esiegel | August 2, 2010"The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is untrue." -Antisthenes
As many of you know, in addition to news about cosmology, space, astronomy, and physics, I'm also heavily involved in education. This includes, in various stages, teaching, curriculum design, and mentoring students. But I got the following message from Rita from the UK last week -- who's about to start her A-levels -- and I felt slightly ashamed. (Message edited slightly for clarity.)
I am interested in space, though currently my interest in it is not very specific. I am interested in the…
esiegel | July 30, 2010"We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth." -Astronaut Bill Anders, Pilot, Apollo 8
Humanity's ventures to the Moon have always been symbolic of the greatest things our species has ever achieved. In fact, Bill Anders, quoted above, is also famous for taking the first-ever picture of the Earth from orbit around the Moon!
Of course, most of us are more familiar with the Moon as seen from Earth. So for you to listen to, here's a bluegrass classic -- The Lonesome Moonlight Waltz -- as performed by the Bluegrass Album Band.
Lonesome…
esiegel | July 30, 2010"I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night." -Galileo
There should be a big vote going on today about the future of spaceflight in America. Obama has outlined his new space policy, and has called for the commercial sector to step up and get involved in spaceflight, particularly in low-orbit, satellite, and space launch technologies.
This is going to be a hard sell to a lot of politicians, of course, who will stand to lose many government jobs as programs like Constellation and the Space Shuttle go away.
But the payoff is potentially huge, as private industry looks very…
esiegel | July 28, 2010"Don't blame yourself. The apocalypse wasn't your fault. Actually, it was just as much your fault as it was anyone else's. Come to think of it, if you're an American, it was probably about 80-90 percent more your fault than the average human. But don't let that get you down. It wasn't exclusively your fault. Unless you're the president. Then it might be your fault. But you'll have plenty of interns to tell you that it wasn't, so you'll be fine." -Meghann Marco
Nothing gets a scientist in the press quite like telling everyone that we're all gonna die. Remember when there was talk of creating…
esiegel | July 28, 2010"`It's quite hard to destroy the Earth.'
Does that statement make anyone else nervous? I mean, does that sound like experience talking?"
-from the comments on the LHC at slashdot
Last week, I started an open thread, giving you the chance to ask about how certain we were about the validity of certain physical theories. (The thread is still open, FYI.) Here's the ranking scale I'm using, along with a few examples of where certain ideas currently fall.
And some of the most intriguing questions that came up were about the Higgs: what is it, how does it give mass to things, and is it even a…
esiegel | July 24, 2010
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." -Albert Einstein
Every weekend, I try to add a little something that's a little more than the science, astronomy, and physics I talk about during the week. Well, this weekend, I'm keeping it simple. Listen to Safety Joe by John Prine, and really listen to the lyrics.
Safety Joe
I know too many people like this, and there hasn't been a song that's made me this sad in a long time. So get out there and live this weekend, whatever that means for you.
Live.
Go…