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Astronomy Picture of the Day 2-12-03
NASA ^ | 2-12-03 | Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell

Posted on 02/11/2003 9:43:32 PM PST by petuniasevan

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2003 February 12
See Explanation.  Clicking on the picture will download
 the highest resolution version available.

WMAP Resolves the Universe
Credit: WMAP Science Team, NASA

Explanation: Analyses of a new high-resolution map of microwave light emitted only 380,000 years after the Big Bang appear to define our universe more precisely than ever before. The eagerly awaited results from the orbiting Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe resolve several long-standing disagreements in cosmology rooted in less precise data. Specifically, present analyses of above WMAP all-sky image indicate that the universe is 13.7 billion years old (accurate to 1 percent), composed of 73 percent dark energy, 23 percent cold dark matter, and only 4 percent atoms, is currently expanding at the rate of 71 km/sec/Mpc (accurate to 5 percent), underwent episodes of rapid expansion called inflation, and will expand forever. Astronomers will likely research the foundations and implications of these results for years to come.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: astronomy; atoms; bigbang; dark; energy; image; matter; microwave; orbiter; probe; sky; space; time; universe
These results will please the "open universe" cosmologists.

(Universe expansion rate) "71 km/sec/Mpc": 71 kilometers per second per Megaparsec. Mega means million; parsec is a unit of distance equal to about 3.26 light-years.

Does anyone you know live in a foreign country? Maybe they would like to see the APOD in their own language! Here are some APOD mirror links for various countries/languages!

APOD now available in Portuguese from Brazil.

APOD now also available from Japan in Japanese.

APOD now also available from Czech Republic in Czech.

APOD version (not always exact) from Chile in Spanish

Even from France in French

From Barcelona Spain in Catalan!

1 posted on 02/11/2003 9:43:32 PM PST by petuniasevan
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To: MozartLover; Joan912; NovemberCharlie; snowfox; Dawgsquat; viligantcitizen; theDentist; ...

2 posted on 02/11/2003 9:44:39 PM PST by petuniasevan (Wonders of the Universe)
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To: petuniasevan
All that space...
3 posted on 02/11/2003 9:46:04 PM PST by new cruelty
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To: petuniasevan
Intrestingly enough, there was another thread on this subject just today.
4 posted on 02/11/2003 10:46:40 PM PST by WSGilcrest (R)
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To: WSGilcrest
How can it expand FOREVER??? Seems impossible...I always thought deep down that this little 14 billion year old universe was just one of trillions of phases that came before...expansions and contractions...an infinity of rebirths...How can we be certain that the expansion will last forever?
5 posted on 02/11/2003 11:21:47 PM PST by Capitalism2003
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To: All
I found this on the web; thought everyone would enjoy it, especially telescope owners or wannabes!

Product Review by Filippo Salviati J

The Trashmeadtron 115mm f/10 Deep Sky computer controlled telescope has become a minor sensation overnight. Handcrafted in Botswana by Southern Africa's most distinguished optical house. Containing flawless soda ash glass, seasoned cellulose fiber tubing and recycled AK47 cartridge cases, this telescope has entered the computer age. The four-element, semi-fraunhofer / apochromat mates flawlessly with the full range of ten simplified Huygens eyepieces, the 2mm version giving a dramatic 2,300 times magnification, with the field wide enough to show the whole of Callisto, while the mega wide-field 40mm at 28 times magnification, fully displays half of Mare Crisium.

The specifications of the Computer drive are still a trade secret, assisted by the fact that the operating manual is written in medieval Swahili, but pointing the Trashmeadtron in the general direction of any star using the 5 x 5 finder, will result in a star (though usually not the one in the finder) making its way into the field of view of the eyepiece, providing of course that the eyepiece doesn't fall out of the focuser during this process.

Want to see color in the Orion Nebula, Andromeda Galaxy, Sirius, and The Moon ? The Trashmeadtron will astound you with its range of colors, which no other telescope comes close to displaying, especially with the shorter focal length eyepieces.

With a suggested retail price of only $995.99, (street price of $10) these scopes are selling fast. Unconditionally guaranteed for the life of any good alkaline battery, this is a great scope for the unwitting amateur astronomer or anyone who has daydreamed of owning that beautiful telescope that stood before him or her at their local WAL-MART store.

6 posted on 02/11/2003 11:28:08 PM PST by petuniasevan (Wonders of the Universe)
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To: petuniasevan
Can one of you astronomy pros answer this guy's question? Posted yesterday.

::
The Hubble space telescope found distance Galaxies 13 Billion light years away (maybe some further that I haven't heard about).Since the universe started at the big bang and the universe is expanding even if we assume those Galaxies are moving away from us at the speed of light (Yes I know they can't but assume they can for a second)it would take them 13 Billion light years to get that far away and another 13 Billion for the light to come back to us. So the universe would have to be at the very least 26 Billion (13 billion +13 billion) years old for all of this to happen. If those Galaxies are moving away at 0.5C it would take them 26 billion years to get 13 Billion light years away and another 13 billion years for the light to come back so the universe with have to be at least 39 billion years. If they are moving away much slower and you throw in relativity and the age of the universe is much larger.


I'm confused...my brain is melting!!! aaaaah!
7 posted on 02/11/2003 11:37:57 PM PST by Capitalism2003
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To: petuniasevan
More APOD foreign-language mirror site links:

Taiwan APOD mirror

Bulgaria APOD mirror

Israel APOD mirror site

The Bulgarian and Israeli links still have the Columbia crew page up.

8 posted on 02/11/2003 11:58:34 PM PST by petuniasevan (Wonders of the Universe)
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To: Capitalism2003
Ah. I think I see the problem here.

First of all, the galaxies in question are not really moving THROUGH space; space ITSELF is expanding. Think of a loaf of raisin bread rising and baking. The raisins (galaxies) are carried along as the loaf (space) expands.

There is NO relativity limit on the expansion of spacetime.

When you look OUT in space you look BACK in time. You see those galaxies as they were THEN, not now.

Two well-educated professionals who can help with such questions are RadioAstronomer and Physicist.


I'll let you ping them up if you are interested.

9 posted on 02/12/2003 12:24:38 AM PST by petuniasevan (Wonders of the Universe)
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To: petuniasevan
*sigh* i will never understand this (and I went to school for physics!)

Why is it they can say they are looking specifically at that time period? when you point a telescope at the sky you are getting light that is reaching us here and now, I am OK with that so far.

But when they start saying that a particular image is 14 million or 2 grillion years old, i get lost.

and what about that mysterious 'blue shift' I have been hearing about lately?

(hee hee hee, just kidding)
10 posted on 02/12/2003 10:11:19 AM PST by Mr. K (all your (OPTIONAL TAG LINE) are belong to us)
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To: petuniasevan
I think I kinda sorta maybe halfway understand it now...thanks ;)
11 posted on 02/12/2003 1:05:56 PM PST by Capitalism2003
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