Tycho's Supernova
Posted on 08/19/2009 7:20:29 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Scientists have peered further back in time than ever before using instruments designed to search for a phenomenon predicted by Albert Einstein almost a century ago but not yet proven to exist.
An American observatory hunting for ripples in space and time called gravitational waves has produced its most significant results yet, despite not having directly detected any.
Tycho's Supernova
The “non-discovery” offers insights into the state of the Universe just 60 seconds into its existence. Previous research has been unable to look back in time further than about 380,000 years after the big bang.
The new window on the dawn of time has been opened by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), a network of three detectors that have been seeking evidence of gravitational waves since 2005.
These waves, which are believed to stretch and squeeze space and time as they pass, were predicted by Einstein in his theory of relativity. Violent events, such as a supernova explosion or the collision of two black holes, should make the biggest and most detectable waves. While their existence is accepted by astrophysicists, they have never been directly detected. LIGO has not yet found any gravitational waves either, and this has important implications for astrophysics and cosmology.
Certain theoretical models of what happened in the first moments of the cosmos predict that gravitational waves should be visible in LIGO’s data. As none have been detected, the “non-findings” narrow down possible explanations for the growth of the Universe.
The research, which is published in the journal Nature , also offers proof that gravitational-wave observatories will open up new horizons for astronomy, allowing scientists to examine aspects of the cosmos that have previously been hidden from view, such as supernovas and black holes. The first 380,000 years after the big
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Must be how the RATS are justifying health care...
and global warming.
Ok, I am a moron.
How in the hell do they peer back in time???
Totally amazed at our knowledge and abilities. Still no cure for cancer.
See the sun in the sky? You’re seeing it how it was 8 minutes ago. Now extrapolate that out to something like the Hubble, peering into the far reaches of the universe...
THIS could be the forum to discuss the logical proof for God’s existence!
386,000 per/sec.
You are right on. If you reverse the situation, a being on another planet could be pointing one of these at the earth and just now be seeing the time of Christ walking the earth or Moses, or even further back to the birth of Joan Rivers.
386,000 miles/per/sec!!!
When you look at a star in the sky you may be “seeing” what that star looked like millions of years ago if that star happens to be millions of light-years from earth. Similarly, these scientists are “looking” in areas of the sky (the universe) thought to be furthest from earth. Theat’s how they “peer back in time”.
What I’ve always wondered is, if scientists could “peer back in time” to one nanosecond into the existence of the universe and discovered a mirrored surface which was perfectly aligned toward the scientists, what would that mirror be reflecting?
Nope. Approximately 186,000 miles/second in a vacuum.
I’m sorry you are right 186,000 per/sec :(
The big bang idea is bad physics and bad theology rolled into a package.
Aha... Now we can work on star drive technology to surf the grav waves.
Kowabunga dude.
I SEE YOU..
Or about 300,000 kilometers/second.
Or, generally more usefully, about 3X10^8 meters/second. ;-)
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