Voyager 1 and 2 still alive!!!! 38,000 mph!

[amazinblue82]

Not Webb-related, but 10 year-old photo I am just catching up with.

It's raining stars! Naw... but what's up with this pic?

source: Cascading Milky Way

Explanation is at the link above. I still am having a little trouble following the explanation in the abstract but its soaking in slowly.

The photo above is a 360 degree panoramic view of the the Milky Way. It's taken at the VLT (Very Large Telescope) in Chile (Atacama Desert).

Many of us, if able to get a clear night sky, without a bunch of "light pollution (e.g., like on a camping trip in a big open space outside a city), can see/have seen the Milky Way overhead (looking edge-on through the galactic plane) cutting a diagonal path across the sky.

It would look more like this below.. it's a cool sight.

The "raining stars" in the VLT photo are just ends of the arc of the Milky Way cuts across the sky.

Other stuff you can see in VLT pic are the Magellanic Cloud (actually a couple of local group galaxies with ours), Carina_Nebula, "Southern Cross" constellation (only visible south of the equator) and Alpha-Beta Centauri (two closest stars AND exoplanets to our Sun).

 

[PeugFra]

This is mind-blowing, colliding neutron stars:

This is the kind of cosmic event that makes the whole time-space fabric of the universe wobble, you and me included.

The complete story to this picture here.

 

[HWYCRZR]

A little older than Voyager, Hubble, or Webb.
How about Gemini? My wife was cleaning out an old family photo album, when she told me to toss the binder it was in. I looked at the binder and saw Gemini in large print. It was a binder for the Maintenance Manual for the Gemini Mission Simulator.
It seems my late father or mother in-law recycled the binder from when they worked at McDonnell in the 60’s.
Kind of cool. Not sure what to do with it though.

 

[amazinblue82]

A little older than Voyager, Hubble, or Webb.
How about Gemini? My wife was cleaning out an old family photo album, when she told me to toss the binder it was in. I looked at the binder and saw Gemini in large print. It was a binder for the Maintenance Manual for the Gemini Mission Simulator.
It seems my late father or mother in-law recycled the binder from when they worked at McDonnell in the 60’s.
Kind of cool. Not sure what to do with it though.
View attachment 546463

thats an original piece.

if youre willing to part with it, you may consider one or two or three phone calls.

1. Smithsonian
2. NASA
3. Boeing (acquired McD 20 years ago.

they may have TONS of them, or just a few ... or be able to tell you who/where would an appropriate archive if any be for it.

if they wanted it theyd expect you to gift it.

or if you wanna keep it as a family heirloom by all means do that.

neat piece any way you look at it

 

[HWYCRZR]

thats an original piece.

if youre willing to part with it, you may consider one or two or three phone calls.

1. Smithsonian
2. NASA
3. Boeing (acquired McD 20 years ago.

they may have TONS of them, or just a few ... or be able to tell you who/where would an appropriate archive if any be for it.

if they wanted it theyd expect you to gift it.

or if you wanna keep it as a family heirloom by all means do that.

neat piece any way you look at it

Too bad it wasn’t the actual Gemini Module service manual binder (if one existed). I would have loved to see the contents of the manual, but I am sure those were well tracked and not allowed to leave the facility. I will have to do some checking around. It is cool, but if it was needed or wanted for a display that would be better.

 

[amazinblue82]

Feel like things are going "a million miles an hour" somedays?

We'll they actually are so to speak... every second of everyday -- ALL of us (even the space Voyager is moving through. away from us, at 38,000 MPH) moving through the Universe.

source: Earth is screaming through space at 1.3 million mph. A simple animation by a former NASA scientist shows what that looks like.

All this movement is going on .. all the time, AT the same time.

Earth is spinning around its axis at about 1,000 MPH (one day: BTW - how come we can't feel that?

Earth is going around the Sun at 66,000 MPH (one year)

The Sun is going around the center of the Milky Way at 514,000 MPH

The Milky Way (relative to the background radiation in the Universe - NOT to other galaxies) is flying around at 1,340,000 MPH (the planets vs the background radiation are "only" going 827,000 MPH)

 

[HWYCRZR]

Feel like things are going "a million miles an hour" somedays?

We'll they actually are so to speak... every second of everyday -- ALL of us (even the space Voyager is moving through. away from us, at 38,000 MPH) moving through the Universe.

source: Earth is screaming through space at 1.3 million mph. A simple animation by a former NASA scientist shows what that looks like.

All this movement is going on .. all the time, AT the same time.

Earth is spinning around its axis at about 1,000 MPH (one day: BTW - how come we can't feel that?

Earth is going around the Sun at 66,000 MPH (one year)

The Sun is going around the center of the Milky Way at 514,000 MPH

The Milky Way (relative to the background radiation in the Universe - NOT to other galaxies) is flying around at 1,340,000 MPH (the planets vs the background radiation are "only" going 827,000 MPH)

And that’s why folks when you have had way to much to drink it feels like you may be flung from the surface of the earth.

 

[HWYCRZR]

I was doing some searching on my Gemini Mission Simulator binder and found some artifacts.
https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/NASATND7112.pdf

Gemini 11 prime and back-up crews at Gemini Mission Simulator at Cape Kennedy - PICRYL Public Domain Image

And a tie into James Webb although he is in the Gemini “spacecraft” simulator

 

[amazinblue82]

JWST doing its thing - in spectacular fashion. The "Cartwheel" galaxy (and a few others photobombing it )

source: Webb Captures Stellar Gymnastics in The Cartwheel Galaxy

"NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has peered into the chaos of the Cartwheel Galaxy, revealing new details about star formation and the galaxy’s central black hole.

Webb’s powerful infrared gaze produced this detailed image of the Cartwheel and two smaller companion galaxies against a backdrop of many other galaxies. This image provides a new view of how the Cartwheel Galaxy has changed over billions of years.

The Cartwheel Galaxy, located about 500 million light-years away in the Sculptor constellation, is a rare sight. Its appearance, much like that of the wheel of a wagon, is the result of an intense event – a high-speed collision between a large spiral galaxy and a smaller galaxy not visible in this image.

Collisions of galactic proportions cause a cascade of different, smaller events between the galaxies involved; the Cartwheel is no exception."

 

[PeugFra]

Remember the first officially released James Webb image that was on display in the White House? It shows a galaxy cluster (SMACS J0723.3−7327) that by way of its mass serves as a lense that magnifies galaxies that lie behind it:

Because of the lensing effect, a background galaxy may show up multiple times in the image.

In the above image, the cyan and green numbers indicate the background galaxies. The cyan ones we knew already to exist before Webb shot this picture, the green ones are new additions we didn't know about before this image was shot.

Galaxy #7, represented by points 7a, 7b and 7c, seems to be the oldest galaxy in the image, estimated to be at least 13 billion years old. That's not that far off from the calculated age of the universe, 13.8 billion years. Waiting for confirmation by follow-up studies.

 

[amazinblue82]

couple more points about why everybody is giddy about JWTS:

Cartwheel by Webb on left, Hubble on the right: (source - The Cartwheel Galaxy)

I put the composite, "side-by-side", together below just trying orient the two photos where there appear to be identifiable (to an amateur) "landmarks" -- forgive any mistakes.

Its obvious Webb, in part because it uses infrared vs. Hubble using visible light (and a bigger mirror than Hubble), can see much MORE detail. Webb sees everything Hubble sees but BETTER, and MORE things Hubble cannot even see.
. What Hubble may see as a "dot", Webb sees as a whole galaxy. Let alone WHOLE galaxies in "black spaces" in Hubble's image where Hubble sees "nothing"
. Infrared wavelengths from stars (center and outer rings - heck all over the "cartwheel") whose visible wavelengths are obscured from Hubble shows lots of stars via Webb -- the formation which is theorized to be accelerated in galactic collisions
. We know the Milky Way appears to have had TWO collisiions already and headed for (a few billion years yet) a THIRD collision with Andromeda galaxy (another local group neighbor)
. All the reddish colors Webb sees all over the place is gas in the galaxy (some from the collision, some that was already there) NOT giving off visible light (so Hubble cannot see it) but is clumped in star-making regions.'
. Gravitational lensing going on? I dunno -- nothing is pointed out in the source material that says elements of either image are duplicates of "lensed" structures

Dissin' Hubble? Heck no -- magnificent device that likely will rate highly 1,000 years from now on the list of best things humans ever made up to that time.

Webb will be on the same list, but it has yet to do all we believe it can do, so we'll see. So far Webb is knockin' it outta the park.

Being able to SEE stuff AND analyze its spectra as a result ... the cosmological crowd can't sleep like kiddies in a fantastical place where every day with new Webb data is "Christmas"

I'm just gonna learn vicariously though them.

 

[amazinblue82]

JWST rather quietly breaking records .. the farthest look back in time. 250 million years after the "big bang", as noted above in post #450

source: The Record for the Farthest Galaxy just got Broken Again, now just 250 million years after the Big Bang

In a recent study submitted to MNRAS, a collaborative research team has utilized the first set of data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) discovering a galaxy candidate, CEERS-93316, that formed approximately 250 million years after the Big Bang, which also set a new redshift record of z = 16.7.

This finding is extremely intriguing as it demonstrates the power of JWST, which only started sending back its first set of data a few weeks ago. CEERS stands for Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey, and was specifically created for imaging with JWST.

“The past few weeks have been surreal, watching all the records that stood for a long time with Hubble be broken by JWST,” says Dr. Rebecca Bowler [CEERs co-author] ... “Finding a z = 16.7 galaxy candidate is an amazing feeling – it wasn’t something we were expecting from the early data.”

For perspective (excluding the cosmic microwave background [CMB] which is a mere 400,000 years after the Big Bang), a redshift "z score" over 10 is calculable but no instrument before JWST could find such a far-away object.

You can nerd out on z scores here if you want: Redshift.

The cosmological set seems to believe Webb will soon find objects with z scores of 20 or more. That would be astrounding....

Geting giddier over here in my seat about Webb bounties to come ..

 

[LocuMob]

I showed this picture to my coworker just before we left work yesterday, he was blown away.

I also showed him the other photos you posted, he loves this stuff. He knew about the possible oldest galaxy, 7a, b and c, he hadn't seen the photos though. We could eat this stuff up all day long, if we had the time.

I usually read the posts here first, then read other news briefs online. Fascinating stuff, for sure.

 

[PeugFra]

This page may help in keeping up-to-date with long-distance objects:

List of the Most Distant Astronomical Objects.

It's easy to get lost these days ...

 

[amazinblue82]

This is a good page to "bookmark" if you want .. it goes to the JWST site of "basic" information on how, why, and what Webb is doing looking at these galaxies..

Early Universe - Webb/NASA

The information at the link above .. now that Webb is actually DOING what it was designed to do ... may be clearer (it was to me anyway) now that we are comparing these first learning from Webb to what we learned before we put it up there..

It talks a lot about about the expectation that Webb would "see" the primordial universe (that period of time between when the Universe cooled off enough to become "transparent" up until the first stars lit up) in infrared. So objects as close to the END of the "Dark Ages" of the Universe as it can.

Webb is not likely to see the "first" stars ... but anything "redshifted" to indicate on object if from 100 million-to 250 million years after the Big Bang (or 13.5+ billion years ago).. that's gonna be huge.

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This old video below (12 years old) is still on the JWST website because its still relevant and NOW is actually happening. Less than 3 minutes long if you wanna take a look.

 

[Turboomni]

Largest land based space telescope in history,,,soon,,it's possibilities are very impressive but how do they get around looking through atmosphere? From NASA​

 

[LocuMob]

Largest land based space telescope in history,,,soon,,it's possibilities are very impressive but how do they get around looking through atmosphere? From NASA​

I just read about that the other day, six of the seven lenses have been cast.

 

[amazinblue82]

We gotta figure the Magellan guys took into account atmospheric limitations of ground-based machines that collect "visible" light and concocted something fancy to deal with it given the price tag (~$1 billion) of this device..

Cloudy out? You ain't gonna see much. Even clear skies, atmosphere will still "distort" visible light.

But dang, this is a big-a** mirror in Magellan. Hubble's mirror is like 8 feet across. Biggest ground- based mirror currently is like 35 feet across. This thing's mirrors are like 90 feet in diameter in total (three mirrors across, each one almost 30 feet in diameter.

Like a bigger bucket collects more water than a smaller bucket (given the same water flow), a bigger mirror collects more light than a smaller one.

For a telescope, it means fainter things appear brighter with a bigger mirror. Stands to reason you can see also more things -- keeping constant the section of sky you are looking at -- with bigger mirrors.

I also know angular resolution is better in bigger mirrors. So you see further-away things because you collect more light, but you also can discern more detail from the stuff you do see.

How they do this? Outta my depth but 500 years of optical science is definitive that mirror-size matters with any telescope.

The video talks about (around 2 minute mark) .. seems like Magellan can "spin" (spatially e-orient) and re-shape (change collecting properties) all/some of its mirrors in real time to compensate as atmospheric effects alter viewing conditions.

Magellan is gonna kick a** too. Exciting times in cosmology -- we are gonna find out some cool new stuff.

 

[LocuMob]

and re-shape (change collecting properties) all/some of its mirrors in real time to compensate as atmospheric affects alter viewing conditions.

Secondary mirrors that help "focus" the light. The 2,000 times a second they mentioned piqued my interest, that's incredible! I can only imagine the computing power involved.

 

[amazinblue82]

guess they couldn't wait until tomorrow. Deepest (furthest back in time we've ever seen) .. over 13 billion years.

Webb astounds! More to come.

Source: James Webb live updates: 1st telescope image shows ‘deepest’ view of universe ever

View attachment 543768

Heard something interesting today (Mike Menzel, systems engineer on JWST) on this particular 'deep field" image from Webb (first pic) vs. the same one (second pic) from Hubble.

Hubble's image was staring at the same spot in the sky for 15 days. Webb's image was staring at same spot for 12 hours?

Significance of that fact?

Webb's bigger mirror and other superior technical capabilities, IF staring at same spot for up to 15 days for example, would collect many, many times more light than Hubble (plus its infrared). That in turn means fainter and/or further away objects Hubble could never see Webb could see.

All that in turn means the promise of Webb -- seeing back to the very FIRST things (galaxies and stars) that lit up after the "Dark Ages" -- is pretty close to a lock. Stated another way, objects with redshifts indicative of ~100M years after the "Big Bang", or 13.6B years ago.

That would be just a stunning achievement.. I believe it will happen.