Cosmogony

As mainstream cosmologists prepare to witness the universe shortly after its birth – when, presumable, its form was markedly different from what we have seen so far in deep space – one wonders if the giant will prove to be immortal after all. Of course, the deeper one peers into a mist the more deceiving what’s seen can be.

Perhaps it is or must be so
As theory states, although, let go
All’s relative when knowledge leads
Consensus forms what science needs

Hubble, bubble, Hoyle and trouble
Steady State no Big Bang double
Eyes that search into the past
Could soon reveal the truth at last

How distant are those objects strange
That taunt us with their wild exchange
And test the limits of our dreams
Or nightmares as it often seems?

Redshift, are you space-time’s motion
Waves on an expanding ocean
Or intrinsic to the source
Which might involve some unknown force?

Is information on its way
That could change our night into day
Release us from Thought’s aged grip
And send it on a one-way trip?

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The joining

Image credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

I wanted to share with you this wonderful Hubble Telescope image of two interacting galaxies catalogued as Arp 273, UGC 1810
Further details can be found here on the Hubble site.
Regards,
Jan

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Stellar Nursery

Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Livio and the Hubble 20th Anniversary Team (STScI)

A spellbinding image from Hubble of a star forming region of the Carina Nebula. Jets of gas at top and center are the signposts of newly born stars. More information can be found on the site

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Mother of stars

Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team

Official comment: An eerie pillar of star birth in the Carina Nebula rises from a sea of greenish-colored clouds. More can be viewed here

From Jan: The Hubble Telescope shows us an object containing stars, gas and dust in which new stars are being born. How we do not yet know for sure although theories abound.

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Purple Rain

A recent discovery has surprised many scientists and quite a few intelligent laymen. Yes, the further away some galaxies appear to be the nearer they may really be.
The popular idea is that space is expanding because distant objects appear to be moving ever faster away from us with increasing distance, according to the Hubble Law based on Doppler red-shift measurements of their electromagnetic spectra. The wavelength of light from an object is shifted towards the red end or the blue end of the spectrum according to whether it is moving away or towards an observer. The latter effect is termed blue-shift.
The red-shifted galaxies we see in space are really snapshots taken at that moment in time when the light rays we are now receiving left them long ago. Where these galaxies are now is of course unknown but it appears, according to new research, that some may be speeding back towards us.
As reported by a Dr. Grabbler of the French University of Strange Studies (FUSS) in a recent article (soon to be published in Galaxy Review), while studying photos of the Digital Sky Survey (DSS), he and his team have found a blue-shifted galaxy that appears to be the same as a red-shifted one. They have temporarily named it Odd1. It would seem that Odd1 has at some time moved in a curved path which eventually directed it back towards the Earth. The astonishing conclusion is that the same galaxy can appear to be in two places at once!
After five years of observation they have further determined that the outer arms of Odd1 have increased in size at such a rate as to indicate that it is moving towards us at approximately sixty times the speed of light. Of course, as Einstein proved and nearly everyone accepts, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light (c), so another reason must be found for the galaxy’s apparent greater than light (superluminal) speed.
A student of Grabbler, who wishes to remain anonymous for the time being, has suggested that photons themselves could speed up if their entangled twins send information that is impossible for the photon in question to understand. It can then acquire a quantum state which he calls “agitated”. According to the calculations of this student, who Grabbler says is a genius, in this state the photon’s mass becomes increasingly negative which would allow its speed of propagation to exceed c. If light leaving Odd1 is “agitated” enough then it could be travelling faster than c even though the galaxy itself is moving at a speed far less (subluminal) than c.
If these ideas are correct, they would produce mixed blessings for the accepted theories of relativity.
Grabbler says that research is continuing and that they are extending their search for other “blue” galaxies in an effort to find more examples of this type of motion.

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Galactic merging

 

Object Names: Hickson Compact Group 90, HCG 90, M59

Credit: NASA, ESA, and R. Sharples (University of Durham)

From the Hubble Site here I quote:

“The three galaxies—NGC 7173 (middle left), NGC 7174 (middle right), and NGC 7176 (lower right)—are part of Hickson Compact Group 90, named after astronomer Paul Hickson, who first cataloged these small clusters of galaxies in the 1980s. NGC 7173 and NGC 7176 appear to be smooth, normal elliptical galaxies without much gas and dust.”

end quote

The galaxy middle right is being torn apart by the other two according to the site and eventually all three will merge under their mutual gravitational attraction. This will initiate an enormous production of new stars and presumably planets and who knows perhaps new galaxies.
The cycle of rebirth in action.

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Stellar home

Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

100,000 stars under their mutual gravitation sending their light to you from 25,000 years ago.

For details see:  This Hubble Page

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