Photo of the entire Universe

[black13]

http://www.esa.int/images/PLANCK_FSM_03_Black.jpg


They sent the ESA’s Planck telescope to space, it took photos in all directions, filtered the images and this is the resulting image. Check the link for a cool animation to better explain.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMF2FRZ5BG_index_0.html



2010 ESA’s Planck mission has delivered its first all-sky image. It not only provides new insight into the way stars and galaxies form but also tells us how the Universe itself came to life after the Big Bang.

“This is the moment that Planck was conceived for,” says ESA Director of Science and Robotic Exploration, David Southwood. “We’re not giving the answer. We are opening the door to an Eldorado where scientists can seek the nuggets that will lead to deeper understanding of how our Universe came to be and how it works now. The image itself and its remarkable quality is a tribute to the engineers who built and have operated Planck. Now the scientific harvest must begin.”

From the closest portions of the Milky Way to the furthest reaches of space and time, the new all-sky Planck image is an extraordinary treasure chest of new data for astronomers.

The main disc of our Galaxy runs across the centre of the image. Immediately striking are the streamers of cold dust reaching above and below the Milky Way. This galactic web is where new stars are being formed, and Planck has found many locations where individual stars are edging toward birth or just beginning their cycle of development.

Less spectacular but perhaps more intriguing is the mottled backdrop at the top and bottom. This is the ‘cosmic microwave background radiation’ (CMBR). It is the oldest light in the Universe, the remains of the fireball out of which our Universe sprang into existence 13.7 billion years ago.


While the Milky Way shows us what the local Universe looks like now, those microwaves show us what the Universe looked like close to its time of creation, before there were stars or galaxies. Here we come to the heart of Planck’s mission to decode what happened in that primordial Universe from the pattern of the mottled backdrop.

The microwave pattern is the cosmic blueprint from which today’s clusters and superclusters of galaxies were built. The different colours represent minute differences in the temperature and density of matter across the sky. Somehow these small irregularities evolved into denser regions that became the galaxies of today.


The CMBR covers the entire sky but most of it is hidden in this image by the Milky Way’s emission, which must be digitally removed from the final data in order to see the microwave background in its entirety.

When this work is completed, Planck will show us the most precise picture of the microwave background ever obtained. The big question will be whether the data will reveal the cosmic signature of the primordial period called inflation. This era is postulated to have taken place just after the Big Bang and resulted in the Universe expanding enormously in size over an extremely short period.

Amazing.

[davidI]

The people who devised this device are far smarter than I will ever be.

I doubt our sun is even half a pixel on that image!

[Pollywog]

That is absolutely incredible, the universe is so intensely mystifying. It shakes you down to the core just trying comprehend what we know about its size, origin, unknown physics, expansion, natural events/processes/occurances, etc. Even simple things, like knowing that when I look into the sky my eyes are literally looking into an infinite distance at which we know no end is truly mind blowing.

Tragically, I know the human race will never understand it in it's entirety.

[machiatai]

How do we know this is legit?

[machiatai]

Originally posted by davidI
The people who devised this device are far smarter than I will ever be.

I doubt our sun is even half a pixel on that image!

Obviously and obviously.

[black13]

Originally posted by Pollywog
That is absolutely incredible, the universe is so intensely mystifying. It shakes you down to the core just trying comprehend what we know about its size, origin, unknown physics, expansion, natural events/processes/occurances, etc. Even simple things, like knowing that when I look into the sky my eyes are literally looking into an infinite distance at which we know no end is truly mind blowing.

Tragically, I know the human race will never understand it in it's entirety.

True, the human mind cannot comprehend just exactly how small we are, and if it did at this stage the person would likely go mad. But who knows, evolution is an on going thing. If we don't wipe our selves out, maybe in a few thousand years the human mind would be able to truly grasp the vastness of the universe and answer many of today's questions.

[arian_ma]

Originally posted by davidI
The people who devised this device are far smarter than I will ever be.

I doubt our sun is even half a pixel on that image!
I doubt that an entire galaxy is half a pixel in that image.

Edit: I'm a bit confused about the article. This is a pic of the entire universe and our galaxy sprawls across the middle like that? What?

[msommers]

I'm probably not understanding it fully, but wouldn't it take millions of years for light to reach the scanner to even recognize that something is there?

[rufi0]

the light we see from space IS millions/billions of years old... it's mind bottling :D

[adam c]

Originally posted by arian_ma

I doubt that an entire galaxy is half a pixel in that image.

Edit: I'm a bit confused about the article. This is a pic of the entire universe and our galaxy sprawls across the middle like that? What?

I remember debating this with you for a while and you kept saying we were on the edge of a bubble, i think this proves otherwise. I'm not saying we're across the middle like that but we're definitely not where you described our location


Originally posted by msommers
I'm probably not understanding it fully, but wouldn't it take millions of years for light to reach the scanner to even recognize that something is there?

Light has been travelling for billions of years already

[v2kai]

Originally posted by arian_ma

I doubt that an entire galaxy is half a pixel in that image.

Edit: I'm a bit confused about the article. This is a pic of the entire universe and our galaxy sprawls across the middle like that? What?

it was in close proximity to us when taking pictures hence why it appears so prominently in the foreground

[Freeskier]

Originally posted by arian_ma

I doubt that an entire galaxy is half a pixel in that image.

Edit: I'm a bit confused about the article. This is a pic of the entire universe and our galaxy sprawls across the middle like that? What?

In order to look towards the center of the universe, we have to look 'through' the milky way galaxy, hence why its sprawling across the middle of the image.

[Zewind]

Thats really good.

[arian_ma]

Ah I understand guys. Thanks.

Also, adam c, I remember that discussion as well, and I still stand by my point. It's hard to explain in words something that we can barely imagine, so I may have worded it poorly.

[Tomaz]

Wow.

Where do you start when trying to understand the vastness of that? :poosie:

Truly amazing!

[403Gemini]

Now the mind fuck question:

What's outside the universe... just blackness?

[Travel_Dude]

Originally posted by Pollywog
That is absolutely incredible, the universe is so intensely mystifying. It shakes you down to the core just trying comprehend what we know about its size, origin, unknown physics, expansion, natural events/processes/occurances, etc. Even simple things, like knowing that when I look into the sky my eyes are literally looking into an infinite distance at which we know no end is truly mind blowing.

Tragically, I know the human race will never understand it in it's entirety.

This sentence could be quoted as another evidence for an intelligent creator.

[mobius]

Originally posted by 403Gemini
Now the mind fuck question:

What's outside the universe... just blackness?

What makes you think there is an outside to the universe?

[mobius]

Originally posted by Travel_Dude


This sentence could be quoted as another evidence for an intelligent creator.

It's not evidence of anything, just that the possibility of a being beyond our comprehension cannot be entirely discredited. And I'm an Atheist.

[403Gemini]

Originally posted by mobius


What makes you think there is an outside to the universe?

What makes you think there isnt?

[ryanallan]

Originally posted by msommers
I'm probably not understanding it fully, but wouldn't it take millions of years for light to reach the scanner to even recognize that something is there?
ya that's what I'm thinking too. This is only an image of our universe at that exact moment. The camera is probably missing the other 99% of the universe, assuming the universe is expanding.

[garnet]

there is current study, that our universe is in fact still expanding, since the big bang? some complex theories are involved, suggesting expansion in multi-dimensional ways, not simply linear (outwards), interesting stuff!


Originally posted by 403Gemini
Now the mind fuck question:

What's outside the universe... just blackness?

[dezmarez]

Originally posted by 403Gemini
Now the mind fuck question:

What's outside the universe... just blackness?


haha mind=blown trying to think about that

[mobius]

Originally posted by 403Gemini


What makes you think there isnt?

Exactly.

[maxomilll]

Originally posted by mobius


What makes you think there is an outside to the universe?

CMBR:dunno:

[Hakkola]

This isn't a photo like what you'd think you're getting from a camera, it measures radio waves to come up with an image.

No our galaxy isn't the white spot in the middle.

From what I've read about string theory and other similar theories there is no "outside" of the universe in the way that you would think there is an outside to your house. It exists in space and time, and outside of it there is no relative space and time, you can't obeserve it, it isn't blackness, there's just nothing there.

Part of the mindfuck is that there are several universes basically overlapping, but not really interacting except maybe through gravity, which may go through several universes which is why it's a weak force.

SOmething to read about if you want tothink about what's outside of our universe, ,look up branes, it's a part of string theory. It's suggested that they move and when they touch each other they create a universe, if that's the case I would say that is what's "outside" of our universe.

/nerd

[Freeskier]

If any of you are in school and need electives, i would highly recommend a first year or intro astronomy course. I took one last semester and it was by far one of the most interesting courses i've taken. Space is fuggen cool.

[car]

Originally posted by 403Gemini


What makes you think there isnt?


Because by definition, there isnt. Universe is defined as everything that physically exists. If anything is not in the universe it doesnt exist. Its like asking whats the integer between 1 and 2, there is none, by definition.

[403Gemini]

Originally posted by car



Because by definition, there isnt. Universe is defined as everything that physically exists. If anything is not in the universe it doesnt exist. Its like asking whats the integer between 1 and 2, there is none, by definition.

Alright, take the word "Universe" out of it, and what happens when you reach "The edge" ? Do you hit a wall ? Do you fall into a void of nothingness? Is it just a giant black hole type energy that is circling everything and you immediately implode/explode/disintegrate?

[infected]

Originally posted by 403Gemini


Alright, take the word "Universe" out of it, and what happens when you reach "The edge" ? Do you hit a wall ? Do you fall into a void of nothingness? Is it just a giant black hole type energy that is circling everything and you immediately implode/explode/disintegrate?

Maybe it will be a cycle and you'll end up where you started.

[TYMSMNY]

The images are extremely old and outdated already. Don't forget it takes time for light to reach us so upon taking this picture... the Deathstar would've moved several galaxies over.

[Gurpy]

Originally posted by Travel_Dude


This sentence could be quoted as another evidence for an intelligent creator.

Oh really? How could that quote possibly be considered evidence? We still have a lot to learn, and attributing everything to an intelligent creator is the easy way out. If everyone simply decided to have blind faith we'd still think Earth was flat.

Re: What's beyond this universe? Simple answer is we really don't know. There are some mind blowing theories out there though, one cool one is Poplawski's theory. Basically states that our universe is in a black hole, so every black hole could possibly be another universe. And who knows what's outside this black hole... Check it out: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/universe-born-in-black-hole-100427.html


String theory's so intense haha. Just thinking of the basic concepts of it makes my head hurt, so incredible though. I have lots of respect for the scientists researching it.

[arian_ma]

Originally posted by 403Gemini


Alright, take the word "Universe" out of it, and what happens when you reach "The edge" ? Do you hit a wall ? Do you fall into a void of nothingness? Is it just a giant black hole type energy that is circling everything and you immediately implode/explode/disintegrate?
This question is analogous to an ant asking "What happens when you hit the edge of the earth?"

"leaving" the surface of the earth, to an ant, seems like an impossibility, because its perception of the 3rd dimension is limited. Similarly, leaving the universe to us will seem like an impossibility, because our perception of higher dimensions (in which these things exist) is very limited.

Therefore, with our limited understanding of the higher dimensions, we really can't say that there is an outside to the universe at all. There is no edge, there is no "outside" or a wall or a void. We don't float in a black space of 3 dimensional qualities, rather we exist in a series of higher dimensions, with space-time being one of their "dimensions"

[403Gemini]

Originally posted by arian_ma

This question is analogous to an ant asking "What happens when you hit the edge of the earth?"

"leaving" the surface of the earth, to an ant, seems like an impossibility, because its perception of the 3rd dimension is limited. Similarly, leaving the universe to us will seem like an impossibility, because our perception of higher dimensions (in which these things exist) is very limited.

Therefore, with our limited understanding of the higher dimensions, we really can't say that there is an outside to the universe at all. There is no edge, there is no "outside" or a wall or a void. We don't float in a black space of 3 dimensional qualities, rather we exist in a series of higher dimensions, with space-time being one of their "dimensions"

Man, space is so bloody interesting! Wish I took an astronomy course in college

[dezmarez]

wow!!
haha so many theories...
imagine living on on earth 10000 years from now,
what humans will know then... if were still around

[Hakkola]

Originally posted by 403Gemini


Alright, take the word "Universe" out of it, and what happens when you reach "The edge" ? Do you hit a wall ? Do you fall into a void of nothingness? Is it just a giant black hole type energy that is circling everything and you immediately implode/explode/disintegrate?



Originally posted by infected


Maybe it will be a cycle and you'll end up where you started.


Yeah, easy to think about it being round like the Earth, you can't hit the edge of earth.

[403Gemini]

Originally posted by Hakkola






Yeah, easy to think about it being round like the Earth, you can't hit the edge of earth.

True enough, but if you think about it, the universe as we know it is almost like a giant globe / oval... and we're in the middle of it. So with earth its easy to say you never reach an end because you're traveling around the exterior, but lets say we lived INSIDE the earth, certainly there is an "end point" if you keep going towards the outside.

[rage2]

Nice Pano. Wonder if 89coupe can top that? :rofl:

[Hakkola]

Originally posted by 403Gemini


True enough, but if you think about it, the universe as we know it is almost like a giant globe / oval... and we're in the middle of it. So with earth its easy to say you never reach an end because you're traveling around the exterior, but lets say we lived INSIDE the earth, certainly there is an "end point" if you keep going towards the outside.

We don't know where the Earth is located in the universe, but I get what you're saying. However, you can't walk off the earth, regardless of whether or not you can go through it.

Maybe expansion or gravity would make it impossible to get close or to the edge of the universe, much like how it's difficult to get off of Earth.

[403Gemini]

Originally posted by Hakkola


We don't know where the Earth is located in the universe, but I get what you're saying. However, you can't walk off the earth, regardless of whether or not you can go through it.

Maybe expansion or gravity would make it impossible to get close or to the edge of the universe, much like how it's difficult to get off of Earth.

Touche!

[Isaiah]

Originally posted by Freeskier
If any of you are in school and need electives, i would highly recommend a first year or intro astronomy course. I took one last semester and it was by far one of the most interesting courses i've taken. Space is fuggen cool.

Originally posted by 403Gemini


Man, space is so bloody interesting! Wish I took an astronomy course in college
I did. Not a day went by in that class that I didn't want to die.

Astronomy is the type of class that the instructor will make or break. I would have absolutely loved this class if it had been taught by something other than an inept invalid. Ratemyprofessors.com people. Use it. Live it.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Isaiah
I did. Not a day went by in that class that I didn't want to die.

Astronomy is the type of class that the instructor will make or break. I would have absolutely loved this class if it had been taught by something other than an inept invalid. Ratemyprofessors.com people. Use it. Live it.
:werd:

I took Astronomy at the U of C as well first year, and it was the most boring class I've ever taken.

I google and read all about our universe, physics and everything else online now and it's 10000x more interesting.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[msommers]

Post some links for more info on this kinda stuff, or even books to read. I don't feel like paying for an astronomy class when I don't need it to graduate lol.

[arian_ma]

Read chapter one of "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson as a starter. Then go from there.

[89coupe]

That image is not a capture of the entire Universe. That image is a capture of all data within 13.7 billion light years.

See this scale to understand or not understand...LOL
http://www.htwins.net/scale/

[Freeskier]

Originally posted by Isaiah
Astronomy is the type of class that the instructor will make or break. I would have absolutely loved this class if it had been taught by something other than an inept invalid. Ratemyprofessors.com people. Use it. Live it.

Yeah, that's true. Luckily my prof was one of the best I've had in Uni, he was hilarious. Profs are definitely the biggest factor in how good a class is going to be.


Originally posted by 89coupe
That image is not a capture of the entire Universe. That image is a capture of all data within 13.7 billion light years.

:werd: Mind. Blowing. Shit. I sometime go lose myself in Wikipedia articles on this stuff. Good way to spend a couple hours.

[adam c]

Originally posted by 89coupe
That image is not a capture of the entire Universe. That image is a capture of all data within 13.7 billion light years.

See this scale to understand or not understand...LOL
http://www.htwins.net/scale/

good link but the universe is 13.7 billions years old not 13.7 billion light years old

[89coupe]

Originally posted by adam c


good link but the universe is 13.7 billions years old not 13.7 billion light years old

Uhhh, yeh. So how long would it take for light to reach us that was 13.7 billion light years away?

[arian_ma]

Something cool for ya'll to think about.

It is estimated that our universe is 13.7 billion years old.
It is also estimated that our universe is 156 billion light years across.

If the speed of light is the fastest speed anything can travel at, how did matter travel 78 billion light years in just 13.7 billion years?

[adam c]

edit

[arian_ma]

I don't know which is correct, but I got my info from here:

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mystery_monday_040524.html


If you've ever wondered how big the universe is, you're not alone. Astronomers have long pondered this, too, and they've had a hard time figuring it out. Now an estimate has been made, and its a whopper.

The universe is at least 156 billion light-years wide.

[89coupe]

Originally posted by arian_ma
Something cool for ya'll to think about.

It is estimated that our universe is 13.7 billion years old.
It is also estimated that our universe is 156 billion light years across.

If the speed of light is the fastest speed anything can travel at, how did matter travel 78 billion light years in just 13.7 billion years?

Thats what we are discussing as well.

[msommers]

Is a light year distance vs. just a year being our idea of time?

[wrcftw]

Originally posted by msommers
Is a light year distance vs. just a year being our idea of time?

A light year is the distance light travels in a vaccuum in 365.25 days........it is a measure of distance, roughly equates to 10 trillion KMs

[wrcftw]

Originally posted by 403Gemini
Now the mind fuck question:

What's outside the universe... just blackness?

Don't quote me on this but I think this boils down to a non-sensical question....if you imagine the 'edge' of the universe, something outside of it would just push out the boundry to include it. The word universe generally includes everything that exists, not just the observable universe. So one could conclude that there is literally no 'outside of the universe', the universe is all there is.

Theories that deal will multiverses etc...deal with things that don't actuall "exist", meaning they can't ever interact with our universe. It's at this point that my brain explodes and I have no idea how to conceive anything other than my little bubble of matter I call the universe.

[89coupe]

I think the strangest stuff out there is dark energy, which happens to fill 73% of the Universe.

http://www.ift.uam.es/workshops/DarkMatters/img/DarkMatterPie.jpg

[Freeskier]

Oh boy. Here we go.... :rofl: I gotta smoke a bowl for this thread lol. From wiki:


At present, the most common view is that dark matter is primarily non-baryonic, made of one or more elementary particles other than the usual electrons, protons, neutrons, and known neutrinos. The most commonly proposed particles are axions, sterile neutrinos, and WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, including neutralinos)

[Hakkola]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/large-hadron-collider/7885997/Large-Hadron-Collider-rival-Tevatron-has-found-Higgs-boson-say-rumours.html

May have found the Higgs boson, I doubt it though.

[Gurpy]

^ http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2010/07/higgs-discovery-rumour-unfound.html

[car]

Originally posted by arian_ma
Something cool for ya'll to think about.

It is estimated that our universe is 13.7 billion years old.
It is also estimated that our universe is 156 billion light years across.

If the speed of light is the fastest speed anything can travel at, how did matter travel 78 billion light years in just 13.7 billion years?

Ahha, finally, something I ACTUALLY did learn in class.
Yes, nothing can travel within the fabric of space faster than the speed of light. But the universe can expand faster than the speed of light. Imagine the lines on your graphing paper expanding, the relative speed of the lines going away from each other is faster than the speed of light, but nothing is TRAVELLING on the paper faster than speed of light.

[car]

...and its because of this phenomenon that eventually we will no longer be able to see stars outside our local cluster, the space between us is expanding faster than light can travel.

sad

[freshprince1]

Originally posted by msommers
I'm probably not understanding it fully, but wouldn't it take millions of years for light to reach the scanner to even recognize that something is there?

That's true. And as mentioned, the light has already been travelling for that amount of time to just get here. So what that means is that what we see in space (depending on how far we are looking) we are looking into the past. So we could be looking at stars that have already supernova'd, but we don't know that yet because that has yet to reach us. Make sense?

[msommers]

Ya thanks man. It makes sense from a mathematical standpoint, in practice the idea of looking back in time essentially is just fuckin weird.