SHOCK and AWE

IT'S ASTRONOMICAL!

No this is not one of those end of the world horror speculations, the good Mayan astronomers aside. I am writing about the increasing new revelations and discoveries that are bursting forth from our expanded and innovative new cosmological research.

The image on the left of Chandra's view of Cassiopea A, the youngest supernova in the Milky Way, is a current example of this combination revelation and discovery. It is a discovery because we have just observed it. It is a revelation because it has been here for a long time.

Another example is a combined cosmological and chemical analysis of what we could consider a stellar life cycle. This study is courtesy of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. To view an image presentation of this concept, you may click here. The illustration's depiction of the showering of probiotic material onto a planet enters the realm of astrobiology.

Additionally, the deep space probe that captured a gamma ray burst (actually more like an explosion) over 13 billion light years distance is an example of our increasing ability to witness (albeit belatedly) a major cosmological event that directly impacted the universe. Of course in the next decade the exo-planet discoveries by the Kepler probe as well as those from the Corot Space telescope are going to intensify our investigations into what critieria certify an Earth twin. These efforts will also include efforts to determine the extent the Earth-twin has the ability to support or is actually supporting life.

The above are just minimal examples of the immense cosmological research that is underway. You may click here to see a current listing of research projects at the Harvard center. It is expected to steadily increase as more discoveries occur.

So, why do I label this as shock and awe? For the general public these revelations can be both amazing and unsettling as we are forced to reconsider our perceptions about our home, Earth, and the universe in which we reside. For the scientific community, there is ongoing shock and awe as old theories get either revised or tossed aside and new discoveries introduce views of the universe that open entirely new concepts and theories. This latter cognitive evolution is, in my opinion, accompanied by frequent awe.

All of this is good and should be considered as part of humankind's intellectual evolution. This is an essential stimulus for our ongoing progress. In other words, we are not done yet!

My Celestia (c) 2009 Waddell Robey - All individual copyrights apply.

CELESTIAL MATING

The image on the left, courtesy of NASA/JPL and the Chandra spacecraft, displays a recent capture of what I am terming "celestial mating" rather than the usual terminology. By the way, the circles and letters are there to identify the individual galaxy clusters that are involved in this reproductive drama. To learn more, you may click here and here if you wish.

Hmm, celestial mating and reproductive drama am I anthropomorphizing space? Yes and no. I say yes with respect to explaining what is really happening when galaxies, of any number and size, come together. No, in the sense that they are far more powerful, more beautiful, and more vital to the universe than we mere humans.

Perhaps the most realistic term would be regeneration of the universe. In my humble opinion it is this dramatic, dynamic and often explosive merging or mating process that produces whole new populations of stars and eventually, for some, their gathering of orbiting dust, debris and planets. As we know, we are now pretty certain that many of those extra-solar bodies may be habitable planets that contain life. So mating, like Earth's own biological replenishment process, is what is happening in the universe - replenishment. I consider this encouraging and it strengthens my belief in both the dynamism and permanency of this energy system we call "universe."

Yes, there is, just like with us, birth, life, and death in the universe. The logic is stunning and also reassuring. Again, in my mind, it is an essential process that produces both endurance and stability in our lives and that of the universe. We humans are, of course, energy systems, and we essentially obey all the same rules as our celestial hosts. That's right we are components of celestial stability and balance. Miniscule yes, but we are still essential.

So, look up in awe, in humility, and with reassurance. We are needed. In that respect, we might want to consider doing a better job of preserving our host energy source - planet Earth and the solar system in which it resides.

My Celestia (c) 2009 Waddell Robey. All individual copyrights apply.

Anatomy of a Planet: An Editorial

First, my apologies for being away from here for so long. I promise to be more attentive from now on. Next, I want to take this issue to express some of my own observations and opinions as we are now on our way to find Earth-like planets in our galaxy.

Much of my comments are more relevant to those follow-on explorations after Kepler has brought home a list of likely candidates. Kepler, by design is not intended to discern if there is life on a discovered exo-planet. Its primary mission is to find the ideal combination of star and planet that fits the Earth profile. I am confident Kepler will fulfill that goal several times over.

In my related blog, ExoDigest, I have included links to articles and reports that indicate that our scientists are still quite busy seeking answers to how life originated on this planet. The obvious corollary is that until we understand our own beginnings it will be hard to determine the presence, stage and status of life forms on any Earth-like exoplanet. This leads me to the question. How Earth-like does our candidate exo have to be?

Well, we know that its distance from its host star (the habitable zone) is important to insure that the planet has and sustains water, and it is not too hot or too cold. So water too, must be a basic ingredient as well as a variety of gaseous chemicals (oxygen, hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and a variety of combinations of those chemicals). Certainly, the orbital period of our candidate around its parent star is important but equally important is the planet's rotation around its own axis. The cycle of light and dark are known factors the affect how things grow and thrive. It is also helpful for a "rocky" planet to have healthy gravity in order to keep a grip on all of its important life support components. The list is much longer and even includes new research that indicates that tectonic plates are contributors to the development of life. So, as astrobiologists state, this is not going to be an easy task.

Back to my question. I repeat, until we know completely how life got its start here, it will be difficult to determine if life on another planet has started, will start or started and stopped. In the latter case, our exploration of Mars is going to help us understand why life started and stopped, and why that planet also apparently lost much of its atmosphere and life supporting gases. Was it knocked so silly by an asteroid impact that it lost its life giving/supporting elements? We need to know this both for our appreciation and protection of our home, and in investigating candidate exoplanets.

I think there is going to be at least a century of awesome surprises that will tell us not only how we got started, but may indicate that starting up life has a variety of paths and that ours is not exclusive. Add to this the evolutionary process which as part of the development of life and is still part of our own mystery. For example, would we even be here, if the dinosaurs had survived? Planet age is also going to be a factor. How old was Earth before life got started, and is this a universal requisite or could life actually develop faster or even slower than it did here?

Well, it looks like it may be our great grand children or even our great, great grandchildren who finally get most of the answers. It will also be even longer before there is ever any direct association between life here and life on another planet. The distances are immense, even at the speed of light. At this realization, some may say, "why bother?" The answer is simple, in my mind, we bother because it is a genetic imperative. The next evolutionary step for us is to do exactly what we are doing. By reaching out to finally know we are not alone is going to dramatically impact who we become and how we deal with it. We will suddenly feel far less important while at the same time feel excited to be part of truly universal life. The universe, itself, will take on new meaning and become open to new avenues of research. Did it start with a bang, and will it end or...? Most importantly, we are now moving down the path that will open whole new revelations and opportunities to fully understand, appreciate and respect all life as well as the uniqueness of humankind within that environment.

I end here, and ask: "Quo Vadis ?"

A WISE View of the Universe

The logo on the left is the official NASA/JPL logo for the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer a new space telescope scheduled for launch in November of this year. WISE's mission "will provide a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the Universe. Among the objects WISE will study are asteroids, the coolest and dimmest stars, and the most luminous galaxies." According to Dr. Amy Mainzer, the WISE project's Deputy Project Scientist, "The Wide-field Infrared Explorer (WISE) mission, an infrared telescope launching in about a year, will observe hundreds of near-Earth asteroids, offering unique insights into this question. The risk posed by hazardous asteroids is critically dependent on how many there are of different sizes. We know that there are more small asteroids than large ones, but how many more, and what are they made of?" To learn more about WISE and Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) research you may click here.

There are several other key mission goals of the WISE project. To get and overview of those planned activites you may click here. One of these, is to "Enable a wide variety of studies ranging from the evolution of planetary debris discs to the history of star formation in normal galaxies,", can be important science in support of our search for Earth-like exoplanets. The better understanding we have of the process of both star formation and planet development will provide important data and understanding about the evolutionary process of solar system formation.

Why Sometime "I" and Sometimes "We?"

As you read my various blog post you will notice that sometimes I write in the first person and other times in the third person, we. I make this variation because in many instances what I have written is really a report on the work of many research scientists and it is their work that I am using and citing to help all of us understand our celestial environment. In those instances I will use "we." I hope this resolves some of the confusion as to who is generating this blog.

Meanwhile: Look Up, always, and to look farther and deeper, join us at Slooh.com as we "surf the universe."

Is It Snap, Crackle and Pop When Galaxies and Black Holes Merge ? Part II

There is general agreement among astrophysicists, today, that most galaxies contain black holes at their center. It is, therefore, essentially a given that when galaxies merge, so do their resident black holes. Additionally, these same scientists are also hypothesizing that black holes are key controllers of the overall function and integrity of the galaxies they inhabit.

Note: In the image on the top left, "Scientists are watching two supermassive black holes spiral towards each other near the center of a galaxy cluster named Abell 400. Shown in this X-ray/radio composite image are the multi-million degree radio jets emanating from the black holes." Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/AIfA/D.Hudson & T.Reiprich et al.; Radio: NRAO/VLA/NRL

Let's stop here and take a moment to view this animation of merging black holes. This is a computer animation from NASA and as you watch keep in mind that, "According to Einstein's math, when two massive black holes merge, all of space jiggles like a bowl of Jell-O as gravitational waves race out from the collision at light speed.

When we watched the animation above, we sensed the intensity and drama of these merging black holes and looked for an even more descriptive and dramatic representation of this unification of celestial power. We found an excellent animation done by the Chandra project at Harvard University, and to dramatize it further we selected a snap from that animation and added a musical score to it. We call it the power dance. Please view the entire Chandra/Harvard animation by clicking here.

The increased research by astrophysicists into black holes, dark energy, and dark matter is yielding a new appreciation for Einstein's theories of relativity (special and general)and a strong theoretical move toward seeing a definite link between those theories and quantum physics. All of this is leading to renewed and new hypotheses on both the origin and the future of the universe. Although the "Big Bang" concept is still the most accepted other theories are challenging that there was ever an explosive beginning to the universe. The increased study of gravitational waves that are generated by most every action occurring in the universe promises to reveal many secrets and new understandings about our celestial environment.

LIGO and LISA gravitational wave research.

By the time gravitational waves reach Earth from distant galaxies or supermassive black holes they are quite small. For years, even though we knew they existed, we were unable to study them. Now, gravitational wave astronomy has become a new and very dynamic branch of astrophysics. Two key programs of this new astronomy are LIGO and LISA. LIGO is the acronym for Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory and LISA, a satellite system, is the acronym for Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. Both are new means for detecting and evaluating gravitational waves. This new branch of astronomy will finally allow astronomers to learn exactly what is inside a black hole and about dark energy and dark matter and what they are and what they are doing. Note: The artist's concept of the LISA satellite is courtesy of the European Space Agency.

Well, we have not really answered what happens when black holes merge except they get bigger, they accrete more stars and some galaxies and hide all that they consume, except their gravitational waves. So, review the links on LIGO and LISA that we have provided and look forward to specific blog posts on gravitational wave astronomy and the secrets this science will reveal not just about black holes, but about the very earliest stages of the universe. There are going to be a lot of big surprises including a successful theory that merges quantum theory with Einstein's theories. They are already calling it quantum relativity.

Is It Snap, Crackle, and Pop When Galaxies and Black Holes Merge? - Part One

In the blog post, "It's Triplets", we began to consider the process of merging galaxies and included false color pictures and diagrams of these events. As promised, this posting will consider the possible effects of these mergers, and since most galaxies are host to black holes we will look at the possible impact of merging black holes. One might wonder if the universe is eating itself alive. Lets find out: read on.

Let's start by viewing NASA's movie of merging galaxies (simulation). Click MERGE to join in. Now keep in mind in the real world or universe these mergers would take millions even billions of years to come about, but the interaction is well illustrated by this NASA simulation. You can almost hear the crackle of energy and feel the power of the merger. In my mind this is not a dying universe, this is a ongoing, creative universe.

Actually, the coming together of galaxies is expressed by astro-scientists in three descriptive ways. They use the term interacting galaxies in which two, or as we have seen, three or more galaxies gravitationally interact. This is where their gravitational forces affect their respective structures. In about two to three billion years, our Milky Way galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy will begin to interact. Somewhere after that time, these two galaxies will begin to merge or collilde with one another.

The term merging galaxies refers to the process, similar to that depicted in the NASA simulation above. This is where galaxies literally come together to create a new and larger galaxy. Finally, as these two galaxies or others merge, and when their central nuclei are very close to one another, they can produce what these scientists define as starburst galaxies. This is where dynamic bursts of new star formation take place. This phenomenon is expected to take place when our galaxy and Andromeda finally merge billions of years from now. This Hubble image of galaxy NGC1569 is an example of a starburst galaxy. Now this is a small galaxy and until Hubble looked it over it was not considered a star maker. You might also notice the similarities between this galaxy's structure and that of the Crab Nebula due to their common central "hot" cores, but from entirely different origins and with equally different futures. In our opinion, these new star birthing cycles do not spell a distintegrating universe but rather one that is expanding and growing - infinitely.

Take a moment and review the previous blog post "It's Triplets" and look at the images. You will see visual examples of both interacting and merging galaxies. It is also possible that in the second image a starburst galaxy is about to occur. What do you think? To learn more on this topic, visit this link here. Additionally if you would like to see a bigger view of this little galaxy with a musical tribute to its star making efforts click here. Lastly, if you wish, click here to view an image of this galaxy taken on 11/22/08 from Slooh.com. You too can wander the universe as a Slooh.com member. Come join us.

We pause here. The discussion on colliding or merging black holes will follow in Part Two of this topic. We invite your questions and comments, please respond.