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Good morning, Rallypoint. Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is titled "Rumors of a Dark Universe." What if most of the energy around us was tied to space itself? (I know...sounds like a Jedi mind trick). In other words, what if most of the energy in the Universe is not tied up in stars or galaxies? Astronomers first presented evidence supporting this theory in 1998, and used this photograph (NGC 4526 and Supernova 1994D) to demonstrate the presence of "dark energy." Based on current observations, the Universe appears to be expanding at an increasing rate. Dark energy - if it exists - is thought to be uniformly distributed but not very massive, and could account for both the expansion and acceleration measured by conventional means (red shift, rotational rates, etc).
NGC 4526 was discovered by William Herschel in 1784, and lies 55 million light years distant in the constellation Virgo. Supernova 1994D was first discovered by scientists at the Leuschner Observatory in Lafayette, California, and is on the outskirts of NGC 4526. The image here is from the Hubble Space Telescope.
NGC 4526 was discovered by William Herschel in 1784, and lies 55 million light years distant in the constellation Virgo. Supernova 1994D was first discovered by scientists at the Leuschner Observatory in Lafayette, California, and is on the outskirts of NGC 4526. The image here is from the Hubble Space Telescope.
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Posted from apod.nasa.gov
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Such an amazing photo today Maj William W. 'Bill' Price!
COL Mikel J. Burroughs Maj Marty Hogan LTC Stephen F. CW5 Jack Cardwell TSgt David L. Cpl (Join to see) Maj William W. 'Bill' Price CPL Dave Hoover SPC Douglas Bolton LTC Greg Henning Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. SPC Margaret Higgins Alan K. Lt Col Charlie Brown PO2 Kevin Parker SP5 Mark Kuzinski PVT Mark Zehner Col Carl Whicker SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL Sgt (Join to see)
COL Mikel J. Burroughs Maj Marty Hogan LTC Stephen F. CW5 Jack Cardwell TSgt David L. Cpl (Join to see) Maj William W. 'Bill' Price CPL Dave Hoover SPC Douglas Bolton LTC Greg Henning Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. SPC Margaret Higgins Alan K. Lt Col Charlie Brown PO2 Kevin Parker SP5 Mark Kuzinski PVT Mark Zehner Col Carl Whicker SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL Sgt (Join to see)
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Thank you, my friend Maj William W. 'Bill' Price for posting the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for Sunday, August 4, 2019 entitled "Rumors of a Dark Universe."
Image: Rumors of a Dark Universe - Image Credit - High-Z Supernova Search Team, HST, NASA
"Explanation: Twenty-one years ago results were first presented indicating that most of the energy in our universe is not in stars or galaxies but is tied to space itself. In the language of cosmologists, a large cosmological constant -- dark energy -- was directly implied by new distant supernova observations. Suggestions of a cosmological constant were not new -- they have existed since the advent of modern relativistic cosmology. Such claims were not usually popular with astronomers, though, because dark energy was so unlike known universe components, because dark energy's abundance appeared limited by other observations, and because less-strange cosmologies without a signficant amount of dark energy had previously done well in explaining the data. What was exceptional here was the seemingly direct and reliable method of the observations and the good reputations of the scientists conducting the investigations. Over the two decades, independent teams of astronomers have continued to accumulate data that appears to confirm the existence of dark energy and the unsettling result of a presently accelerating universe. In 2011, the team leaders were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work. The featured picture of a supernova that occurred in 1994 on the outskirts of a spiral galaxy was taken by one of these collaborations."
Thank you, my friend TSgt (Anonymous) for mentioning me.
Image: Rumors of a Dark Universe - Image Credit - High-Z Supernova Search Team, HST, NASA
"Explanation: Twenty-one years ago results were first presented indicating that most of the energy in our universe is not in stars or galaxies but is tied to space itself. In the language of cosmologists, a large cosmological constant -- dark energy -- was directly implied by new distant supernova observations. Suggestions of a cosmological constant were not new -- they have existed since the advent of modern relativistic cosmology. Such claims were not usually popular with astronomers, though, because dark energy was so unlike known universe components, because dark energy's abundance appeared limited by other observations, and because less-strange cosmologies without a signficant amount of dark energy had previously done well in explaining the data. What was exceptional here was the seemingly direct and reliable method of the observations and the good reputations of the scientists conducting the investigations. Over the two decades, independent teams of astronomers have continued to accumulate data that appears to confirm the existence of dark energy and the unsettling result of a presently accelerating universe. In 2011, the team leaders were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work. The featured picture of a supernova that occurred in 1994 on the outskirts of a spiral galaxy was taken by one of these collaborations."
Thank you, my friend TSgt (Anonymous) for mentioning me.
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