The Astrophysicist's Guide to the Universe

Have you ever taken the time to think about the Universe? By that, I mean everything-the stars, galaxies, and everything inbetween.

I know I have. I personally find it all to be very facinating. So, of course, I spend a bunch of time reading about different things about the solar system and beyond. My most recent point of interest has been dark energy and dark matter.

For years, I'd heard of dark matter in games and Sci-Fi TV shows, but I always assumed it was just some fabrication to make these more entertaining--and they very likely were. However, it seems that there really is dark matter and dark energy in the universe. Scientists believe, in fact, that 'dark energy,' which is what they've dubbed the energy of open space, is what makes the universe tick.

According to models of the evolution of the universe that I've loooked at, the Universe is expanding--and expanding at an exponentially greater rate.

NASA has lots to say about it...


What do you think about this, and what are your thoughts on the workings of the universe?

Space is one of those things that seems beyond our grasp now. As humans do, and should do, we have to look beyond where we are now and ever ahead into the future. Space is the unknown that really fascinates our inquisitive minds. Who knows what turns science will take in the future, we're on for an exciting ride.

I can't say I'm a space buff. Hind is though, maybe he'll have something to contribute to this, because I sure don't.

Yes, I have heard about this, a while ago I watched about it on the show Nova. It was very interesting, how at first they thought that the universe would spring back because there was no force keeping it expanding, but that was disproved after they watched supernova's drift farther and farther away. Of all science topics, Astronomy is my all time favorite.

They realized there was some type of "dark matter" that kept pushing the universe apart, and within a few billion years or so there will be no galaxies near us anymore... Yet, I wonder, what would happen if you reach the edge of the universe?

This is my theory:

I thought about it, and though it seems a little weird, I think that the universe has a sort of boundary. It is a circular "bubble" that is home to this "dark matter" and other various objects, such as the galaxies and nebulea. Outside of the circular universe we are in is another circular unviverse, not nessecarily the same size. And there are just billions upon billions of these universes. And, since they are circular, there has to be pockets of something in between them. Those pockets between universes are the stroage places for this "dark matter". As the universes get this dark matter, they expand, pushing the dark matter into other universes, making them expand. When the unverses get tightly packed to each other, they compact, forming the tiny ball after time that would cause a big band later. That is my theory, though I am not sure if it works at all... it probably has many flaws. It could be easily disproved, my theory.

Anyways, I love to think about the universe, and astronomy. It is the all time greatest subject ever.... there are literally endless posibilities, theories and things you can think about the universe, it is great.

Ohhhh boy, if you need info on space and the universe, just ask.
I'm a complete space freak, super novas, black holes, stars, space junk i love it all. Man what an interssting subject.

As to your expanding thing, that's interresting to know. It just keeps on getting bigger.

Did you know that light travels at 186,000 MPH, and the sun is really far away(not sure of exact distance). So when we look at the sun, we're seeing it as it looked 8.3 minutes ago.

Ain't that cool.

Recently, I've been seriously thinking "Hey! Astrophysics would be a cool major!" So, of course, I read about this stuff a bunch.

That's an interesting theory, GC. One thing though. The scientists over at NASA and the various institutions that do such research think that the universe has about 5 times as much dark matter as it has normal matter. I'll find some more links to interesting articles and post 'em up.

Edit: Yep. Light is fast. The usual number used for it in physics is 3x10^8 (300 000 000) meters per second.

I thought of something else, something to explain black holes. To get this dark matter into a universe "bubble", you would need a hole of some sort, right? Well, there are your holes. And with every hole, because of displacement, something has to go out for the dark matter to come in... so, while dark matter comes out of a black hole, it also sucks things in. But, it brings in the dark matter at suck a slow rate and sucks things out of the universe so fast you would think the universe would shrink, right? Well, because of the other universes expansion, it bombards against the pocket of dark matter, not letting it expand, but letting the other universe expand.

I assume that if regular matter goes through a black hoile into a dark matter pocket it is converted to dark matter for further use.

Man, I love this subject....

i feel this way...

we see a supernova, but the fact is we see the supernova as it happened millions of years ago...

so we're looking into the past....in a sense....

i heard/read somewhere that if we could look far enough into space we might be able to see that proposed "big bang"....

this is a hard subject to digest sometimes and I really dont know what to think about it all...

after meteorology, astronomy is my favorite science...


oh and the sun is approimately 93 million miles from Earth...and the distance between the sun and the Earth is known as 1 AU, an astronomical unit...

I find all that stuff pretty cool too. Infact, I watched this whole show on PBS that had completely changed the way we thought of cells and atoms. Instead of small little balls of energy and stuff, people are thinking they may be elastic like bands that stretch and form themselves to the shapes of all matter here on Earth.

It also said that the "Big Bang" may be almost completely incorrect now. Another is that there is more than one universe in this vast, uh, thing. Each universe is placed on one giant membrane, and that there is some force that is keeping us on these membranes, like we are jelly on toast, it won't fall off. But one stringy like cell called a graviton defies this force and can skip from one membrane to another. We are still searching for one in this cool machine that I will not explain for it would take an hour or so to explain it. If it is true, we are going to try to find a way to release this pull so we won't be doomed to be on one membrane. It is a very accurate theory that is being researched as we speak.

Wow, I probably just bored the heck out of you. Anyways, this is all pretty interesting to me. I wish I watched the whole series....

Astrophysiscs is confusing but cool at the same time. You know what I think? The Universe is just infinate and time never seems to stop or slow down in it. In fact I think that somewhere out in those dark reaches of space, lies a planet that has life on it, no a galxy parrell to ours, only bigger! My theroy on wormholes is that wormholes are like tunnels that can transport matter at the speed of light to other locations in the Universe.

Originally posted by linkrules
Ohhhh boy, if you need info on space and the universe, just ask.
I'm a complete space freak, super novas, black holes, stars, space junk i love it all. Man what an interssting subject.

As to your expanding thing, that's interresting to know. It just keeps on getting bigger.

Did you know that light travels at 186,000 MPH, and the sun is really far away(not sure of exact distance). So when we look at the sun, we're seeing it as it looked 8.3 minutes ago.

Ain't that cool.

I thought light traveled 186000 miles a second. Yes. I am right.

I've always been interested in Astrophysics ^__^

The universe is fascinating! heheh my grandpa was an astronomer.. and president of a research institutes.
He had a lot of material as well and a very cool telescope he built himself... Too bad almost nothing is left of it now as he died in a fire when I was 6 and most of the material was burned or severely damaged.

But yeah atrophysics is very interesting. I can't study it because I'll need science and chemistry to study it and those were never really my strongest subjects I'm an alpha/gamma person.. not beta, I suck at natural sciences

Meesa a Space freak.

We dont know to be honest.

The Big Bang started everything, what started the big bang, where did that exploding sun come from, where did the gas's come from?

We dont know, there almost seems to be some sort of a puzzle. And there's just one missing piece.

If your talking about Black Holes..Maybe that Is what makes the Universe tick..you never know.

How many people here think Life started on Earth?

I dont, I think that life came from Mars. In meteorites, crashing down upon our planet. That life was the surviving life. And on Mars It was killed by the massive astroid showers..

Bah..

So fun. :p

For a good book with lots of facts about the universe and stuff, I recomend "The sience of Discworld". The book is made with every other chaper Discworld-story, and the others just, plain sience.

It's rather much sience, and Jack Cohen and another guy has been writing most of the sience chaphters, I think.

It has much about black holes and the universe, how eath was formed, and how our solar-system became what it is.

Edit: Why should life come from Mars? Earth is good enough to have an athmosphere now, it is rather more ideal for life than Mars. And I guess Earth was better for life when it was formed.

I am very sure there is more than one planet with life... didn't Earth become suitable for life when it was bombarded by many ice meteors? And the ice melted over time and formed the oceans... leaving the planet suitable for life, that is what I learned...

But the chances of us being the only planet with life are very slim. And even if there was life on other planets, what makes everytone think that they would look so different from what is on earth? If the same coditions are applied, they should look nearly the same as us, and the other life should be nearly the same as well. Trees, same animals probably, people...

But, we are definately not alone, and I doubt that the other planets that have life have found a means of space travel to go across galaxies... and if they did, why would they come here?

Honestly I can give a rats anas about space. =/ As far as I'm concerned there is just to much out there for me. Infinite space that goes on forever. To try and grasp why would be impossible because god gave us limits there for with think with limits.

This is why man can't grasp the thoughts of heaven, hell, gods power etc. Cause we can't think like him. So I've been told etc.

>^__^< Ignore my religious banter.

Of course GC, There is a million other Earths from the Universe. Lightyears away.

There is life somewhere else. Maybe another race of humans, maybe aliens.

Will we ever know?

Depends.

Hey! This is my cup of tea - BIG TIME! I love astrophysics and that is why I am going to study it. Perhaps I could return here in a few years with some extra knowledge to share with you! I get so excited when hearing of astrophysics!!!!!! Wiiiiiiiieeee!!!!

i think this is a very interesting subject and we know there is life out there, they found it on mars.....little parasites or something....i think, but i also think that god put humans on earth for a reason and if we did find "aliens", they wouldn't be the aliens we would, thats just what i think.

I thought that it was common knowledge that the Universe was expanding. The theory used to be that it would expand so far and then start contracting, squashing back together again in a Big Crunch.

Black holes aren't actually holes, GoldenChaos. They're supergiant (or supermassive- one of the two) stars that collapsed and such after they exploded, creating a teeny tiny little...thing...with an immense gravitational pull. So basically you're talking about something far smaller than a marble with gravity so powerful even light can't get away from it.

And I think the Big Bang has been thrown out- this new thing where timespace has eleven dimensions called "M Theory" is the new boy in town- something to do with their being multiple Universes in some sort of big (understatement of the millenia) Metaverse that bump into each other and spark off new Universes- I think that's what that guy whose name I can't remember and can't be bothered to check for as I type was talking about when he mentioned membranes and such.

I knew the universe was expanding. The main point in my post was dark energy and such...and to create discussion about astrophysics.

There's all kinds of theories about the universe. Another one, relating to that 'big crunch' which you mentioned involves a cycle of trillions of years.