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Infrared Telescope Lifts Off

Posted by Hemos on from the up-up-up-and-away dept.

An anonymous reader writes "On its Delta 2 Heavy-Lift vehicle, the Space Infrared Telescope (SIRTF) successfully launched to its solar orbit at 1:35 AM (EDT). As a result of the expansion of the Universe, most of the optical and ultraviolet radiation emitted from stars, galaxies, and quasars since the beginning of time now lies in the infrared. How and when the first objects in the Universe formed will be learned in large part from this observatory's infrared observations."

1 of 127 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The electromagnetic spectrum by barakn · · Score: 2, Troll

    Wrong. The long distances do matter a lot. The main reason far away objects seem to be speeding away from us is that the space between has been expanding in size. A photon traveling through this expanding space also stretches, and the further it has to go the more it stretches. Doppler has nothing to do with it.

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    "I'm so moist I'm sticking to the leather." -Kermit the Frog on The Late Late Show