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Hubble Takes Pictures of Colliding Galaxies
Jerry Smith writes "The Register reports that the Hubble Space Telescope is still going strong, and took snapshots of two colliding galaxies. The sizes average between thousands and hundreds of thousand light years, containing ten million to one trillion stars. The process took hundreds of millions of years, and will take many more hundreds of millions of years."
Just... wow. Great to see that there is life in the old girl yet. Our galaxy is to suffer a similar fate, some 3 billion years hence.
FairTax baby!
the fate that awaits our own galaxy, which is likely to collide with the (cosmically) nearish Andromeda galaxy in about six billion years time
Intersting stuff.. but when you consider time scales like this what kind of practical applications does this have? Can anyone explain what knowledge is gained from these pretty pictures?
- F1 NEWS
You can find a really high resolution copy (3915x3885 as a TIFF or JPEG) of the image here. Hmm, this might make a pretty desktop wallpaper.
The real proof that there is order to the universe.
Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels.
This is like watching two fundamentally different cultures at war.
Boom
I heard this was going to be on Fox 9pm EST in their special "When Galaxies Collide." It's the over dramatization of celestial occurances that draws in new astronomers.
I for one welcome our new colliding galaxy overlords...
you mean 6000? Cause thats how long ago God created the universe...
Seriously, instead of funding real science like the hubble and other versatile projects, we're funding crazy "man to mars" missions and finishing the ISS so that we can dump it into the ocean... we could probably stand to have a decent collider project here (on earth) also, to compete with some of the others that are soon to come online / being proposed. Either that or we can all move to mars, or wait for God to come back.
"When Two Worlds Collide"
(Dave Murray, Blaze Bayley, Steve Harris)
- - -
my telescope looks out into the stars tonight
a little speck of light seems twice the size tonight
the calculations are so fine
can it be growing all the time?
now I can't believe it's true
and I don't know what to do
for the hundredth time I check the declination
now the fear starts to grow
even my computer shows
there are no errors in the calculations
now it's happened, take no other view
collision course, you must believe it's true
now there's nothing left that we can do
when two worlds collide
the anger and the pain
of all those who remain
two worlds collide
who will be left alive
no place to hide
when two worlds collide
the anger, the pain
of those who remain
when two worlds collide
when two worlds collide
so who will survive
there's no place to hide
when two worlds collide
Circumcision is child abuse.
I think this just falls under the "Damn Cool" category.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not entirely sure about the universe - Einstein
[When Worlds Collide]
By Powerman 5000
What is it really
That's going on here
You've got your system for total control
So is there really anybody out there
Now watch us suffer cause we can't go
What is it really that is in your head
What little life that you had just died
I'm gonna be the one that's takin over
Now this is what it's like when worlds collide
Are you ready to go
Cause I'm ready to go
What you gonna do baby baby
Are you going with me
Cause I'm going with you
It's the end of all time
What is it really that motivates you
The need to fly or this fear to stop
I'll go along for the ride but surprise
When we get there I say 9 of 10 drop
Now who's the light and who is the devil
You can't decide so I'll be your guide
And one by one they will be hand chosen
Now this is what it's like when worlds collide
[chorus]
What is it really when they're fallin over
Everything that you thought is denied
I'm gonna be the one that's takin over
Now this is what it's like when worlds collide
/* No Comment */
"The process took hundreds of millions of years, and will take many more hundreds of millions of years".
Man the guy operating the camera needs to be sacked! Oh wait, they mean the galaxies not the picture.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
Um, none? I suppose I could try to think of some technological offshoot of current astrophysical science, but to be safe let's just round down to 0. Is this "practicality" the metric by which you think we ought to measure all scientific findings?
Can anyone explain what knowledge is gained from these pretty pictures?
Ah, now this is easier. Watching a close interaction between galaxies helps understand collisions we see happening further away, and tightens constraints on cosmological and galactic evolution models (the latter is what I worked on). Of course the pretty pictures are shown to the public --- we're far more interested in the high-resolution spectra of these regions. Starburst regions are of intense interest because of the degree to which the nebulae are enriched promptly with elements like sulfer, silicon, and oxygen (from high-mass, short-lived stars). Then when we see these bright regions in more distant galaxies with a certain ratio of elemental abundances we can make a guess as to the age of the region and perhaps the embedding galaxy. The spectra of many regions also gives us dynamic information about the system's interaction, yielding a good estimate of the total mass interacting gravitationally. We can use these more precise measurements to constrain galactic dark matter models and distributions. And I'm sure there are a hundred other areas of specialized research that will be influenced by high-resolution data of galactic collisions.
Intersting stuff.. but when you consider time scales like this what kind of practical applications does this have?
This helps people to understand what our galaxy will look like right about the time that they send their last check to Capital One, paying off that 30" display they used to enjoy looking at the high-res version of the picture in question.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
The human race has long ago begun to wonder if we are alone in the universe. Sadly, given the lack of evidence of extraterrestrial life we've begun to lose faith in the value of space travel. This sort of research might give us a faint glimmer of hope that we were a little early to the show and yes, one day there will be green alien women that we can mate with in a kirkish wharfgasm of intergalactic pleasure.
Your world was so different From mine don't you see We just couldn't be close Though we tried. We both reached for heavens But ours weren't the same That's what happens When two worlds collide. Your world was made up Of things sweet and good My world could never Fit in, wish it could. Two hearts lie in shambles And oh. how they've cried That's what happens When two worlds collide
Prediction for end of Universe #42: Fencepost error in Quantum_bogosort.cpp
Your sig has value in this discussion!
Anyone who says that they don't understand why people find science beautiful need to be directed to this photo for a clue.
If people like you ran the world, we'd still be fighting off sabertooth tigers with flint-tipped spears.
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
I realize that there are intense and complex forces at work during this process, and it would be interesting to know what the impact would be on star systems within the galaxies...[this is the cue for astrologists in the audience to give their scientific input on the matter]
This is a very cool object, and because it's (relatively) close, it's visible to the human eyeball in a large amateur telescope, at a dark sky site (not QUITE like this Hubble image, obviously).
/ c/formats/web.jpg
I've tracked it down in my old 18" Newtonian/Dobsonian. With averted vision, you can see two "tails" twisting off the pair, much further out in the field than these Hubble images. Here's what it looks like in an amateur scope, but imagine it as just a dim hint in the eyepiece:
http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/1997/34/images
It's nothing at all like the Hubble image... just a hint of grey glow in the eyepiece, but still... there is something about seeing the actual photons from the object hitting your retina that's exciting, for us amateur astronomy geeks, anyway.
At first I read it as 3 million years, and was a bit worried.
As far as I know, Hubble's replacement is doing just fine, on schedule and fully funded.
As for colliders -- the last time colliders were fully funded (around the time the SSC was cancelled, many years ago) -- we spent half our national research budget on high-energy physics. That's excessive. There are many, many other interesting fields of science, from molecular biology to condensed matter physics to mesoscale material science to climate modeling. I don't see why HEP, admittedly interesting as it is, has to grab the lion's share of our national research funding. I'm totally cool with diverting the $100 billion it would cost to (maybe) find the Higgs boson into nifty biotech or materials science until the physicists figure out how to find the bugger with a less expensive instrument.
The process took hundreds of millions of years, and will take many more hundreds of millions of years.
If this isn't a dupe, it's bound to happen.
... it looks like *someone* is highly anticipating the release of Debian 'Etch'....
Somewhere out there is one REALLY big banana peel.
Havoc Video
"Current measurements suggest that, in about three billion years, the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies may collide."
You need a new prescription for your spectacles? Or do you usually make a spectacle of yourself?
Only six billion years to armageddon.
Have you built your bomb shelter yet?
Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
Um, none? I suppose I could try to think of some technological offshoot of current astrophysical science, but to be safe let's just round down to 0. Is this "practicality" the metric by which you think we ought to measure all scientific findings?
In terms of the practical application of the results of the research.. I'd agree with you. However, if you look at the technological advances that have been catalyzed by astrphysics, people might be somewhat surprised.. CCDs were pretty much discarded after their invention, until astronomers realized their use in data collection. They made improvements to the CCDs and camera companies ended up seeing the benefits years later and now we have digital cameras.
Considering that in about 5 billion years time it's projected that earth will be inside the sun (a red giant by that time) I think you'll have other things to panic over...
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
From TFA: "the collision began about 500m years ago"
Man, just can't get anything but old news around here. Digg reported this 499 million years ago!
"Intersting stuff.."
It is interesting, which is why they're reporting this in the mass-media, and saving all the scientific breakthroughs, theory corroborations and nitty-gritty stuff in trade journals you don't read.
"but when you consider time scales like this what kind of practical applications does this have?"
None... none at all that I can see. Of course, you're assuming that to find this out was the point of the research, which is probably a very, very, very stupid thing to assume.
Which is more likely:
"Hey, funding committee, can we have $MILLIONS to research whether our galaxy will ever hit another one before the end of the universe?... Oh, it will"
Or
"Hey, funding committee, can we have $MILLIONS for blue-sky astrophysics research, which might[1] not have any direct intended applications, but could just provide the breakthrough we need to eventually construct a hyperdrive, inter-dimensional travel, inertialess drive, or something truly world-changing like that?... Oh, and while we're still looking we've noticed our galaxy will hit Andromeda in 3 billion years' time."
[1] Who knows, maybe they already did have an aim in mind, but for the sake of argument let's not give them the benefit of the doubt.
And if you doubt the value of blue-sky research, remember blue-sky physics research gave us quantum mechanics (and hence the transistor), without which you'd be writing your post on paper and posting it on a noticeboard for about four other people to read.
"Can anyone explain what knowledge is gained from these pretty pictures?"
Very little. The pretty pictures are produced (from the actual useful data gathered) as a PR exercise for the uneducated, bum-scratching public so they feel they've got something tangible that they can understand for their tax money.
However, they also provide a handy mechanism for publically weeding out smartarses who aren't quite as clever as they think they are, right?
Everything in moderation, including moderation itself
Intersting stuff.. but when you consider time scales like this what kind of practical applications does this have?
A greater understanding of the laws of gravity. We can construct simulations of colliding galaxies, but being able to see the real thing helps confirm those theories.
Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
I think you're being optimistic with the flint tips.
Imagine what the people who live in those galaxies are thinking...
Some are watching the approaching onrush of supergiants, counting down their star system's remaining few thousand years of life.
Some are on a planet trapped in a dust cloud, wondering about the meaning of the dim legends that refer to bright points of light that once showed in the night sky.
Some are frantically transmitting radio signals to the rest of the universe, to announce "Look! I, too, was once alive."
Some are hauling themselves out of the primordial ooze on their planet, newly warmed by a star passing through their previously cold sector.
Some are looking enviously at the Milky Way, wondering what it was like to live in a quiet galaxy.
Some have packed up their whole ecosystem and are headed out into space on giant arcologies, in search of a cooler, quieter place to settle down, away from the 100,000,000-year maelstrom.
FATMOUSE + YOU = FATMOUSE
Don't worry about Andromeda. It's not the closest galaxy to us. In fact the article had it wrong in saying that the pictured collision is the nearest to earth. It's not. The Milky Way is in the middle of a collision with another galaxy which is closer to us than the center of the Milky Way. It's called the Canis Major Dwarf.
Stop Global Warming!
Just say no to irreversible processes!
I can't wait 'till we have enough photo's to make an animation of two colliding galaxies.
Me
I can't wait 'till we have enough photo's to make an animation of two colliding galaxies.
You may be waiting some time on that one...
I believe it was the process of modeling galaxy collisions that led to the discovery of dark matter. They realized that the models didn't work like what they saw in space until they added significantly more mass to each galaxy. What's the usefulness of dark matter you say? I don't know, but I still believe in pure research.
Survival of the human species. This is a social & political application, not scientific.
When you read the newspaper for the past 100 years, there's evidence the species might destroy itself. Often, wars happen because people don't understand their place in the universe. For example, a country can be run by people who believe a deity will save the faithful, so world turmoil and war is ok. Other times, wars are a symptom of tyranny (somebody wants "power").
Humans are very visually oriented. Pretty pictures pull the eye in.
As more people gaze at pretty pictures of the gi-normous universe full of stars, more people realize we live at a single star, and there are many many other stars similar to ours. That may reduce destructive effects of belief the deity who will "save" you wants you to kill people.
Gazing at pretty pictures can also inspire people who would otherwise permit tyranny (humans are lazy). A strong enough desire to find out about the pretty pictures can make people impatient to know truth. (e.g. "Why are there more stars in the Antennae galaxies than people on earth?", and "Why should these people be governed like this?")
The above possibilities are weak if you want an application you can apply science or technology to. But they're still important. When your species goes away, it reduces your ability to do science.
You suck. Listen to real music instead of this diluted nu-metal pop bullshit.
Maybe something with meaningful and perhaps insightful lyrics. And no, Tool does not fall into that category, sorry.