General Astronomy

[supercity88]

All this talk of looking into the past fascinates me.

So if we're looking at distance galaxies that are billions of light years away, where are we on the scale?

Is someone looking at us who are in the next Galaxy with the same perspective?
Are we past, present or future?

Time is relative so we're present. But we're the past for others.

(Don't have a clue).

 

[SWP's back]

So does it slow down, can it slow down? Messes my head up.

Doesn’t slow down but red shifts up the spectrum from what see as visible light past through infrared and microwaves which is what the James Webb telescope views in.

 

[denislawsbackheel]

So does it slow down, can it slow down? Messes my head up.

No

 

[mexico1970]

Sorry for the high school science question but why doesn't the light degrade, tried google but get varying degrees of answers i understand or go above my head...so explain like you are talking to a Rag or Simpleton as it is known in Manc circles

Photons need to impact with other particles to stop or have them degrade don't they?

Edit: quick google shows that they can't degrade.

 

[abu13]

Absolutley stunning photo and a stunning subject, i am constantly amazed at how people have no concept of the size of the universe.

 

[Kirkstall Blue]

Fantastic beautiful life on other planets fascinates me the stars are billions of light years away so we’ll never know if we are alone

Is this a pic taken from the new Chinese telescope ?

 

[mexico1970]

Fantastic beautiful life on other planets fascinates me the stars are billions of light years away so we’ll never know if we are alone

Nearest star is only 4.2 light years away mate, but your statement still stands IMO because I doubt very much we will ever be able to get there.

 

[Kirkstall Blue]

Even 4.2 light years is impossible with our present technology unless Einstein had it all wrong and we can go faster than the speed of light.
It makes you realise all the UFO films of Aliens visiting us is interesting but ridiculous.
I listen to Shaun Carroll and Brian Cox purely to understand physic’s but the mind boggles at how complicated it all is.
We are looking back in time to after the Big Bang so now we’re moving further apart they just had someone on Sky to talk about the pic but cut her off to see the Tory leader election

 

[argyle]

Fantastic beautiful life on other planets fascinates me the stars are billions of light years away so we’ll never know if we are alone

Is this a pic taken from the new Chinese telescope ?

No it's NASA made/owned but also contributions from other space agencies including the european one, ESA.

Current thinking of various astrophysicists is that life, as in Civilisations, will be extremely rare. Less than one per galaxy per many millions/billions of years. There probably hasn't been as advanced civilisation as us within the last billion years in our local galaxy group.

They think this as we detect no radiowave signals.

 

[argyle]

link to the new release of data/pictures. Will be released in 10 minutes time.