the entire universe in one image

originally posted by: Discotech
isn't Voyager reaching the edge of the solar system ? How long until it gets into deep space and more importantly how long to send information back to us ? It has some sensors on it right ?

It can only run until 2020 or maybe a little longer at which time the power level will be so low they won't be able to run the heaters. They've already had to turn off some of the instruments due to low power levels, so it's nearing the end of its expected life.

What Fuel Does Voyager 1 Use? Plus, why it will run out in 2020
Voyager 1 already made it to interstellar space in 2012.

a reply to: Arbitrageur

Not though doing 8.4 billion miles in 40 years, shame she's going to run out of juice though. What kind of data can she gather and send back and can we even receive it that far away ?

Maybe in another 300 years we'll see the her return as VGER

a reply to: Discotech

Well the laws we have now are only Earth based theories are they not ? I mean what may hold true on Earth and relatively close space may not hold true for what is beyond our solar system or even galaxy.

I don't think that would be the case, that the laws of physics depend upon where you are.

a reply to: Phage

If time can be relative, why not laws of physics ?

That is of course if time is truly relative, I like to keep an open mind on these possibilities as there's so much we just do not know or can comprehend yet.

Think of it all like the Penrose Staircase, it all depends on what angle you're looking at it from and when it comes to space we're only looking at it from the perspective of Earth

a reply to: Discotech

If time can be relative, why not laws of physics ?

Well, for one thing, because the theory which says time is relative says that the primary law, the speed of light, is not. So if the idea is that the speed of light is going to be exceeded, it wouldn't matter where you are in order to accomplish it. According to the theory.

a reply to: Phage

But the speed of light is not constant, so theoretically it should eventually be possible to attain FTL beyond the traditional speed of light no ?

Speed of light not so constant after all

Not to mention that FTL may not be needed if wormholes exist, or possibility of traveling in sub space

We're only going off our current knowledge of the workings of the universe which judging by its size is relatively little knowledge

a reply to: Discotech

Speed of light not so constant after all

Actually, it is.

The researchers explain this result by noting that they were using group velocity to measure the light's speed—a measurement of the group's envelope speed. The mask, they explain, caused some of the photons in the group to move at a slight angle to the other's causing a slowdown for the group as a whole. Thus, their results are not going to upend one of the basic tenets of modern physics, it is more likely that future researchers will have to make sure lab or astronomical observations are not being impacted by shape changes that occur naturally.

phys.org...

The same concept has been said to cause light to move faster than light. But it doesn't.

But no, even if light were shown to be able to be slowed down, it would not imply that an object can move faster than light.

We're only going off our current knowledge of the workings of the universe which judging by its size is relatively little knowledge

Yes, that's what I said. Laws we don't know about yet.

So if we are able to exceed the speed of light then perhaps we can view events in the past more clearly yet still be unable to intervene? A Ravens eye portal, cool

Great idea for a picture vinyl, if I ever saw one!

I hope the James Webb telescope will provide an even further and more detailed view into the edges of the observable universe.

originally posted by: Arbitrageur

originally posted by: Discotech
It makes the rest of space look so small having our solar system so big and centered. Still, nice image though I'd like to see one to scale and preferably large in size so I can zoom in

It is to a logarithmic scale.

If you saw one to linear scale you'd understand why it's no good. The universe is mostly space, so all you'd see is a lot of space, and a few dots here and there. Even our solar system is that way, the planets are so small compared to the scale of the solar system. Here's the solar system to scale, see how boring it is?

joshworth.com...

Yeah, I like that site. I'd advise anyone to take 5 or 6 minutes scrolling it so they can get a better idea of the distances in space. I say "5-6 minutes" because you have to scroll really slowly or you'll miss the important things, which are ridiculously small in comparison.

a reply to: enlightenedservant
Yes I think it helps answer discotech's comment about drawing space maps to scale and why it often doesn't happen. I found this nugget after I'd been scrolling a long time, it's somewhat past Jupiter when you keep scrolling wondering when the next planet will show up:

joshworth.com...


You can't just look at this screenshot and comprehend what it really means, but if you did scroll to it, then you probably do understand what it means.

a reply to: Arbitrageur

It's a great site... The kids and I spent some time on there last night playing around with it. Thanks for linking it!!

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: Discotech

Still, nice image though I'd like to see one to scale and preferably large in size so I can zoom in

There are probably not enough bytes on the internet to do that.

you take the fun out of everything with your "realism"

originally posted by: Arbitrageur
a reply to: enlightenedservant
Yes I think it helps answer discotech's comment about drawing space maps to scale and why it often doesn't happen. I found this nugget after I'd been scrolling a long time, it's somewhat past Jupiter when you keep scrolling wondering when the next planet will show up:

joshworth.com...

You can't just look at this screenshot and comprehend what it really means, but if you did scroll to it, then you probably do understand what it means.

The author/site creator also has a sense of humor. He has some relatively funny lines in there as well. Takes too long to find them though lol. But the craziest part for me is the very end where it says we'd have to scroll through more than 6,000+ additional sites like that before we got to the next object (I forgot the exact number). That really drove home the point for me.

originally posted by: CIAGypsy
the entire universe looks like in one image

Came across this article today and thought this was a pretty spectacular image. Pretty ingenius way of portraying it...

On a side note, I'd have LOVED to have a father who knew what a hexaflexagon even was....let alone make them for my birthday party!

I find it amazing how similar it looks to the iris and pupil of the human eye....



Great pic!

a reply to: CIAGypsy

Interesting concept, it seems energy is contained within something

If we consider that the cosmic "foam" of galactic superclusters ultimately originated from the quantum foam of vacuum energy fluctuations, the old saying "as above, so below" is actually true in this case.

a reply to: CIAGypsy

Great... are you telling me the universe is flat too?

originally posted by: FoosM
a reply to: CIAGypsy

Great... are you telling me the universe is flat too?

Only if you are dumb enough to believe that a picture...ANY picture....is a "true representation" of the universe.

As above, so below..
a reply to: CIAGypsy