Beauty and possibility, perspective and incredulity, and mind-boggling numerics are what populate this photograph. It was taken by the Hubble Telescope on august 4th, 2005 and, believe it or not, it covers an area of sky smaller than one-quarter of a full moon.
The colorful shapes - each and every single disc, sphere, blur or dot - are not simply stars, but entire galaxies, each containing hundreds of billions of stars! The larger, more defined discs or spheres are galaxies located "nearby", a few million light years away, as opposed to a few billion light years for the smaller, much more distant objects. The only exceptions are six (my count) bright objects which seem be under crosshairs. These are stars of our own galaxy. As Hubble took the picture, looking out through the arms of our own disc-shaped Milky Way, these six intruders got in the way.
The colorful shapes - each and every single disc, sphere, blur or dot - are not simply stars, but entire galaxies, each containing hundreds of billions of stars! The larger, more defined discs or spheres are galaxies located "nearby", a few million light years away, as opposed to a few billion light years for the smaller, much more distant objects. The only exceptions are six (my count) bright objects which seem be under crosshairs. These are stars of our own galaxy. As Hubble took the picture, looking out through the arms of our own disc-shaped Milky Way, these six intruders got in the way.
Here´s another fascinating fact: Take for example, the ghostly, white, saucer-shaped galaxy at the bottom left (or any galaxy in the picture, for that matter); say it is located 9 million light years away. If what we see is light, and if that light took 9 million years to reach the Hubble lens, then this is an image of how that galaxy looked 9 million years ago! It has changed since then, no doubt, as have all others. In essence, this is a photograph of the past.
I find it curious that most individuals will take a look at this image and blurt out an empty "beautiful", or "nice" or maybe even a "wow". For me, the magnitude and awe of such beauty and its implications are truly hypnotic.
I find it curious that most individuals will take a look at this image and blurt out an empty "beautiful", or "nice" or maybe even a "wow". For me, the magnitude and awe of such beauty and its implications are truly hypnotic.
2 comentários:
That's very interesting stuff. I don't spend much time thinking about the cosmos, planets, galaxies, or light years! There's light years inside my head (planet Number One) and sometimes I see light, that is realizations that are a look at some past experience. This was a refreshing post, to get outside of american politics, business, and art. Dude, can you see me on GoogleEarth?
There are many blogs out there by me... but mainly you should check
http://thepawnbroker.blogspot.com
That is my old "THE PAWNSHOP", only with a new domain.
Yours is still linked on there!
SEE YA
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