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Author Topic:   Coffee House Musing - Webb, Hubble and Other Space Based Observatories
Tanypteryx
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(5)
Message 1 of 73 (899879)
10-20-2022 1:00 PM


In Message 316 Percy suggested a thread for the JWST, but I'm including other observatories because the others are making some fascinating discoveries on a daily basis also. It is not uncommon to see comparisons between them, but also composites of data from multiple detectors on different observatories.
Webb Uncovers Dense Cosmic Knot In The Early Universe Webb continues its search into the earliest times of our Universe, revealing the surprising formation of a massive galaxy cluster around a powerful, red quasar.
quote:
The quasar in question, SDSS J165202.64+172852.3, is an “extremely red” quasar that exists in the very early Universe, 11.5 billion years ago. Quasars are a rare, incredibly luminous type of active galactic nucleus (AGN). This quasar is one of the most powerful known galactic nuclei that’s been seen at such an extreme distance. Astronomers had speculated that the quasar’s extreme emission could cause a “galactic wind”, pushing free gas out of its host galaxy and possibly greatly influencing future star formation there.
An AGN is a compact region at the centre of a galaxy, which is emitting enough electromagnetic radiation to outshine all the galaxy’s stars. AGNs, including quasars, are powered by gas falling into a supermassive black hole at the centre of their galaxy. They typically emit vast amounts of light across all wavelengths, but this galactic core is a member of an unusually red class. In addition to its intrinsic red colour, the galaxy’s light has been further redshifted by its vast distance. That made Webb, having unparalleled sensitivity in infrared wavelengths, perfectly suited to examine the galaxy in detail.
To investigate the movement of the gas, dust and stellar material in the galaxy, the team used the telescope’s Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec). This powerful instrument can simultaneously gather spectra across the telescope’s whole field of view, instead of just from one point at a time – a technique known as integral field unit (IFU) spectroscopy. This enabled them to simultaneously examine the quasar, its galaxy and the wider surroundings.
So far, I have to say I have been pleased by the quality of images from JWST, many are exquisitely beautiful and strikingly different from Hubble images because it is sensitive the red and infrared portion of the spectrum.

Stop Tzar Vladimir the Condemned!

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python

One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie

If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq


Replies to this message:
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Tanypteryx
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Posts: 4344
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.9


(5)
Message 2 of 73 (899891)
10-20-2022 4:25 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Tanypteryx
10-20-2022 1:00 PM


Hubble and Webb Showcase the Pillars of Creation (Slider Tool)
This is pretty cool!
Hubble and Webb Showcase the Pillars of Creation (Slider Tool)

Stop Tzar Vladimir the Condemned!

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python

One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie

If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq


This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by Tanypteryx, posted 10-20-2022 1:00 PM Tanypteryx has not replied

Replies to this message:
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Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4344
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.9


Message 9 of 73 (899942)
10-21-2022 11:07 AM
Reply to: Message 5 by Phat
10-21-2022 5:58 AM


Re: Is God A Deadbeat Dad?
If you don't have anything to contribute to this thread you could consider the alternative.

Stop Tzar Vladimir the Condemned!

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python

One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie

If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq


This message is a reply to:
 Message 5 by Phat, posted 10-21-2022 5:58 AM Phat has replied

Replies to this message:
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Tanypteryx
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Posts: 4344
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.9


(3)
Message 17 of 73 (899963)
10-21-2022 1:30 PM


NASA’s NEOWISE Space Telescope Takes 12-Year Time-Lapse Movie of Entire Sky
NASA’s NEOWISE Space Telescope Takes 12-Year Time-Lapse Movie of Entire Sky
quote:
NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer, or NEOWISE, spacecraft completes one trip halfway around the Sun every six months, taking images in all directions. Once stitched together, those images form an “all-sky” map showing the location and brightness of hundreds of millions of objects. Using 18 all-sky maps produced by the spacecraft (with the 19th and 20th to be released in March 2023), astronomers have constructed what is essentially a time-lapse movie of the sky, revealing changes that span a decade.
NEOWISE was originally a data processing project to retrieve asteroid detections and characteristics from WISE – an observatory launched in 2009 and tasked with scanning the entire sky to find and study objects outside our solar system. Cryogenically cooled detectors in the spacecraft were sensitive to infrared light.
Infrared light is not visible to the human eye. It is radiated by a plethora of cosmic objects, including cool, nearby stars and some of the most luminous galaxies in the universe. The WISE mission ended in 2011 after the onboard coolant – needed for some infrared observations – ran out, but the spacecraft and some of its infrared detectors were still functional. So in 2013, NASA repurposed it to track asteroids and other near-Earth objects, or NEOs. Both the mission and the spacecraft received a new name: NEOWISE.
Growing Wiser
Despite the mission shift, the infrared telescope has continued to scan the sky every six months. Astronomers have continued to use the data to study objects outside of our solar system.
For example, in 2020, researchers released the second iteration of a project called CatWISE: a catalog of objects from 12 NEOWISE all-sky maps. Astronomers use the catalog to study brown dwarfs, a population of objects found throughout the galaxy and lurking in the darkness close to our Sun. Although brown dwarfs form like stars, they don’t accumulate enough mass to kick-start fusion, the process that causes stars to shine.

Stop Tzar Vladimir the Condemned!

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python

One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie

If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq


  
Tanypteryx
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Posts: 4344
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.9


(2)
Message 18 of 73 (899966)
10-21-2022 1:41 PM


Results From NASA’s IXPE Help Unlock the Secrets of Famous Exploded Star
Surprising Results From NASA’s IXPE Help Unlock the Secrets of Famous Exploded Star
quote:
Using NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), astronomers have, for the first time, measured and mapped polarized X-rays from the remains of an exploded star. The findings come from observations of Cassiopeia A, a famous stellar remnant. The results shed new light on the nature of young supernova remnants, which accelerate particles close to the speed of light.
Launched on December 9, 2021, IXPE, a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency, is the first satellite that can measure the polarization of X-ray light with this level of sensitivity and clarity. It was designed to discover the secrets of some of the most extreme objects in the universe – the remnants of supernova explosions, powerful particle streams spit out by feeding black holes, and more.
All forms of light – from radio waves to gamma rays – can be polarized. Unlike the polarized sunglasses we use to cut the glare from sunlight bouncing off a wet road or windshield, IXPE’s detectors map the tracks of incoming X-ray light. Scientists can use these individual track records to figure out the polarization, which tells the story of what the X-rays went through.
Cassiopeia A (Cas A for short) was the first object IXPE observed after it began collecting data. One of the reasons Cas A was selected is that its shock waves – like a sonic boom generated by a jet – are some of the fastest in the Milky Way. The shock waves were generated by the supernova explosion that destroyed a massive star after it collapsed. Light from the blast swept past Earth more than three hundred years ago.
“Without IXPE, we have been missing crucial information about objects like Cas A,” said Pat Slane at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, who leads the IXPE investigations of supernova remnants. “This result is teaching us about a fundamental aspect of the debris from this exploded star – the behavior of its magnetic fields.”

Stop Tzar Vladimir the Condemned!

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python

One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie

If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq


  
Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4344
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.9


(2)
Message 19 of 73 (899968)
10-21-2022 1:53 PM


NASA’s Swift and Fermi Missions Detect Exceptional Cosmic Blast
Strange Long-Lasting Pulse of High-Energy Radiation Swept Over Earth
quote:
NASA’s Swift and Fermi Missions Detect Exceptional Cosmic Blast
An unusually bright and long-lasting pulse of high-energy radiation swept over Earth Sunday, October 9, captivating astronomers around the world. The intense emission came from a gamma-ray burst (GRB) – the most powerful class of explosions in the universe – that ranks among the most luminous events known.
A week ago, on Sunday morning Eastern time, a wave of X-rays and gamma rays passed through the solar system. It triggered detectors aboard NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, and Wind spacecraft, as well as others. Around the world, telescopes were turned to the site to study the aftermath, and new observations continue.
Called GRB 221009A, the explosion provided an unexpectedly exciting start to the 10th Fermi Symposium, a gathering of gamma-ray astronomers now underway in Johannesburg, South Africa. “It’s safe to say this meeting really kicked off with a bang – everyone’s talking about this,” said Judy Racusin, a Fermi deputy project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who is attending the conference.
Originating from the direction of the constellation Sagitta, the signal traveled an estimated 1.9 billion years to reach Earth. Many astronomers believe it represents the birth cry of a new black hole, one that formed in the heart of a massive star collapsing under its own weight. In these circumstances, a developing black hole drives powerful jets of particles traveling near the speed of light. The energetic jets pierce through the star, emitting X-rays and gamma rays as they stream into space.
The burst also provided a long-awaited inaugural observing opportunity for a link between two experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) – NASA’s NICER X-ray telescope and a Japanese detector called the Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI). Activated in April, the connection is dubbed the Orbiting High-energy Monitor Alert Network (OHMAN). It allows NICER to rapidly turn to outbursts detected by MAXI, actions that previously required intervention by scientists on the ground.
“OHMAN provided an automated alert that enabled NICER to follow up within three hours, as soon as the source became visible to the telescope,” said Zaven Arzoumanian, the NICER science lead at Goddard. “Future opportunities could result in response times of a few minutes.”

Stop Tzar Vladimir the Condemned!

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python

One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie

If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq


  
Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4344
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.9


(3)
Message 22 of 73 (902250)
11-20-2022 12:30 PM


Re: The Golden Age of Astronomy
The December issue of Scientific American has a large section on JWST. The observatory is producing some stunning images and it is interesting seeing comparison with Hubble images looking at different parts of the light spectrum. The JWST scientists are excited that they are seeing galaxies that are significantly older (further away) than those seen by any instrument before, but they are much larger and more luminous than expected and there are far more of them than expected.

Stop Tzar Vladimir the Condemned!

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python

One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie

If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq


Replies to this message:
 Message 23 by Taq, posted 11-21-2022 10:45 AM Tanypteryx has seen this message but not replied

  
Tanypteryx
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Posts: 4344
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.9


(1)
Message 27 of 73 (904273)
12-25-2022 11:00 AM
Reply to: Message 26 by Percy
12-25-2022 7:48 AM


Re: A JWST Collection. Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!

Stop Tzar Vladimir the Condemned!

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python

One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie

If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq


This message is a reply to:
 Message 26 by Percy, posted 12-25-2022 7:48 AM Percy has seen this message but not replied

  
Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4344
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.9


Message 34 of 73 (904837)
01-08-2023 2:50 PM
Reply to: Message 29 by Dredge
01-08-2023 6:01 AM


Re: More religious crap
There are plenty of other threads for you to troll, so piss off.

Stop Tzar Vladimir the Condemned!

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python

One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie

If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq


This message is a reply to:
 Message 29 by Dredge, posted 01-08-2023 6:01 AM Dredge has replied

Replies to this message:
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Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4344
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.9


(1)
Message 39 of 73 (905644)
02-01-2023 3:17 PM
Reply to: Message 38 by Dredge
02-01-2023 1:15 PM


Re: More religious crap
This has nothing to do with space-based observatories, SO GO FUCK YOURSELF!!

Stop Tzar Vladimir the Condemned!

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python

One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie

If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq


This message is a reply to:
 Message 38 by Dredge, posted 02-01-2023 1:15 PM Dredge has replied

Replies to this message:
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Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4344
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.9


(4)
Message 66 of 73 (907517)
02-24-2023 7:12 PM


A Possible Explanation for Dark Energy
OK, I saw this a couple days ago but didn't have time to read it until now, but this seems like research that the science nerds really need to keep an eye on, because this study points to concrete ways to test the hypothesis.
“Cosmological Coupling” – New Evidence Points to Black Holes as Source of Dark Energy
quote:
Searching through existing data spanning 9 billion years, a team of researchers led by scientists at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa has uncovered the first evidence of “cosmological coupling” – a newly predicted phenomenon in Einstein’s theory of gravity, possible only when black holes are placed inside an evolving universe.
Astrophysicists Duncan Farrah and Kevin Croker led this ambitious study, combining Hawaiʻi’s expertise in galaxy evolution and gravity theory with the observation and analysis experience of researchers across nine countries to provide the first insight into what might exist inside real black holes.
“When LIGO heard the first pair of black holes merge in late 2015, everything changed,” said Croker. “The signal was in excellent agreement with predictions on paper, but extending those predictions to millions, or billions of years? Matching that model of black holes to our expanding universe? It wasn’t at all clear how to do that.”
The team has recently published two papers, one in The Astrophysical Journal and the other in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, that studied supermassive black holes at the hearts of ancient and dormant galaxies.
The first paper found that these black holes gain mass over billions of years in a way that can’t easily be explained by standard galaxy and black hole processes, such as mergers or accretion of gas.
The second paper finds that the growth in mass of these black holes matches predictions for black holes that not only cosmologically couple, but also enclose vacuum energy—material that results from squeezing matter as much as possible without breaking Einstein’s equations, thus avoiding a singularity.
With singularities absent, the paper then shows that the combined vacuum energy of black holes produced in the deaths of the universe’s first stars agrees with the measured quantity of dark energy in our universe.
“We’re really saying two things at once: that there’s evidence the typical black hole solutions don’t work for you on a long, long timescale, and we have the first proposed astrophysical source for dark energy,” said Farrah, lead author of both papers.
So, if these observations are confirmed this could fundamentally change how astrophysics describes black holes and may also explain how supermassive blackholes got their super size in only 12.7 billion years.
quote:
Black holes come from dead large stars, so if you know how many large stars you are making, you can estimate how many black holes you are making and how much they grow as a result of cosmological coupling. The team used the very latest measurements of the rate of earliest star formation provided by the James Webb Space Telescope and found that the numbers line up.
According to the researchers, their studies provide a framework for theoretical physicists and astronomers to further test—and for the current generation of dark energy experiments such as the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument and the Dark Energy Survey—to shed light on the idea.
“If confirmed this would be a remarkable result, pointing the way towards the next generation of black hole solutions,” said Farrah.
Croker added, “This measurement, explaining why the universe is accelerating now, gives a beautiful glimpse into the real strength of Einstein’s gravity. A chorus of tiny voices spread throughout the universe can work together to steer the entire cosmos. How cool is that?”
Boy, if this data holds up to scrutiny there could be multiple Nobel Prizes.
References:
“A Preferential Growth Channel for Supermassive Black Holes in Elliptical Galaxies at z ≲ 2” by Duncan Farrah, Sara Petty, Kevin S. Croker, Gregory Tarlé, Michael Zevin, Evanthia Hatziminaoglou, Francesco Shankar, Lingyu Wang, David L Clements, Andreas Efstathiou, Mark Lacy, Kurtis A. Nishimura, Jose Afonso, Chris Pearson and Lura K Pitchford, 15 February 2023, The Astrophysical Journal.
DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/acac2e
“Observational Evidence for Cosmological Coupling of Black Holes and its Implications for an Astrophysical Source of Dark Energy” by Duncan Farrah, Kevin S. Croker, Michael Zevin, Gregory Tarlé, Valerio Faraoni, Sara Petty, Jose Afonso, Nicolas Fernandez, Kurtis A. Nishimura, Chris Pearson, Lingyu Wang, David L Clements, Andreas Efstathiou, Evanthia Hatziminaoglou, Mark Lacy, Conor McPartland, Lura K Pitchford, Nobuyuki Sakai and Joel Weiner, 15 February 2023, The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/acb704

Stop Tzar Vladimir the Condemned!

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python

One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie

If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq


  
Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4344
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.9


(3)
Message 67 of 73 (911365)
06-29-2023 2:38 PM


Gravitational Waves From Merging Supermassive Black Holes “Heard” for First Time
Louder Than Expected: Gravitational Waves From Merging Supermassive Black Holes “Heard” for First Time
quote:
Following 15 years of observing pulsars, the NANOGrav collaboration has detected gravitational waves stronger than ever before, likely produced by supermassive black hole pairs. This groundbreaking discovery presents the first evidence for the gravitational wave background, which is surprisingly louder than anticipated, possibly pointing to an abundance of supermassive black holes or alternative gravitational wave sources.
quote:
The groundbreaking discovery was made by scientists with the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) who closely observed stars called pulsars that act as celestial metronomes. The newly detected gravitational waves — ripples in the fabric of space-time — are by far the most powerful ever measured: They carry roughly a million times as much energy as the one-off bursts of gravitational waves from black hole and neutron star mergers detected by experiments such as LIGO and Virgo.
quote:
Most of the gigantean gravitational waves are probably produced by pairs of supermassive black holes spiraling toward cataclysmic collisions throughout the cosmos, the NANOGrav scientists report in a series of new papers published today (June 29) in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
quote:
“It’s like a choir, with all these supermassive black hole pairs chiming in at different frequencies,” says NANOGrav scientist Chiara Mingarelli, who worked on the new findings while an associate research scientist at the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics (CCA) in New York City. “This is the first-ever evidence for the gravitational wave background. We’ve opened a new window of observation on the universe.”
The existence and composition of the gravitational wave background — long theorized but never before heard — presents a treasure trove of new insights into long-standing questions, from the fate of supermassive black hole pairs to the frequency of galaxy mergers.
An ingenious new technique to detect gravitational waves and listen to the gravitational wave background!

Stop Tzar Vladimir the Condemned!
What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python
One important characteristic of a theory is that it has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie
If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --Percy
The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq

Replies to this message:
 Message 68 by AZPaul3, posted 06-30-2023 12:26 AM Tanypteryx has seen this message but not replied

  
Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4344
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.9


(1)
Message 71 of 73 (911560)
07-15-2023 10:57 AM


New Research Doubles Universe’s Age to 26.7 Billion Years
Cosmic Paradigm Shift: New Research Doubles Universe’s Age to 26.7 Billion Years
I saw reports of this a couple days ago and was surprised that it didn't catch the media's attention, it seems like the perfect story for clickbait. There are some clear disagreements in the astrophysics/cosmology community about the expansion rate of the Universe, the nature of Dark Energy and Dark Matter, and the origin of supermassive black holes.
Observations over the past year with JWST have shown us parts of the Universe that were completely invisible to us before, because of distance and far-infrared wavelengths, and they seem to be deepening the mysteries rather than answering them.
quote:
Our universe could be twice as old as current estimates, according to a new study that challenges the dominant cosmological model and sheds new light on the so-called “impossible early galaxy problem.”
“Our newly-devised model stretches the galaxy formation time by several billion years, making the universe 26.7 billion years old, and not 13.7 as previously estimated,” says author Rajendra Gupta, adjunct professor of physics in the Faculty of Science at the University of Ottawa.
For years, astronomers and physicists have calculated the age of our universe by measuring the time elapsed since the Big Bang and by studying the oldest stars based on the redshift of light coming from distant galaxies. In 2021, thanks to new techniques and advances in technology, the age of our universe was thus estimated at 13.797 billion years using the Lambda-CDM concordance model.
The Lambda-CDM (Lambda-Cold Dark Matter) concordance model, also known as the standard model of cosmology, is currently the simplest and most widely accepted model that describes the evolution of the universe from its earliest moments to the present day.
However, many scientists have been puzzled by the existence of stars like the Methuselah that appear to be older than the estimated age of our universe and by the discovery of early galaxies in an advanced state of evolution made possible by the James Webb Space Telescope. These galaxies, existing a mere 300 million years or so after the Big Bang, appear to have a level of maturity and mass typically associated with billions of years of cosmic evolution. Furthermore, they’re surprisingly small in size, adding another layer of mystery to the equation.
Zwicky’s tired light theory proposes that the redshift of light from distant galaxies is due to the gradual loss of energy by photons over vast cosmic distances. However, it was seen to conflict with observations. Yet Gupta found that “by allowing this theory to coexist with the expanding universe, it becomes possible to reinterpret the redshift as a hybrid phenomenon, rather than purely due to expansion.”
In addition to Zwicky’s tired light theory, Gupta introduces the idea of evolving “coupling constants,” as hypothesized by Paul Dirac. Coupling constants are fundamental physical constants that govern the interactions between particles. According to Dirac, these constants might have varied over time. By allowing them to evolve, the timeframe for the formation of early galaxies observed by the Webb telescope at high redshifts can be extended from a few hundred million years to several billion years. This provides a more feasible explanation for the advanced level of development and mass observed in these ancient galaxies.
Moreover, Gupta suggests that the traditional interpretation of the “cosmological constant,” which represents dark energy responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe, needs revision. Instead, he proposes a constant that accounts for the evolution of the coupling constants. This modification in the cosmological model helps address the puzzle of small galaxy sizes observed in the early universe, allowing for more accurate observations.
Reference: “JWST early Universe observations and ΛCDM cosmology” by R Gupta, 7 July 2023, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stad2032
In this Golden Age of Astronomy, we need to remember that "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

Stop Tzar Vladimir the Condemned!
What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python
One important characteristic of a theory is that it has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie
If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --Percy
The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq

Replies to this message:
 Message 72 by Percy, posted 07-15-2023 11:11 AM Tanypteryx has replied

  
Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4344
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.9


Message 73 of 73 (911565)
07-15-2023 12:08 PM
Reply to: Message 72 by Percy
07-15-2023 11:11 AM


Re: New Research Doubles Universe’s Age to 26.7 Billion Years
It's based on Zwicky's tired light theory. There's no evidence supporting this theory.
Yeah, I suspect we are going to see a lot of unsupported hypotheses dusted off and compared to new observations that don't have immediate explanations. I also suspect that many astrophysicists are ecstatic about all the new mysteries!

Stop Tzar Vladimir the Condemned!
What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python
One important characteristic of a theory is that it has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie
If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --Percy
The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq

This message is a reply to:
 Message 72 by Percy, posted 07-15-2023 11:11 AM Percy has seen this message but not replied

  
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