The Accelerating universe

Before astronomers found out that the universe was accelerating they belived that it was decelerating .The only question was if the decelerating would halt that expansion or not.But in 1997 two teams of astronomers who were observing completely changed that view.

The astronomers were observing supernovae explosions in the distant universe. These bursts of light shine briefly, with the intensity of a billion Suns and as a resault they become becons that astronomers can use to study the universe on its largest  scales. This is because, as the light  of the explosion travels through space, it suffers a redshift because of the expansion of the universe. When both teams did the calculations using data from different supernovae,they found out  that the figuers did not add up; the supernovae were fainter than expected. This could only be explained  if the expansion of the universe has accelerated, the only way to explain that the universe is accelerating is if it contains an exotic form on energy, known as vacuum energy. Matter, which produces gravity,can only cause  attraction so can the Universe. But vacuum energy, has the opposite effect.

questions

hey everybody if u have any questions about the universe or our simple solar system u can ask me.

An international team of astronomers

An international team of astronomers may have set a new record in discovering what is the most distant known galaxy in the universe. Located an estimated 13 billion light-years away, the object is being viewed at a time only 750 million years after the big bang, when the universe was barely 5 percent of its current age. The primeval galaxy was identified by combining the power of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and CARA’s W. M. Keck Telescopes on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. These great observatories got a boost from the added magnification of a natural “cosmic gravitational lens” in space that further amplifies the brightness of the distant object

Mystery star cluster has 3 different birthdays

Using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to study the dimmest stars in the cluster, astronomers uncovered three different age groups. Two of the populations are dead  stars called white dwarfs. One group of these stellar remnants appears to be 6 billion years old, another appears to be 4 billion years old. The ages are out of sync with those of the cluster’s normal stars, which are 8 billion years old.

“The age discrepancy is a problem because stars in an open cluster should be the same age. They form at the same time within a large cloud of interstellar dust and gas. So we were really puzzled about what was going on,” explained astronomer Luigi Bedin.

Hubble finds first organic molecule on an exoplanet

NASA  hubble telescope has found the first organic molecule in the atmosphere of a Jupiter sized planet . the molecule it found was methane a key part in the prebiotic chemistry. It is the chemical reactions considered necessery to form life as we know it. we have already found water , salt and methane these are some of the key parts for life in the outer universe.

Easter Island mysteries

One place I would really like to visit is Easter Island, or Rapa Nui in the langauge of the original inhabitants. The island was only first explored in 1722 by the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who was searching for Davis or David’s island.^[The island’s official Spanish name, Isla de Pascua, is Spanish for “Easter Island”.

First settled by a small party of Polynesians, Easter Island is one of the youngest inhabited territories on Earth, and for most of its history it was the most isolated inhabited territory on Earth. Its inhabitants, the Rapanui, have endured famines, epidemics, civil war, slave raids and colonialism; have seen their population crash on more than one occasion, and created a cultural legacy that has brought them fame out of all proportion to their numbers. People have always wondered why the island became uninhabited so quickly – I think it was because the people there ran out of fresh water and food supplies.

The large stone statues, or moai, for which Easter Island is world famous were carved during a relatively short and intense burst of creative and productive megalithic activity. 887 monolithic stone statues have been inventoried on the island and in museum collections. Although often identified as “Easter Island Heads”, the statues actually are heads and complete torsos. Some upright moai, however, have become buried up to their necks by shifting soils. It must have been a brilliant sight for that first Dutch explorer when he arrived at the island and saw them lined up along the shores. No-one yet has really explained why the people built them at all.

I wonder if the mystery will ever be solved.

Found – possible life on Mars!

What do you think? If you were shown a photograph of  ’something’ that was obviously walking upright on the red surface would you believe?

Images beamed back from Mars would suggest so – then again, it could just be a strange rock formation.

Nasa’s Mars Explorer Spirit sent back images from the surface of the Red Planet four years ago, and there was initial disappointment among scientists that they lacked any signs of life.

But space and science fiction enthusiasts are convinced there is more than meets the eye, and after years of studying the images, have found what appears to be an alien figure walking downhill. The discovery of the life-like figure ambling across the surface of the planet is likely to further boost intrigue in our nearest neighbouring planet.

The pictures were found on a Chinese website and have been causing excitement around the world.  Maybe we really are not alone!

galaxy M51 and galaxy NGC 4501

Galaxy M51 is a whirlpool galaxy that has hundreds of new stars being born. This photo was taken from hubble space telescope. It was first discovered in 1773 by Charles Messier. When observing a comet he discribed it as a “very faint nebula, without stars” which is difficult  to see.

And galaxy NGC 4501 was also discovered by Charles Messier in 1781. The galaxy is a member of the virgo cluster and is a spiral galaxy . It is 47 million light-years away from our solar system.

Hello world!

Hi, this is a site for anyone into extra-terrestrial, mysterious, historical stuff..or just the plain unexplained. Post here about anything you have to say on these topics. Ask questions, tell us about a UFO you have seen, or just lets talk about things that the cynics deny.

I believe that life exists beyond earth…lets prove it!.