[Technology] *** James Webb Space Telescope ***

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GoingUp

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Aug 14, 2011
3,698
Sussex By The Sea
I have a recollection of Professor/D:Ream keyboard player Brian Cox saying that we can already see the big bang.

A podcast a while ago but i thought it was interesting.


I think we can see the Big Bang background radiation, which is why scientists pretty much definitively accepted the idea of the Big Bang.

The radiation was accidentally was actually found by a couple of radio astronomers trying to make contact with satellites, who passed then passed onto to a specific team Princeton university.
 




birthofanorange

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Aug 31, 2011
6,500
David Gilmour's armpit
I think we can see the Big Bang background radiation, which is why scientists pretty much definitively accepted the idea of the Big Bang.

The radiation was accidentally was actually found by a couple of radio astronomers trying to make contact with satellites, who passed then passed onto to a specific team Princeton university.

Back in the 60's, I believe.

Thing is, we can't see/detect beyond that point and can only get close to it.
 


Garry Nelson's Left Foot

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Jul 7, 2003
13,527
tokyo
This is probably an incredibly dumb question but if you don't ask you don't learn anything.

If we can see the big bang, or just after it, does that mean that in theory(and if we were able to live long enough...) we could see how the universe unfolded step by step?
 


birthofanorange

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Garry Nelson's Left Foot

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2003
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tokyo

I'm not sure Europe is taking things seriously if they're calling their telescope the European Extremely Large Telescope. It's a bit boaty mcboatface.

My actual point is, and I'm not sure how to phrase it correctly/coherently, is if we can see all the way back to the first stars if we trained a camera on them would we be able to watch the life of those stars, watch as they get planets orbiting them and as the form into galaxies? Would we be able to watch like a video as the universe unfolded? I know it is practically impossible because of the time frames but is it theoretically possible?
 




birthofanorange

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Aug 31, 2011
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I'm not sure Europe is taking things seriously if they're calling their telescope the European Extremely Large Telescope. It's a bit boaty mcboatface.

My actual point is, and I'm not sure how to phrase it correctly/coherently, is if we can see all the way back to the first stars if we trained a camera on them would we be able to watch the life of those stars, watch as they get planets orbiting them and as the form into galaxies? Would we be able to watch like a video as the universe unfolded? I know it is practically impossible because of the time frames but is it theoretically possible?

Theoretically, given technological advancements (and major ones, at that!) I believe so, yes.
 


Igzilla

Well-known member
Sep 27, 2012
1,708
Worthing
I'm not sure Europe is taking things seriously if they're calling their telescope the European Extremely Large Telescope. It's a bit boaty mcboatface.

My actual point is, and I'm not sure how to phrase it correctly/coherently, is if we can see all the way back to the first stars if we trained a camera on them would we be able to watch the life of those stars, watch as they get planets orbiting them and as the form into galaxies? Would we be able to watch like a video as the universe unfolded? I know it is practically impossible because of the time frames but is it theoretically possible?

Probably not. The Universe is still expanding, so those very distant galaxies will get further and further away until, theoretically anyway, they disappear from view as their recession velocity exceeds that of light. We could maybe do it for stars within our own galaxy, but if we survive long enough to do that, we may well have visited them anyway.
 


Popeye

I Don't Exercise
Nov 12, 2021
583
North Carolina USA
As somebody who has always loved outer space and science in general, this is absolutely incredible to me.

Also I didn't see an intro thread? Sorry if I missed it but I have been a member here since December and time to stop lurking lol. I'm an American fan since 2018 and am a teacher so if I come on here to vent about my unruly kids I hope that's cool lol. Also, do you have to have a certain number of posts in order to change your avatar? Juzt curious. And lastly, I think its great next month we are migrating to Xenforo, its awesome software and I am very familiar with it anyone needs any help with it:clap2:

Cheers.
 




birthofanorange

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Aug 31, 2011
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Probably not. The Universe is still expanding, so those very distant galaxies will get further and further away until, theoretically anyway, they disappear from view as their recession velocity exceeds that of light. We could maybe do it for stars within our own galaxy, but if we survive long enough to do that, we may well have visited them anyway.

Not entirely sure that their recession velocity can exceed that of light, tbh.
 


GoingUp

Well-known member
Aug 14, 2011
3,698
Sussex By The Sea
This is probably an incredibly dumb question but if you don't ask you don't learn anything.

If we can see the big bang, or just after it, does that mean that in theory(and if we were able to live long enough...) we could see how the universe unfolded step by step?

Yes I think that has been proven.

Scientists etc can now trace the ever expanding universe from the first tiniest atom billions of times smaller than a pinprick 'exploding', thus creating the universe, right up until now, still expanding and all the milestones in between.

I guess the energy, radiation etc in 'space' is like a computer, you can never delete the evidence :lolol:
 


Bold Seagull

strong and stable with me, or...
Mar 18, 2010
30,464
Hove
Not entirely sure that their recession velocity can exceed that of light, tbh.

The recession velocity is actually measured at approx. 1.7x the speed of light. This is possible because it is the space between stuff that is expanding, not necessarily the galaxy or object itself moving faster than the speed of light, but it does mean galaxies do appear to be moving faster than the speed of light and slowly but surely (150 billion years time??) we will lose all views of the universe other than galaxies in our local group which we would have merged with anyway. So there is that to look forward to. A common analogy is dots on a balloon that when you inflate they rapidly move away from each other, but actually the dots aren't moving. I know right!? :shrug;:mad:
 




birthofanorange

Well-known member
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Aug 31, 2011
6,500
David Gilmour's armpit
The recession velocity is actually measured at approx. 1.7x the speed of light. This is possible because it is the space between stuff that is expanding, not necessarily the galaxy or object itself moving faster than the speed of light, but it does mean galaxies do appear to be moving faster than the speed of light and slowly but surely (150 billion years time??) we will lose all views of the universe other than galaxies in our local group which we would have merged with anyway. So there is that to look forward to. A common analogy is dots on a balloon that when you inflate they rapidly move away from each other, but actually the dots aren't moving. I know right!? :shrug;:mad:

Seems mad, doesn't it? So in effect (from our relative position) they ARE moving away faster than light......even though they're not.
I'm glad I don't smoke weed, anymore. :D
 








Bold Seagull

strong and stable with me, or...
Mar 18, 2010
30,464
Hove
Meteoroid has caused some significant and uncorrectable damage

It's more that the severity of the strike raises a question of the longevity of the telescope. I think they modelled these micro meteor strikes, and the frequency has met expectation, just that this one strike in May is more severe than anticipated. If it happens frequently could be a problem in the long run, but if it is just a rare event, then should be fine. Hopefully.
 


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