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--------------------------- 1867 - Questions in Physics and Astronomy
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- When you graduate from college you need something to work on. I chose electrical engineering because I liked physics and math. And, I was pretty much guaranteed to get a job with those skills after graduation. Today I would choose astronomy. Our technology is giving us reams of new amazing data. Measurements galore. And, the more we learn, the more mysteries we uncover. What a Challenge! It is a treasure hunt to learn about life and how it all happened. “ May you always have more questions to work on.”
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- The “ very big” question has to be “what is Dark Matter and Dark Energy that makes up 95% of the composition of the Universe? The part we know is only 5%. The Dark Matter is providing the gravity necessary to hold everything together. The Dark Energy is a mysterious force that is causing everything to separate from everything else. Space between matter is expanding at an accelerating rate.
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- Today for every 1 million light years of space the expansion is increasing 47,000 miles per hour. Over several billion lightyears of expanding space the separation speeds exceed the speed of light. Either we do not understand this expansion rate as we observe it. Or, we do not understand what is causing it if it is accelerating at this rate of expansion? Where does the energy to do that come from?
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- Then there is the Theory of Gravity that tells us if the laws are correct there is 5 times more matter out there than what is visible. If that Dark Matter was not there providing the gravity pull needed the galaxies would be flying apart. Something out there is holding it all together.
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- The next question has to do with the planet Mars. The myriad of instruments we have sent there have uncovered new mysteries. The data tells us that Mars once contained oceans of water. The surface water has disappeared, but, there appears to be periodic water flows back to the surface.
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- Where there is water there could be life? Was there life there in the past? Did life on Earth somehow migrate from Mars on the backs of meteors? Is there life still residing on Mars?
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- Cosmic Rays are charged particles that come to us from the Sun in the form of a Solar Wind. These charged particles enter the magnetic poles creating the ionized colored gases that we call our Northern Lights.
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- Physics can explain these charged particles coming from the Sun. But, we also detect extremely high energy Cosmic Rays. How these super-charged particles attain such extremely high energies is a mystery. Astronomers can not determined what direction they are coming from because their path is twisted and turned when charged particles are passing through the magnetic fields of interstellar space.
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- We are not only bombarded by Cosmic Rays we are also get hit with fast radio bursts. These are millisecond-long flashes of radio waves. Astronomers have no explanation of how the radio signals are generated or where they come from. One question persists is if they come from a single source? Or, are they coming from several cataclysmic disasters that never repeat themselves?
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- The Universe was born from “ nothing” in the Big Bang. Equal amounts of matter and anti-matter were created. When these particles come in contact they annihilate each other. Why is our universe not now devoid of particles? Somehow our Universe is made of matter that has out-numbered the anti-matter . Where is that extra anti-matter today? Is it still out there somewhere and it just somehow stayed separated.
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- I am here writing this stuff and my most profound question remains, how did I even get here? I mean, how did life itself get here? Earth is the only place we know sustains life. Does it exist elsewhere? How did it get started on Earth?
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- In the early formation of Mother Earth a billion of years ago the Earth was too hot to hold water, or, sustain even primitive life. Maybe, life arrived later on the spaceship asteroids? Science has found organic material on these asteroids. Somehow simple organic molecules caused chemical reactions to happen forming complex molecules. These molecules combined into RNA, one of the necessary ingredients for multicultural organism, of which I happen to be one, somehow? Please explain how this all could possible happen?
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- The Universe is expanding and cooling. Today it is 2.73 degrees Kelvin and it started out at millions of degrees Kelvin. So, the Universe was hotter and denser in the past. The volume of the Universe used to be smaller. Matter was denser. Wavelengths of photons were shorter containing more energy. The early Gamma Rays have stretched their wavelengths through expanding space to Microwave wavelengths today.
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- The wavelengths of photons defines their energy and temperature.
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-------------------------- E = h * f
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----------------- Energy = frequency * ( 6.625 * 10^-34 kilogram * meters^2 / second)
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--------------------------- E = h*c*T /0.0029
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------------------------- Energy = Temperature * (6.85*10^23)
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--------- Blackbody maximum wavelength - 0.0029 meters * Kelvin / Temperature.
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- Our biggest question in Cosmology is that as we get closer and closer to the beginning, the Big Bang, the Universe gets hotter and denser and our physics equations break down. Physicists speculate that an Inflationary Period occurred expanding the Universe faster than the speed of light.
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- This Inflation would mean that the total Universe is much, much larger that our Observable Universe. We assume the Universe is uniform density on the largest scales. We assume laws of physics are the same everywhere, in all directions. We assume it has always been like this since the beginning of time. And we assume the fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background were when the Universe was only 380,000 years old.
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- Then , the Universe today is 27% Dark Matter, 68% Dark Energy, 4.9% Norman Matter ( us and everything around us), 0.1% Neutrinos, 0.01% radiation. And , the Universe is 13.81 billion years old + or - 120 million years with 99.1% accuracy.
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- If the Universe were all 100% Normal Matter then the calculations would put us at 10 billion years old. If the Universe was expanding 50 km/sec/mpc instead of 70 km/sec/mpc then the Universe would be 16 billion years old. But, all the observations we have today puts us at 13.81 billion years old.
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- The age of the oldest stars we can find is 13.2 billion years. 12 billion year old stars are relatively common. None have been found that are 14 billion years old.
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- So, how old is the Universe going to get before it dies?
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- The Earth will die in about 6 billion years. That is when the Sun runs out of fuel and expands into a Red Giant Star and vaporizes us.
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- The Universe, however dies when it expands and cools to where the temperature is all the same everywhere at zero degrees Kelvin. Today we are at 2.73 degrees Kelvin. All the stars will have fizzled out. All the matter will have decayed. A dead Universe is cold and rarified space.
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- Ok, let’s be optimistic. Lets say for some unknown reason the Universe expansion reverses itself and we begin the “Big Crunch” Then, our future would be a dense, fiery inferno back to a single point with no space and no time.
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- Let’s face it. We have nothing to look forward to. Except, the fun of learning and solving some of these questions. Stay tuned, an announcement will be made shortly.
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- Request these Reviews to learn more:
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- #1742 - Astronomy facts, 2 pages of interesting facts to ponder.
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- #1716 - Astronomical Disappointments. Not every mission is a success. What have we learned from failures.
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- #1615 - # 1616 #1617- Key discoveries in astronomy. Over the years beginning in 400 B.C. to 1998.
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- #1614 - Problems to be solved in astronomy. Written in 2013 has some of the same questions as this review.
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- # 1493 - Puzzles in astronomy
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- #1108 - Cosmic distance ladder.
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- #942 - Last 35 years in astronomy
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- #758 - Ancient astronomers
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----- 707-536-3272 ---------------- Monday, May 9, 2016 -----
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