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Astronomers, Galaxies, Black Holes
Distant Galaxies Found
By Joshua S. Hill
Friday, August 10, 2007
It wasn't that long ago -- relatively speaking -- that humanity was confined to the belief of a flat earth, and the rest of the universe revolved around us. And even then, the universe was simply a theological perception of what was unknown. How else could you explain the empty blackness that came before your eyes grew accustomed to the stars, and thus how could you explain the stars?
We like to think that humanity has come a long way since then, and in some respects, we have. Putting our mistreatment of our planet aside, as a curious scientific race, we have plundered the secrets of our universe -- both seen and unseen -- as if they were small nuggets of gold. We have extended our reach beyond the confines of both the human mind, and the human condition. The universe is no longer at the beck and call of a flat earth, but a masterpiece the likes of which no human hand could ever conceive.
Over the centuries, the telescopes of these astronomers and scientists who have moved us forward have pointed towards the skies in a hope of discovering something new. We explored our solar system, discovering planet after planet, finally reaching Pluto. We then stepped beyond the confines of our own Solar system, and bravely walked out in to a universe of unparalleled beauty and mystery.
Questions have been raised, and answers. Questions have been left unanswered though ten times more than they have been answered. The greatest of all; is there a creator or are we all an accident? The lesser questions, what is a black hole, will we find life, and where in Kirk's name are the Klingon's?
More recently, the knowledge that the further one looks in the distance, the further back in time they will see, has become the centerpiece for much of scientific discovery when directed at the sky. Telescopes have been designed for the sole purpose of seeing further, rather than capturing the beauty such as Hubble or the new James Webb telescope. New ways of 'seeing' have developed a heightened understanding of what is out there, and just how small we really are.
Most recently, a combination of telescopes have corralled their information to provide us a look deep in to the young universe. The only way we know they are there is due to the high rate of star formation, a rate that is some 1000 times higher than that of our own Milky Way. So far away are these galaxies and stars that they are only viewable through the infrared scale, and represent a picture of what the universe out there looked like when existence was only 2 billion years old.
At 12 billion light years distance, these galaxies are the most luminescent ever to be discovered. Due to the stereotypical slow rate of star formation so close to the beginning of the universe, this new discovery is a rare find.
The road to discovery was a long and hard one though, with several telescopes combining to graft the necessary information. First spotted by the AzTEC imaging camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, the Smithsonian's Submillimeter Array then pinpointed the exact location of the galaxies, allowing researchers to determine that they were in fact a bright galaxy. Further observations were made by the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Very Large Array of radio telescopes, but even then only Spitzer could locate all the galaxies directly, with the VLA only finding two.
For many, these discoveries that 'prove' the existence of an old universe are either glorious moments to revel in another's obvious ignominy, or a 'scientific fact' to be ignored or worked around, in the preservation of their faith.
However both are missing the point, for no matter how old the universe is, and whether a greater being created the universe from ground zero, or 14 billion years in, the universe exists and is a mystery that will fuel our curiosity and imagination for generations to come. We should not let those who come after us be jaded in their view of the universe or of science, but simply be awed by the majesty that is our universe as it is, and as it was.
Joshua can be reached at: letters@canadafreepress.com
