JWST launch delayed to 2019
Discussion
Juanco20 said:
As someone who didn't pay enough attention during science lessons at school, please can someone clarify something for me.
This telescope will be taking images of galaxies and stars billions of light years away. So the image we actual see is what it was like billions of years ago. As we know, our own planet has changed dramatically in that time so how much use is it knowing what these galaxies and stars were like such a long time ago? They could be completely different now or even no longer exist.
The post right below yours is really good answer! I just wanted to add that the ‘trick’ here - the problem - is that when we are thinking about cosmological distances (because of the slow speed of light, at least compared to the distances involved) the word, or concept of ‘now’ just falls apart. It’s like talking about how fast a banana accelerates… it just doesn’t map. A really good, approachable, and readable, book on this is ‘The Order of Time’ by Carole Rovelli.This telescope will be taking images of galaxies and stars billions of light years away. So the image we actual see is what it was like billions of years ago. As we know, our own planet has changed dramatically in that time so how much use is it knowing what these galaxies and stars were like such a long time ago? They could be completely different now or even no longer exist.
LostM135idriver said:
A really good, approachable, and readable, book on this is ‘The Order of Time’ by Carole Rovelli.
is he transitioning?The talk he gave at the Royal Institution is a good watch too. Like him, I don’t believe time actually exists. It’s a human construct to measure change in a system.
https://youtu.be/-6rWqJhDv7M
LostM135idriver said:
The post right below yours is really good answer! I just wanted to add that the ‘trick’ here - the problem - is that when we are thinking about cosmological distances (because of the slow speed of light, at least compared to the distances involved) the word, or concept of ‘now’ just falls apart. It’s like talking about how fast a banana accelerates… it just doesn’t map. A really good, approachable, and readable, book on this is ‘The Order of Time’ by Carole Rovelli.
I paediatrician would not be much use if he had only ever studied 9 year olds. To understand the subject of child development you need to be able to look at children of all ages. The same goes for galaxies.Juanco20 said:
As someone who didn't pay enough attention during science lessons at school, please can someone clarify something for me.
This telescope will be taking images of galaxies and stars billions of light years away. So the image we actual see is what it was like billions of years ago. As we know, our own planet has changed dramatically in that time so how much use is it knowing what these galaxies and stars were like such a long time ago? They could be completely different now or even no longer exist.
Being able to look back to a time only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang will help scientists answer some fundamental questions. This telescope will be taking images of galaxies and stars billions of light years away. So the image we actual see is what it was like billions of years ago. As we know, our own planet has changed dramatically in that time so how much use is it knowing what these galaxies and stars were like such a long time ago? They could be completely different now or even no longer exist.
Or so we're told.
I think they're hoping it was also be the first telescope to directly observe an exoplanet as well as detect whether it has oxygen and water in its atmosphere.
BorkBorkBork said:
IAmTheWalrus said:
Wow I missed this thread. Do you think we can see it from the earth? It sounds pretty big..
It’s roughly the size of a tennis court and nearly a million miles away.BorkBorkBork said:
LostM135idriver said:
A really good, approachable, and readable, book on this is ‘The Order of Time’ by Carole Rovelli.
is he transitioning?The talk he gave at the Royal Institution is a good watch too. Like him, I don’t believe time actually exists. It’s a human construct to measure change in a system.
https://youtu.be/-6rWqJhDv7M
Eric Mc said:
ChocolateFrog said:
Definitely not, the ISS is barely visible and it's huge by comparison as well as a hell of a lot closer.
The ISS is highly visible. It’s actually the brightest object in the sky after the sun and the moon.
Mr E said:
andy_s said:
Phew - that's the 'easy' bit done...
I always feel for the launch engineers. It’s lit and if everything goes well nobody cares you did a first class job. If it goes badly you’re in a world of s
t.I think they can have a very good afternoon, that looked textbook.
Great coverage from NASA.
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