Blogger
Get your own blogNext blog
BlogThis!'); langTitle(); document.write(''); /*for(var n=0; n<10; n++) document.write(' ');*/
KL

Scientific Thoughts

The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility - Albert Einstein

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Dark Energy is a (still) hypothetical form of energy that is supposed to permeate all space. It is almost like a sea of radiation, over which all normal matter (things that make us, stars and galaxies), normal energy (e.g. photons/light) and dark matter (termed such since it does not emit any light and thus cannot be detected) are like small islands. At large scales (larger than galaxies), according to General Relativity, dark energy acts as a force opposite to gravity, which causes the universe to expand at an ever-accelerating rate. Scientists had previously found evidence of dark energy billions of light years away, but a new computer model (coupled with observations from the Hubble Telescope) has found evidence of dark energy right in our own Milky Way galaxy :-).

Simulation: Red galaxies in a sea of dark energy (Courtesy: McMaster University)
University of Washington professor Fabio Governato designed a computer model in 1997 that simulated the evolution of the universe from the big bang until the present. However, his model was unable to simulate the behavior of the galaxies in the local neighborhood of our Milky Way. By comparing his work to the recent observations by the Hubble telescope, he was able to add dark energy to his model, and voila! it was a perfect match!
This work suggests that there is dark energy in our Milky Way, and it is critically important in the life of a galaxy like ours. Slowly, but surely, the pieces of the cosmic puzzle are falling into place.

Backyard Dark Energy

3/17/2005   2 comments Post a Comment

2 Comments:

At March 18, 2005 12:47 AM, Blogger Sray said...
Hubble has done so much good, that I cannot imagine modern cosmology/astronomy without it. Yet the politicians are strangely apathetic towards it... if given a Hobson's choice, I would advocate dumping the space-station, and keep Hubble.
 
At March 18, 2005 7:13 AM, Blogger Wayne Smallman said...
"Yet the politicians are strangely apathetic towards it..."

Politics is like marketing in that something (in this instance, the Hubble space telescope) can be sold to the people if there's something new / sexy / progressive about it.

People have been sold on Hubble, but their attentions are now elsewhere (War on Terror, anyone?) and all of the pretty pictures that Hubble keeps churning out aren't cutting it any more for the marketing people .. sorry, I mean the politicians.

What value is there in science when someone in a suite has to sign off on a cheque with a lot of zeros after the number?
 

Post a Comment

About Me

My Photo
Name: Sray
From: India/USA
Mood: 
Free Guestmap from Bravenet.com

Its only words, and words are all I have, to take your heart away...

View my complete profile

Favorite Music

Previous Posts

  • New Finds At Tang-e Bolaghi
  • Largest Known Prime
  • Nanowires
  • Microwires
  • Periodic Mass Extinctions
  • Raptor!!!
  • Earth Calling Aliens...
  • Close Call
  • Hubble Keeps Going!
  • Death Of A Galaxy

Profiles/Feeds/Visitors

Technorati Profile
Technorati Search
Technorati Ping
BlogShares

Atom Feed
RSS Feed
 
I am...

Click My Pet Cloudy!

adopt your own virtual pet!

Her friends
Lettuce   Rainy   Hammy

    Frequently Read

      Blogroll Me!

Latest Science News