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Transcript
The Milky Way, Schroedinger’S cat, and You Galaxies, the Building Blocks of the Universe Raja Guha Thakurta (in collaboration with Sandra Faber) UCO/Lick Observatory University of California at Santa Cruz Thursday, September 23, 2004 Kresge Town Hall Astronomy 2 (ASTR –002-02) Overview of the Universe Your Cosmic History (an astronomer’s perspective) You! molecules: Earth and Sun: Protein Sun’s ancestral stars: Basic building blocks of life Home of the C,N,O atoms from which Galaxy: Their nuclear fusion reactions these protein molecules were assimilated Large family produced these C,N,O atoms of stars You are here! Relatives of the Milky Way Milky Way Where did the Milky Way Come From? The Answer Will Take Us Back to the Earliest Moments of the Universe The Cosmic Web of Galaxies Formation of Cosmic Structures Under the Influence of Gravity A Computer Simulation + - Points to Ponder • Our bio-chemical history links us to galaxies • The Milky Way and other galaxies • Galaxies like to live near one another • The formation of galaxies: The growth of primordial density fluctuations under the influence of gravity But Where Did the “SeedS” of coSmic Structure Come From? Universe of the per density Energy minute perminute decays popping kernels of radiactive of Number Number 1.0000 1.0 0.9995 0.5 1.00000 0.99995 40 00 20 1.000 0.995 Quantum Noise 0 10 20 Position in Space Time 30 Schroedinger’S cat (a “thought experiment” by Erwin Schroedinger) …or… ??? Inflation A rapid and dramatic phase of expansion shortly after the Big Bang blows up these quantum fluctuations and “freezes” them into the fabric of the Universe. These are the seeds of cosmic structure. Points to Ponder • The Universe is Nature’s ultimate example of Schroedinger’s cat • Inflation is a very, very brief period of extremely rapid expansion in the infancy of the Universe • We have quantum mechanics and gravity to thank for the existence of galaxies like our Milky Way and indeed for our own existence Prediction #1 Galaxy collisions should be common and easily visible Computer Simulation of Colliding Galaxies and thiS iS What We See….. Prediction #2 “infant” galaxieS should look different from mature galaxies Zooming into Deep Space, Looking Back in Time Zooming into Deep Space, Looking Back in Time Distant Galaxies Are Small and Ragged Infant galaxy Young galaxy Mature galaxy Deepest Image of Distant Galaxies The Hubble Space Telescope is in orbit above the Earth’s atmosphere and so is able to take sharp pictures……but….. ….. it is prohibitively expensive to build telescopes that are based in space A new method called “Adaptive Optics” allows us to sharpen the vision of telescopes that are on the ground, by correcting for the blurring caused by the Earth’s atmosphere Prediction #3 The farthest things we see should be the early seeds of galaxies Early Seeds: Fluctuations in the Microwave Background Radiation Maps Points to Ponder • Galaxy cannibalism is a common phenomenon in which small serve as building blocks from which larger galaxies are assembled • Telescopes are time-machines that enable us to peer into the Universe’s distant past • The after-glow from the Big Bang and early hot phase of the Universe is visible today and indeed even the wrinkles on the face of the early Universe are visible completing the cycle…… Infant galaxy Spiral galaxy like our own Sun’s stellar ancestors You!planet & star Our Protein molecule