Scanning the Universe, Round Two

National Science Foundation ^ | 12 July 2005 | Staff

[PatrickHenry]

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is entering a new phase with new goals.

SDSS is already the most ambitious astronomical survey project ever undertaken. During its five years of operation, the 300-plus scientists in the SDSS consortium have mapped galaxies, stars and quasars by the hundreds of millions over a large swath of sky. Their large-scale and very detailed surveys have confirmed that the galaxies follow a lacy, foam-like pattern that may well owe its existence to quantum effects during the Big Bang. They have identified far-off quasars that had already burst into life when the universe was just 900 million years old and barely out of infancy. They have found evidence that our own Milky Way galaxy grew by cannibalizing smaller companion galaxies.

Now, with new partners and a new round of funding, the SDSS team is ramping up in a new way.

The three-year SDSS-II project, announced on July 11, 2005, will include three components:

1. The LEGACY initiative, which will complete the SDSS survey of the extragalactic universe, obtaining images and distances of nearly a million galaxies and quasars over a continuous swath of sky in the Northern Hemisphere.

2. The Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE), a new effort aimed at mapping the structure and stellar makeup of the Milky Way Galaxy, and gathering data on how the Milky Way formed and evolved.

3. An intensive study of supernovae, which are gigantic explosions produced by dying stars. By sweeping the sky to find these explosions, and then precisely measuring how far away they are, the SDSS-II astronomers will be able to measure the rate of expansion of the universe with remarkable accuracy.

The SDSS-II project is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in New York City; the National Science Foundation (NSF); the U.S. Department of Energy; the Japanese Monbukagakusho; and the Max Planck Society in Germany.

For more information, see the SDSS news release.

[Omitted lots of contact info, etc.]

[PatrickHenry]

[Underlining added by me.]

Getting to know the neighborhood.

[PatrickHenry]

SciencePing

An elite subset of the Evolution list. See the list's description at my freeper homepage. Then FReepmail to be added or dropped.

[longshadow]

bttt

[RightWhale]

The Sloan Sky Survey has been one of the Good Things.

There is a huge amount of astronomical data coming in every day, way more than can be analyzed, and much of it is available to anyone who has the inclination to download it. It is not necessary to be a professional astronomer to do real astronomy anymore.

[OSHA]

They have found evidence that our own Milky Way galaxy grew by cannibalizing smaller companion galaxies.

Proof that we need a star redistribution program!

[JasonC]

The hyperbole police want to know what the writer says "cannabilize" when all he means is "merge with"...

[PatrickHenry]

The hyperbole police want to know ...

Hyperbole is absolutely the very worst, most horrible thing in the whole world!

[Southack]

"measure the rate of expansion of the universe with remarkable accuracy"

Aye, the Sloan Project is on the right track...it isn't just that our universe is expanding, but that its *rate* of expansion is increasing.

Now, keeping Physics in mind, what is the Force required to expand a rate of acceleration?

NOTE TO REMAINING BIG BANG Fans: A single push in the Beginning of Time is incompatible with an accelerating rate of universal expansion.

[JasonC]

Expect for the police thereof...

[RightWhale]

Sure, but the BB fans have no problem postulating and adjusting whatever Unseen forces, matter, dimensions, and energy make their equations balance with the stream of fresh data.

[Southack]

"Sure, but the BB fans have no problem postulating and adjusting whatever Unseen forces, matter, dimensions, and energy make their equations balance with the stream of fresh data."

Some quack theories take time to die, even though the Big Bang was (and various other nonsense that postulated a stable or imploding universe) disproved decades ago by Hubble.

[RightWhale]

BB was simplistic in its initial formulation. It has progressed through modification and addition to a theory that takes more than a pencil and legal pad to sketch out. In fact, the 8 or 11 or 26 dimensions cannot be drawn on a piece of paper all at once, and most people find four dimensions to be their personal limit of visualization. Many of the people you meet driving down the boulevard on the way to the mall have trouble visualizing even two dimensions simultaneously.

[ASA Vet]

Your comment in post #7 is without a doubt the most hyperbolic thing anyone anywhere has ever said, or ever will.

[martin_fierro]

Cool (Free!) Astronomy-related Software: Please FReepmail other suggestions

Celestia: (GET THIS ONE! -- m_f) A real-time space simulation that lets you experience our universe in three dimensions. Unlike most planetarium software, Celestia doesn't confine you to the surface of the Earth. You can travel throughout the solar system, to any of over 100,000 stars, or even beyond the galaxy. All travel in Celestia is seamless; the exponential zoom feature lets you explore space across a huge range of scales, from galaxy clusters down to spacecraft only a few meters across. A 'point-and-goto' interface makes it simple to navigate through the universe to the object you want to visit. Sky Screen Saver: Shows the sky above any location on Earth, including stars (from the Yale Bright Star Catalogue of more than 9000 stars to the 7th magnitude), the Moon in its correct phase and position in the sky, and the position of the Sun and all the planets in the sky. Outlines, boundaries, and names of constellations can be displayed, as well as names and Bayer/Flamsteed designations of stars brighter than a given threshold. A database of more than 500 deep-sky objects, including all the Messier objects and bright NGC objects can be plotted to a given magnitude. The ecliptic and celestial equator can be plotted, complete with co-ordinates. Home Planet: A comprehensive astronomy / space / satellite-tracking package for Microsoft Windows 95/98/Me and Windows NT 4.0/2000/XP and above. Selected features: An earth map, showing day and night regions, location of the Moon and current phase, and position of a selected earth satellite. Earth maps can be customised and extended.Hposition and phase data for the Sun and Moon. Panel showing positions of planets and a selected asteroid or comet, both geocentric and from the observer's location. A sky map, based on either the Yale Bright Star Catalogue or the 256,000 star SAO catalogue, including rendering of spectral types, planets, earth satellites, asteroids and comets. Databases of the orbital elements of 5632 asteroids and principal periodic comets are included, allowing selection of any for tracking. A telescope window which can be aimed by clicking in the sky map or telescope itself, by entering coordinates, or by selecting an object in the Object Catalogue. A horizon window which shows the view toward the horizon at any given azimuth. Object Catalogue allows archiving images, sounds, and tabular data about celestial objects. Orrery allows viewing the solar system, including a selected asteroid or comet, from any vantage point in space, in a variety of projections. Satellite tracking panel. Select an Earth satellite from a database of two-line elements, and see its current position and altitude. View Earth From panel allows you to view a texture-mapped image of the Earth as seen from the Sun, Moon, a selected Earth satellite, above the observing location, or the antisolar point. Satellite database selection allows maintenance of multiple lists of satellites, for example TV broadcast, ham radio, low orbit, etc. Cartes du Ciel Sky Charts: Enables you to draw sky charts, making use of the data in 16 catalogs of stars and nebulae. In addition the position of planets, asteroids and comets are shown. SETI@Home: A scientific experiment that uses Internet-connected computers in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). You can participate by running a free program that downloads and analyzes radio telescope data.

[ASA Vet]

Many of the people you meet driving down the boulevard

If you're meeting many people while driving on a blvd maybe you're on the wrong side.

[adorno]

They have found evidence that our own Milky Way galaxy grew by cannibalizing smaller companion galaxies.

Agressiveness in humans passed down from our mother galazy!

Evolution at work when it comes to humans and a lot of other species.

[adorno]

They have found evidence that our own Milky Way galaxy grew by cannibalizing smaller companion galaxies.

Agressiveness in humans passed down from our mother galazy!

Evolution at work when it comes to humans and a lot of other species.

[RadioAstronomer]

Getting to know the neighborhood.

:-)

(Reminds me of the Palomar All Sky Survey from 50 years ago).

[RadioAstronomer]

Some quack theories take time to die, even though the Big Bang was (and various other nonsense that postulated a stable or imploding universe) disproved decades ago by Hubble.

ROTFLMAO!

[frankenMonkey]

here's a thought...
how 'bout all you folks that believe a big old fluffy bearded man-being floating in the clouds created everything steer clear of the science threads...