06-06-2009, 06:33 PM
Paul24 - there is a huge amount of mass in the universe that we can't see directly, in other words, it doesn't shine. All those images you see from telescopes, including those on Mauna Kea and the Hubble, only show the things that emit light that we can detect. A lot of that light is not something you can detect with your own eye, much of it is emitted at infrared and radio wavelengths and many of the telescopes on Mauna Kea are designed to detect those wavelengths.
Having said that, the observations we make using those wavelengths show that there is still a huge amount of mass in the universe that we can't detect directly, at least we can't right now. That mass is detected by watching its effect on other more visible objects we can see, e.g., stars and galaxies.
It's a weird universe and we're still only starting to understand it. For decades the expansion of the universe was "understood" and a lot of time went into understanding its future. The expansion had to slow down, surely? Now we see that the universe's expansion is accelerating, so cosmologists use "dark energy" to try and explain that (here's an analogy - imagine putting your foot on the brake but instead your car keeps speeding up - it's what we're seeing right now). Even more stuff that we can't explain, at least not easily!
As for relevance to Puna, there are a few people living there who are actively involved in the research. Not me - cosmology baffles the hell out of me, but I do carry out some of the observations.
Tom
PS. If you do get the chance it's worth a trip up to the Onizuka Visitor Center, especially in the evening when you can join in the star gazing.
Edited to add at 22:55: Only just now seen Paul24's previous posts, so hope his was a genuine enquiry and not something leading to some universal healing rubbish.
Having said that, the observations we make using those wavelengths show that there is still a huge amount of mass in the universe that we can't detect directly, at least we can't right now. That mass is detected by watching its effect on other more visible objects we can see, e.g., stars and galaxies.
It's a weird universe and we're still only starting to understand it. For decades the expansion of the universe was "understood" and a lot of time went into understanding its future. The expansion had to slow down, surely? Now we see that the universe's expansion is accelerating, so cosmologists use "dark energy" to try and explain that (here's an analogy - imagine putting your foot on the brake but instead your car keeps speeding up - it's what we're seeing right now). Even more stuff that we can't explain, at least not easily!
As for relevance to Puna, there are a few people living there who are actively involved in the research. Not me - cosmology baffles the hell out of me, but I do carry out some of the observations.
Tom
PS. If you do get the chance it's worth a trip up to the Onizuka Visitor Center, especially in the evening when you can join in the star gazing.
Edited to add at 22:55: Only just now seen Paul24's previous posts, so hope his was a genuine enquiry and not something leading to some universal healing rubbish.