Explore big discoveries that have revolutionized our understanding of the universe.Explore big discoveries that have revolutionized our understanding of the universe.Explore big discoveries that have revolutionized our understanding of the universe.
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Featured review
Exciting developments over the past 50 years in Cosmology.
I viewed this program last night on my local PBS station, via antenna in the attic, of course!
While the discussion goes farther back than 50 years the focus is on the past 50 years and how much Scientists have learned, how much we have had to modify our view of the Cosmos. Much of it is due to the several instruments, including telescopes, put into space over the years. It discusses the "crisis in cosmology" which is a term used to identify the diverging measurements by different techniques to try to determine the age and expansion rate of the universe.
The second half of the program spends a lot of time on the issue of dark matter and dark energy. While no one knows what forms they take, and neither have been detected by various means, the theory of their existence was proposed to explain what is considered the strange behavior of stars in large galaxies. Namely, if Newtonian principles are applied then the stars farther away from the center of rotation should move much slower, similar to how planets in our Solar system behave.
Instead, stars are moving much faster in their orbits than predicted and that is why Cosmologists believe a mysterious substance and energy must be present to facilitate that. Plus perhaps a role in the apparent accelerating expansion of the universe.
I am a scientist, although not an Astrophysicist, and I really enjoy this sort of program. For what it is worth I don't believe dark matter and dark energy will ever be detected. My own guess is we don't fully understand the physics of galaxy rotation. Only time will tell.
While the discussion goes farther back than 50 years the focus is on the past 50 years and how much Scientists have learned, how much we have had to modify our view of the Cosmos. Much of it is due to the several instruments, including telescopes, put into space over the years. It discusses the "crisis in cosmology" which is a term used to identify the diverging measurements by different techniques to try to determine the age and expansion rate of the universe.
The second half of the program spends a lot of time on the issue of dark matter and dark energy. While no one knows what forms they take, and neither have been detected by various means, the theory of their existence was proposed to explain what is considered the strange behavior of stars in large galaxies. Namely, if Newtonian principles are applied then the stars farther away from the center of rotation should move much slower, similar to how planets in our Solar system behave.
Instead, stars are moving much faster in their orbits than predicted and that is why Cosmologists believe a mysterious substance and energy must be present to facilitate that. Plus perhaps a role in the apparent accelerating expansion of the universe.
I am a scientist, although not an Astrophysicist, and I really enjoy this sort of program. For what it is worth I don't believe dark matter and dark energy will ever be detected. My own guess is we don't fully understand the physics of galaxy rotation. Only time will tell.
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- TxMike
- May 22, 2024
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