astronomers use a cluster of galaxies as a giant lens

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11030889

  Quote

Abell 1689, found in the constellation of Virgo, is one of the biggest galactic clusters known to science.

 

Because of its huge mass, the cluster acts as a cosmic magnifying glass, causing light to bend around it.

 

The way in which light is distorted by this cosmic lens depends on three factors: how far away the distant object is; the mass of Abell 1689; and the distribution of dark energy.

 

The astronomers were able to measure the first two variables using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, enabling them to calculate this crucial third factor.

 

Cold comfort

Knowing the distribution of dark energy tells astronomers that the Universe will continue to get bigger indefinitely.

 

Eventually it will become a cold, dead wasteland with a temperature approaching what scientists term "absolute zero".

 

Professor Priyamvada Natarajan of Yale University, a leading cosmologist and co-author of this study, said that the findings finally proved "exactly what the fate of the Universe will be".

I don't know about you peoples, but the knowledge that the entire universe is going to just sort of peter out makes my own inevitable death much less worrisome.

http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html

related!

"will the last person to leave please remember to turn off the lights."

  On 8/22/2010 at 10:30 PM, BCM said:

"will the last person to leave please remember to turn off the lights."

where is that quoted from? i am sure i heard that before and not so long ago..

Golly, what a cluster fuck!

  On 8/22/2010 at 10:44 PM, ruiagnelo said:

  On 8/22/2010 at 10:30 PM, BCM said:

"will the last person to leave please remember to turn off the lights."

 

where is that quoted from? i am sure i heard that before and not so long ago..

i don't actually know... sounds like douglas adams maybe...

edit: or is it a film?

edit edit: fuck knows

i think it's just a saying, really.

  Quote

Knowing the distribution of dark energy tells astronomers that the Universe will continue to get bigger indefinitely.

 

Eventually it will become a cold, dead wasteland with a temperature approaching what scientists term "absolute zero".

...imagine being some alien race on one of the last living planets knowing the universe around you was pretty much dead, that'd be fucked up.

my brain is broken

As a global warming skeptic.

i can dig it

We're like on the prime of the Universe before galaxies get too far apart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ImvlS8PLIo

*raises hand signaling an annoying question*

despite the answers of the various ACs in the asimov story (which i enjoyed greatly), what if the universe and the life inside learns how to make like an immortal jellyfish and return to its cosmic zygote only to start over again, a la the hindu spit-in-the-face-of-entropy belief?

  On 8/23/2010 at 12:27 AM, ghOsty said:

  Quote

Knowing the distribution of dark energy tells astronomers that the Universe will continue to get bigger indefinitely.

 

Eventually it will become a cold, dead wasteland with a temperature approaching what scientists term "absolute zero".

 

...imagine being some alien race on one of the last living planets knowing the universe around you was pretty much dead, that'd be fucked up.

us?

  On 8/23/2010 at 3:53 AM, luke viia said:

*raises hand signaling an annoying question*

 

despite the answers of the various ACs in the asimov story (which i enjoyed greatly), what if the universe and the life inside learns how to make like an immortal jellyfish and return to its cosmic zygote only to start over again, a la the hindu spit-in-the-face-of-entropy belief?

also moorcock's "dancers at the end of time" series is pretty trippy and awesome and is about future earth as the universe is dying. it follows the big-bang -> big-crunch theory which was prevalent when it was written but it's the same basic idea.

Read larry Niven's Ringworld series to figure out some more about beings escaping the death of their own galaxy.

Gravitational lensing is pretty idm. Regarding the expansion and collapse of the universe, it is a pretty common part in many of "creation of the universe" theories.

  On 8/23/2010 at 8:59 AM, impakt said:

Gravitational lensing is pretty idm. Regarding the expansion and collapse of the universe, it is a pretty common part in many of "creation of the universe" theories.

yeah but they're saying that, thanks to gravitational lensing, they've discovered that the universe most likely WON'T collapse. it will just keep expanding until entropy wins.

the sub heading is vastly more important than the heading

  On 8/23/2010 at 11:23 AM, disparaissant said:

  On 8/23/2010 at 8:59 AM, impakt said:

Gravitational lensing is pretty idm. Regarding the expansion and collapse of the universe, it is a pretty common part in many of "creation of the universe" theories.

yeah but they're saying that, thanks to gravitational lensing, they've discovered that the universe most likely WON'T collapse. it will just keep expanding until entropy wins.

That's what they are saying, but dark energy is still just an hypothesis to explain the expansion and the article hardly says anything about what they have actually measured or what conclusions they arrived at. But seeing as they are speaking of gravitational lensing, I assume they have measured the redshifted distance of some object/nova at extreme length and concluded that dark energy must be the reason for such drift?

If it keeps expanding until entropy wins such as you say, wouldn't the "death" of dark energy then make gravity the dominating force and cause the universe to retract and form a singularity?

Also, why is there no source links in the article?

I found the source myself on the Yale website; http://opa.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=7695

And here's the whole report: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/329/5994/924

Digesting it as we speak.

Bullshit, the universe will be taken apart by Mantrid-Drones. I saw it with my own eyes.

if this is true, an advanced civilization could construct a gigantic alloy sphere to live inside of for the rest of time. if everything thins out and all the galaxies and asteroid belts and stars are so far apart, then this little safe haven could technically exist forever without smashing into anything. they have free energy devices, so that takes care of energy, temperature control, so if they have some kind of ecology on their planet to provide food and water, which they could artificially place, there doesnt have to be an end

aliens

i just dont see the universe ending

and if it is going to end, i can see millions of alien civilizations coming together to defeat nature

who will win?

aliens vs nature

  On 8/23/2010 at 4:04 PM, ET said:

if this is true, an advanced civilization could construct a gigantic alloy sphere to live inside of for the rest of time. if everything thins out and all the galaxies and asteroid belts and stars are so far apart, then this little safe haven could technically exist forever without smashing into anything. they have free energy devices, so that takes care of energy, temperature control, so if they have some kind of ecology on their planet to provide food and water, which they could artificially place, there doesnt have to be an end

 

aliens

 

i just dont see the universe ending

 

and if it is going to end, i can see millions of alien civilizations coming together to defeat nature

 

who will win?

 

aliens vs nature

lol. deep science.