Peering into the Past

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, H. Teplitz and M. Rafelski (IPAC/Caltech), A. Koekemoer (STScI), R. Windhorst (Arizona State University), and Z. Levay (STScI)
Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2014

HUBBLE STUNNER:  We spent over an hour this morning listening to Week 5 lectures for our AstroTech class. This week focused the important of computers in modern day astronomy. We learned how computers are linked to detectors, how computers control telescopes, how computers are used in computations and calculations and how they're important for storing data. 

We learned the difference between 'brute force' calculations as compared to smart ones and the pros and cons of each. There was talk of kilo-, mega-, giga-, tera- and petabytes (a thousand trillion bytes!). Our professors specifically talked about just how much space it takes to store a whole sky image from the Hubble. 

Then, a bit later today, in came news from HubbleSite of the release of the most colorful deep space image captured in Hubble Space Telescope's 24 years. I'll let the Hubble folks tell you about it in their own words (from today's press release): 

Researchers say the image, from a new study called the Ultraviolet Coverage of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, provides the missing link in star formation. The Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2014 image is a composite of separate exposures taken in 2003 to 2012 with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide Field Camera 3. ...

Now, using ultraviolet light, astronomers have combined the full range of colors available to Hubble, stretching all the way from ultraviolet to near-infrared light. The resulting image — made from 841 orbits of telescope viewing time — contains approximately 10,000 galaxies, extending back in time to within a few hundred million years of the big bang. ...

Ultraviolet light comes from the hottest, largest, and youngest stars. By observing at these wavelengths, researchers get a direct look at which galaxies are forming stars and where the stars are forming within those galaxies.

Studying the ultraviolet images of galaxies in this intermediate time period enables astronomers to understand how galaxies grew in size by forming small collections of very hot stars. Because Earth's atmosphere filters most ultraviolet light, this work can only be accomplished with a space-based telescope.

I had the kids read the press release and they were both pleased that they understood the whole thing! (For instance, the fact that UV light comes from the hottest, largest and youngest stars has been covered in our AstroTech course, too!)

More on Hubble: http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

LET'S TWIST AGAIN:  We also made our way through some more lectures in our History of Rock class. As always, they lectures are engaging and informative - a real history lesson and about so much more than 'just' music.

We learned about giants of the "Sweet Soul" era of rock, like crooners Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis, and Sam Cooke, and the group The Drifters.

I played "Unforgettable" (Cole), "Chances Are" (Mathis), "There Goes My Baby" by The Drifters, and "You Send Me" by Cooke (on American Bandstand, no less!) 

Another lecture was about the folk revival at the end of the 1950s, early 1960s. The professor talked about how some groups avoided political messages, while others embraced them. We listened to the original Capitol Records recording (1958) of "Hang Down your Head Tom Dooley" by The Kingston Trio, and Peter, Paul & Mary's performance of "Blowing in the Wind" at the 1963 March of Washington. 

A third lecture we listened to was about TV, movies and dance crazes of the late '50s. Of course, "American Bandstand" was an important part of that. Until today, I didn't know that was a daily, Monday-Friday show starting in 1957, plus Dick Clark had weekend specials. It was also the era of Elvis movies, variety shows, and songs that were about dancing. 

Here are Annabelle's picto-notes about this lecture. 

I fired up a video of Ernest Evans, better known as Chubby Checker (a spin on the name Fats Domino) performing "The Twist" on the Dick Clark hosted Saturday night . CJ and Annabelle now officially know how to do the Twist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKYEdFCa6TI

The kids danced right along.