This q stems from a common misconception that we're at the center of the Universe. Let's clear that up: from our position in the Universe, light from the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), a relic of the Big Bang, took ~13.8 billion yrs to get to us from all directions. (1/n)
A galaxy 5 billion light yrs away is one we see *as it was* 5 billion yrs ago, because light has a finite constant speed in vacuum (space is a VERY nearly a vacuum). Now let's look at the perspective of an intelligent being in that galaxy that's 5 billion light years away. (2/n)
That being, when they look at our galaxy, the Milky Way, will see our galaxy as we can never see it: they see it as it was 5 billion years ago!! And from their perspective, the light from the CMB took 13.8 billion yrs to reach them, from all directions. (3/n)
The most distant galaxy detected, GN-z11, is 13.4 billion ly away. I know, not as cool as "Andromeda"; it's named by the region of the survey it was found in, and z11 stands for the redshift, or *distance*, from us: z=11, or 13.4 billion ly. Just a blob at how far it is! (4/n)
You may think going to this galaxy would bring you really close to the edge of the Universe! However that's not the case: if we could use a wormhole to get to GN-z11, then looking back at the Milky Way, we'd see a blob, and how our galaxy looked 13.4 billion years ago! (5/n)
From GN-z11, light from the CMB took 13.8 billion yrs to get to it, from every direction. There is no center of the Universe! We're not seeing a sphere, we're looking back in time. It's seems spherical because we look out radially in every direction. (6/n)
Because we look out radially, what we map appears a sphere. But the Universe has no center, or edge: the Big Bang did not happen at one point, it happened *everywhere*. Things aren't just moving away from *us*, everything is moving away from *everything* with the expansion. (7/n)
Once you realize space is really space*time*, and looking into space is looking back in time, and the BB happened everywhere and *not* at a point, you'll start seeing there's no center to the Universe, and CMB light took 13.8 billion yrs to reach *anything* in the Universe. (8/8)
One added tweet: it appears that this wasn't exactly the question the person had, but I'm glad it turned into a thread that addresses a common misconception anyway!
And my friends, because I've been asked many times about space not having an edge, there *are* shapes that are still flat spacetime that have no edge and aren't infinite! A torus is one, a cylinder is another.
This is the supermassive black hole in M87, silhouetted against swirling gas it'll either eat, or expunge in jets. The lines are the magnetic field that powers the jets that shoot gas thousands light-years out of the galaxy. Incredible.
The SMBH in M87 is 55 million ly away. You'd have to cram 6.5 BILLION Suns into a diameter ~30,000 times that of the Sun to make one like it. For context: its event horizon is 120 AU, swallowing the entire solar system. But bc it spins, anything within 700 AU of the Sun is toast.
And in case you are wondering what 1 AU is, that's 1 Astronomical Unit, which is the distance of the Earth from the Sun. So saying "120 AU" is like saying something is 120 times the Earth-Sun distance wide/far/long/etc. And 1 AU is about 150 million km. Nothing too big 🙃
I know people mean well when they do this, but the "just ignore them" responses to victims of online abuse actually ENABLES THE ABUSERS and is DESTRUCTIVE TO VICTIMS OF ONLINE ABUSE.
You are creating a safe bubble for trolls by trying to convince those hurt by them to give them a pass. I get that's not what you intend, but that's the result. Please don't do this.
By doing this, you are also putting the blame on the victim, because you're saying "it's your fault because you let it get to you". No, it's NOT my fault that someone chose to target me for no reason and I WILL NOT TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE ABUSER. THANK YOU.
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It doesn't take a lot of effort to support people's right to be themselves. It does take a lot of effort to be hateful.
Every time I tweet about this my followers drop like flies. So I'm gonna lay this out:
I support freedom of gender identity
I believe Black Lives Matter
I stand against sexism and racism
I stand against Antisemitism
I stand against Islamophobia
I believe in freedom of choice
Yeah dude I just HATE knowing how things work! Who the fuck CARES how the Universe will die, or that we don't understand 95% of it SO WHAT. I hate the Universe. And apparently myself since I AM a physicist who's also a woman. GASP. 🙄
Oh Saturn has a hexagon shadow going because of the physics of fluid and shit? SO WHAT. HOW BORING. (NOT)
Amazing work by the wonderful @JPMajor (oops i mean NOT amazing, I'm a woman and therefore in hate this! 🤦♀️)
Oh, and the Universe looks like a cosmic web because of the way that stupid boring stuff you call "dark matter" decided to orient itself and so the stuff we can see fell towards it, because of literally THE MOST BORING THING EVER: PHYSICS?! Pshhhh
(From Millennium Simulation)
Just learned of cliquey exclusionary stuff going on where specific accounts were boosted for followers, and others left in the dust. Some personally hurt. I'm one of the scicommers "left in the dust", had no idea, but here are my thoughts since I'm part of "Science Twitter":
I wanted you all to know I had no idea, was not included in the group. I worked VERY hard on my following with my scicomm for years, with no luxury of a group boosting me. I DID notice accounts (that happen to be part of this fiasco) gain a significant following.
I didn't get it since I was producing great content (imo). Wondered what I was doing wrong, felt inadequate, less important. And quite frankly, worthless in Twittersphere. Didn't understand how accounts who haven't done what I have for as long as me, earned followings I did not.
If you touch two CLEAN blocks of the same metal together in space, they weld!
Atoms in solid metals move a bit. Touch two clean surfaces together, and the atoms can't tell they're in different blocks so they become one group of atoms, ie ONE SOLID.
(Gif: homemadetools.net/forum/cold-wel…)
The reason it doesn't happen on Earth when you put two of the same metals together is because of oxygen, which causes metal to rust. That oxide layer sits the two metal surfaces, so atoms in each block see a layer of different atoms, and know that's their "limit" for movement.
If you're wondering if this has affected space missions, it has! The Galileo space probe sent to Jupiter couldn't deploy its high gain antenna on the way to Jupiter because the metal rods that were to open up the "umbrella" got cold welded together!
Graphic: NASA/JPL