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Jilly_in_VA

(9,983 posts)
Wed Jan 17, 2024, 03:34 PM Jan 2024

Astronomers spotted something perplexing near the beginning of time

Not long after the James Webb Space Telescope came online in 2022, astronomers’ jaws hit the floor.

“I remember thinking, This just can’t be right!” says Mike Boylan-Kolchin, a University of Texas Austin astronomer.

The observations he’s referring to would, to you and me, seem like little smudgy red blobs among a field of other smudges and blobs. But in his eyes, they represented a potential challenge to the story scientists have painstakingly constructed about the formative years of our universe.

That is, some time after the Big Bang, around 12-plus billion years ago, when the universe went from a dark, diffuse place full of gas to a light-filled universe populated by stars and galaxies. This is the era that laid the foundation for everything to come — including our solar system, and you and me.

Scientists had some theories about what happened during this crucial period, but the new telescope put them to the test by observing regions of space humans have never seen before.

https://www.vox.com/science/24040534/jwst-galaxies-big-bright-mystery-black-holes-cosmology

Guess what...we don't know everything after all!

42 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Astronomers spotted something perplexing near the beginning of time (Original Post) Jilly_in_VA Jan 2024 OP
Must be gawd rurallib Jan 2024 #1
You just can't begin to wrap your head around it montanacowboy Jan 2024 #2
Carl Sagan had a snarky answer: SCantiGOP Jan 2024 #19
Ha Ha montanacowboy Jan 2024 #29
I've been entertaining a theory I read recently EYESORE 9001 Jan 2024 #3
Does your theory limbicnuminousity Jan 2024 #37
Yes, but it's not my theory alone EYESORE 9001 Jan 2024 #39
Something perplexing from the beginning of time? Jerry2144 Jan 2024 #4
High school graduation photos? (n/t) PJMcK Jan 2024 #28
Interesting, and a pretty well written article. He does a good job of making it understable to nonspecialists. nt eppur_se_muova Jan 2024 #5
the tardis? AllaN01Bear Jan 2024 #6
The FSM RainCaster Jan 2024 #8
settled cosmology. hem cool though. AllaN01Bear Jan 2024 #7
I'm not saying aliens, but... spike jones Jan 2024 #9
I don't know, and I don't care. Mr.Bill Jan 2024 #10
And you came here Jilly_in_VA Jan 2024 #11
I'm an Atheist. Mr.Bill Jan 2024 #12
You don't have to believe in God Jilly_in_VA Jan 2024 #14
This is an arguement I'm going to choose to not have with you. Mr.Bill Jan 2024 #16
I'm curious, Mr. Bill, how being an atheist and not being interested in science are related. Martin68 Jan 2024 #22
If I was not interested in science, I wouldn't have clicked on this thread. Mr.Bill Jan 2024 #24
What else is science but the big unanswered questions we have about the universe? You Martin68 Jan 2024 #31
I don't think that's what he said at all.... AZ8theist Jan 2024 #32
Saying "There's something bigger than ourselves" Jilly_in_VA Jan 2024 #35
In fairness limbicnuminousity Jan 2024 #38
My disgust includes those without curiosity or an understanding of the quest for knowledge. Martin68 Jan 2024 #36
Well, I can synoatguze, dive deeply enough into this stuff Warpy Jan 2024 #25
Hey, take a chill pill. Geez some people take offense at nothing. machoneman Jan 2024 #26
I guess, Mr. Bill, you are trying to persuade us that you are a dull thinker. It worked! Martin68 Jan 2024 #21
You guess wrong, my friend. Mr.Bill Jan 2024 #23
Well you sure did a good job of sounding dull! You fooled me. Martin68 Jan 2024 #30
"Fascinating" Auggie Jan 2024 #13
What if... There was more than one Big Bang in an abutting Universe? JohnnyRingo Jan 2024 #15
There is endless room Jilly_in_VA Jan 2024 #17
"Endless room for speculation" JohnnyRingo Jan 2024 #34
Could be? sumus Jan 2024 #18
The "Guess what...we don't know everything after all!" is kind of silly. Scientists never said we did. Martin68 Jan 2024 #20
Saying "settled cosmology" Jilly_in_VA Jan 2024 #40
True that. I guess there will always be those fools who assume we've figured everything out and can Martin68 Jan 2024 #41
Fascinating. Beartracks Jan 2024 #27
Simple: Early galaxies saw what was forming (us) and turned around. Hermit-The-Prog Jan 2024 #33
And now they've found Jilly_in_VA Jan 2024 #42

montanacowboy

(6,093 posts)
2. You just can't begin to wrap your head around it
Wed Jan 17, 2024, 03:44 PM
Jan 2024

if you think about it too long it's very overwhelming - the question remains - where did it all come from?

SCantiGOP

(13,871 posts)
19. Carl Sagan had a snarky answer:
Wed Jan 17, 2024, 06:22 PM
Jan 2024

Last edited Wed Jan 17, 2024, 10:21 PM - Edit history (1)

Once upon a time there was nothing; suddenly, it exploded into everything.

EYESORE 9001

(25,942 posts)
3. I've been entertaining a theory I read recently
Wed Jan 17, 2024, 04:06 PM
Jan 2024

that multiple ‘big bangs’ may have occurred over the eons. I won’t expound here, but it’s intriguing.

limbicnuminousity

(1,402 posts)
37. Does your theory
Fri Jan 19, 2024, 12:39 AM
Jan 2024

consider the possibility that 'big bang' are ongoing at a cosmic scale?

It's amazing stuff, exciting even. Can you imagine traveling to the 'center' of 'creation?' I find it oddly reassuring.

eppur_se_muova

(36,269 posts)
5. Interesting, and a pretty well written article. He does a good job of making it understable to nonspecialists. nt
Wed Jan 17, 2024, 04:16 PM
Jan 2024

Jilly_in_VA

(9,983 posts)
11. And you came here
Wed Jan 17, 2024, 05:46 PM
Jan 2024

just to say that.

I really don't appreciate all the smartass comments either, not that this article is about me. You'd think some of you would have grown up by now. enough to appreciate that there might be something bigger than you out there...

Mr.Bill

(24,303 posts)
12. I'm an Atheist.
Wed Jan 17, 2024, 05:48 PM
Jan 2024

That's why I don't care. I clicked on this thread because the title interested me. Sorry if I somehow offended you, because that wasn't my intention.

Jilly_in_VA

(9,983 posts)
14. You don't have to believe in God
Wed Jan 17, 2024, 06:05 PM
Jan 2024

to believe in something bigger than yourself, even if it's the universe.

Martin68

(22,822 posts)
22. I'm curious, Mr. Bill, how being an atheist and not being interested in science are related.
Wed Jan 17, 2024, 06:35 PM
Jan 2024

I don’t see the connection.

Mr.Bill

(24,303 posts)
24. If I was not interested in science, I wouldn't have clicked on this thread.
Wed Jan 17, 2024, 06:47 PM
Jan 2024

I just don't dwell on the big unanswerable questions we have about the universe. I am content with just being. I do marvel about some of the things they are finding with the new telescope, though.

Martin68

(22,822 posts)
31. What else is science but the big unanswered questions we have about the universe? You
Wed Jan 17, 2024, 11:21 PM
Jan 2024

sound totally clueless about what science is all about. It’s about learning about that which we don’t understand. Just being in the now is cool but it doesn’t add to our knowledge. We’d still be living in caves. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s anti-scientific to the extreme.

AZ8theist

(5,477 posts)
32. I don't think that's what he said at all....
Thu Jan 18, 2024, 04:51 AM
Jan 2024

Calling him "clueless" about science is disingenuous at best. He clearly stated he has an interest in science but does not dwell on questions about the unknown. That's not "anti-scientific", it's just the reality of countless millions of humans who are more fixated on their daily lives than science discovery.

I'm a militant atheist myself and am totally absorbed with scientific discovery. Doesn't mean I do research or experimentation. My disgust is with the ignorant that see science doesn't answer every question, then goes AH-HA!! GOD did it! "There's something bigger than ourselves" bullshit. Those are the ones who are clueless.

I confine my fights to creationists, flat-Earthers, and the other assorted idiots who think the Buy Bull is a scientific text book. Debunking that stupidity furthers the cause of science every bit as much as analyzing pictures from the JWST.....

Jilly_in_VA

(9,983 posts)
35. Saying "There's something bigger than ourselves"
Thu Jan 18, 2024, 12:42 PM
Jan 2024

doesn't presuppose God at all. My husband is not a believer in God, he's an agnostic, but he still believes in something bigger than us.

limbicnuminousity

(1,402 posts)
38. In fairness
Fri Jan 19, 2024, 12:47 AM
Jan 2024

some folks get agitated when "something bigger than ourselves" enters the discussion. Belief in a higher power gets shoved down a lot of throats especially if you've been exposed to some of the more fiery brands of fundamentalism in America.

Sometimes it's easier simply not to name "it". Naming "it" creates discord.

Cool thread, btw. Nice find.

Martin68

(22,822 posts)
36. My disgust includes those without curiosity or an understanding of the quest for knowledge.
Thu Jan 18, 2024, 12:45 PM
Jan 2024

BTW, you don’t seem to understand the word “disingenuous”. I suggest you look it up. The fact that he said he’s “interested” in science is meaningless if he confesses he’s not interested in the unknown. That’s exactly what science strives to know and understand. The cause of disease was once unknown. The mechanism for inheritance of traits from one’s parents was once unknown. Mr. Bill would have been satisfied to leave it at that.

Warpy

(111,277 posts)
25. Well, I can synoatguze, dive deeply enough into this stuff
Wed Jan 17, 2024, 07:02 PM
Jan 2024

and most people will start having brain cramps.

What is clear is that the universe is both larger and older than we are currently capable of detecting. Even in our own neighborhood, objects far older than the guesstimated 13.4 billion years the universe is have been observed. Add tp tjat the existence of organic chemicals and precursors to DNA wherever we've looked, it seems much of the universe is alive, one way or another.

Now that's being part of something larger than I am that fills me with awe.

I can't imagine needing more.

JohnnyRingo

(18,636 posts)
15. What if... There was more than one Big Bang in an abutting Universe?
Wed Jan 17, 2024, 06:05 PM
Jan 2024

I mean, what is beyond the furthest reaches of the Universe? More Universe of course, or perhaps a parallel Universe that evolved separately with it's own mass explosion and we're seeing even older galaxies from that cataclysmic event.

By my thinking, as my mother explained when I was a child, there is no end to space. Beyond space, is more space, and it's possible there exists a realm beyond our mortal imagination that is ruled by its own legal book of physics.

But what do I know?

Jilly_in_VA

(9,983 posts)
17. There is endless room
Wed Jan 17, 2024, 06:09 PM
Jan 2024

for speculation, and endless scope for imagination in all of this, wouldn't you say? Every time I look up at the stars I am reminded of how small we are, and how immense everything out there is....and how little we really know after all.

Martin68

(22,822 posts)
20. The "Guess what...we don't know everything after all!" is kind of silly. Scientists never said we did.
Wed Jan 17, 2024, 06:32 PM
Jan 2024

That’s why millions were spent designing, manufacturing and launching the telescope in the first place.

Martin68

(22,822 posts)
41. True that. I guess there will always be those fools who assume we've figured everything out and can
Fri Jan 19, 2024, 06:25 PM
Jan 2024

rest on our laurels.

Hermit-The-Prog

(33,355 posts)
33. Simple: Early galaxies saw what was forming (us) and turned around.
Thu Jan 18, 2024, 06:47 AM
Jan 2024

Those early galaxies are now very old, but farther away than otherwise expected.

Jilly_in_VA

(9,983 posts)
42. And now they've found
Fri Jan 19, 2024, 08:48 PM
Jan 2024

a galaxy without any stars at all. That completely boggles the mind. Is it dead, or just forming?

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