Matthew Warner
Psytext.com
Ever since man has first looked at the sky at night and seen the splendor of space, we have strived to learn more about our surrounding universe. As time progressed, scientists and the amateurs alike began to map the stars, and attempt to understand how space works, trying to find out what exactly the stars above are trying to say. As knowledge is gained, stored, and passed down it is built upon, elaborated and expanded. Some theories are abolished and take the place of what we now call scientific fact; proven recorded knowledge of tangible ideas. These facts are shared from generation to generation, and by many people and groups worldwide. Before telescopes were invented, numerous other tools were used to monitor the movement of the planets, stars and moons. Structures like Stonehenge in Britain were used by ancient scientists and astronomers to monitor the celestial bodies and their movement through the sky. Another naked eye astronomy method is the use of constellations, shapes and forms built from celestial bodies that depict animals, people, physical items or even events. Constellations can tell you where you are on the planet, using stories to mark points in the sky. It can also tell you where specific stars and planets are, and where they will be during various times of the year.
Mankind's desire to learn more about the stars and planets lead astronomers and scientists to engineer methods to make objects appear closer and easier to see. Telescopes were invented using the same technique that was used to create varying strengths of reading glasses. The first lens telescope used glass to magnify light and images and was invented by a Dutch eyeglass maker named Hans Lippershey in 1608. As technology progressed, larger, more powerful telescopes were built. Eventually, scientist and astronomers strived to see deeper interspace than a glass lens telescope would allow, being that glass bends under its own weight, distorting the images it produces, an inevitable side effect of creating larger glass lens telescopes. This resulted in further scientific experimentation and thought, leading astronomers to use a method from antiquity created by Galileo, a reflective mirror that captures light on a higher level than that of glass lens. But it was the radio frequency design telescope that allowed earth astronomers to detect radio waves from the depths of space. Finding some that emanated from the universe's original beginnings.
The Beginning of time.
Scientists theorize that our universe began with the Big Bang. Research says this occurred anywhere from 15 to 20 billion years ago. The matter that this event
released created the galaxies, stars, moons and planets that exist today. Stars give birth to planets and keep them in rotation with the immense gravity they produce. Based on the leftover matter
used to create stars, the surrounding debris grows and changes based on chemical reactions and gravity. This is why there is such a variation of plants and plant types, from rocky to gasey, from
burning to frozen. Because of the size and amount of gravity planets create, they produce powerful enough gravitational fields to generate their own pull, causing objects to either be dragged in,
or orbit the said planet, like Earth and its Moon. "Finding this miniscule signal has opened a new window on the early universe, telescopes cannot see
far enough to directly image such ancient stars, but we've seen when they turned on in radio waves arriving from space." This is what astronomer Judd Bowman
of the Arizona State University said to the leader of the radio telescope project. The NSF (National Science Foundation) is working with Arizona State University to monitor the oldest stars
that exist in our universe. They have found evidence of the first stars that existed after the universe's creation, more evidence of the Big Bang.
(An artistic depiction of the first stars formed in the universe at the beginning of time)
In order to use a radio telescope to see, scientists must have knowledge of the types of radio waves in specific regions of space, and what the level or frequency they would be at. This can tell them where celestial bodies are that are not giving off enough light to see with our eyes, or a telescope. This is how astronomers discovered evidence of the first stars that existed in our universe. It is theorized, backed with numerous experiments and implemented ideas, that the universe we know today and all the life we have on our planet, all began with a single tiny particle of condensed matter. This tiny particle the size of an atom, but with more density and energy then the entire universe eventually exploded, spreading debris through a blank empty nothingness and creating the universe we see and study today. Before this event, the existing blank space was known as the “Cosmic Dark Ages'', before time began. This is known as the Big Bang. All of the known elements in existence were formed by the first atoms released by the big bang, fusing together and changing by the natural force of gravity. Over time, gravity caused the matter created by atoms to continue to grow and form into elements.
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