The 'observed' images
of an accretion disk around a black hole, color coded to show regions
of redshift and blueshift.
COSMIC SOUP....continued
How
do dust grains turn into planets? Nothing happens without tremendous effort
out there (a universal law, I suppose). There is a lot of politicking
at that level too. Exclusion, ostracism, unfair play, lack of equal opportunity,
Darwinism at its worst, name it. Our Sun formed dust grains and pebble-sized
rocks (made primarily of carbon and silicates) that collided (colliding
is a recurring theme) coalesced and created trillions of asteroid-like
objects/rocks which in turn collided and merged to form huge planetary
embryos. Just like in the business world, these hyper mergers may or may
not endure. This period of gestation is referred to as "runaway growth"
and takes millions of years. The challenge for would-be planets is to
overcome the forces of intense ultraviolet radiation in order to qualify
as planets. Not only must they combat the deadly rays, they must do so
within sufficient time. Time is of the essence (TIME not as we know it).
It is similar to the surveillance of credits in a portfolio; one must
run data through models and riskmetrics to measure the probability of
growth. However, not all variables are measured correctly, which can reduce
your chances of success. Much money and time are spent analyzing risks,
but some risks are grossly overlooked and may catapult your portfolio
into a Black Hole. I am thinking of different events such as conspirators
prone to hallucinations who make use of the weapons our governments have
sold them at a time when they were friends of ours (that reminds me of
the duality of nature at its most elementary level). How about the likelihood
of new generations of people resisting the nefarious effects of globalization
(because the world is not a merchandise and because power must remain
in the hands of the people not in the clutches of corporate executives)?
Of course, an asteroid may hit planet earth, but we are more likely to
die of a nuclear blast or of mutating badly after ingesting too many GMOs.
Sometimes
the phrase "ignorance is bliss" acquires some relevance even
to the most staunch proponents of higher education. At times asking a
question amounts to cruising for a bruising.
That
brings us to the Big Bang. A speck of infinitely hot light appeared and
time began. Inside the speck was all of space. Within one trillion-trillion-trillionth
of a second the speck (the Universe) began to expand and its temperature
dropped from ????to about 10,000 trillion trillion degrees (I am sweating).
Within 3 seconds, the Universe expanded and "cooled" to the
point basic elements such as hydrogen, helium, and lithium could emerge.
Then came protons, electrons, galaxies, stars, planets and finally all
of us (shortcut intended).
What
is the Universe expanding into? Every thing is within the Universe; there
is no edge no boundary no center of expansion. The Universe is not expanding
into anything since it is everything. Will it expand forever or recollapse?
This depends on the ratio of the density of the Universe to the Critical
Density. If the density is higher, the Universe will recollapse into a
Big Crunch. It appears that the aforementioned density is about equal
or less, so the Universe will probably expand forever (unless someone
intuits on a new concept for measurement).
Other
gnawing questions include:
What
is a Black Hole?
What is a White Hole?
What is a Wormhole?
What is Nothingness?
Did the Universe come from Nothing?
Cleo
Caminat (NYC 2002)
http://constellation.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ga/black_holes.html
|