In the Beginning


Welcome to my (our) new blog. I've never really blogged before and am not sure how this will turn out, but I'm hoping to have a place for discussion of news, sports, politics, music, and maybe even occasionally science. Aaron, you're in charge of the music, I'll do the science, and the rest we'll share.

So to get the occasional science out of the way, this is one of my favorite astronomical pictures. It's a map of what is known as the cosmic background radiation which is basically energy left over from the Big Bang. Since our location in space was in the middle of the explosion (along with every other location in space), the radiation is coming from every direction in space we look. An earlier, lower resolution version of this map basically sealed the deal for the Big Bang Theory.

The reason I like it is not for aesthetic reasons, but because this is the oldest possible image of the Universe, a 15 billion year old mosaic. In a way it's a blueprint for how to make a universe.

Comments

Anonymous said…
looks like an eyeball to me greg
January 3, 2009 at 11:23 AM
Brett said…
I think you need a vacation from optometry Greg.
January 4, 2009 at 1:17 PM
Anonymous said…
Brett-
I love the new blog. I am excited to post my uneducated opinions on all sorts of subjects. What a great idea!

Rhett
January 4, 2009 at 5:54 PM
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