Comments on: Voyaging deep into the Universe

By: Egaeus

Egaeus — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:36:04 +0000

@Lee451

I have seen the light, and it is burned out.

Feel free to try again after you figure out how our existence doesn’t violate the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

By: Gravenimagez

Gravenimagez — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 22:33:41 +0000

Holee Crom! What a great view… “galaxies… NOT stars!” Just superb. I downloaded the uber file and am sharing the link with everyone I know. It reaffirms the unimaginable vastness of the Universe and our place in it… just to look at all the amazing and wonderful, awesome power of creation.

By: tivo is socialism « mo in rho

tivo is socialism « mo in rho — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:08:23 +0000

[...] This link is one of astronomical proportions… Truly amazing [...]

By: TheWalruss

TheWalruss — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:46:57 +0000

It is times like these when I ponder our minute existence, and I wonder how we could possibly ever disagree on anything. Beings so tiny and insignificant on just the littlest speck that it would take an image with a billion trillion times the resolution of this giant picture for it even to be visible as the faintest speck from halfway to the other side of the observable universe.

But as soon as I recover from contemplative paralysis and begin to read the responses of others, I’m met with a mixture of expressions of similar wonder and fascination, and abrasive statements dictating what others ought to believe.

I’d like to say that these people should realize that petty questions of religion and God cannot possibly compare to the absolute magnitude of the mystery of our existence, but then I’d be no better.

When all is said and done, all I really wish for is cooperation amongst ourselves to counter and surpass the challenges on our little sphere, so we can spread our wings and truly explore the universe in all its beautiful strangeness and variety, and perhaps find answers to those questions that have plagued life since the beginning of consciousness. And perhaps not. But who can tell if we never get the chance to try?

By: Ian

Ian — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:30:11 +0000

Great article Phil, I’m passing on to a science novice (my wife) because I think it’s pitched just right that anyone can understand.

By: Sammy

Sammy — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:16:48 +0000

A clarification.

People are confused about whether the picture was taken over a few hours or over many years. It is a few hours of total exposure but those exposures were spaced apart by many years. The data was not specifically taken to create this photo. So long enough for the star to move as described. Phil did not get this wrong.

By: SteveC

SteveC — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:06:31 +0000

Phil (or anyone who knows about this),

How much of the sky does this image take up? I remember reading that the Hubble Ultra Deep Field image was like looking at a spot of sky the size of what you’d see if you were looking though an 8 foot long soda straw.

How does this image compare to the Hubble Ultra Deep Field image in terms of what area of the sky it represents (or any other interesting comparisons you can think of)?