Are We Living in a Black Hole???

While this question seems ridiculous, we shouldn’t dismiss the theory outright. Maybe there are lessons to be extracted out of this thought experiment. Or maybe our universe truly exists within a black hole.

The theory is called Schwarzschild cosmology which posits that our universe lies within the black hold of a larger parent universe. The theory opens the door for an infinite number of universes. The problem with testing the theory however is the limitations of the laws of physics. We know that nothing that goes beyond a black hole’s event horizon can come back, not even light. This means that all relevant data from within a black hole could never make it out to any observer outside of the black hole’s event horizon. We do know what phenomena would be experienced if our universe was in a black hole such as the slowing of time and stretching of matter which we do not seem to experience. This may mean that the black hole that we reside in is so large that these distortions are unnoticeable by humans, even with the most finely tuned instruments. It can generally be agreed upon that with our current understandings of physics and our level of technological development, we will never be able to answer this question concretely- just as we cannot answer whether or not we are living in a simulation. These considerations seem far fetched but our inability to answer them with confidence should humble us. The vastness of the universe has become much more evident to me. We learned about how the New Horizons mission took nine years to finally reach Pluto and that is just within our own solar system. It is fascinating to think about the distances beyond our solar system and even beyond our own universe.

The Journey Back to the Moon

Hello everyone! Almost spring break!

Isn’t it bonkers to think that we first sent human beings to the Moon in 1969? That’s 54 years ago! In that time, we have made such large strides in technology. Finally, there are plans to go back soon!

NASA is working hard on its Artemis campaign. This campaign aims to send astronauts back to the moon to create history. Christina Koch will be the first woman ever on the moon and Victor Glover will be the first person of color to ever step foot on the moon. There have been many delays to this campaign however. The renewed agenda is to launch Artemis II, a maned mission around the Moon, in September of 2025. One year later in September of 2026, Artemis III will be launched with the intention of landing astronauts on the moon. NASA stated that they established that time frame to ensure lessons from Artemis II can be incorporated into the engineering of Artemis III.

These are exciting times to be alive! We have not sent anyone to the moon in most of our lifetimes. I believe this campaign will inspire a whole new generation of astrophysics, astronauts, and astronomers. I hope that this is only the beginning!

How close are we to harnessing nuclear fusion???

Hello everyone 🙂

Today was such a sunny and warm day. Some times we forget that the warmth that we feel from the sun is actually the heat produced by nuclear fusion thousands of miles away. Nuclear fusion is what powers stars like our sun. The process involves two or more light nuclei merging to form a single heavier nucleus – hence “fusion”.

‘Nuclear power, since it was first understood, has been a hot topic. We have been able to harness the power of nuclear energy through nuclear fission, exemplified by numerous nuclear power plants around the world and of course, the nuclear fission bombs that various countries possess.’Nuclear power, since it was first understood, has been a hot topic. We have been able to harness the power of nuclear energy through nuclear fission, exemplified by numerous nuclear power plants around the world and of course, the nuclear fission bombs that various countries possess.

The National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has produced a groundbreaking result in the world of nuclear energy using lasers. Scientists at the facility have been able to achieve a net positive energy output three times at the end of 2023. This facility was the first one ever to have a net energy gain from ignition. While the energy was not significant, the principle has been proven. We have harnessed the power of the sun in a way. We are a long ways away from using nuclear fusion as a reliable energy source but we have shown that it is possible.

Historical Astronomers in Context

I chose to learn more about Isaac Newton! He was born on December 25th, 1642 and died on March 31st, 1727.

Isaac Newton discovered the law of universal gravitation that helped explain the force that determines the motion of celestial bodies. Newton established the three laws of motion, the law of inertia, the law of acceleration, and the law of action and reaction, which are fundamental principles used in astronomy. Isaac Newton also invented calculus which is a powerful mathematical tool that can be used to analyze the motion of celestial bodies.

What was happening during Isaace Newton’s lifetime?

In 1666, The Great Fire of London took place during which a significant portion of the city of London was burned down, leading to improvements in urban planning.

The Salem Witch Trials occurred in 1692 until 1693 in colonial Massachusetts and it saw the execution of nineteen women accused of witchcraft and the death of six other innocent people during interrogation.

Antonio Vivaldi was born on March 4th, 1678 and died on July 28th, 1741. He was one of the most influential composers that composed in the classical Baroque style, writing masterpieces such as “The Four Seasons” and “Gloria in D major” that fundamentally influenced the trajectory of classical Baroque music.

Here are some of my thoughts:

While Isaac Newton was establishing calculus and the fundamental laws of physics that still are foundational to almost every denomination of contemporary science and mathematics, women were being hanged for witchcraft in Massachusetts and the city of London was recovering from a devastating fire that today would have been stopped within minutes. These events in relation to the discoveries of Isaac Newton seem disjointed but I believe that this will always be the case when observing the past. We will never have a clear idea of what it must have been like to live as someone from the late 17th and early 18th centuries just as future generations will not be able to understand our current one as well as we do. It may also seem disjointed in our current world to have high speed internet and reusable rockets but still have the whole world shut down due to a virus. There will always be disparities between what we believe to be “current’ or “of the past” or “of the future”.

The True Scale of the Universe

The vastness of the universe can never be understated. A YouTube channel I love called Corridor Digital made this incredible video conceptualizing the true scale of the universe. They used a scale of about 1:190 million, making the earth about the size of a tennis ball and the moon a nerf ball. The distance between the earth and moon at this scale would span 7 feet. The diameter of the sun at this scale would be 24 feet. This puts into perspective how small a tennis ball is in comparison to a ball that is 24 feet in diameter. Betelgeuse would be about 5 miles in diameter.

Learning about this makes our existence seem incredibly small (which it really is). I don’t believe that we should be discouraged by this but rather emboldened to keep exploring.

First Astro Blog Post

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