Most Massive Star Ever

This is interesting; according to an article published in The Great Beyond astronomers discovered a cluster of super massive stars, up to 300 times the solar mass and 10 million times more luminous than the Sun. According to the official press release this massive star would outshine the sun in the same way as the sun outshines the full moon.

Scientists are not certain if those massive stars were born big or were they the result of several massive stars merging. However they were formed, very impressive, but as we know, big stars don't last very long. In a few million years we should be able to observe a huge type II Supernova. Yes, our Sun will outlast those huge stars by billions of years, so someone here on Earth should be able to make the observation.

Rock-Star Physicist

A rock-star physicist, what a cool title! I want to put on my resume that I am rock-star physicist. Brian Cox does deserve that title, his presentation is… well decide for yourself:

Cosmic Zoom Lens?

Talking about pushing the envelope, this story is incredible. The European space agency launched the Far Infrared and Sub-millimeter Telescope (FIRST) in May of 2009. This space telescope was later renamed to Herschel after the incredible female astronomer Caroline Herschel who did some amazing research in the late 1700 and early 1800. Herschel is the largest single mirror space telescope ever built to look deep into the past.

So, here we have one of the most powerful space telescopes ever built, gathering long-wavelength radiation from some of the coldest and most distant objects in the universe. But that is not enough; using something called a gravity lens Herschel is able to detect a Galaxy that is 11 billion light years away.

First, here is an example how a gravity lens works:




 

By observing a distant Galaxy cluster Herschel was able to detect a Galaxy that is even further away. The telescope observed a Galaxy that emitted its radiation over 11 billion years ago. Thinking about this for just a minute, I have the following question: What does that Galaxy look like today? Does it still exist? If the Galaxy does still exist, where could it be? Apparently our Galaxy, the Milky Way is about 8.8 billion years old, plus or minus 1.7 billion year. (This is according to Wiki, I know… but Wiki is good enough for this thought experiment!) Assuming the oldest possible age of the Milky Way, 10.5 billion years, is it possible we are looking at baby picture of our Galaxy? Given the fact that there are 100 billion other Galaxies out there it is highly unlikely that this specific Galaxy is the baby Milky Way, but the question is still valid, could we see a picture of a baby Milky Way? We know that space is not flat; space is curved so… naw… that is just too wired.

Bottom line still is, it is amazing that we are able to observe a Galaxy that is some 11 billion light years away from us. What is even more amazing is the technique used to make that observation.