Astronomers capture ultra-detailed image of nearby Sculptor galaxy

[Shawn Knight]

Stunning: Astronomers have captured the most detailed image ever of the Sculptor galaxy, an incredibly complex system located roughly 11 million light-years from Earth. The composite was created using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, and is comprised of over 100 exposures captured during a 50-hour marathon observation session.

The Sculptor galaxy, also known as NGC 253, is similar in size, mass, and shape to our own spiral Milky Way. ESO researcher Enrico Congiu said the galaxy is in the "sweet spot," meaning it is close enough that we can resolve its internal structure to study it in great detail, yet big enough that we can still see it as a complete system.

The new image focuses on a 65,000 light-year-wide section of the 90,000 light-year-wide galaxy. The team's initial analysis revealed roughly 500 planetary nebulae, which are regions of dust and gas given off by dying stars. According to study co-author Fabian Scheuermann, they typically only see around 100 such detections per galaxy.

A false-color version of the Sculptor galaxy highlighting wavelengths of light from hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur. The white light in the center is said to be an outflow of gas from a black hole at the galaxy's core.

Astronomers can use data from planetary nebulae to measure distance. "Finding the planetary nebulae allows us to verify the distance to the galaxy – a critical piece of information on which the rest of the studies of the galaxy depend," said study co-author Adam Leroy, a professor at The Ohio State University.

Researchers will also be able to use the data to study how gas flows, changes its composition, and forms stars across the wide-reaching galaxy. Congiu said it remains a mystery how such a seemingly small process can have such a big impact on a galaxy whose size is so large.

The Sculptor galaxy was first discovered in 1783, and has been observed many times since. One of the most detailed observations occurred in 1998 courtesy of the Hubble Space Telescope. The galaxy is so bright and large that it can often be seen through binoculars under the right conditions, and is in the same category as the Andromeda galaxy in terms of amateur astronomer friendliness.

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Astronomers capture ultra-detailed image of nearby Sculptor galaxy

 

[Lew Zealand]

Maybe change the subheading to 11 million light years.

But yeah, what's a piddly 6 orders of magnitude among friends?

 

[Subset6]

Maybe change the subheading to 11 million light years.

But yeah, what's a piddly 6 orders of magnitude among friends?

I was like, huh? 11 ly is closer then many near by stars.

 

[VitalyT]

The Sculptor galaxy is located 11 light-years from Earth

I was immediately like - huh, whaaaat? Dude! But the first commentor beat me to it.

Gotta know something about astronomy to write such articles, LOL.

 

[umeng2002]

Lol, everyone knows space is fake.

 

[RudyBob]

That kinda reminds me of a 1612 map of the Great Lakes

 

[unoficialoficial]

We use the year of light as a cosmic measurement of distance because we believe that the upper limit of maximum speed is the constant c, which is hardwired into the way nature works. However, I think it's not hardwired but soft-wired and the speed of light inside a true vacuum is infinite(or a really big value in the style of Plank values). The speed of light inside the medium of quantum fluctuations, which we call "vacuum" (where photons interact and introduce delays), is c.

So, a validation prediction: if we measure the speed of light between the plates of a Casimir effect experiment, it will be higher than c because the density of quantum fluctuations between the plates is lower than usual. So, if we could manipulate the density of quantum fluctuations, we could achieve speeds higher than c. And if I'm correct and the speed of light inside a true vacuum is infinite or extreme high, then we could achieve even higher speeds than c by wrapping an object in a mechanism (something like a Faraday cage but for quantum fluctuations) that reduces the density of quantum fluctuations. Another concept is to wrap the thin core (a few micrometers) of a fiber cable with a metal shield. This should improve the speed of the signal, with thinner cores providing even more improvement. (As usual, I give it a ZLIB license—no patent allowed.)

This idea opens up exciting possibilities for the future of space travel and communication with speeds 10 million c.

 

[GeoffreyA]

We use the year of light as a cosmic measurement of distance because we believe that the upper limit of maximum speed is the constant c, which is hardwired into the way nature works. However, I think it's not hardwired but soft-wired and the speed of light inside a true vacuum is infinite(or a really big value in the style of Plank values). The speed of light inside the medium of quantum fluctuations, which we call "vacuum" (where photons interact and introduce delays), is c.

So, a validation prediction: if we measure the speed of light between the plates of a Casimir effect experiment, it will be higher than c because the density of quantum fluctuations between the plates is lower than usual. So, if we could manipulate the density of quantum fluctuations, we could achieve speeds higher than c. And if I'm correct and the speed of light inside a true vacuum is infinite or extreme high, then we could achieve even higher speeds than c by wrapping an object in a mechanism (something like a Faraday cage but for quantum fluctuations) that reduces the density of quantum fluctuations. Another concept is to wrap the thin core (a few micrometers) of a fiber cable with a metal shield. This should improve the speed of the signal, with thinner cores providing even more improvement. (As usual, I give it a ZLIB license—no patent allowed.)

This idea opens up exciting possibilities for the future of space travel and communication with speeds 10 million c.

While there is evidence that the speed of light could be variable, its being infinite would go contrary to much in physics. The question is, what is a true vacuum, and are you referring to the pre-space, pre-time regime? In that sense, it would have no meaning to refer to speed, and it's uncertain whether electromagnetic waves could be sustained in that realm.

 

[unoficialoficial]

While there is evidence that the speed of light could be variable, its being infinite would go contrary to much in physics. The question is, what is a true vacuum, and are you referring to the pre-space, pre-time regime? In that sense, it would have no meaning to refer to speed, and it's uncertain whether electromagnetic waves could be sustained in that realm.

When Albert Einstein formulated the theory of General Relativity (GR) in 1915, he didn't have the luxury of computers, the internet, or even telephones. Communication was done through letters, which might explain some aspects of the theory's poor refinement. Einstein proposed that the speed of light in a vacuum is constant throughout the universe, denoted as 'c'. While this idea is supported by experiments, its inclusion as an axiom in GR made it an unchanging constant within the theory's framework and introduced a secondary hidden axiomatic assumption that the vacuum has only one state.

Today, quantum field theory tells us that photons (and other particles like electrons) interact with quantum fluctuations in the vacuum. These interactions introduce delays and some kind of refraction, similar to how light slows down when passing through a medium of matter. So, even though the vacuum is the absence of matter, it still contains a medium made up of quantum fluctuations, specifically pairs of virtual particles and antiparticles with extremely short lifetimes. The concept of a "true vacuum" refers to a hypothetical state with minimal quantum fluctuations, or zero density of these fluctuations, which in other terms is equivalent to an absolute zero temperature of these quantum fluctuations.

These interactions between photons and quantum fluctuations in the vacuum affect the photons' speed, meaning that the speed of light in a vacuum isn't a fixed constant but depends on the state of the vacuum or, in other words, the temperature of the quantum fluctuations. This presents a challenge to GR, as the theory's axiom of a universal constant 'c' is contradicted by this quantum mechanical insight. If the density of quantum fluctuations (or their effective temperature) is reduced, photons would experience fewer interactions and delays and consequently travel at higher velocities. This concept is similar to the hyperloop, where reduced air resistance enables higher speeds, but in this case, the medium is composed of quantum fluctuations.

In essence, the term "true vacuum" refers to a vacuum without quantum fluctuations. The ideas of space and time are not relevant in this context. Spacetime is not a physical entity that participates in physical phenomena; rather, it's a measurement system and an abstract mathematical framework within GR. This framework arises from the primary axiom that the speed of light is constant and the secondary hidden assumption that the vacuum is empty.
In other words spacetime is a physically emergent approximation of quantum-gravitational dynamics, structured by light-speed constraints. Its apparent paradoxes arise from incomplete unification with quantum mechanics.

 

[GeoffreyA]

When Albert Einstein formulated the theory of General Relativity (GR) in 1915, he didn't have the luxury of computers, the internet, or even telephones. Communication was done through letters, which might explain some aspects of the theory's poor refinement. Einstein proposed that the speed of light in a vacuum is constant throughout the universe, denoted as 'c'. While this idea is supported by experiments, its inclusion as an axiom in GR made it an unchanging constant within the theory's framework and introduced a secondary hidden axiomatic assumption that the vacuum has only one state.

Today, quantum field theory tells us that photons (and other particles like electrons) interact with quantum fluctuations in the vacuum. These interactions introduce delays and some kind of refraction, similar to how light slows down when passing through a medium of matter. So, even though the vacuum is the absence of matter, it still contains a medium made up of quantum fluctuations, specifically pairs of virtual particles and antiparticles with extremely short lifetimes. The concept of a "true vacuum" refers to a hypothetical state with minimal quantum fluctuations, or zero density of these fluctuations, which in other terms is equivalent to an absolute zero temperature of these quantum fluctuations.

These interactions between photons and quantum fluctuations in the vacuum affect the photons' speed, meaning that the speed of light in a vacuum isn't a fixed constant but depends on the state of the vacuum or, in other words, the temperature of the quantum fluctuations. This presents a challenge to GR, as the theory's axiom of a universal constant 'c' is contradicted by this quantum mechanical insight. If the density of quantum fluctuations (or their effective temperature) is reduced, photons would experience fewer interactions and delays and consequently travel at higher velocities. This concept is similar to the hyperloop, where reduced air resistance enables higher speeds, but in this case, the medium is composed of quantum fluctuations.

In essence, the term "true vacuum" refers to a vacuum without quantum fluctuations. The ideas of space and time are not relevant in this context. Spacetime is not a physical entity that participates in physical phenomena; rather, it's a measurement system and an abstract mathematical framework within GR. This framework arises from the primary axiom that the speed of light is constant and the secondary hidden assumption that the vacuum is empty.
In other words spacetime is a physically emergent approximation of quantum-gravitational dynamics, structured by light-speed constraints. Its apparent paradoxes arise from incomplete unification with quantum mechanics.

Thank you for your response. This "theory made in the time of letters" is the current description of gravity. Various attempts have failed to replace it; and I think that quantising gravity is the cardinal mistake. Perhaps gravity isn't quantum mechanical after all, and QM is the one that needs to change and upgrade its legacy concept of time.

While c might not be constant after all, it's quite a jump to go from that to infinite velocity. To discard relativity's speed-of-light limit, one has to put forward a theory that solves all the riddles that special and general relativity did and go further.

Regarding spacetime, GR says that gravity, which we all feel, is a result of its curvature, implying that it is physical. So far, no quantum-gravity theory has succeeded in explaining this force---all we've got are speculative or incomplete attempts---and until there is something better, reproducing GR as a classical limit and putting forward further, testable predictions, we cannot say that spacetime is a mere mathematical construct.

 

[UncleMikeRetro]

I was immediately like - huh, whaaaat? Dude! But the first commentor beat me to it.

Gotta know something about astronomy to write such articles, LOL.

Apparently not