Travel to the beginning of space and time
Breathtaking full-color photographs of the cosmos take visitors back through time to the beginning of the universe in the exhibition, “The Evolving Universe” at the National Museum of Natural History. A collaborative effort with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory at Harvard University, “The Evolving Universe” explores how the stars, galaxies and universe undergo the same stages as life on Earth: from birth, to maturity and, eventually, to death. This remarkable journey from present-day Earth to the far reaches of space and time will be on view on the second floor of the museum through Jan. 20, 2013.
Scientists have used advancing technologies to explore the history and evolution of the universe. The light from stars and galaxies in the night sky has travelled for hundreds, millions or even billions of years. The light from the sun—a mere 93 million miles away—travels to Earth in only a few minutes. The night sky has stars in the Earth’s galaxy, the Milky Way. Light from the center of the Milky Way in the constellation Sagittarius has taken more than 26,000 years to reach Earth. When that light left its source, modern humans were becoming adept basket makers. Also included in the exhibition is an image of the microwave radiation emitted shortly after the Big Bang—a snapshot of the newborn universe 13.6 billion years ago, long before the first stars and galaxies formed. The universe has been expanding ever since.
Whirlpool Galaxy M51. Distance from Earth: 23 million light years Size: 76,000 light years. Credit: Harvard-Smithsonian CfA Observers: Brian McLeod
“The photographs in this exhibition, made by remarkable instruments like the Hubble Space Telescope, show what a beautiful, yet, sometimes terrifying universe we live in,” said Glenn Macpherson, supervisory research geologist at the Natural History Museum. “You can also see actual dust grains formed 4.6 billion years ago during the explosions of ancient dying stars. These tiny supernova grains were trapped in our own our solar system when it formed, then preserved in meteorites where we can now study them; astronomy with an electron microscope!”
In addition to telescopic images from space, researchers are actively investigating microscopic images of meteorites found on Earth. Their composition reveals what changes have taken place in the universe during the passage of billions of years while the Earth was still in formation, well before humans even existed. All of the elements—the raw materials that make up everything in the universe, including the Earth and human bodies—are formed within stars and released into space when stars die. Visitors may be surprised to learn that their bodies are composed of this stardust and will be able to see an example of interstellar diamond dust found in a meteorite in 1969. This will join the compelling visuals and epic stories of supernovas, stellar nurseries, nebulae and galaxy clusters that reveal the fascinating history of the expanding universe.
“We’ve all seen the amazing pictures from NASA’s probes in our own solar system,” said Jonathan McDowell, a physicist of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. “I’m excited about bringing to the public the remarkable images of the broader universe that we astronomers have been exploring with our telescopes, and I hope that with this exhibition visitors will take away an appreciation for our larger cosmic neighborhood.”
Most of the Sun's energy is emitted – or radiated – evenly, but disturbances near the surface result in some rather impressive eruptions that can shoot hundreds of thousands of miles high. Distance from Earth: 8.3 light minutes. Size: 0.1-0.4 million km light years. Telescope: TRACE satellite.
For more information about the exhibition, visit the museum’s website.
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Posted: 15 November 2011
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Categories:
Astrophysical Observatory , Feature Stories , Natural History Museum , Science and Nature
