APOD: A Flight through the Hubble Ultra... (2013 Aug 27)

[APOD Robot]

A Flight through the Hubble Ultra Deep Field

Explanation: What would it look like to fly through the distant universe? To find out, a team of astronomers estimated the relative distances to over 5,000 galaxies in one of the most distant fields of galaxies ever imaged: the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF). Because it takes light a long time to cross the universe, most galaxies visible in the above video are seen when the universe was only a fraction of its current age, were still forming, and have unusual shapes when compared to modern galaxies. No mature looking spiral galaxies such as our Milky Way or the Andromeda galaxy yet exist. Toward the end of the video the virtual observer flies past the furthest galaxies in the HUDF field, recorded to have a redshift past 8. This early class of low luminosity galaxies likely contained energetic stars emitting light that transformed much of the remaining normal matter in the universe from a cold gas to a hot ionized plasma.

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[Beyond]

I'm glad the flight didn't go very fast. After all the marshmallow and popcorn from yesterday's APOD, i didn't feel like going to fast.
After we got by everything at the end, what's that tiny red dot in the middle of the screen

[firstmagnitude]

Where's Carl Sagan and his dandelion spaceship from Cosmos when you need him with a little Vangelis music in the background?

[ta152h0]

bet the JPL guys would give an arm and a leg to go beyong the last fuzzy object

[bystander]

bet the JPL guys would give an arm and a leg to go beyond the last fuzzy object

They have - http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121014.html

[BDanielMayfield]

I'm glad the flight didn't go very fast.

Didn't go very fast??? Our virtual starship covered over 30 billion light years in 58 seconds!

[SouthEastAsia]

Fascinating visual. Very ingenious.

OK, a couple questions which were spurred upon viewing this, which I'd wish to ask here if I can; were 1) assuming there was a bang (I understand there are differing views), about how fast in terms of average light speed over the duration of the existence of the Universe, was the expansion rate of those farthest fuzzy galaxies at over 8 red shft distance and getting them that far away from our current relative positions?

And 2) In the observable Universe today (I realize there is debate on the estimated total size of the Universe), roughly where is the location of our Milkyway Galaxy relative to volume of the known, observable space? Are we in the relative center? Or e.g., is there disproportionate number of visible deep space galaxies farther out (in the farthest reaches of our viewing ability) in one hemisphere of the observable event horizon, vs another hemisphere, such that it might imply something?

Thanks in advance for any deeper insight in helping me wrap my head around this concept.

[Ahmad]

Remind me this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYjbkRktqIE

Ahmad

[Markus Schwarz]

Fascinating visual. Very ingenious.

No matter how many times I see the Hubble Deep Fields, I am always impressed and deeply moved by them.

And 2) In the observable Universe today (I realize there is debate on the estimated total size of the Universe), roughly where is the location of our Milkyway Galaxy relative to volume of the known, observable space? Are we in the relative center? Or e.g., is there disproportionate number of visible deep space galaxies farther out (in the farthest reaches of our viewing ability) in one hemisphere of the observable event horizon, vs another hemisphere, such that it might imply something?

On the largest scales, i.e. distances larger than about 400 Mpc, the universe is homogeneous and isotropic. This means that no matter where you are the universe has the same properties and it doesn't matter in which direction you look. It is the ultimate extension of the Copernican principle: the Earth is not the center of the universe. In fact, the universe does not have a center at all, because it's the same everywhere.

On the other hand, the observable universe consists of all objects that we can see. In an isotropic and homogeneous universe, these objects form a sphere with us in the center. Therefore, we are in the center of our observable universe.

Overall, several different experiments confirm the isotropy and homogeneity of the universe. Recently, the PLANCK satellite confirmed this view of the universe. However, they also detected a small difference between hemispheres. As to what this implies, the answer still awaits us...

[mister T]

I'm glad the flight didn't go very fast.

Didn't go very fast??? Our virtual starship covered over 30 billion light years in 58 seconds!

Scotty I need Ludicrous Speed NOW!!

[jcr]

Based upon the early age of the galaxies should we see them changing into their present forms on this trip?

[BDanielMayfield]

I'm glad the flight didn't go very fast.

Didn't go very fast??? Our virtual starship covered over 30 billion light years in 58 seconds!

Scotty I need Ludicrous Speed NOW!!

Quite so mister T. That’s an important advantage of a virtual starship over a real one, no fixed speed limits.

The laws of physics can be a real drag on actual travel. But if they weren’t exactly as they are we wouldn’t be here.

[Uwe]

Nice! Nevertheless way too static, because it does not regard the fact that a flight of that kind (speed, direction) is also a flight into the PRESENT state of those galaxies, which we should be able to watch rapidly evolve, probably even die.

[geckzilla]

Nice! Nevertheless way too static, because it does not regard the fact that a flight of that kind (speed, direction) is also a flight into the PRESENT state of those galaxies, which we should be able to watch rapidly evolve, probably even die.

Given that the camera is traveling many times faster than the speed of light, if you really wanted to be realistic you'd have to account for that. I have seen some simulations for how things would look traveling at relativistic speeds but I have no idea what anything would look like traveling faster than light.

[Beyond]

I discovered that the tiny red dot in the middle of the screen only shows up when i turn on a lamp that is about a foot and a half away and off to the side of my monitor. I can only see it when the video gets to a certain point of darkness, especially when there's only a few objects to go before there's nothing but black. So... end of that mystery.

[Ksdogra]

I'm glad the flight didn't go very fast. After all the marshmallow and popcorn from yesterday's APOD, i didn't feel like going to fast.
After we got by everything at the end, what's that tiny red dot in the middle of the screen

Actually the flight was very fast. About ten billion ly/minute!

[Ksdogra]

I looked several times but did not see any spot at the end of the video. Perhaps we arrived in the region from where light has not arrived here, yet!

[Beyond]

I'm glad the flight didn't go very fast. After all the marshmallow and popcorn from yesterday's APOD, i didn't feel like going to fast.
After we got by everything at the end, what's that tiny red dot in the middle of the screen

Actually the flight was very fast. About ten billion ly/minute!

It looks like you and BDanielMayfield have about a 20 Billion light year difference of opinion. The video was less than a minute.

[neufer]

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

I'm glad the flight didn't go very fast.
After all the marshmallow and popcorn from yesterday's APOD, i didn't feel like going to fast.

• Then you probably wouldn't want to take
  the S.R. Hadden/Elon Musk hyperloop

After we got by everything at the end,
what's that tiny red dot in the middle of the screen

• The Red Roof Inn Restaurant at the End of the Universe

[Beyond]

The Red Roof Inn Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Oh, I've never seen the movie, so i didn't recognize it.

[bystander]

• The Red Roof Inn Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Wouldn't that be the Beginning of the Universe?

[Dustin]

A flight to the edge of the universe and a flight back in time.
The closest I'll get to being a deep space and time traveler.
Very Cool.

[Java Slinger]

Way cool!!! Now can we fly thru the Milky Way (with a stop-off @ the Event Horizon over-look to enjoy a Milky-Way bar & buy souvenirs)?

Java Slinger w/ Hands So Low

[Beyond]

• The Red Roof Inn Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Wouldn't that be the Beginning of the Universe?

Depends on whether you're coming in, or going out.

[bystander]

I'm glad the flight didn't go very fast.

Didn't go very fast??? Our virtual starship covered over 30 billion light years in 58 seconds!

Actually the flight was very fast. About ten billion ly/minute!

Dr. Frank Summers from STScI, one of the creator's of the video, commented on facebook:

The speed of the camera through the data set is roughly 200 million light-years per second.