Cotton Candy Nebula Photographed by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory

 

(Image credit: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA)

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory recently came online and is producing wonderful photographs of space. The photo shown is the Cotton Candy nebula (Messier 20) located 5,000 light-years distant in the constellation Sagittarius.

Zoomable photo: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noirlab2521ah/zoomable/

Multiple Dimensions of Time - Part 4

(Graphic: Carbon Design on Iconfinder)

Another article has been published about time existing in multiple dimensions. Gunther Kletetschka recently published Three-Dimensional Time: A Mathematical Framework for Fundamental Physics in Reports in Advances of Physical Sciences, Volume 09, 2025.

Prior posts on this subject include:

Multiple Dimensions of Time

Dimensions of time raised in science fiction: Robert Heinlein book, The Pursuit of the Pankera (The Pursuit of the Pankera | Arc Manor Books)

Multiple Dimensions of Time - Part 2:

Dynamical topological phase realized in a trapped-ion quantum simulator | Nature

Multiple Dimensions of Time - Part 3:

Relativity of superluminal observers in 1 + 3 spacetime

Vera C. Rubin Observatory

 

(Image: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/iotw2229a/)

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located at an altitude of 2700 m in Chile, recently became operational. The observatory is named for Vera C. Rubin, an American astronomer who pioneered discoveries about galactic rotation rates (this discovery has led to the understanding of dark matter).

Site construction began on 14 April 2015 with the ceremonial laying of the first stone. The first on-sky observations with the engineering camera occurred on 24 October 2024, while system first light images were released 23 June 2025. Images are recorded by a 3.2-gigapixel charge-coupled device imaging (CCD) camera, the largest digital camera ever constructed.

Some of its first released images are below:

(Photos: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory)

Here is a video of asteroids detected by the new telescope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTuq-vBsDJE&t=45s

X = 500 (Space X completes 500th mission)

 

(Graphic: https://www.iconfinder.com/bogdanrosu)

Later today (6/12/2025), if the launch goes as scheduled, Space X will have launched their 500th mission. The vast majority of their missions have been made with the Falcon 9 platform which employs the re-useable first-stage booster. Space X has drastically reduced the cost of launching payloads into space by reusing the first stage. One such booster, B1062, was used 25 times.

As of this date,  SpaceX accounted for approximately 73% of global space launches.

Space X Falcon 9

800,000,000,000 Stars

 

(Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI )

In the image above, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) captures the Sombrero galaxy in near-infrared and mid-infrared wavelengths. This galaxy is estimated to have approximately 800,000,000,000 stars.

The image above compares the galaxy in infrared and visible wavelengths. 

Read more from the JWST imaging of the Sombrero galaxy at: https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/webb-sees-sombrero-galaxy-in-near-infrared/

Prior posts on JWST:

Number of planets in the universe:

https://jamesmacmath.blogspot.com/2022/01/number-of-planets-in-universe.html

Earliest star formation:

https://jamesmacmath.blogspot.com/2025/05/jwst-detects-earliest-formed-galaxies.html

Top ten JWST photographs:

https://jamesmacmath.blogspot.com/2024/07/top-ten-photographs-of-james-webb.html

1679 - One important message sent from Earth 31 years ago

In 1974 an interstellar radio transmission was broadcast to the globular cluster Messier 13 from the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico. The message was 1679 bits long. The length of this message was chosen purposely because 1679 is a semiprime with the prime divisors 23 and 73. The message, when plotted in a 23 x 73 array, produces the graphic shown below:

While the human figure is the most recognized feature in the graphic, there are several other features included in the message (from Cassiday, George. "The Arecibo Message". University of Utah. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-13.):

• The numbers one to ten (white; left to right) 
• The atomic numbers of the elements hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and phosphorus, which make up deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) (purple)
• The formulas for the chemical compounds that make up the nucleotides of DNA (green)
• The estimated number of DNA nucleotides in the human genome, and a graphic of the double helix structure of DNA (white and blue, respectively)
• The dimension (physical height, 5'9") of an average man (blue/white), a graphic figure of a human being (red), and the human population of Earth which was about 4 billion at the time (white)
• A graphic of the Solar System (including Pluto), indicating which of the planets the message is coming from (yellow). The Sun is on the left and the third planet, Earth, raised toward the human figure
• A graphic of the Arecibo radio telescope and the dimension (the physical diameter) of the transmitting antenna dish (purple, white, and blue)this message:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_message

JWST Detects Earliest Formed Galaxies

(Image: NASA)

Since its launch in 2021 and deployment in 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) continues to produce discoveries. Recently, the JWST detected the farthest galaxy from Earth found to date. Universe Today reported on JWST's latest findings: https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-new-farthest-galaxy-has-been-found-by-webb-only-280-million-years-after-the-big-bang.

(Image: Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, B. Robertson (UC Santa Cruz), B. Johnson (CfA), S. Tacchella (Cambridge), P. Cargile (CfA).)

A YouTube video explains more about the discovery of these very early galaxies.

The JWST has also been instrumental in detecting exoplanets:  https://jamesmacmath.blogspot.com/2022/01/number-of-planets-in-universe.html

Top Ten Photographs of the James Webb Space Telescope

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI / Image processing by Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), and Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was launched December 25, 2021. About six months later, it started producing some of the best images of our universe. PetaPixel recently published the top ten photographs produced so far: https://petapixel.com/2024/07/20/the-james-webb-space-telescopes-10-best-space-photos-so-far/. The iconic Pillars of Creation is shown above. See the the link above for the other top images.

Also see prior post on the JWST: https://jamesmacmath.blogspot.com/2022/01/number-of-planets-in-universe.html

The specialty of the JWST is imaging in the infrared spectrum. NASA has a good article here: https://webb.nasa.gov/content/science/firstLight.html.

Rogue Planets

 

(Image: https://www.iconfinder.com/raminrzdh)

A rogue planet is a planet not orbiting a star. Instead of orbiting stars, rogue planets wander space between the stars. There are estimates that there may be trillions of such planets in our galaxy alone. IEEE Spectrum recently had an article about rogue planets and their detection: https://spectrum.ieee.org/rogue-planet.

Also see: Stars

Black Holes

Planets in the Universe

The James Webb Space Telescope recently found some rogue planets:

https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-rogue-planets-star-formation

Moving Faster Than the Speed of Light

(Image: https://www.iconfinder.com/ibobicon)

Vsause explores how shadows may appear to travel faster than the speed of light in this YouTube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTvcpdfGUtQ&t=165s

I've had discussions with other people who didn't think it was possible for the shadow to move faster than the speed of light, c. Now I have some back-up material to explain. The key is that although the image appears to be moving faster than c, there is not a physical object moving faster than c, nor is information being transmitted faster than c.

See another post in this blog about a very fast space vehicle: https://jamesmacmath.blogspot.com/2024/01/fast-space-travel.html

Fast Space Travel

(Image: https://www.iconfinder.com/kreasikanvas)

Determining the time to complete interstellar space travel is a matter of simple math. Time = distance/velocity. Our closest neighbor, Alpha Centauri, is 38 trillion kilometers away. As of this date, the fastest probe made by humans is the NASA Parker Solar Probe, which achieved a velocity of 386,863 kilometers per hour. Such a craft would require over 10,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri. 

Aeon recently posted a five-minute video explaining a few ways we might be able to reduce interstellar travel time. It is appropriately named: "Go incredibly fast."

See the other post in this blog about something that can travel faster than the speed of light: https://jamesmacmath.blogspot.com/2024/07/moving-faster-than-speed-of-light.html

200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Stars

(Image: https://www.iconfinder.com/iStar_Design_Bureau)

I've seen several different estimations of the number of stars in the universe. Recently, The Conversation, an online independent news organization, published this article by Brian Jackson: How many stars are there in Space?

He estimates there are approximately 2 trillion galaxies with each having an average of 100 billion stars giving a total of 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars.

An image from the Hubble Space Telescope showing hundreds of faraway galaxies. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Diego (Instituto de Física de Cantabria, Spain), J. D’Silva (U. Western Australia), A. Koekemoer (STScI), J. Summers & R. Windhorst (ASU), and H. Yan (U. Missouri))

The 9 Most Massive Numbers in Existence (Tia Ghose article in Live Science)

The website Live Science  recently published an article by Tia Ghose, The 9 most massive numbers in existence. It covers many subjects that have been discussed in this blog, including Graham's Number, the scale of the universe, and prime numbers. Below is a link to the article:

The 9 most massive numbers in existence

Multiple Dimensions of Time - Part 3

                                            

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

In two prior posts, I explored how different authors and physicists have considered the possibility of multiple dimensions of time. See: Multiple Dimensions of Time and Multiple Dimensions of Time - Part 2.

As unusual as this topic may seem, I'm reading more about how many scientists have considered multiple dimensions of time to be a possibility. Just recently, another article was published this past week in which authors Andrzej Dragan et al. develop an extension of special relativity in 1+3 dimensional spacetime to account for superluminal inertial observers and show that such an extension rules out the conventional dynamics of mechanical point-like particles and forces one to use field-theoretic framework.

Update 12/25/2022 - another article posted: https://mindmatters.ai/2022/12/did-physicists-open-a-portal-to-extra-time-dimension-as-claimed-2/

Multiple Dimensions of Time - Part 2

 

(Graphic: Kalash on Iconfinder)

In a recent post, I explored how different authors and physicists have considered the possibility of multiple dimensions of time. Nature just published an article, Dynamical topological phase realized in a trapped-ion quantum simulator | Nature, in which an experiment using laser-emitted pulses sent in a Fibonacci sequence at 10 ytterbium qubits made the system behave as if there are two distinct directions of time. 

Additional links regarding this experiment:

Scientists Fed the Fibonacci Sequence Into a Quantum Computer and Something Strange Happened (futurism.com)

Physicists Got a Quantum Computer to Work by Blasting It With the Fibonacci Sequence (gizmodo.com)

Multiple Dimensions of Time

 

(Graphic: Carbon Design on Iconfinder)

I’m currently reading a Robert Heinlein book, The Pursuit of the Pankera (The Pursuit of the Pankera | Arc Manor Books), in which a group of time-space travelers devised a machine to travel through parallel universes. The key to their machine is they discover that there are three dimensions of space and three dimensions of time. The book’s theme led me to look up how theorists have speculated that there may be more than one dimension of time.

There turns out to be quite several theories about multiple dimensions of time. Enough so there is a Wikipedia page dedicated to the topic: Multiple time dimensions - Wikipedia.

Some of theories include compact time dimensions analogous to the spatial dimensions of string theory, two time dimensions in which one is in real time and one is in imaginary time as with complex numbers, and multiple time dimensions similar to conventional time.

Beyond Heinlein, other popular authors have employed multiple time dimensions including C. S. Lewis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronicles_of_Narnia) and J. R. R. Tolkien (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings).

NASA Smashes an Asteroid (DART Mission)

 

(Image: Iconfinder.com)

NASA recently completed the experiment of colliding a spacecraft into an asteroid. The mission’s name was DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) and had the goal of determining if a small asteroid could be deflected. Ultimately, if the experiment worked, mankind would have a possible tool to change the trajectory of an Earth-bound asteroid, therefore avoiding a extinction event.

Remembering my high-school physics, the change in the velocity (speed and direction) could be determined by conservation of energy and conservation of momentum equations. I was going to try to re-create the needed equations, when I found that Rhett Allain (in WIRED.com) completed this exercise and explains the some of the nuances associated with calculating the change of the velocity of the impacted asteroid. Link: The Physics of Smashing a Spacecraft Into an Asteroid.

The calculations showed the target asteroid could have its velocity changed by about 1mm/sec. That doesn't seem like much, but if an incoming asteroid could be intercepted with enough time before impact, that small change could make enough of a difference to avoid impact with the Earth.

Update 10/11/2022 - NASA confirmed that they have detected a measurable difference in the asteroid's velocity: NASA confirms humans changed the motion of a celestial object for the first time (msn.com)

NASA says asteroid mission was successful, altered orbit by 32 minutes (msn.com)

Another post gives a method for calculating the probability of extinction events: Math Vacation: The Doomsday Calculation (jamesmacmath.blogspot.com)

Book Review: We Have No Idea, A Guide to the Unknown Universe by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson

 

(Jacket design by Jorge Cham, Penguin Random House Riverhead Books)

If you are looking for an entertaining book on cosmology, We Have No Idea fits the bill. Authors Cham and Whiteson begin the book with a few chapters on what makes up the universe where we learn that it consists mostly of dark matter and dark energy. Fitting for the title of the book, scientists still know little about 95% of the universe.

To make the material easier to read, the book is generously illustrated by Cham with cartoon-style drawings.

Footnotes include science humor topics. For example, footnote 68 refers readers to the website: Has the Large Hadron Collider destroyed the world yet?

While providing a humorous example, I found their explanation of the difference of philosophical and scientific theories to be very easy to understand. Essentially, theories need to be testable to be deemed scientific.

 Another topic explored is string theory. Those who like the post, The Very Samll and the Very Big will like the chapter "How Many Dimensions are There?" 

Book’s website: We Have No Idea by Jorge Cham, Daniel Whiteson: 9780735211520 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

Book Review: Imagined Life by James Trefil and Michael Summers

 

This blog has had several posts linking how we use math to answer questions about space. 

Math Vacation: Book Review: Twenty Worlds by Niall Deacon (jamesmacmath.blogspot.com)

Math Vacation: How Many Black Holes are there in the Universe? (jamesmacmath.blogspot.com)

Math Vacation: Number of Planets in the Universe (jamesmacmath.blogspot.com)

Math Vacation: Can We Reach Another Star? (jamesmacmath.blogspot.com)

Math Vacation: How Far is it to the Next Nearest Planet with Interstellar Communication? (jamesmacmath.blogspot.com)

Math Vacation: One Equation - One or Many Worlds? (jamesmacmath.blogspot.com)

Authors James Trefil and Michael Summers put together a very good summary of the types of planets that exist in our universe that could support life. They classify these planets in the following ways:

Goldilocks – those planets like Earth that are just right distance from their star to have liquid water. This is our only confirmed source of life in the universe, so this very Earth-centric view is valid. However, they bring out that many other planet types could support life.

The other planet types explore in the book include:

Planets with surfaces of only solid ice.

Planets with surface ice and having liquid oceans below the surface.

Planets entirely covered with liquid water.

Planets that are in a tidal lock with their sun as our moon is with Earth.

Earth-like planets bigger than Earth but smaller than Neptune (none in our solar system, but very common elsewhere).

Planetary systems like those orbiting Trappist-1 where several planets are orbiting in close proximity to their star.

Most interestingly, are the rogue planets. These are planets that formed in solar systems and were ejected from the system by violent encounters during the solar system’s formation. Some believe that the number of rogue planets may far outnumber traditional planets. While they would not bathe in sunlight, they still have the source of energy from the cooling of their initial formation and from radioactive decay. Therefore, it is possible that these rogue planets could harbor life.

The book also discusses life forms that may exist outside of usual experience, including artificial intelligence and life based on electromagnetic basis versus a chemical basis.

Another important idea discussed is what other liquids, other than water, could be supportive of life. The main candidates include liquid methane, ammonia, and hydrogen sulfide.

Also explored is the possibility of life based on elements other than carbon, such as a silicon-based life.

Imagined Life: A Speculative Scientific Journey among the Exoplanets in Search of Intelligent Aliens, Ice Creatures, and Supergravity Animals: Trefil, James, Summers, Michael: 9781588346643: Amazon.com: Books

 

The Very Small and the Very Big

In a prior post we considered how many digits of pi are required for a calculation, and I recently listened to a Lex Fridman podcast with guest Tim Urban, where they discussed if man is smaller than we are large or larger than we are small (Lex Fridman podcast).

Let's explore both extremes of small and large. 

Starting with the characteristic size of a human, 1 meter. Most humans are taller than a meter but are thinner and not at wide as a meter so for this discussion 1 meter will be the scale of comparison we use.

Moving up in scale:

10 m            About the size of a garage or apartment

100 m          The length of athletic field or pitch

1000 m        The span of a large bridge (The New York George Washington bridge has a span of 1067 m)

10,000 m     A 10k race in which many runners have competed

100,000 m   A distance typically traveled in an hour by automobile at highway speeds 

10⁶ m            A full day's driving on a long trip or traversing the north-south extent of California

10⁷ m            The distance from the north pole to the equator through Paris (by definition of meter)

10¹¹ m          The distance from the Earth to the Sun (One AU = 1.5 10x11m)

10¹² to 10¹³ m   The orbit of Neptune is 30 AU

10¹⁶ m          The distance to the Oort cloud (the furthest extent of our Solar system)

10²¹ m          The diameter of the Milky Way Galaxy

10²⁷ m          The radius of the observable universe

View this animation on the large scale of the universe: (1535) your mind will collapse if you try to imagine this | UNIVERSE SIZE COMPARISON - YouTube

Another good visualization is given here: https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/logarithmic-view-universe/

Moving down in scale

0.1 m            A human hand width

0.01 m          A small finger width

0.001 m        1 mm or about the thickness of a credit card

0.0001 m      A fine human hair or diameter of a human egg cell (the largest human cell)

0.00001 m    Diameter of a human capillary vessel

10^-6 m           The low end of the size of a bacterium (one micron) 

10^-9 m            Size of a molecule  (one nanometer) 

10^-10 m          Angstrom - approximate size of a hydrogen atom

10^-15 m           Size of a proton

10^-19 m           Upper limit of the theoretical size of a quark

10^-35 m          The Planck length is 1.62 x 10^-35 m (smallest possible dimension)

Now, let’s consider the ratio of the very largest thing, the observable universe, to the vary smallest, theoretical size, the Planck length. The ratio is approximately:
10²⁷ m: 10^-35 m or 10⁶² to 1. Humans are somewhat in the middle but closer to large end in the comparison given above. If we only venture down to the size of a quark, then we closer to small end.