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3.02.2008
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Types of telescopes What are the advantages of each
Refractors, Newtonian reflectors and Catadioptrics are the three main types of telescopes. All these different types have the same purpose, but each telescope design does it differently. Collecting light and bringing it to a point of focus so it can be magnified and examined with an eyepiece is their goal.
Of the different types of telescopes the refractor is the telescope most people think of when they think of astronomy. This type of astronomy telescope is easy to use and reliable due to the simplicity of design. It requires little or no maintenance. Its great for looking at the different types of lunar, planetary, and binary stars.
Newtonians are a type of telescope, which is also known as catoptrics. This type is different from the other telescopes because it has the lowest per inch of aperture compared to refractors and Catadioptrics, because lenses are more expensive to produce than mirrors, especially in medium to large apertures. Newtonians deliver very bright images and are low in optical aberrations.
Catadoptric telescopes are the most popular type of instrument, with the most modern design, marketed throughout the world in 3 1/2 and larger apertures. Its very good for looking at different planetary, lunar, and binary stars. If you like to take photos with your telescope this type of instrument is excellent for deep sky observing or astrophotography with fast films or CCD's.
Cosmic Rays and the Cygnus Mystery
Since the discovery in the 1920s that all types of radiation can cause gene mutations, scientists have wondered what role high energy cosmic rays might play in human evolution. Yet it was an idea destined never to find favour among geneticists, who could determine no hard evidence that the background flux of cosmic rays might have had any noticeable effect on human cell mutation.
All this is about to change, as an examination of ice cores extracted from sites in Antarctica and Greenland provides new information on the level of cosmic rays reaching Earth in past ages.
When so-called ‘primary’ cosmic rays hit the upper atmosphere they generally break up to produce a plethora of ‘secondary’ particles that form isotopes, which fall to Earth and are preserved each year in layers of ice. One such isotope is beryllium 10, found within the ice cores, which provides clear evidence that on three occasions over the past 100,000 years – around 60,000 years ago, 40,000 years ago and 17,000 years ago - there have been extremely intense periods of cosmic ray activity lasting up to 2,000 years at a time.
Although the cyclic nature of these spikes of activity indicate a connection with long-term solar cycles, other factors might have been behind the sudden increase in cosmic rays during Palaeolithic times, when our earliest ancestors made huge jumps in evolution that led eventually to the rise of civilization. Catastrophists propose that a close supernova explosion might have sent a barrage of cosmic particles in our direction, dramatically increasing cloud formation, thus preventing the sun from penetrating through the atmosphere and leading quickly to an ice age and mass extinctions on the ground. It is possible, therefore, that close supernovae might account for the high levels of beryllium found in the ice cores.
An altogether different scenario is that the true source of cosmic rays affecting the evolution of life are black holes or neutron stars, a theory first proposed in 1973 by world-renowned astronomer Carl Sagan. In the 1980s particle physicists in Europe and the USA unexpectedly detected the presence deep underground of incoming cosmic rays that had penetrated the solid rock to great depths, suggesting that they had come from an extremely powerful cosmic ray accelerator somewhere in deep space.
These unique cosmic rays were found to have been produced by a binary star system containing either a black hole or neutron star in the northern constellation of Cygnus, the swan. Known as Cygnus X-3, this astronomical source was classified as recently as 2000 as the galaxy’s first ‘blazar’, meaning that it produces jets of stellar material, mostly ionized gas, that direct cosmic particles towards the Earth at close to the speed of light, something it has been doing for anything up to 700,000 years.
The recorded bursts of cosmic radiation from deep space on at least three occasions in human history could suggest that Cygnus X-3 is the key to solving the mystery of the cosmic rays. Had the Palaeolithic cave artists and shamans responsible for the cave art at Lascaux, and other similar caves across Western Europe, become aware of incoming cosmic rays, which are unique in being able to penetrate deep underground? Did these cygnets, as Cygnus X-3’s strange particles became known, cause gene mutations, leading eventually to the development of a complex mindset, including symbolic art and the first organised societies towards the end of the last Ice Age?
Cygnus is the oldest known constellation represented in art, appearing as a bird on a pole in the famous cave of Lascaux in southern France, c.17,000 years ago. What is more, all around the world there was once a great reverence of this constellation, known also as the Northern Cross. From the bird effigy mounds of North America to the Olmec centres of Mexico, the Incan sacred city of Cuzco, the Egyptian Pyramids of Giza, the Hindu temples of India and Avebury, the largest stone circle in Europe - all reflect an age-old interest in Cygnus, which features also in religious symbolism and beliefs, at the heart of Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, as well as shamanic practices worldwide. All of this indicates that Cygnus X-3, as our galaxy’s sole blazar, is the best candidate by far for at least a percentage of the cosmic radiation that continues to reach Earth and may well have catalysed mutations leading in the past to sudden advances in human evolution.
The String Theory
At first, this theory was not exhilarating to many physicists because it seemed preposterous. However, many physicists soon became hooked to this theory when two physicists, John Schwarz and Michael Green, found one equation for all forces in 1982.
“The String Theory” suggests that “small vibrating 1-dimensional objects with length and tension constitute the universe”. Each dissonant vibration constitutes a different particle. An example is sound waves created on a musical instrument. Each string on the instrument can vibrate in resonant patterns creating various amplitudes and wavelengths in the sound wave. Therefore, a variety of musical notes can be heard. Thus, there is no possible way for strings to vibrate in the three spatial dimensions that we are familiar with, up and down, left and right, and back and forth. To solve this problem, six more dimensions were added.
Finally, five different forms of string theory were developed. If there is one theory that describes the whole universe, which of the five is correct? With the help of Ed Witten this mystery came to a close, and the development of M-theory was created.
M-theory is also called for another dimension. This extra dimension theorizes that if a “vibrating string had enough energy, the string could expand, creating a membrane”. With enough energy this membrane could expand to the size of the universe. It is now thought that our universe is living in a membrane inside a much larger higher dimensional space. Thus, there could be parallel worlds on other membranes coexisting with ours just a millimeter away.
In the theory of quantum physics, the law that controls how atoms behave, the fabric of space is random and chaotic. Because of this chaotic and random movement the fabric of space often tears. What causes these tears to stop? The answer is strings. As strings float around in the fabric of space, the strings act as a tube around the tear forming a protective bubble. This tube is called a wormhole.
Theoretically, a wormhole is a tunnel or bridge that links distant regions of space, in other words, a cosmic shortcut to different places in the universe. This phenomenon can only be described in the
extra dimension from M-theory.
M-theory also explains why gravity seems to be billions and billions times weaker than electromagnetism. This is because gravity, composed of particles called gravitons, is “surrounded by closed strings and are able to wander off into extra dimensions”. With this knowledge, physicists may be able to construct a device that can communicate to parallel universes by exchanged strong gravity wave sources.
Physicists are currently trying to find gravitons by the use of atom smashers. The atom smasher collide hydrogen atoms into each other while traveling at the speed of light. As the hydrogen atom collides, numerous particles disburse. No results of detecting a graviton were successful but, hopefully, with the help of a much more power atom smasher, the graviton will be discovered. The reason why the discovery of the graviton is very important is because it will prove that the string theory may be true.
”The String theory” has not provided a definite answer about the “Big Bang”. It has, however, provided an assumption. Two membranes, highly energized strings, carrying parallel universes were drifting
towards each other. As they hit, the energy given off has to go somewhere. Thus, the “Big Bang” occurs. This does not occur just once but many times. There may be “Big Bangs” occurring at this
moment between other membranes.
If “The String Theory” is somehow proved accurate, the greatest mystery ever existed in life will be answered. “The String Theory” will explain why the universe is the way it is. We may even be able
to discover other life forms in other universes. Wormholes would provide a much profound efficient way of exploring the universe and parallel worlds.