UNI VERSE?? Is our universe merely one of billions? It looks like we might be getting more and more insignificant parts of this world (just to avoid confusion, world here does not mean earth, universes was the implied meaning). This may not be such a big jolt to us, but old Aristotle, Ptolemy and the vast amount of ecclesiastic gentlemen of their time must be turning over in their graves at this news. And why wouldnt they? They considered earth as the centre of the universe and the galaxy at one time; and, far from being the centre of either, it appears that even the universe isnt the one and only. Evidence of the existence of multiverse was revealed for the first time by a cosmic map of background radiation data gathered by the Plank Telescope. The first hard evidence that suggests the existence of other universes, has been claimed to have been found by cosmologists studying the new Planck data released this June. They have concluded that it shows anomalies that can only have been caused by the gravitational pull of other universes. Such ideas may sound wacky now, just like the Big Bang Theory did three generations ago. And theres no doubt about it. Its hard enough trying to imagine different galaxies, forget different universes. Cosmologists regard the microwave background -- a flash of light emitted 380,000 years after the universe formed -- as the ultimate cosmic reference frame. Relative to it, all large-scale motion should show no preferred direction. A 2010 study tracked the mysterious cosmic dark flow to twice the distance originally reported. Dark flow describes a possible non-random component of the peculiar velocity of galaxy clusters (or rather, its something the astronomers know nothing about, hence the word, dark). The actual measured velocity is the sum of the velocity predicted by Hubbles Law plus a small and unexplained (or dark) velocity flowing in a common direction. According to standard cosmological models, the motion of galaxy clusters with respect to the cosmic microwave background should be randomly distributed in all directions. The unexplained motion has hundreds of millions of stars dashing towards a certain part of the sky at over eight hundred kilometre s per second. Not much speed in cosmic terms, but the preferred direction certainly is: most cosmological models have things moving in all directions equally at the extreme edges of the universe. Something that could make things aim for a specific spot on such a massive scale hasnt been imagined before. A black hole cant explain the observations - objects would accelerate into the hole, while the NASA scientists see constant motion over a vast expanse of a billion light-years. You have no idea how big that is. This is giant on a scale where its not just that we cant see whats doing it; its that the entire makeup of the universe as we understand it cant be right if this is happening. One explanation thats already been offered is that our universe underwent a period of hyper-inflation early in its existence, and everything we think of as the vast and infinite universe is actually a small corner under the sofa of the real expanse of reality. Which would be an amazing, if humbling, discovery. Also, its clear that we now need a term for multiple universes. Cause multiverse just doesnt sound astronomical enough. A cluster of stars is a constellation, a cluster of constellations is a galaxy, and a cluster of galaxies is a universe. A cluster of universes is.............. And it just might happen that, twenty years down the line, we might also need a term for a cluster of cluster of universes.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 18:32:28 +0000
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