Blogs
Ever thought of the universe as a huge cosmic stew—smooth and identical wherever you look? Dive in closer; it's full of enchanting quirks! They’re whispers of the universe's baby secrets from just after the Big Bang! Intrigued? Jump in to unravel the amusing mysteries of the cosmos!
Universe’s Baby Picture!
Coming soon...
Coming soon...
Coming soon...
Coming soon...
About Me
Well, first of all I am really glad that you are so much interested about me :) and thanks for checking out my website. I am a PhD student at IISER Pune. But Currently, I am a Swiss Government Excellence Fellow at the University of Geneva (Département de Physique Théorique). I am also a visiting researcher at the Raman Research Institute in Bengaluru (Astronomy and Astrophysics Department), India
Contact
Do you have some suggestion or ideas about anything in the General Please leave a message. You can also find me here
×
Deciphering the Speed of Light
Credit: NASA
The Musing of Greeks
Back in the times of ancient Greece, philosophers like Aristotle pondered a lot about light. To them, light wasn’t something that traveled; it was more of an abstract presence, an illumination that simply existed wherever it was needed.
Galileo’s Attempts
Jump to the 17th century, Galileo and his assistant rolled up their sleeves to chase the speed of light using lanterns. However, light, being the swift entity it is, eluded them due to the technological limitations of their time.
Rømer and the Dance of Jupiter’s Moons
Ole Rømer in 1676 got a breakthrough while observing the moons of Jupiter. He noted the variations in the moon Io’s period and deduced this discrepancy was due to the finite speed of light, coming remarkably close to the modern accepted value.
Bradley and the Wandering Stars
James Bradley, in 1729, by observing stellar aberration, came up with a more accurate estimation of the speed of light, based on the apparent change in position of stars due to Earth’s motion.
Michelson’s Mirror Experiments
Albert A. Michelson, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, used rotating mirrors to measure the speed of light with unprecedented accuracy. His measurements became the standard for many years.
Modern Measurements
Thanks to advancements in technology and modern physics, we have more precise measurements of the speed of light, pinpointing it at approximately 299,792,458 meters per second.
Einstein’s Theory of Relativity
Albert Einstein solidified the concept that the speed of light is a fundamental constant of nature, implying it’s the ultimate speed limit of the universe.
Conclusion
This journey, from abstract musings to empirical science, represents humanity’s relentless pursuit to understand the universe. We’ve come to know light as not just a presence, but as a traveler, a wave-particle duality navigating through the cosmos at an unfathomable speed.
×
Universe’s Baby Picture!
Credit: ESA, Planck
Hello, Cosmic Wanderers! 🌠
Today, let’s embark on a fun and exciting journey back in time to explore a spectacular phenomenon, the Cosmic Microwave Background, or CMB! Picture it as the Universe's very first baby photo! Cute, right? 🌌📸
Once Upon A Time... 🌌🕰️
Around 13.8 billion years ago (Yep! That’s a B!), our Universe started with a big BANG! It was hot, dense, and way smaller than a pinhead. Everything that is now galaxies, stars, planets, and us, was cramped in there! Can you imagine the lack of personal space?!
Cooling Down & Growing Up 🌬️🌌
As time ticked away, this tiny, fiery baby Universe started to expand and cool down. It was changing and growing, just like when you grow up! And, around 380,000 years after its birth, the Universe finally cooled enough for light to travel freely.
Say Cheese! 📸
That light, still traveling across the vast cosmos, is what we call the Cosmic Microwave Background. It’s like a snapshot of the Universe when it was just a baby! It allows scientists, or Cosmic Detectives, to understand more about the Universe's earliest days.
A Cosmic Whisper 🌌👂
The CMB is like a very faint whisper from the cosmos. It's so quiet that scientists had to build special “cosmic ears,” like the satellites, to listen to it. This whisper is everywhere, and it’s like the Universe is telling us its earliest secrets.
Spotted! 🎇🔍
CMB doesn’t shine like a star or blaze like the sun; instead, it's a soft glow, a gentle radiation. Using their “cosmic ears,” scientists can see tiny spots, or “baby freckles,” on this glow. These “freckles” are clues about how the Universe was feeling and what it was doing when the picture was taken!
Cosmic Detective Work 🕵️🌌
Our cosmic detectives study the CMB’s freckles to learn how our Universe grew up. By studying these patterns, they can understand the types of “cosmic toys” (like atoms and dark matter) the Universe had to play with when it was just a tot!
Cool Colors! 🌈
You might think that the CMB picture is in black and white, but it’s not! The “cosmic baby photo” has cool colors. The colors represent temperatures, with blue being cooler and red being warmer. These colors help scientists figure out how the Universe was behaving and feeling at that time!
Why Should We Care? 🌌💭
Why is this baby photo so important, you ask? Well, by understanding our Universe’s infancy, we can learn about our cosmic home’s history, what it's made of, and possibly where it’s going! It’s like looking at your baby pictures and seeing how much you’ve grown and changed!
Concluding our Cosmic Journey 🌠👋
So, there you go, dear Cosmic Wanderers! We’ve just explored one of the coolest (literally and figuratively!) things in our Universe, the Cosmic Microwave Background. It's like a magical baby photo album, whispering the tales of the infant Universe, allowing us to unravel the mysteries of our cosmic home!
Remember, every time you look up at the night sky, the Universe is sharing its wondrous stories with you. So, keep wondering, keep exploring, and who knows, maybe one day, you’ll uncover some cosmic secrets yourself! 🌌🔭🌠