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Lowell Observatory / DCT
One of the "first light" images from the Discovery Channel Telescope's 16-million-pixel camera shows the spiral barred galaxy M109.
If the Lowell Observatory's Discovery Channel Telescope were a Discovery Channel documentary, it'd be a blockbuster: an extravaganza that was a decade in the making, at a cost of $53 million. That's twice as much as it cost to produce the "Planet Earth" TV series.
Now the Discovery Channel Telescope has finally made its star-studded debut with the unveiling of "first light" images at a Saturday night gala in Arizona. Among the guests of honor: first moonwalker Neil Armstrong.
For any big telescope, first light is the equivalent of a premiere party, and the three images released this weekend are certainly worthy of the star treatment. My colleague at Discovery News, Ian O'Neill, provides the big pictures for M109, a barred spiral galaxy that's 84 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major; the Sombrero Galaxy, also known as M104, which is 30 million light-years away in Virgo; and the Whirlpool Galaxy, M51, 23 million light-years away in Canes Venatici.
This is just the start of the show: The 14-foot (4.3-meter) DCT, built at a site 45 miles southeast of Flagstaff, Ariz., ranks as the fifth-largest telescope in the continental United States. The telescope's naming rights went to the Discovery Channel thanks to a multimillion-dollar contribution from the family of John Hendricks, founder and chairman of Discovery Communications.
As nice as the current 16-megapixel images look, the view will get even nicer once the 36-megapixel Large Monolithic Imager, funded by the National Science Foundation, comes on board. Structured scientific research is due to begin in 2013 or 2014, after commissioning and testing.
The DCT is designed to be a flexible astronomical instrument, well-suited for extragalactic observations as well as the hunt for worlds on the icy rim of our own solar system. That latter task is particularly fitting, because it was at the Lowell Observatory that the first object in the solar system's icy Kuiper Belt was discovered in 1930. The object was none other than Pluto, the dwarf planet that everyone's been fussing over for the past few years or so.
Pluto's discovery made the Lowell Observatory famous, and with time, the Discovery Channel Telescope will no doubt do the same.
More about the telescopic frontier:
- Hunt for new worlds goes into overdrive
- Telescope on Canary Islands is the biggest ... for now
- It's a 'go' for the world's largest telescope project
- Giant radio telescope will get a split location
- Four way-cool telescopes from the future
Discovery Channel will air a documentary about the making of the Discovery Channel Telescope in early September.
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
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Fantastic! Truly awesome (in every sense of the word)! Being able to view these fabulous photos is just absolutely wondrous. Thanks to all who work to bring these awe inspiring pictures to the rest of us. Your work is appreciated.
These types of photos are exactly that ... Awesome! This word is used by many for reasons that don't quite jive with its true meaning, but this is reeeeeeally AWESOME!
Now if I can only get them to put a "public" Observatory here, These pics are wonderful.... This should be (I know they will share) something that every one should be able to see in their life time...
Psa_19:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
God's made up
Doug... How do you know that you are not any more than a computer program running on an XBOX 360 in a game simulation? All of your memories just happened to be what you've been given by a lowly game creator who needed a stand in character so a 13yo can complete a quest. Can you prove you are real or that you are nothing more than a product of the Matrix? Perhaps your real body is little more than a shell being fed so that a government supercomputer can use your brain for storage.
That and the theology distraction aside.... Back to the article's discussion of the telescope, It's really awesome and one can't help but wonder what will be discovered next. :)
Mike
Hahaha, good one. I aspire to be a computer generated character running on an XBOX. Hahahaha.
But, back to the topic, the photo is astounding. Just amazing. Thanks for sharing it with us Alan.
I am not a science nerd in the classic sense and if it weren't for Alan and his science blogs I (and my tiny monkey/lizard brain) would be completely unaware of the many wonders Alan shares with us.
Keep'em coming Alan.
Mike... blah blah, whatever - God's still made up
Mike, the answer to your question is that we have evidence that we are real. We can use our senses and if we needed to we could use instrumentation to provide evidence that we do exist. No evidence exists for your XBox 360 hypothesis, just like there is no evidence for the existance any gods.
I have also been watching the PBS "Fabric of the Cosmos" series with Mr. Green... talk about mind blowing!
The "Time" episode is so amazing and brings to mind many questions about our past, present and future. Are there other dimensions? Are there really three of each of us? What is the 'blackness' of space? You know, the stuff that holds up the stars, planets, and other parts of the Universe? Is the Universe receding or still expanding since the Bing Bang? Questions that continue to require answers... our scientists and mathematicians are searching each and everyday! Good luck! Can't wait to see what you discover next!
Show me proof that we humans or anything in our environment is real. Just because we insist that we can use senses or build a device and measure anything means nothing to prove we are real. People with schizophrenia firmly believe that what they are experiencing is completely real yet when based on our observation it is deemed confined to their own mind. Try to debate it with someone who is psychotic and see if you can change their mind about what is real or not real. Not that I am arguing that God is real or is not but do challenge our concept of what we believe is real. Just saying that if we were nothing more than a complex computer program we would likely be oblivious to it until a glitch caused it to fail.
Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread.
>Norma.. I've been watching the same special and love how our view of the universe has expanded so much in the past 100 yrs, much of it by the exploration of the smaller than the large aspects of it. Our view of reality has shifted greatly as well with string theory. I predict that within the next 100 yrs we'll grasp what that emptyness we call space really is and perhaps within 1000 yrs be able to manipulate it to travel great distances to what we can only see in telescopes so far. If we survive and don't become like the people in Idiocracy.
Don't worry Mike, someday you'll grow out of that pseudo-philosophical crAp and laugh at your old self
Somebody punch Mike. Maybe then he'll believe humans are real...
As we explore string theory we discover that the unifying answers exist more in philosophy and math than in measurable physics. (Paraphrasing a quote from one of the string theory researchers but don't remember which one.)
Doug .. I was much more concrete as a scientist when younger, then I discovered that more and more what we thought was scientific fact was little more than opinion based on our very limited observations, not necessarily wrong but yet not quite accurate. As telescopes and science expands the chances are good that one day physicists will look back at us now much in the same way we look back on those who insisted the world was flat. The thought behind the original comment was that science requires proof, thus if we want to say something is real or not then we should create a method to prove the basis for what we consider reality. Otherwise we are still taking something on faith.
Enuff .. such a scientific response there! Someone debates something or asks for proof so punch them. Nice to see puritanism is alive and well.
Woo! Hoo! "To infinity and beyond!" Great photos...so-o-o-o looking forward to more. There should be a calendar available...better yet...a 365 page-a-day calendar (eventually, of course.)
Ha, it sounds like we'd only get through March at this point... but sign me up!
More! More! More!
like looking in a toilet and then having an analysis
Amazing pictures, I can't wait to see more. It will be interesting to see the results of the Gaia astrometric mission too.
Man, my 12" Meade Lightbridge owns this thing. Owns!
My Meade 12LB shows a little less detail than is revealed in the photo. You must view from a particularly dark site. ;)
www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=wHXu2v-Iz9E&feature=related
It's good to see space interests are still strong ....
Thanks to the John Hendricks family for their generous contribution ....
This new telescope will be enjoyed for many years to come ....
Thanks Alan for this article ....
ditto!!
"provides the big pictures for M109, a barred spiral galaxy that's 84 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major"
84 MILLION LIGHT YEARS FROM EARTH!!! And to think wingnuts believe the earth is only 6000 years old and this telescope can see back in time 84 million years, thats incredible.
Yes, but let's not be too harsh toward those 'wingnuts'. People used to think that the world was flat, and used to think that gremlins were the cause of friction and other hidden forces. In the grand scheme of human history, the proof of ''deep time'' is relatively new, and if some people are still clinging to their old beliefs, I don't think we should be belittling them by calling them 'wingnuts'.
This is a great, positive story about a wonderful scientific accomplishment, so I think we should keep it positive. :) This is a remarkable time to live in. :)
I think you are referring to a very odd minority of people. I believe that is a myth perpetrated
by atheists. It was true at one time in days of old before science and discovery was wide spread.
Great story and looking forward to many years of discoveries courtesy of Discovery. It's a terrific partnership allowing them to introduce astronomy and space sciences to the even more people.
ntwmike: It is not a myth perpetuated by atheists Here in the deep south I can show you multiple Baptist church congregations that would argue the age of the earth while thumping their bibles as God's proof.
Have you ever studied the probability that everything would align the way it did in the pico seconds after the big bang? Takes more faith to believe in that.
It has been said often that we cannot "disprove" the existence of a god. That is true - you cannot prove a negative.
BUT it is quite easy to prove that the bible is a lie, and that if there is a creator, the creator is most certainly NOT the biblical god.
It's kind of interesting because Dr. Flue who was a former atheist philosopher came to the conclusion that atheism could no longer be substantiated and that if there were a god that existed, it would have to be the Judeo-Christian God. I'm just wondering, how exactly has the bible been proven to be false?
This is terrific stuff, but I have a really simple question:
Why now, all this effort to find a habitable planet?
We can't get there with current technology, so do the governments of the worlds big nations know more than us Plebs?
Are they using this new fabulous technology to find a replacement earth? Because Jon's comment above is very true, I am surprised there is no whinging about the cost (although I am sure they will be out in force shortly).
Because we can.
No.
Not yet.
We'll invade and conquer, then take all their resources.
We need a discovery to propel us to create the technology to get us there. Unlike in days of old, people don't just take it on faith and sail off in ships to find riches and discover new lands.
And lets hope the "this is a waste" people happen to overlook this thread.
This is cool. Imagine what we could do if we spent 1.2 trillion dollars on NASA and other projects like this instead of on wars.
I wonder if the GOVERNMENT had ANYTHING to do with building this telescope??
I wonder if your chronic CONSTIPATION has begun to affect your MENTAL STATE??
Congratulations and thank you to John Hendricks and the others who contributed to such programs,
These pictures is just more evidence of the inteligence and power of our creator. (Psalms 8:3-4) - When I see your heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have prepared, what is mortal man that you keep him in mind, and the son of earthling man that you take care of him?
That is bad shakespearian prose. Nothing else.
The picture provides no evidence whatsoever for a deity. Your delusions might be appreciated more by the other members of your cult. You might want to save any irrelevant quotes from your holy book to share with your fellow cult members, too.
Where's your evidence that a "creator" even exists to begin with?
"These pictures is just more evidence of the inteligence and power of our creator. (Psalms 8:3-4)"
So does staring at a box of crackers, apparently, if your mind is sufficiently brainwashed for that kind of thing.
The proper way to eat spaghetti is to twist it on your fork to create a spiral pattern, Thus spirals are obvious proof for the existence of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. It is blasphemy to give credit for his work to other false gods.
The picture of M109 is delicious and tempting. I wanna go there but of course we can't, 84 million years at the speed of light is way beyond what even the star ship enterprise could accomplish. We can't even say hello... same problem. I'm afraid we are stuck with good old mother earth and its six billion inhabitants, roughly one for every spec of light gathered by the pixels of this telescope. Such a downer but I'm looking forward to many more such images. The universe is filled with them.
If we do find a habitable planet - cross our fingers that we do - what else can we possibly do but fantasize over its surface scenes, and over its possible inhabitants. And of course, we would have proven that life exists elsewhere in the universe. But, despite the shrill to the contrary, such certainty is already universally accepted.
We are simply going to need some radical new advances in transportation technology to get there and explore. We are simply are not even remotely close to this. Sure there is the much talk about many possible solutions, such as the Alcubierre drive, but their implementation are simply fanciful. It's terrible but at some point we will have to admit that we are simply stuck on this rock.
While these images are nice, I wonder why these published images are of such a low resolution for a 16mg pixel camera on such a large telescope. I think the publishers are afraid of using up too much bandwidth to actually show us this image's "true" resolution. I do NOT knock the Discovery Telescopes abilities. I only knock MSN for going "low-res" in its publication. This author just does NOT get it. Most of us can and do get this kind of resolution on our 10" SCTs in our back yard.
MSN really needs to publish at least ONE full resolution image in such a story about the "abilities" of a new powerful telescope. Geez...
Our generation is so lucky to be able to appreciate the wonders of what these photos reveal! I wonder what the ancients would have thought about these photos? With all of the bad and terrible things we read and hear about these days, this is quite a welcome diversion.
Theres More to Eternity that Meets the EYE! Ours is to Wonder and Keep Scanning the Sky!
The Universe may be very, very big and very, very old, but even it's not eternal. There is no such thing as "eternity" in physics.
This is Why, I like Tech & Science! Gets me AWAY from the LowLIFE!
Yes, these telescopes will be the embassators of globe space literacy. Imagine someday we can go online and watch the sky through these telescopes real time, or we can pay small monthly fee to have guided sky tour nightly online!
Okay first of all, there is no God, but if the fear of eternal damnation keeps some acting in a decent manner then I'm okay with it. Second, there was no "Big Bang"! That's just sciences way of trying to explain the unexplainable; where did everything come from?.........take a big toke,............a big bang! Everything came from nothing; that explains the expansion of the universe - now it all makes sense!! Really?
It's like that cartoon where a scientist writes '...and then a miracle happens'....! We don't know everything, we never well know everything. But isn't it cool to see such fantastic pictures? I've read where we have taken a picture of a galaxy nearly as old as the universe (still off by a few hundred billion years or so though). And how do we know this? The thing is, we don't! We base this on an assumption that was made on the age of the universe but the age may actually be ageLESS! No one wants to admit that anything could just......BE. The thought is that it had to be created somehow.....or by someone (or some deity). Why? Why couldn't the universe just be there and everything in it; evolving and devolving, imploding and exploding, living and dying? It doesn't stop me from enjoying the pictures or the studies and certainly not the discoveries that we make as our technologies advance. I just get sick and tired of hearing all of the stupid terms assigned when the "experts" don't know what really happened (like the Big Bang - or God!).