Hubble deep-field image

My current 'continuing education' interest is a course from The Teaching Company that I checked out from the library.  (I really heart the Teaching Company)  The course is My Favorite Universe, taught by Neil deGrasse Tyson.  The lecture I'm up to is "Onward to the Edge" and Mr. Tyson is describing the images from the Hubble telescope that comprise the Deep Field project.

Particulars of this project were:

• project took 10 days
• images are from the "most boring" part of the sky (northern sky by the Big Dipper)

• image field is the size of "Abe Lincoln's eyeball" on a penny held at arm's length

The images are gorgeous.

  (image courtesy of Wikimedia Commmons)

Each 'spot' in the image is not a star, but a galaxy.  Each one is a Milky Way seen from afar.

I've been an astronomy buff since I was a kid, so I'm 'intellectually aware' that the universe is bigger than I can imagine.  I still give myself shivers when I gaze up at the sky and think just how big it all is.  This series of images multiplies my shivers exponentially.

I am enjoying Professor Tyson's lectures, and I recommend them for a general overview of astronomy.

Comments

[JJ Ross]

Ooh, fun, smart AND timely! Favorite Daughter is taking college astronomy this fall for her last required science credit, with no background at all. Thursday night they got to use some superduper telescope for extra credit and she was thrilled to be with people doing something so new (to her) and amazing.

Wait'll I show her this (we heart the Teaching Company too!)

Valerie, do you know about the Dark Sky Association? You might enjoy this New Yorker Magazine piece. . .