Looking Up

13 million years ago, a nearby elliptical galaxy and a spiral galaxy collided, merging in a slow majestic dance of destruction and rebirth. At the center of the collision, a super massive black hole formed. Energetic photons, from infrared to ultraviolet, began moving out in all directions, including ours.

Meanwhile, the same 13 million years ago, back on Earth, there were no humans yet. There were, however, primates that would eventually branch off to other primates which would eventually branch off to us.

And we, being intelligent, tool-using primates, would eventually build optics and telescopes and computers that extend our human senses out into the Universe.

Fast forward to the present time. Our technologically extended vision is now receiving the 13 million year old photons from what we call the Centaurus A galaxy (our nearest giant galaxy). And here's what our technologically enhanced eyes see now:


As super massive black holes draw matter in, they often form twin jets streaming out from each pole, blasting the surrounding space with unimaginable streams of matter and energy.

So when we look up at such things, we are looking back in time, back long before we and our amazing tools even existed. To be here now, and to be able to capture those ancient wave particles of light, photons that during their journey encompassed all of human history and a whole lot more, well, "awesome" doesn't even come close. And perhaps this is one of the biggest reasons why astronomy, cosmology, and all things skyward hold such an interest for me (and maybe some of you too?)