1. 1 Approaching the Present Cosmic Times 1993

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3. 3 The Universe for Breakfast - Pancake or Oatmeal??  Which describes our Universe best?  1. Pancake: smooth surface but with small differences if you look closely  2. Oatmeal: real “lumps” like galaxies

4. 4 COBE: BABY UNIVERSE’S 1 ST PICTURE

5. 5 COBE Cosmic Background Explorer  COBE took better picture of CMB (Cosmic Microwave Background)  Shows some lumpiness that will become galaxies and stars  How universe looked 380,000 yrs after BB

6. 6 What is Inflation?  Shortly after Big Bang Universe expanded tremendously in very short time  Shows how galaxies and stars could be formed from CMB

7. 7 Pulars show evidence of gravitational waves (discovery wins Nobel Prize)

8. 8 Into the Darkness – Dark Matter  Matter that gives no visible light – seen with X Rays  Dark matter could slow expansion of Universe  the distribution of dark matter simulation; dark matter is clustered into halos, connected by filaments

9. 9 Dark Matter videos  Minute Physics Minute Physics  Through the Wormhole Through the Wormhole

10. 10 Cosmic Times 2006 – our time in history

11. 11 Faster Walk on the Dark Side - Dark energy is…  a mysterious anti-gravity  causing universe expansion to accelerate  pushing galaxies apart  creating more space  Discovered by observations of:  visible light, X-ray, radio, and microwaves

12. 12 Dark Energy videos  Through the Wormhole Through the Wormhole  Science Channel Science Channel

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14. 14 Sorting Out Dark Stuff Tells what universe is composed of  4% atoms (normal matter)  23% dark matter (tugs on normal matter with gravity)  73% dark energy (flings everything apart)

15. 15 Seeds of Modern Universe WMAP helps see structure of early Universe  WMAP: satellite launched after COBE confirms Big Bang  Gives better picture of early universe structure  Shows more details of what will become galaxies

16. 16 WMAP improves CMB resolution

17. 17 Journey to Cosmos’ Dark Heart Scientists are working to understand dark energy  Using new satellites (Joint Dark Energy Mission) to measure distance between galaxies  Will tell how fast galaxies  have moved away  are moving away

18. 18 What is Future of the Universe??  Will Dark energy rip it apart??

19. 19 Will it reach a limit and collapse, and start again??

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21. 21 The end

22. 22 Cosmic Times  1919 - Confirmation of Einstein’s Theory of Gravity  1929 - Hubble’s discovery of Expanding Universe  1955 - Debate between Big Bang and Steady State  1965 - Discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background  1993 - COBE Results; Development of Inflation Theory  2006 - Grappling with Dark Energy.

23. 23 Cosmic Times: Scientific Themes  Our understanding of the Expansion of the Universe  Nature of Supernovae  The size and scale of the Universe A number of other themes also appear.  Impact of improved technology.  Role of Women in early astronomy.

24. 24 Unsung Heroes: Women in Early Astronomy  Objectives: The students identify and describe unfamiliar scientist “heroes” that contributed to the field of science up to the year 1929.  Summary:  identify the women scientists of the Harvard College Observatory  use the world wide web to complete a product on one of the these unfamiliar scientific “heroes” that they discovered in their research.

25. 25  A print of this Harvard College Observatory photograph was found in an album that had once belonged to Annie Jump Cannon.  These women assisted Pickering in measuring stars and features on the photographic plates. Pickering’s Harem

26. 26 Cosmic Times Posters “Newsletter version” for individual student use

27. 27 Cosmic Times Web Site http://cosmictimes.gsfc.nasa.gov/  1919 & 1929 Posters and Lessons now Available  This presentation is available (with links to lessons)  1955 materials available soon.  Sign up for email updates