Fantastic European Space Agency photo shows light from the time of the Big Bang [Astronomy]

Oh, the joy this photo brings me. It was taken by the European Space Agency’s Planck telescope over the period of a year, and it shows, among other treasures, some of the oldest light in the universe. We’re talking light from right around the time of the Big Bang, light that’s 13.7 billion years old. I dare you to look at this and not be completely amazed.


A little big of explanation may be necessary.

The center disc-like structure? That’s the Milk Way—that’s us! If you look closely, you can see me collecting flowers in Red Dead Redemption.



Off toward the right are the stars that make up the Orion constellation. To the left, Perseus.

Now, here’s where it gets good. You see the comparatively sparse areas on the top and bottom? That would cosmic background microwave radiation, present since the time of the Big Bang.

Tremendous in every sense of the word.

Back to flower collecting…


[CrunchGear]

570-Megapixel Digital Camera Is the Mother and the Father of All Cameras [Digital Cameras]

Dark energy Peeping Toms rejoice, because Fermilab has created the gadget to catch it: A $35 million, car-sized digital camera, with 74 CCD sensors in it. It will take 570-megapixel photos of the Universe.
The resulting sensor is one meter in diameter, covering a 2.2-degree field of view. The images are so big that, even with an ultra-fast data recording system, each photo will take 17 seconds to acquire.
The camera won't photograph the dark energy itself, however. It will just provide with ultra-detailed shots of the cosmos—tracking 300 million galaxies over the course of five years—which may bring evidence about the existence of this veiled intergalactic power. Which is too bad, because I bet she looks sexy in her undies.
[Gizmodo via Dark Energy Survey via Wired]