Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to I'll raise you one...

The Hubble Deep Field
Davin L. — (archived)

will probably end up on the "top 100" scientific discoveries or technological feats that shape human consciousness, or how humans think about the universe... With of course flight, telecommunications and the picture human foot-prints on the moon being up near the top.

I was by no means ignorant of the scope of the universe, nor unaware of or unpracticed in the staggering effect of contemplating the scale disparity between 1 finite mind and the universe... but when I first saw the HDF for the first time, I felt like a child again- very young and trying to wrap my head around the scale of things for the first time.

I think all space 'geeks' remember a moment in their past, usually when they were very young, where they really realized for the first time what the starry sky meant about their own selves. I think that experience is probably the 'function' that determines who ends up being a space geek and who doesn't. Not everyone who gets there ends up a space geek, but I don't think you can get there without it.

I suppose thats why a part of me doesn't want to see hubble go- even though I see the arguments for disposing of it are at least founded. I want another 'Hubble Deep Field Moment'- and Hubble does indeed produce them. The goose that lays the golden egg of creation (yes, thats right, I am referencing hindu metaphysics, so shoot me!).

But then RL assures me that we have only scratched the surface of what we can do with adaptive optics, laser guidestars and optical interferometry. We could end up with hundreds of hubbles all over the planet... (And lots of cool lasers that ARE NOT involved in the process of killing people, which is a good thing)

Davin L.

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