Behold the early universe as revealed by the Webb Space Telescope

Science rocks! The Hubble Space Telescope was a scientific marvel. Now it has been surpassed by the James Webb Space Telescope, whose first images were released by NASA a few days ago. 

Check out the images on the NASA web site. My favorite is this one. Not because it is the most beautiful or most dramatic. I love it because it reveals how the universe appeared less than a billion years after the big bang set things in motion about 13.8 billion years ago.

This is part of how NASA described the image.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has delivered the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe so far. Webb’s First Deep Field is galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, and it is teeming with thousands of galaxies – including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared.

Webb’s image is approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length, a tiny sliver of the vast universe. The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying more distant galaxies, including some seen when the universe was less than a billion years old.

This deep field, taken by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), is a composite made from images at different wavelengths, totaling 12.5 hours – achieving depths at infrared wavelengths beyond the Hubble Space Telescope’s deepest fields, which took weeks. And this is only the beginning. Researchers will continue to use Webb to take longer exposures, revealing more of our vast universe.

This image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago, with many more galaxies in front of and behind the cluster. Much more about this cluster will be revealed as researchers begin digging into Webb’s data. This field was also imaged by Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), which observes mid-infrared light.

Webb’s NIRCam has brought distant galaxies into sharp focus – they have tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features.

Light from these galaxies took billions of years to reach us. We are looking back in time to within a billion years after the big bang when viewing the youngest galaxies in this field. The light was stretched by the expansion of the universe to infrared wavelengths that Webb was designed to observe. Researchers will soon begin to learn more about the galaxies’ masses, ages, histories, and compositions.

Other features include the prominent arcs in this field. The powerful gravitational field of a galaxy cluster can bend the light rays from more distant galaxies behind it, just as a magnifying glass bends and warps images. Stars are also captured with prominent diffraction spikes, as they appear brighter at shorter wavelengths.

Since nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, looking out into space is looking back into time. We don't see the sun as it is now, but as it was about eight minutes ago. 

The Webb Space Telescope is a much vaster time machine, revealing the early universe as it was about thirteen billion years ago. Mind-boggling. And scientists say that much more is to come, since the Webb Space Telescope has a long life span ahead of it. 

Vox has a story that describes the image in somewhat more flowery language than that used by NASA. 

What makes this image so mind-blowing is how small it is, and how large it is, at the same time.

It’s small in the sense that this image represents only a teensy tiny portion of the night sky. Imagine you are holding out a grain of sand at arm’s length. The area of sky that grain covers — that’s the size of the area captured in the above image.

But it’s huge in the sense that nearly every object in this image is a galaxy (besides the bright spiky starbursts, which are stars in the foreground). Think about that: In every pinprick of sky, there are thousands and thousands of galaxies, at least.

And while it appears to us as a flat image, this image reveals the depths of the universe, and is a window through time. The very faintest, smallest blips of light in this photos are images of galaxies as they existed more than 13 billion years ago, near the very beginning of time(that light has been traveling through space ever since). And not only can Webb capture images of galaxies this old; the space telescope can make measurements about what elements those early galaxies are composed of.

An image like this is akin to a core sample of a sedimentary rock. It shows the evolution of the universe over time in its many layers.

And it represents a huge improvement over the capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope, which, until the launch of the Webb, was the largest observatory in space. Hubble’s mirror is an impressive 7.8 feet in diameter. Webb’s beautiful, gold-hued mirrors combine for a diameter of 21.3 feet. Overall, that amounts to more than six times the light-collecting area, and when it comes to telescopes, more light collecting equals more detail.

This image fills me with way more awe than any religious scripture could. Science tells us about reality. Religions tell us about fantasy. I like my awe to be fact-based, which is why I adore science so much.

Comments

[Appreciative Reader]

"Science rocks!"

..........And how!

----------

"This image fills me with way more awe than any religious scripture could. Science tells us about reality. Religions tell us about fantasy. I like my awe to be fact-based, which is why I adore science so much."

..........The wonder that science in general evokes, and the kind of intense wonder and intense feeling of awe that something like the Webb Telescope's images (and everything they represent) evoke in us, that is exactly the font of ...for want of a better word, religiosity, in the best sense of the term, that is inherent in each of us.

Except, religion runs away with it, and, at best, spins wild fairy tales while pretending to speak to truth, and at worst corrupts this noble human facility into something utterly base and mean. It is science that can channel this lofty sense of wonder and awe and striving that we come equipped with, towards true beauty, towards true virtue, towards a closer and a wider and an ever more wondrous appreciation of reality as she is.

[Appreciative Reader]

And here's something that occus to me:

All of these folks, who claim all kinds of subliminal cosmic visions while meditating? All of those suns and stars and empty spaces and whatnot, that people claim to see within? Not just our everyday meditators, but the big guns as well, the Gurus themselves? Well, if they're seeing all of these wondrous things inside every day, then they ought to be able to provide us with some information that staid old regular astronomy has not so far uncovered, and that said staid old regular astronomy would subsequently verify, right?

Like, these things about the universe that we now know. These further details that the Webb telescope is now uncovering for us. Have any of the Cosmic Meditation types ever predicted anything concrete? Like, ever?

Not the retrofitting bullshit. Not claiming to have seen within what we already know via astronomy. Because that kind of retrofitting could well be the result of outright charlatanry, or else, if not that, then simply of suggestion and self-delusion.

So yeah. Can anyone here, basis their own meditation, or basis the meditation of so-called "masters", either provide some actual predictions of astronomical details not so far observed, and that might be verified by mainstream astronomy one of these days, that is to say either validated or falsified one of these days by mainstream astronomy? Or can anyone, basis either their own meditation or basis what so-called "masters" and "mystics" have said and written, point at any observations made about details of cosmology that had not been know at that time and that mainstream astronomy discovered/validated subsequently?

If yes, then that's compelling evidence, compelling proof, for this RSSB thing right there. And if not, well then, you do have to ask, why the fuck not, in these hundred years or so since the movement began, given that apparently so many people, master and humble disciple alike, are viewing this son et lumiere thing inside their heads twice each and every day?

[7.77]

A R wrote:
Have any of the Cosmic Meditation types ever predicted anything concrete? Like, ever?
Oh Yes, . . . in all RSSB Books:

That 10 000 James Webb at last might see the snowflock, called BB, and there are
more like in Alaska.

Divulging such secrets and more,. . why not claim from Them
to tell us Who we are right away
and so finish the creative adventure

BTW
I don t think SatGurus see all there is to see each day. . . but :
Most meditation is consumed to exchange the Love

like
a just married couple see on TV that Musk has a new starship like Captain Picard s

When you ask them the next morning, . . . it's so hard to remember

Don (t U know RSSB is for accumulating Love, . . not kindergartens
further Revelations on a need to know basis ONLY

777

[Brian Hines]

Appreciative Reader, allow me to translate into understandable English the comment shared by 7.77 above:

"No, no master or anyone else associated with RSSB has ever predicted any astronomical details not yet observed, or indeed any scientific fact not yet known."

Glad to help, since religious believers like to use a lot of words that say nothing.

[Karim W. Rahmaan]

Glad Bill Nelson (Administrator) in the beginning of this video, IS in FACT religious.

(proof, Nelson quoting)
"The heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament shows His handy work." -Psalm 19:1

(2:30 - 3:30)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KNc6vnPPVLk

In my opinion, here's a religious man with 'in theory' the ability to see all the way back into time.

What more proof do you need? Or is being religious even relevant to Nasa's Next Generation Space Telescope?

[Dungeness]

@ A.R. [ Not the retrofitting bullshit. Not claiming to have seen within what we already know via astronomy. Because that kind of retrofitting could well be the result of outright charlatanry, or else, if not that, then simply of suggestion and self-delusion. ]

Hm, by "retrofitting", do you mean those "stars, sun, moon" mystics claim to
see "inside" and yet no predictive discoveries are derived beyond what we
already know via astronomy...

Apologies if I've misunderstand your model, but the mystic's cosmology
doesn't intersect with the physical plane of existence as I grok it. That is,
the mystic "astral plane" envelopes the physical world but has its own
sun that isn't governed by physical laws. Symmetrically the astral sun
is bound to its own laws however. So an astral cop can't cuff Al Capone
or rat out his whereabouts to Eliott Ness. Nor could an astral physicist
predict any anomalies in Pluto's orbit. Or leak any juicy discoveries to
friends on the other side for that matter.

As a non-experiencer of "inner realms", that's as far as I want to wade
in the word salad. Ask a real mystic to explain. Better yet, seek ye a
mystic path, follow it devotedly until you can discern the truth yourself.

[777 - Sad when U did send yr Love into the desert -]

early of universe , the 9 ^9Tri try, . . . each time somewhat different

but
actually

"It is God's own voice which is ceaselessly calling us back home. It emanates from the house of the Lord and its harmonies resound in all human beings."
— Maharaj Charan Singh Ji —
777

[Appreciative Reader]

"the mystic's cosmology doesn't intersect with the physical plane of existence as I grok it"

..........Is that so, Dungeness?

You may well be right about this, and I may well be mistaken on this --- and absolutely, this could make for interesting discussion, and with an objective resolution to the question, if we would base such discussion off of the actual literature --- but it was my impression (which like I've said might well be mistaken) that the mystic cosomology, as described in systems like Tanstrism/Vajrayana and also RSSB, is much much much wider and larger in scope than our regular physical universe/cosmology, but it does also include our own regular/physical cosmology as well.

That microcosm-macrocosm thing? It is a part of Tantric systems, and unless I misremember my Julian Johnson, of RSSB as well. The idea is that the outer "macrocosm" is somehow mirrored within the inner (human) "microcosm" --- which is why, incidentally, it is the human form that is uniquely privileged, far more even than higher demi-godly beings/births, because it is the human form that gives you the means to progress beyond where you are, unlike other forms, so that regardless of whether those other forms are ugly or bad or good or even five star deluxe, it is the human form alone that is the gateway to higher realities --- and you can traverse the equivalent of the outer, and do that far more economically, by traversing the inner. Sure, your attention will be focused on the much larger, vaster cosmology than the puny subset our astronomy currently focuses on, but still, I'd imagine that some objectively verifiable tidbits about our puny everyday cosmology would be forthcoming given the hundreds and thousands traversing these mystical paths over the last hundred years going by RSSB tradition alone (and over a couple millennia and more, going by other traditions).

Anyhoo. That's an intersting point of discussion you raise. Am I right, and does the larger mystical cosmology encompass and include our smaller more humble everyday cosmology, and specifically is the latter also traversed via mystical means? Or am I mistaken about this --- like I keep saying, that's entirely possible --- and are you correct in stating that the (alleged) mystical journey (supposedly) jumps over this humble everyday cosmology of ours, and (allegedly) starts directly in dimensions and planes that are beyond the range of science?

[777]

AR
Today you have a great non-atheistic understanding
You wrote
"and you can traverse the equivalent of the outer, and do that far more economically, by traversing the inner."

Yes the physical is inefficient copy of the higher, a snow flock in Alaska

[Appreciative Reader]

Hi, 777.

To be clear, that isn't my understanding of what reality amounts to. That is my understanding of what some mystical traditions posit.

My own position is that of an agnostic practitioner, and in terms of belief most definitely atheistic; but willing, obviously, to be shown otherwise, should such evidence be forthcoming; and interested in the subject, absolutely, as witness my practice, and indeed my interest and participation in these discussions here.

[Dungeness]

@ A.R. [ it was my impression (which like I've said might well be mistaken) that the mystic cosomology, as described in systems like Tanstrism/Vajrayana and also RSSB, is much much much wider and larger in scope than our regular physical universe/cosmology, but it does also include our own regular/physical cosmology as well. ]

That's my limited understanding but the word "include" flummoxes me because
the mystic's cosmological bodies are fundamentally different than the physical
ones they include. They envelope or permeate more so than they include and
don't interact in the way physical ones do. An ocean includes an adjacent bay
and impacts the bay's tides. The astral world envelopes both but affects neither.
Caspar the ghost walks right thru smaller living forms but leaves no trace. No
bumps. No bruises.

Yet theoretically there is a connection, a portal between the two eyes, which
provides a passageway between the two realms of astral and physical. Also
there's a murky area called the "overlap" which bridges the realms where
allegedly supernatural phenomena can be seen/heard (eg ghostly figures/
sounds). Cheap thrills...

As for discerning or gaining insights of the workings of the physical plane
more clearly from the astral, I don't know. I suspect it requires enormous
focus to simply pass thru the portal and once there, you're so enraptured
with the astral you pay scant attention to other distractions. But, now I've
stepped from word salad into the knee deep weeds.

[Ron E.]

Just tuned in to Brian’s latest blog and justified praise and wonder of the Webb Space Telescope and the amazing images of deepest space. And thinking, ‘the universe and our little corner of it here on planet Earth contains enough wonder and meaning for any human’ and wondering why we still have to invent and believe strange and unnatural views of life and the universe?

Then I read some of the later comments on such things as ‘mystical cosmology’, ‘astral realms’, ‘astral suns’ etc. – and generally espousing what seems to be ancient Indian cosmology. All nothing to do whatever with the blogs’ wonder and awe of the real universe being revealed by science.

C’mon fellas, get real.

[Karim W. Rahmaan]

"..emanates from the house of the Lord and its harmonies resound in all human beings."
— Maharaj Charan Singh Ji —
777"

Posted by: 777 - Sad when U did send yr Love into the desert - |July 16, 2022 at 03:06 AM

"Exalted is He and high above what they say by great sublimity. The seven heavens and the earth and whatever is in them exalt Him. And there is not a thing except that it exalts [Allah] by His praise, but you do not understand.." -Koran (Sahih) 17/43-44

So like that Administrator Nelson quoted from a man from a completely different era King David, here's one from from Mohammed, and we also can find quotes from Maharaj Charan Singh Ji on the vastness if the Creator. Could one logically find similarities in scriptures of complete strangers decades apart, and then soundly make educated inferences based on say divine evidence, or no?

[Dungeness]

@ Ron E. [ ... such things as ‘mystical cosmology’, ‘astral realms’, ‘astral suns’ etc. – and generally espousing what seems to be ancient Indian cosmology. All nothing to do whatever with the blogs’ wonder and awe of the real universe being revealed by science. C’mon fellas, get real. ]

That omits the context, Ron. The intersection of the 'purported' mystical and
physical cosmologies is a valid area of research for science. If traversing the
mystical reveals useful facts about the physical, it warrants sustained study.

By the way, that's why science pursued an exam of ESP phenomena... to
glean the truth and extract any data useful to science and hone the meth-
odology for examining it. A Harvard study tested past claims and found
the reported results to be anomalous at best:
https://www.science20.com/news_releases/is_esp_real_harvard_scientists_say_they_have_settled_the_debate

They added however this didn't mean ESP doesn't exist only that
their own findings argued against its reality. Further, "perhaps most
important, this study offers scientists a new way to study ESP that
avoids the pitfalls of past approaches."

[Ron E.]

Mystical and physical cosmologies. Yes, it is a valid field of research. But best left to neuroscience.

[Dungeness]

@ Ron E.. [ Mystical and physical cosmologies. Yes, it is a valid field of research. But best left to neuroscience. ]

Why not both... a neuroscientist may well need the experience of a mystic
adept over unknown terrain to be able to frame a testable hypothesis. The
mystic's alleged telepathic/physiological skill may often be integral to testing
as well. Obviously, purported mind readers and bed-of-nails stamina feats
are examples. But simple Q&a over the mystic's journey "inside" may yield
insights or help frame new hypotheses... and revise old ones too.

Then the neuroscientist can write a paper and parse the lies/truth of the
mystic for the benefit of all.

[Ron E.]

Yes Dungeness, why not both indeed. In fact, there is already a growing amount of information gathered by neuroscience on such matters as OEB’s, NDE’, experiences of unity, oneness, ESP etc. Kevin Nelson, a neurologist with three decades' experience examining the biology behind human spirituality. His research offers the first, comprehensive, empirically tested, peer-reviewed examination of the reasons we are capable of NDE's, OBE's and other mystical states.

I quote Nelson (from The God Impulse) as he does not decry spiritual states, regarding them as a valuable aspect of human life and possibly, for some at certain times, helpful. The difference is that such research does not suggest such spiritual experiences are other worldly. They are viewed as normal happenings and part of the rich tapestry of the workings of the human brain.

[UM]

@ Ron

It can and it is interesting to know and understand how a car is build, how it operates etc
But for the everage driver what matters is his intent, etc to drive from A to B.
Knowlefge of the technical knowledge of the cars has no relation to his intent.

So however interesting brain research might be, finding out which centers are active having these, so called inner experiences, thet are not helpfull in explaining the CONTENT of the experience .... and ... THAT is the only thing that matters for the subject.

Humans have, above, besides or over other creatures the capacity .. to RE-create the natural and original] living circumstances needed to survive.
Using that capacity they have managed to live in places thry otherwise could not survive.

But as far as I know and understand, they are not able to re-create ..CONTENT etc.

As soon as researchers are able to stimulate the brain in such an way that every time they do that the seem thought arises in one person and are able to repeat it in any other subject .... we hae arive at the place where the car knows who we are and where we want to go.

Until that time ... I do sip some coffee.to pass my days

[Ron E.]

Hi UM. Interesting points, though I understand that contents arise from the place where such contents are housed. That place of information is the brain, or rather that facet of the brain, the mind. When we talk of me or my self, we are describing our cultural and social accumulated contents. One could say, we are our contents.

Our particular (and conditioned) set of contents determine our intent, reaction or response. Nothing overtly special about contents, every sentient life form navigates its environment through its own inherited and learned contents. Content then is not something you can or need to recreate, though it is something that can be added to when subjected to certain conditions.

Interesting that you use the analogy of the car. Okay, so a car is not sentient, though the self-drive car, through data sensing and collection, takes all this information and processes it fast enough to make split-second decisions – just as we do. Such a car is programmed by the manufacturers and by its owner when it feeds in a particular destination And, incidentally, some cars are now able to identify their owner through voice and face recognition – dear oh dear, whatever next!

[um]

@ Ron

In my book I have a body and I, whatever that is and however that is defined, use that body.

So I use my senses, arms etc to make coffee and drink it ... my arms are not making decisions for me, neither the senses and also not the brain.

I use the bran, the brain doesn't use me.

I drive a car and the car doesn't drive me, it has no intent to do so.

Without the brain, no thoughts, no experiences, outer or inner, but that said there is no reason to assume that the brain creates the content.

All sorts of emotions go with all sorts of mental and fysical reactions, all to be measured, but these reactions do not generate the emotions.

It is the content that matters.

In an research institute they can measure which part is active in the brainb and which centre communicates with what other centre or organ ...but they cannot tell, based upon their registration what you EXPERIENCE ... the CONTENT

Content is as difficuly as consciousness

[Dungeness]

@ Ron E [ The difference is that such research does not suggest such spiritual experiences are other worldly. They are viewed as normal happenings and part of the rich tapestry of the workings of the human brain. ]

The patronage of your response speaks volumes about the arrogance of scientism. There's
no proof of the view that they are just "normal happenings" of the brain's "rich tapestry" either.
Other than killing the brain which makes them vanish of course.

Mystics offer a way to see what really goes on behind the appearances... all without killing
bystanders.

[Appreciative Reader]

"Kevin Nelson, a neurologist with three decades' experience examining the biology behind human spirituality. His research offers the first, comprehensive, empirically tested, peer-reviewed examination of the reasons we are capable of NDE's, OBE's and other mystical states."

.........Thanks for the reference, Ron. Haven't heard of the man or his work before this, as far as I can recall. His work (the outlines of which should I suppose be available easily enough online) should make for interesting reading. Have bookmarked his search page, will check it out later on at leisure.

[Ron E.]

Oops, I'm in danger of going off the original blog somewhat. I'm sure there will be other future blogs that invite the topics of content, consciousness, self and so forth.

Look forward to them.