| Space is virtually empty. Galaxies actually tiny. |
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| Unknown red dot is even more billions of light years into empty, black Deep Space. |
Few have dared to enter into these forbidden
realms;
few have returned to tell us of them...
| NASA Center: | Hubble Space Telescope Center |
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| Image # : | PR00-08 |
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| Date : | 01/11/2000 |
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Title
A Cosmic Magnifying Glass
Full Description
Scanning the heavens for the first time since
the successful December 1999 servicing mission, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope imaged a giant, cosmic magnifying glass,
a massive cluster of galaxies called Abell 2218. This 'hefty' cluster resides in the constellation Draco, some 2 billion
light-years from Earth. The cluster is so massive that its enormous gravitational field deflects light rays passing through
it, much as an optical lens bends light to form an image. This phenomenon, called gravitational lensing, magnifies, brightens,
and distorts images from faraway objects. The cluster's magnifying powers provides a powerful "zoom lens" for
viewing distant galaxies that could not normally be observed with the largest telescopes. The picture is dominated by spiral
and elliptical galaxies. Resembling a string of tree lights, the biggest and brightest galaxies are members of the foreground
cluster. Researchers are intrigued by a tiny red dot just left of top center. This dot may be an extremely remote object made
visible by the cluster's magnifying powers. Further investigation is needed to confirm the object's identity. The
color picture already reveals several arc-shaped features that are embedded in the cluster and cannot be easily seen in the
black-and- white image. The colors in this picture yield clues to the ages, distances, and temperatures of stars, the stuff
of galaxies. Blue pinpoints hot young stars. The yellow-white color of several of the galaxies represents the combined light
of many stars. Red identifies cool stars, old stars, and the glow of stars in distant galaxies. This view is only possible
by combining Hubble's unique image quality with the rare lensing effect provided by the magnifying cluster. | NASA Center: | Hubble Space
Telescope Center |
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| Image # : | PR00-08 |
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| Date : | 01/11/2000 |
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| |
Galaxies are pinpoints of light in the vast nothingness of black, empty, Deep Space. Galaxies are nothing...
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| A train in the woods, on a definite path to nowhere... |
The impact of this possibility
is enormous. A lense of such immensity
may allow us to see outside of our
enclosed galactic universe of billions
of galaxies into what-- more empty space?
Or something different again? The mind
boggles at the possibilities it cannot
even imagine.
The Craft of witchcraft
is entered at a more sophisticated level in Starwise than you will find in any other organization or school.
In addition to the original lesson material you receive every month,
its program is designed to give you a solid basis for a lifetime of fine reading and study, continuing your explorations
and adventures into the The Great Unknown.
Philosophy approaches the unknown by virtue of speculation, while witchcraft is a practical approach, touching upon the mysteries
of life emotionally as well as mentally, through the use of magical tools.
This
capacity of pure witchcraft to deal with both sides of the supernatural makes The Craft philosophically attractive, and
that is why this program grants The Craft a higher position in its teachings than you
will find in any similar Institution of Higher Learning.
