Feeling Around in the Dark

Astronomers are training their telescopes on the most distant reaches of the universe, but don’t forget, out in space distance equals time. So when astronomers look into space they are trying to find out the early history of the universe. Recent findings include the most massive, hottest galactic cluster ever discovered, just seven billion light years from Earth. We can now apply what we are learning about objects at this great distance to learn about dark matter and dark energy. Think about deep sea research. Just like at the bottom of the ocean, astronomers are in a similar environment using instruments to blindly feel around in the darkness to see what’s out there. Also, don’t miss what’s in the night sky this week. All this and more on this week’s Sky Talk.[audio: st20120123.mp3]