Just like Monday, Tuesday started with a press conference. This one concerned a 3D view of the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant. That conference went long, and unfortunately I had to miss a science session on future wide-field surveys that I was looking forward to attending. The next conference I attended was about eclipsing binaries (or lack thereof). After a 20-minute break it was time for … take a guess … another press conference! This one interested me — it was high-energy related. After that, and for a change of pace, I sat in on a cosmic microwave background science session.
So, what news story will I mention in this blog? J. Xavier Prochaska of the University of California, Santa Cruz, announced that when a bright gamma-ray burst (GRB) exploded some 11 billion light-years away, it was bright enough to light up the material between it and us. Not just that, but astronomers were able to see the spectra (and in that spectra, molecules) of what lies between. Think of it like the astronomers took a core sample extending back 11 billion light-years.
Usually, because of how dusty the universe is, most of the explosion’s signal would be absorbed. But because GRB 080607 was so bright, astronomers could see through the dust.
By looking at the observed spectra, astronomers can determine what elements make up the host galaxy. They found that in a brief amount of time (less than several billion years) the host galaxy has become as chemically mature as the Milky Way, whereas it took our galaxy at least 8 billion years. While astronomers could decipher hundreds of known absorption lines in the spectra, many are still unidentified (meaning, astronomers have no idea what they correspond to). And that makes this exciting research: This observation marks the first time some of these spectral lines have ever been observed.
After the press conferences died down, and after taking a walk along the water (hey, I’m in California, I need to see something other than land), I headed back to the convention center for the IYA reception. Sierra Nevada brewed a special beer for the IYA 2009 called Galileo’s Astronomical Ale, and it’s quite tasty. A bit later, Galileo (in full garb) showed up. No, this wasn’t my eyes tricking me (I only had one drink). The fellow behind Galileo 1610, Mark Thompson, made an appearance as Galileo. You’ll see the evidence when I upload my pictures (sometime later this week).
Also at the IYA ceremony, Celestron had telescopes set up outside the convention center for public viewing. Even though the seeing was terrible and we were in the middle of city lights, I saw the Double Cluster (NGC 869 and NGC 884) and the Orion Nebula.
During the day I even ran into a past colleague from Astronomy magazine, Laura Layton, and also saw a professor of mine from Iowa State University. Overall, it was another exciting (and long) day.