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When your mirror gets dirty at home, you can just grab a cloth and some spray to clean it. But what about the ultra-precise, reflective mirrors of telescopes? 🤔

Things can get a bit more complex. This image shows you part of the cleaning process for the main mirror of the ESO 3.6-metre Telescope at La Silla Observatory, #Chile.

Discover how it's done: eso.org/public/images/potw2524

Do you want to learn more about how we clean telescope mirrors? Then check out this blog post: eso.org/public/blog/exploding-

📷 A. Silber/ESO

Astronomers may have found evidence of still-forming planets hidden somewhere in this close-up of the star RIK 113, taken with our Veery Large Telescope in #Chile

This and previous data taken with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array suggest that the disc around the star may be shaped by hidden planets.⁠

The data show the presence of gaps and spiral features, which may have been caused by forming planets.⁠

Learn more: eso.org/public/images/potw2523

📷 ESO/C. Ginski et al.

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📝 Important note:
These visuals are illustrative only—not precise physical depictions of magnitudes or forces involved. Actual conditions during inflation involved extreme energies (near ~10¹⁶ GeV), densities, and scales far beyond intuitive visualization. My illustrations aim purely for conceptual clarity.

Enjoy exploring our cosmic origins! ✨🔭🌠
#Cosmology #Inflation #BigBang #PrimordialBlackHoles #QuantumPhysics #Astrophysics

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🕳️ Clip 8: Transition to Primordial Universe (Black Holes Form)
This visualization illustrates tiny density fluctuations collapsing into primordial black holes (PBHs) within the hot early universe plasma—originally proposed by Hawking & Carr (1970s). PBHs could influence cosmic structure and potentially explain dark matter. Observational searches ongoing, including data from JWST, LIGO, and future space missions.
🎬 Watch the full-res Sora videos here! sora.com/g/gen_01jqmfmsabfbfsr
🔗 Primordial Black Holes (Carr, Hawking) arxiv.org/abs/2002.12778
🔭 Evidence: Ongoing searches via gravitational lensing (JWST), gravitational waves (LIGO), and large-scale surveys (DESI).
#Cosmology #Inflation #BigBang #PrimordialBlackHoles #QuantumPhysics #Astrophysics

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🔥 Clip 7: Reheating Begins
Depicted here is "reheating," where the inflaton’s potential energy rapidly converts into hot plasma of standard model particles, marking the Big Bang's fiery start (~10²⁷ Kelvin initially). This transition phase, predicted by cosmologists including Linde, remains theoretically robust yet poorly understood.
🎬 Watch the full-res Sora videos here! sora.com/g/gen_01jqmfg100eb7r3
🔗 Reheating theory overview arxiv.org/abs/1001.2600
🛰️ Evidence: Consistent with nucleosynthesis abundances and CMB measurements from Planck.
#Cosmology #Inflation #BigBang #PrimordialBlackHoles #QuantumPhysics #Astrophysics

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🎢 Clip 6: Slow-Roll Transition
This clip illustrates "slow-roll" inflation, introduced by Andrei Linde. After bubble nucleation, the inflaton field rolls slowly toward a true vacuum. Inflation gradually ends as the energy density decreases. "Slow-roll" inflation precisely matches observational constraints from CMB temperature anisotropies.
🎬 Watch the full-res Sora videos here! sora.com/g/gen_01jqn1yrwcf8b9k
🔗 Slow-roll inflation (Linde) arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/9405187
🔭 Evidence: Precise fits to Planck and WMAP observations of the CMB spectrum.
#Cosmology #Inflation #BigBang #PrimordialBlackHoles #QuantumPhysics #Astrophysics

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🌀 Clip 5: Bubble Expansion
Visualizing the true vacuum bubble rapidly expanding into the false vacuum. This phase boundary would propagate at enormous speeds, eventually dominating space. This idea relates to Guth's "bubble universe" scenario and the multiverse hypothesis (eternal inflation) proposed by Paul Steinhardt and Alexander Vilenkin.
🎬 Watch the full-res Sora videos here! sora.com/g/gen_01jqmf0h6begta7
🔗 Eternal Inflation (Steinhardt, Vilenkin) scientificamerican.com/article
🛰️ Evidence: Indirect—no direct detection yet; remains theoretical.
#Cosmology #Inflation #BigBang #PrimordialBlackHoles #QuantumPhysics #Astrophysics

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💥 Clip 4: Tunneling Begins (Bubble Nucleation)
This clip represents the theoretical nucleation of a true vacuum bubble, transitioning from a high-energy false vacuum—a scenario described by Sidney Coleman & Frank De Luccia in the 1980s. Quantum tunneling initiates bubble formation.
🎬 Watch the full-res Sora videos here! sora.com/g/gen_01jqmdvxawe8pv2
🔗 Coleman-De Luccia tunneling journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/
🔭 Evidence: Indirectly consistent with structure formation data; currently theoretical and not directly observable. #Cosmology #Inflation #BigBang #PrimordialBlackHoles #QuantumPhysics #Astrophysics

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🌌 Clip 3: Quantum Fluctuations Appear
Tiny quantum fluctuations in the inflaton field are illustrated here. Inflation stretched these quantum ripples to enormous scales, seeding all cosmic structures (galaxies, stars). Theoretical predictions by Viatcheslav Mukhanov and Stephen Hawking matched detailed observations.
🎬 Watch the full-res Sora videos here! sora.com/g/gen_01jqn1ftfbf70tz
🔗 Quantum fluctuations as cosmic seeds (Mukhanov) arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0303077
🔭 Evidence: Fluctuations precisely measured in CMB by Planck and WMAP, and confirmed by large-scale galaxy surveys like DESI. DESI Project desi.lbl.gov
#Cosmology #Inflation #BigBang #PrimordialBlackHoles #QuantumPhysics #Astrophysics

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🚀 Clip 2: False Vacuum Expansion
Here we depict exponential growth driven by the false vacuum’s immense potential energy—space expanded faster than the speed of light, increasing by a factor of at least ~10⁶⁰ in ~10⁻³⁶ seconds. This rapid inflation resolves problems like flatness and horizon issues, as proposed by Guth and further developed by Andrei Linde and Paul Steinhardt.
🎬 Watch the full-res Sora videos here! sora.com/g/gen_01jqmdevs9fpbtt
🔗 Cosmic Inflation theory (Linde, Steinhardt) scientificamerican.com/article
🔭 Evidence: Measurements of flatness and isotropy from WMAP & Planck satellites. NASA WMAP map.gsfc.nasa.gov
#Cosmology #Inflation #BigBang #PrimordialBlackHoles #QuantumPhysics #Astrophysics

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✨ Clip 1: The Inflaton Field
This clip illustrates a hypothetical quantum scalar field, the inflaton, which cosmologists propose triggered cosmic inflation. Before the Big Bang, space might have existed in a high-energy "false vacuum" state, a concept developed by Alan Guth (1980) to explain rapid expansion.
🎬 Watch the full-res Sora videos here! sora.com/g/gen_01jqmd66m5e1gvw
🔗 Inflationary Universe (Guth, 1980) pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/
🛰️ Evidence: Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) uniformity observed by Planck satellite. ESA Planck mission esa.int/Science_Exploration/Sp
#Cosmology #Inflation #BigBang #PrimordialBlackHoles #QuantumPhysics #Astrophysics

✨ Thread Intro: Visualizing Cosmic Inflation and the Big Bang ✨

Ever wondered how our universe began? 🤔

I'm exploring cosmic inflation—the rapid expansion of space driven by the mysterious inflaton field. My short, illustrative video clips represent key stages of this theory, starting from a hypothetical quantum field through inflation, quantum fluctuations, reheating into Big Bang plasma, and formation of tiny primordial black holes (PBHs).

Earlier, I shared a visualization showing how some of these PBHs might have evaporated into Hawking radiation, leaving subtle imprints (Hawking relics) that possibly influenced the formation of the first stars and galaxies. hachyderm.io/@suzannealdrich/1

👇 Follow along to see each step illustrated clearly and explained scientifically—complete with references to current theories and observational evidence from missions like JWST, DESI, Planck, and more!

Note: These visuals are conceptual illustrations—not literal representations of the extreme energies and forces involved.

#Cosmology #Inflation #BigBang #PrimordialBlackHoles #QuantumPhysics #Astrophysics 🌌🚀🕳️

Introducing the Newsmast Space Community Feed. Hand-curated content from all over the Fediverse. A mix of hashtags, follows, filters and mutes to bring you up to date, engaging posts. Published by newsmast@newsmast.social as part of our mission to make knowledge accessible across social media.

Just follow, create a list, add the feed and exclude from your home timeline - see the bio for more tips.

Please boost and help share knowledge in the Fediverse.

Woohoo!

One year on Mastodon! 🎉

Grateful for the incredible journey of connecting with wonderful humans.

Here's my very first post:

Hi Mastodon,

Me:
#Wildlife & pet #photographer
#Linguist (MA)
Nerd (AuDhD)
Marathoner & triathlete
Environmentalist
Into #astronomy, #astrophysics, #QuantumPhysics, #technology, #ScottishPolitics, #environment & more.

My photography:
flickr.com/photos/raffkarva/
raffkarva.com

Gratitude for the connections & conversations.

My first pic on Mastodon:

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This #compilation of "old" #Astrophysics and other #space #science #clips includes a section related to #ClimateChange and how it may affect the rate of spin for #Earth.

Yes, the #planet's rate of spin may be affected by #climate change. Potentially catastrophic, but may be mitigated (as well as exacerbated or caused by) variations in the #Moon's #orbit.

The segment starts at around 29:34 into the #video

youtu.be/AVoV0IDivAQ

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The smoking gun signature of detection is this violin plot, known as the Hellings & Downs correlation. It tells us that all the pulsars across the sky are showing a correlated signal that is expected to be produced by the gravitational wave background of supermassive black hole binaries.

We're seeing the Universe shake, rattle and rolling!

Interestingly, data from our PPTA paper - the amplitude signal strength is time-dependent, which is not expected if gravitational wave signals are equally isotropic.

Could be a processing issue, or the pulsars (weirdos) OR potentially GWs stronger in one part of the sky! 🤯

This is wild to me!

#Astrodon #Astrophysics #RadioAstronomy #GravitationalWaves #Science #Pulsars

📸Reardon et al. 2023

🚨BIG SCIENCE NEWS 🚨

And our results (along with our international colleagues) have dropped!

Our team (and others) have started to see the strongest evidence as yet of the stochastic gravitational wave background - ripples in space-time cause by ALL the supermassive black holes in the history of the Universe colliding!

We use pulsars to study these riplles and we needed almost 20 years of data to even get the first hints! It's the long game!

I'm a co-author on the Aussie papers (as part of my work) but I also wrote about it here in my latest feature article on #SpaceAustralia

This is why I have been going on about pulsars for a few weeks now - this was coming!

Check it out here: spaceaustralia.com/feature/aus

📸 Shanika Galaudage