Technology

Looking 13 Billion Years into the Past is Just the Beginning

On July 12th 2022, NASA released the first five images taken by the powerful James Webb Space Telescope.

A photo of the James Webb Space Telescope at NASA. A frontal view of the large, gold, hexagonal mirrors held aloft in a large room. Underneath the mirrors stand a crew of NASA workers in white protective suits. Some workers are viewing the telescope, others are holding cables and instruments.
The James Webb Space Telescope in 2017. Image credit: NASA/Desiree Stover (https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2017/james-webb-space-telescope-mirror-seen-in-full-bloom)

After 17 years of construction and testing, Webb was launched into orbit in 2021 as a successor to the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. Built to create high-resolution images by detecting infrared light, scientists expect that Webb will be able to look farther and deeper into space than we’ve ever seen before.

Looking Into the Deep Past

Telescopes allow us to look into the past, rather than see objects as they are now. The further an object is from the telescope, the longer it takes light emitted from the object to reach us. It takes about 8 minutes for light to travel to Earth from the Sun, so on sunny days, you’re seeing the sun 8 minutes in the past.

Now imagine you’re looking at an object one billion light years away. Light from that object has been traveling towards us for one billion years! So when we look at that object in the telescope we’re seeing what it looked like when that light first left the object a billion years ago.

One of first images Webb has taken is a deep field image. This image looks towards a very small, distant part of the cosmos and took 12.5 hours for the telescope to capture. Webb is able to look so far, we can view some of these galaxies as they were about a billion years after the big bang! The farthest galaxy appears to be 13.1 billion years old. Some of the galaxies in the image appear stretched or distorted. Those galaxies are much further away from us and the light they emit is distorted by the immense gravitational pull of galaxies in the foreground.

Thousands of small galaxies appear across this view. Their colors vary. Some are shades of orange, while others are white. Most appear as fuzzy ovals, but a few have distinct spiral arms. In front of the galaxies are several foreground stars. Most appear blue, and the bright stars have diffraction spikes, forming an eight-pointed star shape. There are also many thin, long, orange arcs that curve around the center of the image. For more details, download the Text Description.
Webb’s First Deep Field. Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI. (https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2022/035/01G7DCWB7137MYJ05CSH1Q5Z1Z)

What’s Next for Webb?

Webb will continue to look deep into the history of our universe, looking for some of the earliest star formation, but will also look at places closer to home, like the outer planets and other structures in our solar system. We may even learn more about exoplanets, planets in other solar systems!

Learn About The Moraine Valley Observatory and Telescope

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Recommended Reading/Viewing from MVCC Library

Looking 13 Billion Years into the Past is Just the Beginning Read More »

Play a Fake News Game

Misinformation and disinformation are readily found in your social media feeds. In this game, you will play the part of a producer of fake news trying to earn badges to become the “Master of Disinformation”. As you learn how to deceive your followers, this game will teach you the techniques used by influencers to deceived and misinform. The goal is to learn to identify these techniques so that in the future, you don’t repost misleading, incomplete, or just plain fake news. The Bad News Game.

Play a Fake News Game Read More »

Carpool – The Remix: Creation of the PiggyBack Ride Share Network

Founder of the PiggyBack network, Ismael El-Amin, will discuss the development of the PiggyBack network which is a way for parents to share rides to and from schools and activities. Not only does PiggyBack make life easier but it also reduces traffic congestion and reduces our total carbon footprint. The PiggyBack network is a Chicago-based enterprise that has been featured on WGN and Fox Chicago. This event is part of our One Book programming.

  • Visit our podcast page

  • Listen in Apple Podcasts

  • Download the MP3 audio: http://lib.morainevalley.edu/public/eventpodcasts/16-03_2021_libraryevents.mp3
  • Carpool – The Remix: Creation of the PiggyBack Ride Share Network Read More »

    How to stop Facebook from tracking you on your iPhone

    In the new iPhone update (14.5), iPhone users will have the ability to “Ask App not to Track.” This is a new feature with this update that makes your online privacy stronger. For more information, take a look at this Washington Post article: Facebook now has to ask permission to track your iPhone. Here’s how to stop it. (Note: enter “Moraine Valley” as your institution and then use your campus login to read it.)

    The new iPhone update 14.5 will be pushed to phones over the next several weeks.

    How to stop Facebook from tracking you on your iPhone Read More »

    Students can reserve a virtual study space to collaborate with classmates and peers!

    Students can reserve a virtual space to work remotely with other students. They can reserve an online space through the Library’s Website (under quick links) or directly by clicking on this link

    The virtual study spaces are available to all students using their network login. The virtual study spaces utilize Microsoft Teams and can be accessed from laptop, cellphone, tablet, or desktop. A microphone is needed for laptops and desktops. A webcam is helpful but not required. 

    In this space, users can:
    –Meet virtually with voice and/or video images
    –Use the built in chat feature
    –Share their computer screen with other group members
    –Use the virtual whiteboard
    . . . And more! 

    For more information, visit this online support guide

    Students can reserve a virtual study space to collaborate with classmates and peers! Read More »

    You’ve Heard of the Nobel Prize… But Have You Heard of the Ig Nobel Prize?

    “The Stinker”, the official mascot of the Ig Nobel Prizes

    Sometimes research is funny. No, really! Using actual money and resources to study if roller coasters can help move kidney stones? Comedy GOLD.

    When research, either good or bad, is funny and thought provoking it can earn an Ig Nobel Prize. Organized by the Annals of Improbable Research, ten prizes in different fields have been awarded in September every year since 1991.

    Here are some highlights from the 2020 award winners:

    • Psychology Prize: for devising a method to identify narcissists by examining their eyebrows
    • Peace Prize: For the governments of India and Pakistan, for having their diplomats surreptitiously ring each other’s doorbells in the middle of the night, and then run away before anyone had a chance to answer the door
    • Economics Prize: for trying to quantify the relationship between different countries’ national income inequality and the average amount of mouth-to-mouth kissing
    • Medicine Prize: for diagnosing a long-unrecognized medical condition: Misophonia, the distress at hearing other people make chewing sounds
    • Materials Science Prize: for showing that knives manufactured from frozen human feces do not work well

    That last one is my personal favorite. Where would we be without this VITAL research?!?!

    Here are a few of my all time favorite winners:

    • Medical Prize (2018): for the medical report “Colonoscopy in the Sitting Position: Lessons Learned From Self-Colonoscopy.”
    • Economics Prize (2017): for experiments to see how contact with a live crocodile affects a person’s willingness to gamble
    • Psychology Prize (2016): for asking a thousand liars how often they lie, and for deciding whether to believe those answers
    • Literature Prize (2012): The US Government General Accountability Office, for issuing a report about reports about reports that recommends the preparation of a report about the report about reports about reports.
    • Archeology Prize (2008): for measuring how the course of history, or at least the contents of an archaeological dig site, can be scrambled by the actions of a live armadillo.
    • Literature Prize (2006): for the report “Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly.”
    • Peace Prize (2005): for electrically monitoring the activity of a brain cell in a locust while that locust was watching selected highlights from the movie “Star Wars.”
    • Psychology Prize (2004): for demonstrating that when people pay close attention to something, it’s all too easy to overlook anything else — even a woman in a gorilla suit.

    Think these are fake? They sound like clickbait, but you can check out the full list and read the original research articles yourself!

    Want to find entertaining research at MVCC? Check out our databases and ask a Librarian for help!

    You’ve Heard of the Nobel Prize… But Have You Heard of the Ig Nobel Prize? Read More »

    “How do I _____ at the Library?”: A Library Choose Your Own Adventure

    Using the library can be an adventure, especially with so many recent changes. Follow the steps in this guide to find the information you need to be successful this semester. Choose a “character” to get started on your library adventure!

    First, Choose Your Character:

    You’ve Chosen Student!

    Students can find all sorts of help at the library, including research and citation guidance, technology to borrow, and of course books! What will you do next?

    Next, Choose Your Action:

    You’ve Chosen Staff or Faculty Member!

    Staff and Faculty are the backbone of education! The library wants to support you in your work by providing several services. Which one will you choose?

    Next, Choose Your Action:

    You’ve Chosen Member of the Community!

    Members of the community are still welcome in the library and we have several services available to you. Which will you choose?

    Next, Choose Your Action:

    You’ve Chosen Research!

    Research projects can be overwhelming, but the library has so many ways to learn what you need to be successful! Where will you start?

    You’ve Chosen Visiting the Library!

    The library is excited to welcome visitors back into the building, but there are some new things to know about using the space. What would you like to know?

    You’ve Chosen Help with a Nursing Assignment!

    Nursing assignments can be tough, but the library is ready to support you. What’s your next move?

    “How do I _____ at the Library?”: A Library Choose Your Own Adventure Read More »

    Happy Birthday Raspberry Pi!

    Eight years ago a credit card-sized, affordable computer landed on the market, making computing and programming accessible to a wide audience. Since then, the Raspberry Pi has been a hit with scientists, hobbyists, students, and kids alike.

    Take a look at these fun projects for beginners to get some inspiration!

    The Library has several books and eBooks about the Raspberry Pi to get you started on your project. We also have resources on coding in Python and Scratch.

    Have you been participating in this year’s One Book One College program? Use your Raspberry Pi to experiment with machine learning!

    Pi day is coming up on March 14th (3-14!). Here’s how one academic library celebrated using the Raspberry Pi.

    Happy Birthday Raspberry Pi! Read More »

    Katherine Johnson 1918 – 2020

    Today marks the passing of one of the great minds of mathematics. Katherine Johnson, a mathematician at NASA during the Space Race, contributed to projects such as America’s first human space flight, the first moon landing, and the Space Shuttle.

    In 2015 she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given to civilians, for her 33 years of work with NASA.

    She was best known for the calculations that helped put John Glenn in orbit around the Earth, the story behind Hidden Figures, available at the library in DVD, book, eBook, and eAudio format.

    Katherine Johnson 1918 – 2020 Read More »

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