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2:00 AM on the Kuuvik River in the Nunavik region of northern Quebec. Photo courtesy of my friend, Drew MacDonald.
Being the token astrophysicist in my social circles, I get a lot of questions from friends and family about what’s going on in the Universe these days. I try to use these questions as an outline to the posts I write for the QUEST web site.
As one example, I have written quite a few posts about dark matter because that is one of the most confusing topics to people, myself included. I also wrote a post on the dangers of gamma ray bursts from nearby supernova explosions after years of questions from my Incredible Hulk obsessed friend.
Recently I was asked “how large is the universe?” and “does a planet orbiting a black hole feel the increased gravity as that black hole grows?” Both of these are very complicated questions, and require quite a bit of explanation, making them the perfect fodder for future posts.
I’m away on vacation right now, paddling down the Kuuvik River, previously known in English and the Larch River and in French as the Rivière aux Mélèzes. A group of four, we are traveling this river in a wooden canvas canoe in the style of 19th century fur trappers and also of my old employer, Keewaydin Canoe Camp. This is one of the most remote rivers in the world, making internet access rather difficult.
Given that I’m so far off the grid right now, I’d like to take this opportunity to dig for some more cosmology fodder and ask the QUEST readers what questions they may have. Post your suggestion below and I’ll use it as material when I rejoin society.
Kyle S. Dawson is engaged in post-doctorate studies of distant supernovae and
development of a proposed space-based telescope at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
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