Here's a great cosmological thought problem: We (the Milky Way) are in the center of an onion. The onion is SPACE TIME. Each layer of the onion is some unit of distance- say for example 1 million light years(distance) from the previous inner layer- AND by definition any matter we see at that distance is 1 million years older than the stuff one layer closer.
Now heres where it gets interesting. When the palomar 200" telescope came on line, astronomers discovered that the more distant we could see, the more "stuff" was out there. Zwicky discovered hundreds of extremely faint galaxy clusters the deeper the 200" and 48" Schmidt looked.
NOW even bigger terrestrial observatories and the HST have looked even farther back and found even more galaxies. EVERYWHERE hubble looks there are thousands of faint galaxies! This brings up two big questions with interesting implications.
1. Since the volume of space for each succeeding layer gets larger as we look outward, and the density of galaxies per arc second increases the farther we can see, are we now seeing to a distance (time in the past) shortly after the Big Bang when galaxies were just forming?(and closer together) And 2. Are we now able to see out to a distance beyond which there are no more galaxies?? (they hadn't yet formed?) And maybe 3.Does any of what we are seeing at these distances still exist?-if we are seeing 10 billion years in the past.
THINGS THAT MAKE YA GO "UHHHH -UH"
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When it comes to EXTREME observing, nothing beats hunting for extragalactic or halo globulars. The 2 famous distant globulars that are easy to find for amateurs are NGC 7006 in Delphinus and my favorite NGC 2419 North of Gemini.
But for those dark sky/large aperture challenges, try PALOMAR 2 in Auriga and MAYALL II(G1), an outlying M 31 globular!(there are other M 31 globulars but theyre superimposed on the disc.
PAL 2 is resolvable with larger scopes (12.5" and up) but MAYALL II would appear as a faint star even in the largest amateur scopes. (If you GOOGLE "MAYALL II" you can see the Hubble image of it)- if it were at the distance of M13, it would be astoundingly bright.
Theyre only for most dedicated and patient observers under the best conditions
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...above and afar,
like answers to questions of life...."
When it's time to leave the backyard, pack up the scope, binocs, star atlas and boombox, the mountains were my first choice (snow permitting) for my roadtrips. Of all the mountain sites for serious observing, my all time favorite was ONYX PEAK (8,440'!) in the San Bernadino Mountains southeast of Big Bear Valley, east of Onyx summit.
Just past the "Onyx Summit" sign on northbound CA 38 from Redlands, the rather rough county (NF) road 1N01 winds north then turns south towards
the summit. 1N01 splits off left (east)towards the desert towns of Pioneertown and Twentynine Palms. Staying to the right ends at the summit.
At the east side of the summit is the observing "platform"-a large flat clearing with unobstructed views to the east (out over the desert), north and west. There are tall pine trees to the south and a microwave relay tower but enough of the sky is unobstructed to make the trip worthwhile.
If you do plan to try going there, be prepared for: a slow drive (4 wheel drive is a +), snow during the winter months and animals- bear, wolves skunks and snakes in summer. It's a good idea to have a CB radio and a GPS too.
P.S.- I have seen 14th magnitude objects with an 8" reflector there. :D
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