'Super Telescope' may yield clues about the early universe

Joseph Silk, a professor of astronomy at Oxford, talks with a brazilian magazine about the study of the Universe

For Joseph Silk, the larger the telescope, the greater the discoveries made with it / / Credit: Disclosure - Oxford

Joseph Silk is an astronomer, a professor at Oxford University, and is dedicated to researching the early universe. Author of more than 700 articles on the subject, attended the International Conference for Astrophysics conducted by the University Cruzeiro do Sul in São Paulo. Galileu spoke with him about the Big Bang theory, the future of the universe and on investments of Brazil in astronomy. Check out:

Galileu: Brazil is about to enter the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and possibly will help in building the E-ELT, the world's largest telescope. What is the importance of building bigger telescopes?

Silk: Every time we increase the size of our telescopes, the number of discoveries we make with them becomes greater. We began with telescopes with mirrors of two meters, for four and we were doubling their size until we get 10, which is the size of the mirror of the Keck, the largest to date. The E-ELT will quadruple this number, then we can see further because it will collect four times more light than the Keck. And not only that his range is larger, the image resolution is also much clearer, facilitating our work.

You can estimate how far can we do with the E-ELT?

I hope very far to get to see the first galaxies in the universe and understand better the beginning of everything.

How these giant telescopes and observing ancient galaxies can help us better understand what happened in the first moments of the universe?

We, with the data obtained from telescopes to measure the properties of these early galaxies and first stars and better understand how they formed. And also we can better understand dark matter and its role in the formation and acceleration of the universe after the Big Bang.

So the Big Bang theory is indisputable?

I would not say beyond doubt. But from a theory, we created chances and, from these assumptions, we forecast. So far a number of predictions made from the Big Bang hypothesis proved true. We're not sure, but it is the most accepted theory to date and more appropriate.

There is a theory that, after reaching a peak acceleration, the universe will contract again and a new Big Bang will occur. Is this possible?

So far the Universe is accelerating and, to our knowledge of dark matter, this acceleration is not back. We will accelerate infinitely.

If the universe is accelerating infinitely, which means that it is infinite?

With what we know we can only say that it is accelerating and is quite large. We have also predict that one day he will find a "wall" that will impede your progress. We know that galaxies will ever further and that a few billion years, you may not have more neighboring galaxies so close.

In addition to new technologies and results in the field of astronomy that the entry of Brazil in the ESO may bring other advantages that our country will have with this partnership?

I believe we have many young Brazilians interested in space research, with the opportunity opening up. After all, astronomy is a science amazing. It seeks to answer where we came from and where we go. In my line of research, for example, look at the past. But the more I look at old galaxies, the more I see the future. Who would not be interested in a science that has such great power over our imagination?

Source Galileu.