Simulated Formation of a Disk Galaxy

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Cosmology, Nature of Science, Models, Computers

Ed Hessler

APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day) asks a question that is of great interest to humans from the time we began to wonder, resulting in myths, origin stories and then the Enlightment opened the door to investigating origins and planting their study on a firm base or reason, hypothesis testing, explanatory theory and empiricism. 

The question is  "How did we get here?" And the focus is on galaxy formation like ours.

You can see a simulation (2 m 20 s) and learn why simulations have to be used to answer this question. The sequence is nicely and succinctly described. including what is ahead. No need to purchase collision insurance unless you don't want to collect, i.e., for your descendants to collect.  That collision is a few billion years way ahead.

Piet Hein wrote two Grooks (Danish Gruk) that describe some features of the process of developing secure knowledge, not proof - science doesn't use that currency - but in explanatory theory that predicts and is also internally coherent.

PROBLEMS

Problems worthy
  of attack
prove their worth
  by hitting back.


THE ROAD TO WISDOM

The road to wisdom? -- Well, it's plain
and simple to express:
           Err
           and err
           and err again
           but less
           and less
           and less.