Honorary Doctor Einasto: Only Small Part of Our Universe is Visible
Academic, Professor Jaan Einasto held a lecture in the Turku-Tartu guest lecture series at the University of Turku and revealed the secrets of the universe. The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the University of Turku is conferring an honorary doctorate on Einasto on Friday 31, May.
– It is a great honour to receive this tittle, Einasto commends.
In the lecture, Professor Esko Valtaoja presented Einasto and told about the start of his long and successful career.
– Professor Einasto published his first internationally acknowledged article at the beginning of the fifties. This is now the seventh decade among the science for him and a great encouragement for us all, Valtaoja states.
Einasto has observed the great scale of the universe and significantly affected on the recovery of the dark matter.
– He was doing research on dark matter before its existence was even accepted in the wide astronomy circles. As we all know, astronomers can be a quite traditional bunch, Valtaoja says with a smile.
– We can also thank Einasto for the successful collaboration between the observatories of the University of Tartu and the University of Turku.
Secrets of the Universe
According to Einasto, there are other galaxies outside the Milky Way and the universe is constantly expanding. The universe also forms a cosmic web with the filaments of galaxies, superclusters and voids.
– The visible matter forms only a small fraction of the total energy content of the universe. Most matter is dark and there is dark energy. I suppose you could say that our visible world is only a tiny tip of the mountain, Einasto states.
There is also an open question: Why the universe is such that life is possible?
– This is purely hypothetical, but the birth of our universe and humankind could have two different explanations. One is that it was the will of the creator and the second is that our universe is only one of many others. The properties like electromagnetic energy and gravity are fundamental in our world and we could also think that life is one fundamental property of ours. Other universes would have so completely different properties and it is impossible for us to observe them, Einasto ponders.
But what is the secret of Einasto´s distinguished career and ongoing enthusiasm?
– The most important property that you can have is curiosity, and this doesn’t concern only science, but life in general, Einasto tells.
Henna Borisoff