Word: faintness
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...astronomers, remote galaxies are cosmic Rosetta stones. Because their faint glimmers of light take billions of years to reach earth, these galaxies -- conglomerations of stars, dust, gas and, perhaps, planets -- offer a unique glimpse far back into time and provide clues to the age of the universe. As Physicist Stephen Hawking has observed: "When we look at the universe, we are seeing it as it was in the past." In those galactic outer reaches, too, lies hidden the answer to a tantalizing mystery: How soon after the cataclysmic fireball of the big bang, from which the universe presumably emerged...
...galaxy was first located by its radio waves, then confirmed visually at the Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, appearing as a faint, fuzzy object. A computer-enhanced photograph shows the galaxy as a brightly colored, amoeba-shaped mass. Next, the scientists determined the distance of the galaxy by taking an optical spectrum that revealed what one team member, Kenneth Chambers of Johns Hopkins University, calls cosmic fingerprints -- emission lines with sharp features characteristic of hydrogen and carbon. In distant galaxies, these lines occur at much redder wavelengths than those emitted by the same elements on earth; this so-called...
Political analysts noted that hardly a stump speech was offered by the Baby Boomers without an allusion to the Kennedys. But simultaneously, they questioned whether there was anything at the core of the Baby Boomers beyond some faint hope of tapping into the legacy of their fallen heroes...
...decision-making body, later this month to take measure of the King's maneuver. In Jerusalem officials at first brushed off Hussein's announcement, but the Knesset scheduled a special session to discuss the matter. In Washington some officials expressed the belief that Hussein's move killed the already faint hopes for a regional peace plan outlined by Secretary of State George Shultz earlier this year. Others suggested that the King's action might ultimately achieve quite the opposite, namely, produce momentum for a settlement. State Department Spokeswoman Phyllis Oakley captured the confusion by saying, "No jumping to conclusions...
...summer home in Kennebunkport, Me. Asked his reaction, the Vice President was cautious, skeptical -- not at all the gosh- golly cheerleader he is so often depicted to be. "The cold war isn't over," he warned. Bush's praise for the President's summiteering was so faint that his chief of staff, Craig Fuller, felt obliged to take Bush aside and ask if he realized that his dour comments would clash noticeably with White House jubilation. "I know," Bush replied. "That's okay...