Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2022 April 24
                (BUTTON) [SatelliteSale_NASA_960_split3.jpg]

                             Split the Universe
               Image Credit: [2]NASA, Erwin Schrödinger's cat

   Explanation: Just now, before you hit the button, two future universes
   are possible. After pressing the button, though, you will live in only
   one. A real-web version of the famous [3]Schrödinger's cat experiment
   clicking the red button in the [4]featured astronaut image should
   transform that image into a picture of the same astronaut holding one
   of two cats -- one living, or one dead. The timing of your click,
   combined with the [5]wiring of your brain and the millisecond timing of
   your device, will all conspire together to create a [6]result
   dominated, potentially, by the [7]randomness of quantum mechanics. Some
   believe that your personally-initiated [8]quantum decision will split
   the universe in two, and that both the live-cat and dead-cat universes
   exist in separate parts of a [9]larger multiverse. Others believe that
   the result of your click will [10]collapse the two possible
   [11]universes into one -- in a way that could not have been predicted
   beforehand. Yet others believe that [12]the universe is classically
   [13]deterministic, so that by pressing the button you did not really
   split the universe, but just carried out an action predestined since
   time began. [14]We at [15]APOD believe that however [16]silly you may
   feel clicking the red button, and regardless of the outcome, you should
   have a thought-provoking day. Or two.

                      Tomorrow's picture: great carina
     __________________________________________________________________

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     __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: [28]Robert Nemiroff ([29]MTU) & [30]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([31]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [32]Specific rights apply.
              [33]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [34]ASD at [35]NASA / [36]GSFC
                           & [37]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://www.nasa.gov/
   3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schrödinger's_cat
   4. https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasacommons/7678545042
   5. https://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v9/n4/full/nrn2258.html
   6. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014PhRvD..90l3514A/abstract
   7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_indeterminacy
   8. https://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=21138
   9. https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2011/05/26/are-many-worlds-and-the-multiverse-the-same-idea/
  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_function_collapse
  11. https://www.nasa.gov/content/universe-missions-list
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220316.html
  13. http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2021/12/does-superdeterminism-save-quantum.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200616.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150616.html
  16. https://assets.entrepreneur.com/content/3x2/2000/how-win-social-media-right-now-silly-cat-pics-dont-cut.jpg?crop=1:1
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220423.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  21. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  26. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220424
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220425.html
  28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  29. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  31. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  34. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  37. http://www.mtu.edu/