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aamukherjee Entropie -
alchymista Alchymista -
crownedrose Hymn To The Sea -
epistemophobiarunsdeep Falling Over Myself. -
expose-the-light Quarks to Quasars -
ikenbot cwl -
pieceinthepuzzlehumanity This Is The Right One -
project-argus Hello, Universe. -
torgothegreat God Delusion
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Milky Way Visitor
Photograph by Jerome Cassou, Your Shot
Echoing the arc of the Milky Way (center), a meteor—or possibly a satellite reflecting the sun’s rays—streaks earthward near Cagnes-sur-mer in southeastern France in a picture submitted May 17 by National Geographic Your Shot user Jerome Cassou.
Meteors are mostly sand grain-size particles that enter Earth’s atmosphere at high speed, burning up and superheating the air around them, which creates the characteristic short-lived streaks of light.
expose-the-light
crownedrose
Andromeda and El Capitan by kern.justin on Flickr
(via geologise)
Million-Ring Circus
1. RINGS FROM AFAR
Measuring 175,000 miles wide but as little as 30 feet thick, Saturn’s rings contain debris of varying ages and composition, all revolving at different speeds.
2. THREE MOONS
Titan and Dione, along with speck-sized Prometheus appear in rare alignment. Tiny so-called shepherd moons help shape the rings and prevent them from dispersing.
3. TITAN
Concentric rings wind in front of Satrun’s biggest moon, Titan, with tiny Janus in teh foreground. The rings are so massive that they have their own atmosphere, separate from Saturn’s. Cassini found evidence of oxygen all around the icy rings.
4. RINGS CLOSE UP
Sunspot AR1476 from Montsec
Copyright: Eduard Garcia Ribera
10 Years of Aqua Satellite’s Incredible Images of Earth From Space
The view of Earth from space has transformed our understanding of, as well as our admiration for, the planet. The data and images collected by Earth-observing satellites have been used in thousands of scientific papers, helped us better respond to natural disasters, improved weather and climate forecasts, enlightened us about our impact on Earth and captivated us with beauty.
One of the stars of NASA’s fleet of satellites is Aqua. The satellite is named for its ability to measure water vapor in the atmosphere, water in the oceans, as well as ice and snow. When it was launched on May 4, 2002, scientists expected it to work for three to five years. But its six instruments have been functioning perfectly for 10 years, gathering 29 million gigabytes of data in that time.
One of the most useful and impressive instruments aboard Aqua is the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, which measures visible and infrared radiation, and produces truly amazing, incredibly beautiful images of Earth. We’ve chosen some of our favorite MODIS images for this gallery in celebration of a decade of work. With funding for Earth-observing satellites on the decline, let’s hope Aqua keeps going for 10 more years.
Skywatcher Photo Catches Star Trails & Plane Over Ancient Tomb
An ancient resting site provides a somber backdrop for this stunning skywatcher image. The image was taken by astrophotographer Ajay Talwar from New Delhi, India in front of the tomb of Akbar Khan in early 2012.
Antares, M4 and Rho Ophiuchi
Copyright: Gianni Fardelli
NGC 225 & vdB4: Sailboat Cluster
Data Imaged remotely over 4 nights (Oct 27, 28, 30, & 31, 2011). Rich region. with Vdb4 as the main bright object. Two Open clusters NGC 225 just below center, and CA Berk3 to the right. Also several dark nebulae - LDN 1291 is above center, LDN 1294 is at the edge above center, & LDN 1300 is at the bottom.
This image of the region surrounding the reflection nebula Messier 78, just to the north of Orion’s belt, shows clouds of cosmic dust threaded through the nebula like a string of pearls.
The submillimetre-wavelength observations, made with the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope and shown here in orange, use the heat glow of interstellar dust grains to show astronomers where new stars are being formed. They are overlaid on a view of the region in visible light.
Zooming in on Saturn’s Rings
Credit: NASA, ESA and E. Karkoschka (University of Arizona)
Saturn is ready for her close-up. This image, taken by the Hubble Space telescope in 2004, offers a stunning view of the planet’s rings. Saturn boasts 9 continuous main rings as well as three fragmentary arcs; they’re made mostly of ice with some dust and rock mixed in. In this image, the main body of the planet casts a dark shadow on the rings.
APOD: Evaporating Blobs of the Carina Nebula
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA
Explanation: No, they are not alive — but they are dying. The unusual blobs found in the Carina nebula, some of which are seen floating on the upper right, might best be described as evaporating. Energetic light and winds from nearby stars are breaking apart the dark dust grains that make the iconic forms opaque. Ironically the blobs, otherwise known as dark molecular clouds, frequently create in their midst the very stars that later destroy them. The floating space mountains pictured above by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope span a few light months. The Great Nebula in Carinaitself spans about 30 light years, lies about 7,500 light years away, and can be seen with a small telescope toward the constellation of Keel (Carina).
Earthshine and Venus Over Sierra de Guadarrama
Image Credit: Daniel Fernández (DANIKXT)
Explanation: What just above that ridge? The Moon. Specifically, the Earth’s Moon was caught just above the horizon in a young crescent phase. The familiar Moon might look a bit odd as the exposure shows significant Earthshine — the illumination of the part of the Moon hidden from direct sunlight by the sun-reflecting Earth. Also captured in the image is the bright planet Venus on the right. Venus and Jupiter passed only three degrees from each other last week during a photogenic planetary conjunction. The above image was taken two days ago near Madrid, Spain. The foreground horizon silhouette includes some of the Seven Peaks of the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range. Just a few minutes after this picture was taken, the Moon set.
Conjunction Gallery: See images of the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter together over the past month.
