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1. Galactic Center Region in X-rays from Chandra
In this image, pink represents lower energy X-rays and blue indicates higher energy. Hundreds of small dots show emission from material around black holes and other dense stellar objects. The diffuse X-ray light comes from gas heated to millions of degrees by outflows from the supermassive black hole, winds from giant stars, and stellar explosions. This central region is the most energetic place in our galaxy.
(Credit: NASA/CXC/UMass/D. Wang et al.)2. Galactic Center Region in Near-Infrared from Hubble
Along the left side are large arcs of warm gas that have been heated by clusters of bright massive stars. This sweeping panorama is the sharpest infrared picture ever made of the galactic center region.
(Credit: NASA/ESA/STScI/D.Wang et al.)3. Galactic Center Region in Infrared from Spitzer
The swirling core of our galaxy harbors hundreds of thousands of stars that cannot be seen in visible light. These stars heat the nearby gas and dust. These dusty clouds glow in infrared light and reveal their often dramatic shapes. Some of these clouds harbor stellar nurseries that are forming new generations of stars.
(Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSC/S.Stolovy)4. Composite Images of Galactic Center Region
The spectacular composite image combines observations using infrared, near-infrared and X-ray light. The galactic center is marked by the bright patch in the lower right. (Scale: 38 by 14 arcmin)
(Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSC/S.Stolovy)Source of photos and description:http://www.chandra.harvard.edu/
Galaxy Collisions: Simulation vs Observations
The folks over at NASA apod just put up an awesome galaxy collisions, simulations and observations video for the public. I made a little gif set to go along with the video which can be found here.
What happens when two galaxies collide? Although it may take over a billion years, such titanic clashes are quite common.
Images Credit: NASA, ESA; Visualization: Frank Summers (STScI);
Simulation: Chris Mihos (CWRU) & Lars Hernquist (Harvard).
Since galaxies are mostly empty space, no internal stars are likely to themselves collide. Rather the gravitation of each galaxy will distort or destroy the other galaxy, and the galaxies may eventually merge to form a single larger galaxy.
Expansive das and dust clouds collide and trigger waves of star formation that complete even during the interaction process. Pictured above is a computer simulation of two large spiral galaxies colliding, interspersed with real still images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Our own Milky Way Galaxy has absorbed several smaller galaxies during its existence and is even projected to merge with the larger neighboring Andromeda galaxy in a few billion years.
(vía thenewenlightenmentage)
Enceladus - Saturn’s tiny ice moon, spewing gas from a fissure on its southern hemisphere, as captured by Cassini
From our robotic explorer, presently making the rounds in orbit around Saturn….the most significant and profound phenomenon we have ever found in our solar system and my personal favorite …. the jets of Enceladus, at sunset! Bear in mind, as you revel in this image, that those jets are geysers, arising from a subterranean sea of liquid water, laced with organics and as salty as the seas of Earth. To touch the jets of Enceladus is to touch the most accessible extraterrestrial habitable zone we have in our solar system.
Ringside with Rhea
Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASAExplanation: Orbiting in the plane of Saturn’s rings, Saturnian moons have a perpetual ringside view of the gas giant planet. Of course, while passing near the ring plane the Cassini spacecraft also shares their stunning perspective. The thin rings themselves slice across the middle of this Cassini snapshot from April 2011. The scene looks toward the dark night side of Saturn, in the frame at the left, and the still sunlit side of the rings from just above the ringplane. Centered, over 1,500 kilometers across, Rhea is Saturn’s second largest moon and is closest to the spacecraft, around 2.2 million kilometers away. To Rhea’s right, shiny, 500 kilometer diameter Enceladus is about 3 million kilometers distant. Dione, 1,100 kilometers wide, is 3.1 million kilometers from Cassini’s camera on the left, partly blocked by Saturn’s night side.
Taken by the Viking 1 lander shortly after it touched down on Mars, this image is the first photograph ever taken from the surface of Mars. It was taken on July 20, 1976. The primary objectives of the Viking mission, which was composed of two spacecraft, were to obtain high-resolution images of the Martian surface, characterize the structure and composition of the atmosphere and surface and search for evidence of life on Mars.
Dawn on Saturn is greeted across the vastness of interplanetary space by the morning star, Venus, in this image from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.
Venus appears just off the edge of the planet, in the upper part of the image, directly above the white streak of Saturn’s G ring. Lower down, Saturn’s E ring makes an appearance, looking blue thanks to the scattering properties of the dust that comprises the ring. A bright spot near the E ring is a distant star.
(Fuente: ikenbot)
Saturn’s moon Titan is held in the centre of the frame; Tethys moves past it. Photographed by several different filters by Cassini, 17 September 2011.
Beyond the fine, impressionistic intricacies in Saturn’s northern hemisphere — vortices, waves, eddies, and its famous northern hexagon and polar vortex — lies its small moon Mimas. Oh the glory!
