To Enceladus And Beyond

raptinawe: 1. Galactic Center Region in X-rays from Chandra In...

Fri, 17 May 2013 03:55:44 +0200

Galactic Center Region in X-rays from Chandra. (Credit: NASA/CXC/UMass/D. Wang et al.)

Galactic Center Region in Near-Infrared from Hubble. (Credit: NASA/ESA/STScI/D.Wang et al.)

Galactic Center Region in Infrared from Spitzer. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSC/S.Stolovy)

Composite Images of Galactic Center Region.

raptinawe:

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/

ikenbot: Galaxy Collisions: Simulation vs Observations The...

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:19:08 +0200

ikenbot:

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.

jameyerickson: Enceladus - Saturn’s tiny ice moon, spewing gas...

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:34:28 +0200

jameyerickson:

Enceladus - Saturn’s tiny ice moon, spewing gas from a fissure on its southern hemisphere, as captured by Cassini

carolynporco: From our robotic explorer, presently making the...

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:28:01 +0200

carolynporco:

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.

CICLOPS.org: Sunset on the Jets

theoneaboutscience: Ringside with Rhea Image Credit: Cassini...

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:23:44 +0200

theoneaboutscience:

Ringside with Rhea
Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA

Explanation: 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.

expose-the-light: Celestial Light by Ole C. Salomonsen // set...

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 03:55:06 +0100

expose-the-light:

Celestial Light by Ole C. Salomonsen // set 01

crookedindifference: First Image of Mars Taken by the Viking 1...

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:50:02 +0100

crookedindifference:

First Image of Mars

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.

Morning Star Dawn on Saturn is greeted across the vastness of...

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:47:40 +0100

Morning Star

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.

pappubahry: Saturn’s moon Titan is held in the centre of the...

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:47:08 +0100

pappubahry:

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.

carolynporco: Beyond the fine, impressionistic intricacies in...

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:45:36 +0100

carolynporco:

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!

CICLOPS.org: Mimas Peeks Over Saturn

Spiral Galaxy M106

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 04:21:26 +0100

Spiral Galaxy M106

sommer-yeah: Comet PanSTARRS

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 04:19:35 +0100

sommer-yeah:

Comet PanSTARRS

beautifulmars: Monitoring Possible Sand Movement in Crommelin...

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 03:39:39 +0100

beautifulmars:

Monitoring Possible Sand Movement in Crommelin Crater - This is one of our favorite. Love the topography here. Wind erosion in (long) action, to be sure.

pappubahry: Saturn’s moon Enceladus is held in the centre of...

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 03:44:39 +0100

pappubahry:

Saturn’s moon Enceladus is held in the centre of the frame; Titan, partially obscured behind Saturn’s rings, moves behind it. Photographed by Cassini.

hr8938-cephei: NGC 922 [x]

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 01:58:39 +0100

hr8938-cephei:

NGC 922 [x]

viddyspace: Carina Nebula european southern observatory

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 02:51:18 +0100

viddyspace:

Carina Nebula

european southern observatory

christinetheastrophysicist: Cassini Sees Titan Cooking up...

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 02:47:07 +0100

christinetheastrophysicist:

Cassini Sees Titan Cooking up Smog

A paper published this week using data from NASA’s Cassini mission describes in more detail than ever before how aerosols in the highest part of the atmosphere are kick-started at Saturn’s moon Titan. Scientists want to understand aerosol formation at Titan because it could help predict the behavior of smoggy aerosol layers on Earth.

According to the new paper, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Titan’s trademark reddish-brown smog appears to begin with solar radiation on molecules of nitrogen and methane in the ionosphere, which creates a soup of negative and positive ions. Collisions among the organic molecules and the ions help the molecules grow into bigger and more complex aerosols. Lower down in the atmosphere, these aerosols bump into each other and coagulate, and at the same time interact with other, neutral particles. Eventually, they form the heart of the physical processes that rain hydrocarbons on Titan’s surface and form lakes, channels and dunes.

viddyspace: NGC 1499: The California Nebula Credit &...

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 03:46:52 +0100

viddyspace:

NGC 1499: The California Nebula

Credit & Copyright: Markus Noller (Deep Sky Images)

thescienceofreality: NGC 4372 and the Dark Doodad Image Credit...

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 03:46:34 +0100

thescienceofreality:

NGC 4372 and the Dark Doodad

Image Credit & Copyright: Ivan Eder

“The delightful Dark Doodad Nebula drifts through southern skies, a tantalizing target for binoculars in the constellation Musca, The Fly. The dusty cosmic cloud is seen against rich starfields just south of the prominent Coalsack Nebula and the Southern Cross. Stretching for about 3 degrees across this scene the Dark Doodad seems punctuated at its southern tip (lower left) by globular star cluster NGC 4372. Of course NGC 4372 roams the halo of our Milky Way Galaxy, a background object some 20,000 light-years away and only by chance along our line-of-sight to the Dark Doodad. The Dark Doodad’s well defined silhouette belongs to the Musca molecular cloud, but its better known alliterative moniker was first coined by astro-imager and writerDennis di Cicco in 1986 while observing comet Halley from the Australian outback. The Dark Doodad is around 700 light-years distant and over 30 light-years long.”

thenewenlightenmentage: Haunting Ghost Nebula

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 03:23:00 +0100

thenewenlightenmentage:

Haunting Ghost Nebula