Official Space is Awesome Thread

[NV825]

If you love space, check out the 3D model moon night lights that are out there. I bought this one off Amazon for my son's 4th birthday and it's really cool.

[Argonne69]

The Sombrero galaxy (M104). It's 50,000 light years across, and 28 million light-years from Earth.

 

 

 

Photo: NASA

[chickenpotpie]

Happy 40th, Voyager 1.

 

 

Can't wait til it comes back as V-Ger, looking for its creator.

[Argonne69]

The Whirlpool Galaxy, M51. Located ~25 million light-years away.

 

 

Photo: NASA, ESA

[Argonne69]

The Helix Nebula, a planetary nebula located 690 light years away.

 

 

Photo: NASA, ESA

[MMB1500]

Good news - more than half the missing atoms in the universe have been located. Unfortunately this does not include the atoms that serve to make up my car keys.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/12/astronomers-find-half-of-the-missing-matter-in-the-universe

[Gamble Gamble]

Good news - more than half the missing atoms in the universe have been located. Unfortunately this does not include the atoms that serve to make up my car keys.

 

https://www.theguard...in-the-universe

 

Did they start researching Kim Kardashian's posterior?

[Argonne69]

Io over Jupiter, ~310,000 miles above the planet. Our moon is 238,900 miles away. While our moon takes 28 days to circle the Earth, Io only takes 1.8 days.

 

 

Photo: J Spencer (Lowell Observatory and NASA / ESA

[Argonne69]

The Cat's Eye Nebula, a planetary nebula 3262 light-years away.

 

 

Photo: NASA, ESA

[MMB1500]

The collision of two neutron stars has been seen by astronomers for the first time, in both gravitational waves and light.

 

Amongst many interesting aspects to this cosmic event is that is has finally settled the debate about where gold and platinum come from. Another amazing fact is that; "Neutron stars are the smallest, densest stars known to exist: about 12 miles wide, with a teaspoon of neutron star material having a mass of about a billion tons. The core is a soup of pure neutrons, while the crust is smooth, solid and 10 billion times stronger than steel."

 

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/16/astronomers-witness-neutron-stars-collide-global-rapid-response-event-ligo

[Argonne69]

The barred spiral galaxy NGC 1300. It is ~69 million light-years away.

 

 

Photo: NASA, ESA

[Argonne69]

A stellar nursery in the Carina Nebula located 7500 light years away.

 

 

Photo: NASA, ESA

[Argonne69]

NGC 2936, the Galactic Penguin. Once a typical spiral galaxy, it was warped by its neighbor NGC 2937. The galaxies lie ~400 million light years away.

 

 

Photo: NASA, ESA

[JBent9610]

The collision of two neutron stars has been seen by astronomers for the first time, in both gravitational waves and light.

 

Amongst many interesting aspects to this cosmic event is that is has finally settled the debate about where gold and platinum come from. Another amazing fact is that; "Neutron stars are the smallest, densest stars known to exist: about 12 miles wide, with a teaspoon of neutron star material having a mass of about a billion tons. The core is a soup of pure neutrons, while the crust is smooth, solid and 10 billion times stronger than steel."

 

https://www.theguard...onse-event-ligo

 

Another interesting aspect is that it happened when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

[i*windows]

grav waves from the office

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WucRHOPTpD4

[Argonne69]

The Butterfly Nebula (NGC 6302). The "wings" are gets of heated gas (36,000 degrees F) traveling at more than 600,000 miles an hour. At the center is a dying star that was once ~5 times the mass of our Sun. The nebula is ~3800 light years away.

 

 

Photo: NASA, ESA

[Argonne69]

The globular cluster Omega Centauri. Its core contains 2 million stars that average a third of a light-year between them. By comparison, the nearest star to our Sun is 4.2 light-years away. The entire cluster is home to 10 million stars. It's located 17,000 light years from us, orbiting outside the Milky Way.

 

 

Photo: NASA, ESA

[Argonne69]

Jupiter's South Pole (Juno)

 

 

Photo: NASA

[Argonne69]

The Universe: Ptolemaic orbits, from "Harmonia Macrocosmica" by Andreas Cellarius, 166

 

 

 

The Universe: Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MAS) in infrared (2011) showing 50,000 nearby galaxies.

 

[Argonne69]

The pre-planetary nebula IRAS 23166+1655. The spiral is moving outwards at a speed of 50,000 kph.

 

 

Photo: NASA, ESA

[Argonne69]

The Retina Nebula (IC 4406). The gas and dust form a large donut streaming our from the dying star at the center. From out vantage point we see the ring from the side.

 

 

Photo: NASA, ESA

[Argonne69]

The Monkey Head Nebula, NGC 2174. It is ~6400 light-years away.

 

 

Photo: NASA, ESA

[Argonne69]

Twin Jet Nebula.

 

[Argonne69]

One of Cassini's final images of the ringed planet.

 

 

Photo: NASA

[driverwedge]

Great shots as always!

[Argonne69]

The Earth and Moon taken by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, currently en route to the asteroid Bennu. The photo was taken on October 2, 2017, when the spacecraft was approximately 3 million miles (5 million km) from Earth. That's ~13 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon.

 

 

Image: NASA/OSIRIS-REx team and the University of Arizona

[Argonne69]

Juno's latest photo of Jupiter is amazing.

 

[Argonne69]

Westerlund 2

 

[Argonne69]

Sharpless 2-106. Snow Angel.

 

 

Photo: NASA

[Argonne69]

Curiosity's view of Mars from the top of Vera Rubin Ridge (elevation 1073 ft, 327 m). Click on the image, and pan for the full panoramic view.

 

 

 

 

Photo: NASA