Official Space is Awesome Thread

Argonne69 · May 10

Solar maximum is approaching, and a giant dark spot on the surface of the Sun keeps growing. Sunspot R3664 now stretches across nearly 124,300 miles, or ~15 times the size of the Earth.

Image: NASA

scotee · May 11

The view from my place last night. May happen again tonight.

Argonne69 · May 12

Webb images spiral galaxy NGC 1566, the Spanish Dancer. It is located ~70 million light-years away in the constellation Dorado.

Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Lee, T. Williams, PHANGS Team

JungleJimbo · May 12

On 5/10/2024 at 8:26 PM, Argonne69 said:

Solar maximum is approaching, and a giant dark spot on the surface of the Sun keeps growing. Sunspot R3664 now stretches across nearly 124,300 miles, or ~15 times the size of the Earth.

Image: NASA

How cool... if you google this Sunspot ... @Argonne69's thread here on golfwrx = amongst the top search result 'hits".

Argonne69 · May 14

This JunoCam image of Jupiter’s moon Europa shows off the satellite’s icy shell, covered in linear fractures and ridges.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS, K.M. Gill

Argonne69 · May 16

Webb images NGC 1672, the Barred Spiral Galaxy. The galaxy is located ~60 million light years away, and spans ~75,000 light years across.

Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Lee, T. Williams, PHANGS Team

Argonne69 · May 18

Hubble images lenticular galaxy NGC 4753. It's located ~60 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo.

Image: ESA/Hubble, NASA, L. Kelsey

Argonne69 · May 20

Hubble images jets emerging from a newly forming star within the FS Tau multi-star system, located ~450 light-years away in the Taurus-Auriga region. FS Tau A (the really bright one near the center) and FS Tau B (seen at center right) are young stars surrounded by illuminated gas and dust. FS Tau B, a protostar, is seen with a protoplanetary disk.

Image: NASA, ESA, K. Stapelfeldt, G. Kober

Argonne69 · May 22

The Milky Way arching above a plateau of the Atacama Desert in Chile.

Image: L. Ranieri

Argonne69 · May 24

The Dorado Cluster, a young group of galaxies, is seen merging with one another. The Dorado Group is ~62 million light-years away.

Image: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, J.-C. Cuillandre, G. Anselmi

Argonne69 · May 26

The Milky Way shines in the Southern Alps on New Zealand’s South Island.

Image: R. Roberts

Argonne69 · May 28

Spiral galaxy NGC 6744. It's 175,000 light years wide, roughly 75% larger than our own Milky Way. It lies ~30 million light years away in the southern constellation Pavo.

Image: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, J.-C. Cuillandre, G. Anselmi

Argonne69 · May 30

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this X-class solar flare on May 27th.

Image: NASA

Argonne69 · June 1

Gravitational Lensing in Abell 2390

Image: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, J.-C. Cuillandre, G. Anselmi

Argonne69 · June 3

The Northern Lights over Bogus Basin Ski Resort in Boise, ID.

Image: K. Green

Argonne69 · June 5

The Milky Way above a medieval castle in France.

Image: J. Looten

Argonne69 · June 7

Congrats to SpaceX for a more-or-less successful launch and "landing" of the Starship. Unfortunately the camera was covered in grime, so we didn't get a clear picture of the landing in the Indian Ocean, but it appeared to be a soft one based on the telemetry. The booster also appeared to have survived the soft landing in the Gulf of Mexico.

Argonne69 · June 7

Additional tip of the hat to Boeing for its successful launch of the Starliner. After a short delay it docked with the ISS and delivered the two astronauts to the space station.