Posts tagged astronomy
Top 10 Treats for Summer Astronomy
Roll out your telescopes, it’s nearly summer! Kinda…
Behold! Comet Lemmon Glows Lime Green
Comet Lemmon looks more like a lime in this photo captured by Peter Ward just south of Sydney, Australia. Read more…
Hubble’s Latest Mind Blowing Cosmic Pictures
The Hubble Space Telescope has been looking deep into the Cosmos for over two decades returning over a million observations of planets, exoplanets, nebulae, galaxies and clusters of galaxies. The mission has surpassed our wildest expectations, but some of the most intricately beautiful views of the Universe have been released only recently — sometimes in collaboration with other observatories.
“So, what do you do for a living?” “I just analyze data from radio telescopes… oh and I take pictures of black holes.” Pretty awesome job.
Do Black Holes Really Look Like This?
A giant black hole is thought to lurk at the center of the Milky Way, but it has never been directly seen. Now astronomers have predicted what the first pictures of this black hole will look like when taken with technology soon to be available.
In particular, researchers have found that pictures of a black hole ― or, more precisely, the boundaries around them ― will take a crescent form, rather than the blobby shape that is often predicted. Read more…
Huge Quasar Cluster is Largest Cosmic Structure
What’s the biggest thing in the universe? That would be a cluster of quasars so large it would take a vehicle traveling at the speed of light 4 billion years to cross. Read more…
Whoa, now that’s BIG…
Skeletal ‘Nessie’ Discovered in Our Galaxy: The image above, looking into the plane of the galaxy, shows a long thin strand of dark, cold material stretching between two brighter regions in the lower half — this is a segment of what’s being called a “bone” of the Milky Way, a part of the vast skeletal structure that forms its framework.
And the bone is nicknamed… wait for it… “Nessie.” I love astronomers.
Did you get a shiny new telescope from Santa? If so, or if you just want to stand around the the backyard tonight looking at the stars, this guide is for you!
Astronomer and BBC presenter legend Sir Patrick Moore has died at the age of 89.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that Patrick, in his tireless and ebullient communication of the magic of astronomy, inspired every British astronomer, amateur and professional, for half a century.”
The first astronomy books I read as a child were all authored by Patrick. He’s an inspiration. A sad day. ~Ian
Is your telescope getting chilly? You’d better follow the advice of BBC astronomer/presenter Mark Thompson!
Don’t Freeze Your Telescope Off! “The advice of looking after your extremities is absolutely true and especially for astronomy. Standing around in a cold field doing little or no exercise means you must conserve as much heat as possible and the extremities is where your body loses it, fast.”
Breaking up is hard to do. Unless you are a comet: DNews blogger and radio astronomer Nicole Gugliucci presents some great astrophotography of Comet Hergenrother by astronomers who participate in the Virtual Star Party. Enjoy!
A Galaxy Far, Far Away is Furthest in Universe:
A new celestial wonder has stolen the title of most distant object ever seen in the universe, astronomers report. The new record holder is the galaxy MACS0647-JD, which is about 13.3 billion light-years away. The universe itself is only 13.7 billion years old, so this galaxy’s light has been traveling toward us for almost the whole history of space and time.
Spooky Nebula Ghosts Rise into Space: Big Pic
Resembling characters from a Tim Burton movie, these eerie figures are part of a molecular cloud of gas and dust located 1,400 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus. First identified in 1966, the human-like shapes with ‘arms’ raised give the nebula its spooky nickname: the “Ghost Nebula”.
if you like creepy space stuff check these true horror stories from spaAaAaAaaaaAaccccee…
