the-science-llama:
Reflection and Emission Nebulas
— Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex
Credit: Gerald Rhemann // Astrostudio
myampgoesto11:
Stargazing At The Elqui Domos Hotel In Chile | Designed by RDM Arquitectura | Photos by James Florio
In the heart of the mythical Elqui Valley in Pisco, surrounded by the Andes Mountains, 500km north of Santiago in central Chile, lies a magical place that allows for star-spangled dreams beneath the clear pure sky. Combining stargazing and specialized astronomic tours with night-time horseback riding, meditation and even tarot readings, Elqui Domos is a hotel quite like no other.
It was completed in 2005 to fulfil its owners’ desire to observe and enjoy the grandeur of the one of the world’s most star-filled skies. It is one of only seven astronomic hotels around the world and the only one in the Southern Hemisphere, offering breathtaking views of the magic skies draped over the Elqui Valley (the valley is renowned for its sharp, clear skies, as it happens to sit under one of the clearest atmospheres in the world). The lack of rain and pleasant weather all year round set the perfect conditions for astronomic tourism, where guests can gather to enjoy a unique chance to liaise with the stars.
(via Yatzer)
fluxinguranus:
procyonvulpecula:
pagannerd:
proxydialogue:
anneretic:
infinity-imagined:
The collision between the Milky Way Galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy.
the grand showdown
Andromeda is a bit bigger than us. So when that happens, Andromeda’s black hole is gonna consume our black hole in a vicious act of galactic canabalism.
Which is an actual term used in astronomy apparently.
“Galactic Cannabalism” sounds like an electro/death metal fusion band.
Galactic cannibalism is one of my favourite astronomical terms, but it doesn’t beat the term used for the stretching out into a long thin tube that occurs when something falls into a black hole (spaghettification) or the term used for a rock thought to be a meteorite but which later turns out to be an ordinary terrestrial rock (meteowrong).
fuck astronomy remains to be my favorite thing
capturedphotos:
8 Minutes of the Earth’s Rotation
How I wish our planet’s movement was this apparent while staring at the night sky. It could probably make a lot more people realize just how tiny we are compared to this vast unexplored galaxy above our heads.
This is a stack of 70 pictures with a 5 second exposure each at ISO 3200 and f/2.2.
Photographed by: Paolo Nacpil
zawoesi:
Oh hey, not a big deal, but the hubble took a picture of a star that’s nearing supernova status
jtotheizzoe:project-argus:
NPR: Hubble Captures Time-Lapse Videos Of Stars Being Born
(Movies of jets from young stars at HubbleSite: here)
If you’re like me and maybe a little confused as to what you’re looking at, here’s some more detail (Yes, even Joe has to look stuff up sometimes):
As a star is formed from collapsing dust, ever increasing its density and energy, it begins to form a disk of dust and gas pulled in and rotated by its growing gravity. Perpendicular to this disk, like the tip of a spinning top, some gas is ejected away from the growing star in a high-energy jet. As this collides with interstellar gas, it gives off radiation, which we can observe with telescopes like Hubble.
To see the jets, we have to shift into the infrared and other spectra, as the radiation is outside normal human vision. These movies represent the first time we’ve seen the dynamics of the jets as opposed to still images. More info on protostellar jets here, you star-freaks.
nationalpost:
A least 17 billion Earth-like planets across the Milky Way: study
Astronomers hunting for Earth-like planets now have many places to look. A new estimate released Monday suggested the Milky Way galaxy is home to at least 17 billion planets similar in size to our planet.
It doesn’t mean all are potentially habitable, but the sheer number of Earth-size planets is a welcome starting point in the search for worlds like our own.
“Earths and super-Earths aren’t picky. We’re finding them in all kinds of neighbourhoods,” co-author Guillermo Torres of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said in a statement. The CfA was one of two teams working on the project. (C. Pulliam & D. Aguilar (CfA))
wild-soulchild:j-o-u-r-n-e-y-s:gingy-gingy:airpunchingacademic:methcastle:
Go ahead and think we’re the only intelligent life out there. You go right ahead.
Fuck yeah Science
….my mind just melted…
holy fuck
my mom thinks that there is no one out there but us. Silly mom. Just imagine there could be a planet out there just like ours with PEOPLE on it. like us. like actual people using their space telescope looking at OUR galaxy. They could be JUST like us and we have no idea and they have no idea.
