Thursday, December 29, 2011

Picasa - Mars




Picasa - Halo Solar Distrito Federal Brasilia




Picasa - The Time Warp




Picasa - The Universe Google Images 1




The Universe Cosmo Wallpaper Google Images




Picasa - The Earth Google Images




Picasa - Dawn Vesta Google Images The Universe




Picasa - The Universe Google Images Planet




Picasa Photo - Starry Night Google Images Wallpaper


Picasa Photo - Starry Night Google Images Wallpaper
Picasa Photo - Starry Night Google Images Wallpaper

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Picasa - The Universe Google Images Wallpaper :




Picasa - Thunders Google Images 1




Picasa - The Universe Ring Wallpaper

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Picasa - The Universe Google Images 5 :



Picasa - 3D Star in The Universe




Picasa - Universe Nasa Spazio Google Images Universe Pictures Nasa Pictures




Picasa - Fantasy Angel Wallpaper By Takaki Google Images Google Pictures




Picasa - Cosmo the Universe Wallpaper




Sunday, December 18, 2011

Rainbow of Colors Reveal Asteroid Vesta as More Like a Planet

Rainbow of Colors Reveal Asteroid Vesta as More Like a Planet:



'Rainbow-Colored Palette' of Southern Hemisphere of Asteroid Vesta from NASA's Dawn Orbiter

This mosaic uses color data obtained by the framing camera aboard NASA's Dawn spacecraft and shows Vesta's southern hemisphere in false color, centered on the Rheasilvia impact basin, about 290 miles (467 kilometers) in diameter with a central mound reaching about 14 miles (23 kilometers) high. The black hole in the middle is data that have been omitted due to the angle between the sun, Vesta and the spacecraft. The green areas suggest the presence of the iron-rich mineral pyroxene or large-sized particles.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA



The giant Asteroid Vesta is among the most colorful bodies in our entire solar system and it appears to be much more like a terrestrial planet than a mere asteroid, say scientists deciphering stunning new images and measurements of Vesta received from NASA’s revolutionary Dawn spacecraft. The space probe only recently began circling about the huge asteroid in July after a four year interplanetary journey.


Vesta is a heavily battered and rugged world that’s littered with craters and mysterious grooves and troughs. It is the second most massive object in the Asteroid Belt and formed at nearly the same time as the Solar System some 4.5 Billion years ago.


“The framing cameras show Vesta is one of the most colorful objects in the solar system,” said mission scientist Vishnu Reddy of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany. “Vesta is unlike any other asteroid we have visited so far.”(...)
Read the rest of Rainbow of Colors Reveal Asteroid Vesta as More Like a Planet (989 words)




© Ken Kremer for Universe Today, 2011. |
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Coming Attraction: Geminid Meteor Shower 2011

Coming Attraction: Geminid Meteor Shower 2011:



Credit: Wally Pacholka




It’s the finale of this year’s meteor showers: The Geminids will start appearing on Dec. 7 and should reach peak activity around the 13th and 14th. This shower could put on a display of up to 100+ meteors (shooting stars) per hour under good viewing conditions.

However, conditions this year are not ideal with the presence of a waning gibbous Moon (which will be up from mid-evening until morning). But seeing meteors every few minutes is quite possible. Geminid meteors are often slow and bright with persistent coloured trails which can linger for a while after the meteor has burned up.

(...)
Read the rest of Coming Attraction: Geminid Meteor Shower 2011 (447 words)




© Adrian West for Universe Today, 2011. |
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Carnival of Space #226

Carnival of Space #226:


This week’s Carnival of Space is hosted by our very own Ray Sanders at his very own website, Dear Astronomer.


Click here to read the Carnival of Space #226 and this week’s spacey goodness.


And if you’re interested in looking back, here’s an archive to all the past Carnivals of Space. If you’ve got a space-related blog, you should really join the carnival. Just email an entry to carnivalofspace@gmail.com, and the next host will link to it. It will help get awareness out there about your writing, help you meet others in the space community – and community is what blogging is all about. And if you really want to help out, sign up to be a host. Send and email to the above address.




© nancy for Universe Today, 2011. |
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Astronomers Find the Most Supermassive Black Holes Yet

Astronomers Find the Most Supermassive Black Holes Yet:



An artist's impression of a supermassive black hole. Image credit: Gemini Observatory/AURA artwork by Lynette Cook



For years, astronomer Karl Gebhardt and graduate student Jeremy Murphy at The University of Texas at Austin have been hunting for black holes — the dense concentration of matter at the centre of galaxies. Earlier this year, they made a record-breaking discovery. They found a black hole weighing 6.7 billion times the mass of our Sun in the centre of the galaxy M87.


But now they shattered their own record. Combining new data from multiple observations, they’ve found not one but two supermassive black holes that each weigh as much as 10 billion Suns.(...)
Read the rest of Astronomers Find the Most Supermassive Black Holes Yet (669 words)




© Amy Shira Teitel for Universe Today, 2011. |
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Popular Astronomy App Supports Astronomers Without Borders

Popular Astronomy App Supports Astronomers Without Borders:



he constellations Sagittarius and Scorpius (highlited) as mythical figures, near the center of the Milky Way. Credit: Southern Stars.com




You can support a great organization, Astronomers Without Borders, by purchasing a popular astronomy app for Apple and Mac devices. SkySafari 3 is a “revolutionary” app that can completely cover your observing/educational needs. During a special promotion that is available until December 8, 40% of proceeds from all SkySafari sales will be donated to Astronomers Without Borders to support their global programs. Some significant discounts are also being offered, so you can get a great price and help build AWB’s worldwide astronomy community at the same time.


You’ve probably heard of some of AWB’s project, such as The World at Night, Global Astronomy Month, and 100 Hours of Astronomy. AWB nobly works to foster understanding and goodwill across national and cultural boundaries by creating relationships through the universal appeal of astronomy. They provide and share resources, information and inspiration.


With all the great work they are doing, AWB needs some help to continue their outreach. “Interest and demand have really outstripped our start-up, volunteer, grass-roots organization,” AWB President Mike Simmons told Universe Today. “So we’re starting a fund-raising campaign that we hope will get us over the hump so we can keep up with all the opportunities there are.”


If you are considering getting an astronomy app for yourself or someone else for the holidays, consider SkySafari 3, the latest version of this popular app – and you can support AWB at the same time. But hurry – this offer ends on Dec. 8, 2011.


You can also support AWB even if you don’t need an app.


More info:

(...)
Read the rest of Popular Astronomy App Supports Astronomers Without Borders (250 words)




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Not Giving Up Yet: ESA Resumes Effort to Communicate with Phobos-Grunt

Not Giving Up Yet: ESA Resumes Effort to Communicate with Phobos-Grunt:



Artist concept of Russia’s Phobos-Grunt spacecraft. Credit Roscosmos.



Editor’s note: Dr. David Warmflash, principal science lead for the US team from the LIFE experiment on board the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft, provides an update on the mission for Universe Today.


Russia’s Phobos-Grunt spacecraft is in no better position than it was a month ago, when it reached low Earth orbit on November 9 yet failed to ignite the upper stage engine that was to propel it to Phobos, the larger of Mars’ two small moons. Indeed, with an orbit measuring 204.823 kilometers at perigee (the low point) and 294.567 kilometers at apogee as of today, the spacecraft is well on its well to a fiery reentry through Earth’s atmosphere in early January if it cannot be rescued in the intervening time. But the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, is not ready to give up on the probe yet, and have asked ESA to resume trying to contact Phobos-Grunt.


(...)
Read the rest of Not Giving Up Yet: ESA Resumes Effort to Communicate with Phobos-Grunt (636 words)




© David Warmflash for Universe Today, 2011. |
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Lunar Eclipse – Saturday, December 10, 2011

Lunar Eclipse – Saturday, December 10, 2011:



Aligning his camera on the same star for nine successive exposures, Sky & Telescope contributing photographer Akira Fujii captured this record of the Moon’s progress dead center through the Earth’s shadow in July 2000. Credit: Sky & Telescope / Akira Fujii



Are you ready for some good, old-fashioned observing fun? Although you might not want to get up early, it’s going to be worth your time. This Saturday, December 10, 2011, marks the last total lunar eclipse event for the western portion of the Americas until 2014. While a solar eclipse event has a very small footprint where it is visible, a lunar eclipse has a wide and wonderful path that encompasses a huge amount of viewers. “We’re all looking at this together,” says Sky & Telescope senior editor Alan MacRobert. (...)
Read the rest of Lunar Eclipse – Saturday, December 10, 2011 (415 words)




© tammy for Universe Today, 2011. |
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Could Solar Storms ‘Sandblast’ the Moon?

Could Solar Storms ‘Sandblast’ the Moon?:



Coronal Mass Ejection as viewed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory on June 7, 2011.
Image Credit: NASA/SDO


According to a new set of NASA computer simulations, solar storms and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) can erode the lunar surface. Researchers speculate that not only can these phenomena erode the lunar surface, but could also be a cause of atmospheric loss for planets without a global magnetic field, such as Mars.

(...)
Read the rest of Could Solar Storms ‘Sandblast’ the Moon? (685 words)




© Ray Sanders for Universe Today, 2011. |
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Twisting and Eclipsing on the Sun

Twisting and Eclipsing on the Sun:



A video posted today by the team at NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory shows two recent events on the Sun: a twisting prominence and the “eclipse” of a plasma eruption by the structure of a darker, cooler filament. Most impressive!


(...)
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© Jason Major for Universe Today, 2011. |
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Massive Stars Start Life Big… Really BIG!

Massive Stars Start Life Big… Really BIG!:



Artist’s impression illustrating the formation process of massive stars. At the end of the formation process, the surrounding accretion disk disappears, revealing the surface of the young star. At this phase the young massive star is much larger than when it has reached a stable equilibrium, i.e., when arriving on the so-called main sequence. Copyright: Lucas Ellerbroek/Lex Kaper University of Amsterdam



It might be hard to believe, but massive stars are larger in their infant stage than they are when fully formed. Thanks to a team of astronomers at the University of Amsterdam, observations have shown that during the initial stages of creation, super-massive stars are super-sized. This research now confirms the theory that massive stars contract until they reach the age of equilibrium. (...)
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© tammy for Universe Today, 2011. |
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Skywatchers Share Lunar Eclipse Photos, Videos

Skywatchers Share Lunar Eclipse Photos, Videos:



A big eclipsed Moon over Indian Peaks in Colorado. Credit: Patrick Cullis



It was the final lunar eclipse of the year, and the last total lunar eclipse event for the western portion of the Americas until 2014, so skywatchers took advantage of clear skies, and many have shared their images and videos with Universe Today. Enjoy the views! For many of the images you can click on them and see larger versions on our Flickr group.


Above is a view in Colorado, taken by Patrick Cullis, showing the Indian Peaks with the eclipsing Moon setting overhead, taken during the lunar eclipse in the early morning hours of December 10, 2011. The Indian Peaks are a series of peaks on the continental divide near Boulder, Colorado. “The Moon set behind the continental divide right before totality, but it was still an awesome sight,” Cullis said.


Below is a video a to-die-for view of the eclipse over the Pacific Ocean.


(...)
Read the rest of Skywatchers Share Lunar Eclipse Photos, Videos (241 words)




© nancy for Universe Today, 2011. |
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Astronomy Without A Telescope – How Big Is Big?

Astronomy Without A Telescope – How Big Is Big?:



A scale comparison chart showing lots of big stars - but note that after Rigel (frame 5) they are all red giants. When the Sun goes red giant it will become about the size of Arcturus (frame 4) - so maybe this kind of 'snapshot in time' comparison is misleading? Credit: Wikimedia.



You may have seen one of these astronomical scale picture sequences, where you go from the Earth to Jupiter to the Sun, then the Sun to Sirius – and all the way up to the biggest star we know of VY Canis Majoris. However, most of the stars at the big end of the scale are at a late point in their stellar lifecycle – having evolved off the main sequence to become red supergiants.


The Sun will go red giant in 5 billion years or so – achieving a new radius of about one Astronomical Unit – equivalent to the average radius of the Earth’s orbit (and hence debate continues around whether or not the Earth will be consumed). In any case, the Sun will then roughly match the size of Arcturus, which although voluminously big, only has a mass of roughly 1.1 solar masses. So, comparing star sizes without considering the different stages of their stellar evolution might not be giving you the full picture.(...)
Read the rest of Astronomy Without A Telescope – How Big Is Big? (554 words)




© Steve Nerlich for Universe Today, 2011. |
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In The Dragonfish’s Mouth – The Next Generation Of “SuperStars”

In The Dragonfish’s Mouth – The Next Generation Of “SuperStars”:



A high-resolution infrared image of Dragonfish association, showing the shell of hot gas. Credit:NASA/JPL-Caltech/GLIMPSE Team/Mubdi Rahman



At the University of Toronto, a trio of astronomers have been fishing – fishing for a copious catch of young, supermassive stars. What they caught was unprecedented… Hundreds of thousands of stars with several hundreds of these being the most massive kind. They hauled in blue stars dozens of times heavier than the Sun, with light so intense it ate its way through the gas that created it. All that’s left is the hollow egg-shell… A shell that measures a hundred light years across. (...)
Read the rest of In The Dragonfish’s Mouth – The Next Generation Of “SuperStars” (763 words)




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New Submillimetre Camera Sheds Light on the Dark Regions of the Universe

New Submillimetre Camera Sheds Light on the Dark Regions of the Universe:



A composite image of the Whirlpool Galaxy (also known as M51). The green image is from the Hubble Space Telescope and shows the optical wavelength. The submillimetre light detected by SCUBA-2 is shown in red (850 microns) and blue (450 microns). The Whirlpool Galaxy lies at an estimated distance of 31 million light years from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici Credit: JAC / UBC / Nasa



The stars and faint galaxies you see when you look up at the night sky are all emitting light within the visible light spectrum — the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum we can see with our unaided eyes or through optical telescopes. But our galaxy, and many others, contain huge amounts of cold dust that absorbs visible light. This accounts for the dark regions.


A new camera recently unveiled at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii promises to figuratively shed light on this dark part of the universe. The SCUBA-2 submillimetre camera (SCUBA in this case is an acronym for Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array) can detect light at lower energy levels, allowing astronomers to gather data on these dark areas and ultimately learn more about our universe and its formation. (...)
Read the rest of New Submillimetre Camera Sheds Light on the Dark Regions of the Universe (599 words)




© Amy Shira Teitel for Universe Today, 2011. |
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Geminid Meteor Shower Reminder and There’s An App For That!

Geminid Meteor Shower Reminder and There’s An App For That!:



2011 Geminids in the Winter Triangle. Image Courtesy of John Chumack



Have you been watching the Geminid Meteor Shower? With just hours to go before the peak, activity has been high – despite this year’s Moon! If you’d like to know more on the history of this meteor shower, then check out this great article by Adrian West. If you plan on watching and would like to do something cool and unusual, then step inside… (...)
Read the rest of Geminid Meteor Shower Reminder and There’s An App For That! (588 words)




© tammy for Universe Today, 2011. |
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