Tag: Image
The Horsehead Nebula
As human beings we always find order within chaos. Give someone a random list of numbers and they will find some kind of order or pattern. It is the same reason why when we look out to other moons, planets...
When Gemini Sends Stars to Paranal
If you’re lucky enough to find yourself on a clear sky tonight somewhere in the Northern Hemisphere then you should forget about work or school tomorrow and head out to watch the peak of activity for he Geminid meteor shower....
Comet Meets Moon and Morning Star
A crescent Moon and brilliant Venus met in predawn skies on December 7, a beautiful conjunction of planet Earth’s two brightest celestial beacons after the Sun. Harder to see but also on the scene was Comet Catalina (C/2013 US10). The...
Comet Catalina Emerges
The Catalina comet is getting closer and closer to us right now and will reach it’s closest point in January. It’s so close at the moment that you can see it in the sky in the morning (from about 5am...
A Force from Empty Space: The Casimir Effect
This image denotes a ball that is moving even though there are no visible forces acting upon it in a vacuum (and if the image seems weird it’s because the ball is only around 1/10th of a millimetre). This small...
Cygnus: Bubble and Crescent
The clouds of gas and dust that you see are remnants of an exploded star. The gas and dust spreads out into the Universe and awaits an opportunity to once again clump together and reform into a new star, planet...
Enceladus: Ringside Water World
Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus poses above the gas giant’s icy rings in this Cassini spacecraft image. The dramatic scene was captured on July 29, while Cassini cruised just below the ring plane, its cameras looking back in a nearly sunward...
Nebulae in Aurigae
Rich in star clusters and nebulae, the ancient constellation of the Charioteer (Auriga) rides high in northern winter night skies. Composed from narrow and broadband filter data and spanning nearly 8 Full Moons (4 degrees) on the sky, this deep...
In the Center of Spiral Galaxy NGC 3521
This huge swirling mass of stars, gas, and dust occurs near the center of a nearby spiral galaxy. Gorgeous spiral NGC 3521 is a mere 35 million light-years distant, toward the constellation Leo. Spanning some 50,000 light-years, its central region...
Dark Sand Cascades on Mars
They might look like trees on Mars, but they’re not. Groups of dark brown streaks have been photographed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on melting pinkish sand dunes covered with light frost. The above image was taken in 2008 April...