Spring Night Sky 2013

Ross gives a tour of the Spring Night Sky, including the constellations Boötes, Leo and Ursa Minor, as well as the visible planets this season. Learn about the planet Saturn, its rings and some tips on finding it for yourself.

likeafieldmouse:

Vincent Fournier - Space Project (2007) - space stations from around the world

(Source: likeafieldmouse)

milesian:

The Milky Way Galaxy measured on different wavelengths

pbsthisdayinhistory:

July 20, 1969: First Man Walks on the Moon

On this day in 1969, the spaceflight Apollo 11 landed the first humans, Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, on the moon.  People watched worldwide as Armstrong took that momentous first step onto the moon, declaring, “This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

One does not simply land on the moon wearing a t-shirt and jeans.  See how these Historic Space Suits evolved to allow a successful landing on the moon!

Photo:  NASA

mothernaturenetwork:

NASA undersea ‘asteroid’ mission passes halfway mark
The expedition is focused on dealing with communication delays, determining optimum crew sizes and coming up with ways to attach to an asteroid.

framesandflames:

The historic transit of Venus, captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, seen in four different wavelengths

ikenbot:

A Hole in Mars

Credit: NASA, JPL, U. Arizona

Back in 2007, black spots were discovered on Mars that are so dark that nothing inside can be seen. Quite possibly, the spots are entrances to deep underground caves capable of protecting Martian life, were it to exist.

The unusual hole pictured above was found on the slopes of the giant Martian volcano Arsia Mons. The above image was captured three weeks ago by the HiRISE instrument onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter currently circling Mars.

The holes were originally identified on lower resolution images from the Mars Odyssey spacecraft, The above hole is about the size of a football field and is so deep that it is completely unilluminated by the Sun. Such holes and underground caves might be prime targets for future spacecraft, robots, and even the next generation of human interplanetary explorers.

futurist-foresight:

Today´s launch of SpaceX´s Dragon capsule onboard its Falcon 9 rocket was a success. See it here:

Below is a look at how the Dragon Space Capsule work (Infographic by Space.com):

myampgoesto11:

Science Illustrations By Justin Mezzell/ On Tumblr

the-star-stuff:

Huge “Snowballs” Seen Piercing Saturn’s Outer Ring

Giant “snowballs” have been discovered plunging through Saturn’s outermost ring, creating glittering trails of ice dubbed mini-jets, researchers have announced.

Image courtesy Caltech/SSI/QMUL/NASA

jtotheizzoe:

A Final Flight for Enterprise

This morning, the space shuttle prototype Enterprise flew over NYC en route to her final resting place at the Intrepid Air & Space Museum on the Hudson River.

This wasn’t the first time Enterprise has flown over NYC. Up top, there she is in 1983 on the way back from the Paris Air Show. Below, today’s final flight over the Big Apple.

(pictures via @Brosner85 and NBCNews)

unknownskywalker:

Grand Canyon

The canyons in the southwestern United States photographed by ESA astronaut André Kuipers onboard the International Space Station.

jtotheizzoe:

24 Hours of the Sun, Stars and Earth in a Single Panoramic Image

A stereographic projection of an entire day stitched together to provide the view of one rotation of the Earth. Wow.

(via Colossal)

jtotheizzoe:

Happy  22nd Birthday to the Hubble!!

On April 24th, the Hubble Space Telescope marks its 22nd year in orbit. That means its mission has lasted longer than many of your lives, and it’s still churning out amazing work (no pressure though). Sources say that the Hubble promises that it’s not get all crazy like it did last year on its birthday.

To celebrate, the Hubble folks have released this beautiful image of 30 Dor, a star factory in the Large Magellenic Cloud full of high-energy glowing gas. A fine piece of #starporn to decorate your dashboard with.

But why stop there? We can do better than this picture.

How about a super-huge 4,000 x 3,200 pixel version? Is that big enough for ya?

No? Then how about an amazing zoomable version so you can dig deep down into the onion-like layers, a virtual rabbit hole of awesomeness?

Still not enough? If you really must go bigger, I have to warn you … this is a pretty hefty link, and it probably won’t open in your browser. Better to right-click and save. Here is an image that laughs in the face of any adjective I try to place before it. Behold a 267-Mb 20,323 x 16,259 pixel smorgasbord of starry goodness, over 300 million pixels of HOLY CRAP.

BONUS: How these amazing images are created and edited by master star pornagraphers.

(↬ Bad Astronomy)

the-star-stuff:

“Most Powerful Storms of the Solar System”

• Great White Spot on Saturn. Credit: Carolyn Porco and CICLOPS; NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
• Neptune’s Great Dark Spot. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
• Hurricane Irene Grows Ominous. Credit: NASA via Ron Garan/@Astro_Ron
• Jupiter’s Great Red Spot as Seen by Voyager. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
• Solar Prominence Sun ‘Twister’ - Solar Dynamics Observatory. Credit: NASA/SDO/GSFC