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Planck spots hot gas bridging galaxy cluster pair

By Thomas Posted 21 Nov 2012 — 0 Comment ↓
Galaxy clusters connected by gas bridge (ESA)

ESA’s Planck space telescope has made the first conclusive detection of a bridge of hot gas connecting a pair of galaxy clusters across 10 million light-years of intergalactic space. Planck’s primary task is to capture the most ancient light of Continue reading →

Posted in Galaxies, Satellites and spacecrafts | Tagged cluster, galaxies, planck | Leave a reply

Neptune and Triton captured together in crescent phase

By Thomas Posted 21 Nov 2012 — 0 Comment ↓
Crescent Neptune and Triton (NASA) [thumb]

Gliding silently through the outer Solar System, the Voyager 2 spacecraft camera captured Neptune and Triton together in crescent phase in 1989. The above picture of the gas giant planet and its cloudy moon was taken from behind just after Continue reading →

Posted in Planets and moons | Tagged neptune, triton, voyager | Leave a reply

The ISS Cupola: watch the Earth through the windows

By Thomas Posted 20 Nov 2012 — 0 Comment ↓
Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson inside the European built Cupola (NASA)

There’s no place like home. Peering out of the windows of the International Space Station (ISS), astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson takes in the planet on which we were all born, and to which she would soon return. About 350 kilometers Continue reading →

Posted in Satellites and spacecrafts | Tagged cupola, iss | Leave a reply

Galactic wreckage in Stephan’s Quintet: a group of five galaxies

By Thomas Posted 19 Nov 2012 — 0 Comment ↓
Stephan's Quintet (NASA/ESA Hubble)

A clash among members of a famous galaxy quintet reveals an assortment of stars across a wide colour range, from young, blue stars to aging, red stars. This portrait of Stephan’s Quintet, also known as the Hickson Compact Group 92, Continue reading →

Posted in Galaxies | Tagged galaxies, hubble | Leave a reply

An extraordinary celestial spiral: one of the most perfect geometrical forms created in space

By Thomas Posted 18 Nov 2012 — 0 Comment ↓
Celestial spiral of a pre-planetary nebula in the constellation of Pegasus (NASA/ESA Hubble)

This remarkable picture from the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows one of the most perfect geometrical forms created in space. It captures the formation of an unusual pre-planetary nebula, known as IRAS 23166+1655, around Continue reading →

Posted in Planetary nebulae | Tagged hubble, nebula | Leave a reply

Mars rovers : three generations in one photo

By Thomas Posted 17 Nov 2012 — 0 Comment ↓
Mars rovers: Sojourner, Spirit/Opportunity, Curiosity (NASA)

This grouping of two test rovers and a flight spare provides a graphic comparison of three generations of Mars rovers developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The setting is JPL’s Mars Yard testing area. Front and center is Continue reading →

Posted in Rovers | Tagged curiosity, mars, mer, opportunity, rovers, sojourner, spirit | Leave a reply

Newly discovered galaxy may be the most distant object yet observed

By Thomas Posted 16 Nov 2012 — 0 Comment ↓
Hubble spots candidate for most distant known galaxy

By combining the power of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and one of nature’s zoom lenses, astronomers have found what is probably the most distant galaxy yet seen in the Universe. The object offers a peek Continue reading →

Posted in Galaxies, Satellites and spacecrafts | Tagged galaxy, hubble | Leave a reply

Planetary nebula Abell 30: born-again star foreshadows fate of Solar System

By Thomas Posted 15 Nov 2012 — 0 Comment ↓
Abell 30: a born-again planetary nebula (NASA/ESA Hubble)

Astronomers have found evidence for a dying Sun-like star coming briefly back to life after casting its gassy shells out into space, mimicking the possible fate our own Solar System faces in a few billion years. This new picture of Continue reading →

Posted in Planetary nebulae, Stars | Tagged hubble, nebula, sun | Leave a reply

NASA’s Kepler mission begins extension

By Thomas Posted 15 Nov 2012 — 0 Comment ↓
Artist's concept of Kepler in the distant solar system. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA is marking two milestones in the search for planets like Earth; the successful completion of the Kepler Space Telescope’s three-and-a-half-year prime mission and the beginning of an extended mission that could last as long as four years. Scientists have Continue reading →

Posted in Exoplanets, Satellites and spacecrafts | Tagged exoplanets, kepler, nasa | Leave a reply

Happy little crater on Mercury

By Thomas Posted 15 Nov 2012 — 0 Comment ↓
Mercury happy crater (NASA)

It looks like even the craters on Mercury have heard of Bob Ross! The central peaks of this complex crater have formed in such a way that it resembles a smiling face. This image is oriented so north is toward Continue reading →

Posted in Planets and moons, Satellites and spacecrafts | Tagged crater, mercury, messenger | Leave a reply

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