Finnishyourcheese

astronemma:

Contemplating the Sun
Image Credit & Copyright: Steven Gilbert

Explanation: Have you contemplated your home star recently? Pictured above, a Sun partially eclipsed on the top left by the Moon is also seen eclipsed by earthlings contemplating the eclipse below. The above menagerie of silhouettes was taken from the Glenn Canyon National Recreational Area near Page, Arizona, USA, where park rangers and astronomers expounded on the unusual event to interested gatherers. Also faintly visible on the Sun’s disk, just to the lower right of the dark Moon’s disk, is a group of sunspots. Although exciting, some consider this event a warm-up act for next week’s chance to comtemplate the Sun — a much more rare partial eclipse by the planet Venus.

(via moonpedia)

fuckyeahspaceexploration:

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope orbits Earth with a complicated motion. This map shows the position of a particular pulsar (the Vela pulsar) inside the field of view of the telescope as it orbits around the Earth rocking north/south; rolls to keep its solar panels facing the Sun; and processes around its axis once every 54 days. It is a compound of these three motions that gives rise to this image.

unknownskywalker:

A Dangerous Sunrise on Gliese 876d

On planet Gliese 876d, sunrises might be dangerous. Although nobody really knows what conditions are like on this close-in planet orbiting variable red dwarf star Gliese 876, the above artistic illustration gives one impression.

With an orbit well inside Mercury and a mass several times that of Earth, Gliese 876d might rotate so slowly that dramatic differences exist between night and day. Gliese 876d is imagined above showing significant volcanism, possibly caused by gravitational tides flexing and internally heating the planet, and possibly more volatile during the day.

The rising red dwarf star shows expected stellar magnetic activity which includes dramatic and violent prominences. In the sky above, a hypothetical moon has its thin atmosphere blown away by the red dwarf’s stellar wind. Gliese 876d excites the imagination partly because it is one of the few extrasolar planets known to be in or near to the habitable zone of its parent star.

jtotheizzoe:

Jupiter and the Moons of Earth

Wait, “moons” of Earth? Did you read that right? Don’t worry, no one’s pulling a fast one on you. 

In this image, captured in Germany after the April new moon, we have Earth’s largest natural satellite, the capital “M” Moon we are all familiar with. Streaking through the center is the path of our largest artificial satellite, the International Space Station, which is sort of a man-made moon that people live on.

And down in the left we see Jupiter, one of our brightest celestial neighbors. As a special treat, you can click through to the high resolution version and see tiny points of light around Jupiter. Those are Jupiter’s moons!

(via APOD)

(via scinerds)

scinerds:

APOD: Evaporating Blobs of the Carina Nebula 
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA

Explanation: No, they are not alive — but they are dying. The unusual blobs found in the Carina nebula, some of which are seen floating on the upper right, might best be described as evaporating. Energetic light and winds from nearby stars are breaking apart the dark dust grains that make the iconic forms opaque. Ironically the blobs, otherwise known as dark molecular clouds, frequently create in their midst the very stars that later destroy them. The floating space mountains pictured above by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope span a few light months. The Great Nebula in Carinaitself spans about 30 light years, lies about 7,500 light years away, and can be seen with a small telescope toward the constellation of Keel (Carina).