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Space: The Final Frontier

fallout

Member
Timedog said:
The age of the universe would be different for each point in that picture, unless each one of those galaxies is the exact same distance from earth, and 2 dimensional.
Sorry, should have said the most distant ones!
 
where are the pics of Uranus?

tee hee


seriously, i love that photo of Earth taken from the moons surface. I feel calm every time i see it. It makes me realize whatever problems I have, they aren't really that big.
 
Arthas said:
Majestic Sombrero Galaxy:

sombrero_hst_1024.jpg

It's funny how one can't make out a single dot in that halo.

Also, what is the light in the middle?
 

skybaby

Member
DeathNote said:
What do we use to view it? IE and windows picture viewer doesn't seem to work.
Never tried opening on this pc, but office picture manager did it. If you have it... (I remember ACDsee working back then too)
 

fallout

Member
Zeitgeister said:
Also, what is the light in the middle?
That's a long-exposure, multi-filter shot. It's done in order to get all the dust, gas and dimmer features of the galaxy. As a result, you end up with a very bright core, where millions and millions of stars are located. There's actually a supermassive black hole right in the centre.
 

Windu

never heard about the cat, apparently
Peru said:
Wow, that's almost scary. I sometimes get goosebumps from watching news reports where we see astronauts wandering about outside a space station, earth spinning below, blackness around them. It's surreal and I would piss myself twenty times before fainting if stepping out into open space.
Click For High Res.


Top Ten Space Walks in History
 

C.Dark.DN

Banned
skybaby said:
Never tried opening on this pc, but office picture manager did it. If you have it... (I remember ACDsee working back then too)
i had to rename the image. jpg in the name messed with it for some reason.
 

dark_chris

Member
Teknoman said:
Man...just imagine looking straight down. Quick (possible dumb) question: Are astronauts allowed to bring digital cameras or any other things beside NASA provided necessities aboard the shuttle?

If Homer can bring a bag of chips to a space shuttle, then I am sure you can bring a camera, but it would better if it was a very powerful one.

....Crap, I forgot, he smuggled the chips aboard. :lol
 

Windu

never heard about the cat, apparently
Hootie said:
Hahaha, that second photo looks like a poop that's been lingering in the toilet for hours. :lol
For some reason (I have no idea why) it looks like Godzilla.....jacking off. :lol Well to me anyway..
 

Teknoman

Member
dark_chris said:
If Homer can bring a bag of chips to a space shuttle, then I am sure you can bring a camera, but it would better if it was a very powerful one.

....Crap, I forgot, he smuggled the chips aboard. :lol

Well if it was allowed and I was an astronaut, i'd have assloads of space pictures. Not far off stuff of course, but just things like views from the shuttle window and whatnot.

Pluto and the "Tenth Planet","Xena"
ig323_hubble_Pluto_02.jpg

http://tinyurl.com/37v65f
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope observed what, at the time was known as the "tenth planet," nicknamed "Xena," for the first time and has found that it is only just a little larger than Pluto.

Have I been playing too many games, or does that look like a 3d render for some reason?
 

xabre

Banned
Teh Hamburglar said:
where are the pics of Uranus?

Uranus (pronounced ura-nus, so sorry to kill the joke) is a pretty bland looking planet

Here's a picture of one of the martian polar ice caps instead -

6jytwqp.jpg
 

Wanace

Member
Teknoman said:
Have I been playing too many games, or does that look like a 3d render for some reason?

There are no good hi-res pics of Pluto or beyond yet, not until the New Horizons craft arrives, so that's probably a render of what it's imagined to look like.

This is the best pic we have of Pluto I believe:

240px-Pluto.jpg
 
king said:

Holy shit, I´ve never seen that jupiter pic! Insanely cool! Look at that giant red circle... it´s a massive storm (it´s as big as 3 earths O_O) on jupiter´s surface and no one has a clue why it´s been there for so long and how much time it will still last.

Plus, look at those other storms ... those white circles... hurricanes! :D
 

fallout

Member
Hootie said:
Hahaha, that second photo looks like a poop that's been lingering in the toilet for hours. :lol
That's the Horsehead Nebula. It caused quite a stir on CNN when it was first released.
 

xabre

Banned
Nasa's Mars Science Laboratory will be able to provide 10fps 720p video from the martian surface when it's launched and gets there a few years from now. I think that's a pretty impressive step forward.
 

Alfarif

This picture? uhh I can explain really!
5. Moon is moving away from Earth

The reasons why have to do with tides and conservation of energy and angular momentum. Measurements have been collected now for over 25 years, and it is clear that the Moon's orbit is slowly growing larger and that the Moon is moving away from the Earth. The net result is that the Moon is receding from the Earth at about 4 centimeters a year. However, astronomers have predicted that when the Sun enters the red giant phase in around 5 billion years - during the red giant phase of the Sun - both Earth and Moon will be affected by the Sun's extended atmosphere and will aproach again. Then the Moon will swing ever closer to Earth until it reaches a point 11,470 miles (18,470 kilometers) above our planet, a point termed the Roche limit. The result: Moon will be torn to pieces and will be scattered to form a spectacular 23,000-mile-diameter (37,000-kilometer) Saturn-like ring of debris above Earth's equator. [1] [2]

http://fogonazos.blogspot.com/2007/06/ten-amazing-facts-about-earth.html

No moon for us in about 5 million years or more. Nice.
 
Battersea Power Station said:
Quick question: why are galaxies in the shape of disks instead of spheres? Is it just a balance between internal gravity and the momentum of spinning?

Well, not all galaxies are like that though. There are some which look like spheres. But that´s a good question, why do some of them have that spiral shape?
 

fallout

Member
Battersea Power Station said:
Quick question: why are galaxies in the shape of disks instead of spheres? Is it just a balance between internal gravity and the momentum of spinning?
Angular momentum is the key, here. Look at our solar system or Saturn's rings, for example. Hell, even a spinning top. It all works on the same principle. Generally speaking, any galaxy not in the form of a disk has probably interacted with another galaxy at some point (galaxy collisions are actually rather commonplace ... we're slowly working our way towards one right now!).
 

Hootie

Member
Irony. I missed the new episode of The Universe even though it was I who posted the reminder in this thread.

Damnit.
 

RiZ III

Member
Wow.. I didn't know a probe landed on Venus. That's awesome. Too bad there won't be any interplanetary travel within my lifetime =( People of the future, I envy you!
 

NumberTwo

Paper or plastic?
When I see images like these, it completely and literally dwarfs the "problems" that we face in everyday life. Puts life into perspective because it truly allows you to get a glimpse of just how tiny and fragile our pathetic existence is and how it can all be taken away in a blink of an eye. If I ever had a chance to see these in real time with my own eyes, it would take every ounce of strength in me to hold back tears.

Post some high res wallpapers if you can find some.
 

pj

Banned
This is a great thread. I just wish nasa would get with the program and start taking widescreen pictures..
 

Fusebox

Banned
Some of those are just incredible pics - being on the cusp of space exploration in the last few decades would be modern mans equivalent of experiencing rapture imo.

Having said that, bring back Reagan!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5159217/

All his great efforts to advance the space program have been left to survive on handouts while most of your countries vast resources are now being funnelled into a war, sorry conflict, over religi.., um oil.., wait, I mean in the name of liberation, yeah that's it. Bush is liberating people.

Whatever the reason, space has taken a political back seat in recent times and that sucks.
 

The_Dude

Member
Seeing those size comparisons makes me glad the human brain can't truly coprehend our own insignifigance. The worst thing, though, is that (correct me if I'm wrong) YV Canis Majoris is the largest known star. Could even that be dwarfed by something else out there?

Anyway, there are some truly amazing pictures in this thread. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for reincarnation so that I might get to explore these places myself one day!
 

xabre

Banned
China isn't fucking around. Russia is always ambitious. India has solid plans. Japan too. ESA is making good progress.

Space exploration doesn't revolve around the whims of the Americans. They want to ignore it then their loss.
 

Alfarif

This picture? uhh I can explain really!
xabre said:
China isn't fucking around. Russia is always ambitious. India has solid plans. Japan too. ESA is making good progress.

Space exploration doesn't revolve around the whims of the Americans. They want to ignore it then their loss.

This is what pisses me off about the US. More than anything else, we're so damn busy getting into other people's business, we can't even do important shit. So while China will be colonizing Mars, we'll be trying to figure out how to shoot a rocket that far with people inside. It would be great if everyone go together and shared stuff but lord knows I don't want the rest of the world having to pull America's burden because we're too ignorant to do what needs to be done.
 

Alfarif

This picture? uhh I can explain really!
Topher said:
When I see images like these, it completely and literally dwarfs the "problems" that we face in everyday life. Puts life into perspective because it truly allows you to get a glimpse of just how tiny and fragile our pathetic existence is and how it can all be taken away in a blink of an eye. If I ever had a chance to see these in real time with my own eyes, it would take every ounce of strength in me to hold back tears.

Post some high res wallpapers if you can find some.


The movie Contact makes me cry for this reason. I actually can't watch it anymore because I bawl like a little baby. It's like... she's the only person who got to see that... got to actually see it... how would that make you feel? You know? We're talking about... not the ground, not earth, not humans, not anything here. How amazing would that be?
 

Alfarif

This picture? uhh I can explain really!
This is going to sound a little creepy... but... have we ever lost an astrounaut in space because he became detached from the shuttle or couldn't get back in some way?
 
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