Cool Astronomy Pics

[jelerak]

This site has an amazing index of pics, mostly dealing with astronomy.

antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html

But this one in particular really caught my attention :




Explanation: Is this what a sonic boom looks like? When an airplane travels at a speed faster than sound, density waves of sound emitted by the plane cannot precede the plane, and so accumulate in a cone behind the plane. When this shock wave passes, a listener hears all at once the sound emitted over a longer period: a sonic boom. As a plane accelerates to just break the sound barrier, however, an unusual cloud might form. The origin of this cloud is still debated. A leading theory is that a drop in air pressure at the plane described by the Prandtl-Glauert Singularity occurs so that moist air condenses there to form water droplets. Above, an F/A-18 Hornet was photographed just as it broke the sound barrier. Large meteors and the space shuttle frequently produce audible sonic booms before they are slowed below sound speed by the Earth's atmosphere.

Cool, huh?

[Fist and Faith]

Wow! That is kinda cool!

Here's a cool pic. The Sombrero Galaxy:

Here's a bigger picture of it:
terpsichore.stsci.edu/~summers/viz/hgast/hgast_imax_sombrero_galaxy_0510_1404x1024.jpg

[jelerak]

Unbelievably awesome pic of Saturn :



"This image has it all. It’s of a familiar object, seen in an unfamiliar way: back-lit by the Sun, a view impossible from Earth. It shows the whole planet, a rarity from space missions. The image shows very faint details and has very high resolution, a must.

But there is sheer artistry at work here. The colors, the lighting… I love the sun splash in the lower left limb of the planet, and the fans of ethereal mistiness shooting out from the rings. The shading on the planet itself is lovely, while the rings provide a geometric symmetry that is very appealing to the eye."

And the bonus :





"That dot in the center of the image is the Earth. It’s us. Cassini was nearly one billion miles from us when it took this image, orbiting a giant ball of gas as exotic and alien as any place we can imagine. From such a terribly removed location, the entire Earth is reduced to a single point of light, just one among an anonymous many as seen from our robotic proxy as our generation, for the first time in all of history, seeks out our neighborhood and takes a really good look."

From : www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2006/12/27/ ... s-of-2006/

[Kil Tyme]

That was a nice on-edge pic. Here's one right on top:



Bigger:
imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/2005/12/images/a/formats/print.jpg

[Prebe]

In the words of Monty Python: "It makes you feel a sort of insignificant doesn't it?"

[matrixman]

jelerak, I agree, that Saturn pic is dazzling beyond belief! I daresay, nothing short of miraculous.

For something closer to home, I was really taken by this panoramic image:



Explanation: Today the Solstice occurs at 0608 Universal Time, the Sun reaching its southernmost declination in planet Earth's sky. Of course, the December Solstice marks the beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere and summer in the south. When viewed from northern latitudes, the Sun will make its lowest arc through the sky along the southern horizon. So in the north, the Solstice day has the shortest length of time between sunrise and sunset and fewest hours of daylight. This striking composite image follows the Sun's path through the December Solstice day of 2005 in a beautiful blue sky, looking down the Tyrrhenian Sea coast from Santa Severa toward Fiumicino, Italy. The view covers about 115 degrees in 43 separate, well-planned exposures from sunrise to sunset.

- Photo is from antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html (same one jelerak linked to)

I spent the last hour and a half looking/reading through the archive, and that was just for December! Thanks, jelerak, this helps to re-invigorate my interest in astronomy.

[Prebe]

And thank you for reminding me, that in Denmark the maximum height of the sun is about 10 degrees above the horizon this time of year!!!

[Loredoctor]

I would have uploaded a photo of Mars had the skies been clear two weeks ago when the planet was the closest point to earth in ten years.

[Prebe]

Obscured by clouds of course!!!

Stupid Mars!!!

[Loredoctor]

Obscured by clouds of course!!!

Stupid Mars!!!

The sky has been overcast for three weeks - almost constant raining here. I wanted to try out 640x magnification.

Welcome back, Prebe.

[Prebe]

Thx Loremaster!

[Fist and Faith]

And thank you for reminding me, that in Denmark the maximum height of the sun is about 10 degrees above the horizon this time of year!!!

Uh, I mean, sorry to hear that!

[Wyldewode]

Wow. . . I especially like the time-lapse one.

[bloodguard bob]

I wanted to put my fav pic of my fav moon in here.

Io

[caamora]

Post more, folks. These are awesome!

[danlo]

Pleadies and Stardust