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itsfullofstars: ofstars: The Best and Strangest Views of Solar Eclipses from Space [via gizmodo]

itsfullofstars:

ofstars:

The Best and Strangest Views of Solar Eclipses from Space

[via gizmodo]

itsfullofstars: dvdp: Hayabusa spacecraft entering Earth’s atmosphere(  over an unpopulated area of central Australia on June 12, 2010)

itsfullofstars:

dvdp:

Hayabusa spacecraft entering Earth’s atmosphere
(  over an unpopulated area of central Australia on June 12, 2010)

itsfullofstars: Buy your own Apollo 11 Space Suit Replica Have you ever wanted to buy or purchase an Apollo 11 Space Suit? These Apollo 11 Space Suits are hand made per order. Attention is paid to detail from the start with machining of aluminum hose fittings and neck ring to the anodizing of the aluminum fittings. All of the metal parts are hand created. Each suit is hand sewen. Each helmet is also hand made from adding the gold to the visor to adding the cloth wrap cover. For the low price of $9500.00. Buy here. Also, while you’re at it, why dont you pick up a FULL SCALE REPLICA of the Space Shuttle for a cool $2.2 million? (via crookedindifference)

itsfullofstars:

Buy your own Apollo 11 Space Suit Replica

Have you ever wanted to buy or purchase an Apollo 11 Space Suit?

These Apollo 11 Space Suits are hand made per order. Attention is paid to detail from the start with machining of aluminum hose fittings and neck ring to the anodizing of the aluminum fittings. All of the metal parts are hand created. Each suit is hand sewen. Each helmet is also hand made from adding the gold to the visor to adding the cloth wrap cover.

For the low price of $9500.00. Buy here.

Also, while you’re at it, why dont you pick up a FULL SCALE REPLICA of the Space Shuttle for a cool $2.2 million?

(via crookedindifference)

Thrilled astronomers are checking out a new picture of the entire sky viewed in a whole new light. The stunning image, built up by a European space telescope, reveals vast swathes of dust filling our home galaxy, the Milky Way.

Thrilled astronomers are checking out a new picture of the entire sky viewed in a whole new light. The stunning image, built up by a European space telescope, reveals vast swathes of dust filling our home galaxy, the Milky Way.

from a vantage point about 350 kilometers above the southern Indian Ocean, astronauts onboard the International Space Station watched this enormous, green ribbon shimmering below. Known as aurora australis or southern lights, the shifting, luminous bands are commonly seen at high northern latitudes as well, there known as the aurora borealis or northern lights.North or south their cause is the same though, as energetic charged particles from the magnetosphere pile into the atmosphere near the Earth’s poles. To produce the characteristic greenish glow, the energetic particles excite oxygen atoms at altitudes of 100 kilometers or more. Aurora on May 29 were likely triggered by the interaction of the magnetosphere with a coronal mass ejection erupting from the Sun on May 24.

from a vantage point about 350 kilometers above the southern Indian Ocean, astronauts onboard the International Space Station watched this enormous, green ribbon shimmering below. Known as aurora australis or southern lights, the shifting, luminous bands are commonly seen at high northern latitudes as well, there known as the aurora borealis or northern lights.North or south their cause is the same though, as energetic charged particles from the magnetosphere pile into the atmosphere near the Earth’s poles. To produce the characteristic greenish glow, the energetic particles excite oxygen atoms at altitudes of 100 kilometers or more. Aurora on May 29 were likely triggered by the interaction of the magnetosphere with a coronal mass ejection erupting from the Sun on May 24.

snuh: A Beautiful Boomerang Nebula Explanation: This symmetric cloud dubbed the Boomerang Nebula was created by a high-speed wind of gas and dust blowing from an aging central star at speeds of nearly 600,000 kilometers per hour. The rapid expansion has cooled molecules in the nebular gas to about one degree above absolute zero - colder than even the cosmic background radiation - making it the coldest known region in the distant Universe. Shining with light from the central star reflected by dust, the frigid Boomerang Nebula is believed to be a star or stellar system evolving toward the planetary nebula phase. This Hubble image was recorded using polarizing filters (analogous to polaroid sunglasses) and color coded by the angle associated with the polarized light. The gorgeous result traces the small dust particles responsible for polarizing and scattering the light. The Boomerang Nebula spans about one light year and lies about 5,000 light years away toward the constellation Centaurus.

snuh:

A Beautiful Boomerang Nebula

Explanation: This symmetric cloud dubbed the Boomerang Nebula was created by a high-speed wind of gas and dust blowing from an aging central star at speeds of nearly 600,000 kilometers per hour. The rapid expansion has cooled molecules in the nebular gas to about one degree above absolute zero - colder than even the cosmic background radiation - making it the coldest known region in the distant Universe. Shining with light from the central star reflected by dust, the frigid Boomerang Nebula is believed to be a star or stellar system evolving toward the planetary nebula phase. This Hubble image was recorded using polarizing filters (analogous to polaroid sunglasses) and color coded by the angle associated with the polarized light. The gorgeous result traces the small dust particles responsible for polarizing and scattering the light. The Boomerang Nebula spans about one light year and lies about 5,000 light years away toward the constellation Centaurus.

snuh:absolutefucker: (via hatzoffratzofftuesday)

snuh:absolutefucker: (via hatzoffratzofftuesday)

Voyager 2 at 12,000 Days: The Super-Marathon Continues

NASA’s plucky Voyager 2 spacecraft has hit a long-haul operations milestone today (June 28) — operating continuously for 12,000 days. For nearly 33 years, the venerable spacecraft has been returning data about the giant outer planets, and the characteristics and interaction of solar wind between and beyond the planets. Among its many findings, Voyager 2 discovered Neptune’s Great Dark Spot and its 450-meter-per-second (1,000-mph) winds. 

The two Voyager spacecraft have been the longest continuously operating spacecraft in deep space. Voyager 2 launched on August 20, 1977, when Jimmy Carter was president. Voyager 1 launched about two weeks later on Sept. 5. The two spacecraft are the most distant human-made objects, out at the edge of the heliosphere — the bubble the sun creates around the solar system. Mission managers expect Voyager 1 to leave our solar system and enter interstellar space in the next five years or so, with Voyager 2 on track to enter interstellar space shortly after that. 

Having traveled more than 21 billion kilometers (13 billion miles) on its winding path through the planets toward interstellar space, the spacecraft is now nearly 14 billion kilometers (9 billion miles) from the sun. A signal from the ground, traveling at the speed of light, takes about 12.8 hours one-way to reach Voyager 2. 

Voyager 1 will reach this 12,000-day milestone on July 13, 2010 after traveling more than 22 billion kilometers (14 billion miles). Voyager 1 is currently more than 17 billion kilometers (11 billion miles) from the sun. 

figuremeout: Light for the Ages Today, our sun reaches its northernmost point in planet Earth’s sky. Called a solstice, the date traditionally marks a change of seasons — from spring to summer in Earth’s Northern Hemisphere and from fall to winter in Earth’s Southern Hemisphere. In this image from 2007, NASA’s Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) satellites provided the first three-dimensional images of the sun. STEREO, a two-year mission that launched October 2006, provided a unique and revolutionary view of the Sun-Earth System. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/NRL/GSFC

figuremeout:

Light for the Ages

Today, our sun reaches its northernmost point in planet Earth’s sky. Called a solstice, the date traditionally marks a change of seasons — from spring to summer in Earth’s Northern Hemisphere and from fall to winter in Earth’s Southern Hemisphere. 

In this image from 2007, NASA’s Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) satellites provided the first three-dimensional images of the sun. STEREO, a two-year mission that launched October 2006, provided a unique and revolutionary view of the Sun-Earth System. 

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/NRL/GSFC

snuh:lucyphermann: Aurora Australis From Space. Even for astronauts, this was a rare sight indeed: an aurora hovering over the southern Indian Ocean. Auroras occur when charged particles from the sun collide with Earth’s upper atmosphere, causing atoms of oxygen and nitrogen to gain energy and then release it in the form of light. Auroras typically are visible only near Earth’s Poles, where magnetic field lines channel charged particles toward the planet. But this aurora australis, photographed in May from the International Space Station, occurred during a geomagnetic storm, which can temporarily shift the planet’s magnetic field—and hence its auroras—closer to the Equator.

snuh:lucyphermann:

Aurora Australis From Space. Even for astronauts, this was a rare sight indeed: an aurora hovering over the southern Indian Ocean. Auroras occur when charged particles from the sun collide with Earth’s upper atmosphere, causing atoms of oxygen and nitrogen to gain energy and then release it in the form of light. Auroras typically are visible only near Earth’s Poles, where magnetic field lines channel charged particles toward the planet. But this aurora australis, photographed in May from the International Space Station, occurred during a geomagnetic storm, which can temporarily shift the planet’s magnetic field—and hence its auroras—closer to the Equator.