Official Space is Awesome Thread

[Argonne69]

A composite of images taken over the course of a year showing the progression on sunspots on the Sun. Looks like a bad case of acne. Lol.

 

 

Image: S. Mukherjee

 

[Argonne69]

Near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy ~200 000 light-years away, lies the young star cluster NGC 602

 

 

Image: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Zeidler, E. Sabbi, A. Nota, M. Zamani

 

Edited May 11 by Argonne69

[JungleJimbo]

 

 

 

Video synopsis:

 

"Brian Cox: The incomprehensible scales that rule the Universe"

[May 12, 2025]

 

"We are all in orbit around the center of the Milky Way galaxy. How big is this collection of stars? Somewhere between 200 and 400 billion suns in the Milky Way galaxy, about 100,000 light years across."  

 

How do we measure the universe, and are we doing it wrong? Physicist Brian Cox uncovers the hidden assumptions behind our units of measurement, showing how human perspective distorts our understanding of space, time, and scale.  Cox explores the fundamental constants—like the speed of light, Planck’s constant, and gravity—that underpin the very fabric of our universe.

 

• 00:00: Biologically-based measurements
• 01:26 3 fundamental quantities
• 01:42 The speed of light
• 01:57 Strength of gravity
• 02:26 Planck’s constant 
• 04:20 Observing a Planck length
• 05:32 Distance to the planets
• 08:18 Distance to other galaxies
   
•  
• Read the video transcript: https://bigthink.com/series/the-big-think-interview/measuring-the-universe/ 

[Argonne69]

The International Space Station crosses Australia. 

 

 

 

Image: NASA 

 

[JungleJimbo]

2 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

The International Space Station crosses Australia. 

 

 

 

Image: NASA 

 

 

perhaps just my vivid imagination

... but could see @Rapidcatand @Raving Shankerwaving "g'day mate" to the ISS ! 

 

 

 

[Raving Shanker]

On 5/9/2025 at 7:28 PM, Argonne69 said:

A composite of images taken over the course of a year showing the progression on sunspots on the Sun. Looks like a bad case of acne. Lol.

 

 

Image: S. Mukherjee

 

I did a project using this in 1981, measuring the rotation rate of the Sun using sunspots. The interesting thig is that the Equator rotates faster than higher latitudes, it being a gas and all. It was a fun project.

[Raving Shanker]

23 minutes ago, JungleJimbo said:

 

perhaps just my vivid imagination

... but could see @Rapidcatand @Raving Shankerwaving "g'day mate" to the ISS ! 

 

 

 

I was a bit cloud obscured - somewhat disappointing.

 

This is a picture of me:

 

[JungleJimbo]

40 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

The International Space Station crosses Australia. 

 

 

 

Image: NASA 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 13 by JungleJimbo

[Raving Shanker]

1 minute ago, Raving Shanker said:

I was a bit cloud obscured - somewhat disappointing.

 

This is a picture of me:

 

And some mates, obviously.

[JungleJimbo]

1 minute ago, Raving Shanker said:

And some mates, obviously.

 

"Aussie, Aussie, Aussie..." 🦘🇦🇺🐨🌏

[Argonne69]

11 minutes ago, Raving Shanker said:

I did a project using this in 1981, measuring the rotation rate of the Sun using sunspots. The interesting thig is that the Equator rotates faster than higher latitudes, it being a gas and all. It was a fun project.

 

That's what causes sunspots and coronal mass ejections. The magnet field gets all twisted with the equator out pacing the poles. Like a giant twisted rubberband, it eventually snaps, and releases an incredible amount of energy. 

 

[Argonne69]

6 minutes ago, JungleJimbo said:

 

"Aussie, Aussie, Aussie..." 🦘🇦🇺🐨🌏

 

Oy! Oy! Oy! 

 

[Argonne69]

10 minutes ago, Raving Shanker said:

I was a bit cloud obscured - somewhat disappointing.

 

This is a picture of me:

 

 

Love Aussie Footy. Beats American football, soccer, and rugby by a mile. 

 

[Argonne69]

Hubble captures a wandering supermassive black hole ripping apart a star in a galaxy 600 million light-years away. The tidal disruption event (TDE) releases a massive burst of radiation when the star is spaghettified. The new TDE, AT2024tvd, allowed astronomers to pinpoint the wandering supermassive black hole located outside the galaxy center. Out of approximately 100 TDE events recorded by optical sky surveys so far, this is the first time an offset TDE has been identified. The rest are associated with the central black holes of galaxies.

 

 

Image: NASA, ESA, STScI, Y. Yao, J. DePasquale 

 

[Argonne69]

A view of the Korean peninsula from the International Space Station. North Korea is dirt poor and struggles to provide power for its citizens. At night the country is nearly black compared to South Korea. 

 

 

Image: NASA 

 

[JungleJimbo]

19 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

A view of the Korean peninsula from the International Space Station. North Korea is dirt poor and struggles to provide power for its citizens. At night the country is nearly black compared to South Korea. 

 

 

Image: NASA 

 

 

thanks @Argonne69for sparking my curiosity!  Paying it forward.

 

 

[Argonne69]

"Cotton candy" gas clouds in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud dwarf galaxy. The small satellite galaxy is located ~160,000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa.

 

 

Image: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray

 

[Argonne69]

Spiral galaxy Arp 184 (NGC 1961), the One Armed Galaxy is located ~180 million light-years away in the constellation Camelopardalis. 

 

 

Image: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Dalcanton, R. J. Foley, C. Kilpatrick

 

[Argonne69]

Spiral galaxy UGC 5460 has hosted two recent supernovae, SN 2011ht and SN 2015as. The galaxy UGC 5460 is located ~60 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.

 

 

Image: ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Jacobson-Galán, A. Filippenko, J. Mauerha

 

[Argonne69]

The heart of the Milky Way captured by the MeerKAT radio telescope array, with the James Webb Space Telescope's image inset. The bubbles are remnants of supernovas.

 

 

Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, SARAO, Samuel Crowe, John Bally, Ruben Fedriani, Ian Heywood

 

Edited May 25 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Irradiated dust streams through space near the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. The supernova remnant is located ~11,000 light-years away, in the constellation Cassiopeia.

 

 

Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Jencson

 

[Argonne69]

A view of the coronal rain taken by the National Solar Observatory and New Jersey Institute of Technology with its upgraded coronal adaptive optics installed on the 5.25-foot Goode Solar Telescope. 

 

 

Image: Schmidt et al./NJIT/NSO/AURA/NSF

 

 

Image: Schmidt et al./NJIT/NSO/AURA/NSF

 

[Argonne69]

The northern lights over Alaska.

 

 

Image: NASA, T. Zaperach

 

[Argonne69]

The Crystal Ball Nebula (NGC 1514) is a planetary nebula located 1,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus.

 

 

Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, NASA-JPL, Caltech, UCLA, M. Ressler, D. Jones

 

[Argonne69]

The Westerlund 1 cluster contains the mass of more than 50,000 suns. Located in the tail of Scorpio, it's the largest known star cluster in the Milky Way. 

 

 

Image: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, M.Zamani, M. G. Guarcello, and the EWOCS team

 

[JungleJimbo]

30 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

The Westerlund 1 cluster contains the mass of more than 50,000 suns. Located in the tail of Scorpio, it's the largest known star cluster in the Milky Way. 

 

 

Image: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, M.Zamani, M. G. Guarcello, and the EWOCS team

 

 

 

[Argonne69]

The sharpest-ever view of the Sun’s surface reveals ultra-fine magnetic “stripes,” known as striations, taken by the The 13' Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope on top of Haleakala volcano in Maui, Hawaii.

 

 

Image: NSF/NSO/AURA

 

I visited the volcano last November 

 

 

Full photo set: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/k97e4q4ebsyeh3fstf84c/AB1Qd4AOHyucx2ETC6nC6Ik?rlkey=o8jfdcjavvp91xoememaglw9s&st=9w2vw3jb&dl=0

 

Edited June 6 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Webb images Herbig Haro 49/50 (HH 49/50) ~630 light-years from Earth in high-resolution near- and mid-infrared light with the NIRCam and MIRI instruments.

 

 

Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

 

[JungleJimbo]

8 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

Webb images Herbig Haro 49/50 (HH 49/50) ~630 light-years from Earth in high-resolution near- and mid-infrared light with the NIRCam and MIRI instruments.

 

 

Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

 

 

Think i've seen this image (or similar?) previously here

... and it still reminds me of that pre-golf breakfast burrito, trying to find its way out of rear orifice, when i'm only on hole #2 playing golf with @Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Just now, JungleJimbo said:

 

Think i've seen this image (or similar?) previously here

... and it still reminds me of that pre-golf breakfast burrito, trying to find its way out of rear orifice, when i'm only on hole #2 playing golf with @Argonne69

 

Yeah, I posted it back in March, but the image link was broken. 'Beautiful photo was worth another look.