jtotheizzoe: Hubble Goes Back In Tiiiiiime If I may: Some recommended listening to accompany this post. Over the course of 50 days, and a total exposure time of 2 million seconds, the Hubble Space Telescope captured the above image. This eXtreme Deep Field (XDF) view is like visual time travel, revealing galaxies so distant that the light that made the image was released 13.2 BILLION years ago. That was only about 500 million years after the Big Bang! This image only contains about 5,500 galaxies because its field of view was so much smaller, and many of them are very young in this image. This means that we can use it to gain clues to how things were churning and forming in the Olde Days of the Universe. I stared at this for several minutes, and was awed by two thoughts: How many of these don’t even exist anymore? How many stars just like ours are inside of each one? Tour a hi-res image here, and share in the wow. (via HubbleSite) Reality. Always more mind blowing than anything if you take the time to look.
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jtotheizzoe:

Hubble Goes Back In Tiiiiiime

If I may: Some recommended listening to accompany this post.

Over the course of 50 days, and a total exposure time of 2 million seconds, the Hubble Space Telescope captured the above image. This eXtreme Deep Field (XDF) view is like visual time travel, revealing galaxies so distant that the light that made the image was released 13.2 BILLION years ago.

That was only about 500 million years after the Big Bang! This image only contains about 5,500 galaxies because its field of view was so much smaller, and many of them are very young in this image. This means that we can use it to gain clues to how things were churning and forming in the Olde Days of the Universe.

I stared at this for several minutes, and was awed by two thoughts: How many of these don’t even exist anymore? How many stars just like ours are inside of each one?

Tour a hi-res image here, and share in the wow.

(via HubbleSite)

Reality. Always more mind blowing than anything if you take the time to look.

theatlantic:

In Focus: Hubble’s Hidden Treasures

Last March, the operators of the Hubble Space Telescope launched a competition, inviting amateur astronomers to dig into hundreds of thousands of images of outer space, helping discover hidden treasures and bring them to light. Yesterday, NASA and the European Space Agency announced the winners in both categories: image processing, where entrants composed their own images based on Hubble data, and image search, where entrants simply uncovered amazing images not previously released.

See more. [Images: NASA/ESA, Josh Lake, Andre van der Hoeven, Luca Limatola, Ralf Schoofs]

This is so incredible, you can’t not be changed when looking at this.

(via quantumaniac)

Source: The Atlantic

jtotheizzoe:

Can you guys get enough time-lapse videos of the Transit of Venus?

I sure hope not, because here’s another one. Probably the best one. These views are courtesy of NASA’s amazing Solar Dynamics Observatory, the most advanced solar research spacecraft ever made.

Oh man, the colors … I know they are filters, but it’s like an ethereal lake of pure fire swallowing a tiny black pill.

(by NASAexplorer)

Best, and favorite video. It’s incredible what we can see when we take the time to build, think, and look.

jtotheizzoe: uselaine: Solar eclipse projected through the ‘pinholes’, made by oak leaves, on my shed door. The tiny gaps between each leaf act as individual pinhole cameras, morphing the shadows of the tree with projections of the obscured sun. Next eclipse, you can witness this yourself, or even replicate it by crossing your fingers over on another in a waffle patter. Ok. Maybe this one is my favorite. Wow.
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jtotheizzoe:

uselaine:

Solar eclipse projected through the ‘pinholes’, made by oak leaves, on my shed door.

The tiny gaps between each leaf act as individual pinhole cameras, morphing the shadows of the tree with projections of the obscured sun. Next eclipse, you can witness this yourself, or even replicate it by crossing your fingers over on another in a waffle patter.

Ok. Maybe this one is my favorite.

Wow.

Source: uselaine

quantumaniac: Kepler Mission Extended to 2016 With NASA’s tight budget, there were concerns that some of the agency’s most successful astrophysics missions might not be able to continue. Anxieties were rampant about one mission in particular, the very fruitful exoplanet-hunting Kepler mission, as several years of observations are required in order for Kepler to confirm a repeated orbit as a planet transits its star. But today, after a long awaited Senior Review of nine astrophysics missions, surprisingly all have received funding to continue at least through 2014, with several mission extensions, including Kepler. “Ad Astra… Kepler mission extended through FY16! We are grateful & ecstatic!” the@NASAKepler Twitter account posted today. Additionally, missions such as Hubble, Fermi and Swift will receive continued funding. The only mission that took a hit was the Spitzer infrared telescope, which – as of now — will be closed out in 2015, which is sooner than requested.The Senior Review of missions takes place every two years, with the goal assisting NASA to optimize the scientific productivity of its operating missions during their extended phase. In the Review, missions are ranked as which are most successful; previous Senior Reviews led to the removal of funding for the weakest 10-20% of extended missions, some of which had partial instrument failures or significantly reduced capabilities. But this year’s review found all the astrophysics mission to be successful. Here’s a rundown of the missions and how their funding was affected by the Senior Review: • The Hubble Space Telescope will continue at the currently funded levels. • Chandra will also continue at current levels, but its Guest Observer budget will actually be increased to account for decreases in Fiscal Year 2011. • Fermi operations are extended through FY16, with a 10 percent per year reduction starting in FY14. • Swift and Kepler mission operations are extended through FY16, including funding for data analysis. • Planck will support one year extended operations of the Low Frequency Instrument (LFI). • Spitzer’s operations are extended through FY14 with closeout in FY15. • U.S. science support of Suzaku is extended to March 2015. • Funding for U.S. support of XMM-Newton is extended through March 2015. NASA says that all FY15-FY16 decisions are for planning purposes and they will be revisited in the 2014 Senior Review. YES.
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quantumaniac:

Kepler Mission Extended to 2016

With NASA’s tight budget, there were concerns that some of the agency’s most successful astrophysics missions might not be able to continue. Anxieties were rampant about one mission in particular, the very fruitful exoplanet-hunting Kepler mission, as several years of observations are required in order for Kepler to confirm a repeated orbit as a planet transits its star. But today, after a long awaited Senior Review of nine astrophysics missions, surprisingly all have received funding to continue at least through 2014, with several mission extensions, including Kepler.

“Ad Astra… Kepler mission extended through FY16! We are grateful & ecstatic!” the@NASAKepler Twitter account posted today.

Additionally, missions such as Hubble, Fermi and Swift will receive continued funding. The only mission that took a hit was the Spitzer infrared telescope, which – as of now — will be closed out in 2015, which is sooner than requested.

The Senior Review of missions takes place every two years, with the goal assisting NASA to optimize the scientific productivity of its operating missions during their extended phase. In the Review, missions are ranked as which are most successful; previous Senior Reviews led to the removal of funding for the weakest 10-20% of extended missions, some of which had partial instrument failures or significantly reduced capabilities.

But this year’s review found all the astrophysics mission to be successful.

Here’s a rundown of the missions and how their funding was affected by the Senior Review:

• The Hubble Space Telescope will continue at the currently funded levels.

• Chandra will also continue at current levels, but its Guest Observer budget will actually be increased to account for decreases in Fiscal Year 2011.

• Fermi operations are extended through FY16, with a 10 percent per year reduction starting in FY14.

• Swift and Kepler mission operations are extended through FY16, including funding for data analysis.

• Planck will support one year extended operations of the Low Frequency Instrument (LFI).

• Spitzer’s operations are extended through FY14 with closeout in FY15.

• U.S. science support of Suzaku is extended to March 2015.

• Funding for U.S. support of XMM-Newton is extended through March 2015.

NASA says that all FY15-FY16 decisions are for planning purposes and they will be revisited in the 2014 Senior Review.

YES.

I'm joining my friends for the Lymphoma & Leukemia Society's "Light The Night" walk.

I’ve signed up with a group of friends on the Coalition of Reason team to smash cancer! It’s a great cause, and I’ve spent several minutes writing why you should help me get my goal.

I love science, let’s get some research done! 

Pass along this link to someone who can help as well: http://bit.ly/fightcancer_giveskymoney

jtotheizzoe:

fuckyeahspaceexploration:

Mandatory orientation video for Gemini Flight Control staff.

It’s so retro!

Did the same guy do all the filmstrips in the sixties? That voice …

Completely rad.

Source: fuckyeahspaceexploration

fuckyeahspaceexploration: This gimballing rig was designed to test astronauts’ ability to right a tumbling aircraft. It’s formally called MASTIF or Multiple Axis Space Test Inertia Facility and it’s pictured operating in the Altitude Wind Tunnel at the (then) Lewis Research Center. It was designed as part of the Mercury program. I seriously want a turn in one of these. I loved flight school exercises for righting the airplane from unusual attitudes after temporary disorientation was a favorite exercise. This looks terribly difficult.
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fuckyeahspaceexploration:

This gimballing rig was designed to test astronauts’ ability to right a tumbling aircraft. It’s formally called MASTIF or Multiple Axis Space Test Inertia Facility and it’s pictured operating in the Altitude Wind Tunnel at the (then) Lewis Research Center.

It was designed as part of the Mercury program.

I seriously want a turn in one of these. I loved flight school exercises for righting the airplane from unusual attitudes after temporary disorientation was a favorite exercise. This looks terribly difficult.

hostile womb

loplainlo:

‘theres a prejudice amongst humans that the world was sort of designed for us: its warm, theres oxygen, theres nice flat ground you can live on. but in fact the earth is an incredibly special place in the universe. 99.99999% of the universe would kill you instantly if you were transported there magically. youd be inside of a star or in deep space in a vacuum. and so it seems very comfortable here. but in fact, there are dozens of ways the universe could kill us- from asteroid impacts to massive solar flares wiping out our power grid, nearby stars exploding, distant stars exploding as a gamma-ray burst, and even to the eventual death of the universe as it, sort of like a clock, just runs down.’ - phil plait, bad astronomer

I definitely love snippets of information that remind you how small humanity is, and yet how amazing it all is at once.

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