The Big Space Exploration Thread

[Phriggin' Ogre]

I hope we can see these one day:

ant nebula


IC 4406


see merging galaxies


Is this god?


Whats out there in the sombrerro galaxy?


V838 as its dieing... is this our future? Most likely


Orion


hourglass


The cat's eye is watching you


And that just scratches the surface!

[Dimethyltryptamine]

woww they're awesome.

[siamu maharaj]

Originally Posted by VelesHomais

The Crab Nebula

The Crab Nebula, the result of a supernova noted by Earth-bound chroniclers in 1054 A.D., is filled with mysterious filaments that are are not only tremendously complex, but appear to have less mass than expelled in the original supernova and a higher speed than expected from a free explosion. The Crab Nebula spans about 10 light-years. In the nebula's very center lies a pulsar: a neutron star as massive as the Sun but with only the size of a small town. The Crab Pulsar rotates about 30 times each second.

Is this pic false-colored (as are most space-related pics)? Coz that makes it a bit unspectacular.

[2co2co]

Video made by me, music made by someone in NicoVideo



SPACE ROCKS!

[ukiyo]

You are mysterious 2co Cute video, you are very skilled!
どこに住んでいますか？スイス？

[HK999]

Originally Posted by desertpunk

Given Obama's failed presidency and the mess over at NASA, all I can say is : GO CHINA!! GO INDIA!!

well china is still quite behind the U.S. and even russia what goes on space travel, we still need more time to develop.

Originally Posted by skdubai

Spectacular!!!

Very nice thread! I used to watch this documentary called The Universe before. It is quite well made and quite informative! anyone else see it?

yes, but only the first two seasons, they are four in total as i know. some episodes give me a headache, so i decided to have my physics books around when watching "The Universe" .

[VelesHomais]

There's no mess over at NASA.

[VelesHomais]

Originally Posted by siamu maharaj

Is this pic false-colored (as are most space-related pics)? Coz that makes it a bit unspectacular.

I don't know. Almost everything in space is captured by robots of sorts hence why the images don't correspond to the human eye color perception. It all depends which instruments you use to capture it. Don't really see what color has to do with this being spectacular...

[siamu maharaj]

Originally Posted by VelesHomais

I don't know. Almost everything in space is captured by robots of sorts hence why the images don't correspond to the human eye color perception. It all depends which instruments you use to capture it. Don't really see what color has to do with this being spectacular...

actaully it's pretty trivial to figure out how the human eye would see something, we know exactly what wavelengths are perceveid as which color. anwyay, that's outside the realm of this thread. what i meant was that the colors look cool. of course, the object itself is spectacular, i was only commenting on the colors in isolation. also, as a matter of interest i was wondering what color this object would be in reality. that's basically coz i always hated seeing *artificially colored* next to every space-related pic.

[Phriggin' Ogre]

Originally Posted by siamu maharaj

actaully it's pretty trivial to figure out how the human eye would see something, we know exactly what wavelengths are perceveid as which color. anwyay, that's outside the realm of this thread. what i meant was that the colors look cool. of course, the object itself is spectacular, i was only commenting on the colors in isolation. also, as a matter of interest i was wondering what color this object would be in reality. that's basically coz i always hated seeing *artificially colored* next to every space-related pic.

I'm sure its true for the very distant objects in which only infrared telescopes can observe, or even near infrared, but a lot of the pics really are "true" in color.I was watching the History Channel's "Universe" documentary, and they did mention that nebulas are some of the most colorful (they used spectacular to describe it) places in the universe.

[MattTheTubaGuy]

Originally Posted by siamu maharaj

Is this pic false-colored (as are most space-related pics)? Coz that makes it a bit unspectacular.

How does the photo being in false colour, or enhanced colour make it any less spectacular.
some of the most spectacular hubble shots are enhanced colour, which means that one of the RGB bands is a specific wavelength, like the H-alpha, which shows up details not otherwise visible.
most spectacularly coloured images are enhanced colour, because there wouldn't be much of interest just using the normal RGB bands.

APOD (astronomy Picture of the Day), states that this particular image is enhanced colour using three particular wavelengths of light to show up the details, like the stringy filaments.

I think the most interesting thing about the Crab Nebula is that the Supernova that created it is actually recorded by the Chinese and Arabs.

I am currently studying for a BSc. majoring in Physics and Astronomy, and did a course last year about Astronomical Imaging.

[Phriggin' Ogre]

yeah the crab nebula was visible for sometime, even in the daylight! And was seen by the Chinese, Arab, European, and Amerindian astronomers.

[Drunkill]

Originally Posted by Phriggin' Ogre

Does anyone know where I can get blu-ray (or HD dvd/HD) movies of astronomy stuff?


Actually, does anyone KNOW of any space documentaries in HD? :P

http://www.amazon.com/When-We-Left-E.../ref=pd_cp_d_0
When We Left Earth is a fantastic 3 (6) part documentry which I'm pretty sure has a Blu-ray release. Covers the start of the manned american space program (Project Mercury) upto the international space station and hubble. It'd be great if they could make a fourth part in say, 5 years about robotic mission and further ISS parts.

Heres the first 10 minutes of the First episode. You can watch it on youtube, but I reckon you should order the dvds. totally worth it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQz2t57ieIQ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_We_Left_Earth

[parcdesprinces]

Originally Posted by VelesHomais

With NASA running so many awesome missions: .......... Cassini–Huygens interplanetary exploration

Actually, only Cassini, because Huygens was from ESA !

[VelesHomais]

Yes.

[ch1le]

Originally Posted by VelesHomais

Yes.

anyhow. nasa is definitely in a mess. I follow space news quite thoroughly.
Constellation is pretty much DEAD. Presidents budget proposal for NASA has huge opposition from congress (well, was to be expected) now they are probably working on a compromise. But they have wasted a good 6 years. The shuttle will probably go in 2010 or 2011. And the US will have a manned spaceflight gap for a good number of years until a commercial provider succeeds with their capsules/launch vehicles.

[VelesHomais]

Yes, Obama killed Constellation. But manned spaceflight is not where anything interesting happens, it's all about robotic exploration of distant worlds now, which, will and still do, continue.

[VelesHomais]

What if space held the key to producing alternative energy crops on Earth? That's what researchers are hoping to find in a new experiment on the International Space Station.

The experiment, National Lab Pathfinder-Cells 3, is aimed at learning whether microgravity can help jatropha curcas plant cells grow faster to produce biofuel, or renewable fuel derived from biological matter. Jatropha is known to produce high quality oil that can be converted into an alternative energy fuel, or biofuel.

By studying the effects of microgravity on jatropha cells, researchers hope to accelerate the cultivation of the plant for commercial use by improving characteristics such as cell structure, growth and development. This is the first study to assess the effects of microgravity on cells of a biofuel plant.

"As the search for alternate energy sources has become a top priority, the results from this study could add value for commercialization of a new product,” said Wagner Vendrame, principal investigator for the experiment at the University of Florida in Homestead. "Our goal is to verify if microgravity will induce any significant changes in the cells that could affect plant growth and development back on Earth."

Launched on space shuttle Endeavour’s STS-130 mission in February, cell cultures of jatropha were sent to the space station in special flasks containing nutrients and vitamins. The cells will be exposed to microgravity until they return to Earth aboard space shuttle Discovery's STS-131 mission targeted for April.

For comparison studies of how fast the cultures grow, a replicated set of samples are being maintained at the University of Florida's Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead.

"Watching the space shuttle go up carrying a little piece of my work is an indescribable experience," said Vendrame. "Knowing that my experiment could contribute to creating a sustainable means for biofuel production on Earth, and therefore making this a better world adds special value to the work."


by Lori Meggs, AI Signal Research, Inc.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/st.../jatropha.html

[TJ]

nice pics of the awesome machinery of nature!

[Fallout]

Some objects look spectacular even viewed by human eye. These are photos taken through amateur telescope (the exposition may be long though, but remember that human eye has much higher sensitivity than camera:

Orion Nebula:


Pleiades:


Monkey's Head Nebula:


Bubble Nebula:


Pinwheel Galaxy: