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[Sirius]

Supernova in the Whirlpool Galaxy

That supernova is in another galaxy and look how bright it is 0_0

Imagine how bright will Betelgeuse Supernova be, only 600 ly away.

I would really like to see that in my lifetime...

There's a chance, so incomprehensibly small that it's almost impossible, that it has already exploded or will explode within the next few 100 years into a type-II supernova. If so, we may see it - otherwise our descendants will observe it in all its glory when it does happen.

That supernova in the whirlpool galaxy however; mind-blowing. The single event increased the relative intensity of the entire galaxy from our viewpoint; one of the best ways that we can find and locate such distant supernovae.

 

[Kaako]

Look at that Supernova light up. To even be able to view distant images of such a magnificent event...

 

[Extollere]

Look at that Supernova light up. To even be able to view distant images of such a magnificent event...

We are also witnessing an event that happened 31 million years in the past.

(Whirlpool galaxy is 31 m light years away).

 

[GaimeGuy]

We are also witnessing an event that happened 31 million years in the past.

(Whirlpool galaxy is 31 m light years away).

yeah, it never ceases to blow my mind to stop and think about just how LONG ago the events we observe of celestial objects happened, or just how far away they are.

It took the LIGHT from that event 31 million years to reach us. It takes light less than 0.067 seconds to travel, over land, to the opposite side of the earth.

Even if you could travel 100x the speed of light it'd still take you 310,000 years to travel that distance.

When this supernova occured, as we're seeing it, South America had just detached from Antarctica. The poles had just formed ice caps. There existed a land bridge somewhere connecting Europe and North America. Florida was still underwater.

 

[Memphis Reigns]

I don't know if it's the distance or the way the light is acting but from that animation the flash of that supernova fills up an entire third of that galactic arm....!!!

 

[AndersTheSwede]

Nick Risinger has released his composite image of the night sky taken after travelling around the world

Amazing. Truly amazing.

Bravo.

 

[Stinkles]

There's a chance, so incomprehensibly small that it's almost impossible, that it has already exploded or will explode within the next few 100 years into a type-II supernova. If so, we may see it - otherwise our descendants will observe it in all its glory when it does happen.

That supernova in the whirlpool galaxy however; mind-blowing. The single event increased the relative intensity of the entire galaxy from our viewpoint; one of the best ways that we can find and locate such distant supernovae.

I can't help but imagine civilizations, nascent and advanced, being obliterated by that explosion. think how many light years it encompasses. Fuuuuuuck.

 

[Scrow]

yeah, it never ceases to blow my mind to stop and think about just how LONG ago the events we observe of celestial objects happened, or just how far away they are.

It took the LIGHT from that event 31 million years to reach us. It takes light less than 0.067 seconds to travel, over land, to the opposite side of the earth.

Even if you could travel 100x the speed of light it'd still take you 310,000 years to travel that distance.

When this supernova occured, as we're seeing it, South America had just detached from Antarctica. The poles had just formed ice caps. There existed a land bridge somewhere connecting Europe and North America. Florida was still underwater.

blows my mind that this planet is +4.5 BILLION years old.

that's 56,250,000 human life times, based on average life expectancy.

 

[Memphis Reigns]

blows my mind that this planet is +4.5 BILLION years old.

that's 56,250,000 human life times, based on average life expectancy.

Always makes me wonder how long it took for life to evolve elsewhere on their planet. Too bad we didn't make it to humans quicker. We could be like, a billion year-old civilization, instead of like, a few hundred thousand, super advanced and space faring, maybe intergalactic faring? If we figured out worm holes? Hell say somehow the Earth and life evolved faster than they did and there were humans by only a few million years after the solar system and the Earth were created, even by the time the asteroid hit, the ice age, and all those other life threatening epochs our planet went through, we probably would have been space faring by then and avoided those threats. Just another perspective on how much time has actually passed.

 

[Scrow]

Always makes me wonder how long it took for life to evolve elsewhere on their planet. Too bad we didn't make it to humans quicker. We could be like, a billion year-old civilization, instead of like, a few hundred thousand, super advanced and space faring, maybe intergalactic faring? If we figured out worm holes? Hell say somehow the Earth and life evolved faster than they did and there were humans by only a few million years after the solar system and the Earth were created, even by the time the asteroid hit, the ice age, and all those other life threatening epochs our planet went through, we probably would have been space faring by then and avoided those threats. Just another perspective on how much time has actually passed.

on those sorts of time scales it's possible that human civilisation could be wiped out, almost all life on Earth pushed to the brink of extinction, and then over millions/billions of years a new intelligent life form could emerge, and rebuild an entirely new civilisation.

imagine that new intelligent life form finding remnants of our civilisation during archaeological digs. or when they launch their first space craft and find one of our old satellites still orbiting the planet. it's a humbling thought.

 

[Memphis Reigns]

on those sorts of time scales it's possible that human civilisation could be wiped out, almost all life on Earth pushed to the brink of extinction, and then over millions/billions of years a new intelligent life form could emerge, and rebuild an entirely new civilisation.

imagine that new intelligent life form finding remnants of our civilisation during archaeological digs. or when they launch their first space craft and find one of our old satellites still orbiting the planet. it's a humbling thought.

It's also kind of eerie to think about. That much time is extremely hard to grasp, especially when pondering what the world will be like a billion years from now and if humanity hasn't gone extinct by then. Which brings up another point: are humans done evolving? We might not be "humans" by the time we are wiped out. Then imagine a later species/civilization finding our human remains and our post-human remains, seeing the trace of evolution. So many possibilities with these scales.

 

[Melchiah]

'Spectacular' Sun Blast Captured On Video
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Article/201106116007793

Known as a coronal mass ejection, the dramatic eruption was sparked by an unusual solar flare that unleashed a firestorm of radiation on a level not witnessed since 2006.

Nasa's solar dynamics observatory, which launched last year, described the event as "visually spectacular," but said its effects on Earth were expected to remain "fairly small".

"The large cloud of particles mushroomed up and fell back down looking as if it covered an area of almost half the solar surface," said a Nasa statement.

Experts said possible geomagnetic storms caused by the explosion could interfere with satellites, meaning some flights over the North Pole may need to be re-routed.

 

[raphier]

One such explosion on earth, that's like half of the population, isn't it? holy crap.

 

[fierrotlepou]

One such explosion on earth, that's like half of the population, isn't it? holy crap.

Ehm... More like destroy EVERYTHING. That thing is probably 100 times larger than earth itself!

 

[wolfmat]

Ehm... More like destroy EVERYTHING. That thing is probably 100 times larger than earth itself!

In terms of volume, it's much larger than that, even. If it's covered half of the sun's surface, that amounts to a volume in which you could place tens of thousands of earths.

 

[fierrotlepou]

In terms of volume, it's much larger than that, even. If it's covered half of the sun's surface, that amounts to a volume in which you could place tens of thousands of earths.

I knew I had to put some more "0's" there!

Just to make it clear then: there wouldn't be anything left.

 

[Harry Dresden]

 

[fallout]

From here.

The International Space Station and the Docked Space Shuttle Endeavour

ISS027-E-036816 (23 May 2011) --- This image of the International Space Station and the docked space shuttle Endeavour, flying at an altitude of approximately 220 miles, was taken by Expedition 27 crew member Paolo Nespoli from the Soyuz TMA-20 following its undocking on May 23, 2011 (USA time). The pictures taken by Nespoli are the first taken of a shuttle docked to the International Space Station from the perspective of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Onboard the Soyuz were Russian cosmonaut and Expedition 27 commander Dmitry Kondratyev; Nespoli, a European Space Agency astronaut; and NASA astronaut Cady Coleman. Coleman and Nespoli were both flight engineers. The three landed in Kazakhstan later that day, completing 159 days in space.

(click for a really big version)

 

[a176]

From here.

(click for a really big version)

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-27/hires/iss027e036747.jpg

 

[raphier]

Ehm... More like destroy EVERYTHING. That thing is probably 100 times larger than earth itself!

oh yeah, miscalculated Sun's diameter. That's like tens of earths worth explosion. We are so small

 

[Alucrid]

I clicked on the large picture and said "WOW look at all the stars." Then I realized it was just dust on my screen.

 

[Kraftwerk]

;____;

I was watching a documentary about Hubble. Got to the part where they repaired it and everyone inside the space station cheered, then the first image appeared.

I lost it then.

One day :"(

 

[fierrotlepou]

oh yeah, miscalculated Sun's diameter. That's like tens of earths worth explosion. We are so small

Yes we are. But brave!

;____; I was watching a documentary about Hubble. Got to the part where they deployed it and everyone inside the space station cheered, then the first image appeared. I lost it then. One day :"(

The part where the image quality sucked ass and they had to design a new lens to put over it? Tears were probably shed, yes. I don't know what you're crying about though?

 

[Kraftwerk]

Yes we are. But brave!



The part where the image quality sucked ass and they had to design a new lens to put over it? Tears were probably shed, yes. I don't know what you're crying about though?

My bad, meant to say repaired.

asshat

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

That's really emotive.

Brings a tear to my eyes.

 

[fierrotlepou]

My bad, meant to say repaired.

asshat

Haha, sorry! Just didn't understand it.

 

[wolfmat]

oh yeah, miscalculated Sun's diameter. That's like tens of earths worth explosion. We are so small

No offense meant, but you're still not on the right scale. You can fit 1.3M (million) Earths into the Sun, going by volume. Volume is cubic while surface is squarish, so if you have half the Sun's surface covered by an explosion, that amounts to something like 1.3M/(2^2)=325k. I was just being conservative with the "tens of thousands" remark.

 

[Escape Goat]

We need to build cool space stations like this

 

[Hootie]

We need to build cool space stations like this

http://i.imgur.com/RyO3w.jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]

Maybe next millennium ;_;

 

[fierrotlepou]

We need to build cool space stations like this

I want to be there when it happens damn it. I really do. The thought that we will some day build something like that isn't enough for me. Whenever I hear they're not funding NASA enough, it hurts. :/

I must become immortal.

To the people comparing the size of the earth to that explosion on the sun:

The little circle in the upper left is earth!

(Picture taken by a NASA solar observatory yesterday)

 

[Escape Goat]

is Earth in that circle or is the circle earth?

 

[fierrotlepou]

is Earth in that circle or is the circle earth?

It's a circle made for comparison's sake.

 

[Escape Goat]

It's a circle made for comparison's sake.

oooh, i was thinking "Earth is in there...somewhere."

I get ya.

 

[Lucky Forward]

NASA's Dawn Spacecraft Approaches Protoplanet Vesta

NASA's Dawn mission to the doughnut-shaped asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, which launched in September 2007, is now approaching Vesta, a protoplanet that is currently some 143 million miles from Earth. Many surprises are likely awaiting the spacecraft.

"We often refer to Vesta as the smallest terrestrial planet," said Christopher T. Russell, a UCLA professor of geophysics and space physics and the mission's principal investigator. "It has planetary features and basically the same structure as Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. But because it is so small, it does not have enough gravity to retain an atmosphere, or at least not to retain an atmosphere for very long.

"There are many mysteries about Vesta," Russell said. "One of them is why Vesta is so bright. Earth reflects a lot of sunlight -- about 40 percent -- because it has clouds and snow on the surface, while the moon reflects only about 10 percent of the light from the sun back. Vesta is more like Earth. Why? What on its surface is causing all that sunlight to be reflected? We'll find out."

Dawn will arrive at Vesta in July. Beginning in September, the spacecraft will orbit Vesta some 400 miles from its surface. It will then move closer, to about 125 miles from the surface, starting in November. By January of 2012, Russell expects high-resolution images and other data about surface composition. Dawn is arriving ahead of schedule and is expected to orbit Vesta for a year.

"It's been a long trip," said Russell, who started planning the journey back in 1992. "Finally, the moment of truth is about to arrive."

Vesta, which orbits the sun every 3.6 terrestrial years, has an oval, pumpkin-like shape and an average diameter of approximately 330 miles. Studies of meteorites found on Earth that are believed to have come from Vesta suggest that Vesta formed from galactic dust during the solar system's first 3 million to 10 million years.

Dawn's cameras should be able to see individual lava flows and craters tens of feet across on Vesta's surface.

 

[Escape Goat]

Ahhhh! Galaxy with two super massive blackholes is smiling at us.

 

[PantherLotus]

That's not a galaxy, that's a fucking red slime.

 

[Walshicus]

The mission to Vesta is pretty cool, but I wonder why they chose Vesta instead of Ceres - the least explored "close" planet to us.

 

[C.Dark.DN]

so, is it possible to see the milkey way like this? or is it camera tricks?

 

[itschris]

The mission to Vesta is pretty cool, but I wonder why they chose Vesta instead of Ceres - the least explored "close" planet to us.

Actually, the Dawn spacecraft is going to Ceres - it's just going to Vesta first. It'll leave Vesta in early 2012 and arrive at Ceres in 2015.

 

[fierrotlepou]

so, is it possible to see the milkey way like this? or is it camera tricks?

I thought it was possible in some areas in the world where there's absolutely zero light polution. For example: antarctica.

 

[Spire]

so, is it possible to see the milkey way like this? or is it camera tricks?

I've seen it like that (or pretty close) out in the Texas countryside, far away from any towns or cities. It's the most awe-inspiring thing I've ever seen in my life, and something everyone should experience at least once. You can just sit and stare at it for hours, it is really beyond words.

 

[Sirius]

This plot shows nearly 50,000 galaxies in the nearby universe detected by the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) in infrared light. The resulting image is an incredible tapestry of galaxies that provides limits on how the universe formed and evolved. The dark band across the image center is blocked by dust in the plane of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Away from the Galactic plane, however, each dot represents a galaxy, color coded to indicate distance.

The bluer dots are galaxies closer in proximity, and those towards the red lie at a redshift, i.e. moving away from us. The sheer number is almost incomprehensible, though..

 

[Izayoi]

Do you have a higher resolution image of that, Sirius?

I thought it was possible in some areas in the world where there's absolutely zero light polution. For example: antarctica.

It will almost never be that vibrant to the naked eye, but you can see it very clearly on cold, clear nights in northern Washington.

 

[a176]

I thought it was possible in some areas in the world where there's absolutely zero light polution. For example: antarctica.

you can use this guide

http://www.jshine.net/astronomy/dark_sky/

its not completely 100% accurate-to-the-mile but close enough

 

[Mr. Luchador]

Love this thread.

 

[chicko1983]

Always makes me wonder how long it took for life to evolve elsewhere on their planet. Too bad we didn't make it to humans quicker. We could be like, a billion year-old civilization, instead of like, a few hundred thousand, super advanced and space faring, maybe intergalactic faring? If we figured out worm holes? Hell say somehow the Earth and life evolved faster than they did and there were humans by only a few million years after the solar system and the Earth were created, even by the time the asteroid hit, the ice age, and all those other life threatening epochs our planet went through, we probably would have been space faring by then and avoided those threats. Just another perspective on how much time has actually passed.

I was watching "Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking" last night and he said that on average, an asteroid hits earth every 100 million years. The last major one was 65 Million years ago - the one which supposedly led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.

The next one was to hit was thought to be Apophis in 2029, which scientists originally thought had a 2.7% chance of hitting earth. However, after recalculations and better technology, they are now pretty sure it will miss earth.

Apophis would have approximately 10 times the energy as the biggest bomb humans have made but 200, 000 times less energy as the one which wiped out the dinosaurs.

Watching this made me realise that maybe we are a relatively ancient civilisation ourselves if major life forms get wiped out every 100 million years. To last a billion years without surviving a massive cosmic impact or climate change seems, to me, unlikely (Im not saying it couldnt happen but it would be unlikely).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis

edit: the other thing which Hawking said which made me think was that "intelligence" doesnt mean you are more likely to survive a cosmic impact, just look at bacteria.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

so, is it possible to see the milkey way like this? or is it camera tricks?

Yes it's possible on a very clear night far away from cities

 

[big_z]

you can use this guide

http://www.jshine.net/astronomy/dark_sky/

its not completely 100% accurate-to-the-mile but close enough

hmm theres a place really close to edmonton i might have to check out. maybe next month...

i dont understand how that map works, i imagine a dark site is supposed to be somewhere void of light pollution so why are so many locations inside areas of high light pollution? wouldnt you have better results going to an area in thats dark grey?

 

[PantherLotus]

I was watching "Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking" last night and he said that on average, an asteroid hits earth every 100 million years. The last major one was 65 Million years ago - the one which supposedly led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.

The next one was to hit was thought to be Apophis in 2029, which scientists originally thought had a 2.7% chance of hitting earth. However, after recalculations and better technology, they are now pretty sure it will miss earth.

Apophis would have approximately 10 times the energy as the biggest bomb humans have made but 200, 000 times less energy as the one which wiped out the dinosaurs.

Watching this made me realise that maybe we are a relatively ancient civilisation ourselves if major life forms get wiped out every 100 million years. To last a billion years without surviving a massive cosmic impact or climate change seems, to me, unlikely (Im not saying it couldnt happen but it would be unlikely).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis

edit: the other thing which Hawking said which made me think was that "intelligence" doesnt mean you are more likely to survive a cosmic impact, just look at bacteria.

Whoa whoa hold up. We're the opposite of ancient. Our current species (which i'm not convinced is not evolving as we speak) began around 50,000 years ago, right? And then civilization didn't really get going to at least 5-6k years ago.

The truth is that we're so infinitesimally small that we may as well have never existed.

 

[a176]

hmm theres a place really close to edmonton i might have to check out. maybe next month...

i dont understand how that map works, i imagine a dark site is supposed to be somewhere void of light pollution so why are so many locations inside areas of high light pollution? wouldnt you have better results going to an area in thats dark grey?

do you mean the markers? I'm not sure either, I never really used them; I'm fortunate to live not that far from a true 'dark area' so I just mapped based on that.