Thursday, March 5, 2015

What is the Closest Galaxy to the Milky Way?

What is the Closest Galaxy to the Milky Way?:



Illustration of the Canis Dwarf Dwarf Galaxy, Credit: R. Ibata (Strasbourg Observatory, ULP) et al./2MASS/NASA


Illustration of the Canis Dwarf Dwarf Galaxy and its associated tidal (shown in red) in relation to our Milky Way. Credit: R. Ibata (Strasbourg Observatory, ULP) et al./2MASS/NASA
Scientists have known for some time that the Milky Way Galaxy is not alone in the Universe. In addition to our galaxy being part of the Local Group — a collection of 54 galaxies and dwarf galaxies — we are also part of the larger formation known as the Virgo Supercluster. So you could say the Milky Way has a lot of neighbors.

Of these, most people consider the Andromeda Galaxy to our closest galactic cohabitant. But in truth, Andromeda is the closest spiral galaxy, and not the closest galaxy by a long shot. This distinction falls to a formation that is actually within the Milky Way itself, a dwarf galaxy that goes by the name of the Canis Major Dwarf Galax (aka. the Canis Major Overdensity).

(...)
Read the rest of What is the Closest Galaxy to the Milky Way? (933 words)

© mwill for Universe Today, 2015. |
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Post tags: 2MASS, accretion, Andromeda Galaxy, canis major dwarf galaxy, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, galaxies, infrared, Large Magellanic Cloud, M-Class Stars, M31, Mt. Hopkins Observatory, red dwarf, Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy, Two-Micron All-Sky Survey

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Watch the Aurora Shimmer and Dance in Real Time

Watch the Aurora Shimmer and Dance in Real Time:



I for one have never witnessed the northern lights in person, and like many people I experience them vicariously through the photography and videos of more well-traveled (or more polar-bound) individuals. Typically these are either single-shot photos or time-lapses made up of many somewhat long-exposure images. As beautiful as these are, they don’t accurately capture the true motion of this upper atmospheric phenomenon. But here we get a look at the aurora as it looks in real time, captured on camera by Jon Kerr from northern Finland. Check it out above or watch in full screen HD on YouTube.

The video was shot with a full-frame mirrorless Sony a7S. See more of Jon’s aurora videos on YouTube here.

Video credit: Jon Kerr. HT SunViewer on Twitter.

© Jason Major for Universe Today, 2015. |
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Post tags: aurora, Earth, Finland, Jon Kerr, northern lights, photography, sky

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Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Earth Planet From Space

Earth Planet From Space:



Universe Planet 47-640x1136 wallpapers.jpg
Date: Jun 9, 2007, 10:55 PM

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Eclipse Solar

Eclipse Solar:



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Date: Sep 20, 2007, 10:32 PM

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Universe Planet Wallpaper

Universe Planet Wallpaper:



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Date: Mar 2, 2015, 12:18 PM

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Earth Map Jetplane Routes Wallpaper

Earth Map Jetplane Routes Wallpaper:



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Date: Jan 25, 2008, 6:10 PM

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Planet Space Eruption

Planet Space Eruption:



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Date: Mar 2, 2015, 12:19 PM

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Green Lights Planets Space

Green Lights Planets Space:



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Date: Mar 2, 2015, 12:19 PM

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M6: The Butterfly Cluster

M6: The Butterfly Cluster: APOD: 2014 September 3 - M6: The Butterfly Cluster


Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2014 September 3


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Explanation: To some, the outline of the open cluster of stars M6 resembles a butterfly. M6, also known as NGC 6405, spans about 20 light-years and lies about 2,000 light years distant. M6, pictured above, can best be seen in a dark sky with binoculars towards the constellation of the Scorpion (Scorpius), coving about as much of the sky as the full moon. Like other open clusters, M6 is composed predominantly of young blue stars, although the brightest star is nearly orange. M6 is estimated to be about 100 million years old. Determining the distance to clusters like M6 helps astronomers calibrate the distance scale of the universe.

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Cloud, Clusters and Comet Siding Spring

Cloud, Clusters and Comet Siding Spring: APOD: 2014 September 4 - Cloud, Clusters and Comet Siding Spring


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2014 September 4
See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Explanation: On October 19th, a good place to watch Comet Siding Spring will be from Mars. Then, this inbound visitor (C/2013 A1) to the inner solar system, discovered in January 2013 by Robert McNaught at Australia's Siding Spring Observatory, will pass within 132,000 kilometers of the Red Planet. That's a near miss, equivalent to just over 1/3 the Earth-Moon distance. Great views of the comet for denizens of planet Earth's southern hemisphere are possible now, though. This telescopic snapshot from August 29 captured the comet's whitish coma and arcing dust tail sweeping through southern skies. The fabulous field of view includes, the Small Magellanic Cloud and globular star clusters 47 Tucanae (right) and NGC 362 (upper left). Worried about all those spacecraft in Martian orbit? Streaking dust particles from the comet could pose a danger and controllers plan to position Mars orbiters on the opposite side of the planet during the comet's close flyby.

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A Sagittarius Starscape

A Sagittarius Starscape: APOD: 2014 September 5 - A Sagittarius Starscape


Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2014 September 5


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Explanation: This rich starscape spans nearly 7 degrees on the sky, toward the Sagittarius spiral arm and the center of our Milky Way galaxy. A telescopic mosaic, it features well-known bright nebulae and star clusters cataloged by 18th century cosmic tourist Charles Messier. Still popular stops for skygazers M16, the Eagle (far right), and M17, the Swan (near center) nebulae are the brightest star-forming emission regions. With wingspans of 100 light-years or so, they shine with the telltale reddish glow of hydrogen atoms from over 5,000 light-years away. Colorful open star cluster M25 near the upper left edge of the scene is closer, a mere 2,000 light-years distant and about 20 light-years across. M24, also known as the Sagittarius Star Cloud, crowds in just left of center along the bottom of the frame, fainter and more distant Milky Way stars seen through a narrow window in obscuring fields of interstellar dust.

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Super Moon vs Micro Moon

Super Moon vs Micro Moon: APOD: 2014 September 8 - Super Moon vs Micro Moon


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2014 September 8


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Explanation: What is so super about tomorrow's supermoon? Tomorrow, a full moon will occur that appears slightly larger and brighter than usual. The reason is that the Moon's fully illuminated phase occurs within a short time from perigee - when the Moon is its closest to the Earth in its elliptical orbit. Although the precise conditions that define a supermoon vary, given one definition, tomorrow's will be the third supermoon of the year -- and the third consecutive month that a supermoon occurs. One reason supermoons are popular is because they are so easy to see -- just go outside and sunset and watch an impressive full moon rise! Since perigee actually occurs today, tonight's sunset moonrise should also be impressive. Pictured above, a supermoon from 2012 is compared to a micromoon -- when a full Moon occurs near the furthest part of the Moon's orbit -- so that it appears smaller and dimmer than usual. Given many definitions, at least one supermoon occurs each year, with the next being 2015 August 30.

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An Aurora Cupcake with a Milky Way Topping

An Aurora Cupcake with a Milky Way Topping:

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2014 September 9


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Explanation: This sky looked delicious. Double auroral ovals were captured above the town lights of Östersund, Sweden, last week. Pictured above, the green ovals occurred lower to the ground than violet aurora rays above, making the whole display look a bit like a cupcake. To top it off, far in the distance, the central band or our Milky Way Galaxy slants down from the upper left. The auroras were caused by our Sun ejecting plasma clouds into the Solar System just a few days before, ionized particles that subsequently impacted the magnetosphere of the Earth. Aurora displays may continue this week as an active sunspot group rotated into view just a few days ago.

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Laniakea: Our Home Supercluster of Galaxies

Laniakea: Our Home Supercluster of Galaxies: APOD: 2014 September 10 - Laniakea: Our Home Supercluster of Galaxies


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2014 September 10


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Explanation: It is not only one of the largest structures known -- it is our home. The just-identified Laniakea Supercluster of galaxies contains thousands of galaxies that includes our Milky Way Galaxy, the Local Group of galaxies, and the entire nearby Virgo Cluster of Galaxies. The colossal supercluster is shown in the above computer-generated visualization, where green areas are rich with white-dot galaxies and white lines indicate motion towards the supercluster center. An outline of Laniakea is given in orange, while the blue dot shows our location. Outside the orange line, galaxies flow into other galactic concentrations. The Laniakea Supercluster spans about 500 million light years and contains about 100,000 times the mass of our Milky Way Galaxy. The discoverers of Laniakea gave it a name that means "immense heaven" in Hawaiian.

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Zodiacal Light before Dawn

Zodiacal Light before Dawn: APOD: 2014 September 11 - Zodiacal Light before Dawn


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2014 September 11


See Explanation. Moving the cursor over the image will bring up an alternate version. Clicking on the image will bring up the highest resolution version available.
Explanation: You might not guess it, but sunrise was still hours away when this nightscape was taken, a view along the eastern horizon from a remote location in Chile's Atacama desert. Stretching high into the otherwise dark, starry sky the unusually bright conical glow is sunlight though, scattered by dust along the solar system's ecliptic plane . Known as Zodiacal light, the apparition is also nicknamed the "false dawn". Near center, bright star Aldebaran and the Pleiades star cluster seem immersed in the Zodiacal light, with Orion toward the right edge of the frame. Reddish emission from NGC 1499, the California Nebula, can also be seen through the tinge of airglow along the horizon. Sliding your cursor over the picture (or following this link) will label the sky over this future site of the Giant Magellan Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory.

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Supernova Remnant Puppis A

Supernova Remnant Puppis A: APOD: 2014 September 12 - Supernova Remnant Puppis A


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2014 September 12


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Explanation: Driven by the explosion of a massive star, supernova remnant Puppis A is blasting into the surrounding interstellar medium about 7,000 light-years away. At that distance, this remarkable false-color exploration of its complex expansion is about 180 light-years wide. It is based on the most complete X-ray data set so far from the Chandra and XMM/Newton observations, and infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope. In blue hues, the filamentary X-ray glow is from gas heated by the supernova's shock wave, while the infrared emission shown in red and green is from warm dust. The bright pastel tones trace the regions where shocked gas and warmed dust mingle. Light from the initial supernova itself, triggered by the collapse of the massive star's core, would have reached Earth about 3,700 years ago, though the Puppis A supernova remnant remains a strong source in the X-ray sky.

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Median Mashup: Hubble s Top 100

Median Mashup: Hubble s Top 100: APOD: 2014 September 13 - Median Mashup: Hubble's Top 100


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2014 September 13


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Explanation: Now, as you sip your cosmic latte you can view 100 Hubble Space Telescope images at the same time. The popular scenes of the cosmos as captured from low Earth orbit are all combined into this single digital presentation. To make it, Hubble's top 100 images were downloaded and resized to identical pixel dimensions. At each point the 100 pixel values were arranged from lowest to highest, and the middle or median value was chosen for the final image. The combined image results in a visual abstraction - light from across the Universe surrounded by darkness.

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M27: The Dumbbell Nebula

M27: The Dumbbell Nebula: APOD: 2014 September 14 - M27: The Dumbbell Nebula


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2014 September 14


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Explanation: The first hint of what will become of our Sun was discovered inadvertently in 1764. At that time, Charles Messier was compiling a list of diffuse objects not to be confused with comets. The 27th object on Messier's list, now known as M27 or the Dumbbell Nebula, is a planetary nebula, the type of nebula our Sun will produce when nuclear fusion stops in its core. M27 is one of the brightest planetary nebulae on the sky, and can be seen toward the constellation of the Fox (Vulpecula) with binoculars. It takes light about 1000 years to reach us from M27, shown above in colors emitted by hydrogen and oxygen. Understanding the physics and significance of M27 was well beyond 18th century science. Even today, many things remain mysterious about bipolar planetary nebula like M27, including the physical mechanism that expels a low-mass star's gaseous outer-envelope, leaving an X-ray hot white dwarf.

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Milky Way above Atacama Salt Lagoon

Milky Way above Atacama Salt Lagoon: APOD: 2014 September 16 - Milky Way above Atacama Salt Lagoon


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2014 September 16


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Explanation: Galaxies, stars, and a serene reflecting pool combine to create this memorable land and skyscape. The featured panorama is a 12-image mosaic taken last month from the Salar de Atacama salt flat in northern Chile. The calm water is Laguna Cejar, a salty lagoon featuring a large central sinkhole. On the image left, the astrophotographer's fiancee is seen capturing the same photogenic scene. The night sky is lit up with countless stars, the Large and Small Magellanic Cloud galaxies on the left, and the band of our Milky Way galaxy running diagonally up the right. The Milky Way may appear to be causing havoc at the horizon, but those are just the normal lights of a nearby town.

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Aurora over Maine

Aurora over Maine: APOD: 2014 September 17 - Aurora over Maine


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2014 September 17


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Explanation: It has been a good week for auroras. Earlier this month active sunspot region 2158 rotated into view and unleashed a series of flares and plasma ejections into the Solar System during its journey across the Sun's disk. In particular, a pair of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) impacted the Earth's magnetosphere toward the end of last week, creating the most intense geomagnetic storm so far this year. Although power outages were feared by some, the most dramatic effects of these impacting plasma clouds were auroras seen as far south as Wisconsin, USA. In the featured image taken last Friday night, rays and sheets of multicolored auroras were captured over Acadia National Park, in Maine, USA. Since another CME plasma cloud is currently approaching the Earth, tonight offers another good chance to see an impressive auroral display.

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Lenticular Cloud, Moon, Mars, Venus

Lenticular Cloud, Moon, Mars, Venus: APOD: 2015 March 2 - Lenticular Cloud, Moon, Mars, Venus


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2015 March 2


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Lenticular Cloud, Moon, Mars, Venus

Image Credit & Copyright: Nuno Serrão
Explanation: It is not every day that such an interesting cloud photobombs your image. The original plan was to photograph a rare angular conjunction of Mars and Venus that occurred a week and a half ago, with the added bonus of a crescent Moon and the International Space Station (ISS) both passing nearby. Unfortunately, on Madeira Island, Portugal, this event was clouded out. During the next day, however, a spectacular lenticular cloud appeared before sunset, so the industrious astrophotographer quickly formulated a new plan. A close look at the resulting image reveals the Moon visible toward the left of the frame, while underneath, near the bottom, are the famous planets with Venus being the brighter. It was the unexpected lenticular cloud, though, perhaps looking like some sort of futuristic spaceship, that stole the show. The setting Sun illuminated the stationary cloud (and everything else) from the bottom, setting up an intricate pattern of shadows, layers, and brightly illuminated regions, all seen evolving in a corresponding video. Mars and Venus will next appear this close on the sky in late August, but whether any place on Earth will catch them behind such a photogenic cloud is unknown.

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A Dust Devil on Mars

A Dust Devil on Mars: APOD: 2015 March 3 - A Dust Devil on Mars





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2015 March 3




See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
A Dust Devil on Mars
Image Credit:
HiRISE,
MRO,
LPL (U. Arizona),
NASA
Explanation:
It was late in the northern martian spring
when the
HiRISE camera onboard the
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spied
this local denizen.

Tracking across the flat, dust-covered
Amazonis Planitia in 2012,
the core of
this whirling dust devil is about 140 meters in diameter.

Lofting dust into the thin
martian
atmosphere, its plume
reaches about 20 kilometers above the surface.

Common to
this region of
Mars, dust
devils occur as the surface is heated by the Sun,
generating warm, rising air currents that begin to rotate.

Tangential
wind speeds of up to 110 kilometers per hour are reported for
dust devils in other
HiRISE images.





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wallpaper iphone 5 apple Mountain and Stars

wallpaper-iphone-5-apple-640-x-1136-awesome-927.jpg:



wallpaper-iphone-5-apple-640-x-1136-awesome-927.jpg
Date: Mar 2, 2015, 12:19 PM

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wallpaper iphone meteor rain on planet

wallpaper-iphone-5-s-meteor-rain-on-planet-640-x-1136.jpg:



wallpaper-iphone-5-s-meteor-rain-on-planet-640-x-1136.jpg
Date: Mar 2, 2015, 12:19 PM

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wallpaper iphone 5 planet earth

wallpaper-iphone-5-s-planet-earth-640-x-1136.jpg:



wallpaper-iphone-5-s-planet-earth-640-x-1136.jpg
Date: Mar 2, 2015, 12:19 PM

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