A video map of motions in the nearby universe (Phys.org) —An international team of researchers, including University of Hawaii at Manoa astronomer Brent Tully, has mapped the motions of structures of the nearby universe in greater detail than ever before. The maps are presented as a video, which provides a dynamic three-dimensional representation of the universe through the use of rotation, panning, and zooming. The video was announced last week at the conference "Cosmic Flows: Observations and Simulations" in Marseille, France, that honored the career and 70th birthday of Tully. The Cosmic Flows project has mapped visible and dark matter densities around our Milky Way galaxy up to a distance of 300 million light-years.
Hubble Telescope Reveals Deepest View of Universe Ever The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the farthest-ever view into the universe, a photo that reveals thousands of galaxies billions of light-years away. The picture, called eXtreme Deep Field, or XDF, combines 10 years of Hubble telescope views of one patch of sky. Only the accumulated light gathered over so many observation sessions can reveal such distant objects, some of which are one ten-billionth the brightness that the human eye can see.
Hubble zooms in on a space oddity A strange, glowing green cloud of gas that has mystified astronomers since its discovery in 2007 has been studied by Hubble. The cloud of gas is lit up by the bright light of a nearby quasar, and shows signs of ongoing star formation. One of the strangest space objects ever seen is being scrutinised by the penetrating vision of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. A mysterious, glowing green blob of gas is floating in space near a spiral galaxy.
Total Solar Eclipse 2012 photos, near Mount Carbine, Queensland, Australia November 14, Queensland, Australia Homepage Astrophotos Australia 2012 photos Purchase Photos! Total Solar Eclipse of November 14, 2012, as seen from a hilltop about 20 miles west of the Outback town of Mount Carbine, Queensland, along the Mulligan Highway (Peninsula Development Road), a road only paved in recent years. Heading inland to get away from coastal showers and clouds which were promising to interfere with the viewing, we drove some 150 miles into the outback to find a good spot the day before and settled upon a remote hillside, up along a dirt track that pulled away from the main road. The location was about 40 miles inland, and 67 miles from Cairns, as the crow flies. About 20 other cars camped out here as well under very dark skies.
Astrophysics Astrophysics People have gazed at the stars, given them names, and observed their changes for thousands of years. NASA joined the ancient pursuit of knowledge of our universe comparatively recently. Great Attractor Panoramic view of the entire near-infrared sky. The location of the Great Attractor is shown following the long blue arrow at bottom-right. The Hubble Telescope turned its lens to the region of the sky where the Great Attractor is located. Top 100 Astronomers You’ve Probably Never Heard Of How many of the faces above do you recognise? For a long time, I’ve wanted to investigate the the “who’s who” of astronomy via the literature but haven’t had the means. I’ve teamed up with Andy Casey who has written a neat ADS-python module to access the ADS publication database. It is still early days at the moment so we’ve mainly been brainstorming but we figured we should start with the basics: most cited astronomers. There will be more posts to follow as we have more ideas under construction.
The Great Attractor The Question (Submitted September 24, 1999) The great attractor has been described as an agglomeration of matter. What would it look like, a galaxy ? What are its proportions and what are its effects on the Milky Way and other local galaxies. Hubble Wallpaper Videos See the universe come to life via animations, scientific visualizations, expert commentary, and more. The Helix Nebula: Unraveling at the Seams A dying star is throwing a cosmic tantrum in this combined image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), which NASA has lent to the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. In death, the star's dusty outer layers are unraveling into space, glowing from the intense ultraviolet radiation being pumped out by the hot stellar core. This object, called the Helix nebula, lies 650 light-years away, in the constellation of Aquarius.
Hubble data predicts Milky Way galactic collision When Galaxies Collide! It sounds like an early science fiction novel. However, analysis of Hubble measurements shows that our own Milky Way galaxy is moving toward a head-on collision with our nearest neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy (also known as M31). The collision will start in about four billion years, and over the following three billion years the two spiral galaxies will coalesce into a large elliptical galaxy. Based on this data, NASA has produced a video of the upcoming collision. View all CfA Opportunities: Visiting Scientist and Visiting Student Program The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory has a Visiting Scientist and Visiting Student Program to expand scholarly exchange in atomic and molecular physics; infrared, optical, radio, and X-ray astronomy; planetary sciences; geophysics; solar and stellar physics; and theoretical astrophysics. Visits can vary from a few days to several weeks or months and, in some cases, last up to a year. This program annually attracts many international and national visitors. Stipend support varies with the length of the visit and the amount of support being provided by the visitor's home institution, or by fellowships such as a Guggenheim or from NATO, etc. Application to the program is made by directly contacting a member of the research staff to request support.
Astronomy Picture of the Day 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. 2016 April 15 Mercury and Crescent Moon Set Image Credit & Copyright: Miguel Claro (TWAN, Dark Sky Alqueva) Explanation: Innermost planet Mercury and a thin crescent Moon are never found far from the Sun in planet Earth's skies. Taken near dusk on April 8, this colorful evening skyscape shows them both setting toward the western horizon just after the Sun.