Absolute Zero Gravity

M81

& Dwarf Companion Galaxy Holmberg IX (above)

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day 2015 October 19

The Southern Cross in a Southern Sky

Have you ever seen the Southern Cross? This famous constellation is best seen from Earth’s Southern Hemisphere. Captured from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the four bright stars that mark the Southern Cross are visible just above the horizon in the featured image. On the left of this constellation, also known as The Crux, is the orange star Gamma Crucis. The band of stars, dust, and gas rising through the middle of the image mosaic is part our Milky Way Galaxy. Just to the right of the Southern Cross is the dark Coal Sack Nebula, and the bright nebula at the top of the image is the Carina Nebula. The Southern Cross is such a famous constellation that it is depicted on the national flag of Australia.

rachelyurkovich

Praying mantis . First photoset Rachel Yurkovich

#entomology

Good Morning From the International Space Station

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) shared this photograph on social media, taken from the International Space Station on Sept. 10, 2015. Kelly wrote, “#GoodMorning Texas! Great view of you, the #moon, and #Venus this morning. #YearInSpace”

Credit: NASA

jennrosefx

Princess. #mantis #prayingmantis #budwingmantis #bugluv

#entomology

Methane Painting

Why does Saturn look like it’s been painted with a dark brush in this infrared image, but Dione looks untouched? Perhaps an artist with very specific tastes in palettes?

The answer is methane. This image was taken in a wavelength that is absorbed by methane. Dark areas seen here on Saturn are regions with thicker clouds, where light has to travel through more methane on its way into and back out of the atmosphere. Since Dione (698 miles or 1,123 kilometers across) doesn’t have an atmosphere rich in methane the way Saturn does, it does not experience similar absorption – the sunlight simply bounces off its icy surface.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

M16 // Eagle Nebula

Also featuring the Pillars of Creation (center) and the Fairy of Eagle Nebula (left of center)

Elephant’s Trunk Nebula in Star Cluster Complex IC 1396

bijoux-et-mineraux

Fluorite - Rogerley Mine, Weardale, North Pennines, Co. Durham, England

#geology #mineralogy

bijoux-et-mineraux

Azurite - Oumjrane mining area, Alnif, Tarhbalt, Er Rachidia Province, Meknès-Tafilalet Region Morocco

#geology #mineralogy

shoveke

Shhh… The there’s a stowaway on board #njtransit #commuter #newyorkpenn #tgif #moth (at Pennsylvania Station)

Regal Moth

Cobaltoan Dolomite - Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo

#geology #mineralogy

The Southern Milky Way Above ALMA

ESO Photo Ambassador Babak Tafreshi snapped this remarkable image of the antennas of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), set against the splendour of the Milky Way. The richness of the sky in this picture attests to the unsurpassed conditions for astronomy on the 5000-metre-high Chajnantor plateau in Chile’s Atacama region.

Credit: ESO/B. Tafreshi (twanight.org)

Spiral galaxy NGC 7497 (center)

&

MBM 54: Diffuse clouds of interstellar dust, a.k.a. high latitude cirrus or integrated flux nebulae

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day 2015 October 16

Night Hides the World

Stars come out as evening twilight fades in this serene skyscape following the Persian proverb “Night hides the world, but reveals a universe.” The scene finds the Sun setting over northern Kenya and the night will soon hide the shores of Lake Turkana, home to many Nile crocodiles. The region is also known for its abundance of hominid fossils. On that past November night, a brilliant Venus, then the world’s evening star, dominates the starry skies above. But also revealed are faint stars, cosmic dust clouds, and glowing nebulae along the graceful arc of our own Milky Way galaxy.