#noirlab

[without-ado]

The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you

l ph: NOIRLab l quote: Neil deGrasse Tyson

[spacewonder19]

Jupiter, the gas giant ©

[smbhax]

"Asteroid 2024 YR4 Flyby

This animation shows asteroid 2024 YR4 as it passes by Earth and heads toward its potential impact with the Moon. This 3D shape of the asteroid was determined from data obtained on 7 February 2025 with the Gemini South telescope in Chile, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, partly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab. Using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS), a team of astronomers took images of the asteroid through four different filters. The observations allowed the team to determine its composition, orbital characteristics and 3D shape."

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Pickering's Triangle image taken with the Mayall 4-meter Telescope

A wide-field image of Pickering's Triangle taken with the U.S. National Science Foundation's Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Pickering's Triangle is part of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant.

Credit: T.A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage, H. Schweiker/WIYN and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA (Available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International)

[mymodernmet]

Scientists Reveal Fiery New Photo of Jupiter Taken From Earth. 

[blasteffect]

'God’s Hand' Reaches Through the Interstellar Fog !

Meet CG 4, a striking cosmic structure located in the Gum Nebula about 1,300 light-years from Earth. “CG” stands for Cometary Globules—dense interstellar clouds of gas and dust with a distinct head, a long trailing tail, and a bright outline. They’re nicknamed cometary globules because of their comet-like appearance. The Gum Nebula contains 32 of these CGs.

Commonly called the “God’s Hand,” CG 4 is a star-forming region with its tail pointing away from the Vela Supernova Remnant at the nebula’s center. In images, the globule’s head appears like a comet with a mouth carved into it. This head spans 1.5 light-years across, while its hazy, elongated tail stretches about 8 light-years.

How these globules get their shapes remains a mystery. One theory suggests that the Vela Pulsar—located in the heart of the Vela Supernova Remnant—may have sculpted CG 4 with intense stellar winds and radiation pressure.

The globule’s head is extremely dense and opaque, illuminated by a nearby star. A glowing red outline marks the emission of ionized hydrogen, caused by energetic radiation from that star.

Image Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA

Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab)

[blasteffect]

DESI Map !

A slice of the 3D map of galaxies collected in the first year of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Survey. Earth is at the tip, with the furthest galaxies plotted at distances of 11 billion light-years. Each point represents one galaxy.

This version of the DESI map includes 600,000 galaxies — less than 0.1% of the survey's full volume.

Credit: DESI Collaboration/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/R. Proctor

[blasteffect]

Brown Dwarf !

NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Marenfeld/Acknowledgement: William Pendrill