What that James Webb image really means. Full video here:

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What that James Webb image really means. Full video here:
It is really important to me that all of you learn about Al Bean, astronaut on Apollo 12 and the fourth man to walk on the moon, who after 20 years in the US Navy and 18 years with NASA during which he spent 69 days in space and more than 10 hours doing EVAs on the moon , retired to become a painter.
He is my favorite astronaut for any number of reasons, but he’s also one of my favorite visual artists.
Like, look at this stuff????
It’s all so expressive and textured and colorful! He literally painted his own experience on the moon! And that's just really fucking cool to me!
Just look at this! This is one of my absolute favorite emotions of all time. Is Anyone Out There? is like the ultimate reaction image. Any time I have an existential crisis, this is how I picture myself.
And then there's this one:
The Fantasy
For all of the six Apollo missions to land on the moon, there was no spare time. Every second of their time on the surface was budgeted to perfection: sleeping, eating, putting on the suits, entering and exiting the LEM, rock collection, setting up longterm experiments to transmit data back to Earth, everything. These timetables usually got screwed over by something, but for the most part the astronauts stuck to them.
The crew of Apollo 12 (Pete Conrad, Al Bean, and Dick Gordon) had other plans. Conrad and Bean had snuck a small camera with a timer into the LEM to take a couple pictures together on the moon throughout the mission. They had hidden the key for the timer in one of the rock collection bags, with the idea being to grab the key soon after landing, take some fun photos here and there, and then sneak the camera back to Earth to develop them. They had practiced where they would hide the key and how to get it out from under the collected rocks back on Earth dozens of times.
But when they got to the moon, the key was nowhere to be found. Al Bean spent precious time digging through the collection bags before he called it off. The camera had been pushing their luck anyways, he couldn't afford to spend anymore time not on the mission objectives. Conrad and Bean continued the mission as per the NASA plan while Dick Gordon orbited overhead.
Fast forward to the very end of the mission. Bean and Conrad are doing last checks of the LEM before they enter for the last time and depart from the moon. As Bean is stowing one of the collection bags, the camera key falls out. The unofficially planned photo time has come and gone, and he tosses the key over his shoulder to rest forever on the surface of the moon.
This painting, The Fantasy, is that moment. There have never been three people on the moon at the same time, there was never an unofficial photo shoot on the moon, this picture could never have happened.
"The most experienced astronaut was designated commander, in charge of all aspects of the mission, including flying the lunar module. Prudent thinking suggested that the next-most-experienced crew member be assigned to take care of the command module, since it was our only way back home. Pete had flown two Gemini flights, the second with Dick as his crewmate. This left the least experienced - me - to accompany the commander on the lunar surface.
"I was the rookie. I had not flown at all; yet I got the prize assignment. But not once during the three years of training which preceded our mission did Dick say that it wasn't fair and that he wished he could walk on the moon, too. I do not have his unwavering discipline or strength of character.
"We often fantasized about Dick's joining us on the moon but we never found a way. In my paintings, though, I can have it my way. Now, at last, our best friend has come the last sixty miles." - Al Bean, about The Fantasy.
The Alan Bean Gallery
To be honest, this one
Almost made me cry right now.
I love it. Something about it feels so incredibly human. The emotion on display, even without a face to show it. This is magnificent. Truly magnificent. I feel it in my soul.
A new image of Stephan’s Quintet from the James Webb Space Telescope, with the mid-infrared view here:
Old Hubble image on top, James Webb image on the bottom.
They’re actually both from Webb! It can capture images across various parts of the light spectrum.
How many milky ways are in our Galaxy?
Our galaxy is the Milky Way, so it’s exactly 1 by definition - but there are at least 100 billion stars in the Milky Way and many of those must have stellar systems very like our solar system.
In the Universe as a whole, there are an estimated 100 billion to 200 billion galaxies, which will all have billions and billions of stars!
A comparison of the Hubble and James Webb images of the “Cosmic Cliffs” of the Carina nebula
A new image of Stephan’s Quintet from the James Webb Space Telescope, with the mid-infrared view here:
The Southern Ring nebula, captured by Webb’s NIRCam and MIRI instruments.
The deepest and sharpest infrared image of the early universe ever taken, this is the first image to be released from the James Webb Space Telescope (released 11th July 2022)
The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope went perfectly! It’s still a month before it will be in position, and 6 months before we get any pictures back, but this is a crucial step in a journey 25 years in the making.
Image credit: NASA/Chris Gunn
Ever wanted to look back in time? This week, we’re launching a kind of time machine – a telescope so powerful it will help us see back some of the first stars and galaxies made after the Big Bang.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the largest and most advanced telescope we’ve ever put in space. With revolutionary technology, it will study 13.5 billion years of cosmic history and help humanity understand our place in the stars.
Tomorrow, Dec. 25, at 7:20 a.m. ET (12:20 UTC), the Webb Telescope is set to launch from French Guiana, beginning a 29-day journey to a spot a million miles away.
How to Watch:
In English:
Dec. 25
Live coverage starts at 6:00 a.m. ET/11:00 UTC
Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Twitch
In Spanish:
Dec. 25
Live coverage starts at 6:30 a.m. ET/11:30 UTC
Facebook, YouTube, Twitter
Once Webb launches, the journey has only just begun. The telescope will begin a 2-week-long process of unfolding itself in space before settling in to explore the universe in ways we’ve never seen before.
Follow along on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and with #UnfoldTheUniverse.
Today (18th. February, 2021), NASA’s latest rover, Perseverance, touched down safely on the surface of Mars!
Perseverance will spend at least the next two years drilling down into rocks to search for evidence of past life.
Here’s the first picture it sent back to Earth:
Humanity is going back to the moon!
Today (9th. December, 2020), NASA announced the first 18 astronauts involved in the Artemis programme, which will see the first woman and the next man on the moon.
Meet the team here:
https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-team/
NASA has selected an initial team of astronauts – the Artemis Team – to help pave the way for our next human missions on and around the Moon
Dark molecular cloud Barnard 68
This may look like a hole in the sky, but it’s actually full of dust and molecular gas, packed so densely that it absorbs almost all the visible light from background stars. The interiors of dark molecular clouds are among the darkest and coldest places in the universe.
Two spiral galaxies in the early stages of collision
Westerhout 5, the Soul Nebula