yina dreams of space

[yinadreamsofspace]

Another stunning image of #Jupiter from this #Juno #flyby. So much can be said about this beauty of a #planet. While being the largest planet, Jupiter’s mass is not nearly enough to fuse #hydrogen and is just shy of being a star. - Instead of calling it a failed star, however, Jupiter should be called the protector — for without it, we would not exist. - As theorized by the Grand Tack hypothesis, Jupiter’s shift outward from the inner solar system is what allowed Earth to form properly as well as pulling many asteroids into an eccentric orbit due to its large gravitational mass. - By pulling these asteroids into an orbit in the #Kepler belt, this significantly reduces the likelihood of a major Earth bound #collision. (Sorry dinosaurs, not for you though 🦖🦕😕) - The #universe works in mysterious ways. Without Jupiter’s unique orbital path during the formation of the solar system, it’s questionable whether life would even exist, and no humans would be looking up in the sky wondering what’s out there. - #theprotector #GrandTackHypothesis #KeplerBelt #innersolarsystem #yinadreamsofspace - #Repost @stunningscience101 ・・・ Jupiter Stunning image by Juno #science #amazingscience #mars #curious #planets #space #technology #cosmology #planetary #orbit #nasa #redplanet #cassini #saturn #orbiter #probe

[yinadreamsofspace]

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All right, last shot – I promise – of the Falcon Heavy #launch from two days ago okay. Check out the seamless landing from the dual side boosters... 🤤 - So why was this launch pivotally important?? 🚀 - The successful launch of the FH represents a new chapter of possibilities. As the most powerful rocket in operation, FH is classed as a ‘Super Heavy Lift’ (#SHL) launch vehicle. In other words, it has the ability of placing over a 50 ton payload into #LEO. Effectively, FH can essentially launch any planned payload to any location in our solar system. - Aside from the now ubiquitous image of #Starman in the #Roadster floating in space behind #Earth, did you know there were a few other important pieces of #cargo from the launch? A miniature Hot Wheels Starman and Roadster, a circuit board labeled “Made on Earth by Humans” and lastly, but perhaps most curious, The #Arch (pronounced Ark.) - WHAT IS THE ARCH? - The Arch on board is a data crystal 💽 containing all three books from Isaac Asimov’s classic Foundation trilogy. First, while the disc itself and the technology behind it is incredibly interesting (it’s expected to last for over 14 billion years, even accounting for outer space dangers including cosmic radiation) – it’s not the definition of what an Arch actually is. That, according to Arch Mission co-founder Nova Spivack, is actually something much more ambitious, broad in scope and technology agnostic. - This Arch library will #orbit the Sun for at least millions of years alongside #Musk’s Tesla Roadster. The Roadster will likely be the oddest object in the solar system, and thus is the perfect place to put an Arch library so that it can be noticed and retrieved in the distant future. - #datacrystal #Arch #NovaSpivack #IssacAsimov #Foundation #EncyclopediaGalactica #ArchMissionFoundation #SpaceX #FalconHeavy #FH #NASA #spaceexploration #cosmos #yinadreamsofspace #interstellar #galaxy #stars

[yinadreamsofspace]

Close up of thw #SpaceX rocket engine #Merlin for the first stage of the Falcon 9. - A Falcon 9 uses nine Merlin engines arranged in an #Octaweb design, with eight sea-level adapted engines for #recovery and #reusability, and one vacuum engine used for the second stage in #space to bring the mission #payload to its final destination. - Merlin uses rocket propellant (essentially highly refined kerosene) and LOX (liquid oxygen). - #rocketengine #launch #RP1 #LOX #yinadreamsofspace - #Repost @spacexpage ・・・ Merlin in action.

[yinadreamsofspace]

WHAT IS A WHITE DWARF? - You would think this is #Gimli’s level up in #LOTR but nope! This is a specific star type at the end of a star’s #lifecycle, a star with the mass of our Sun compacted into the size of Earth — a very, very dense star. - White dwarves are the final evolutionary state of stars whose mass is not high enough to become a #neutron star. These stars are typically low to medium mass stars that first expand into red giants when their #hydrogen-fusing period ends. After a brief period of time (10 million years or so) the planetary nebula is stripped from stellar winds into the Interstellar Medium to create new star-birth regions, leaving the white dwarf core behind. - The material in a white dwarf no longer undergoes fusion reactions, so the star has no source of energy. As a result, it cannot support itself by the heat generated by fusion against gravitational collapse, but is supported only by electron degeneracy pressure. - White dwarves compact into this incredible density because they are so collapsed that their electrons are smashed together, forming what is called "degenerate matter,” hence a white dwarf’s alternate name: degenerate star. (Sounds like a star that parties a lot, lol 🎉) - Significance? Because our #Sun is also a medium mass star, white dwarves are prime opportunities to observe and model to better understand what is in store for our Sun in the future. - #whitedwarf #planetarynebula #degeneratestar #yinadreamsofspace #interstellarmedium #nuclearfusion #starbirth #stellarwinds

[humanoidhistory]

When space artist Pat Rawlings painted this image in 1989, he genuinely thought future tourists might view the 2017 solar eclipse from the Moon.

(Pat Rawlings)