Physics, astronomy, and everything else.

scienceisbeauty: Einstein’s equations predict that a light...

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 23:21:30 +0100

Einstein’s equations predict that a light beam’s trajectory will bend as it passes near a mass because light also travels within space. Physicists have measured the bending of light and of spaceship signals passing near the edge of our sun.

Source: Robert Dalling’s Physics Lectures,

"Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him..."

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 23:20:08 +0100

“Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.”

- Carl Sagan (via kl0vis)

"Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you..."

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:40:44 +0100

“Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Our posturing, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”

- Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (via thequotecollector)

"For our failings, despite our limitations and fallibilities, we humans are capable of greatness."

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:34:46 +0100

“For our failings, despite our limitations and fallibilities, we humans are capable of greatness.”

- Pale Blue Dot, Carl Sagan. (via alexdelatardis)

greggorey: Carl Sagan’s message for the universe

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:27:44 +0100

greggorey:

Carl Sagan’s message for the universe

"We live on a hunk of rock and metal that circles a humdrum star that is one of 400 billion other..."

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:23:11 +0100

“We live on a hunk of rock and metal that circles a humdrum star that is one of 400 billion other stars that make up the Milky Way Galaxy which is one of billions of other galaxies which make up a universe which may be one of a very large number, perhaps an infinite number, of other universes. That is a perspective on human life and our culture that is well worth pondering.”

- Carl Sagan, quoted in Dan Lewandowski and John Stear, “A Tribute To Carl Sagan” (via cwnl)

cwnl: Milky Way above Easter Island This dramatic scene...

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:22:12 +0100

cwnl:

Milky Way above Easter Island

This dramatic scene definitely inspired ancient residents of the Easter Island as it amaze us today. Silhouetted against the southern Milky Way and starry sky of this isolated Pacific Ocean island, are large statues, locally called Moais, remained from 13th to 15th century.

By Wally Pacholka

life: NASA said its Kepler telescope found a planet that orbits...

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:21:24 +0100

life:

NASA said its Kepler telescope found a planet that orbits two suns — a larger a K dwarf and a smaller red dwarf, seen above in an illustration. The planet has been nicknamed Tatooine, the “Star Wars” body that also had two suns.

see more — NASA Envisions Alien Worlds

“The Man is a micro universe.” Democritus

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:20:39 +0100

“The Man is a micro universe.” Democritus

The Orion Nebula! Thousands of stars are forming in this cloud...

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:10:36 +0100

The Orion Nebula! Thousands of stars are forming in this cloud of gas!

Cat’s Eye Nebula! Eleven rings of gas make up the...

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:08:06 +0100

Cat’s Eye Nebula! Eleven rings of gas make up the Cat’s Eye.

A beautiful view of our galaxy, Milky Way!

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:05:00 +0100

A beautiful view of our galaxy, Milky Way!

lindentea: WISE Captures the Unicorn’s Rose (by NASAJPL)

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:02:42 +0100

lindentea:

WISE Captures the Unicorn’s Rose (by NASAJPL)

galaxyshmalaxy: moon (by phil2222)

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:02:17 +0100

galaxyshmalaxy:

moon (by phil2222)

NGC7023 A bright reflection nebula and Caldwell object in the...

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 23:59:28 +0100

NGC7023

A bright reflection nebula and Caldwell object in the constellation Cepheus. NGC 7023 is actually the cluster within the nebula, LBN 487, and the nebula is lit by a magnitude +7 star, SAO 19158. It shines at magnitude +6.8. It is located near the Mira-type variable star T Cephei, and near the bright magnitude +3.23 variable star Beta Cephei (Alphirk). It lies 1,300 light-years away and is six light-years across.

Copyright: Stefano Focosi

alphabet-of-thorn: “In the shadow of Saturn, unexpected wonders...

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 23:56:55 +0100

alphabet-of-thorn:

“In the shadow of Saturn, unexpected wonders appear. The robotic Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn drifted in giant planet’s shadow for about 12 hours in 2006 and looked back toward the eclipsed Sun. Cassini saw a view unlike any other. First, the night side of Saturn is seen to be partly lit by light reflected from its own majestic ring system. Next, the rings themselves appear dark when silhouetted against Saturn, but quite bright when viewed away from Saturn, slightly scattering sunlight, in this exaggerated color image. Saturn’s rings light up so much that new rings were discovered, although they are hard to see in the image. Seen in spectacular detail, however, is Saturn’s E ring, the ring created by the newly discovered ice-fountains of the moon Enceladus and the outermost ring visible above. Far in the distance, at the left, just above the bright main rings, is the almost ignorable pale blue dot of Earth.”

The Sombrero Galaxy in infrared light!

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 23:53:06 +0100

The Sombrero Galaxy in infrared light!