I recently saw a Digg article which linked to a space.com page about the 10 Strangest Things in Space. All but 2 of the items were not pictures at all but computer simulations, or artists impressions. So here to correct this injustice to phenomena everywhere I present the REAL 10 Strangest Things in Space - or at least in my opinion. Feel free to suggest any others in the comments.
V838 Monoceroti Expansion (Hubble)
It wasn’t anything interesting until it happened but the star V838 Monoceroti, which had simply sat in obscurity, flared up in 2002 to become 600,000 more luminous than our own Sun. It didn’t take long for the star to fade back into the darkness but the Hubble Space Telescope managed to get quite a few pictures of it during its active phase. (Click for animated version)
In this series of images you can see how the star’s outer layers were first expelled and then cut away by the powerful radiation from the star. The event was made even more interesting by the fact that a ‘light echo‘ was seen. During the expansion the object appeared to expand faster than the speed of light - the effect was however merely an astronomical optical illusion.
The Egg Nebula (Hubble)
Also known as CRL2688, the Egg Nebula shows a pair of mysterious ’searchlights’ bursting out from a dense cocoon of dust surrounding a hidden, Sun-like star. We see the light escaping in the directions where the cocoon is thinner. Objects like CRL2688 are rare because they are in a phase of their evolution that is short-lived. Images like this one are very important to understanding how stars like our Sun will ultimately die.
The Sun in UV (SOHO)
The surface of the Sun is far more active than most people would think. This ultraviolet video taken by NASA’s SOHO spacecraft gives brilliant detail. It allows us to see one full revolution of the Sun on its axis, which normally takes about 25 days. In this video you can make out large flares erupting from the surface and the striking magnetic loops that seem to whirl about them as they go. (Full 512×512 MPEG Here)
Red Square Nebula Nebula (Hale/Keck)
Discovered in 2007, this ruby-like nebula may be the result of two interacting stars. If one star is dying then the material from it may be dragged into a disc around the orbits of both objects. Material can then only escape from the system along the poles of the disc, resulting in two cones leading out of the stars. When viewed from the edge these cones seem like two triangles. Here the system is seen in the infrared. Structures like this are rarely seen in nebula but there is in fact a Red Rectangle Nebula which is less symmetric but still quite interesting to look at.
Abell 39 (NOAO)
Here we see an almost perfect planetary nebula that sits about 7,000 light years away in the constellation Hercules. The dot at the centre is the original star, which - as it died - released the expanding gas shell also seen clearly here. The ghostly appearance of the shell is due to the blue-green filter used to take the image, which picks out the oxygen emitted light at 500.7nm.
Saturn’s Rings (Cassini)
This marvelous panoramic view was created by combining a total of 165 images taken by the Cassini wide-angle camera over nearly three hours on Sept. 15, 2006. Cassini was sheltered from the Sun’s glare by positioning itself behind Saturn. Ring structures are revealed here in detail as they brighten substantially at viewing angles where the Sun is almost directly behind the objects. These observations allowed Cassini to detected two new faint rings.
The Horsehead Nebula Swallowed Something (SCUBA)
Observers used the JCMT submillimetre telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii to take this image of the familiar Horsehead Nebula, who’s outline can be seen here. When observed at 850 microns, we are seeing the cold dust at temperatures close to absolute zero. This dust is deep inside the optical nebula normally seen, which is transparent at this wavelength. It seems from the image that the Horse has swallowed a ‘lozenge’ which is in fact a region of dense dust that may be collapsing under gravity. In fact this could be a star system in the making.
Gomez’s Hamburger (Hubble)
Arturo Gomez found this odd object in 1985 and it became known as Gomez’s Hamburger for obvious reasons. It is actually a proto-planetary nebula, an earlier version of Abell 39 perhaps. The curves of light (the bun) are reflecting light from the star which is being obscured by a thick band of dust (the burger). The whole thing is only only a fraction of a light year across and located 10,000 light years away in Sagittarius.
The Solar Spectrum (NOAO)
If you could catch a rainbow and put it under a microscope you would see that it was not a continuous blend of colours. Along the width of it would be seen, scattered irregularly, dark patches. Atoms and molecules in the Sun’s atmosphere pick out specific frequencies of light and absorb them, diminishing their intensity by comparison. This images shows the spectrum of light from the Sun stretched out to make these absorption lines visible. We use the reverse of the idea (emission lines) when we make coloured lights. For instance, we excite sodium atoms to emit a signature orange light in street lamps. In this image you can see two prominent dark bands in the yellow-orange section which are the absorption due to sodium.
The Sombrero Galaxy in Infrared (Spitzer)
By looking at things in different wavelengths we can see much more than meets the eye. This image is a perfect example. Just as with the Horsehead image above we are seeing cooler material. This time it is dust in the Sombrero galaxy. The red ring is a thick band of dust encircling the whole galaxy. In the optical, this dust ring is what gives the Sombrero its distinctive black, obscuring line.
Oddities in the Orion Nebula (Hubble)
Deep within high resolution images of the Orion Nebula taken by Hubble we can see dark blobs. When you take a closer look you can see that these are like little flattened blobs. Some show a dim, red glow at their centres, others are just dark. These are proto solar-systems.
The red glowing is a protostars attempting to burst through and the dark disks are thick dust regions where one day planets may form. 6 billion years ago, this is what our Solar System may have looked from very far away.
August 3rd, 2007 at 9:43 pm
hey i just saw that this doesn’t have any comments and it deserves some. cool pictures
August 4th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
this is a really cool page… i’m tired of seeing ‘artist renditions’ as well. it’s the real stuff that is the coolest… thanks for taking the time to put this together! i’m going to link here from my blog!
August 4th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Great pictures. But maybe you could proof read your work? Some subject-verb agreement, an occasional comma, and making sure your fingers on the home row before typing would make this an entertaining and informative page.
Please take this as constructive criticism. The page is just a little hard to read as is. It could be really great.
August 4th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Ken D, constructive criticsm is one thing…picky is the other. There is nothing hard about reading this post at all. I have no background in astrophysics and thoroughly enjoyed reading it- thank you.
August 5th, 2007 at 2:38 am
I liked the pictures, the video of the sun was the best. I think all the things they described on the space.com website are real as well, you just cant take a picture of them.
August 5th, 2007 at 3:24 am
Very well done. I too was disappointed in that Space.com article. Thanks for taking the time to put this together.
August 5th, 2007 at 5:30 am
An excellent page and marvelous images. I don’t mind artist renditions of things, as long as I’m told up front that they are such, but if I’m expecting to look at real objects in space, that’s what I want to see.
KenD: Just an FYI. Crits are received better if presented in private mail, not in public like you did.
August 5th, 2007 at 9:39 am
i’m surprised this, a black hole, wasn’t included in your list:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980622.html
i realize that it is impossible to image a singularity, but a photo of a black hole’s accretion disk could be considered spectacular, especially since black holes are so strange that the greatest human minds have yet to figure them out.
August 5th, 2007 at 10:25 am
By all means include a link to a 6.7mb image, but don’t embed it in your page if you’re only going to resize it to 600×400 pixels. Just use your favourite image editor, like the gimp, or paint, and create a thumbnail image. If you’re really lazy, download irfanview and you can get that done in about five seconds.
August 5th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Thanks for all the comments guys
Andrew: I have corrected the large image - thanks for pointing that out, other than the video they are all small now (I hope).
Ken D: A tad pedantic but point taken. You began your second sentence with ‘but’, by the way. That was incorrect for your usage of the word in that sentence. This is not a blog about the English language.
August 6th, 2007 at 5:37 am
Enjoyed the site. Those were truly fascinating examples of interstellar objects. However, what made this page perfect was your explanations of what we were seeing. Clear pictures and understanding? All we need now is a way to get there.
August 6th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Good work, nicely done!
August 7th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Triiiipy
August 7th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
This is highly coincidental because I was just reading up on quantum wavefunction and the Egg and Ruby nebulae resemble 2 of the probability density representations/graphs for the hydrogen atom.
August 8th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
Brilliant page. I enjoyed it very much and thought the comments you added below each photo were interesting and Informative.
August 8th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Good stuff, enjoyed the pix. Space sure is strange
August 8th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Thanks for taking the time to post this. I saw it from a link on mercola.com.
Ken D..just a side note to you…
good grammer is no substitute for good manners.
You might want to work on yours.
August 8th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
By all means, please include the orginal, highest resolution images.
Some images are worth waiting for, and these most certainly qualify.
August 8th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
My husband is a phycisisit I’ll let him reply. Amazing images.
Dr. Trudy
August 8th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
[last picture] Hey, that look like the camping trailer of mine some flying saucer abducted back in the 20s. I’ve never been able to find it again.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Glad to see more of the real stuff instead of artists cinceptions.
Great pictures!
August 9th, 2007 at 5:30 am
what are the smokey smudges in the background of the saturn composite? Is it just artifact? Or something that’s really there?
August 9th, 2007 at 6:07 am
Cool stuff man… Awesome-
Matt
August 9th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Great information. Thanks for taking the time to show us.
August 9th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Truly inspiring and informative. Thanks for taking the time and trouble of posting this. Look forward to more.
August 9th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Thanks very much for this post. I can’t add to the comments already made but I just couldn’t help reponding to KenD’s points.
Ken, if you enjoy pedanticly pointing out gramatical errors, you really must ensure your own grammer is correct.
You started a sentance with “But”.
You ended a statement with a question mark.
What is “an occasional comma” is it like an occasional table, just being brought out for use and subsequently put away again.
you followed a comma with the word “and”
you have either missed out the word “are” or an appostaphe in the word fingers.
Your comments are sarcastic, pedantic and non constructive. they haven’t helped anyone or made the blogg any more useful.
August 10th, 2007 at 8:43 am
Thankyou for your time putting this together !
August 10th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
Cool, but reading it gives me a headache. It’s not just misspelled here and there, some stuff just doesn’t make any sense at all. “The nebula is the result of two stars”? Like a crash is the result of two cars? And apart from “cacoon” being a very funny word, how come you spelled it right the second time? Scientific subjects such as this one should be treated with greater semantic respect than this, is it really too much to ask that people learn how to use the language properly? Is it that hard?
August 11th, 2007 at 8:28 am
Moax: If reading this gives you a headache then, by all means, don’t read it.
The nice thing about the internet is that it is an open forum where even a lowly PhD student like me can publish something that gets some attention. The reaction to this post has been lovely, so many nice comments and emails. I’m just glad that I am able to take your comments as constructive. I have corrected the two errors you mentioned.
A suggestion for all future pedants: just point the error out. Its not the mistake that is insulting, its the sarcasm, hyperbole and delusions of grandeur.
To all my other commenters: thank you, for your support and appreciation.
August 11th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
I loved this site and all the comments…esp. the entries dogging on Ken for his “pedantic” request that the English be proper…nice to see both sides encouraging some to lighten up, but others who just want English to be what it should be. If we could all strive for excellence, not necessarily perfection…
August 13th, 2007 at 12:45 am
Wow, what a gift! Thank you so much for sharing. Blog bookmarked!
August 13th, 2007 at 4:24 am
Great site. Some really nice photos with laymans explanations. Thanks.
(Not hard to read, really it’s not like you’re being marked out of 100 for spelling/grammar etc.)
August 13th, 2007 at 8:00 am
Thank you for creating this blog and sharing these beautiful photos of space all in one place. The explanations beneath the photos were very interesting.
August 15th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
ttfnRob,
Great list!!!
Maox & Ken D,
You should try and lighten up sometimes… it’s a lot of fun. I’m sure you guys are the type that look at the glass as half-empty rather than half-full. I didn’t see any place in the post where Rob claims this to be 100% correct scientifically and grammatically. This post - if you didn’t realize - was his opinion about what he thinks are the 10 strangest things in space. Please try and appreciate the fact that he took the time to put this list together.
Z
August 16th, 2007 at 7:10 am
The Monoceroti expansion is possibly one of the most beautiful images of space I’ve seen in a while. Also the UV shot of the sun. It really brings out the churning, turbulent, seething mass that our sun is. Gorgeous.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:42 am
Awesome stuff but there is no such thing as 6 billion years ago. The universe is only thousands of years old.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:45 am
“Cool, but reading it gives me a headache. It’s not just misspelled here and there, some stuff just doesn’t make any sense at all. “The nebula is the result of two stars”? Like a crash is the result of two cars? And apart from “cacoon” being a very funny word, how come you spelled it right the second time? Scientific subjects such as this one should be treated with greater semantic respect than this, is it really too much to ask that people learn how to use the language properly? Is it that hard?”
You used the word semantic in the wrong context which leads me to believe you don’t fully understand it’s definition.
August 20th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Steve…..
Why Nit-Pick? Do you feel smarter now? In fact all you did was make yourself look like a jackass.
BTW….Very nice pictures. I even stole a few for myself.
August 21st, 2007 at 12:59 am
Blow away man! Great stuff… makes you wonder and stand in awe of all that is out there.
August 21st, 2007 at 2:41 am
just “stumbled” on your site. very, very nice.
August 21st, 2007 at 3:44 am
Loved the site. I think we have an interesting bunch of people who have decided to comment. I just want to say thank you for taking the time to put this together. It is very interesting and well thought out. I also commend you for taking the time to correct the mistakes that were rather harshly pointed out to you. It is much easier to be a critic than a creator. Keep creating!
August 22nd, 2007 at 4:28 am
This is a really impressive article. I enjoyed it very much. Big ups to you!!
August 23rd, 2007 at 8:47 am
Wonderful and inspiring. Thank you for a great start to my day.
August 23rd, 2007 at 11:29 am
Fsntastic! Thank you very much for putting these up. An image is worth a thousand words
August 23rd, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out the heavens with [his] span, and grasped the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance, and the hills in scales? Who hath directed the Spirit of Jehovah, and, [as] his counsellor, hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and [who] gave him intelligence, and instructed him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are esteemed as a drop of the bucket, and as the fine dust on the scales; behold, he taketh up the isles as an atom. To whom then will ye liken GOD? and what likeness will ye compare unto him?
Do ye not know? Have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood the foundation of the earth? [It is] he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a gauze curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in…To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and see! Who hath created these things, bringing out their host by number? He calleth them all by name; through the greatness of his might and strength of power, not one faileth. – verses from God’s Holy Word, Isaiah Chapter 40
Thanks so much for reminding us of how glorious our God is!
August 23rd, 2007 at 1:23 pm
This was spectacular, to say the least! The pictures were great, and comments invaluable. I’m a novice when it comes to ’space’, however I’m not a novice when it comes to good manners and kindness. I thought Ken D’s comments were out of line, showing he is a novice when it comes to human relations and good manners. I see that many others felt the same way about his out of line comments.
I firmly believe in a creator and in creation, and these photos continue to firm up my belief in both. Keep up the excellent work!!
August 23rd, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Too busy enjoying the amazing photos to notice language violations…
Thank you!
August 23rd, 2007 at 1:42 pm
AMEN!!
August 23rd, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Great pictures, solid evidence that God has and unlimited supply or amazing and beautiful surprises for us. Only an all knowing all powerful entity could ‘invent’ all the celestial ‘object’ plus the many millions of different kinds of living things that we’ve found and are daily finding more of, in the sky, land and oceans. This cannot be the result of chance and good luck. The vast majority of living things are quite ‘comfortable’ when moved from habitat to habitat. So, we can definitely rule out Darwin’s survival of the fittest.
But just in case some are still unconvinced then have the evolutionists get their brilliant heads together and assemble a ’simple’ living cell. This ’should’ be possible, since they certainly have a very great amount of knowledge about what is inside the ’simple’ cell.
After all, shouldn’t all the combined Intelligence of all the worlds scientist be able the do what chance encounters with random chemicals, without a set of instructions, accomplished about 4 billion years ago,according to the evolutionists, having no intelligence at all available to help them along in their quest to become a living entity. Surely then the evolutionists scientists today should be able to make us a ’simple’ cell.
If it weren’t so pitiful it would be humorous, that intelligent people have swallowed the evolution mythology.
Beyond doubt, the main reason people believe in evolution is that sources they admire, say it is so. It would pay for these people to do a thorough examination of all the evidence CONTRARY to evolution that is readily available: Try answersingenesis.org. The evolutionists should honestly examine the SUPPOSED evidence ‘FOR’ evolution for THEMSELVES.
Build us a cell, from scratch, with the required raw material, that is with NO cell material, just the ‘raw’ stuff, and the argument is over. But if the scientists are unsuccessful, perhaps they should try Mother Earth’s recipe, you know, the one they claim worked the first time about 4 billion years ago, so they say. All they need to do is to gather all the chemicals that we know are essential for life, pour them into a large clay pot and stir vigorously for a few billion years, and Walla, LIFE!
Oh, you don’t believe the ‘original’ Mother Earth recipe will work? You are NOT alone, Neither do I, and MILLIONS of others!
PS: Please don’t lie about the ‘first life’ problem, scientists are falling all over themselves to make a living cell. Many have admitted publicly that it is a monumental problem. And is many years away from happening, if ever. Logical people understand this problem and have rightly concluded that an Intelligent Designer was absolutely necessary. Think of it this way, if all the brilliant scientists on earth can’t do it how on earth can anyone believe that it happened by accident?????
August 23rd, 2007 at 2:12 pm
I just wanted to say that I in no way agree with the views expressed in the previous comment but have published it in the spirit of debate.
Evolution is a process occurring over billions of years and to suggest that the world’s scientists should be able to match it, is preposterous to my mind. You may as well ask me to build you a planet - a process that took a much shorter time.
Intelligent Design is a dangerous theory in my opinion, based not in science but in ignorance. It can only lead to the regression of thought.
I hope that the people of the USA are strong enough to stand against it despite the recent tendency of their politicians to express stronger religious views. As for here in Europe, I hope that our current trend toward secularism continues and that our ever-increasing tolerance of other views does likewise. After all, its nice to be nice, and who knows who’ll be correct in the end?
August 23rd, 2007 at 2:26 pm
James Collins:
Do you say it’s “beyond doubt” so you can get away with claiming that while not having to name these people, who these “believers” are and why these “believers” admire those sources to to point of believing what they say for no other reason than they say it?
I think that’s got to be the tightest circular argument I’ve seen in ages.
August 23rd, 2007 at 2:41 pm
Thanks for the beautiful and intriguing pictures! I’m 71 y/o and still in absolute awe of God’s creation…..all I can say is, WOW!!!
August 23rd, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Beautiful pictures! Thanks for taking the time to put all of this together!
@Steve: I can’t believe in a deity that would deliberately lie to us, which is what your statement would seem to require.
@James Collins: That comment seemed to come out of left field, and is perhaps more appropriate to the talk.origins usenet group than this blog. There’s plenty of folks there who have actually studied real life biology, instead of astronomy, who would be happy to pick up your gauntlet.
@various: Sumtymes pepul kahnt spel or use gooder grammor, git ovur it.
August 23rd, 2007 at 3:00 pm
This is absolutely fantastic. Totally mind boggling.
August 23rd, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Great photos!
It seems the Intelligent Designer Guy has a sense of humor. Who created the Intelligent Designer anyway? Or is it possible an Intelligent Designer can exist without a creator? If God exists, and if God has no creator, then that is proof something can exist without a creator, and the universe also needs no creator.
August 23rd, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Lovely pictures,
well done, space.com isn’t perfect after all!
August 23rd, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Thank you for being big enough to post opposing views. I doubt you would have received the same courtsey. As time goes by, more and more of us regular citizens are learning to trust our own intellegence, and, perhaps someday, people will stop being brainwashed from birth with the nonsence that ranges from Santa Clause to Our Heavenly Father.
August 23rd, 2007 at 4:55 pm
To those who want to “see” only real images. There is almost no such thing. The “artist’s conceptions” are _usually_ mapping the Electro Magnetic Spectrum we can’t see (radio waves on up) to the “Visible spectrum.” You can legitimately argue how “red” radio waves should be, etc., but accept we are seeing what we could never see with our own “eyes.”
To the site owner, we may disagree about which ten, but still agree these are *amazing sights,” to be appreciated.
August 23rd, 2007 at 5:18 pm
The images were very startling and very beautiful. Thank you.
The first thing we must see is that we are very small. Being small, may we not reach out to others in a spirit of acceptance rather than in conflict? This origins controversy is not a new problem. Being afraid that your understanding is not universally accepted as full truth leads to rejection and exclusion. These attitudes do not befit small beings.
August 23rd, 2007 at 5:33 pm
LOVE the pics. How cool of you to share them with everyone. Just awesome.
August 23rd, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Well done you for being so broad-minded and tolerant of those who choose to sit in judgement of you. Your blog is interesting and yes, there were mistakes, but they did not detract from the smazing photos you had taken the time to post. I wonder when your “critics” have ever done anything so interesting?
August 23rd, 2007 at 9:09 pm
I linked to this from Dr. Mercola’s site. Gorgeous pictures! I will click back to look at the sun, but I enjoyed the others. Truly amazing. It should let us realize that all the bullsh*t going on in the world would mean nothing if we exterminate each other. Our world exploding or devoid of life might be a pretty picture but it the greater scheme of things, it wouldn’t matter.
Astrogeek- Ha Ha on thuh speling!
August 24th, 2007 at 1:57 am
as my granddaughter would say…”Look what GOD has done!!!!”
August 24th, 2007 at 4:24 am
The photos were fantastic and beautiful. Thank you very much for taking the time to photograph and put them on the web for all of us to see. I’m sorry I missed the misspelled words, I was too busy looking at the pictures.
August 25th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Awe inpiring pics, I’m totally fascinated with space and images like these keep me coming back for more! Thanks
August 26th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
These pictures are simply put in one word, beautiful.
All the more reason to acclerate the NASA, and private space programs, so one day our childrens children will be able to look at more pictures from space in places like Alpha Centuri and say, “I wonder what’s in that star system…”
Peace,
Blake
August 26th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Great pictures!!
Cool video, that of the sun…
But why the 10 strangest??
Thats galactic physics and we can only realize how unique (and tiny) we are
August 27th, 2007 at 4:15 am
I think you have done a fantastic job.Wonderful of you to share with everyone.
Some people are small minded and pick at anything.(Maox/Ken D)
August 29th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
I personally have answered more questions for free than any doctor in the history of the Internet. Yet it never ceases to amaze me the things poeple will say, under a non deplume, while hiding behind their computer monitors. Even criticizing someone who is donating their precious time purely to help others.
BTW, it’s also poor Message Board etiquette to “hijack” a thread onto other subjects. lol
But, as my grandfather used to say: “There are still many more good people in this world than bad”.
So, hey, when do we get to see more cool pictures? And thank you again for brightening our days a bit.
August 29th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
Dr. John: Funnily enough I just did another Top Ten images posting: http://orbitingfrog.com/blog/2007/08/29/top-ten-astronomy-pictures-of-the-day-apod/
August 31st, 2007 at 12:57 pm
thankyou for some wonderful pictures they are great i would also like to weigh in to the debate of god or no god evolution is another wonderful thing but dont tell me santa isnt real SANTA!!!
September 1st, 2007 at 4:37 am
When you expand the Saturn image, look to the left side of the rings and you will see the Earth.
Thanks for the images and the APOD site.
September 7th, 2007 at 2:29 am
Thank you again. These images, beside amazing me, also lend perspective and meaning at the end of a long, hard day.
September 18th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Excellent images. What I really get a kick out of, though, is folks picking out spelling/grammatical errors, or dissing others’ comments. What a sad indictment on our society. I wonder if they send letters to the editor, pointing out errors in newspaper articles? As far as all the creation/evolution nonsense is concerned, just look at the first sentence in Genesis: “In the beginning…”
Kinda makes ya wonder what “god” was up to before doing all that magical stuff…thumb-twiddlin’, I reckon.
September 18th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Hmmm they forgot that weird perfectly hexagonal shaped weather system at Saturn’s pole. Its like a mega hurricane but perfectly hexagonal, straight sides and all…. weirdest ive ever seen in space.
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:01 am
Surely it wasn’t just me who noticed how similar the first picture (V838 Monoceroti Expansion) is to the firefox logo in the advert at the top of the page? Spooky!
September 23rd, 2007 at 7:42 am
What a great list! Thanks so much. I just finished astrophysics at the Open University last winter and wish I’d found a blog like this to get some hands on references. Plus it’s all just so gorgeous. Best of luck with the PhD!
September 23rd, 2007 at 4:44 pm
I really enjoyed the pictures, especially Saturn. I have a complaint about the page itself though. When I fist opened the page the sun in uv movie opens up by itself. Everytime I click on a picture to look at the larger image and then return to this page the sun in uv movie opens up by itself. this got a little annoying.
Also, the link for the animated Monoceroti images didn’t work for me. I did, however, get the sun in uv movie.
My system is opensuse 10.2 running Swiftfox 2.0.0.6.
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:53 pm
Space, the final frontier…
Great pictures. Next, make a top 50 - I’m sure there’s a lot more where all this came from.
September 24th, 2007 at 6:14 am
wow!~very cool… i used this(topic) as my report (presentation)my classmates were amazed upon seeing those pics…thanks a lot..for the additional info..and links…
September 26th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Creatively chosen and well written, a nice primer for young children interested in the stars and trying to figure out why we even bother to understand the goings on out in space. Insert star trek theme song here.
October 17th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Oddities in the Orion Nebula (Hubble)
And I thought the Galactica was coming to Earth from the Ionian Nebula, no wonder it’ll be February till a new episode…
/ sorry just had to.
Interesting site, thanks.
October 17th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Space is cool!
October 18th, 2007 at 2:41 am
Beautiful collection of photos, thank you!
October 18th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
I struggled through Astronomy, but it facinates me none the less. I could stare at these images for hours, but I fear I’ve been multi-slacking far to long here at work.
October 19th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
These are amazing. You have an awesome site. I look forward to more lists!
November 1st, 2007 at 2:20 am
Thanks for the most excellent display of pics!! I teach Astronomy and plan to use your site when we get to star evolution… speaking of which…. This “God” that is spoken of in some entries.. well… come on people… There is WAY too much scientific evidence showing that things have not happened as described in the Bible…. God did not create all of these excellent photo opps!
January 29th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Totally fantastic picture of objects and phenomena in God’s creation. Yeah, maybe there was some grammer mistakes and I (my tech issues) had some trouble seeing some of the pictures but the creator of this site did a great job and gifted all of us with some awesome pictues we couldn’t have enjoyed otherwise. Thank you very much for sharing this beauty with us. I want to share this site with others.
February 21st, 2008 at 6:08 pm
it’s like wow. i wish i could go there for once before i die
March 4th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
dude…this stuff is groovy. i love space
May 25th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
I was captivated by the pictures while stumbling and read the entire post. Then I got caught up in the comments and discussion about English grammar. Funny what concerns people. I marvel at space and the wonders it holds; a forgotten comma or spelling error isn’t nearly as fascinating. Thanks for sharing and explaining the pictures. Good luck with your Ph.D. program.