The Polaris Flare

The Polaris Flare

Jan 20

Hearing that a nebula I knew little about was mapped by Herschel made me go and find out more. The Polaris Flare is a cirrus nebula that appears to surround the North Star. Here's a bit more about it - pretty pictures included.

Spitzer’s Galaxy

Spitzer’s Galaxy

Jun 05

A fantastic image from the Spitzer Space Telescope (which you'll see all over the web today) of our own Milky Way galaxy. The team have release a Google Maps API type site that lets you browse the galaxy in the infrared with some guidance.

Nebulae in 3D

Nebulae in 3D

Apr 11

This is more art than science, but it is very pretty. Stereoscopic 3D images give full colour and allow each nebula to show another dimension of beauty.

Eagle Nebula in Two Wavelengths

Eagle Nebula in Two Wavelengths

Feb 25

We just had a great star formation talk from Professor Ralf Klessen from the Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics at the Center for Astronomy at Heidelberg University. During that talk he put up a great slide showing the famous Pillars of Creation from the Eagle Nebula (M16) in both infrared and the optical. [youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=k31QZcQK6SA[/youtube] Inspired, and looking for...

The 10 Strangest (Real) Things in Space

The 10 Strangest (Real) Things in Space

Jul 25

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...