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#121 [Permalink] Posted on 22nd June 2014 16:39
30

Following are some of the stunning images submitted by astrophotographers looking to win the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2014. The competition which is in its sixth year has attracted a record number of entrants.

The competition which is run by the Royal Observatory in Greenwich features an amazing selection of images from the night sky.....

Our amazing skies: Beautiful pictures show astronomy photography at its finest as competition attracts record number of entries



Organisers of the 2014 event, which is in its sixth year, received a record number of entries, including this one of the wonderfully named Jellyfish Nebula



Photographer Rune Johan Engeboe managed to take these amazing photographs of the northern lights



Dunluce Castle on the North Antrim coast was captured by Martina Gardiner while it was being bombarded by a storm force aurora



Martina Gardiner moved from Antrim to Ireland's most northerly point, Malin Head, where she captured this unbelievable star scene



Star gazers can even capture amazing pictures of the Milky Way without any highly specialised equipment



The Royal Observatory has even produced a handy guide for prospective astrophotographers looking to take part in next year's competition



This stunning photograph was taken in Talmine Bay in the Highlands of Scotland where the lack of light pollution makes it ideal for astrophotography





Fans of 1950s science fiction might be concerned to know this phenomena is known as the Trifid Nebula



Unsurprisingly, this amazing landscape photograph was taken in Skaftafell in Iceland, featuring a range of celestial bodies



This photograph, entitled Venus Rising was captured using a long shutter speed creating an amazing scene

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#122 [Permalink] Posted on 23rd June 2014 03:04
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#123 [Permalink] Posted on 30th June 2014 10:35
Scientists Find A Diamond the Size of Earth



Scientists have found an 11 billion year-old diamond 900 light-years away from our home planet-one of the oldest found by astronomers. But this isn't an ordinary diamond: researchers claim the space rock is the size of Earth, making it one of the largest diamonds in existence (that we know of). That's one massive diamond, but sadly it'll never be cut. Scientists have never even seen it.

Described in a study published in The Astrophysical Journal, the massive diamond is said to be among the coldest white dwarfs we've ever found. And that's exactly why we're unable to see it; the nameless diamond-star is so cool and dim that the light is unable to be seen in the overwhelming vastness of space. Even if we were able to get closer, researchers still say we wouldn't be able to see it.

Researchers were able to deduce the massive diamond's presence by the way its gravity disturbs steady radio pulses coming from a spinning companion star. This isn't the first time scientists have found a large space diamond. In 2012, researchers discovered a planet roughly the size of two Earths that was made primarily of diamond. This one, however, is pure cut-a gleaming crystallized white dwarf just sitting out there in space.

Scientists say the diamond-star formed like this: after ending its life in a supernova, a small clump about the size of Earth was leftover, which eventually cooled and faded to what it is now. National Geographic points out that if you were to look toward the constellation Aquarius you'd be looking in the right direction. But you'll never be able to see it; nobody will.

Researchers say there are probably similar diamond stars out there in the universe, though they're too dim for us to see them. Still, imagining the night sky filled with thousands of diamonds is certainly a romantic thought.


Source NationalGeographic
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#124 [Permalink] Posted on 1st July 2014 11:31
One of the most Earth-like planets in the galaxy has been discovered 'a stone's throw away'

Gliese 832c is a super-Earth located in the 'Goldilocks zone' of a solar system 16 light years away

Astronomers have discovered an alien planet that could offer some of the most Earth-like conditions seen to date in the galaxy.

Located just 16 light years away from our planet, Gliese 832c is a super-Earth with a mass 5.4 times that of our own planet orbiting a red dwarf star every 36 days.

This orbit means that Gliese 832c is much closer to its host star than we are to ours, but because its red dwarf star has only half the mass of our Sun the planet receives around the same amount of stellar energy as we do.

This puts Gliese 832c in the habitable or 'Goldilocks zone' in its solar system - a sweet spot where it is neither too hot nor too cold for liquid water to exist upon the planet's surface.

"With an outer giant planet and an interior potentially rocky planet, this planetary system can be thought of as a miniature version of our Solar System," said professor Chris Tinney of the University of New South Wales where the super-Earth was discovered.

"If the planet has a similar atmosphere to Earth it may be possible for life to survive, although seasonal shifts would be extreme," he added.

Gliese 832c is one of the most Earth-like planets yet discovered as ranked by the Earth Similarity Index. This measure incorporates a number of factors including surface temperature and planet density to rank extrasolar planets in a scale from 0 to 1. Gliese 832c was ranked 0.81 on the Index while the most Earth-like planet yet confirmed (Gliese 581g) ranks at 0.89.


The Habitable Exoplanets Catalog currently records 23 objects of interest. Image credit: PHL / UPR Arecibo

Unfortunately this doesn't mean it's a given that Gliese 832c is similar to Earth on the surface, as the large mass of the planet means that it probably has a thicker atmosphere than ours that has led to a runaway greenhouse effect and boiling temperatures.

However, for astronomers the most exciting aspect of Gliese 832c is its relative proximity - 16 light years away in a galaxy that is 100,000 light years wide. Writing on Space.com, Mike Wall said: "it's just a stone's throw from Earth in the cosmic scheme of things."

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#125 [Permalink] Posted on 12th July 2014 00:39
Skywatchers are in for a treat when the first 'supermoon' of the year appears this weekend.

The full moon will be a supermoon on Friday and Saturday, scientists say.

A�supermoon occurs when the moon is slightly closer to planet Earth in its orbit than usual.

It appears larger and brighter than normal and it is especially noticeable when there is a full moon. When the moon is close to the horizon and low hanging, the effect is magnified.



Source

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#126 [Permalink] Posted on 6th August 2014 20:10

Comet joined by space probe after 10-year pursuit

www.muftisays.com/Web/Ressources/Web/Img/blackTransparent...); background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> Click for all 9 pictures
Associated Press

06 August 2014 18:02 GMT



DARMSTADT, Germany (AP) — Turning what seemed like a science fiction tale into reality, an unmanned probe swung alongside a comet on Wednesday after a 4-billion mile (6.4-billion kilometer) chase through outer space over the course of a decade.

Europe's Rosetta probe will orbit and study the giant ball of dust and ice as it hurtles toward the sun and, if all goes according to plan, drop a lander onto the comet in the coming months.

Rosetta turned up as planned for its "rendezvous" with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko somewhere between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

The incredible trip, launched in 2004, marks a milestone in mankind's effort to understand the mysterious shooting stars that periodically flash past Earth, and which have often been viewed with fear and trepidation.

While the moon, Mars and even asteroids have been visited, no spacecraft has yet gotten so close to a comet. Having achieved this feat, Rosetta will go one step further and drop a lander on 67P's icy surface — a maneuver planned for November.

"You can compare what we've done so far to finding a speck of dust in a big city," said Gerhard Schwehm, who was lead scientist on the Rosetta mission until his recent retirement.

That's probably an understatement.

To catch their quarry, scientists at the European Space Agency had to overcome a series of hurdles that included a last-minute change of destination — after a carrier rocket failure delayed launch — and a tense hibernation period of 31 months during which the probe was out of contact with ground stations.

Before Rosetta swung alongside 67P with a final thrust Wednesday, the spacecraft also had to accelerate to 55,000 kph (34,000 mph) — a speed that required three loops around Earth and one around Mars.

Underlining the singular achievement, ESA's director-general Jean-Jacques Dordain told scientists and spectators at the mission control center in Darmstadt, Germany: "This is your only chance to have a rendezvous with a comet."

Rosetta will now spend several months observing 67P from a safe distance of up to 100 kilometers (60 miles). This will give scientists time to find a safe place to land Rosetta's sidekick, Philae.

This maneuver will pose an unprecedented challenge because there will be no second shot. Recent pictures of 67P show that its surface is porous, with steep cliffs and house-sized boulders.

One person involved with Rosetta from the start told The Associated Press that the landing was "mission impossible" with only a slim chance of success. He spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid harming his employer.

Even if the landing fails, Rosetta itself will remain in the comet's orbit until at least the end of 2015, gathering reams of data with its 11 on-board sensors. As 67P gets closer to the sun it will begin to fizz and release the cloud of dust and ice that most people associate with comets.

"We're going to have a ringside seat to see, for the first time, a comet turn into a comet, to develop its tail and explain what for centuries mankind has been puzzled by," said David Southwood, a former president of the Royal Astronomical Society who was involved with the Rosetta mission from the start.

Overall, scientists hope the €1.3 billion ($1.74 billion) mission will help them learn more about the origins of comets, stars, planets and maybe even life on Earth, he said.

Mark McCaughrean, a senior scientific advisor at ESA, predicted plenty of surprises ahead.

"With this comet, every time we see a new image the jaws drop," he said. "Everybody just can't believe how lucky we have been."

www.esa.int/rosetta

Source


Close-up detail of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The image was taken by Rosetta's OSIRIS narrow-angle camera and downloaded Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. The image shows the comet's ‘head' at the left of the frame, which is casting shadow onto the ‘neck' and ‘body' to the right. The image was taken from a distance of 120 km and the image resolution is 2.2 meters per pixel. A mission to land the first space probe on a comet reaches a major milestone when the unmanned Rosetta spacecraft finally catches up with its quarry on Wednesday. It's a hotly anticipated rendezvous: Rosetta flew into space more than a decade ago and had to perform a series of complex maneuvers to gain enough speed to chase down the comet on its orbit around the sun. (AP Photo/ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team )


Experts watch their screens at the control center of the European Space Agency, ESA, in Darmstadt, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. A mission to land the first space probe on a comet reaches a major milestone when the unmanned Rosetta spacecraft finally catches up with its quarry on Wednesday. It's a hotly anticipated rendezvous: Rosetta flew into space more than a decade ago and had to perform a series of complex maneuvers to gain enough speed to chase down comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on its orbit around the sun. (AP Photo/dpa, Boris Roessler)


Director General of the European Space Agency, ESA, Jean-Jacques Dordain watches the Rosetta flight on a screen at the ESA in Darmstadt, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. After a journey of 6.4 billion kilometers (4 billion miles), Europe's unmanned Rosetta probe reached its destination Wednesday, a milestone in mankind's first attempt to land a spacecraft on a comet. "This is your only chance to have a rendezvous with a comet," Dordain told scientists and spectators at the mission control center. (AP Photo/dpa, Boris Roessler)




Close up detail focusing on a smooth region on the ‘base' of the ‘body' section of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The image was taken by Rosetta's OSIRIS narrow-angle camera and downloaded Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. The image clearly shows a range of features, including boulders, craters and steep cliffs. The image was taken from a distance of 130 km and the image resolution is 2.4 meters per pixel. A mission to land the first space probe on a comet reaches a major milestone when the unmanned Rosetta spacecraft finally catches up with its quarry on Wednesday. It's a hotly anticipated rendezvous: Rosetta flew into space more than a decade ago and had to perform a series of complex maneuvers to gain enough speed to chase down the comet on its orbit around the sun. (AP Photo/ESA/Rosetta/M for OSIRIS Team )




In this picture taken on Aug. 4, 2014 by Rosetta's OSIRIS narrow-angle camera Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is pictured from a distance of 234 kms. A mission to land the first space probe on a comet reaches a major milestone when the unmanned Rosetta spacecraft finally catches up with its quarry on Wednesday Aug 6, 2014. It's a hotly anticipated rendezvous: Rosetta flew into space more than a decade ago and had to perform a series of complex maneuvers to gain enough speed to chase down the comet on its orbit around the sun. The resolution has therefore been increased from 1024 x 1024 to 2048 x 2048 pixels. (AP Photo/ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team )




In this picture taken on Aug. 3, 2014 by Rosetta's OSIRIS narrow-angle camera Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is pictured from a distance of 285 kms. A mission to land the first space probe on a comet reaches a major milestone when the unmanned Rosetta spacecraft finally catches up with its quarry on Wednesday Aug 6, 2014. It's a hotly anticipated rendezvous: Rosetta flew into space more than a decade ago and had to perform a series of complex maneuvers to gain enough speed to chase down the comet on its orbit around the sun. The image resolution is 5.3 metres/pixel. (AP Photo/ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team )




An expert watches his screens at the control center of the European Space Agency, ESA, in Darmstadt, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. A mission to land the first space probe on a comet reaches a major milestone when the unmanned Rosetta spacecraft finally catches up with its quarry on Wednesday. It's a hotly anticipated rendezvous: Rosetta flew into space more than a decade ago and had to perform a series of complex maneuvers to gain enough speed to chase down comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on its orbit around the sun. (AP Photo/dpa, Boris Roessler)




In this picture taken on Aug. 3, 2014 by Rosetta's OSIRIS narrow-angle camera Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is pictured from a distance of 285 kms. A mission to land the first space probe on a comet reaches a major milestone when the unmanned Rosetta spacecraft finally catches up with its quarry on Wednesday, Aug 6, 2014. It's a hotly anticipated rendezvous: Rosetta flew into space more than a decade ago and had to perform a series of complex maneuvers to gain enough speed to chase down the comet on its orbit around the sun. The image resolution is 5.3 metres/pixel. (AP Photo/ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team )
 

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#127 [Permalink] Posted on 12th September 2014 11:48
Stargazers in northern England and Scotland would be wise to look up tonight for a chance to glimpse the Northern Lights.
12 Sep 2014

Two solar flares have heightened the chances of the phenomenon, known as the aurora borealis, being spotted but forecasters warned fog and low-hanging cloud could hamper the view of those living inland.

The first of two coronal mass ejections, huge bubbles of gas from the sun, hit the earth's atmosphere overnight, according to the Space Weather Prediction Centre in the US.

People in the north of England and Scotland are in with a chance of seeing the Northern Lights
A statement on its website said "storming" could even go on until Sunday, September 14.

Nick Prebble, forecaster for MeteoGroup, said residents living in the north of the UK had the best chance to see the illuminations.

"Scotland and possibly the north of England could see the Northern Lights depending on clear skies and light pollution," he said.

"The weather is a mixed bag with some mist and low cloud tending to form in the early hours, especially inland.

"The best chance is probably towards coastal areas and there will be some clear spots."
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#128 [Permalink] Posted on 4th October 2014 04:38
السلام عليكم


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#129 [Permalink] Posted on 4th October 2014 04:40
السلام عليكم


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#130 [Permalink] Posted on 6th October 2014 23:17
Blood Moon: Stunning total lunar eclipse will occur on Wednesday

A 'selenelion' happens when an eclipsed moon can be viewed at the same time as a rising or setting sun

A lunar eclipse pictured in April 2014

By NATASHA CULZAC
Monday 06 October 2014

This Wednesday a spectacular astronomical sight will befall the night sky: a total lunar eclipse that coincides with the rising or setting of the sun.

This rare occurrence is called a selenelion and will, unfortunately for us Britons, give the moon a dazzling red sheen for those only on the east coast of the Americas, Australia or the Pacific Ocean.

In North America, it will happen on the morning of 8 October, whereas in Australia it will occur in the evening.

Dr Darren Baskill, Astronomer at the University of Sussex, told The Independent: “A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon goes into the shadow of the earth.

“It usually happens a couple of times a year and depending on the atmospheric conditions of the earth the moon can appear in different shades of red.”

We're able to see the eclipsed moon and the sun at the same time thanks to the Earth's atmospheric refraction causing their images to be lifted higher than they actually are.

Mr Baskill added: “When the moon sets over the east coast of America, in places like New York, the moon will be in mid-eclipse and the sun will be rising, so there will be some dramatic photographs of a mid-eclipse red moon.

“North Carolina, Delaware, and Philadelphia should get some great views of the moon setting and the sun rising. It’s definitely worth getting up a bit earlier to catch a dramatic setting of the moon.”

In the United Kingdom, the sun will be heading towards its highest point in the sky due south and it will be about 10.30am when this is taking place – so eager astronomers here will miss it completely.

According to Space.com, a selenelion is a phenomenon that under the rules of celestial geometry is a technical impossibility.

The Utah People’s Post says that those on the Eastern Seaboard will be able to see a red moon at roughly 5.25am.
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#131 [Permalink] Posted on 11th October 2014 00:24
This Is What a Dead Star Looks Like



Ever wondered what a dead star looks like? Then have a gander at the image above — you're looking at "Kepler's Supernova". First spotted 410 years ago today, it's the most recent supernova to have been observed without sky-gazing equipment within our own galaxy.

Named after Johannes Kepler, the German astrologer and mathematician who first observed the event, Kepler initially thought that the supernova was a brand new star, as it appeared brighter than any other planet in the sky. For three weeks in October of 1604, it was said to be visible even during the day time, with a magnitude of -2.5. Only centuries later scientists were able to identify it conclusively as being a supernova, with the Japanese Suzaku satellite using X-ray technology to dissect the fading star.

The supernova's remains are estimated to be roughly 23,000 light-years away. A type "Ia" supernova (occurring in systems where two stars orbit each other), it was a white dwarf, turning supernova as its dense core had stopped creating nuclear fusion reactions. To this day, no other supernovae inside the Milky Way have been identified with certainty. Its light may have faded, but Kepler's supernova still burns brightly in the minds of star gazers as a result.

Image Credit: NASA/CXC/NCSU/M.Burkey
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#132 [Permalink] Posted on 11th October 2014 00:29
Can You Guess What This Is An Image Of?

Hint: It's not a brain. Solution below!

SOLUTION:

This image shows a cross-sectional snapshot of a simulated supermassive star going supernova, approximately one day after the star's interior began expanding outward. The star's helium core can be seen powering fluid instabilities and the mix of heavy elements throughout the star's interior.

This image is the work of researchers led by UC Santa Cruise Astrophysicist Ke-Jung Chen, and is featured in a paper published in a recent issue of The Astrophysical Journal.

io9.com/can-you-guess-what-this-scientific-image-is-16449...
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#133 [Permalink] Posted on 17th October 2014 11:06
The Deep Mysteries Of Galaxy Cluster Unraveled In Amazing New Image


Artist's conception of the Spiderweb Galaxy in the center and surrounding galaxies, which are all slowly locking into each other's gravitational grip.

In deep space, far from Earth, a group of galaxies, including the Spiderweb galaxy, is one of the best examples we have to witness, in action, the formation of a galaxy cluster — the largest object in the universe. And when astronomers peered back in time 10 billion years, they saw something strange.

For 20 years, astronomers have been probing the Spiderweb galaxy and its surroundings for insights into how galaxy clusters are born, and adding to the story is a recent paper published yesterday in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics by an international team of scientists who looked deep into the heart of the Spiderweb's galactic neighborhood. This is what they saw:

Some of the blobs in this image correspond to dusty star-forming galaxies in the protocluster that cannot be seen in visible light due to absorption by dust.

In this blurry mess that depicts the region of and around the Spiderweb galaxy are blobs that correspond to dense pockets where stars are just beginning to form. These starbursts were hidden behind a vail of gas and dust and, therefore, were invisible until we developed instruments sensitive enough to see them.

Although lead author Helmut Dannerbauer and his colleagues expected that this burst of star formation existed, they were surprised to find it where they did.

"We aimed to find the hidden star formation in the Spiderweb cluster — and succeeded — but we unearthed a new mystery in the process; it was not where we expected! The mega city is developing asymmetrically," Dannerbauer said in statement released by European Southern Observatory. Instead of developing within filaments of gas and dust connecting the galaxies, the team found that all of the action was happening in a small region off-center of the Spiderweb galaxy.

The surprising find indicates that their is still more to learn about how the largest, gravitationally-bound structures in the universe come to exist — including the Local Group, which is the galaxy cluster in which our very own Milky Way calls home along with about 25 other galaxies. Below is a map of the local group, with the Milky Way at the center for easy navigation. (The Milky Way is not actually at the center because galaxy clusters don't really have a defined center.)


Map of the Local Group.

Galaxy clusters are sometimes called mega star cities due to their size and also because the individual galaxies are churning out stars at rapid rates, up to 1000 times faster than our Milky Way. Whether these galaxies come together to form cluster symmetrically or asymmetrically is not well understood because astronomers, until the late '90s, rarely had the chance to see clusters of galaxies in the process of forming. The technology was not sophisticated or sensitive enough to see through the gas and dust of the extremely distant, early universe.

That is why the Spiderweb galaxy and its companions are so important to study because it gives scientists a snapshot in time when galaxies are just beginning their cosmic ballet of entangling one another in a gravitational partnership that will last for billions of years.

When astronomers look at the Spiderweb galaxy and its surroundings, they're seeing it as it was 10 billion years ago. Probing star formation in the distant galactic neighborhood took the team 40 hours of observations using an extremely sensitive camera attached to the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope, which is located at one of the highest observatory sites in the world in Chile.

The Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope looks skyward during a bright, moonlit night on Chajnantor, one of the highest and driest observatory sites in the world.

The camera is sensitive to wavelengths longer than what we see with our eyes and is the wavelength that astronomers can best see star formation.

"This is one of the deepest observations ever made with APEX and pushes the technology to its limits — as well as the endurance of the staff working at the high-altitude APEX site, 5050 meters above sea level," said Carlos De Breuck, the APEX project scientist at ESO and a co-author of the new study, in the ESO press release.
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#134 [Permalink] Posted on 17th October 2014 11:36
Scientists Just Created The Best Simulation Of The Universe Ever

This large-scale picture of the universe, created by Illustris, shows clouds of cold gas where stars are formed (green), warmer gas (blue), and hot regions around galaxies (red).

A new simulation of the evolution of the universe is one of the most accurate ever created. The model, developed by a team of scientists led by Mark Vogelsberger at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, traces the history of the universe from shortly after its birth to present day and captures both the large scale of universe and the detail of individual galaxies better than previous attempts.

The details were published in a paper on May 7 in the journal Nature.

Modeling Challenges

Creating a realistic model of the universe has long been a struggle for cosmologists. One problem is that the universe is mostly composed of dark matter and dark energy, two mysterious substances that scientists can't directly observe or measure, but that are thought to give all the stars and galaxies in our universe their underlying structure. Only 5% of the universe is made up of matter we can see.

Generating an accurate picture of something we don't yet fully understand is challenging for obvious reasons, but cosmologists have found that modeling visible matter is just as, if not more, difficult. That's because a simulation that captures the evolution of the universe from its early history to present day requires scientists to use a huge range of scales — starting from the very small physical scales that describe the evolution of gas and individual stars to the larger scales that are needed to show the formation and distribution of galaxies.

The simulation models both the stars and the galaxies that we can see and the dark matter that we can't see — but that makes up 95% of the universe.

The universe was created during the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago. But there are many questions about how galaxies and stars evolved between then and now. That's why scientists use computer models to fill in the billion of years between the birth of the universe and what we observe today.

The universe burst into existence 13.8 billion years ago in the Big Bang. But scientists are still trying to understand how cosmic features evolved between then and present day.

A Virtual Universe

Now, using a simulation named Illustris, Vogelsberger and his team were able to model both large- and small-scale features of the universe on a time scale that starts 12 million years after the Big Bang (when the universe was very young) and continues for the next 13 billion years.

The new simulation models a volume of space almost 350 million light-years across. This is a large enough piece to be representative of the whole universe, but detailed enough to look at the composition of individual galaxies. No team has done this before.

Illustris captured the huge scales of the universe.

On top of that, the simulation reproduces the distribution of different elements, including the hydrogen and helium that made up the early universe and the heavier elements required for planet formation.

The scientists were also able to model many different types of galaxies (more than 40,000 are modeled in the simulation), including elliptical galaxies and disk galaxies like our Milky Way.

"Images of galaxies from the simulation are also impressively realistic, an accomplishment that has previously been possible only for simulation of individual galaxies," Michael Boylan-Kolchin, an astronomer at the University of Maryland, said in a news article published by Nature.

Images of the simulated galaxy population "appear strikingly similar" to real images of galaxies observed by the Hubble Space Telescope "in terms of number density, colors, sizes, and morphologies," the authors wrote in their paper.

The simulation is not perfect, the study noted, but it "does represent a significant step forward in modeling galaxy formation." Check out the video:
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PLEASE NOTE, THESE ARE ONLY SCIENTIFIC FINDINGS TRYING TO WORK OUT THE BOUNTIES OF ALLAH>
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#135 [Permalink] Posted on 28th October 2014 23:30
Check Out This Stunning Picture Of The Moon From Space

JESSICA ORWIG OCT. 28, 2014, 5:24 PM

We've been regularly bombarded with images of the Earth from above, thanks to Commander Chris Hadfield on the International Space Station, and the dozens of Earth-observing satellites circling our planet, but it's not too often we see an image of the moon from space. 

The ISS hovers 250 miles above Earth, so it also has a spectacular view of our closest celestial neighbor. 

Here's a stunning one taken by astronaut Ron Garan aboard the space station in 2011. A sunset lines Earth's edge as a thin crescent of the moon appears in the night sky. Because they orbit the Earth every 90 minutes, the crew aboard the ISS experience this dual sunset/moonrise view 16 times a day. 


Image of Moon from the ISS.

This last image depicts a distant Moon, with just a small portion reflecting the sunlight. To observers on Earth, this would appear to be a crescent Moon. The ominous bright-blue band closing in on the Moon is Earth's atmosphere. This image was also taken aboard the ISS by an astronaut from Expedition 26. 

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