Ponder The Universe

"We are the way for the Cosmos to know itself" - Carl Sagan

wastedromance asked: Your blog is very beautiful :)

Thank you :)

quantumaniac: Man Jumps from 71,580 feet (21,818 m) On March 15th, 2012, Austrian Felix Baumgartner jumped from a space capsule at an altitude of appxoaimtely 21,818 meters - as a part of the Red Bull Stratos project. Baumgartner rode a 42-year-old space capsule attached to a giant helium balloon. “The goal of this expedition towards the edge of space was to fly over the so-called “Armstrong Line” and to do tests under real conditions for the first time. That is the area in aerospace where earthly boundaries and laws disappear. It is an inhospitable region for humans where liquids begin to vaporize and temperatures plunge to minus 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Humans could not survive in this zone without a spacesuit to protect them from the forces of depressurization and lack of oxygen. To get there, Baumgartner first had to make it through another “death zone” closer to earth. During the first 1,000 feet of his ascent there would be no chance of escape in the event of a crash because there would be no time to get out of the capsule or open the parachute.” Read more.

quantumaniac:

Man Jumps from 71,580 feet (21,818 m)

On March 15th, 2012, Austrian Felix Baumgartner jumped from a space capsule at an altitude of appxoaimtely 21,818 meters - as a part of the Red Bull Stratos project. Baumgartner rode a 42-year-old space capsule attached to a giant helium balloon.

“The goal of this expedition towards the edge of space was to fly over the so-called “Armstrong Line” and to do tests under real conditions for the first time. That is the area in aerospace where earthly boundaries and laws disappear. It is an inhospitable region for humans where liquids begin to vaporize and temperatures plunge to minus 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Humans could not survive in this zone without a spacesuit to protect them from the forces of depressurization and lack of oxygen. To get there, Baumgartner first had to make it through another “death zone” closer to earth. During the first 1,000 feet of his ascent there would be no chance of escape in the event of a crash because there would be no time to get out of the capsule or open the parachute.”

Read more.

(via journeyacrosstheuniverse)

ikenbot: The Tale Continues.. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute The brightly reflective moon Enceladus appears before Saturn’s rings while the larger moon Titan looms in the distance. Jets of water ice and vapor emanating from the south pole of Enceladus (hinting at subsurface sea rich in organics), and liquid hydrocarbons ponding on the surface on the surface of Titan make these two of the most fascinating moons in the Saturnian system. See A Tale of Two Moons to learn more about these fascinating moons.

ikenbot:

The Tale Continues..

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

The brightly reflective moon Enceladus appears before Saturn’s rings while the larger moon Titan looms in the distance.

Jets of water ice and vapor emanating from the south pole of Enceladus (hinting at subsurface sea rich in organics), and liquid hydrocarbons ponding on the surface on the surface of Titan make these two of the most fascinating moons in the Saturnian system. See A Tale of Two Moons to learn more about these fascinating moons.

(via traversethemind)

cwnl: Chameleon Cloud Complex IC 2631, Be 144, Cederblad 110 & 111, HH 49 & 50, GN11.07.3, & PGC32994 Copyright: Harel Boren

cwnl:

Chameleon Cloud Complex

IC 2631, Be 144, Cederblad 110 & 111, HH 49 & 50, GN11.07.3, & PGC32994

Copyright: Harel Boren

(Source: ikenbot)

the-star-stuff: Flame Nebula The Flame Nebula, designated as NGC 2024, is an emission nebula in the constellation Orion. The bright star Alnitak shines energetic ultraviolet light into the Flame, ionising hydrogen gas that reside there. The glow results when the electrons and ionised hydrogen recombine. Additional dark gas and dust lies in front of the bright part of the nebula and this is what causes the dark network that appears in the center of the glowing gas. By wilde_space

the-star-stuff:

Flame Nebula

The Flame Nebula, designated as NGC 2024, is an emission nebula in the constellation Orion. The bright star Alnitak shines energetic ultraviolet light into the Flame, ionising hydrogen gas that reside there. The glow results when the electrons and ionised hydrogen recombine. Additional dark gas and dust lies in front of the bright part of the nebula and this is what causes the dark network that appears in the center of the glowing gas.

By wilde_space

(via boyastronomer)

rayax: One of the most troublesome questions within the branch of cosmology has always been regarding the limits of the universe. Do the cosmos have an edge? If yes, then what lies beyond it?  As it happens, there is a thought-provoking riddle that was celebrated throughout the middle ages; What happens when a spear is flung across the cosmic edge? This intriguing inquiry can be traced back to Archytas of Tarentum, The phytagorean philosopher-scientist. The spear of Archytas is considered to be the shatterer of universes.  Suppose the universe did indeed have a limit… a boundary… an edge. Now suppose, somehow a certain individual made his or her way to the very uttermost end of the universe and hurled a sphere towards it. Would the spear rebound? Would it continue its path? Or would it disappear?  In the middle ages, Simplicius gave a mind-blowing answer to this riddle; “If i am at the extremity of the heaven of the fixed stars, can i stretch outwards my hand or staff? It is absurd to suppose that i could not; and if i can, what is outside must be either body or space. We may then in the same way get to the outside of that again, and so on; and if there is always a new place to which the staff may be held out, this clearly involves extension without limit.”  Thus, to claim that the universe has a boundary is no different than it being infinite. 

rayax:

One of the most troublesome questions within the branch of cosmology has always been regarding the limits of the universe. Do the cosmos have an edge? If yes, then what lies beyond it? 

As it happens, there is a thought-provoking riddle that was celebrated throughout the middle ages; What happens when a spear is flung across the cosmic edge? This intriguing inquiry can be traced back to Archytas of Tarentum, The phytagorean philosopher-scientist. The spear of Archytas is considered to be the shatterer of universes. 

Suppose the universe did indeed have a limit… a boundary… an edge. Now suppose, somehow a certain individual made his or her way to the very uttermost end of the universe and hurled a sphere towards it. Would the spear rebound? Would it continue its path? Or would it disappear? 

In the middle ages, Simplicius gave a mind-blowing answer to this riddle; “If i am at the extremity of the heaven of the fixed stars, can i stretch outwards my hand or staff? It is absurd to suppose that i could not; and if i can, what is outside must be either body or space. We may then in the same way get to the outside of that again, and so on; and if there is always a new place to which the staff may be held out, this clearly involves extension without limit.” 

Thus, to claim that the universe has a boundary is no different than it being infinite. 

(Source: weheartit.com, via )

spacep0rn: Cosmic Ornament Image courtesy L. Oskinova et al, University of Potsdam/CXC/NASA Three telescopes have spotted a bright new star in the heavens—a young pulsar surrounded by the remains of a supernova. Pulsars are the spinning cores of dead stars that ended their lives in huge explosions. Revealed by x-ray data, the newfound pulsar is the blue-tinged point of light seen at the upper right of the frame. Optical data show that the stellar corpse is encased in a shell of dust and gas—the first time such an object has been found in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The picture also shows the intricate structure of a nearby star-forming region. (Find out more about the Magellanic clouds in National Geographic magazine.) The above picture, released this week, combines x-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton space telescope with visible-light data from the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile.

spacep0rn:

Cosmic Ornament

Image courtesy L. Oskinova et al, University of Potsdam/CXC/NASA

Three telescopes have spotted a bright new star in the heavens—a young pulsar surrounded by the remains of a supernova. Pulsars are the spinning cores of dead stars that ended their lives in huge explosions.

Revealed by x-ray data, the newfound pulsar is the blue-tinged point of light seen at the upper right of the frame. Optical data show that the stellar corpse is encased in a shell of dust and gas—the first time such an object has been found in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The picture also shows the intricate structure of a nearby star-forming region.

(Find out more about the Magellanic clouds in National Geographic magazine.)

The above picture, released this week, combines x-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton space telescope with visible-light data from the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile.

(Source: National Geographic, via space-cadet-kyra)