Construction Starts For Camera That Will Capture More Galaxies Than There Are People On Earth

IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN 50 SHADES OF GRAY OR AMERICAN SNIPER AND HAVE NO INTENTIONS OF DOING SO, REBLOG THIS

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This is what our night sky could look like guys.

How Big is our Solar System Infographic - http://astronomyisawesome.com/infographics/how-big-is-our-solar-system/

T-51 days (October 14) - OA-4 Cygnus service module arrives at KSC Marking a major milestone in its prelaunch processing flow, the service module for the Cygnus spacecraft’s return to flight arrived at Kennedy Space Center earlier this week. The pressurized cargo module for the OA-4 mission arrived at Kennedy in early August, and technicians have been checking out the module ahead of cargo stowing. OA-4 marks a significant shift in the Cygnus program, not just because it is the spacecraft’s return to flight, but also the first flight of the Enhanced Cygnus. The cargo module is 3.9 feet longer than the initial Standard Cygnus, allowing the spacecraft to transport over 3,300 extra pounds of cargo. The Service Module also boasts new Orbital ATK-made Ultraflex solar arrays, which are lighter than the original rectangular arrays made by DutchSpace. The image below shows a comparison between the two versions of the spacecraft, with the Enhanced Cygnus on the right.

Final assembly and cargo stowage is expected to occur in late October and early November. Encapsulation inside an Atlas V 400-series payload fairing will occur in mid November, followed by rollout to SLC-41 and vehicle integration in late November. Currently, the launch of OA-4 is scheduled for December 3, though that date may move up or be pushed back depending on various factors. It will be the first flight of the spacecraft since an October 29, 2014 launch failure that destroyed the spacecraft and subsequently grounded the program. The enhanced Antares 200 rocket is undergoing final integration and assembly at Wallops Island, Virginia, and Orbital ATK teams are preparing for a period of pad testing. The next flight of Cygnus on an Antares is scheduled for some time in the first half of 2016. Until then, Orbital ATK purchased two Atlas V 401 rockets to launch their enhanced Cygnus spacecraft; these missions are designated OA-4 and OA-5. The second flight is slated for sometime in spring of 2016.

Astronomy Night at the White House

NASA took over the White House Instagram today in honor of Astronomy Night to share some incredible views of the universe and the world around us. Check out more updates from the astronauts, scientists, and students on South Lawn.

Here’s a nighttime view of Washington, D.C. from the astronauts on the International Space Station on October 17. Can you spot the White House? 

Check out this look at our sun taken by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. The SDO watches the sun constantly, and it captured this image of the sun emitting a mid-level solar flare on June 25. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare can’t pass through Earth’s atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground. But when they’re intense enough, they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.

Next up is this incredible view of Saturn’s rings, seen in ultraviolet by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Hinting at the origin of the rings and their evolution, this ultraviolet view indicates that there’s more ice toward the outer part of the rings than in the inner part.

Take a look at the millions of galaxies that populate the patch of sky known as the COSMOS field, short for Cosmic Evolution Survey. A portion of the COSMOS field is seen here by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. Even the smallest dots in this image are galaxies, some up to 12 billion light-years away. The picture is a combination of infrared data from Spitzer (red) and visible-light data (blue and green) from Japan’s Subaru telescope atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The brightest objects in the field are more than ten thousand times fainter than what you can see with the naked eye.

This incredible look at the Cat’s Eye nebula was taken from a composite of data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope. This famous object is a so-called planetary nebula that represents a phase of stellar evolution that the Sun should experience several billion years from now. When a star like the Sun begins to run out of fuel, it becomes what is known as a red giant. In this phase, a star sheds some of its outer layers, eventually leaving behind a hot core that collapses to form a dense white dwarf star. A fast wind emanating from the hot core rams into the ejected atmosphere, pushes it outward, and creates the graceful filamentary structures seen with optical telescopes.

This view of the International Space Station is a composite of nine frames that captured the ISS transiting the moon at roughly five miles per second on August 2. The International Space Station is a unique place—a convergence of science, technology, and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and makes research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. As the third brightest object in the sky, the International Space Station is easy to see if you know when to look up. You can sign up for alerts and get information on when the International Space Station flies over you at spotthestation.nasa.gov. Thanks for following along today as NASA shared the view from astronomy night at the White House. Remember to look up and stay curious!

Water found

This just in, NASA’s study published today reveals that they’ve found liquid water on Mars. It’s confirmed.

New Horizons captures images of water ice and blue skies on Pluto    

New Horizons, the spacecraft that keeps on giving.

The planet closest to our Solar System might have just disappeared

Oops.

Alpha Centauri bb, an Earth-like planet orbiting our closest star, has just vanished. In fact, a new study suggests it never actually existed outside of a blip in the data.

The planet was discovered in 2012, and it was a pretty big deal at the time. According to researchers’ best estimates, Alpha Centauri bb appeared to have a mass similar to Earth and was orbiting its star at a distance similar to Mercury.

Best of all, it was only 4.3 light-years away – a whole lot closer than most other Earth-like exoplanets – and existed in a star system that had housed the science-fiction characters of Avatar and Transformers.

But a year after its discovery, a separate group of researchers called the discovery into question, when they found only weak evidence that the planet existed. And now a new study suggests that Alpha Centauri bb was never more than a ‘ghost’ in the data.

The research serves as a cautionary tale to astrophysicists hunting for evidence of planets orbiting distant stars, and reminds us of how hard it is to work out what’s going on using sporadic data taken from distant star systems.

Continue Reading.

The red and purple boy things are running around while the normal human boy hugs the pointy-nosed thing because they won a million dollars

someone who doesn’t watch steven universe explain what is going on

What’s Up for October?

This month is filled with exciting celestial sights. Here are 10 targets you can view this month:

10. Unusual Sunset

During a sunset, our thick atmosphere absorbs most colors of sunlight, but red light is absorbed the least. Rarely, green flashes can be seen just above the sun’s edge. As the last sliver of the disk disappears below the horizon, be sure to watch its color.

9. Belt of Venus

Just after sunset, turn around and face east. A dark shadow will move up from the horizon and gradually cover the pinkish sky. This is caused from the Earth itself blocking the sunlight and is called the Earth Shadow or the Belt of Venus.

8. Crepuscular Rays

Also just after sunset, or before dawn, you may see rays of sunlight spread like a fan. These are called crepuscular rays and are formed when sunlight streams through gaps in the clouds or mountains.

7. Aurora Borealis

The northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, are caused by collisions between gaseous particles in Earth’s atmosphere and charged particles released from the sun. The color of the lights can changed depending on the type of gas being struck by particles of solar wind. You can find out when and where to expect aurorae at the Space Weather Prediction Center.

6. Andromeda Galaxy

Did you now that The Andromeda Galaxy is one of the few you can actually see with your naked eye? In October, look nearly overhead after sunset to see it! This galaxy is more than twice the apparent width of the moon.

5. Moon Features

Nights in mid-October are excellent for viewing the features on the moon. Areas like the Sea of Tranquility and the site of the 1969 Apollo 11 landing will be visible.

4. A Comet

This month, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission target, a comet with a complicated name (Comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko), is still bright enough for experienced astronomers to pick out in a dark sky. On October 9, you may be able to spot it in the east near the crescent moon and Venus.

3. Meteor Showers

There are multiple meteor showers this month. On the 9th: watch the faint, slow-moving Draconids. On the 10th: catch the slow, super-bright Taurids. And on the 21st: don’t’ miss the swift and bright Orionids from the dust of Comet Halley.

2. Three Close Planets

On October 28, you’ll find a tight grouping of Jupiter, Venus and Mars in the eastern sky before sunrise.

1. Zodiacal Light

The Zodiacal light is a faint triangular glow that can be seen from a dark sky after sunset or before sunrise. What you’re seeing is sunlight reflecting off dust grains that circle the sun in the inner solar system. These dust grains travel in the same plane as the moon and planets as they journey across our sky.

For more stargazing tools visit: Star Tool Box

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