Kennedy Space Center | By North Sky Photography

Wernher von Braun’s space station concept in Collier’s, March 22, 1952 - (source)

This is what happens when Two Black Holes Collide.

This is the animation of the final stages of a merger between two black holes. What is particularly interesting about this animation is that it highlights a phenomenon known as Gravitational Lensing.

What is Gravitational Lensing?

Mass bends Light. What? 

Yeah, mass can bend Light. The gravitational field of a really massive object is super strong. And this causes light rays passing close to that object to be bent and refocused somewhere else.

The more massive the object, the stronger its gravitational field and hence the greater the bending of light rays - just like using denser materials to make optical lenses results in a greater amount of refraction.

Here’s an animation showing a black hole going past a background galaxy.

This effect is one of the predictions of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity 

PC: cfhtlens, Urbane Legend

Milky Way seen from the Moon, err, Death Valley [OC][3648x4713] http://space-pics.tumblr.com/

Six days into the Chemistry Advent Calendar! Missed any so far? Catch up here: http://www.compoundchem.com/2015advent/

The mission objective of the Voyager Interstellar Mission (VIM) is to extend the NASA exploration of the solar system beyond the neighborhood of the outer planets to the outer limits of the Sun’s sphere of influence, and possibly beyond. This extended mission is continuing to characterize the outer solar system environment and search for the heliopause boundary, the outer limits of the Sun’s magnetic field and outward flow of the solar wind.

@i-can-taste-the-sun

I CANT STOP LAUGHING

Space imaging progress..

via reddit

Tadashi, Hiro, and Aunt Cass