Incomprehensible: The Scale Of The Universe

A Wider Set of Eyes on the Universe

After years of preparatory studies, we are formally starting an astrophysics mission designed to help unlock the secrets of the universe. 

Introducing…

the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope, aka WFIRST.

With a view 100 times bigger than that of our Hubble Space Telescope, WFIRST will help unravel the secrets of dark energy and dark matter, and explore the evolution of the cosmos. It will also help us discover new worlds and advance the search for planets suitable for life.

WFIRST is slated to launch in the mid-2020s. The observatory will begin operations after traveling about one million miles from Earth, in a direction directly opposite the sun.

Telescopes usually come in two different “flavors” - you have really big, powerful telescopes, but those telescopes only see a tiny part of the sky. Or, telescopes are smaller and so they lack that power, but they can see big parts of the sky. WFIRST is the best of worlds.

No matter how good a telescope you build, it’s always going to have some residual errors. WFIRST will be the first time that we’re going to fly an instrument that contains special mirrors that will allow us to correct for errors in the telescope. This has never been done in space before!

Employing multiple techniques, astronomers will also use WFIRST to track how dark energy and dark matter have affected the evolution of our universe. Dark energy is a mysterious, negative pressure that has been speeding up the expansion of the universe. Dark matter is invisible material that makes up most of the matter in our universe.

Single WFIRST images will contain over a million galaxies! We can’t categorize and catalogue those galaxies on our own, which is where citizen science comes in. This allows interested people in the general public to solve scientific problems.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

“The Stella Pinafore Toilette.”

Enquire Within, Ladies Home Journal

5th February 1916.

A sutileza dos detalhes.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi. The Sixty-nine Post Stations of Kisokaidô Road. 1852.

Over geological timescales – on the order of millions of years – even hard substances like rock can flow like a fluid. Heat from the Earth’s core drives convection inside our mantle, and that fluid motion ultimately drives the plate tectonics we experience here at the surface. But most other planetary bodies, including those with mantle convection similar to ours, don’t have a surface that shifts like our tectonic plates. Mars and Venus, for example, have solid, unmoving surfaces. The images above provide a peek at what goes on beneath. The upper image shows a simulation of mantle convection inside Mars over millions of years. The lower image is a timelapse of dye convecting through a layer of glucose syrup being heated from below. Notice how both examples show evidence of convective cells and plumes that help circulate warm fluid up and colder fluid downward. (Image credit: Mars simulation - C. Hüttig et al, source; N. Tosi et al., source; submitted by Nicola T.)

Novas possibilidades ao nosso alcance.

81-Yo Japanese Woman Who Taught Herself Programming Launches First iPhone Game

Tech-savvy Masako Wakamiya might be 81-years-old, but she is anything but a ‘typical’ senior citizens. Recently, the Japanese citizen launched her first iPhone app, and she’s now on a mission to show other older individuals that they, too, can learn coding or another trade.

Continuar lendo

Ponto Cor Delicadezas.

crudistore via Instagram

The magic of the Amazon: A river that flows invisibly all around us

https://www.ted.com/talks/antonio_donato_nobre_the_magic_of_the_amazon_a_river_that_flows_invisibly_all_around_us/transcript?language=en

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Sodium - Element Art 

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Mitosis vs meiosis comparison? There’s a GIF for that. (⌐■_■)

Be sure to check out all our science GIFs here for your studyblrs, teacher websites, presentations, or general amusement! Just please keep our name on there and don’t sell them! :D