Flying Across The Universe (From Top to Bottom: Horsehead Nebula, Orion Nebula, Eagle Nebula, Tarantula Nebula, and NGC 3603)
Known as a grand design spiral galaxy, M100 is a large galaxy of over 100 billion stars with spiral arms that are like our own Milky Way Galaxy. This Hubble Space Telescope image of M100 was made in 2009 and reveals bright blue star clusters and intricate winding dust lanes which are hallmarks of this class of galaxies. Studies of variable stars in M100 have played an important role in determining the size and age of the Universe.
Credit: NASA/APOD
When NASA scientists announced earlier this year that they had found evidence of liquid water on Mars, imaginations ran wild with the possibility that life could exist somewhere other than here on Earth.
Scientists continue to explore the possibility that Mars once looked a lot like Earth — salty oceans, fresh water lakes, and a water cycle to go with it. That’s exciting stuff.
So where else are they looking? What exactly are they looking for?
There are nine places in our universe where scientists say life is a possibility. The locations range from a smoking hot planet like Venus to a moon that orbits Saturn called Enceladus, which looks a lot like a massive, tightly-packed ball of ice.
All of these places show signs that water is, or at least was, a possibility. They also appear to feature some kind of energy that could produce heat.
full resolution
Michael Benson
1. Mimas Above Saturn’s Rings and Shadows, Cassini, November, 7, 2004
2. Mimas Transits Saturn’s Ring Shadows, Cassini, January 18, 2005
Atmospheric Jellyfish are described as jellyfish-like creature seen floating in the Earth’s atmosphere. Atmospheric Jellyfish are said to look like normal jellyfish except they are floating in the sky much like a cloud and are seen mostly around military bases. Skeptics believe that the Atmospheric Jellyfish could be misidentified clouds or weather balloons however believers hold true to the idea and remember the time that NASA sent 60,000 jellyfish into space during their From Undersea to Outer Space experiment.
In this amazing Hubble Space Telescope image, a blue bubble-like nebula surrounds a Wolf–Rayet star WR 31a, located about 30,000 light-years away in the constellation of Carina (The Keel). Wolf–Rayet stars are the most massive and brightest stars known, and their lifecycle is only a few hundred thousand years — a blink of an eye in cosmic terms.
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt
The best photographs that the Hubble space telescope has ever taken.
1. Sombrero galaxy
2. V838 Monocerotis
3. Jupiter’s great red spot
4. Carina nebula
5. Interacting galaxies
6. Pillars of creation
7. Cat’s eye nebula
8. Planetary Nebula NGC 5189
9. Abell 2744 Frontier Field
(Source)
M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy
Credit: NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)